#bc i sound very authoritative apparently

[cat3ch1sm]

not to be a como se dice L whore but….hear me out. task force based on how he acts does not think L gets bitches nor wants bitches. one day they come in and hear ✨noises✨ and a few minutes later L comes down completely nonchalant and then i dunno girlfriend comes down (they notice a certain pendant around her neck) just for like two seconds to steal his pastries then go back upstairs to the living abode and the task force is like 😀. as you can see here i can’t write for shit and i will literally pay if needed to see my thoughts come to life by you. now do i only have $6 to my name…maybe [bonus points if we get a quick lil cut scene of L just being a monster pussy eater]

🌱| LMFAOAOA bestie im broke too😭😭 no need to pay me all reqs r free<33 idk how good this is lol i will let u decide ಠ_ಠ

🐢| ANYWAYS let's get into the story because this request is a rollercoaster😭😭 idk if this was supposed to b x reader or not but i made it x reader bc it's what i usually write anyway lol, enjoy!!

"Aw, man, I'm so sleepyyy!" Matsuda whined, eyelids drooping and gait sluggish as he trudged through the doors into the task force headquarters. "I wish L wouldn't insist we come here at four in the morning... and getting through the security is always such a process. I hope our rooms are ready soon so we don't have to come all the way from home to out here..."

Aizawa, trailing just behind Matsuda, was a little less vocal about his lethargy, but it was clear he was tired as well. "Well, the Kira investigation isn't to be taken lightly- we need all the time we can get," he stated firmly. "But to be honest, it would be nice to get a little more sleep- we don't get home until midnight, and then we have to get up and come right back four hours later."

"I'm sure our rooms will be ready at some point, and we won't lose so much sleep then. But that isn't what's important right now," Light reminded the men in an authoritative tone.

"My son is right. It may be draining, but this isn't something to be taken lightly. A few hours less of sleep isn't anything compared to the thousands of deaths that are still occurring," Soichiro asserted, moving past all of the other men and placing his briefcase down on the ground beside the swivel chair where L usually sat. Suddenly noticing its emptiness, he straightened up, looking around the room. "Ryuzaki isn't here?"

"Maybe he's asleep," Matsuda griped, "like we should be." Groggily, he went up to the chair and dropped down onto it, letting his whole body slouch as he shut his eyes.

Light glanced at Matsuda wearily. "Don't be ridiculous, Matsuda- Ryuzaki never sleeps. But I've really never seen him outside of this room, either... where could he be?"

The group's thoughts were interrupted when a very faint sound emitted from upstairs- so faint they almost missed it.

"Hey- maybe that's Ryuzaki now," Aizawa suggested, setting his own things down beside Soichiro's and moving toward the staircase to greet the detective.

But as the noises grew louder, it became increasingly apparent that they were not at all footsteps- and they grew more and more frequent and continued to increase in volume until the men downstairs were finally able to make out just what they were.

Sticky, clear liquid was spurting all over your thighs as they trembled, L's nose still buried in your sopping heat as he relentlessly licked your swollen clit, his warm tongue running rapidly over your soaking folds and tracing your entrance teasingly. Whimpering as you orgasmed violently, spraying your cum all over L's lips and hands, you made an attempt to close your legs, face burning as you drenched the man beneath you in your juices. However, your efforts were futile as L held your legs open, his grip like steel, and you were only met with a monotone "Stay still" as you struggled to keep your moans from getting too loud. You gripped the sides of the chair you were sitting on as roughly as you could, needing to focus on something, anything else but the consuming ecstasy exploding within your body. L's eyes lifted to meet yours, his pink tongue visible to you as you watched him continue to eat you out despite this being your second orgasm in the past twenty minutes. L had allowed you absolutely no recovery time after you first came, and now here you were, squirting like mad and almost in tears from your overstimulation.

"Ryu- Ryuzaki, there a-are people downstairs," you managed in between shaky moans, breathing ragged and chest heaving. "Don't you have w-ork- work to do?"

"Don't try and distract me, Y/N," L replied, swirling his tongue around your throbbing clit and making you cry out. "I'll be finished as soon as you're done messing up my hair." To emphasize, he removed his hand from your trembling thigh and twirled a strand of dark, damp hair in between his fingers, humiliating you more and making you drop your eyes, flustered.

Still, cum continued to drip from your entrance, your sex pulsating as you tried to bring your high down, wrenching your hips in the chair as his tongue tormented your already aching pussy. "L- L, please, I can't- I'm done, I pro-promise."

L lifted a brow at you. "Oh- you're done? Then what's this?" Without warning, he plunged a slender finger into you to point out the liquid still spilling out, and all you could manage was a strangled groan, your back arching. "Be patient... 'kay?"

Downstairs, the room had been silent for a while- disbelieving of what they'd just heard upstairs. Finally, his eyes narrowed into suspicious slits, Light demanded, "What the- hell?"

There was no response from the other three men. Matsuda now seemed fully awake, sitting at attention in his chair with his eyes wide. Soichiro had his head in his hand, his eyes closed in exasperation. Aizawa simply stood idle, shell-shocked. Everyone was silent, completely stunned.

The room was still frozen when the absent detective finally dragged himself down the stairs, hands in his jeans pockets and barefoot as usual. Nothing of the incident with you remained, his clothes, face, and hair as clean as they usually were. Not acknowledging the bewildered stares of the task force members that followed him to where he sat down, he cleared his throat and turned to face the men in the room. "Hello, everyone. There is much to be done- shall we begin?"

It was just after that greeting that more footsteps sounded on the stairs- but when the men all looked up again, still jilted from the prior incident, it was not someone they recognized. It was you, also having cleaned up, and nothing of the occurrence minutes prior remained in your physical appearance nor the way you carried yourself. Casually and as if you knew them, you nodded at the task force men as you passed by them, L not turning to greet you. You felt their eyes seem to zoom in on you when you made no attempt to hide the pendant around your neck- the single charm being L's signature initial inscribed in gothic font.

None of the men visibly returned your greeting, but you brushed it off, simply approaching L and leaning over his hunched-over body to pluck two miniature cupcakes from the arsenal of desserts he had laying across the surface of his desk. Your sweets acquired, you lifted your arm slightly in a small wave before disappearing back up the stairs.

L, although covertly, glanced up towards you and watched you vanish before turning back to his work.

#l lawliet #anime #headcanons #death note #death note smut #l x reader smut #l x reader #l lawliet x reader #l lawliet x reader smut #l headcanons #ryuzaki death note #l lawliet headcanons #death note headcanons #l lawliet fic

[majimemegoro]

Matagi in yakuza 5 !

I was doing some research and it looks like the hunting village saejima visits in y5 is a Matagi village. Idk how much of this would be obvious to japanese fans, but it wasn’t at all obvious to me so im just gonna share my findings here in the hopes that they may be interesting or useful to someone else who was ignorant of this cultural context. I do think identifying the hunting village as Matagi gives a new angle of understanding to some elements of the mountain segment of the game.

Disclaimers: what ive written here is just based on a few articles I read. They weren’t even detailed articles. I am by no means an expert on the Matagi, and I would love to hear any input from people who know more than i do ! Now Read On

So the Matagi are a traditional northern hunting culture (perhaps indigenous Ainu in origin) who emphasize maintaining ecological balance and holding respect for life. They use every piece of the animal out of gratitude for the animal’s sacrifice. All of this matches perfectly with what Okudera says about hunting. he doesn’t emphasize the overtly spiritual aspects of Matagi culture, but these spiritual aspects are reflected in the mountain gods that Saejima interacts with and also arguably in the presence of Yama-oroshi as a kind of supernatural manifestation of the hunters’ crimes in upsetting balance on the mountain. (side-note: if anyone can offer insight into the etymology of the name yama-oroshi  “ヤマオロシ” id be interested to hear it, as all I could find out was something about graters and something about management…)

(A digression on okudera: as I recall the game does not specify his origins: he might have originally come from a hunting village and reconnected with his culture after escaping from jail, or more likely he is just appropriating the culture of the village lol. either way though I think we are warranted in reading Okudera as the village’s appropriate representative of the traditional hunting culture, given that he is the mouthpiece for the above hunting ethos, one which perfectly matches with the Matagi in the sources I looked at. more on this later.)

Additional evidence for the villagers as being Matagi: Mrs Nishina explicitly calls the villagers’ way of life “traditional,” contrasting it to recreational hunting. now some of the Matagi common game don’t match with the game available in the game (see what I did there??). For instance there is no japanese serow, but this makes sense given that hunting the serow has been banned and it would be pretty icky and weird to have a video game incentivize the killing of a specially protected animal. But their culture features a focus on – you guessed it – bears. The Matagi also mostly wear contemporary (vs traditional) clothing, so the village’s fairly modern aesthetic by no means precludes their being Matagi. finally, reading the village as a Matagi village also fits with what the villagers say about their being permitted to hunt by special license after regular sport hunting was made illegal, since the Matagi hunt by permit. So thought I was on the right track with identifying the village as Matagi, then I saw this picture:

Recognize the outfits? Look at the crossed ropes in the front holding up a lil fur cape/vest thing. It’s a very distinctive visual feature, I would go so far as to say unmistakable. Okudera #confirmed for Matagi.

(incidentally I think okudera’s fur thing might be serow fur, the serow being an animal which it is now banned to hunt even for the Matagi)

Ok now so what about it? The village being a Matagi village accounts for a few textual features that I found confusing. For instance it explains what Saejima says about the villagers “selling out” by accepting outsiders’ commissions for prize game. I was confused by this comment bc I think of people as only “selling out” if they know they are doing something bad, while the villagers didn’t seem to know that they would tip the ecological balance on the mountain. But in light of the Matagi culture it makes sense that hunting on commission would be a violation of their standards: hunting is permissible only for subsistence purposes. ‘subsistence’ doesn’t mean you can only consume/use animals and not sell them, but it does mean that you shouldnt hunt because it’s lucrative or in order to maintain a lavish lifestyle. Hunting is only appropriate to sustain a simple lifestyle. So by cashing in on the hunting boom prior to the enactment of the new hunting regulations, the villagers violated Matagi values whether or not they knew that their actions would do tangible harm to the mountain ecosystem.

(Of course this creates a huge ludonarrative dissonance when we think about HOW MANY animals saejima kills, in my case to sell the pelts and, uh, hoard the meat forever basically. But ludonarrative dissonance doesn’t admit of literary analysis so lets move on)

Reading the hunters as Matagi also adds new tragic depth to the attack of Yama-Oroshi and its consequences. When Mrs Nishina talks about how all the villagers used to help each other out, but don’t anymore since suffering starvation after the attack, shes describing more than just a breakdown of norms - shes describing an actual cultural crisis, and the dissolution of hundreds of years of tradition. The traditional Matagi collectivism apparently began to decline after guns replaced spears, obviating the need for group hunting. But what Mrs Nishina says points out that Yama-Oroshi’s attack sounded something like the final death knell for Matagi collectivist traditions in their village. Mrs Nishina even says explicitly that “our entire way of life [was at risk of being] lost to the ages.” :O :(

I have one last vague thought, which is related to Okudera’s outsider status. Whether or not he is ethnically (?) Matagi, he clearly did not spend any or most of his life following a Matagi lifestyle. Yet he seems to be the strongest adherent of Matagi traditions. Specifically okudera exemplifies the Matagi principle of mutual aid (though interestingly we mostly see him exercise it in helping outsiders rather than the other villagers, and it also does turn out that the villagers are looking after okudera more than initially appears…). Mr nishina also says that Okudera knows the mountain and travels quickly the best out of all the villagers, and that okudera reminded them all “how a hunter should live.” And sakurai: “okudera-san is truer to the spirit of the hunt than any of us native villagers.” Overall okudera, an outsider, is the authoritative representative of the Matagi ethos, a fact which receives a powerful visual representation in his traditional hunting attire. i wonder what this could mean thematically… something about the power of cultural sharing to help isolated individuals, who then if they are truly dedicated can help to revitalize a culture in turn ? but okudera himself attributes his understanding of the way of the hunter to the tutelage of the village and the mountain…

Thats all I have to say right now. If anyone has thoughts, more informed than mine or not, id love to hear em ! I hope this treatment was respectful and interesting.

Im gonna put sources in a reblog so this isn’t hidden from search results.

#yakua 5 #meta #okudera #saejima #matagi #sato kiyoshi #majimeta #memecomradeoriginal #saejima taiga

[thedreadvampy]

Tbf on the Martin thing while i know that's not what you meant the reason alot of people got pussy was cause it was right about the time they'd been an issue with acephobia in the greater fandom already and the way you phrased it tbh did really feel like you were equating ace!Martin and Martin being infantilised in a post about martin being infantilised being bad. Basically it kinda sounded like you didn't want people hc-ing Martin as ace because it was infantilising (which also then linked back to some shit that happened with ace discourse) and the post blew up a bit and that mixed with you Knowing Jonny and you coming off pretty aggro or not wanting to give a straight answer on what you meant (or that's what people felt you were doing) yeah that's why that went that way.

Tbf I'm not really interested in relitigating who was right and who was wrong in that particular argument, I feel the way I feel and other people feel differently and I think everything's pretty much already been said like six months ago. I asked because I couldn't remember what happened not because I was longing for the days of pointless arguing.

however because I can't resist digging myself deeper Ever I'll relitigate it anyway under the cut

I have little to no involvement with the wider fandom so I'm not sure how their acephobia was on me in any way

I could have worded the post better but I maintain it takes a pretty bad faith reading of the post to think that my problem is with ace Martin hcs when I specifically said both in the post and the tags and further clarifications that I was talking about the way that people desexualise fat, queer and abused people OUTSIDE of ace hcs

I have said about a zillion times that me knowing Jonny doesn't mean I know shit about TMA and that we've literally never talked about it. which being the case it is pure wild that people think it's a reasonable reason to treat me like some sort of voice of authority.

I have also said about a billion times and will say again that people aren't in fact entitled to demand a full accounting of a stranger's opinions out of the blue. like it is, in fact, confusing and surprising to me the degree to which people took personally the idea that a stranger could be annoyed or disinterested in discussing something that they wanted them to talk about. that's why I keep thinking there must be more to the anger about me from certain users. but like nah apparently 90% of the reason people get pissed off at me is either a) Using The Wrong Tone To Talk To Myself On My Personal Blog which they interpret as attacking them personally or b) Not Being Constantly Available On Demand To Answer And Reanswer Questions That Shouldn't Even Be Questions In The Full Knowledge That Any Poor Wording Will Be Treated As Malice. Sorry, my tone's getting a tad aggro again, I do recognise that, but I find it really frustrating to have it consistently treated as deeply inherently suspicious and/or malicious to not immediately rattle off a perfect answer to "questions" which are fairly thinly veiled traps. like there is no good answer to "what's your opinion on ace people." "ace people exist" is not a matter of opinion and I could just say "ace people are valid and good and fine uwu" which is like. True. but also utterly trite and validates the idea that point in a random stranger's inbox to grill them about Which Minorities Are Valid Uwu is in any way an acceptable or boundaried way to behave. Which I don't believe it is, and treating it as if it's a totally normal and fine thing to do just to get people to leave me alone would be pretty unprincipled imo.

Like I say I've said all this before, I'm just retreading old ground. But in terms of the Why Did This Blow Up, yeah I hear what you're saying but even trying to step back from my own experience and view this from outside, I'm still pretty surprised that a kind of shittily worded post at a bad time (from a blog that was pretty detached from the wider TMA fandom) followed by an Insufficient Disavowal of extremely nebulous accusations of acephobia, ended up being such a big thing.

Like literally. the majority of the messages I was getting were i n c r e d i b l y broad and vague. they said things like "what's your opinion on ace people" and "are you an aphobe" and I repeatedly answered them saying "I mean ace people exist and are my friends and comrades, what's the question?"

And I hope that when people raised specific issues about my actual conduct I answered them. I certainly tried to, to the best of my abilities - like I got a bit defensive initially but I agreed that my wording in the Martin post was poor and I did my best to clarify my intention (which had been to say "IF WE ASSUME THAT Martin isn't aroace," which I thought was a fair assumption when from context I was talking about a Martin being written in sexual or romantic relationships, but which I phrased as "Martin isn't [list of items including aroace]" bc as with most of my posts I wrote it in one go without reading it back). I kept saying that if people were specific about what was wrong with my conduct specifically, what they wanted explained and what they wanted me to change, I was happy to discuss that, but I wasn't happy to give some sort of Simple Definitive Answer to broad questions that were not mine to speak authoritatively on and which I often was like "I can't even begin to tell you my opinions on the answer until we unpick the question a LOT" (like. yes I could say honestly that I believe that ace/aro people are queer as a topline answer but if we go any deeper than that then we need to unpick what queerness is, what aro/aceness is, what context we're talking in, what is meant by queer spaces, etc etc and it's not something I would feel honest giving a yes/no answer to when a lot of people mean a lot of different things by the question, some of which I agree with and some of which I don't.) And it's not helped by the fact that when I have tried to answer questions in a way which feels honest, which inevitably gets long and ramble bc that's how my brain works, people have repeatedly got really hostile not because of what I say but because I've written an answer longer than "yes I fully agree with every possible permission of your point." like literally I have had people rant about how I'm being defensive or dodging the question when a) they haven't actually read my answer by their own admission and b) I'm literally. answering the question. it's fundamentally baffling to me that giving a short unnuanced answer with the intent of getting someone off your back is seen as less "dodging the question" than giving a paragraphs-long thoughtful and inconclusive answer. like this isn't a fucking debate. I'm not here to win an argument. I'm here to think about what I believe and why, and sometimes an honest answer is neither simple or conclusive.

idk man this post is actively unhelpful to everyone but me, but while I don't WANT to relitigate this every time I mention it I DO want to be absolutely clear that I have thought about all these things at length. some things were my fuckup, some things I stand by, but I still think it ended up with a response wildly disproportionate to the actual mistakes I made.

(which were there. evidently. but it seems like a very strange and spiralling way to react to "person who words things ambiguously and doesn't always give immediate clear responses to broad questions about complex issues")

#'what we're not going to do is persistently relitigate things' #*proceeds to write Another Billion Word Essay relitigating things* #apologies friends i have 0 self control #btw anon for clarity: where i say 'you' it's an impersonal you i don't mean. you. as a person. #I'm not going like YOU ANON YOU DID ALL THIS #but i am uhhhhhhh like yeah? i know all this reasoning? i just think they're bad reasons? #which i explained like. multiple times. they're all to me pretty based in a way of thinking i just can't wrap my head around #where there's like. no boundaries between individual and community actions and everything is personally addressed to You The Viewer #even if it Very Explicitly Isn't #like it's really. really hard for me to account for because i can't understand how you get to that headspace #(again impersonal you)

[shawnsorangeglasses]

Better Conversations - Part 3

2.3k words

Get you some tea, it’s BC Part 3

Hello yellow, you gotta read part 2 if you haven’t already. Better yet, here’s the masterlist.

It feels like the whole world has gotten wrapped up in Shawn’s appearance with (Y/N) in the streets of New York. She faces some consequences.

warnings: a little dramatic, sweeter ending

......................

News of Shawn’s mystery “girlfriend” caught fire and spread rapidly across all social media platforms. Fans were either happy, suspicious, or appalled. No matter what they felt about it, young girls from all over the world began to analyze and pick apart pictures of them together in the streets of New York. The group of fans they met at the diner took a video of their meeting with Shawn and that only stirred up some more talk online as well. There were screenshots and red circles and literal YouTube videos on this. It’s not like (Y/N) and Shawn were caught holding hands or making out, but all the gossips sites wasted no words and no time getting their articles out for clicks.

The video of them only caught her from the chest down, a snippet of her voice, and Shawn’s full body sat at the lunch counter. Some people were kind enough to comment that whoever this mystery girl was had really nice legs. That seemed to be the only positive aspect in all the chaos.

Bea, (Y/N)’s sister, only recognized her because of her clothes, specifically the boots she always wore. She was just as confused and shocked as the rest of the world when she called. It took about ten minutes to calm her down and explain the whole mess.

Shawn still had to leave for Toronto that night. Goodbyes weren’t even an option. His people wanted him and him alone at the airport, which (Y/N) understood. In her mind, she had already caused enough trouble.

Miraculously enough, not one person had been able to place (Y/N)’s face or social identity. She never really posted pictures of herself online and rarely allowed anyone to take a picture of her and post it without permission. Her Instagram page only had three posts, all city photography, and her profile picture only displayed a solitary bumblebee doodle. For a while, it seemed like the damage would repair itself. (Y/N) thought she may have been in the clear.

Then she woke up. More photos were published. Her phone had ten missed calls. Eight from Jason and two from Lawrence Derringer, the head executive of his branch. (Y/N) prepared for the worst.

It was Sunday by now. The Jason and Mr. Derringer opened up their offices just to talk to her in the conference room. She wore the most conservative outfit she could find in her closet.

“Ms. (Y/L/N), are you aware of the story that has surfaced about you and Mr. Shawn Mendes in the news?”

“Yes Mr. Derringer, but I can explain. Nothing happened at all between Shawn and me. I would never get involved with a client in that fashion, and as far as I know, they never even got a picture of my face.”

“I’m afraid you’re mistaken, Ms. (Y/L/N).” They present a laptop screen to her, opened to a TMZ article with her and Shawn stood at the gemstone pop-up shop. Her face is clear and visible. “This was published eight hours ago,” Jason mumbles.

“I know your intentions must have been pure, Ms. (Y/L/N). What I’m struggling to understand is why you never questioned any of the endeavors you had with Mr. Mendes. Harmless as they may have been, this could have a negative effect on our firm’s relationship with him as well as our image in the industry. Did this not occur to you when you realized you were being photographed? Surely it must have.”

(Y/N) doesn’t answer, right away. Saying no, would have been a lie. She did consider the possibility of them getting a little publicity, but she didn’t think so far ahead about how that might affect the company.

“I suppose you’re going to have to fire me then?”

Mr. Derringer glances at Jason, then back at (Y/N). “Fortunately, no. You will not be fired for this. Apparently, Shawn called our offices several times last night trying to get a hold of one of us. He managed to reach me and said the day out was his all idea and that you should not be fired for the events that followed.”

“So, I’m not in trouble?”

“Well yes and no. I told him you would keep your job but that does not mean you can get off without some repercussions. Since Whitman was the one who hired you, I figured he should be the one to enforce that.”

Jason steps forward, looking like he was trying so hard to be authoritative in front of his superior. “I made the decision to prohibit you from attending any future corporate events where Shawn or any other Island Records artist may also attend. It’s probably for the best that you don’t see Mr. Mendes anymore in public for any reason. Your recent promotion has also been revoked as well and your salary will revert back to the earnings you made prior to said promotion.”

(Y/N)’s jaw set, keeping her tongue from saying everything she wanted to spit in his stupid Ivy League face. Everything she’s wanted to say to him for the past eight months feels like holding acid in the back of her throat. She swallowed her thoughts.

“I understand. My sincerest apologies, Mr. Derringer. It won’t happen again.”

“I certainly hope not, Ms. (Y/L/N). You’re a valued member of our staff and you contribute so much to the floor and the board. It’d be a shame to lose you over something like this. Jason will see you out. Have a good evening.”

(Y/N) is already at the elevator smashing the down button before Jason can even make it down the hall. Tears of humiliation sting her eyes as the elevator slowly takes her and Jason down from the top floor. He tries to lay a hand on her shoulder, apologetically, but she shrugs it off and steps further from him. If he was sorry, it only because he felt like he had to be, not because he actually was.

“Are you seriously pissed at me? You brought this on yourself.”

“You have no right to try and keep me from seeing him or anyone.”

“That’s what you think this is about? Maybe you ought to think twice before sleeping your way through our list of clients.”

Of course, it’s all my fault that I didn’t feel like eating alone one afternoon.

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t aware going to lunch with one man is the equivalent to shoving my tongue down his throat.”

“You might as well have been, the way you were smiling at each other in those pictures.”

“I knew it. I knew you had a problem with me seeing other people. You can go and fuck every girl in Times Square if you want, but I have to sit idly by like your personal dumping ground?”

“You can see whoever you want. Just not him. You should know better. This firm—”

“Like you give a damn about the firm. This is about you and your fat ego. You can’t handle the fact that somebody might even be a little interested in me because you know that as soon as I find someone who actually gives a damn about me, I won’t have a reason to come back to you for a goddamned quickie in the janitor’s closet.”

“It’s that kind of thinking that keeps you behind that desk.”

(Y/N) falls silent. No more words are spoken. There was no use in trying to argue or be right. Jason was jealous again. He’d done this once before when another coworker, someone on (Y/N)’s pay grade, showed interest in her. The elevator doors finally open and she treads heavily out the front doors, never looking back.

…………………..

(Y/N) spent the rest of the evening wrapped in her bed sheets, at first crying with her makeup still on, then eating leftovers and watching Criminal Minds reruns. Hearing Dr. Reid talk about m.o.’s calmed her down. She’d turned her phone off hours ago just to get some peace. Family and friends were calling and texting her non-stop yesterday evening about her appearance with Shawn. At the time it was too much to handle with possibility of getting fired still looming over her head. But now with the worst over, (Y/N) figured she should probably check her notifications for anything important.

Through all the messages from cousins and people who barely knew her, one single text from Shawn floated to the very top.

[please call me]

He sent it about an hour after (Y/N)’s meeting with Mr. Derringer. It’s 1 AM now but Shawn was in LA. She checks the time zones first then finds his contact and presses the call button. He picks up on the first ring.

“Hey, are you okay?”

(Y/N) grins for the first time today, more than happy to hear that soft voice again. “I should be asking you that. Every news outlet has a story on you. And me, I guess.”

“Yeah but are you okay?”

It sounds like he’d been waiting to ask her this question all day. Technically, (Y/N) was okay, but she could be better, given the circumstances. She chooses her next words carefully.

“I…I will be. I didn’t get fired if that’s what you mean. Thank you for that by the way.”

“I’m so sorry. I said everything would be fine and I should have known this would happen.”

“It’s not your fault. People aren’t that crazy about it. Your fans are being relatively nice to me, now that they know my face.”

“They know your face?”

“Yeah. More photos came out this morning.”

Shawn goes quiet for a moment. It sounds like he’s moving into another room away from the chatter in the background. “Could we video chat?” The new echo of his voice sounds like he’s moved into the bathroom.

(Y/N) looked at her reflection in the mirror on the wall across the room. Dramatic streaks of mascara still trailed down her cheeks and her eyes were still very red. She should say no, but she desperately wants to see his face. And this technically didn’t go against Jason’s stupid new rules for her.

“Give me a minute.”

She washes her face in the bathroom the best she can. Her eyes are still red when she’s done. Fuck it, she thinks. Maybe he won’t notice.

(Y/N) flops back down on her bed and opens the app. Shawn’s face pops up on her screen, riddled with concern. He’s sat in the bathtub, one in a hotel probably, wearing a white t-shirt, hair fluffy and wild without its gel. One “s” curl fell on his forehead.

Unfortunately, he does notice. “You’ve been crying?”

(Y/N) bites her lip. “Maybe.”

Shawn doesn’t speak. He just wants to look at the girl on his screen. The truth is he didn’t really have a good reason to facetime her other than just wanting to see her again. He was so sure that she would never want to talk to him again after all of this.

“I want to know why, but you don’t have to tell me,” he says.

“No, it’s alright. I’m not fired but I am never allowed to be seen in public with you again as long as I work there.” (Y/N) sniffles. “Which is fucking stupid.”

“So quit,” he mutters. The words leave his mouth before he can think twice about saying them.

“Quit?”

“I mean—I’m kidding, that’s not what I meant. God, that sounded really bad.”

“It did,” she says through a smile. “But I have thought about it. About a year ago actually.”

“What changed your mind?”

“I met someone. At work. We’re not a real couple but...” (Y/N) realizes she doesn’t have an appropriate label for whatever she and Jason are, but Shawn seems to understand. “I wasn’t trying to get ahead. I did actually like him once upon a time. But he never wanted to be anything more with me. Then he became my boss and things just moved under the table.”

Shawn thinks this time before speaking. “Was it that guy you were with at the party?”

“Damn, you’re good. How much of that did you see?”

“I saw when he tried to get you to dance. And when he was at the bar.”

“Well if this music thing ever bombs—it won’t—you should be a detective.”

Shawn gives her a weak smile. A piece of his heart broke a little when she admitted to being in a relationship, albeit a noncommittal and toxic one. Someone already had her heart and her eyes.

“Do you still love him?”

(Y/N) thinks about it for second. Love? It seemed so unattainable for her at this point. At the start, Jason was romantic but never with the usual gestures. Just clever lines and secret lunch dates on the rooftop. Then one day he just stopped. Looking back, it doesn’t seem like love anymore. Just regular sneaking around. “I don’t think we ever made it to the love stage of it all.”

Shawn slouches down into the tub more, forcing his long legs out and his feet up on the tiled wall in front of him.

“I take it back. Maybe you should quit.”

(Y/N) blinks at him. “Very funny. I may be unhappy, but I still have bills to pay. That bastard docked my salary too, so I’ll be working double shifts again.”

“No, I’m serious, (Y/N). If you go in tomorrow and put it your two weeks’ notice, you can have a job as my assistant.”

She sits up in her bed, not believing a word of what those bright pink lips were telling her. “I thought we we’re joking when we talked about that.”

He shrugs. “I wasn’t.”

“Doesn’t there have to be a few more conversations with a few more people before you just bring a new person on board?”

“I’ll talk to Andrew tonight,” he promises. “He knows who you are, and I’ve told him how hard you work.”

“I’d have to think about it Shawn. That’s a big leap.”

��I know, but I do mean it. You have a job waiting for you whenever you want it.”

(Y/N) tried feel good about this, but everything about working for Shawn scared her. She knew his intentions were good but there was more risk than that. What if she fell into the same hole she did with Jason? What would fans say? What would people think?

“I call you when I have an answer.”

......................

taglist:

@spider-mendes @sebsdreamboat @innositer

#shawn mendes #shawn peter raul mendes #shawn mendes fanfic #shawn mendes fanfiction #shawn mendes imagine

[slusheeduck]

yo im all for hector and victoria being opposites that love teasing each other and getting on eachothers nerves. but im also 100% here for overprotective!hector since shes the youngest of everyone there. victoria accidentally sticks herself with her sewing needles and hector busts out a medical kit and lathers her hands in lacquer. she knocks her knee against a corner and hector forces her to sit when she sees her near tears. imagine Hector fighting off any danger for her bc shes a baby to him??

Thereare several sounds that Victoria cannot stand. Just a few of these sounds include: scrapingsilverware, dripping faucets, las chicharras.

The newest soundis “MIJA!!”

She didn’t used to mind itbefore. When her parents said it, it filled her with warmth and a sense ofbelonging. When her Tia Rosita said it, it was always dotingly or gentlyconcerned. When her abuelita said it, it usually came with some sort of adviceor correction. 

But her abuelito…ay. 

If so much as a “Oof!”escaped her, there was an immediate, panicked “MIJA!” that followed fromthe next room. And next thing she knew, he was fussing over her like she was a child (andas if he wasn’t a child) and checking her for damage. Ifthere was–however slight–he whipped out all manner of first aid to try and fix it.“Don’t you roll your eyes at me,” he’d chide–never quite as authoritative as Mama Imelda, but he tried–as he wrapped the newest chip or tiny crack. “You look at it now and think, ‘Oh, it just a little thing. Why bother with it?’ and then suddenly you end up with this.” He’d always point to the duct tape on his arm for emphasis. More than once, Victoria was tempted to say “But my bones aren’t as brittle as yours,” but even she knew there were snarks better left bitten down.

It was ridiculous. Here he was with broken ribs, a wonky fibula, and half-held together with duct tape, and he was scolding her for bumping her arm against a sewing machine. No one else got this treatment! But since she was the granddaughter, apparently that meant she was unable to handle herself. 

The very thought grated on her for weeks. Here she was, more than double Hector’s age, and he was acting like she was an irresponsible child. The more she stewed on it, the more distracted she got. Until…

“Ay!” 

Pain shot up through her femur as she slammed her knee against the leather splitter, and she just barely bit back the stream of less-than-polite words at her teeth as she heard the inevitable “MIJA!!”

He was in the shop in a second, ready to hover and fuss and treat her like a child. Between the pain in her knee and the still-boiling frustration, the words spilled out before she could even begin to self-edit.

“Don’t. Don’t you even start. I’m well over fifty and I’m not going to be treated like a little girl who can’t keep herself out of trouble,” she snapped at him. “You missed me at that age, Hector! And you don’t get to make that up! You’re not even a grandfather, you’re just…just a little chico playing pretend!”

She knew it was harsh, even for her, the moment it left her mouth, and she was ready for the usual fight about respect that would inevitably happen when her sharp tongue got the better of her. 

She wasn’t ready for the way his eyes widened before they flicked away from her, or the way his shoulders automatically drew in as if it could make him smaller. His head hung, just a little, as his eyes flicked up to her a few more times.

“You’re right,” he said softly. “I shouldn’t treat you like a child, Victoria. Lo siento.” He hesitated. “Do you need–?”“No.”“Of course. My apologies.” The phrase was earnest, lacking the usual irony it had when he said it. That made something uncomfortable twist in Victoria. But she wasn’t going to apologize, not now. Something had needed to be said.

But, she realized as she watched him quietly leave the room, maybe she could have been a touch nicer.

She managed to keep the guilt at bay for the rest of the work day. Mama Imelda gave her some stern looks, but said nothing. Papa and Tia Rosita glanced her way, but did their best to keep conversation light. And Papa Hector…well, she didn’t know where he’d disappeared to, and she didn’t ask.

She found him in the courtyard once the family called it a day, tapping a pen against a new leather notebook as he stared at a blank page. She sighed to herself, glancing upward. She knew what she should do. But she didn’t want to do it. It’d be easy to just head inside and not talk to him for the rest of the day.

Ay, Papa Hector was lucky she loved him.

He looked up, startled, as she sat down beside him with a huff. 

“First you give me your rotten eyesight, then you give me these massive kneecaps that bang into everything. And now I’ve been limping like you the whole day.” 

Hector didn’t respond, just waited with a curious frown for her to get to her point. Victoria sighed, taking off her glasses before letting her head fall back.

“Papa Hector, I know you’re trying to help. And I…” She shut her eyes and sucked in a breath. “I shouldn’t have been so…mean. Well, I mean, you must have heard the way my knee hit that estupido splitter…”

“It was like we had a church bell in the house.”

She peeked an eye open as Hector finally spoke, and she nodded. “So I think you can excuse a little of that. But…I know you’re doing your best.” She finally lifted her head to look at him. “You are a good abuelito. Still annoying, but good.” His mouth turns up, but before he can speak, she adds, “But Papa Hector, por favor, no more playing nurse.”

Hector gave her a small, grateful smile before returning to his usual self. “Si, si, claro, niña. But while you can blame me for your eyes and your kneecaps, that matching piece of duct tape you’ll wind up with on your arm will be your own fault.”

“I’ll take that risk.”

#You wanted Hector protecting Victoria but what you got was Victoria being mean to Hector #my apologies

[ellanainthetardis]

I have a prompt. What if instead of actually killing Haymitchs mother and brother snow took them captive just in case in his mansion(not tortured though bc that'd be pointless if Haymitchs didn't know they were alive) and post mj they are found and how they reacted to Effie and stuff.

I know @allonsysilvertonguedid one like that, hopefully this one is very different, mostly because we havevery different OCs. Mostly I say thisbecause I really like her one shot about it so it was anopportunity to advertize it, so go check it out XD [X]

Family Doesn’t End With Blood

“Mama…” he whispered when his mother suddenlygrabbed him as he walked past her, just like she had been doing ever since theyhad been reunited. She was overwhelmed by the suite they had been allotted atthe Presidential Mansion, he figured. It was too much after spending years in acell.

He melted into her embrace, still unable to believeit was real. It was too huge.

He had just been settling Effie in his room atthe Mansion, having finally secured her release from Coin – and it wasn’t a pardon but at least it was progress – when Plutarch had showed upwith the news that a new underground prison where the Capitol had been keepingvery special people had been found. He wasn’t the only one who had seen peoplehe had believed to be dead for decades walk out into the light.

It was still an adjustment.

The theory was that Snow had been keeping themin case he needed pressure points. Why he hadn’t used the trump card during thewar was anyone’s guess. Haymitch had deduced it was because Snow had known hewouldn’t believe him.

He could barely believe it right now.

He met his brother’s eyes over their mother’sshoulder. Hayden had been keeping his distance, staying close to Mabel. The twoof them had been sharing loaded looks that Haymitch had been trying not tointerpret. His reunion with his old girlfriend hadn’t been what he would haveexpected – not that he knew what he would have expected. Suddenly, she had beenthere, flesh and blood again instead of the ghost who had haunted his nightsfor so long, and he had been struck by the realization they weren’t sixteenanymore.

There had been no tearful hugs with her, barelyan awkward shuffling of feet and an apology on his part.

He had been apologizing a lot.

They were skittish, the lot of them. Not thathe could blame them. Twenty-five years in a prison, in a closed world where theonly constant was each other, would do that to anybody. He couldn’t imagine howit had been, how they felt now that they were free…

Hayden seemed angry with him and Haymitchcouldn’t blame him. He had only been eleven when they had been taken, it wasmore than half his life stole away. Because of him.

Truthfully, his mother was the only one of thethree who looked pleased to have found him again. He hadn’t left her side inthe last twenty-four hours and he had answered her questions to the best of hisabilities, trying not to take too much to heart her obvious disappointment andsadness at finding him single and without children. His life had come to apause on the day he had won the Hunger Games.

The knocking on the door was a welcomeddistraction and he broke the embrace, keeping a hand on his mother’s shoulder,unwilling to let her go too far from him. She was so frail, so old…

“Come in!” he called out, in the authoritativevoice he usually reserved for Thirteen’s soldiers. If he had hated every secondof his stay in that District, his dislike for Coin and her men had onlyincreased since Snow’s official surrender.

Effie’s head popped in the suite, soon followedby the rest of her body. The blue dress hung loose on her underweight figure,she hadn’t bothered with a wig – probably because it was more than she couldmanage with her right arm strapped in a sling – and her blond hair lookedtousled. She flashed him a guilty look that soon morphed into a cheerful fakesmile.

“My apologies.” she offered brightly. “I didnot mean to intrude.” She briefly met his eyes before looking at everyone elsein turn. “You will find me silly, ofcourse, but I had the most horriblenightmare and I could not settle down. All those soldiers stomping in thecorridors…” A fake laugh and shifting eyes. “Quite childish of me, of course.”

She did her best to keep up a front butHaymitch saw what she wasn’t quite saying. She was still shaking a little andshe looked just as disturbed as every time he had been forced to hold her aftera nightmare.

Ever since her rescue, he had stayed with heras much as he could, only leaving her to go sit with one of the kids. She hadspent the last twenty-four hours on her own and he wasn’t surprised she hadn’tbeen faring so well.

“I amsorry for intruding.” she added with obvious apprehension.

He didn’t miss the way she seized Mabel up. Hisformer girlfriend was standing next to the window with Hayden, apparently moreinterested by what was happening outside than in the room. After twenty-five yearsspent underground, he could understand. Effie didn’t appear to be certain ofher welcome and he wondered if she truly thought he would forsake her for Mabelafter everything they had been through together.

Once upon a time, maybe…

Now?

His mother was looking at him curiously andHaymitch cleared his throat, outstretching his hand without really thinkingabout it.

“Come meet my family, sweetheart.” he offered.“That’s my mother. My brother Hayden. And… Mabel.” Effie nodded to all of themin turn, grabbing his hand without needing to be offered twice, standing closerto him than propriety dictated. She had lost her obsession for manners andappearances somewhere in the Capitol’s cells. His mother visibly brightened,she was studying Effie and their linked hands with rapt attention. He clearedhis throat again. “Mama, this is Effie. She’s my…”

And he faltered, his eyes darting to Mabel, whowas still ignoring them.

“Colleague.” Effie supplied easily, withoutmissing a beat. “I am delighted to meet you, Mrs Abernathy.”

His mother, he saw, was already taken. And whynot? She was a charmer. Even with the bags under her eyes, the absence ofmake-up and the unhealthy pallor of her skin.

“She’s Capitol.” Hayden growled with openhatred, glaring at Effie.

She flinched and stepped closer to him beforeremembering herself and looking embarrassed. He squeezed her hand, his thumbrunning soothing circles on her skin.

“Yeah, she is.” he replied. “She’s also my friend. You’ve got a problem with that?”

“Boys.” their mother chided them, soundingdistraught.

“Just think it’s odd you would make friends with the people who locked us up.”his brother retorted.

“He thought we were dead.” Mabel cut in,turning her head to look at Hayden. Their eyes met and the stare they sharedwas meaningful enough that he felt Effie relax a little next to him.

“Which makes it worse.” Hayden argued.

“She’s not like them.” Haymitch snapped. “Don’tjudge when you don’t know shit.”

“Sorry I didn’t keep up with your life, therewere no newspapers where they kept us.” his brother scowled.

“I shouldn’t have come.” Effie cut in before hecould answer, untangling her fingers from his. “Please, do not fight on myaccount. I am sorry, Haymitch, it was selfish of me.”

She was halfway to the door when he caught herarm – and ignored her instinctive flinching. “Wait.” He was almost defiant whenhe turned back to his family. “Effie’s not justmy friend, either.”

“You don’t say.” Mabel snorted, rolling hereyes at him. A small smile played on her lips though. “You’re still an idiot.Nice to know some things don’t change.” She nudged Hayden’s shoulder, her voicewas teasing. “Okay, she’s a Capitol. He still has bad taste in girls. So what?It’s not like she’s an escort…”

Effie made a face and it was apparently enoughthat his brother’s scowl deepened. “Oh, you’re fucking kidding me!”

“Haymitch?” his mother asked, uncertain.

“I am Twelve’s escort.” Effie announced, loudand clear. “And I am sorry for what happened to you but I am not your enemy.Trust me, I have enough of those.” She escaped his grip, lowering her voice. “Idid not mean to embarrass you, I am sorry, I just couldn’t be alone anymore. Iwill go back to our room. Your room.”

“Our’sfine.” he grumbled. “Won’t be long, sweetheart.”

She hesitated and then pressed a kiss on hischeek before leaving.

“An escort,Haymitch?” his mother said as soon as she was out.

“Myescort.” he corrected. “And one of the bravest women I know. She’s been throughhell…”

“And wehaven’t?” Hayden sneered.

“It’s not a competition.” Mabel cut in.“Everyone in this room has been through bad things.” Her Seam grey eyes found Haymitch’s.“But did it have to be an escort?”

“She’s been my family for a long time now.” hedeclared, a note of warning in his voice.

“Then I’m sure she’s a nice girl.” his motherinterrupted firmly. “And I can’t wait to get to know her better.”

He relaxed. “Thank you, Mama.”

“Without me.” Hayden spat, storming off to hisbedroom.

“I’ll talk to him.” Mabel declared, going afterhim.

Alone with his mother, Haymitch made a face.The whole encounter had made him desperate for a drink. He understood hisbrother’s resentment and anger. He understood.That was the worst part.

“You love her, don’t you?” his mother hummedand she didn’t wait for an answer. “That’s enough for me. If you love her, Iwill love her too.”

He wrapped his arms around her just because hecould.

“She’s impossible but you’ll like her.” hepromised. “She’s in my life to stay.”

He wouldn’t toss her aside just because anyonedisapproved.

She deserved much better than that.

#hayffie #effie trinket #haymitch abernathy #prompt #mj time #book!verse #hurt comfort #about h past #thg canon au #protective haymitch #post prison effie #established #coconuts friends #hayden #mabel