#committing to the bit is ghost’s number one job

[ghcstao3]

There’s something almost comical about the fact that Ghost lives in a classic horror movie house, Soap thinks.

When Soap is invited to join Ghost on leave at his place, Soap doesn’t hesitate to say yes. It’s a bit embarrassing, looking back, the enthusiasm with which he accepted the offer—but seeing now as Ghost drives up the obnoxiously long gravel driveway to his home, Soap is wondering if this is where he gets murdered.

Like Soap had immediately thought—the house is straight out of a thriller. Deep red brick walls covered in sprawling ivy, windows with chipped white trim and a black roof that needed to be retiled, even a rusted retro bike leaning against the side of the house—it screams I think this will be good for us just days before yet another family is brutally murdered by some evil demon within the home’s confines.

All that’s missing, as Ghost unlocks the front door with a calm familiarity, is the lightning strikes in the background while the door creaks open into a dark hallway.

At the very least, when Ghost flicks on the light, the home seems a little less in disrepair. A little less haunted, if only coated in a layer of dust since the last time he’d been out here.

Soap has to keep himself from gawking at the house’s interior and its vintage decor. It’s very not-Ghost, yet at the same time it very much is.

“Thought the whole dead-man-skeleton-motif persona was just a work thing,” Soap remarks, closing the groaning front door behind him. His other hand keeps a tight grip on the handles of his duffel.

“It is,” Ghost says, perfectly casual. “Why?”

Soap blinks. He shuffles awkwardly on his feet under Ghost’s gaze. “Nothing, I just… you really live here?”

Ghost frowns at him, wonderfully, miserably maskless, and folds defensive arms over his chest. “Yes. Is that a problem, sergeant?”

Soap is quick to shake his head. He has to remind himself that he agreed to be here, and should be grateful for the opportunity even if he’s ninety percent certain he is not making it out of this leave alive.

It doesn’t help that something suddenly thuds upstairs.

“No, it’s no’ a problem at all, just—this place is fuckin’ haunted, LT.”

Ghost snorts, arms falling loosely back to his sides, that calm, peaceful demeanour Soap had grown to know and love mercifully reappearing in place of the dark look that had briefly shadowed Ghost’s face. “It’s not haunted, Johnny. You’re a soldier—shouldn’t be afraid of the sounds of an old house settling.”

“Yeah, right,” Soap scoffs. “Settling is what makes those noises.”

Ever the bastard, Ghost cocks his head. “What noises?”

“Jesus Christ,” Soap mutters under his breath. He rolls his eyes, and tries to ignore the scratching he definitely hears coming from nearby baseboards. “Just show me to my room, then. But if I find bloody handprints on the mirror after I’ve showered or some shite like that, you’re driving me to the nearest hotel effective immediately.”

Ghost’s lips quirk upward. “Whatever you say, Johnny.”

Soap just might have to strangle the lieutenant himself—if he’s still alive by the next day to do so, of course.

#committing to the bit is ghost’s number one job #although there is also the possibility that there is in fact a spirit living there #simon ghost riley #john soap mactavish #ghost mw2 #soap mw2 #ghost x soap #soapghost #ghostsoap #ghoap

[kaleldobrev]

Pizza, Beer & Zeppelin IV

Pairing: Dean Winchester x Gn!Reader

Summary: Dean is surprised to find out what your ideal first date is; and he’s more than happy to oblige

Word Count: 1.2k

Warnings: Some cursing, Talks of Sex (Not explicit in the slightest) 

Authors Note: This is inspired by a quote Jo Harvelle said to Dean in Everybody Loves a Clown from Season 2: “Most hunters come through that door think they can get in my pants with some pizza, a six pack, and side one of Zeppelin IV.” | The writing of this is in a little bit of a different style than some of my previous work. But I hope it came out okay! Let me know what you all think | If you liked this, don’t forget to like & reblog. I really appreciate it! Feedback is always welcome ♡

Although you and Dean have been together for the last couple of years, the two of you never had a proper first date. The way the two of you first started dating started out as a traditional friends with benefits story, but without the “starting out as a friends” part.

The two of you had met at a local bar in Lebanon, your date was over an hour late, already drowning your sorrows with shot after shot of tequila. That night, you were ready to make some bad decisions to make yourself feel better.

That is when you eyed Dean Campbell and quickly started chatting him up. He was on his third beer; not nearly as intoxicated as you were, but was humoring you as you gave him cheesy pick-up lines and telling him horror stories about your job. A couple hours later, the two of you made your way in the back of his car, hungerly kissing each other all over, leading to uncomfortable yet satisfying car sex. You never did reach out to your date to reschedule.

A week later, you had spotted him at the bar again, you weren’t as drunk as you previously had been your first meeting. He remembered you, and you were surprised. He asked you if he had left any bruises on you from the week before, and asked if you had anymore horror stories about your job. “I’ll tell you more if you tell me some.” You said.

He chuckled before taking a sip of beer. “You don’t wanna know my stories Sweetheart.” He replied.

That night you slept with him again; this time at your place and not in the backseat of his impala. The next morning the two of you exchanged numbers. “Last name’s really Winchester.” He told you.

“What?” You asked.

“My last name. It’s Winchester, not Campbell.” He said.

“Winchester sounds more fitting.” You gave him a smile.

After exchanging numbers, the two of you never met up at the bar again; always meeting up at your place. You called him, or he called you; sometimes he would just show up at your door with a six pack and some take-out. The sex was great every single time; but it changed as time went on. What had started out as needy, rough, and quick, became slow, gentle, almost loving; not that you minded.

Sometimes when he would come over, the two of you wouldn’t even have sex. You would just hang out on the couch, share a kiss or two, and cuddle. You had even caught him a few times falling asleep as you scratched the back of his head as he rested his head on your shoulder. You liked that he felt comfortable enough to sleep.

The two of you never made anything official, but between the consistency of the sex the two of you would have, mixed with doing “couple things” like him offering to run errands with you, or hanging out at your place to watch a movie, it started to form into something more than just a friends with benefits situation; it started to become a committed relationship.

Slowly, over time, Dean began to open up to you. Open up about all the things he’s done over the years and who he really was. He had told you what his real job was – he was a hunter, someone that killed things people didn’t think were real but actually were. Like vampires, werewolves, ghosts, and ghouls. “I’ve killed them all,” he told you. He told you how he saved the world more than once, how he’s been to Hell and back (literally and figuratively), how he’s gone to Heaven, and even spent a year in Purgatory. “Did you know I killed Hitler once?” His proudest achievement. He’s done things you would have never thought about doing in your dizziest daydreams.

When Dean first told you these things, he expected you to run. Expected you to call the police or call him insane. You weren’t a hunter; he didn’t expect you to believe him. But to his surprise you said, “I believe you” and kissed him. That was your way of telling him that you loved him.

After years of being together the two of you never had a proper first date, but that was something Dean had wanted to for you. Taking out his phone he scrolled until he got to your name and pressed enter. The ringing felt like it had been going on for ages, he always felt nervous talking to you. “Hello my love.” You responded. His lips curved into a smile. He loved when you called him that.

“Hey there Sweetheart. I gotta question for you.” He said, leaning back a bit in his chair.

“Shoot.” You responded.

“I was wondering, would you like to go on a proper first date with me?” He felt like a stupid high schooler asking out his crush.

“A proper first date uh?” You never thought you’d see the day. “What are we going to do on this date?”

“I was hoping you’d tell me. I want you to pick.” He had a million ideas but thought that it would be more special if you picked what the two of you did.

“You’re the one asking me out but I’m the one that has to come up with the date idea? Hmm, I don’t know about that.” You said, hoping your joking tone came through.

“What’s your ideal first date Sweetheart? We can do anything you want.”

“You’re gonna laugh at me.” Your idea of a first date was something no one ever wanted to do.

“Y/N, I’d never laugh at you. Well, I would, and I have. But, not about something as serious as this.” You could hear his smile through the phone. He really was serious about this.

You took a deep breath. “Well. I know this might sound stupid but…I’ve always wanted to eat some pizza with a six pack while listening to side one of Zeppelin four.” Fuck you’re perfect, Dean thought. You waited for Dean to say something, anything, but he didn’t respond. You took his silence for judgement, but in reality, he was just amazed, amazed that this was your ideal first date. “See, I told you it’s stupid.”

“No, no. It’s not stupid at all. It’s…perfect actually. That’s my ideal first date too.” Dean said, being completely serious. He hoped that you didn’t think he was fucking with you. But knowing you, you probably would.

“You’re fucking with me aren’t you?” You respond.

“No Y/N, I swear. You can even ask Sam.” He paused a moment. “I’d, I’d love to do that with you. You and me can take Baby to the park that’s about five minutes away from your house. Sit on the trunk with a cold six pack and large extra cheese pizza between us. The windows rolled down with Zeppelin coming out the speakers.”

“That sounds perfect.” You said. It was a simple sound date, but it was something you’ve always strangely wanted to do; not really fully knowing why, even before you had met Dean. Your previous suitors never wanted to do this date idea, saying that it was too boring, or telling you that Zeppelin was overrated.

“How’s tonight at eight sound?” He asked.

“Eight can’t come soon enough.” You said. This was going to be a long seven hours. You thought.

#dean winchester x reader #dean winchester x you #dean x reader #dean x you #spn #supernatural #spn one shot #spn imagine #supernatural one shot #supernatural imagine #dean winchester imagine #dean winchester one shot #reader insert #gender neutral reader #dean winchester

[missuga]

11:35 p.m. – Keigo Takami.

From the first knock on your door you knew who it was, your stomach dropped and you froze. Maybe if you sunk deeper into the couch and stayed silent he’d go away. 

Maybe if you wished it hard enough you could get yourself out of this situation without even having to see him. But it wasn’t as simple as that, and when more knocks echoed through your apartment you knew that. 

“You can’t keep ignoring me.” Keigo’s voice was muffled and you could barely hear it through the door, but it still made your chest burn all the same. “Please just open the door.” 

“What.” That was all you could muster up when you opened the door, sure that if you said anything else the brave face you put on would break. 

“Thank god.” He sighed, shoulders visibly slumping down in relief. What he was so relieved about was beyond you. “I needed to see you.”

“Okay.” You muttered, still looking passed him as you stepped back into your apartment again. “You’ve seen me so now you can go.” 

“Wait, stop.” He grabbed the door stopping you from shutting it. “You know that’s not what I meant.” 

“Actually, I never know what you mean.” You breathed out an annoyed laugh, refusing to look at him still, hoping your words stung at least a little bit. “I told you to not come over.” 

“Yeah, that’s all you said. Then you ghosted?” Keigo sounded frustrated now, like he wasn’t the one in the wrong. 

“I didn’t ghost you. I blocked your number.” 

“That’s the same damn thing.” He shook his head and took a step back, this wasn’t going like he had planned. “What the hell happened?”

“I don’t know why you care, we weren’t even together. Remember?” You scoffed, thinking back to what he said that night. “Those were your words.”

He didn’t say anything for a moment and you could feel him staring at you. 

“It was too soon, everything was happening so fast.” Keigo’s voice wavered slightly and you cut him off before he could say anything else. 

“That’s what happens in real relationships, though you wouldn’t understand that. You’ve never seriously committed to anything in your life.” You knew that wasn’t a fair thing to throw at him, but you didn’t care. “I wasted months on you. Months Keigo. This wasn’t just a couple weeks thing.” 

“I know I just-”

“No, you don’t know.” You interruppted him again, you didn’t want to give him a chance to even explain why he had treated you like that. “If you knew how I genuinly thought I loved you, you wouldn’t have gone to that stupid bar with your side kick.”

He looked shocked at that and a bit of pride swelled in your chest at the way his eyes clouded over with guilt. 

“Yeah, you didn’t know I found out about that did you?” Stepping back into your apartment a bit more you were ready for this conversation to be over, nothing he could say would mend what he broke. 

“I didn’t mean for that to happen.”

“That’s all you’re seriously going to say?” You laughed again, finally looking him in the eyes for longer than a second. The burning in your chest grew red hot and you could feel a sting behind your eyes now. “Are you so pathetic that you can’t even give me a real explanation?”

“I’m sorry.” Was all he said, pushing a hand through his hair in frustration, nothing was coming out the way he was thinking. Seeing you so upset made realization of how he fucked up really sink in.

“Did I really mean nothing to you?” No matter how mad at him you were, a part of you still wished things could get fixed, that this could all get brushed over. 

“No.” He grabbed your hand forcing you to look up from the ground, “You meant everything to me.” 

“Then why?” You could only whisper now, knowing your voice would give away how much of a bad job you were holding back your tears. 

“I don’t know.” Keigo whispered, and you realized this wasn’t going anywhere.

“I can’t do this.” You pulled your hand from his grip and backed up, wiping the tears from your cheek.  “I can’t keep going around in circles with you, nothing is going to change. I should’ve realized this before, it’s my fault.” 

“Wait, I can’t do this without you.” He sounded pathetic now, but his words still burned deep, if only he figured that out sooner. 

“You’re going to have to learn how to take care of yourself, that’s not my problem anymore.” 

“Please stop, we can fix this.” He stepped forward again, reaching out to you and for a second you almost let him but you pulled away. You could hear the sadness and desperation in his voice now. “Please. I love you.” 

“You don’t get to say that anymore. Just go before you ruind something else, Keigo.” You turned around fully now, trying your hardest to ignore how broken he sounded as you walked into your apartment. “Don’t come over anymore. I mean it.” 

You hated how much shutting the door hurt and how much you still loved him, even after all of this. The only thing that made it a little bit better was knowing that he was hurting just as much as you, or so you hoped.

#Hawks x reader #Keigo takami x reader #hawks angst #keigo takami angst #my hero academia x reader #mha x reader #mha angst #my hero angst #myh #hawks x you #hawks imagine #hawks timestamp #hawks scenario #boku no hero academia #bnha angst #bnha x reader #hawks oneshot #my hero hawks #hawks drabble #keigo takami drabble #takami keigo x reader #hawks x y/n #hawks reader insert #mha x you #mha x y/n

[vamqyr3]

Hey can I request any jealous ghost or yandere ghost headcanons with smut. Please?

↳ SIMON “GHOST” RILEY // COMING DOWN. ❀

CW// OBSESSION, STALKING, VIOLENCE, ORAL, ECT.

NOTES// obsessive!anything has to be my fav to write. Anyways.

He’s got a staring problem, it’s chronic. He knows all too well, he’s too tentative, far too particular. Ghost knows better than to stare, he knows your feet shift before you turn to look around your shoulder. He knows your attention is pointed where your torso is, you have a blind spot to your left and the right eye is worse than the other. He knows better than to look while you look back. It’s rude. It’s obvious.

He’s often thought of your face upon meeting him. Most think him monstrous, horrible, evil. He’d hoped you’d be scared too, see what evils had been protecting you thus far. Know the power and capacity of that man, the weight of his shadow on your brow bone, his bulking figure on the eye. To know someone’s getting the job done.

It wouldn't be too hard to notice him in every corner of a room. You’d just purposely moved from the bar to the rooftop, he’s still sat in a chair farthest left of you. You’d twitch under the attention, stress under his eyes and grow anxious. But he’d love it, knowing your finally aware of him.

Already in a relationship? No issue. He’d hate to have to kill, he’d hate to see you cry, get all messy just cause of him. Me might not, he might enjoy cheering you up, understanding what no one else cloud. Maybe he’d get angry, chastise you for ever having used your mouth to talk to anyone else. He just might choke you on him, use it, finally, for some good. Train you good and well to only use two words, ‘Please’ and ‘Yes’

It would come easily, first. Texts from unsaved numbers on your lovers phone, disappearances on the hour. Then, to arguments, to fighting and rumors. A photo of your ex and another.

Your marital relationship with Si was art. He aged like fine wine, soon becoming nothing more than a doting husband. He’d drool at the sight of you, never let you do any bit of work. The house is in his name, only one car for him to drive, a house in the woods, food provided by him. He’d let you do damn near anything to him.

He has a few scattered trust issues. Spiraling into control and commitment. He’d always kiss your hands and eyes, kneel and beg mercy during any argument. But he’s began monitoring your nutritional intake, jutting motion detectors in the four corners of the room. But you get it, occupational hazard.

More often than not he’s gone into lengths upon lengths of detail whilst rutting into you. Describing his strength, power, might over the ones around you. How easily the hands ringing your hips have broken a man. How beautiful you look, how he’d wanted to ruin your pretty little eyes every moment they weren’t on him. What horrible things he had thought in a hooded black jacket staring you down at the bar.

Corruption, Ghost would enjoy ruining you. Using you an earshot away from your peers. Affirming your safety, how he would never let any other see you how he did. How he had needed you so badly, he couldn’t even wait a moments rest, and while there is still breath in his breast, he would kill any other man before they saw you bare before him.

#ghost cod #cod #cod modern warfare #cod ghost #simon ghost riley #simon riley #simon ghost riley x reader #simon ghost riley smut #simon riley x you #ghost mw2 #ghost headcanons #simon riley smut #cod mw2 #cod mw22

[italianpersonwithashippersheart]

DFF Questions And Theories Recap

I wanted to do a post where I could put down all the major questions that are still unanwered from the show and give all my thoughts and theories on each.

What Happened to Non?

Earlier I saw this post by @slayerkitty that pretty much outlined my own thoughts on this.

I have been leaning into the idea that the boys pranked and drugged him for a while now. And episode 7 just confirmed it.

What I am the most unsure off, is what happened after. Because the fact that some of these boys seem to be sure he is dead while others aren't makes me think that something happened after the prank

Now is Non alive? This one I am not sure off, if he is I am leaning thowards maybe him being in a coma or catatonic or in some kind of hospitalized situation, maybe under a fake name, thanks to Phi's dad.

Because the Mafia (Tee's Uncle) want him dead, so a fake name for both him and his brother/family might be to keep them safe.

I am not positive he is the third killer (if there even is one) if he is alive.

Most of my brain is on camp Non is dead. For the simple reason that Tan especially seem to be focused on knowing what happened to Non, and/or getting a confession. And if he can talk to Non there would just be no used for that. There would be no need to wait that long. I don't know just a feeling.

Who Are The Killers and How Many there are? And Is Tan Non's older brother?

I will start with the obvious, Phi has to be one of the killers, we are all on board with that.

While my previous theory was that Tan was not the brother and the brother was an unknown player I think I have changed my mind.

I am now 90% sure Tan is New, Non's older brother. Am I still a little bit miffed they probably casted an actor who is the same age as Barcode to play his older brother, yeah, but I figured if the actor pulls it off I can overlook the real life age, it's not like we have not ignored that before in BL land.

About the number I waffle back and fort. I am currently leaning more with there are only two killers. But I can't ever fully commit to it. If you discount the quick appereances I think I have a handle on who did what and when, mostly. And they could have definately pulled it off just Phi and Tan.

Again I do still think the way the guy that is supposed to come pick them up was introduce feel like a set up for a third killer. But it could just be about making sure they are trapped there. I don't know.

I think that Tan might be a bit of blank character on porpouse because if he is the brother, which I am becoming more and more sure with each episode, the bulk of his characterization will be post reveal.

It's definately a delicate balance to struck, because if you make the character too distinct then the reveal feels like it's coming out of nowhere. I really like the actor's microexpression and the way the camera stays on his face sometimes, I think it's very subtle and the actor does a very good job with them.

Who realesed the video?

This section is a bit shorter, I mostly just want to highlight the two post I have seen pointing out some stuff about the video

This one by @firstmix

and This one by @raelle-writing

I wanted to add that maybe Tee and/or Top hide themselves in the office because they thought they could film the teacher giving Non money, and then caught something else instead.

I also think don't think (EDIT: I made a mistake in the og post) it's Jin that realesed the video.

Humans or Suprenatural

I am firmly on camp there is no supernatural, there is no cult. It's all staged.

I think the killers might be using drugs on the boys (see this post by @lukaherehelp for an excelled post on that)

And maybe some sort of induced hynosis/trance on Top, but it also just might be that the drugs and the fear are making him more inclined to help the masked killer, especially if he already thinks it's a ghost.

Also I don't currently have a specific post or remember the specific person sorry my memory is trash, but someone pointed out that sounds, the voices they hear and stuff, might also be used to fuck with people, if you are the person with that theory and see this tell me I will edit this. EDIT: @slayerkitty pointed out it was @shannankle who had this theory, thank you.

I think the dissapearing quick motionless apparitions might be some sort of projection. Specifically something tech related. I am thinking about Tan weirdly awakard talk with White about how he totally doesn't know anything about technology (that was a lie if I ever heard one)

And finally last but certanly not least: What are the killers realtionship/attitude thowards White and What is White role in the story?

White is the wild card, he wasn't supposed to be there. We have at least two conflicting statement on whose idea him coming with them was. Tee initially says, we agreed you would be good if you came and then says actually you didn't want to come and I instited later.

I don't think he is one of the killers there are way too many shots of him alone that make no sense if he is in on it.

Phi seems to be occasionally protective over him. In the scene where they are seeing Tee and White make out he is laughing with everyone but then after Tee says enough my little one will be sad (something of that effect) he turns to see White being embarred and puts a stop to it. He also always seem to want to keep White at the house where he could be safer.

Then of course there is the little awkward moment with the hands when Phi is telling him what to do for the shoot. It was such a odd moment to include, that it makes me believe there is something behind it we are not seeing.

Tan instead seems to be gently stearing him in a specific direction, the direction where he asks questions and wants the truth. Someone left the page of newspaper about Tee's uncle before leaving Fluke and White alone in the house, probably hoping that White would find it. I don't want to used the world manipulation yet, but it does feel a little like he is using him.

White has to be one of the final standing boys. I am not sure if he is going to be the only one. If Jin didn't realsed the video then Jin might also make it. And of course it depends about the killers. Making the killers so symphatethic the audience root for them is always a gamble if you want to end your series with both of them dead.

Is White meant to have some parallels with Non? Tee obviously is trying to change himself and be better for White, although he struggles between care and selfinesh still. White might also come from a poor background, the boys might have been more nice to him because they felt guilty about what happened to Non. There is also that moment with the rash that I think will have a bigger meaning eventually.

And has @shannankle has pointed out in their post on colors. He and Phi have some color connections with the orange.

I think that is it. Obviously the last question is about the ending, but I don't really have any theories I am ready to share for that yet. As you can see I am sure of very little.

#txt #dead friend forever #dead friend forever meta #dff meta

[aikoiya]

Hello there,

As I am thinking about two posts for trigger time travel AU, a fun one about Danny mistakenly believing there is a vigilante law when the triggered group (temporary group name) not remembering that they are in the past and a dark one about how hero society failed to defeat All for one. I want to know what your opinion about hero society in My hero academia and give me some insight I could use for my Posts.

Btw do you have a cool name for the main group (the time travelled one) as i have no idea what to call them?

Well, it depends. Did the group travel back in time intentionally?

Also, there technically is a law against vigilateism, however there are also several other laws such as the Self-Defense, Defense of Others, Stand Your Ground, & Civilian Arrest laws. Also keep in mind that while the MHA group are mostly Japanese, Danny is an American, which has different laws.

Like, for instance, Lawful Self-Defense is classified as "the use of reasonable force to protect oneself or members of the family from bodily harm from the attack of an aggressor, if the defender has reason to believe he/she/they is/are in danger.”

Defense of Others is also classified as a form of Self-Defense being "the right of a person to protect a third party with reasonable force against another person who is threatening to inflict force upon the third party.”

Stand Your Ground laws are essentially "a revocation of the duty to retreat. Stand Your Ground laws generally state that, under certain circumstances, individuals can use force to defend themselves without first attempting to retreat from the danger.”

And Civilian Arrest laws say that "a private citizen has the authority to arrest a person for a felony under the following circumstances: The felony was committed in the citizen's presence. A felony has been committed, & the citizen has probable cause to believe & does believe that the person to be arrested is guilty of committing it.”

On the other hand, legally speaking, Vigilanteism refers to "the act of preventing, investigating, & punishing perceived offenses & crimes without legal authority."

Which the other 4 directly contradicts, so things get a bit murky there.

Another thing to keep in mind, provided the story still uses ghosts, is that the villains that Danny mostly fights have very few other competent people capable of dealing with them besides Danny himself. And none of those competent individuals have legal authority, while the ones that do are incompetent & are prone to mass amounts of property damage that have most likely resulted in a decent number of injuries, if not fatalities.

And at that point, it becomes a question of what’s more important, innocent lives or the law?

Something that the MHA gang have likely forgotten is the fact that the first heroes were vigilantes.

Another thing is that, as far as I can tell, vigilante & villain laws have become rewritten to involve quirks in their time. So, in the case of Danny being a half-ghost & ghosts still being the problem, then even by their own time's definition, Danny isn't a vigilante & the ghosts aren't villains. Because ghost powers =/= quirks.

As for my personal opinion. I think that the hero leaderboard is a terrible idea & so is the monetization of hero work. I don't like that they are made into celebrities. I think that the role should instead be seen as a branch of service work. Like military, the police, ect. However, that it should also be beaten into their heads from day 1 that they are meant to serve the public. Not their own self-interests. That, if they wanna be celebrities, they quit now & get into show business, because this job is focused on saving lives.

I think that there should also be civilian licenses to allow quirked individuals to use their quirks in certain situations where it is necessary. Of course, I also think that the process of obtaining one should involve a psych eval (for both civilian & hero) at the very least, as well as the civilian having to provide proof that they have control of their quirk.

I also hate how quirk-centric & especially hero-centric everything is. Like, there’s more to life than heroes & quirks. I feel the obsession is frankly unhealthy for everyone involved. For one, it places unrealistic expectations upon heroes who, at the end of the day, are still just regular, flawed people.

---

Of course, there'd be rules surrounding the use of such quirks even with a license. For instance, if you use your quirk to break the law, that's an added crime on top of it. And doing so is automatic grounds for revocation of their license.

I also think that the licenses should require a yearly psych eval & drug test, as well as an overall competency test for renewal.

Same with hero work.

Though, even if this did take place, it still wouldn't stop villains from existing. Some people just... well... life is complicated. Just look at today.

Know what could be a fun reference to make? ChronoTrigger! XD

#danny phantom #dp #mha #dp x mha #time travel

[manuscripts-dontburn]

The Morning Gift

Author: Eva Ibbotson

First published: 1993

Rating:  ★★★★☆

I adored this story! A romance born on the eve of WW2, that holds the foreboding but still shows you that people still lived their lives and had their hopes. I was happy to note that for once the main female character of Ibbotson´s is not a sheer perfection (this girl has actually some issues to go through), though I admit I could still do without the comically evil rival (it would have been so much more interesting if there actually at least appeared a possibility the other girl might succeed). But all in all, especially because of the last third of the book, I thought this was a well-crafted romance with some, perhaps cheesy, but well-used tropes. Just, for the love of god, DO NOT listen to this as an audiobook recorded by Kate Lock, who insisted on using a fake German accent and squeaky voice for the main character, making her sound like a stupid child of 10. (And that is not the only horrible thing she does to the selected characters).

Jane, the Fox & Me

Author: Fanny Britt

First published: 2012

Rating: ★★★★☆

A beautifully executed graphic novel in which the story somewhat fizzles out and feels unfinished, definitely could have been longer and yet I rate it quite high simply because it hit me like a train. I was not a fat kid but all my life I felt I was, even if in my case there was no bullying. I felt this little girl´s pain deeply.

The Witches: Salem, 1692

Author: Stacy Schiff

First published: 2015

Rating: ★★★☆☆

I think Stacy Schiff is an excellent historian and has an extremely readable style of writing. I also think she has done a stupendous job putting this mammoth project together, but I need to agree with those who complain about the density and slowness of the text. It is next to impossible to keep track of the names and the accusations/descriptions of the alleged witchcraft are so similar (or completely the same) that it is very taxing to keep up. I am not sure whether I should be complaining though, because, after all, I DID want a book about these events and I got it. I would recommend an audiobook though, makes it easier to get through.

The Clockmaker's Daughter

Author: Kate Morton

First published: 2018

Rating: ★★★★☆

This is a story of a house and people connected to it in an intriguing web of connections. It spans from the 1860s to the modern day, not always in chronological order, and I must say that Kate Morton managed to jump through the timelines quite effortlessly. There is a great number of characters but I had no problems following who was who, though admittedly some of the timelines were less interesting than the others (notably and predictably for me I enjoyed the modern one the least). I also had trouble when some things, already revealed to the reader, were "revealed" again. The main voice is that of a ghost (trust me, this is not a spoiler), and while I did not mind it, I also believe the book would have been stronger had that been completely committed and we only got to know that particular character from the other stories it touches. Even after all that I have to say I was surprised at how easy this was to read (it IS a chunker) and how much I enjoyed it.

A Face Like Glass

Author: Frances Hardinge

First published: 2012

Rating: ★★★☆☆

I adore the fact that Frances Hardinge does not talk down to children, because this is undeniably a middle-grade book, but does not shy from some pretty heavy stuff. However perhaps I have read too much Frances Hardinge at this point because I tend to really like/be intrigued by the start of her books, her world-building and her unique ideas, but then it all became too much with this one and I was impatient for the story to be over.

Brigid of Kildare

Author: Heather Terrell

First published: 2009

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

I am sad to report that this book was kind of a mess. The historical bits would have been just fine on their own, even if I had wanted a little more depth, many a time I felt like we were merely dipping our toes into the fascinating story of Brigid. But then the author decided to weave in a "mystery" set in modern times and those chapters, apart from being unnecessary to the story, felt just tedious to the point I was considering skipping them altogether. A bummer.

When Women Were Dragons

Author: Kelly Barnhill

First published: 2022

Rating: ★★★☆☆

As long as it was a family tragedy infused with the elusive and unexplained, I was enjoying this book quite a lot. But then, in its second half, it becomes too wordy, too idealistic, too uninteresting.

The Silent Unseen

Author: Amanda McCrina

First published: 2022

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

The good thing: the topic, even if you have read loads of WW2 books, is an unusual one. The bad thing: the story is extremely weak (walking and talking do not an intriguing narrative make), the characters shallow, the motivations extremely basic, the romance needless and not particularly well done. No matter how many betrayals posing as shocking twists you cram into the last third, you cannot make me invested in this.

Charlotte's Web

Author: E.B.White

First published: 1952

Rating: ★★★★☆

As a non-UK and non-US child, I have never read this book when I was its target audience. I picked it up now more for the super cute edition than anything else. And indeed throughout I kept thinking: sure, it´s cute. But is it that great? And then I got kicked in the guts by that friggin ending.

Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands

Author: Heather Fawcett

First published: 2024

Rating: ★★★★★

Just as enjoyable and delightful as the first volume! I love the tone, the language, and the romance (I am SHIPPING Emily and Wendell so hard), it can be both touching and humorous at the same time. Cannot wait for the conclusion of this series which so far I find to be one of the most joyous literary events in years.

The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time

Author: John Kelly

First published: 2005

Rating: ★★★★☆

The Black Death epidemic of the 14th century remains one of the most gruesomely fascinating events in European history and I dare say this book is a very accessible, informative and well-organized study of it. It is strictly chronological, leading you in the steps of the disease, and adding stories and explanations that make it all less clinical and more humanly tragic. Just perhaps the ending sounds way too much like "but in the end it was a good thing" felt like a very, very weird conclusion.

Psyche and Eros

Author: Luna McNamara

First published: 2023

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

I finished this book out of spite more than anything else. The myth of Psyche and Reos may just be my favourite of all the Greek myths, unfortunately instead of crafting it into something fresh and memorable Luna McNamara tried her hand at mixing every Greek myth you have ever heard of and made Psyche insufferable during the process for good measure. It is not even subtle mixing, instead, she goes full Marvel Universe of Greek gods on you, twisting the story to incredible lengths just to cram more of the mythology into her book. I would also say that the original myth takes quite a beating in this reimagining, being stripped of much that made it so appealing to me as a reader. Sometimes less is more.

A Middle-Earth Traveller: Sketches from Bag End to Mordor

Author: John Howe

First published: 2018

Rating: ★★★★★

Beautifully executed "sketchbook". It would seem that while Alan Lee was more concerned with the Elven stuff, John Howe focused on Dwarves, Orcs and the more gritty parts we saw in the movies. There are, however, also illustrations from the Silmarillion included. I would imagine this is a perfect book to take with you outside, where you can sit under a tree and just leaf through, dreaming of Middle-Earth.

#booklr #wrap up #March 2024

[patiencetakestyme]

A Fair Price to Pay: Chapter 1 (A Continuation of "What She Deserves")

A/N:  After completing my own version of what I have come to know as a “the walk” fic, and after Netflix's disastrous decision, I've been hard at work; I have decided to turn my first fic into a series.  I want to explore some key moments in Book!Locklyle’s relationship.  I was writing a fic in which they retire (the now third and final fic in this series) when a throwaway line inspired me to compose an entire additional fic:  what would it look like if Lockwood met Lucy’s mother?  

This fic is a sequel to “What She Deserves,” which can be found here, but you can definitely read this fic without reading that one first!  

One last note:  over the course of this fic, I did choose to integrate one key part of Show!Lucy’s character.  I feel pretty confident you’ll recognize it readily.  

I hope you enjoy reading this!

After defeating Marissa Fittes and theoretically reducing, if not solving, the Problem together, there had been three items of priority for Lockwood:  giving Lucy his mother’s necklace, securing their status as committed to each other, and asking her to move in with him—to share the bedroom his parents had once shared.  

To complete one was to complete them all.  A bit of exposition was required, of course—a conversation to be had; he had it, and, a mere few weeks after defeating Marissa Fittes, he had secured their position:  they were together, sharing not only the physical space of the room, but the mental and emotional space that came with truly being in a relationship.  

Quickly, they settled into a new routine.  The house would share a late breakfast; anyone staying overnight was invited, although that list varied from night to night:  from Kipps, to Holly, to Flo, Portland Row had picked up its fair share of boarders over the last few weeks.  They would then spend their afternoon and evening making progress on whatever their current case may be, whether that meant research, or recon, or an actual visit to a haunted house, or preparing for the task of helping Barnes and DEPRAC put the final nail in the coffin that was the Problem.  

Cases were not what Lockwood would call drastically limited.  While the number of reported ghosts was reducing every single day, the Problem was not entirely fixed—not yet.  There was speculation that it would never be fixed—not fully.  After all, even prior to Marissa Fittes’ efforts to intervene, some ghosts had returned from the dead; it had merely been a far more reasonable number.  

In the late hours of the night or the early hours of the morning—whenever their case wrapped up for the night—the whole lot of them would shuffle back to Portland Row.  Anyone that wanted to stay over would; Lockwood had stopped verbally making the offer:  it was now simply implied at the close of every night.  Kipps would take the couch.  Holly never stayed, but Lockwood had issued an open invitation for her to occupy the guest room.  

Lucy would, of course, do her shuffling back to the master bedroom.  She and Lockwood would complete the minimal amount needed to ready themselves for bed before simply collapsing between the covers; showering was left for the actual light of day in the morning.  

What Lockwood was unsure of was whether the others knew.  Did they know that she no longer occupied the bedroom in the attic?  Did they know that they were openly in a relationship, albeit somewhat private about it?  Did they know that they exchanged a kiss and a declaration of love every night before falling asleep?  Did they know that they enjoyed nothing more than falling asleep in each other’s arms after a hard night on the job?

Okay, he was fairly certain they did not know the last two items, but he was equally as certain that they, at the very least, suspected the first two.  No one ever watched them go upstairs; George liked to make a pitstop in the kitchen for a bedtime snack before heading up to his room, so they had never been spotted—as far as they knew—going into the master bedroom together.  But George was smart; Lockwood knew better than to underestimate him.  

They had never kissed in front of George.  They had held hands in front of George, but quite frankly, given Lockwood’s proclivity for holding hands with Lucy that had originated from her time of joining the agency, this probably wasn’t enough to be deemed a red flag from George.  Still, he had a feeling George knew.

It wouldn’t bother Lockwood:  if and when George figured it out.  In fact, it would’ve made him quite happy for George to know about it.  But Lockwood was, for all of his charm and charisma, a private person by nature.  If George figured it out on his own account, that was perfectly fine, but Lockwood wasn’t about to open up his heart and soul and describe how much his relationship with Lucy meant to him.  

And it did mean a lot—more than he could probably convey to George, even if he had tried.  Their relationship was simultaneously so fresh and so practiced; they had only been together formally for a few weeks, but, at the same time, it felt like they had been together oh-so long.  It felt comfortingly familiar, and on this particular morning, that sense of comfort was enough to prompt him to pull her in just a little bit closer.  

He should’ve perhaps not done that, given that she was still sleeping and that it did ultimately cause her to start to stir, but in his opinion, it was worth the price:  a slightly grumpy, yet awake, Lucy, still afforded him extra time with Lucy.  

He waited until she turned to face him, not wanting to wake her prematurely—well, more than he already had.  

“Good morning,” he said, his smile already at full wattage.  

Lucy groaned; she didn’t tend to be overly affectionate in the mornings, at least, not until she had some tea.  Still, the fact that he already knew her well enough to know to expect this had been part of the driving force behind the radiance of his smile.  

“Sleep well?” he asked.  

He received another groan in response.  

“What time is it?” she asked.  

With a casual glance over her shoulder to the clock residing on her nightstand, he was able to answer.  “Just shy of ten o’clock.  George will be cooking already, undeniably.”  

With another groan, Lucy shifted in bed.  

“It’s okay,” he reassured while moving to sit up in bed; he usually took first shower, as, unsurprisingly, it took him far longer to get ready than her.  “You know what that means:  you’re likely to have your tea very soon.”  

Lucy propped herself up, specifically with the purpose of casting a glare at him.  She threw a pillow at him as he removed himself from bed and made his way to the shower, but she settled back in, intending to make the most of this time, in an attempt to acquire more rest.  

On the way to the en-suite bathroom, he caught a glimpse at some of her possessions.  Over the course of the last few days, Lucy had moved all of her things so that they now resided in the master bedroom.  While they were still in the process of organizing her possessions, one thing had already been displayed prominently:  pictures from Lucy’s time at Jacobs’s agency.  There were several Polaroids displayed, most of which featured someone Lockwood knew to be very important to Lucy:  Norrie.  

While Lucy was probably already back asleep —and unsurprisingly, he had a habit of taking inordinately long showers, which, in turn, provided Lucy an inordinately long period of time to ascertain some supplemental sleep—Lockwood could admit that his thoughts were not quite so much at peace.  The images of the people in her pictures had stirred something in him.  It had given him an idea, but it was one he was, frankly, rather anxious to share with Lucy.  

She did not like discussing her past.  She had shared her history with George and Lockwood, of course, and while it had not taken her as long to open up as it had for Lockwood, it still had taken quite a long time, by what Lockwood assumed were ‘normal’ standards.  He knew the edges of the story—just how wretched her childhood had been, just how horrible Jacobs had been to her—but he knew nothing of the details.  

They were together now:  fully and completely.  In some regards, he suspected they shared more than some married couples.  And while he would never pressure her to share before she was ready, he did find that he would like to know more about that time in her life.  

By the end of his inordinately long shower, he was decided.  He would not push her on the issue unnecessarily, but he would start to perhaps prod her on the matter.  

He exited the bathroom and was unsurprised to see that Lucy had fallen back asleep.  With an affectionate smile and scoff, he engaged in what had become their daily ritual.  He snuck downstairs to the kitchen.  When he found no sign of George, he did as he always did:  he brewed a pot of tea, pouring a singular cup to Lucy’s exact preferences:  a little tea to go with her sugar.  

He returned to their room and found Lucy asleep and snoring.  With a loving shake of the head, he approached the bed, placing the cup of tea on an already in-place coaster.  Leaning in, he ran a soothing hand up and down the course of her back.  The cotton of her top for her pajamas was soft and warm under his fingers, and it moved with every deep, snoring inhalation she drew.  

“Luce,” he whispered gently.  “I made you a cup of tea.  It’s your turn for the shower.”  

She stirred, slowly taking in the sight of him.  He was not fully dressed; he left that matter, nearly equally as complicated as the process by which he washed his hair, for while she was in the shower.  But he did have his pajama bottoms back in place, albeit with no shirt.  Even with the quick detour to brew the cup of tea, his hair was still damp; he could feel the droplets of water running down his back and chest as a result of his hunched position over the bed.  

He saw her eyes find their focus.  She nodded and stumbled from the bed, clearly still very groggy.  With a swipe, she scooped up the cup of tea, taking several hearty sips, even as she continued to walk and carry it with her in the direction of the bathroom.  This was done, clearly, in anticipation of showering with the thing.  As she continued to struggle, he laughed and used a singular hand to lower the cup of tea, clearing her line of vision. Next, he moved to place a hand on each shoulder as a method of guiding her towards the bathroom.  

Lucy was also known for taking long showers—with her tea to keep her company, naturally—but hers were lengthy for a very different reason.  While Lockwood had a complicated and fairly high-maintenance routine to engage in with his hair, Lucy had a habit of falling back asleep in the shower.  

He had yet to gather the courage to break in there and see to waking her with a poke or a prod—nor had the situation required it thus far—but, several times, he had been forced to wake her with a call from beyond the protection of the door.  Still, he feared the day was coming when that would be insufficient:  already, there had been a number of occasions during which she had required more than one reissued wake up call.  

Regardless, he used his time well; he settled into his routine:  picking out his crisp, pressed shirt and pants for the day, choosing his tie, choosing his socks, and, last but, of course, not least, polishing it all off with his new coat.  Thinking through the possibilities of the conversation he wished to engage in with Lucy once she exited the shower, he thought he just might benefit from being armed with his coat.  Beyond that, his continued slight resistance to the coat made him feel compelled to place himself in a position where he could start to break it in from the comfort of Portland Row.  

As high maintenance as his routine was, it was fairly monotonous; he used this time well mentally, too, internally plotting out how he could manipulate their post-shower conversation to meet the ends he desired. 

Lucy emerged from the bathroom after two promptings from Lockwood.  She still looked a bit weary, but, armed with her now tapped teacup, she was definitely in the process of coming back to life.  Her shower typically did wonders for her morning mood.

This was, admittedly, one of Lockwood’s favorite moments of the day:  Lucy, emerging from the shower, smelling strongly of her shampoo and conditioner, her hair wild and untamed and, holistically, not all that different from the way it looked the rest of the day.  It was when he realized just how much he inherently loved Lucy—just as she was.  She, unlike him, was not one for a high-maintenance morning routine.  She exited the shower, and she was his Lucy, and there was something intrinsic that he loved about that—about her.  

“Feel better?” he asked, his smile leaning towards a smirk.  

“Getting there,” she conceded, as she tossed her pajamas on a nearby chair.  Lockwood checked his grumble; this was one thing they were currently working through about living together:  she was far less tidy than he was.  Fortunately, he was fairly accommodating; he understood that that was simply Lucy, and he’d admit that he loved her all the more for it.  “A second cup of tea wouldn’t hurt.”

“Fair point,” he started, before pausing briefly to listen to the reports of the groaning of Portland Row’s floorboards.  “It doesn’t sound like George is up yet.  Must be having a bit of a lie in,” he pondered.  “Want to go grab a coffee from Arif’s while we wait?”  

This move was out of the norm for them, a fact Lucy’s questioning glance confirmed instantly.  Typically, if they were up before George, they would merely make their way to the kitchen and brew a secondary pot of tea there.  To go out was a special treat, and the move immediately got flagged as such in Lucy’s mind.  

“Go out?” she asked, with a furrowing of her brow.  

He nodded.  “Why not?”  He considered elaborating, but he thought better of it at the last moment; when it came to a suspicious Lucy, less information was always for the best.  

“Fine,” she conceded, as she grabbed her coat.  “But you’re buying, since it was your suggestion.”

He smiled, released a humorless laugh, and gave a silly shake of his head.  “Fair,” he offered again, as he followed her out the bedroom door and down the stairs.  

“Are we buying breakfast too?” Lucy asked, holding the front door open so that he could follow her.  

“And risk insulting George by implying that Arif’s donuts are tastier than anything he can craft?” he scoffed.

“Or,” Lucy started, pointedly, “we risk insulting him by going to Arif’s and not bringing donuts back for him.”  

“Hmm,” Lockwood hummed.  “Good counterpoint.  Yes, we should buy him some donuts.”  

Arif’s was but a short walk away, so Lockwood knew that he had no time to waste; he settled in, and moved to strike.  “Did you ever do this back home?” he asked, with a nod down the street in the direction of Arif’s.  At her confused expression, he sought to elaborate.  “Did you have a shop where you could go get some donuts and coffee?”

She nodded, but the squinting of her eyes hinted at her suspicions.  “Yeah, but it wasn’t nearly as good as Arif’s.  I didn’t run off to the shop very often.”  

“Why?  Just because it wasn’t very good?” he asked, already suspecting there was more to it than that.  

“Wasn’t a lot of time for it, I guess,” she started, with a shrug and a sigh.  “I was never home:  spent practically all my time at Jacobs’s, trying to pass my grades one through four as quickly as possible.”

“Because you needed to get out,” he supplied.

She nodded but said nothing more.

“What was it like:  growing up with your mother?”  

She stalled, both in the conversation and in their walk.  Her eyes came to his as her feet stopped moving, and she opened her mouth, but no words came out for a series of several seconds.    

“I’ve told you—” she started.

He shook his head.  “You’ve told me the end of the story:  forcing you to seek employment with Jacobs, depositing your wages into her own account, and, eventually, refusing to believe you about the Wythburn Mill incident.”

She hesitated, and Lockwood could admit that he found himself curious as to what, specifically, had caused her hesitation.  “You remember the name of it?”

“The name of what?” he asked.  

“The mill?”

“Of course,” he responded, easily, with a scoff.  “It was a formative moment for you, was it not?”

She managed nothing but a nod. 

“Then, of course I remember it.  I make it my business to remember the struggles of my employees, Luce.  Cotton Street for Holly, Rupert Gale’s assault against George, the Chelsea Outbreak and the loss of Ned Shaw for Kipps, the chapel for Flo:  these were important moments for the people who are important in my life, so they are, naturally, important to me too.  

“But it’s different for you, I’ll admit,” he continued, looking to the ground, as he admittedly suddenly felt uncharacteristically bashful.  He resumed their walk and hoped she would continue walking with him; he needed something proactive to do.  “You are the most important person in my life, so, therefore, unsurprisingly, your most formative moment is of the highest importance.”  

He chanced a glance at her, and he was unsurprised to find that she would not meet his eyes.  She got like this—when she was trying her best to check her emotions.  The situation with her mother was, undeniably, a traumatic experience for her, but it was of the past; Lucy tended to firmly live in the now, and confronting the past, particularly such a painful part of the past, was not on her list of endorsed activities.  

But that wasn’t true for Lockwood, and they both knew it.  Yes, Lockwood publicly avoided digging into his past.  He wasn’t one to talk about it.  Hell, he still hadn’t told Kipps and Flo everything, and what he had shared with George had been spotty at best.  

But he wore it on his sleeves every single day.  He didn’t talk about it, but there wasn’t a day he didn’t replay the horrific mistake he made with Jessica that had cost her her life.  He didn’t talk about it, but there wasn’t a day he didn’t think of how much it meant to him that she had taken up the burden of serving as his guardian after their uncle had died.  He didn’t talk about it, but there wasn’t a day he wasn’t haunted by the image of the ghosts of his parents lingering in the garden.  He didn’t talk about it, but there wasn’t a day he didn’t think fondly of his parents, of the affection they had shown him as a boy.  

He refused to talk about his past, but he could acknowledge, privately or with just the right person, how haunted he was by it.  Lucy had discussed her past, albeit briefly, and while Lockwood was confident she was haunted by her past, he wasn’t certain to what degree she was consciously aware of it.  Her past—the situation with Jacobs, her relationship with Norrie, her disagreements with her mother—impacted nearly every single decision she had made and relationship she had formed in the time since, but Lockwood was fairly certain she was completely unaware of just how much these events impacted her; it was completely and utterly subconscious.  

Lockwood knew he needed to proceed with caution.  He didn’t wish to destroy her, torture her; realizing just how much these events had impacted her as a person had the power to do just that.  What he was embarking on was a dangerous task.  He needed to find a delicate balance:  help her realize her subconscious baggage without placing her in a position where it set her on a downward spiral.  

But his goal—it was worth the risk.  She deserved to have an opportunity to broaden her understanding of her own character, her own traumas—to start working on healing from those traumas.  She owed it to herself, and Lockwood knew he was the perfect person to get the job done.  She guided him through processing the trauma that had resulted from his experiences with his parents and his sister.  It was only fair that he do the same for her when she needed it.  

“Growing up with my mother…” she trailed off, as she attempted to resume the conversation where they had paused it, but he could see that she was visibly struggling.  “She was mean, and she was cold.  After Wythburn Mill…” she trailed off once more, and Lockwood could see her struggling again.  “She didn’t believe me.  No one believed me.  I didn’t like that she was taking my salary, but I got it:  I still lived at home, so,” she paused, with a shrug.  “It was fine.  

“But when she didn’t believe me—when she legitimately thought I had it in me to put those other agents at risk—especially Norrie,” she continued, only to pause again, this time to resolutely shake her head.  “That was the final nail in the coffin, so to speak.  I had to leave.  I had to be done.”  

“I think we should go for a visit.”  

Once again, this shocking turn of events in the conversation brought her feet to a stop.  While he had expected this shock, he didn’t want it to come off as if he had expected it too much; he slowed his pace and turned to face her equally as slowly.  He squared his shoulders and brought his hands to meet behind his back as he pulled himself up to stand as straight as possible; a fight was coming, and he knew he needed to be prepared.  

“Why?” she asked.  Lockwood wasn’t overly thrilled at this particular question.  It was actually a legitimate question, and it implied that his element of surprise had been lost, if he had ever really had it to begin with.  Taking Lucy by surprise in a conversation had been extremely beneficial for him previously, but it appeared she might just be learning his usual tricks.  

He shrugged and decided to play it safe.  “I want to see where you grew up.”  It was true; this was one of his goals, but his underlying goal was quite different from what he was suggesting here.  “We’re together now, aren’t we, Luce?” he asked, and although he tried his hardest to merely state it as a fact, he felt the spike in his heart rate and knew it was, at its core, a question.  

Her eyes snapped to his, and he noticed that she seemed to recognize his anxiety.  Slowly, she nodded, almost as if she were taken by surprise at his lack of certainty in the matter.  

“Lovely, then,” he answered, his tone resuming its calm and cool nature.  “Then, I think it’s perfectly reasonable that I get to see where you grew up:  see your childhood home, see where you trained, see the memorial for your family from Jacobs’s agency so that we may grieve the loss of them together.”

“Why?” she spat, her voice definitely having a biting edge to it.  To her credit, she winced at the sound of it, moments later.  With a shake of her head, she seemed to reset.  “I mean, why would you want to see that?  It’s nothing but…” she trailed off, her eyes drifting out of focus as she did so.  “Bad energy hanging about.”  

“I understand.  I know this is going to be hard for you to face,” he conceded.  As he continued, his volume decreased, and he took several steps to draw in closer to her.  “But you will have me by your side,” he suggested, his smile small but inviting.  “I will help you through it, will I not?”  

“Lockwood,” she started, with a small scoff and a roll of her eyes.  “Don’t take this the wrong way,” she prefaced, and he found himself bearing down, preparing, knowing, even as he did, that it was not likely to work:  it was very likely that whatever she had to say would leave him feeling indignant.  “I don’t think anything could make this tolerable, not even you.”  

He nodded, understanding, and doing his best not to show that it hurt a bit that she thought that.  Still, already, his mind was at work, preparing the next phase of his argument.  

“This will be hard for you?” he asked.

She nodded.

“Painful?”

She nodded.  

“You will have to face things that have plagued you for many years?”

She nodded.

“Things that have been hard at work creating your worst insecurities for many years?”

She nodded.  

“Perhaps not so dissimilar to how I felt standing on the landing, my hand poised on Jessica’s bedroom door, then,” he suggested, his tone nothing but mildly curious.  There was no accusation to be had there, but he didn’t need it to be in his tone:  his words carried the argument for him.  

Lucy’s entire demeanor changed instantly.  She scoffed.  She rolled her eyes, and they did not return to look at him for several seconds.  She crossed her arms over her chest.  She tisked.  She winced.  She shook her head.  

He had won, and she knew it.  

“And, of course, when I took you to visit the gravesite for my parents.  And, of course, when we discovered—together—that, not only was Marissa Fittes alive, but that she had actually been the one to kill my parents.  And, of course, when I told you what it felt like to see the ghosts of my parents from outside my bedroom window—”

“Yes, yes, yes,” she started, with a heavy sigh.  “You’ve made your point.  No need to dig it in, is there?” she asked, her eyes finally coming back to meet his.  

“I’m not trying to hurt you,” he acknowledged, his voice barely above a whisper.  As if on a reflex, his hand came up to cup her neck and weave his fingers through the hair at the base of her neck.  “I’m not trying to vindictively reopen old wounds by taking you back there.  But I do hope that maybe—just maybe—by going back there and confronting it—confronting her—you can actually start to allow these old wounds to truly heal.”

“They’re healed,” she spat, indignantly.

He did not say a word.  With a quirk of an eyebrow and an accusatory tilt of his head, he allowed his expression to carry the weight of his argument.  

“Well, I’m better off than I was,” Lucy conceded.  

“But not as healed as you could be,” he suggested, with a nod.  “And as we are living together now, I feel it is my personal responsibility to help you in this task.”  

Lucy was silent for what felt like an eternity.  Lockwood did his best to be patient—to wait her out, to give her the time she needed to process this incredibly large request.  But with every second, he could admit—privately, if not publicly—that it became harder and harder to wait.  

Finally, when he felt as though he was about to jump out of his skin, she muttered a very small and displeased, “fine.”  In the blink of an eye, she extracted herself from his hold, turning to resume their pace towards Arif’s.  Before he could even think to start moving to follow her, she had already thrown a biting comment at him over her shoulder:  “but you better buy me tea and donuts on that day too.”  

With a smirk and a scoff, he readily agreed.  It was a fair price to pay, in his opinion.  

#locklyle #locklyle fanfic #locklyle fan fic #lockwood and co #lockwood & co #lockwood and lucy #anthony lockwood #lucy carlyle #lockwood and co fan fiction #lockwood and co fanfiction #locklyle fanfiction #locklyle fan fiction #lockwood & co fan fic #lockwood & co fan fiction #lockwood & co fanfiction #lockwood & co fanfic

[extremelyputridfishbreath]

Top 25 Things You DIDN'T (Maybe) Know About Rolly!!!!!

(NUMBER 9 WILL SURPRISE YOU 🙀)

1. Rolly owns multiple puffles (which has been mentioned on the blog, but he didn't say what species they were so we'll go over it here). Silkie (Black), Houston (Purple), Copycat (Orange Tabby), Greedy (Black), Stan (Brown), Tater Tot (Golden), Littlefoot (Blue Triceratops), Dump Truck (Gray) and Fizz (Pink). A few of them have names I called actual pets I own(ed) in the past or present, because I thought it was funny.

2. Rolly prefers Fang Fudgies when it comes to Spectral Sweets. He also likes Fullmoon Fireballs, but not nearly as much.

3. Rolly is allergic to apples (and applesauce)...he didn't actually know this until he tried Puffle-O's as part of a dare and...yeaaaah.

4. Rolly's birthday is February 29th, 1988. But since that’s a leap year, he ends up celebrating it on October 24th instead. And unlike Richter, he can celebrate it without being reminded of a horrific historical event! ...Well, until 2015 anyways. Nice going, Herbert AND the Ghost Gang for deciding to be evil around his birthday!

While it wasn't as much of a birthday moodkiller as Blackout...yeah, he wasn't having a great time that year.

5. Rolly was definetely frozen during Blackout as seen in this (VERY) old art.

Of course, the Blackout did end...(unless you're unfortunately stranded in the timeline Kaede is in, in which case it did not.) So clearly someone had the moxie to end Herbert's reign of terror...but who? This will get explained further on that characters post... :)

6. Rolly doesn't wear it anymore, but as a teenager and in his young adult years, he had a beak piercing. (Pictured here is his casual PSA!Era outfit!)

7. Rolly lived off island for a good chunk of his childhood on a island called Deception Island, with his negligent father Caspian. Caspian ended up leaving Rolly behind when he was around 8 years old due to not wanting the commitment of a child, which led to his uncle Rocco adopting him. Rocco was only visiting at the time when Caspian left since he lived on Club Penguin, so he ended up bringing Rolly back with him since Caspian very much was a bad parent.

8. Rolly is a Royal/Chinstrap penguin hybrid, the Royal bit comes from his mother (who he doesn't know and doesn't feel interested in finding). He doesn't have much of a crest, but his feathers tend to grow out more than a "pure" chinstrap's would- hence the cowlick (which he trims to make more manageable.)

9. His voiceclaim is Gordon Freeman from HLVRAI. Which you can hear here! But during his PSA days? He sounds more like SATAM/AOSTH Sonic. Which you can also hear here!

10. Rolly is the original "ace", but as more agents qualified for the rank he decided to also go by the "Ace of Spades" to distinguish himself from the others. He also went by "Agent R" until Dot gave him his nickname.

11. Rolly has ADHD (Combined Type). He stims by pacing mainly, although he uses a fidget cube sometimes too. During his PSA days, he'd often chew his hoodies drawstrings as a stim...

12. Rolly originally worked as the Pizza Parlor's janitor before being recruited and a until late 2007. He quit because of how many messes failed Pizzatron runs made. He really, really feels vindicated for doing so after the introduction of stamps (ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING ONE REQUIRES YOU TO MAKE A MESS)... He works as a Dance Club bouncer as his cover job ever since.

13. Rolly isn't a very good cook. Because of that, he started bringing frozen food like lasagna, pizzas from the Pizza Parlor etc to EPF potlucks and hoping nobody says anything.

14. Rolly is gay, nonbinary, and asexual. He's also poly and in a relationship with both JPG and Rookie since 2014.

15. After Blackout, given how he was also frozen and y'know, literally lost an eye he was given time off so he could cope (and this was also granted to basically all agents, even those who didn't feel unfit to work after). Because of this, Gambit was the one to deal with Operation: Hpt Sauce and Operation: Puffle.

16. So, speaking of Operation: Puffle... Herbert actually noticed his least favorite penguin was suspicously absent during his last scheme. And well, as we all know Herbert is miserable. And misery loves company. So he may or may nlt have stolen Silkie from him and put him to work gathering coins to bait him. Rolly saw right through this and didn't give him what he wanted, but he was pretty worried about Silkie while Gambit (and PH) were saving the day without him.

17. Rolly is shorter than the average Chinstrap or Royal Penguin. Here's him next to Kaede for comparison.

18. Rolly liked popcorn for the most part pre-popcorn explosion (asides from kernels getting stuck in his teeth anyway), but after the destruction of the PSA he's hated it ever since. He started watching movies at home, because he can't stand the smell of popcorn- and theatres make plenty of it.

19. Rolly was a huge theatre kid. One of his most (in)famous roles was one of the lead puffles in Puffles (the musical). He doesn't like to talk about it, since his role was basically the equivalent of Rum Tum Tugger going from glamrock to rap. He stopped acting not long after.

20. During the 2012/2013 Super Hero (read: Marvel Takeovers without the Marvel costumes, since tbh nothing about them was marvel specific OUTSIDE of those things), he gained super powers- particularly electricity. He was a super hero called "Rolling Thunder". (Slightly old art, but the outfit itself is unchanged.)

21. Not unlike Rollando, Rolly has a twin brother! His name is Des (short for Desmond) and hes the OGCP equivalent of Destin. (VERY old art below.)

They became aware they were siblings after a chance encounter during a surfing competition. They're not super close, but they're on decent terms. He also has an older half sister who needs a name (her CPI counterpart is called Daytona), although he and Des haven't met her yet...

22. If you’ve read my fic, I Can’t Believe It’s Not Improv, you may know that Rolly was...genuinely unaware he was an agent and thought he was recruited by a talent agency and not a secret agency. It took the Herbert situation for him to realize this was all real, and not just a bunch of really dedicated method actors. This’ll be explored more in depth if his PSA days are actually written out anytime soon...

23. So Rollando and Rolly wouldn’t be able to meet normally* but whenever they do, such as in roleplays...they tend to have beef with each other! To the point where Richter, paragon of normalcy took it upon herself to bestow to to them...the dreaded Get Along Shirt.**

So that kiiinda made them get over their beef (at least around then, because I definitely remember Rolly v Rollando arguments happening later). But for why? Why do they hate each other so much? Well, it’s more of why does Rolly hate Rollando, since the latter (at least how I write him now) only dislikes him because of Rolly’s grudge. Well, that’s because Rollando’s impulsive, reckless and (at times) hot-headed nature REALLY reminds him of how he was as a PSA agent. Which is bad, because Rolly feels like a lot of issues could’ve been solved if he wasn’t a little smug jerk back then, so he ends up disliking Rollando for his personality, even though Rollando isn’t very smug usually. Or a theatre kid, even. Honestly, other than the fact both have impulsivity issues and tend(ed) to be reckless, they’re pretty different people. But hey, I guess the best guy to project your issues on is you to the left amirite?

* I haven’t decided on the how they meet in canon, but it involves Herby Werby fucking up the universe for everyone and everything and dragging a few characters from their home timelines to the OGCPverse and they have to fix it somehow.

** The action was described backstage because all interactions are over a chat room in universe, if you’re confused as to why she didn’t put it on in these messages.

24. Rolly can’t take care of plants...like at all. As you can see from his CPR igloo (RIP CPR :pensive:)  nearly everything in his igloo plantwise is dead excluding the cactus. Whoops.

25. Honestly? Rolly is probably paranoid graphing calculators besides Richter are secretly sapient now. So he uses the calculator on his phone now instead.

This thing I posted yesterday? Yeah, this?

I’d like to think that Rolly added that page and got into a “edit war” of sorts with G about because yanno, the “talking demonic calculator” he got from Herbert’s face SUSPICIOUSLY always acts like a plain old graphing calculator whenever he brings it to HQ... So there was a lot of G removing the page only for Rolly to add it back. Eventually Rolly stopped bringing Richter because obviously they wouldn’t fess up in front of G, and G thought he was just messing around. I mean a talking calculator, Rolland? Really? That face is clearly photoshopped, no wonder G thought it was a joke. 🙄

anyway post over * throws this manlet at you *

#club penguin oc #club penguin ocs #rolly #club penguin ace #noticed richters fact post get reblogged today and got Inspired to make one for rolly since hes 1. ALSO important in my verse and 2 #ALSO on the asked blog #and also i need to talk about my ocs MORE SO BAD #club penguin

[belizedeservesbetter]

KPOP Completely Misses the Mark

It is with deepest regrets that I must say the book is absolutely atrocious 

A couple years ago, KPOP was the hottest ticket Off-Broadway. It was presented as an immersive tour through a “KPOP Factory” where you the audience traveled to different rooms, where the show played out before you. It had critical raves across the board and was seen as this really cool show that showed how cool Off-Broadway can be when you don’t have to follow the constraints of a Broadway house.

And then some producer thought he should bring it Broadway and realized you can’t do a walk through immersive show that critiques the kpop industry and still sell tickets. So the show was completely changed and completely rewritten, which brings us to current iteration of KPOP on Broadway.

Listen, part of my literal job is reading and analyzing weekly Broadway grosses and I’ve seen the abysmal numbers KPOP is pulling. Like the fact that Gabriel Byrne’s one man show Walking With Ghosts is somehow making more money is truly astonishing. 

So I don’t mean to kick a show when its down when I say this, but KPOP is a mess. 

It’s little more than a glorified concert with a couple (poorly written) scenes here and there that make up a barely coherent story that neither critiques nor celebrates kpop. Unfortunately, this show fails at being both a concert and a story. 

Let’s start with the book, which, to be blunt, is probably one of the worst written books I’ve ever seen on the Broadway stage. It felt like a high school student wrote this. Every second of it felt amateurish. The characters were one dimensional and the story was almost nonexistent. 

To break it down a bit more, KPOP tells the “story” of three different KPOP groups on the verge of their label being introduced to an American audience. There is boy band F8, girl group RTMIS, and solo star MwE. 

You can tell bookwriter Jason Kim is mostly doing TV now, because this show is clearly divided into A Plot, B Blot, C Plot. 

A Plot revolves around MwE, the superstar of the record label. Like 60% of the show is weird backstory about her overly traumatic childhood and rise to becoming a KPOP star. Every time the show cuts to a flashback, they shine a strobe light directly in your face and play a clip of the ocean on the backdrop as a piece of set rises from the floor. Each of her scenes basically say the same thing, which is MwE likes music and works so hard and yet can never do good enough to impress record label owner/mother figure Ruby. This happens over and over and over again until the end where MwE threatens to leave and dumps her boyfriend (not even worth getting into this to be honest) and Ruby is like “I will not make your life better or do anything you have asked but I would like you to stay” and MwE is just like “sure” and that’s it.

I understand MwE’s plot was supposed to critique the hardcore nature of the KPOP industry and how young kids are basically raised in KPOP land completely isolated from their peers, but the show doesn’t commit to any real critique, and kind of ends in a celebration of stardom? Nothing is accomplished here. It almost felt like Kim was afraid to commit to having a point of view on this and potentially alienate potential ticket buyers.

B Plot is F8, the boy group whose member Leo has mysteriously been kicked out and has been replaced with American boy Brad. They mention quite a bit that Leo was kicked out/removed/mysteriously disappeared from the group, so you’d expect them to tell you why, right? 

Right?

Spoiler alert but they do not tell you why! He has just mysteriously been kicked out and replaced by fun loving Brad who isn’t accepted by the rest of F8 because he’s new and from America, even though like four other members of F8 are also from America but whatever we’ll just ignore that. Main F8 Boy Whose Name is Never Said Out Loud (the playbill tells me his name is Jun Hyuk) is mean to Brad until F8 Boy Who Does Not Say a Single Other Line of Dialogue in the Show (playbill says his name is Lex) is like “maybe we shouldn’t fight anymore” and then everyone is like “yeah!” and that’s literally how B Plot is resolved. 

Jun Hyuk does have my favorite line in the show though, which was completely bonkers and compared Brad’s new dance moves to not putting parsley in a dish. 

Then we got C Plot with RTMIS, but unfortunately this would be more like a D Plot or even an unheard of E or F Plot because they quite literally have zero plot. They sing some fun songs and have one single scene halfway through Act Two where they’re basically like “gee it sure is hard to be a KPOP star! But I love stardom so much which makes it all worth it!”

I hate to do this but #justiceforRTMIS 

It was almost insulting to see the five members of RTMIS be so completely overlooked when there was so much there they could’ve explored. 

Then we’ve got the TV Director and the Camera Man plot, which was so bad and so terribly written that this sentence right here is going to be my only acknowledgement of it. 

Unfortunately the acting was pretty uniformly bad too, but I’m choosing to blame this on lack of coherent material and barely there directing.

However, the one bright spot was Luna as MwE. I don’t know much about KPOP as a whole but I could tell as soon as she stepped on stage that she is a star. She just has that star quality and stage presence that you can feel all throughout the theater. Her playbill bio mentions she was Elle Woods in the South Korean production of Legally Blonde, which I was so wish I could’ve seen instead of KPOP. Her big number “Super Star” was the highlight of the show. 

So anyway, that’s what made it a bad musical, but let’s go into what made it a bad concert! 

The music is fun but none of the songs are very distinguishable from each other. The choreography was good but not very tight and the whole cast needed a shot of adrenaline.

Oddly enough it was too quiet in the theater? They really needed to amp up the volume. And the lights were cool when they weren’t shining directly in your eyes. 

But what makes this a bad concert is that we don’t know who these people are. They are not real KPOP groups and their story doesn’t give them any depth to make you like them throughout the course of the show. What makes Six a good concert is catchy songs and a prior knowledge to who the six wives of Henry VIII are before walking into the theater. I say all this not really liking Six but it successfully did what KPOP is trying to do. 

I’m sure the producers are wondering why kpop fans aren’t running to the show en masse since kpop fan bases are notoriously passionate and honestly a bit overwhelming to anyone not in their circles. However, I can clearly see why they aren’t coming to the show. Kpop fans aren’t interested in fake Kpop groups. They love their idols and their biases (thank you to my passionate Kpop fan coworker for explaining the fandom lingo) because they are real people they have formed a sort of parasocial relationship with. They want to see the real thing, not a poor imitation of it. And besides, tickets to kpop concerts are absurdly expensive so it’s not like they can afford to see KPOP on Broadway anyway. 

All this to say, I wish this show was better. There’s a lot of potential here and every ounce of it is wasted.

#kpop #broadway #review #luna #theatre

[cicaklah]

strange new worlds!!!

I watched the first seven episodes of strange new worlds and I'm here to TALK about them incoherently.

Look, after disco season 3 and picard season 2, I had basically had my heart broken twice. Make me love a show, make me bond with a crew, then fuck it all over with bad writing, poor decision making and shoddy showrunning.

Is it happening again??? oh, probably. But much as in 2017 when I was at rock bottom disco provided me with what I needed, in 2022 it did it again, just what I needed this time was some by the numbers star trek.

some of the perennial problems of modern trek are still present: characters have to have big secrets as well as tragic backstories. too many coincidences that just happen to tie into classic trek a little too evenly. However, a lot of that is excused: these are characters we know and they are connected.

I am very glad that this is it though, there isn't a big overriding mystery yet. Disco especially couldn't work out whether it wanted to be a show with a big mystery or lots of small mysteries and instead just piled mystery upon mystery until everyone was just suffocated.

I love the decisions that have been made: the gorn being the token scary baddies is a good choice. Fleshing out Spock and T'Pring's relationship is delicious, T'Pring is glorious. I'm waiting for her to ask Spock to fuck her like a human and how much that will bsod his brain to the point I will probably write it.

I ADORE Una and La'al. I didn't think I'd like La'al, mostly because I'm sick of everyone must be one degree of separation, but I love her so much. I love Una and Pike's relationship. I am BESOTTED with Chapel. Baby Uhura is adorable. Ortega is great. Hemmer is...you don't need me to spend ages talking about Andorians/Aenar because I read all those beta canon books (DRINK), just to say though I love him.

So far all seven episodes are great, probably the weakest was the pilot, though it was good. The commitment to self contained episodes and the old A/B plotting just is a reminder that the structure is a classic for a reason. Also, they did body swap!!! Body Swap and Enterprise Bingo! In one episode!

Quick reviews of each episode:

strange new worlds: pike's beard is awful, spock's body is incredible, light touch tie into disco, I miss Michael too, and a retconning of star trek history that would have been better coming before picard but that I'm still mildly annoyed about because it still doesn't really make sense to pretend that the diversion point between us and star trek is yet to happen but also not ugh just FINE BE THAT WAY.

children of the comet: could be mid-tier forgettable tng episode and I mean that as a compliment.

ghosts of illyria: echoes of tng episodes past collide with beta canon and two characters having secrets. genuinely loved this episode, una being illyrian is something I was annoyed was apparently changed but nah. Also discussing augments and eugenic war legacy oh my its like christmas.

memento mori: SO GOOD just so good. Ambushes! Gorns! Cat and mouse in space! Character development!!! Creepy shit!!! Hemmer!!! Creative uses for things!! Mind melds!!!

Spock Amok: BODY SWAP!!!!!!! ENTERPRISE BINGO!!!! Interesting diplomacy B plot! The solarsail ship! A definite great.

lift us where suffering can't reach: this is just an adaptation of 'those who walk away from omelas' but I am glad they did it, even if now the show is doomed to be sued by ursula k leguin for plagiarisms. but does her story have topless pike? no. so this episode is obviously the superior 'powered by a forsaken child' story.

the serene squall: shipbait and a great villain who overall sells a filler episode. good job. also: sybok!!!!!! the return of sarek: galaxy's worst dad maybe???

anyway this show is good I don't know why people aren't talking about it. also there's loads of kissing, absolutely loads of it. it didn't cure my depression but it did make me feel a bit better to lie in bed, watch star trek and eat crisps.

#star trek #star trek snw #strange new worlds

[username-archive]

𝗱𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝘆 𝗺𝗲

𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆: after a particularly bad argument with Druig, you had run off no where to be seen. while looking for you your boyfriend bumps into a helpful friend

𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀: she/her pronouns used, fluff, soft moments, reader sucks at cooking and dancing, quite a bit of dialogue, underlying angst, reader has telekinesis as her power, mentions of the bridge of the Domo which is the room with the statue where they all gather (i had to look it up to find out its name so in case you didn’t know)

piece me back together (part 2)

everything in italic i got from a pinterest post a while ago and it is not mine but if you know who it is from please let me know and i’ll credit them <3

‘fine then, just leave!’ his voice echoed down the empty hall of the Domo, you being the only noticeable thing there. he turned around in annoyance, too pissed off to face you; you tried to give him a look of love but anger coursed through you taking over and making you give him a glare before twisting and walking down the bare hall. by the time Druig had turned back around, you were gone.

hours passed and you still had yet to return. at first he thought you had left to cool down for a minute then you would come back to him and talk it out but even after he got Makkari to check around the surrounding area, you were still gone. Druig set off on a mission of his own to find you.

he’d checked every room, every hallway, he had even checked the flat roof but you were still missing. rage still fuelled him from the prior argument yet he was more scared than anything. what if a deviant had gotten to you? what if you didn’t come back at all? he’d spent thousands of years with you, he couldn’t lose you just because you were too blind to see danger.

stumbling into the bridge of the Domo, Druig walked into something hard. opening his eyes he was met with the feisty warrior. ‘have you seen Y/N? she left after...’ he trailed off leaving his sentence unfinished. ‘i know what happened. the rooms may be sound proof but the open areas are not.’ ah. she had heard it all. ‘sit.’ she commanded the centuries old man who hesitated before immediately sitting round the statue after a raise of the fierce woman's eyebrow. Thena had that power over people.

sat around the Arishem statue Thena began to speak. ‘she could commit murder and you’d still love her.’ she spoke as softly as she could however there was still a small bit of venom in her voice from disagreeing with Druig’s argument. he was being too emotional and she knew it. their jobs were to protect the earth and exterminate all Deviants yet your boyfriend had let his feelings get in the way and now you might be gone for good. he only wanted to protect you but demanding you stop fighting Deviants for good was the final trigger for you. 

‘that is the problem. if she wanted to dance, i would let her wreck the furniture.’

a small memory popped into Druig’s head. Phastos had created a stereo, a more advanced version of the small music box the humans currently had. he was bored of having to make simple things so you encouraged him to make the most eccentric things he could think of and decorate the Domo with them. 

that’s how you ended up pulling Druig by the hand to the common area where loud piano played from the tall speakers. ‘what is this?’ he shouted over the deafening music. ‘fantasia in D minor K... Phastos what number is it?’ he couldn’t hear you so you signed it, something you all knew for Makkari.

turning down the music he spoke, ‘397! it’s all they have at the moment!’. placing Druig’s hand on your waist while still holding the other one you began to move around swaying with the dark haired man. even though you had danced hundreds even thousands of times it still felt like the first.

taking control, Druig pulled you closer. chest to chest he ghosted over your lips, his ocean blue eyes entrancing you. his movements lit your body ablaze; it was magic how only his presence had you crumbling for him. ignoring your surroundings you continued to dance around the room. you lost your smile as Druig pulled away only for it to return as he turned your hand and span you under his arm knocking over a set of gladiator armour Ajak had decorated with. pulling you back into him, your back to his chest with his arm around your waist while the other still held your hand, he rested his head on your shoulder placing a gentle kiss upon it and moving to your neck. he laughed into your neck as he noticed the fallen armour. ‘you’re not very careful are you?’

‘if she wanted to cook, i’d let her burn down the house.’

yet another memory appeared in his mind. ‘Dru! look i'm helping Gilgamesh!’ you showed him the bowl of lumpy mash potato you held in your hands. he looked past you towards the strong fighter who had no idea you would be this bad at cooking otherwise he wouldn’t have let you help. Gilgamesh stared at him with a helpless look in his eyes making Druig smile.

‘he’s going to let me cook the sauce!’ you fidgeted excitedly turning around to walk to the stove. although Phastos had urged Gilgamesh to let him make a new high tech stove and cooker, he denied saying that ‘the old one feels better’ and ‘it’s not broken so there’s no need’.

handing the bowl of potato to Gilgamesh who already had a tray in his hands, you proceeded to show your boyfriend the concoction you had made in the pan. the orange coloured substance bubbled as if it were trying to crawl out the pan away from your deathly sense of taste. turning to Druig as you explained what you put in it and how much chilli you had used to mess with Ikaris, you forgot to stir it and with Druig’s attention on you he failed to notice the small flames beginning to arise.

smelling burning, Gilgamesh threw the tray on the side counter and shoved past the two of you, turning the stove off. ‘get out.’ was the only thing he was able to say before Druig pulled you by the hand and lead you out of the room. ‘it looked deadly Y/N.’ you looked up at him offended, ‘i’m sure it would have tasted great but how about we leave the cooking to the pros, yeah?’

‘and if she wanted to scream, i would let her deafen me.’

more thoughts of you and your antics were flooding his brain only this one wasn’t so nice.

‘Druig i’m an Eternal just like you! it's my job, our job in fact, to fight Deviants and the fact you think i’ll stop simply because you told me to is outrageous!’ you were bubbling with rage, your words only pushing you further into the raw state of anger. your own boyfriend, who he himself was an Eternal, didn’t support you when you needed him. ‘i was holding the Deviant off! i asked you to move the civilians not push me out of the fight and make Ikaris takeover.’ 

‘Y/N you could have died! i’m protecting you and if you won’t respect that then we aren’t good together! i’ve spent thousands of years with you and you won’t even let me help to protect you.’ his accent became thicker the more angry he got. both of you had your arms beside you, half way in the air in a questioning matter as each of you moved around the room not thinking of where to go or what actions to take; all you wanted was for the other to understand you.

‘do you not think we’re good together, Druig?’ you took a step back from him as his words pranced around in your head. he didn’t say anything, he was too frustrated to think of the right words but to you his silence as your answer. raging, you spoke, ‘okay. since you want me to go away so bad i will!’ you shouted.

‘fine then, just leave!’

those words. they didn’t comfort you when that’s what he should have done. he remembers your scream as you walked away. he didn’t see you but when he turned around to face away from you he felt you let the anger out, your powers omitting a glow as you let out a frustrated scream, the type humans would do in their pillows.

i’ve never loved anyone enough to let them destroy me but, god, she could take me by the throat and my eyes would sparkle at the mere inches between us.

he was stupid to try and control you, how had he not seen that before now? ‘you cannot control something that was made to be free, Druig.’ he didn’t know if it was because he sentimental over you or if Thena simply had a way with words but he knew he had to find you and make it right. no more searching for you in hopes you had changed your mind, you are your own person and he had to accept it; now he just had to find you.

#druig #druig x reader #druig x eternal!reader #druig x you #druig x y/n #druig x female reader #marvel #marvel x reader #eternals #eternals x reader #thena #gilgamesh #phastos #x reader

[missskzbiased]

The Things We Don’t Tell

Summary: You were sure your life was written and directed to fit a sketchy Rom-Com and nobody could convince you otherwise. First, your boss was too hot to be true, and burning with desire didn’t even begin to explain the tingling sensations he left on you. Second, your coworker (a.k.a. Ex-About-to-be-FWB) insisted in turning your life into a living hell, which wasn’t the exact kind of hotness you were into. And if having these two hot men around you every single day of your life wasn’t enough to prove it, maybe the threat of your slutty secret identity about to be busted would be… But you couldn’t let this happen.

WC: 7,5 K

Genre: Smut, Humor (?)

AUs: Office, Enemies to Lovers

Pairing: Hwang Hyunjin X Fem!Reader X Bang Chan  

(Not really a love triangle as Hyunjin is the Lead. However, Reader wants to Bang Chan)

Rebloggable Masterlist    //   Main Masterlist   //   Tag List

Warnings: Language, Thigh riding, Public space (Office), Exhibitionism, Possessiveness, Pet Name (Baby girl), Sir Kink  

[If I forgot anything, please let me know! I’m kinda sleepy right now]

Notes: There will be at least one more chapter but I won’t do a tag list post for now, only if someone wants it, cuz I’m too lazy to think about doing it right now. This fic is an attempt to experiment with some writing style things that I’ve been wanting to try. I don’t think it worked, tho SUHAHUSAUHSUHA But that’s life

- I’ll quite possibly change the title in the future-

                                                            ///

  You are a superhero.

    Okay! To be honest, you may be exaggerating a little bit ─ a tiny harmless little bit ─ but that was how you felt every single day of your life, alright? You had this glorious and mysterious side of yours that you hid from everyone else in the world… That mask that you couldn’t let come to the ground and would fight for dear life to protect… That side to your persona that no one was allowed to meet… The fierce, bold, and dark aspects of your soul that—

    “Y/N! I want those papers on my table!”

    “Yes, sir!” You shrieked in an embarrassing (not even slightly bold) way.

    — That you couldn’t show at your work.

    Yeah… So maybe no one actually thought of you as a superhero, but you really believed someone should start to. Was there something that different between your life and those low-budget TV shows people seem to enjoy so much? You didn’t think so.

  To be fair, sometimes you felt like someone wrote a questionable script and poorly directed your life to fit you as the leading lady of a sketchy rom-com. As if they just focused on checking out every point on a bullet list made up with rules for a successful superhero office drama that wasn’t even that good…

    … And speaking of which…

    Rule Number One: The stern (maybe kinda attractive) boss!

    If you had to define Bang Chan with a couple of adjectives, you would choose undeniably beautiful ─ extremely professional of you because the right words to describe him were fucking hot ─ and committed. Fortunately, it wasn’t an “I have someone waiting for me at home and a bunch of kids I must put to sleep” kind of commitment, which would destroy your hopes of having this man one day. Unfortunately, it was an “I’m better than the header and gonna run this company by tomorrow night” kind of commitment, which destroys your hopes of a peaceful day at work.

    Now, it’s not like you don’t want to do your job! It’s just that you didn’t sign up to be Bang Chan’s perfect little toy ─ definitely not the better words to describe it ─ and you didn’t expect to be joined by the hips ─ really? ─ with him or any of your coworkers. The thing is that Bang Chan wants to be on top ─ someone has to stop you ─ and he believes the only way to get there is to work as a team and be as perfect as one can be. In other words, Bang Chan wants absolutely everything and everyone to be neat, tight, and ready to be used ─ again… Not the better way to put your thoughts into words ─, but this just wasn’t who you were.  

    It also wasn’t the point right now.

    The point right now should be the fact that Bang Chan was striding to his office looking like he owned the whole damn place… If this was a movie, the camera would be focusing on his expensive, black leather shoes before scanning all the way up to his waist in slow motion. The scene would zoom in on his fine ass only to go a little bit up and catch the shiny, black belt wrapping around his figure. The outfit didn’t leave much to the imagination, but you had a hell of a productive mind… You could think of a few things you shouldn’t really be thinking about right now.

    Bang Chan didn’t seem to understand he was at work either.

    He rolled his sleeve up in a sexy motion that should be illegal. It isn’t. You can tell by the way there are no cops bursting inside the building and arresting this gorgeous son of a bitch.

    The lack of any authorities to stop this atrocious moment had you lowering your gaze to your desk ─ a vain attempt to ignore the way his forearms flexed as he gestured and ordered people around. If you were a little bit less professional, you would have some ideas of how he could do it in bed. With you. But you weren’t some kind of creepy perv who would be fantasizing about riding your own boss from dusk till dawn.

    Not at all.

    “Do you need me, Sir?” His secretary asks politely.

  A question that you would love to ask him too… In a totally and strictly professional way, of course.

    Rule Number Two: The (extremely unnecessary) nemesis!

    The shiver running down your spine could mean only one thing: Hwang Hyunjin ─ your obnoxious coworker ─ was standing right behind you, just like a bloody damn ghost. There was no need to turn around. You knew he had his mocking eyes glued on Bang Chan’s figure, and you could feel the air shifting as he tilted his head in a silent sneer before leaning on your desk.

    You refused to turn around and acknowledge his presence; painfully aware that he would flash a wide grin while looking at you with a knowing glint in his eyes. You wouldn’t give him the taste of seeing in your face that he was right; that you were staring at your boss as if you were a starving vulture. So you did the only thing you could do in this situation: You started to work. The sheets scattered over your desk wouldn’t walk by themselves to Bang Chan’s room, right?

    And neither would you if it depended on Hyunjin.

    The attempts to swipe the papers in your direction and gather everything you needed ─ to finally get rid of Hyunjin ─ proved to be vain as his hand took root on the desk. You pursed your lips in annoyance while glancing at his prominent knuckles and slender fingers; wondering if he would be so collected if he knew you wanted to crunch them. Probably not. But he gets off so fucking much on upsetting you that he might just want to take the risk anyway.

    “What do you want, asshole?” You hissed; stopping your motions before turning around to stare blankly at him.

    The face of an angel was the most accurate way to describe the sight in front of you. Plump, pink lips molded into a sweet smile and dark brown eyes morphed into cute crescents. None of those features fit his true self, though. Underneath the angelic façade, there was a demon called Hwang Hyunjin ─ who was resting his free hand on your shoulder for no reason besides driving you crazy.

    It would be easier if he was just a pretty face, but Hyunjin had a good body too. The guy looked just like a model ─ slim, tall, and classy ─, and even though only his collarbones peeked out from down his shirt, you knew that there was much more than the eyes could see.

    Well, you never saw it, but you had felt it.

    As far as you could remember, each curve on Hyunjin’s abs was craft by God himself. The way his chest was built for you to caress would be forever craved on your mind. You might never forget how soft his lips were in contrast to his lap… How his thighs flexed just right when you pulled his hair… How reactive he was… How his moans sounded… And how he put everything to waste.

    “Oh, nothing” He shrugged. As usual, his voice was just like sweet, hot honey; still, you could wipe the poison dripping down his chin, “I was just wondering if you had enough time to do your job while fucking your boss inside your head” He clarified sarcastically, cracking you a smile.

    Sometimes you regretted not putting his mouth to good use… He really needed to learn how to shut up for a while and stop being so… Unbearable. The silence he met had him scoffing; body leaning even closer to the point his face was practically hovering over yours ─ smugness plastered all over it. You held his gaze to confront him; breathe mingling with his in a heated mix that matched the anger under your eyes.

    Was he licking his lips as he stared at yours? Oh boy… He definitely wanted to get laid. It was your time to scoff as the frown on your lips turned into a smirk; eyes twinkling mischievously as you looked into his in a silent teasing. As if sensing that he was in trouble, Hyunjin tilted his head to look even more obnoxious than he was; face coming closer to yours to defy your newfound confidence.

     “You know what? If you stared at him any longer, I think his balls might have fallen off…” He whispered in a tone loud enough for just you to hear “Unless he saw the way you were looking at him… Then I guess his dick would go straight up” He assured you with a ‘friendly’ pat on your shoulder as he finally let go of your papers and straightened his back.

    “Are you saying it from experience?” You sneered; grimacing at him.

    “Are you telling me that you want me to fuck you too?” He retorted gibingly; not even thinking twice about it.

    “No” You tilted your head, trying to stay composed, “I’m reminding you that you couldn’t even kiss me without getting a boner… Just like a teenage boy” He arched a brow at your statement; pursing his lips as he hummed in wonder “I’m surprised you never came in your pants like the pathetic thing you are” He laughed; poking his cheek with his tongue before squeezing your shoulder in a silent warning.

    “I must have been quite a sight if you can remember it so vividly” You pretended not to notice the way he sniggered, pushing away the urge to punch his face.

  Nemesis was just a classy way to call him a pain in the ass.

  Rule Number Three: The (plain and uninteresting) secret identity!

  It would be impossible to miss the moment Hyunjin’s devilish smirk morphed into a bright, friendly smile. The snarky comment on the tip of your tongue was swallowed back in a bit; grimace dissolving into a wide grin as if you weren’t about to throw your fists at him. He giggled as his arms spread open before snaking around your body to pull you into a tight hug; holding you close and rocking your body side to side as a soft huff fell from your lips.

    If you didn’t know any better, your knee would be buried between his legs.

  “Way to go, Y/N!” He chirped, loosening his grip to take a better look at your face; eyes smiling as if the both of you were the bestest of friends in the entire world, “You’re awesome! I’m so proud… I can’t believe how lucky I am to have you as my teammate” He pursed his lips; dimples showing as he offered you nothing but affection in his gaze.

    You did know better, though, and it wasn’t too hard to figure out who was standing behind your back as you opened your mouth to answer him: “There’s no one I’d rather be with!” You reassured Hyunjin in a sweet, mirthful tone; tilting your head to return the fondness in his look in an act worthy of an Oscar “We’re a team, you know? You can’t get rid of me so easily” He laughed wholeheartedly at that; ruffling your hair before leaning closer to you again, resuming the hug.

    “We’ll see about that” He whispered in your ear, making you scoff.

    “What are you gonna do? Cry to Daddy so you won’t work with me anymore?” You hissed back; breaking away from his hug with a tight grin before turning around to meet Chan’s gaze.

    The surprise plastered over your face was millimetrically calculated; just like the way you pretended to be flustered as you stared into your boss’ eyes to see the pride shining on them. You brought the papers closer to your chest in what was meant to be an innocent, coy way ─ a technique mastered over the months you worked for him ─, and Chan seemed to fall for it as he giggled in delight. The poor guy had no clue all of this was as fake as your camaraderie towards Hyunjin, and he wasn’t about to discover it anytime soon if it depended on you.

    Luckily, it did! You had taken some acting classes; just enough for your next words to be naturally convincing: “I’m so sorry, Sir! We’re just so happy that –” The words were deliberately drawled to give him enough time to interrupt you. Just like you knew he would. And it was a good thing that he did because you had no idea of how you were supposed to finish that sentence anyway.

    You were a good actress, not a professional improviser.

    “Don’t mention it” He cut you off giggly; detaching himself from the doorframe he leaned on as he watched the friendly scene taking place.

    The amount of cuteness this man could deliver in his smile wasn’t fair, and it didn’t match the sensuality a simple gesture of his overflowed with, enchanting you. You gulped down as he gave both of you a silent order to follow him into his room, wondering if the duality he had in the office was remotely similar to what he could do in bed ─ a thought that shouldn’t be having a place in your mind right now.

    Hyunjin seemed to pick up on it pretty quickly too, and as soon as Chan turned around to head to his office, he bumped his shoulder onto yours. The obnoxious action was followed by your elbow diving into his ribs; a retaliation that took you less than a second and, luckily, Chan ─ or any of your coworkers ─ didn’t seem to notice. Neither of you gave away your silent quarrel as Hyunjin closed the door behind him, smiling at you when Chan finally took his seat.

     “It’s good to see that you guys have such chemistry” He confessed, and you had to suppress a scoff when you looked into his eyes. He had no idea… The chemistry between you two was enough to make you want to blow each other, “You know what I always say, right?” He boasted on a sing-song; much more at ease than he seemed to be earlier.

    You weren’t about to put that on the line, though.

    “You can’t have teamwork if you don’t have a team!” You warbled in unison.

    “That’s the spirit!” Chan gurgled, heading to his desk in a visibly good mood.

    What was going on? He wouldn’t be so happy just because you and Hyunjin were being friendly… Were you missing something? He didn’t seem in such a peaceful state of mind when he came in… It had to be something that happened after that. Perhaps he got some good news from his secretary? Or maybe… You narrowed your eyes as you caught a glimpse of Hyunjin’s hands fidgeting in front of him; his foot tapping the ground rapidly but quietly before moving slightly to step on your toe.

     Or maybe Hyunjin had something to do with it…

    “As I said in the email, Sir, I happened to hear some stuff around and… KQ managed to get an exclusive with Han Jisung” The sentence sounded just like a normal introduction to a report, but you knew it wasn’t. Hyunjin’s eyes darted to meet yours, glinting with anxiety and despair. He was informing you of what was going on, not Chan, “And as we all know, Jisung is a rising producer star, which is bound to raise their sales and might get in the way of ours…” He continued, swallowing dryly and widening his eyes ever so slightly.

    He was definitely trying to warn you of something.

    “Yes, I read the e-mail, Hyunjin” Chan agreed sternly; smile disappearing as his fingers intertwined to serve as a support for his chin. He looked classy and incredibly sexy, but your mind couldn’t afford to focus on it right now. You had to figure out what the hell Hyunjin suggested to Chan before blowing everything up, “You also said that Y/N might have the solution for this…” Oh, so that was it, you thought when Chan arched his brow; eyes connecting to yours.

    And now what?

    “So?” He encouraged you, detaching his chin from his hands so he could rest them on his desk “I’m waiting” He smiled gently; a closed-mouth smile that was supposed to calm your nerves, even though you could see how tumultuous his gaze was right now.

    It was practically a silent threat.

    In a normal situation, the predatory way he was looking at you ─ resembling a wolf when you were nothing but a sheep under his radar ─ would get you… Thinking.

    Your job wouldn’t be at stake in a normal situation, though.

    The pressure on your toes increased; the subtle way Hyunjin found to snap you out of your mind, despite your silence hanging in there for just a few seconds. It was obvious that he was freaking out just as much as you were, and you couldn’t help but blame him for this. Couldn’t he have told you about it earlier? What the hell was going on inside his mind?! Instead of taunting you about wanting to fuck Bang Chan, he should have warned you about that shit!

    That’s not the time for this, Y/N.

    The muscles on your face tensed as you tried to not give away everything going through your mind; lips twisting in a tight smile as you looked at Hyunjin: “Yeah, he was right” You answered calmly, even though your stomach was settled on becoming an Olympic athlete right now, “As I was telling him before coming here, Sir, I have someone in mind…” The relief washed over Hyunjin’s face; a genuine smile adorning his features as he withheld a sigh, “I happen to know I.N, and I think I can get us an exclusive” You confessed, shifting your gaze from Hyunjin to Chan.

    “The writer?” He blurted out, astonishment plastered all over his face.

    “Yeah… They’re a friend of mine…” You trailed off, embarrassed to say it out loud “They’re in the top trending now since their novel will become a drama and…” You cleared your throat, lowering your head to avoid his gaze. There was just so much of acting you could handle for a day, “I mean- It’s… Adult stuff, right? But they never—”

    “I know! That’s perfect!” He beamed, getting up from his chair to walk your way “They’ve never been seen! Nobody knows anything about them, Y/N” He laughed ─ he genuinely laughed ─ while clasping his hands together “Han Jisung is good, but I.N is better! This is hot news… FrontPage… How come you never told me about that?” He chuckled, placing his hand on your shoulder “Rest assured that when I get my promotion, I’m gonna have you right here in this room” He promised you in such a serious tone that a shiver ran down your spine.

    Rule Number Four: The (kinda horny) true self!

    There was not a single soul in the office as you made your way down the hall; eyes focused on the mesmerizing view outside. The sky was colored in purple shades, so deep that you would have mistaken them for black if it weren’t for the dazzling, sleepless city and its dozens of skyscrapers lighting everything up. Not even the full moon would be able to compete with such a beautiful brilliance, but it wouldn’t be necessary either as your gaze was abruptly torn away from the night.

    The darkness surrounding you didn’t allow your brain to connect the dots immediately, and you couldn’t help but wonder what happened when you bumped into something. The surface was much softer than a wall, yet firm enough to have you wincing for the impact; eyes snapping to meet the unlucky bastard that stayed until so late. The moonlight kissed his skin just enough for you to recognize the sharp features of your boss; clenched jaw revealing popping veins that distracted you for a fraction of a second.

     Your eyes trailed the path from his jaw to his neck, and you couldn’t help but wonder how it tasted like; if you could savor it like the sins you wanted to commit with him. The closeness didn’t work in your favor, and the hint of his scent intoxicated your senses as you connected your gazes. Something must have given you off ─ maybe your hesitation, maybe the lust glinting in your eyes ─ because the next second, Cristopher had his hand placed on your lower back.

   The warm sensation grew to a burning feeling as his eyes darkened while diving into yours; his stern, cold gaze contrasting to the feeling of his touch and sending a shiver down your spine. Could he have noticed the way your legs trembled as his grip tightened around you? The look on his face was indecipherable, and the intensity of his gaze made you feel too exposed and vulnerable to keep looking for an answer, so you averted your eyes away from him.

    “Weren’t you supposed to come as soon as you got his answer?” The way his voice made its way to your senses had the embarrassment washing over you. The huskiness in his tone made you gulp down ─ throat dry from thirsting over him ─ and the calmness in his sentence alarmed you as it didn’t match the disapproval in his eyes “It’s so late that there is no one else here anymore” He added nonchalantly; mixed signals getting you confused to what he meant by it.

    Was it just a way to scold you or was it an invitation?

    “I’m sorry, Sir” Despite not having anyone around, you whispered the words as if you could be caught at any moment now, “It took me longer than expected, but we—”

    “We?” His eyes were sharp enough to cut you off but the real reason why you couldn’t manage to finish your thoughts was the way he pulled your body impossibly closer to his “Were you with him this whole time?” He hissed right into your ear, letting his hot breath fan over your cold, sensitive skin in a silent threat.

    “Working” You corrected, even though he didn’t say anything.

    “Working” He hummed in agreement; hand going to tuck your hair behind your ear “As in how we work late at night?” He sneered, manhandling you to press your back against the cold surface of the glass wall that separated his office from the rest of the place “Or is it as in how he wants to work you on his desk?” He scoffed; soft huff almost as degrading as the way he held your cheeks with one hand and guided your eyes to his.

    “Neither” You guaranteed breathlessly; voice quivering in excitement.

    “Are you going to pretend that you didn’t notice his looks?” He narrowed his eyes at you; his knee making its way to the gap between yours before slowly rising to your thighs, “That you don’t know how much he wants to fuck you?” He laughed humorlessly, shaking his head in disbelief, “You better not, ‘cause I know you love it” He warned as he kicked your legs apart.

    “He could never fuck me as you do” There was such seriousness in your tone that it had him chuckling, and he nodded in approval before burying his nose in your neck, “I-I’m yours only, Sir… I know my place” You promised quietly, trying not to give away how aroused his jealousy made you feel.

    “Yeah…” His raspy laughter tickled your skin, and you muffled a whine as he grazed his teeth over your neck teasingly “But you like being reminded of it, don’t you?” He taunted, taking in your scent in a way that made you feel too small and helpless. He groaned as soon as you let a whimper fall from your lips, and you couldn’t help but struggle to stay still while knowing what was about to come, “Do I have to spell it for you, baby girl?” He snickered before sucking on the tender spot of your skin that he knew too well at this point.

    “N-No” Somewhere inside your head, you acknowledged that your reaction was insanely humiliating. He just needed a couple of words spoken in a sultry tone and you couldn’t even form a proper sentence. That was the power he had on you. And you loved it. “Only yours” The rushed tone made him smirk against your neck, stopping his path of kisses for a second to look into your eyes “Sir” You panted; returning his gaze with just as much intensity as he had on his.

    “Claim your place” His order was so tantalizing that you didn’t even blink before you finally let your knees give away, losing the support of your legs to earn the support of his thigh, “That’s right… You do remember your place” Somehow, this sounded like the best praise he could ever offer you, even under his amused tone, “But you have been such a bad girl lately…” He pouted as he caressed your cheek; hand stopping to grab your chin gently “And I don’t like bad girls… You know that, right?” He let his thumb reach for your lower lip, fiercely staring at it before grazing his finger on your teeth.

    Your answer was as silent as his request; tongue welcoming his thumb before you sucked on his digit. He hummed in appreciation, pushing it inside your mouth as you looked at him with big doe eyes to show a coyness that wasn’t really there within you. The action was followed by a swirl around the tip of his finger; as if to leave in his mouth the taste of what he was missing and prompt him to give you what you really wanted: Him.

    If he picked up on your plans, he showed it by giving like for like.

   He didn’t say a word as he pressed his thigh against your heat; leaning closer to let his breath fan over your neck once more. He stood like that for what could have been seconds, maybe minutes, but nonetheless time enough for his warmth to creep into your senses. He was like a poison to you; the intoxicating presence clouding your better judgment and destroying any will you had to have him losing control. You didn’t even mind the way he scoffed as you started to grind his leg; brows twisting to shout out a needy plea for release.

    “That’s a good girl” He approved, catching your earlobe between his teeth. The moan that fell from your lips was muffled by his finger and he didn’t seem to appreciate it, “I don’t hear you, baby girl” He complained, moving on to your jaw with a path of open-mouthed kisses that weren’t enough to distract you from his other hand “There’s no one here… Be loud for me” He allured you as his hand found its way under your shirt.

      The temptation was great… Scream his name as he fucked you senseless in the office... No risk of being caught… Just you, and him, and your dirty little secret…

    Your thoughts were all around the place, and you had no hopes of grasping them back as his cold hand brushed your side, contrasting to the warmth under your clothes. The way he touched you made shivers run down your spine; his slow, delicate motion enhancing your senses to every single second of his caresses. You held your breath when his finger finally managed to reach its destination; grazing over your nipple to have you succumbing to his wishes.

    You fought it as you could, but you were never much of a fighter.

    It was too easy for him to have you under his control, and he knew it. You could tell it by the way he chuckled as soon as you gave away how lost you were at this point. The moan that left your lips came all the way up from your chest, sounding crystal clear in the room as you let your mouth fall agape. Sucking on his finger and following his orders were the last concern you would have for this moment. The only thing worthy of your attention right now was the fact that you couldn’t get as much friction as you needed, and you had to do something about it.

    So you grind on his leg for dear life.

    “You’re so needy” The mockery didn’t have much effect on your mind anymore, so you just kept sliding up and down his thigh as if that was the only thing that could keep you going “You’re not even listening to me, are you?” He huffed in disbelief; thumb leaving your mouth so he could cup your face “That’s all you can understand, right?” He taunted, pinching your nipple to get your attention again, “Are you still there, baby girl?” He leaned closer to whisper in your ear.

      “F-Fuck me” Was the only answer he would get.

      “Manners” He warned; licking the sweet spot next to your jaw.

      “Fuck me, Sir” You corrected yourself; wrapping your arms around his shoulders to look for some support as you practically bounced on his leg, “Please, fuck me, Sir” You repeated, forehead resting on the crook of his neck as you clawed his back, trying to bring him as close as possible to you.

      “Louder” He demanded, and you didn’t need to look at his face to know that he was grinning, “Louder…” He instructed in a tone so low that you could barely hear him over the rustling sounds of fabric against fabric. Your breath hitched as his hand gently caressed your hair; moving some strands away from your face to take a better look at you. However, he didn’t get to see your teary eyes, “Come on, baby… Look at me” He asked in a tantalizing tone, alluring you to try and meet his gaze.

    There wasn’t much you could see through your hooded eyes; vision too blurry for you to grasp what was going on inside his mind. You could tell he enjoyed it, though. He always did. That moment when he could pinpoint you had given up on your control, that you weren’t yourself anymore and would be willing to do whatever he asked… He lived for it, for that rebellious flame of self-control extinguishing from your eyes.

     For who you become when lust overcomes you.        

    The grip on his hair wasn’t unexpected, and Cristopher offered you a small, wicked smile before you connected your lips. The kiss was messy and hurried; tongues exploring every corner they could find while your hands were occupied on getting rid of your clothes. Neither of you cared about anything else but feeling each other’s bodies as you ripped your shirts. The cold breeze hitting your bare skin wasn’t enough to cool down the heat consuming you, but it was enough to have you squirming and whining.

      “Beautiful” Was the only thing he said before pushing your back against the glass and adjusting his grip to take your nipple between his teeth. The groan that escaped your lips was almost animalistic, prompting him to answer with a grunt of his own as he sucked on your skin. The vibrations ran from your flesh to your core, enticing another moan that seemed to fall into deaf ears, “Louder, baby… I want him to hear you…” He pleaded, letting go of your breast just to grope it and give you a kitten lick on the next second “To know who made you like this…” He added before sucking on it again.

    Perhaps it was the fact that he thrust on you, just to tease your senses and make you thirstier. Perhaps it was the fact you had to support yourself on just one leg as he pushed his hips against yours and you tried to seek for your balance by involving his leg with yours. Perhaps it was his hand sliding to meet your clothed core; finger pressing against your clit to add a delicious, needed stimulus for your orgasm.

    Perhaps it was the words that slipped through his lips.

    “W-What did you say?” You panted; hips faltering as you tried to keep riding him, but steading their pace as his finger circled your clit to goad you “M-Mhm… S-Sir” You cried; hand burying in his hair to pull it and translate the utter bliss waving down your body. The string of mewls and urgent pleas spilled from you like a chant, getting him more eager than before, “P-Please” You whined, even though you weren’t sure what you were asking for.

      “Hold it” He ordered; straightening his back to look right into your eyes, but failing as yours rolled back to your head. His hand made its way to squeeze your cheeks, forcing you to look at him with a soft shake to catch your attention “Look at me” It sounded like a warning; stern enough for you to try your best to focus on him, “You’ll only cum when he walks right through that door… Do you understand?” He searched for any signs of stubbornness in your eyes, but his smile showed he didn’t found any.

    “W-Who?” You managed to ask; body trembling as you tried to hold every single string inside your mind in place, even though each one of them was ready to snap and unravel the crashing pleasure that was building up.

    “Why does it matter?” He scoffed, quickening his pace as the unmistakable ring of the elevator sounded on the room “You love being seen, don’t you?” He chuckled, watching as your body shook violently and your knees started to give away to the sensations running down your body.

      “Y-Yes, Sir” You could bet your voice echoed inside the building, and Christopher seemed to agree with you as he grinned in approval.

    “So look at your guest, baby… And scream my name” He instructed, pushing your face to the side. The doors opened slowly, revealing the lights inside the small cubicle right in front of your eyes “Let him know who you belong to” He whispered in your ear; hand pushing your underwear aside so his finger could come in contact with your core.

    The mysterious figure detached from the corners of the metallic walls to finally reveal himself. You met his eyes for a half of a second; enough time for you to recognize the one who worked with you every single day of your life. For the past few years. Someone who would be your partner for years to come, and who would witness and engrave your face in your most vulnerable moment.

    You came hard; probably the most overwhelming orgasm you had ever had in your life. It was impossible to hold back your voice, and you couldn’t help but howl his name; legs shaking and body collapsing into your boss’ arms. You squirmed and whimpered as you tried to recompose yourself; letting him help you ride you out of your orgasm and occupying yourself by staring into your coworker’s shocked eyes.

    “Thank you, Sir…” You breathed out, gripping his arms for dear life while the shame sank into your soul.

    Rule Number Five: The (grateful and satisfied) fans!

    And… Post.

    Oh, well… You did it. Again. There was something about displaying your deepest fantasies for anyone to see that was kinda thrilling to you. Your heart raced inside your chest just like a drum ─ well, if a goddamn drummer decided to do a solo but was too offbeat, to begin with ─ and you couldn’t help but stare blankly at the page without a clue of what to do now. It was out there… Why didn’t anyone say anything yet? Was it that bad? Should you delete it?

    Well… People have to read it before commenting, you know?

    Yeah, right… You just posted it.

    Chill.

    You licked your lips before biting them; feeling the rush that was posting about your boss online when no one else knew about it. If you were being honest, the best part of this wasn’t having the chance to live your fantasies throughout your writing. No. The best part was knowing that only you knew the true identity of Christopher… Or what you really wanted to do to him while he walked down the hallway. The best part was that no one would ever figure out that you were the author of the bestselling novel of the moment… That this steamy romance between boss and employee was nothing but your rawest desire.

     Who would think that the boring, shy girl from the office would be a smut writer? Who would think that you would have a horny, interesting secret identity? No one else but you.

      And this was priceless.

     Or maybe… It was priceless.

    As far as you knew, every single thing you cherished about being a secretive horny bitch could go down the drain tomorrow. It would be all fine if it was just a… Well, actually everything would suck. How would you look at Chan’s face if he knew you were writing about having sex with your boss while he was your boss? What would you do if they decided to fire you because of it? What would you do with your life from now on?!

     Don’t panic, Y/N.

    You had everything under control… Tomorrow morning you would be going to Jeongin’s house and interview him as if he were you. No one would ever suspect you after that. You would save your ass, Hyunjin’s ass, and Chan’s ass. And that was it. The perfect plan. Nothing to worry about. Just trust Jeongin to follow your script and make sure everything would go as planned.

    Flawless. Totally safe. Perfect.

    That’s right…

    You just need to take a deep breath and rela—

    The sudden sound caught you off guard; eyes focusing on the screen once again so you could understand what was going on. All of your worries vanished away as soon as you saw the notification on the top of it; announcing that you had just got a message from a fan.

     Finally!    

    The weasel icon was so familiar that you chuckled while opening the message; a smile plastering over your face as you let your eyes wander around the words. There was nothing more fulfilling to your writer ass than seeing the way Weasel always had something to say about your story. Sometimes, he’d give you some feedback on your style. Other times, he’d freak out about how much he wanted to “try those things out”, as he usually said. There were also times when he’d just get excited over the characters and their conflicts, which always got you laughing.

    It was fun to talk to Weasel.

    He was just as mysterious as you… There was no name to his face, and also no face to his icon, but both of you were friends anyway. He had been keeping up with your stuff from such an early stage that it felt natural to have him around and getting his feedback. It was so comfortable, that you didn’t even mind when he slid in your DMs, embarrassed to let anyone else know that your smut made him… Feel things. There was no need to elaborate on what he did about those feelings or those things. But it was kinda hot to know he enjoyed himself throughout your fantasies.

      His fantasies.

    Well… For the number of times that you used them to write your stories, it was some sort of shared fantasies by now. As a matter of fact, you never intended to make Christopher a jealous character but Weasel made the idea seem too hot for you to ignore. Sometimes, he’d open up about that girl from his work that he really liked and how jealous he was of the guy she liked and then… Well, it felt… Interesting.

    The thought of being desirable to the point a guy would want to claim you as his like this? Not that Weasel did it. He actually just mentioned that he hoped she was into this as a kink. You couldn’t help but picture the way he would touch her in such a greedy way… The possessiveness blinding him for a second… The grip tightening… The mean words and the humiliation… Oh, the sweet humiliation that would crush you as he whispered how much you would cum for him… How he was the only one who could make you like that… How he would ask you to say his name… To tell him that you were his…

    You could drink holy water and still be shaking just by picturing it.

    “That was such a good chapter… I didn’t expect you to use her friend like that. I thought it was a given that she’d end up with Chris” You read out loud, chuckling when he reached for your DMs to talk to you “Will we get a threesome or something, miss? 😏” He joked on the next line and you couldn’t help but roll your eyes at this “I’m waiting for it”

    “You’re just a horny bitch, aren’t you?” You typed, smirking as you stared at his messages “No spoilers for you, though, baby boy… You’ll have to wait like everybody else” Teasing him was always funny, and he never failed to amuse you.

      “I’m not the one writing porn online” He pointed out, and before he could write anything else you shot him.

    “Yeah but you’re the one getting off to it” You retorted, getting a whole set of gasping and shocked emotes that had you laughing.

    “I have no words to express how offended I am” You chortled, shaking your head in disbelief.

     “Alright, Drama Llama” Why was it so fun to mock him? You wished you could actually meet him offline and banter like this in real life “To fill your horny ass, I might write a dom!reader next time… I was thinking about torturing the 2nd lead a bit”

    “First of all… I don’t think I want my ass filled, thank you for offering tho” Why was he like this? “And I was just joking” You frowned at that, confused by what he meant “Don’t you think that a threesome doesn’t go along with the characters? Her friend likes her a lot and Christopher is just a kinky son of a bitch… I thought he’d just show him that she was his and be an ass as usual”

    “What do you have against Chris, dude?” You rolled your eyes, although he wouldn’t be able to see it, “He’s way better than her friend! At least, he does something about her”

    “I have the 2nd male lead syndrome! You know that!” You chortled, very aware of this, “And isn’t that the perfect opportunity for him to do something about it?! I mean… I don’t want to be nosey but having a threesome is way out of character for them” He pointed out, and you had to admit he was right.

    “No, you’re not nosey…” You sighed; shoulders dropping for a second “It’s just that I’m upset about something that happened at work today and you know that projecting my problems on those characters is my thing” You pursed your lips, staring at the keyboard for a few seconds before deciding to continue “Besides, I’m about to spend an entire day with a guy that kinda inspired the 2nd lead and… I don’t really want to think about a sex scene with him, you know?” You confessed.

    “But thinking about torturing and having a threesome with him is easy” He mocked you.

      “That’s because that threesome would never happen” You sent it before you could think about what you had just written.

    “Ooohhhh!” Holy shit… The amount of emotes he had just dumped on that chat couldn’t be a good sign, “So having sex with this guy is something you want?! And that could happen?! ” Great, now you would have a Drama Llama-Weasel trying to get some juicy gossip about your inexistent sex life… WORSE! Your sex life with your nemesis! “Why don’t you go for it? I’m sure he’s into you if he’s anything like his character” Poor thing… He had no idea.

    “Shut up, it’s not like that” You brushed it off.

    “If you say so” You could almost hear him snickering, even though you didn’t know how his voice sounded like “I’ll just have you regretting this for the rest of the night” You snorted, shaking your head in disbelief. He was unbearable! “I have work early tomorrow but I’m gonna come back with questions, Miss… Wait for me”

    “What I meant is that it’d be easier to happen than having a threesome, not that I want it to happen, moron” You defended yourself but he didn’t even get to read it as he logged off right away.

      Great… He would never let you live it down.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rebloggable Masterlist    //   Main Masterlist   //   Tag List

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

#skz fanfic #stray kids fanfic #skz smut #stray kids smut #hyunjin smut #bang chan smut #skz x reader #hyunjin x reader #stray kids x reader #skz imagines #skz scenarios #stray kids imagines #stray kids scenarios #bang chan fanfic #chan fanfic #hyunjin fanfic #hwang hyunjin fanfic #bang chan x reader #chan x reader #hwang hyunjin x reader

[chaotic-major]

MPAU Part 1

For @min-play I hope you like it! This will be following Min-Play’s Movie Possession AU. Enjoy part 1!

Lloyd liked to consider himself a fairly normal person. Sure, his dad whom he’s never actually met in person attacks the city every other day but besides that, everything in his life is normal. The bullies can be a bit much, considering it's basically the entire population of the city, but his mom doesn't need to worry about anything more than her job. Lloyd can handle it, he’s fifteen. 

He fixes his hood as he walks down the street, avoiding eye contact with anyone but the ground. He’s memorized the route home by now. As the city falls into dusk, Lloyd takes a moment to gaze at a fountain in a small plaza. He doesn’t dare enter of course, but it’s nice to take in the beauty of the city once and awhile, especially if it doesn’t always last too long. 

The clouds overhead rumble as a light rain starts to fall. Lloyd sighs and watches all the people gather their things and head into their homes or find buildings to seek shelter from the rain in. He starts to continue his walk back when a dark vortex opens in the sky. Lloyd stares at it, puzzled. Is his dad somehow orchastairing this? He wouldn’t put it past him, honestly. But as soon as it opened, it closed and the rain abruptly stopped. As confused as Lloyd was, he had no energy to question it at this point. He sighed before turning on his heel and going home.

Morro realized he wasn’t entirely in the right. Holding the realm crystal in one hand and his sensei’s in the other, Morro realized it was up to him. Save himself, or save the ninja. When he looked behind master Wu to see the ninja’s scared and angry faces, he knew what choice he had to make. Putting the realm crystal in Wu’s hand and ignoring his pleas to save himself Morro looked at his sensei and let go, a sad smile on his face.

“You can’t save someone who doesn’t want to be saved.” He says as the Preeminent grasps onto him and pulls him down, closer and closer to his watery doom. Lloyd lunges forward suddenly and smacks the realm crystal, opening a portal below Morro. The Preeminent lets go and Morro is pulled down into the portal, Lloyd’s last words to him ringing in his ears.

“I forgive you, and I’m sorry.”

Morro fell through the void as if he had any weight, a force of gravity pulling him down through the opening on the other side. When Morro opened his eyes, he was floating in front of a large city, with buildings that seemed to touch the sky and with lights that glowed brighter than most others he’d seen in the past few weeks. He floated through the streets, glaring at every person who walked through him and paid him no mind regardless. 

“Hello!?” He shouted, flying above the crowd. “Can any of you fools hear me?” No one gave any response. He looked around, almost frantically, wanting to be heard.

“H-holy shit. You’re a gh-ghost.” A meek voice said from below him. Morro turned and flew down, inspecting the person who spoke. He seemed to be a young teen in a green hoodie, the hood up and covering his hair. It was blond and strands were falling over his face. His eyes were an emerald green, a colour he’d seen in someone else before…

The realization struck Morro in an instant. This was… Lloyd? He seemed nothing like the green ninja Morro had grown familiar with. This one seemed shy and scared, so much so he didn’t ever seem to take off his hood. The Lloyd Morro possessed was confident and strong, the green ninja. This Lloyd didn’t look like he could hurt a fly.

“I am. So who are you?” Morro asked, not wanting to look like a fool if he was wrong.

The boy shifted on his feet. “I’m Lloyd. What’s your name?” 

Huh. This kid really knew nothing. “I’m Morro. Master of Wind.” He looked Lloyd in the eye. “And you’re the green ninja.” That made Lloyd drop his expression of fear and trade it for confusion.

“The green ninja? What’s that?” Lloyd inquired. Morro looked like he was about to tear his hair out. What god forsaken universe did Lloyd send him to?! Death a second time would’ve been better than this! Morro groaned. 

“It doesn’t matter.” Morro said before promptly possessing Lloyd. The teen screamed as a spectral projection of him was produced, taking Morro’s spot. Morro glared at him until Lloyd realized he was basically fine. He stared at Morro, shock and confusion apparent on his face.

“Wh- what are you going to do? Now that you’ve possessed me?” Lloyd asks the specter in his body. Morro scoffed and walked away, knowing that Lloyd would be pulled after him if he got too far from the body. 

Morro walked through the streets, watching as people parted around him. He tried to ask for directions to the museum multiple times, all a fruitless effort as people either scoffed at him or threatened him away. Morro was more than agitated at this point. Everything was so bright and loud, so much space in the street and yet so little. The buildings were too tall and he felt much too small. Morro caught sight of an alley and ducked into it, breathing out a gentle sigh of relief as he escaped the loud and towering street. 

“What’s wrong with these people…” Morro mutters, walking farther into the alley. Lloyd’s small voice piped up from behind Morro.

“Um… H- hey, it’s getting pretty dark… I really shouldn’t be down here this late. We should go back.” Lloyd suggests. Morro lets out a laugh that chills Lloyd to the core.

“Wow. That’s adorable.” Morro says in a mocking tone. An apparition of himself appears before Lloyd.

“In case you haven’t noticed, you’re not in control here. So shut up and stay put.” Morro demands. Lloyd looks down before looking back to Morro.

“C- can I at least call my mom? She’ll be worried.” Morro raises a finger and opens his mouth to reply before he was thrown from the mindscape and back into Lloyd’s body. Suddenly, Morro was up against the wall, a knife to his neck.

“Make a sound and I’ll slit your throat,” The man said in a low tone. “Garmadon.” Morro grew more emranged, if that were possible. He blasted the man off of himself, kicked his legs out and pulled the man to the ground, hand in his hoodie, holding him to the ground.

“Let’s make this crystal clear.” Morro said, holding the knife to the man’s throat, hair now a jet black in contrast to the sunny blond it had been seconds ago. “ I am not Lloyd Garmadon.” He announced. “I and Morro. Master of Wind. And I will be the Green nin--” Morro was cut off as Lloyd managed to grasp hold of control.

“STOP!” Lloyd shouted. He glanced at the knife in his hands before screeching and dropping the knife before dashing out of the alley. Lloyd broke into a sprint, managing to make it three and a half blocks before breaking down. Morro let himself into spirit form, rebounding Lloyd against a wall. 

“What was THAT?” Morro shouted at the teen. “I had that! Why did you get in the way!?” Lloyd stood his ground.

“You- you were going to kill him!” Lloyd shouted back, scared and concerned. Morro digested Lloyd’s words a moment. 

“..No.” Morro said. “NO!” He exclaimed angrily. He pointed his finger at Lloyd’s throat. “HE was going to kill YOU.” Lloyd’s eyes widened. Morro was right, as much as he hated to admit it. Lloyd looked back from where he ran, stewing on Morro’s statement. He pulled his hood over his head, desperate to ignore what had just taken place. He felt his hands shake, ready to have a good cry.

“Can… can I please call my mom and let her know I’m ok?” Lloyd asked in a small voice. “Please? I’ll help you find the museum after.” Morro smacks his hands in his face and gives a long groan, letting his hands fall off his face, contemplating the suggestion. He sighs and nods silently, watching as Lloyd walks over to a “payphone”. He inserts a coin before pressing the numbers on the small pad in an order, obviously committed to muscle memory.

“Hey, mom.” Lloyd answers after a few seconds. Morro floats behind Lloyd, back turned to the boy. “Y- yeah I’m ok.” Lloyd says after a second or two of silence on Morro’s end. “I’m sorry.” He hears Lloyd apologize. Morro feels something bubble up in his chest, squeezing his nonexistent heart. He sighs and allows Lloyd to end the call and return home without stopping at the museum. 

It would’ve been closed at this hour anyways. Morro reasons with himself. As Lloyd settles into bed on the fateful Friday night, whether either of them liked it or not, they were stuck together, for better or worse. Morro looked out Lloyd’s window all night, watching the city slow down and speed up as the sun rose. Maybe… maybe he could still get what he wanted. He turned and looked at the blond, finally looking at peace for the first time Morro had seen. He turns back to the city. Just maybe.

#nose #morro ninjago #lloyd garmadon #Did I do good? #I love this AU #lego ninjago #lego ninjago movie #lego ninjago morro #lego ninjago lloyd #Give Min-Play some love

[static-abyss]

Trick or treat! 🍬🎃💕

Hello! 👋 You also get a TREAT. Have some Andromache/Quynh.

what we do in the shadows, andromaquynh, side Joe/Nicky, rated pg-13, killing eve AU, 1.2k

"There's been another murder," Joe says, dropping the file on Quynh's desk.

It's thin for a file on Andromache. Usually, there's more about her latest victim, background information that's pertinent to the case. Sometimes, there are even ordered lists of past offenses and reasons why the victim might have been a target. If it's a really good day, there might even be a new picture of Andromache as she leaves her latest upscale hotel.

"It's a bit anticlimactic, isn't it?" Quynh says, waving the file.

"We didn't find anything on the guy. Not even a traffic ticket," Joe says, coming around to sit at the edge of Quynh's desk.

He takes the file and flips through it. When he finds what he's looking for, he passes it back to Quynh. She takes it and scans down the page, skimming as she goes. The victim was male, late fifties, three daughters, and a wife not much older than his kids. There's a bit on the man's philanthropy, his obituary, a couple of photos from a decently attended funeral, and not much else. Aside from the forensic report and Joe's notes on the case, the man is a ghost.  

"This smells," Quynh says. "No way anyone is this clean."

Joe nods. "Human trafficking?" he asks. "Drug trafficking?"

Quynh hums her agreement, turning to her computer. She types in "Andromache," and scans through the files they have in the system. 

"She doesn't kill without reason," Quynh says, more to herself than to Joe. 

"You just like her," Joe says, easily.

"Shut up, I do not," Quynh says, the old argument comforting in its familiarity.

She can't pinpoint what it is about the current murder that's bothering her. Ever since Quynh was assigned to the Andromache case, she's always found a reason for the murders Andromache commits. She never kills the innocent, not even if it means leaving witnesses. And all the people she's killed so far have been on someone's Most Wanted List. It's not like Andromache to leave nothing but a body behind. There should be more on their dead guy by now, and the fact that all they have is superficial nonsense makes Quynh think that they're about to stumble onto some of the nastier parts of the job.

"Hey Joe," she says, tapping her pen against the edge of her desk. "Want to get some coffee?"

-

Nile Freeman is a former Marine with a medal of honor that she received after accidentally shooting one supposed terrorist or another. She had a promising future and an influential CO to back her up. But something about fighting a losing war hadn't sat right with her. She left soon after receiving her medal, flew back to the States, and opened up a nice, little cafe in Washington DC. 

It's called Freeman Brew, and it happens to be Quynh and Joe's favorite place to review cases. Quynh prefers it to the other cafes because of the decor. It sits at the corner of the street, which means it has the optimal number of windows and enough counter space to ensure that Quynh always finds a seat. Not to mention Nile's skills as a hacker.

Joe, on the other hand, likes the cafe because of Nicky. He's one of the baristas, a former priest turned human right's advocate, who doesn't mind that Joe is an outrageous flirt. If he's in a good mood, he even flirts back and given that Joe can put a smile on anyone's face, Nicky is usually in a good mood. 

"Good morning, Nile," Quynh says, when she and Joe step into the cafe. "Large coffee for me, just milk."    

Joe makes a beeline for Nicky, who's cleaning the counters on the other side of the cafe. Quynh waits until Joe has Nicky engaged in conversation before turning back to Nile. She's already waiting, Quynh's coffee on the counter in front of her. 

"Thank you," Quynh says, taking the cup.

She takes a sip and lets her eyes wander around the cafe. There's no one else inside. Like most days that Quynh and Joe come by, the place is empty. 

"You know," Quynh says, conversationally. "If I didn't know any better, I would say this place is a front."

Nile smiles. "That would be illegal."

Quynh grins. "And you and Nicky are the perfect example of law-abiding citizens, aren't you?"

Nile shrugs. "We try," she says. 

Quynh takes another sip of her coffee. It is good coffee, even if the cafe is mostly for show. She's not a hundred percent sure what Nicky's deal is, but Quynh can smell an ex-mercenary from a mile away. The "ex" bit might be generous given that Quynh isn't exactly sure what Nile does either. But it's not her job to know. At the end of the day what matters is that Nile always finds whatever Quynh needs, and Nicky makes a mean latte. 

"I need information," Quynh says.

Nile sighs, leaning her elbows on the counter. "And here I thought this was a social visit."

"It is," Quynh says. "Joe's going to ask Nicky out on a date."

Nile turns to look at Joe and Nicky and Quynh follows her gaze. The two of them are in deep conversation, heads bent close together, shoulders brushing. Quynh would say something, but she's not the one who's going to be filling out the paperwork later. Besides, she thinks Joe will be good for Nicky.

"About the information," Quynh says.

"I need a name."

"Mark Robins."

The silence is too pointed, too hesitant for Nile. 

"Is there a problem?" Quynh asks, feeling the corner of her mouth slide up into a half-smile. 

She's not great at hiding every tell and Nile is good at her job. They both know something is off. 

"You know, I did think it was strange that you offered your services right around the time that we got the Andromache files," Quynh says, putting her coffee cup back on the counter. "I'm not surprised. Just disappointed."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Nile says, pleasant as ever. 

Quynh sighs, mostly for dramatic effect. She pushes off the counter and heads for the door. Joe joins her, stepping ahead to open the door. She's at the threshold, the wind blowing her hair away from her face, when she pauses. 

"Will you at least tell her that I can't help her if she doesn't give me more to go on?"

It's Nicky who answers, his voice carrying even though he's never been loud. "If she needs you, she'll find you," he says.

Quynh nods and heads out of the cafe, stepping into place at Joe's side. He's humming, purposely off-tune, as they head back to the office. 

"Why are you so happy?" she asks. "We just found out that our consultants are Andromache's accomplices."

"Did we?" Joe asks.

Quynh groans. "You know the paperwork on this is going to be a nightmare," she says.

Joe grins. "I won't tell if you don't."

-

A week passes and Quynh's already forgotten about the Mark Robins. There's a murderer running loose in DC and their Supervisor, Copley, has been pushing them all harder than usual. Quynh's put in about twenty hours of overtime that week and she's ready to go home and sleep all weekend.

She's so tired that it takes her a minute to understand what it means that her front door isn't quite lined up with the door frame. She's immediately alert, her hand going to the gun at her side. She pulls out her phone, intending to send Joe a text message, but before she even unlocks her phone, her apartment door swings open.

"Hello Quynh," Andromache says. "I've been waiting for you."

#andromaquynh #tog trick or treat event #the old guard #andromache the scythian #quynh #mine

[bananaapplewaffle]

Book 4 Part One: Schemer of the Scalding Sands

Let's go gamers

Imma be real I have no Aladdin memories besides that of Kingdom Hearts

girl

what am i supposed to gleam from that

oh look at this place

looking clean

... winter holiday

that means SSR Fairy Gala Leona soon

oh they go back to visit their ghost family!

Grim I know you're stuck on the food part but uh

what about the family part?

OH NO HE DOESN'T REMEBER

ADOPTION PAPERS

OH NO

NOT HUNGRY AND ALONE

NO NOT IT BEING COLD BUT HE WAITED AND WAITED

DLKASDKSJDKLASJDKJAKLDJASKLDJKSAJDASKLJASKDJAS

adds to OC's story >:3c

We're all looking at you Ace and Deuce

Y'ALL GOT FAT STACKS OF HOMEWORK

Academic Dishonesty~

I have my ways, Deuce.

TIME TO COMMIT BULLY

What the fuck do you mean what brings us here

I am disgusted.

Crowley.

You're really making me want to destroy shit for the hell of it.

GIRL NOT HIM BEING LIKE

"If you do this job, I'll feed you."

MY NGGA WHAT? YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO DO THAT FROM THE START

Girl this is giving Houseki no Kuni winter vibes

I'm not even gonna question that

WAIT

MUZAN HEADASS

MY NGGA A PHONE

...

So anyway

BESTIES I GOT A PHONE GIMME YA NUMBERS

RUGGIE!

A FAMILY MAN

JACK!

Plant Boy!

LEONA MY BELOVED

TAKE ME WITH YOU

I PROMISE I'LL WATCH CHEKA

I kinda get it

what's the point of bring too too much when you know you got shit at the house

He has GKB, Jack.

Alright! Don't listen to shit you say, got it!

Riddle you wanna stay with us?

Oh he is so upset

NOT TREY BEING BANNED FROM RIDDLE'S HOUSE

FLOYD!

I have writing brainrot for you...for some reason

Oh? The tweels aren't going home?

Oop

Azul get yo eels

OOP

RED HEAD GONE RED

give his forehead a kiss to calm him down!

oh so it too hard for y'all to get home

Cater... I'm honestly getting tired of you taking pics for Magicam

I love how Ace was ready but Deuce was not lol

I don't have a Magicam, Ace.

fuck it

WE FINNA RUN THE DATA UP

grim no bully

aww look at the snow

...

im sorry?

Grim do you walk on your own?

how fucken dare

grim is baby and deserves to be picked up

especially now

What's up girlie

GIRL WHAT

CALCIFER

HELLO?

WHAT ARE Y'ALL DOING HERE?

not in the best of ways grim but yes we are

I AIN'T DOING EXTRA SHIT JAMIL

THIS MUSIC BOPPIN

FULL COMBO

oh

DID I NOT JUST SAY FORGET I ASKED

...

you bitch

IS THAT A LUCKY EMBLEM

well whatever

gotta make sure Grim is fed

NUTS?

I can't eat it

MEAT DISHES?

...

Kalim?

You are a very good actor, Jamil.

Nah this ain't Kalim.

Girl lemme gone head and get my plate to go. Pass the foil.

...Kalim?

THE PLAY UP

GIRL A PARADE?

Don't worry about it Grim. Just know there's no poison in it.

DON'T KILL ME CAT

Grim needs a tummy rub

(my dog does too. one moment)

WHEW

Grim you can't say anything! You hit me in the head with the disk and knocked me out!

If it's cut up right, that's not too bad

...

girl he didn't donate a bit

HE HAD THE SHIT REMODELED

Nice little lesson right there

bitch

baby said

"I stopped after 10"

GIRL NOT THE FUCKING GOLD

GIRL HE SENT YOU ;LDKASL;DKLAS;KDALSD

ALS;DASL;DSAL;DKLAS;KDLAS;

Grim start stealing...

MAGIC CARPET WHY ARE YOU RED

oh you're a replica

LETS GO

I don't trust you but let's go anyway!

Girl why are we so high up

...

do i go the disney route of the rihanna route

WE'RE BEAUTIFUL LIKE DIAMONDS IN THE SKY

so

we're not gonna talk about his eyes

JAMIL DESERVES A FUCKING OSCAR

9 HOURS IS TOO MUCH

Grim pack a plate.

"That'll do it. You do not have to worry about me, you do not have to worry about me."

Jamil looking at me like

"She's on to me."

YA DAMN SKIPPY

... Jamil

If you wanted to be warden, you shoulda just fought his ass

No. I refuse.

SHUT THE FUCK UP

WE'RE SNEAKING

GIRL WHAT

THEY GOT US ON LOCKDOWN LOCKDOWN

Idia's "shoulda leveled up more" face get me everytime

Grim set'em on fire

So y'all just gonna lock the door as if I won't just start breaking shit

Grim set this hoe on fire

Grim, baby, this is the voicemail

GIRL HOW DID THE MIRROR REACH ME IN A WHOLE ASS OTHER DORM

SLAMMING FUCKING DOORS OPEN

ALSO BITCH

THE DOOR WAS LOCKED WHAT THE FUCK WAS I SUPPOSED TO DO

BUT HE DOESN'T FUCKEN HAVE TO

OKAY

GRIM DOESN'T HAVE SHOES

HIS LITTLW PAWS WILL BE BURNED

Full combo btw

GIRL WHERE'S THE WATER

Mans can make water

he highkey does have the palate

Kalim please stop force feeding my cat

GIRL

How you getting us out Grim

Oh?

I'm going to sleep

GIRL

Put ya mfken hands on Grim. I dare you.

The damn act

Yeah, Jamil. Let's talk...

THEN WHAT THE FUCK IS THE POINT OF ALL THIS JAMIL

So what the fuck is the point of all of this

Girl are you wanting Crowley to step in?

Better open ya fucken mouth then

Im highkey over this

I want the mask to fall rn

The fucken play

Grim please get us out of here

FUCK

SCATTER

MAGIC CARPET

HELP US

AS LONG AS WE CRASH OUT OF THERE

oh hey

TWEELS

Sea boys saved us

waiting for the hook tho

Call'em so I can leave a message

HOE

Here we go...

puts Grim in purse

I'm out

Nooooo I don't wanna go back!

#waffle plays twsted #twst #twisted wonderland #kalim al asim #jamil viper #tweels #azul ashengrotto