#however it is far too late now. i have gone insane

[swiftcast-selene]

Day 6: Road

"aye, aye, I know. it's cold, it's miserable. but count your lucky stars we know these roads at night, and the Imperials don't."

#BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE: I HAND POSED ALL 10 PEOPLE IN THIS IMAGE. PLEASE CLAP. I DID NOT KNOW YOU COULD IMPORT POSES. #however it is far too late now. i have gone insane #miqomarch #miqomarch 2024 #ffxiv miqo'te #seeker of the sun #final fantasy 14 #gposers #PLEASE fullview these i will cry soo so so hard if you don't #ANYWAY. this would be maybe a year or 2 after the calamity...... #he was in the conjurer's guild when it happened and like. the scope and sheer horror of it just cemented the idea he had #that he had to go out there and do what little he was able to do to help #and who was MORE affected by it all than the Ala Mhigans? #post-calamity; in the midst of Garlean invasion; and barred from their one escape route thru the Shroud? #so he spent a few years out there #not necessarily with the Resistance. but with bands of refugees #being passed around as the one magical healer willing to stick around #going to wherever there are the most injured or elderly or sick or kids #trying his hardest to make a difference even though the losses are nearly too much to bear on good days #i'd imagine they had routes where they could accompany people through Gyr Abania so they could make it to safer areas #or where they'd pick up supplies en route or patrol for safety #it's also where he realized like. ohhh. people *will* accept me. i just need to find the right ones. #spent many a night in some stranger's arms not knowing if they'd both still be there the next day... #until the Scions eventually picked him up~ #and promised him he *could* make a difference.

[k1ngpin42]

pls can u write sub abby? thank u ❤️❤️❤️

ofc :) Here you go.

𝓢𝓾𝓫𝓶𝓲𝓼𝓼𝓲𝓿𝓮 𝓐𝓫𝓫𝔂

Warnings: Oral (giving), public, fingering, restraints, thigh riding, scissoring, hickeys, v!brator 

Your relationship with Abby had been mostly smooth flowing. The heat when the two of you were in the same room would be enough to light an island on fire. However, you two would fight sometimes. Whether it was one too many early days, one too many late nights or one too many days of having fucked up things happen, the consequences would involve driving either one of you insane, an insanity that you would take out on each other. 

This fight was different though, it was the longest you had gone without speaking during your entire relationship thus far. You had done something risky on patrol to protect yourself and the others in your group and almost died in the process. Instead of Abby welcoming you back, saying “I’m so happy you’re not dead, my love.” She yelled at you, said some really mean things, the underlining message being that she didn’t trust you to go out without her. 

Not only this, but rather than simply not talking, Abby would constantly act petty and arrogant. She flirted with some guy in the gym in front of you, she took your favourite weapon on her assignment, she messed up the apartment, she started rumours about you, and whenever you tried to apologise or approach her about it, she’d ice you out. You didn’t understand why she was doing this. What the fuck was wrong with her? You risk YOUR life and SHE’S mad?? It just doesn’t fucking add up.

You decide to just ignore her for once and instead of heading back to your apartment, you go to the bar instead.

“I’ll get vodka please, just give me like 5 shots.” You explain to the bartender, a blonde guy on duty who you were somewhat friends with.

“You got the machine parts you owe me?” He teased. You stare at him blankly.

“Dude, I’m ordering 5 shots of vodka, today is not the day.” He sighs and grabs the glasses, pouring the clear liquid into each. 

You turn your head at the sound of that smooth voice you so love. It was Abby. Was she following you now?

You turn your head away before she can face you and instead you face the bartender, leaning in to him.

“Please go along with this for me.” You whisper. He looks confused but complies.

“Oh my god your hair is SO soft…” You say, playing with the top layers of his hair. He nods

“I got something that isn’t soft.” He says, and you need to physically restrain yourself from laughing.

It’s convincing enough for Abby, though, who disregards the conversation she’s having and walks over to you, sitting next to you at the bar. You ignore her, continuing to “flirt” with the man.

“You really gonna make me pay for these drinks?” You ask him with doe eyes. He shakes his head, leaning in to you.

“You can pay me in a different way.” Abby stands up harshly. 

“Back the fuck up, she’s with me.” Abby spits. He goes over to some other people and pours them drinks, not wanting to be involved further.

“The fuck I am, you haven’t spoken to me in nearly a month.” You tell her. She lets out a deep sigh followed by a desperate and crooked smile.

“I uh…guess I was kind of a dick, huh?”

“Abby…you made me feel like shit. In fact, leave me alone, I was having a nice conversation before you arrived.”

“Oh please, he’s not your type.” Abby says simply. You shove her, getting off your chair. 

“Like you’d fucking know.”

“He’s a man, baby, there’s no way he can please you like I can.”

“Hmm, well. I guess we’ll see.” You say with a confident smirk as you approach the blonde gentlemen again. Abbys face shifts into panic mode as she stumbles towards you, grabbing your wrist.

“Wait, wait, please…please I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

“Talk. Why the fuck have you been such a prick?”

“I don’t know. I guess it was easier than…admitting how fucking scared I was. You could have died and it pissed me off, I have a right to be mad when you do reckless things.”

“No. You would have done the same, don’t give me that bullshit.” You turn away again.

“Wait I- I love you.” She says. You feel heat warm your cheeks and neck, but you say nothing, you just dwell in this feeling for a while. Then, finally, you face her.

🎀𝓼𝓶𝓾𝓽🎀

“Come with me.” You direct her out into a hall and slam her against the wall with your full body strength. She lets out a surprised gasp and you immediately shove your tongue into her throat. It’s only several minutes later when you’re both gasping for air that you pull away.

“You were such an idiot Abby. I’m going to teach you to talk to me next time you have a problem.” She nods, eyes still on the floor. You get down on your knees and she anxiously looks around. You just smirk confidently. “There’s people….” Abby breathes out. You get back up to her height and tilt your head, unimpressed.

“Did I say you could talk?” She shakes her head and you return to your knees, pulling her pants down to her ankles. You suck on the soft part between her muscles on her large thighs, leaving a purple mark in its wake. 

“Got something to say to me?” You ask her, looking up into her blue eyes. She exhales, sharply. 

“I…ugh, fuck….I’m sorry.” 

“Oh yeah? How much?” You ask, pulling her underwear down too. She lets out a deep, shaky breath.

“I’m so-“

“Don’t tell me. Show me.” You command, inserting a finger roughly into her and then tonguing in between her folds. She lets out a moan which was unmistakably stifled. You stop and stand up again.

“The fuck was that?” You ask, harshly. She looks embarrassed. 

“I know I deserve this it’s just…there’s people around-“

“You’re right, you do deserve this, and in case I wasn’t clear before, if you don’t do what I say I’ll stop, and that will be a worse fate for you than any of these insignificant losers hearing how good I fuck you.” 

Abby is speechless at your words. In any regular context, she could pin you down with one hand and fuck you with the other, making you cum in only a matter of moments. This wasn’t anything like that. It was intimate in a way she almost didn’t recognise. The craving for each other’s touch was second to no other desire in the world, the possessiveness and clear control you had over her, the control she let you have, it was turning her on in ways she didn’t expect and that her brain couldn’t fully comprehend. And now you were licking, sucking and spitting on her cunt while that one fucking finger explores her tight hole. What a fucking tease, tasting her like it’s the best thing you’ll ever taste and all while only a few footsteps away from other WLFS.

“S’ good baby~ oh fuck…” She moans, her voice deep. You smile into her cunt, increasing the pace as you circle her clit with your tongue. It felt good to have her back, that girl made you feel crazy in the best way possible.

“Mmmph…mm so…close” You remove your tongue and add another finger, circling the upper walls of her cunt. She lets out a small whimper, so quiet you almost didn’t hear it. Abby certainly wished you didn’t, cause you were definitely gonna tease her about it later.

“Aw, close already baby? Who knew you were so easy to please?” She rolls her eyes.

“Shut- Mmmm” She lets out a pornographic moan when you insert a third finger into her throbbing pussy. 

“You’re not in control of me today. In fact, you belong to me, say it.”

“N…o” Abby tried, her eyes rolling back along with her head. Your thrusting becomes harder.

“Don’t make me ask you again.”

“O-okay okay fuck…I belong to yo-” You put your tongue in her one final time and it’s all it takes to push her over the edge. 

“mmm!” She cums harshly, gripping onto your hair as she does so. Instead of letting her revel in the sensation and watching her face as she returns to reality, you keep the pressure on her, your pace relentless. 

“What are you d- oh my f— fuck stop st- mmmmm oh fuck-“ She cries, bucking her hips into you and consequently thrusting her cunt further into your mouth. Her back arches and her moans are getting louder now.

“OH F- fuck baby stop I’m so f-fucking sensitive-“ You didn’t give a fuck. The sounds she made when your tongue and your tongue alone explored and pleasured her in ways no one else could was like ecstasy and you could get drunk off the sound of it. 

“MMM PLEASE PL- mmm” Abby whined. You really did love her too, but she didn’t need to know that quite yet. 

“I-I…” You want to laugh. Abby fucking Anderson, WLF soldier, bulkier and stronger than most men, whimpering over her pussy getting licked by a girl. It was cute, adorable really.

“Gonna c-“ She couldn’t finish that sentence, didn’t need to, you could tell from the way her muscles tensed, how her thighs pressed against your face and glistening slick poured onto it.

“Mmm…” Abby hums as she cums a second time, her swollen cunt not getting a break. 

You decide to go up this time, after all you would probably require oxygen at some point. This wasn’t going to stop here though.

“Bedroom.” Is all you say as you shove her back and make your way to your room, letting her swiftly pull her pants back up and gather herself before making her way past the main hall to the dorms. Almost everyone looked at the two of you and were actively avoiding eye contact. Fuck, they definitely heard.

You both hurried to the room and you jump on her, pushing her back onto the bed. You kiss her passionately, the taste of Abby lingering in both of your mouths. 

“Stay here and take all your shit off.” You say, turning away from the awe-struck Abby. She’s not sure whether to be impressed, embarrassed, turned on or all 3, but she does as you say, removing her shoes, shirt, jeans and already drenched underwear. You walk over to her bag and grab out a metal pair of handcuffs. She’s gonna look so fucking good in them, you can’t help but think.

You walk over to her, not showing her the handcuffs yet. She’s wearing your favourite one of her bras and you can’t help but admire her. 

“Put your arms up.” You say. Her large, muscular fucking arms.

When she does this, you grab her hands and pull them down, putting the handcuffs on her tightly and  cuffing her to the bed frame. Fuck, she was a site for sore eyes.

She looks beyond shocked as she moves her arm, trying to see if she was really constrained. 

“Remember the safe word?” You ask. She rolls her eyes.

“This is so fucking embarrassing.” 

“Do you want me or not?”

“…yes.” Abby admits. You smile, sitting on her hips.

“Then let me take you the way I want.” You say, sucking on her stomach and leaving a silky trail of saliva over her chest. Then, you unclip her bra, throwing it onto the floor. Your eyes widen at the side of her soft tits and hard nipples, just waiting eagerly to be sucked. You do so and she lets out a gasp.

“Mmnn” You keep going, running circles of her nipples. Then, you move down to the lower part of her breast and suck so hard it leaves a pretty red mark there. 

“So pretty for me.” You  say, and she’s to embarrassed to reply.

You grab a vibrator from the side table, it’s a pretty, pink, rechargeable one that you always used when Abby wasn’t around. She gasps at the site of it and tries to free herself from the cuffs and you just smile at her efforts. You put the lower part into her and rest the top part on her clit. You turn it on medium pulse and stand up, taking off your pants but leaving your panties on, They’re pretty, pink lace ones that Abby would ordinarily rip from your body with her teeth. The now defenceless Abby, however, watched you, entranced and desperate as you position yourself on her thigh, wrapping your arms around her neck and moving yourself slowly up and down her thigh.

“Take them off….” Abby sighs, not wanting to admit to you or herself how good the vibrator felt. You start sucking on her neck as hard as you can while still moving your hips on her thigh.

“Where are your manners Abs?” You tease. She sighs again. 

“Please?” You take off your shirt, revealing a matching bra. She leans over to kiss them but is returned to the reality of her restraints. Deciding to tease her further, you suck on her breasts again, adding a matching mark to her other tit. She looks infuriated, like she would rail the shit out of you if she could. But she can’t, and that made it so much better.

“Oh fuck~” Abby moans quietly, enjoying the vibrators pulse. You put your hand inside her and turn up the setting and she’s immediately crying out.

“Fuck, fuck wait p-please.” 

“You didn’t talk to me for a month.” You say, rolling your hips over her thighs. Fuck it felt good, too.

“Sorry.” Abby breathes out as the vibrator danced inside her. You lean in more so the top part of your clit can really savour its favourite sex toy, her muscular thighs.

“You flirted with a man at the gym”

“You flirted with a man at the…oh f-fuck…the bar…” She says. She put a hand on her throat, squeezing tightly. 

“The only word out of your mouth should be sorry, or had you forgotten.”

“Sorry….” She moans. You’re pretty close now too and you keep moving up and down.

“You messed up the apartment.” You exclaim and Abbys eyes shut tight.

“I’m gonna-“

“Shut the fuck up. You made me feel like an idiot.”

“S—sorr-oh god.” Abby cries, and the sight of her cum dripping out of her pussy was picture worthy, something you would never forget.

You don’t turn it off though, not yet, and now she’s whimpering in a way you were sure would give you and eargasm. 

“You’re so sexy in cuffs Abigail.” You say, and the flustered, bulky woman squirms.

“God Abby hold still.” You say, putting all your body pressure onto her thigh to stop her movements as you thrust up on her thigh, letting yourself orgasm too. After about another minute of her whimpering, you finally turn off the vibrator, holding her face and kissing it.

“F…forgive me now?” She asks. You think for a second, but there’s one more thing you still have to try.

“Almost.” You say, taking off your underwear and bra. She doesn’t have the chance to speak even if she could.

“Need to feel all of you. You explain, putting your legs over hers and positioning your clits together.

“It’s too soon we just-“ 

“You’ve got one more in you Abby, I know it.” You comfort her as you start rocking your hips. She lets out a low grumble sound and moves her head back, her long, soft braid falling over her shoulder. 

“What was that thing you said before?” You ask over her pretty little moans. She’s flushing crimson at this point.

“You’re asking n…now mm~” She lets out. You moan too, fuck it felt amazing, you could feel the combined heat and wetness, you could hear the sweet sounds, it wouldn’t be long now.

“Mmm fucking say I-it….” You moan, gripping onto one of her biceps. 

“L…love you” She whimpers. You move faster.

“I…fuck I love you.” She breathes. Faster. “I….fucking….love….you” She manages as every inch of her fades away and you are left with just the feeling of your sweat and cum soaked bodies. You grab the key from beside you and unlock the cuffs, smiling at her.

“Well you could have just said that, I love you too.” You mock. She rolls her eyes, pinning you down below her. 

“You are fucking trouble.” She says, kissing you passionately. 

#abby anderson #abby tlou #tlou2 #abby x reader #abby x fem!reader #ellie williams 18+ #abby x you

[megumimania]

A BIRTHDAY — suguru geto

summary: geto’s birthday doesn’t come without a period of reflection.

content/warnings: geto x black fem reader, set a couple years after hidden inventory arc, established relationship, semi angsty, suggestive, italics are used to signify past conversations,am i late to the party yes but who cares! i fought tooth and nail for this not to have a happu ending

“so what do you say?” suguru’s hand reached out for yours with a charming smile that made it hard for you to say no to. “i’d say that this is the most insane idea you’ve ever had, but im in.”

you really don’t know why you took up his offer that day.

yes, you could argue that you were foolish. caught up in the fantasy of running away from all your responsibilities as a sorcerer or maybe it was because you were curious to see how his plan of eradicating all the non sorcerers in japan would play out.

the sounds of birdsong resounded throughout the grand estate. acting as background noise whilst you laid against one of the pillars out back as you lit up a cigarette—a habit that you picked up in high school. a time in your life that ended just as quickly as it began.

however that didn’t stop you from reminiscing about the memories. never did you indulge in them for too long though, afraid that you would be clinging on to a life that was no longer yours.

besides you lived a different life now.

you were older and now responsible for two adorable little girls mimiko and nanako. they were your entire world and you made sure they knew of that spoiling them rotten with a bunch of toys and cute outfits.

aside from the girls, you and suguru’s relationship was pretty rocky to say the least—years of built up emotions and unspoken words drove a wedge between you both. for you it grew harder and harder to turn a blind eye to what he was doing.

the constant killing of non sorcerers and consuming of curses changed him as a whole. his goals became more lofty and vague rather than being practical and tangible.this often lead to hushed arguments between you both that caused you both to bring your ideologies into focus, making you question if losing everything was worth it at all.

“don’t you think this is all getting out of hand?” you asked one night, wrapping up your hair for bed. too tired to even start an argument.

“it’s extreme yes but it’s necessary.” he replied with a chilling coldness that was unlike him. it was obvious he’d thought this was the absolute truth and you couldn’t convince him otherwise.

he was too far gone.

“necessary? are you hearing yourself?” you felt your blood run cold. the man you once knew now stood before you a stranger.

“i understand it may not be to your tastes but this is the only way.” he replied curtly, signalling the end of the conversation.

he never apologised. leaving you both in the constant cycle of fighting, fucking and making up with each other. some days you’d be playing happy families, taking the girls to school or the park which made you forget about all the chaos that loomed around you.

other days were spent meeting with potential clients who sought out geto as a last resort; using up most of their life savings or last pay-check in hopes that master geto could cure them of their ails or bad luck. you pitied them the most. they were usually the elderly who rarely never made it out alive unless they paid on time.

with a man like suguru the carnage bled into all avenues of his life; his blood splatters in the hallway, the blood on the walls, even on his robes. the metallic scent of blood still lingered when he buried himself in you. no matter how many times you scrubbed yourself clean, you still felt tainted by him.

however you couldn’t dwell on these thoughts for any longer, you had a birthday to celebrate.

you stubbed out the remainders of your cigarette and headed back inside, plastering a false smile on your face as you greeted the kitchen staff. you were presented with suguru’s cake—a rich chocolate cake that had the girls scribbly hand writing in red icing making you smile.

you and the girls carried the cake and his gifts to his room being sure to knock thrice. he opened the door his usual neat top knot now spilling across his shoulders, his robes quite disheveled—yet he still looked handsome as ever.

“happy birthday papa geto!” the girls said in unison holding out their gifts for him to take. suguru’s eyes crinkled as he smiled at them, taking the gifts and setting them down on his desk.

he locked eyes with the cake and you saw a glimpse of his former self peeking through. “you did all this for me?” he looked at the girls with disbelief, feigning surprise knowing damn well he heard you and the girls causing a ruckus in the kitchen.

“yes we did papa do you like it?” nanako the more outspoken of the duo asks but nonetheless their eyes sparkle in anticipation, eagerly waiting for their dad’s approval. suguru lifts them up into his arms and looks at them with such a rare softness that they only got to see.

“i love it more than anything girls, thank you.” he peppered the girls faces with kisses making them break out into a fit of giggles as they tried to break free from his grasp.

it was a picturesque sight of domesticity that you wanted to capture and relive over and over again until it was ingrained into your mind. until you could live and breathe this moment again.

once he blew the candles and the tendrils of smoke dissipated into the morning sun. mimiko was eager to ask what he wished for but in true suguru fashion he was tight lipped about it, standing firm even after all their pestering.

mimiko and nanako eventually gave up and left to play outside, their burning curiosity fizzling out. you and suguru were left alone and it seemed like the celebratory mood died as soon the girls left the room.

“what did you wish for?” you asked into the echo chamber of the bedroom. the silence was driving you mad. “you.” he replied not missing a beat as he inched closer to you. the way he said it with such conviction almost fooled you into believing him.

your treacherous heart betrayed you once again exposing how much you missed him, how much you needed him.

“you already have me.” you said matter of factly, clearing your throat as if it would quell the conflicting feelings of desire and resentment you had towards him.

suguru picked up on your conflicting wave of emotions and paused. “sorry.” he muttered before continuing “I shouldn’t have—I should go.”

and just like that the axis between you both tilted from growing tension to mild tolerance .

you wondered if you should’ve just caved in and enjoyed the fleeting moment of pleasure he offered, knowing how good his touch felt but you knew it was for the best not to fall for it again.

maybe one day you’ll both come to an agreement that this was no longer working. but you were just fine with dancing around the topic until one of you finally had the guts to end things.

#vina writes: jjk #geto suguru x reader #geto x reader #getou x reader #geto x black reader #geto jjk #geto x y/n #jujutsu kaisen #jjk #jjk geto #geto suguru #jjk angst #jjk x reader

[cauliflowertree]

sirius black—until i found you. part one.

summary: sirius escapes from azkaban and journeys to find you. -> loosely based on the song ‘until i found you’ by stephen sanchez.

word count: 1.2k

fanfic no. 019

he had waited for this day for twelve excruciatingly insufferable years, had anticipated every response under the sun with which you could have possibly greeted him. from dawn until night he thought of only you: your face, your smile lines, the turn of your neck, how soft your skin felt to his calloused fingertips, and how much softer it would be after all this time.

though he promised himself never to doubt your love, he did find himself occasionally wondering whether you believed in the lie so many had fallen for. the carefully crafted crime peter pettigrew had left him to take the fall for. would his reuniting with you mean nothing but an escaped convict's deranged fantasy? but he could never think that way for too long, or he really would've turned out as insane as the rest of them trapped in the heavily guarded prison. you were the only thing keeping him from surrendering himself to azkaban's guards.

over the treacherous waters, fleeing the dementors and hiding in far away towns just hoping to hear word of someone he once knew, praying he would find you before he was caught again, sirius finally caught news—godrics hollow, you had never left. he should have known, should have expected that with almost everyone gone, you would cling to the last place where you had all been truly happy.

｡+ﾟ☆ﾟ+｡★｡+ﾟ☆ﾟ+｡★｡+ﾟ☆ﾟ+｡★｡+ﾟ☆ﾟ+｡

"rem, i'm just popping to the shops, we're out of milk!" you shouted up the stairs.

"alright!" came his muffled response.

fastening the buttons on your coat and reaching for your bag, you unlocked the front door and stepped onto the narrow, cold path that you and remus were forced to call a garden. you were about to lock the door when remus forced it open again, sticking his head out to ask you for some more tea biscuits.

"yes alright," you laughed. "almost had me screaming in your face then."

"sorry," he smiled sheepishly, shivering slightly before heading back inside the house.

there weren't many shops open this late on a sunday, in fact the only one that was, happened to be at the edge of the village. you'd bought a house on a particular street that meant you rarely ever had to walk past the ruin of the house you'd once shared so many happy memories within, but tonight you'd have to face it again. you never knew whether to stop and look and reminisce, or carry on and pretend it wasn't there.

during the daytime, you tried not to look if you had to walk past, too pained by the memories, by the knowledge of what happened there and the loss it caused you. but also that someone undesirable might catch you looking. however, you were alone tonight, and you couldn't help but stop at its front gate and peer into the broken windows, the shards of glass still faint with yours and your friends’ joyous, ghostly reflections. and yet, the house was now violated with dark magic.

"i miss you," you whispered quietly, tentatively reaching out to touch the gate voldemort himself might have laid hands on once. but instead of thinking of the darkness, you tried to remember all the times you had pushed open that gate, the times lily and james, sirius and remus, and even baby harry had pushed open that little gate.

sirius. perhaps after all this time, that was really the deepest pain you felt so profoundly. though each day you tried to put on a face of stoisicm, you could not neglect to remember that lily and james were dead, at peace, but sirius was alive, suffering, and not knowing whether the only two people he had left in the world believed him, fought for him, or even thought of him.

remus still woke you from nightmares sometimes. the nightmares all started like dreams—you and sirius happy, smiling, innocent as you once had been. and then they became distorted, twisted and warped and there was nothing you could do to stop it, nor was there anything you could have done to have prevented it.

｡+ﾟ☆ﾟ+｡★｡+ﾟ☆ﾟ+｡★｡+ﾟ☆ﾟ+｡★｡+ﾟ☆ﾟ+｡

sirius watched you from afar. he had followed you from your house you shared with remus, wondering if he had come twelve years too late but was so caught up in the relief of finally finding you that it didn't matter. after all this time, torment and pain, having a small part of you was better than having none of you at all.

he wondered now, as you stood before the potter's house, if you still thought of him, if you were thinking of him now. or if he had become obsolete in your life after his years of absence.

it was not out of the norm to see unusual things in godrics hollow, for it was largely a wizards' dwelling, but something felt off the more you stood before the cursed house. someone was watching you.

as your heart began to pound against your chest, you squinted through the darkness, trying to find a hint of a shadow that shouldn't have been there. you clutched your wand in your pocket and began to walk. the sound of your footsteps, your breathing, your heartbeat, it was driving you mad. you could probably apparate without causing much suspicion or outrage, but it was too risky coming up to the church.

and that's when you heard it, claws against the cobbled street, as if a dog was catching up to its owner. turning around, your instincts had been correct, but there was no owner around, nor a collar on the dog as far as you could tell from this distance.

but that dog...

sirius knew his cover was blown. he could tell by the way you were standing, just watching him with that curious expression. the one that people had when they couldn't quite recognise someone, or something, but were sure they knew it from somewhere. now was as good a time as any, he supposed, to expose himself and simply hope you had trusted him enough in your youth to believe him today.

right before your eyes, and perhaps other's, the dog transformed into a sullen, worn, human form, prison clothes dangling from his body and hair just as messy as his animagus'. he had nothing to lose and the promise of everything to gain.

"good godric," you choked, feeling the oxygen in your constricting lungs dissipate.

if it weren't't for the sheer panic that sirius would be caught, you'd have surely fallen to your knees. but your heart was in your throat and your stomach had plummeted and all you could think about was getting away from this public street where anyone could see him.

you began running down the path, holding your breath, clutching your chest. the closer you got, the faster the tears formed in your eyes; he looked so sickly, a phantom of the man he once was.

"y/n," sirius mumbled, a weak smile on his face as he looked down at you. it was as if he was in a dream.

with trembling hands you reached for his face, his sullen cheeks, pressing your palms against his winter-worn skin. your laboured breaths hung in the air around you, the white smoke blending into his complexion. was he a ghost? someone you were imagining?

"y/n," he muttered again, forcing the butterflies in your stomach out of their hibernation.

but your attention was quickly captured by unknown voices down the street, and you snatched sirius' arm, pressed his head to your shoulder, walked a few paces down the road where the street lights didn't illuminate and vanished with a snap!

🏷 @imabee-oralizard @sw34terw34ther @applebittenn @cherrystrees @mad-elia @velvetcloxds @natashxromanovf @masivechaos @ell0ra-br3kk3r @garfieldsladybird @flesh--amnesiac

#sirius black x reader #sirius black x you #sirius black x y/n #post azkaban sirius #post azkaban sirius x reader #sirius black fanfiction #sirius black fluff #sirius black fic #sirius black imagine #sirius black #marauders x reader #marauders fanfiction

[thegoodwitchglinda]

magazine matchups

vil x reader

you and vil were supposed to just be colleagues, but as your work kept pushing you closer and closer together, you couldn’t help but fall for one another.

a/n: this is another repost of a previously deleted fic I posted. also can’t believe i ever deleted this, this is like the funniest thing I’ve ever written (imho)

—————————————

His absence was something you barely noticed, just as his presence. You weren’t oblivious to it, however. It started out as a coincidence, the two of you ended up modelling for a few projects together, which had the internet going wild. Soon enough, it turned into free advertising, and your managers were intentionally pulling the strings so that you’d be working together. If anything, the nonsensical rumours that came out of it were kind of annoying - other than that, you had no strong opinion about working with him, or his personality.

He wasn’t exactly a constant in your life either, that’s why you almost didn’t notice his unannounced break from the public eye. You remembered him after seeing a now slightly old article about the SDC, ah that’s right, he’d taken a break from almost all of his work to focus on the competition, which had ended a couple of months ago. Despite this, you can’t recall him coming back to the limelight since.

Might as well check his magicam page, you thought. He still posted there, would it be weird to follow him out of nowhere? Eh, who cares- you did it anyways, and then went to bed.

As always, it felt like the sun rose far too early to wake you from your slumber. Your alarm hasn’t gone off yet, or you hoped it hadn’t at least. You checked the time, and you were fine, you didn’t oversleep.

In the meantime you should probably check the texts you got from Neige, your certified best friend who doesn’t usually text you at six in the morning.

“Hey, Y/N! You’re trending on magicam, so is you and Vil’s ship-name, did you know?”

Um, what? That was… strange? Honestly, you really wanted to see what was going on, but you’d be late for school if you let social media get a grip on you right now.

Break time. It felt pretty exciting to hear the bell ring this time around, since you’d been itching to find out what had you on the trending page, it’s not like you did anything either spectacular or offensive recently.

Damn, Neige really wasn’t lying, then again, you couldn’t recall any time he ever has. Your expression died down comically quick, as you kept scrolling through the tagged posts. Your fans were literally insane sometimes, to the point were maybe following someone new on your public account was a bit of a mistake. Basically all of your conjoined fandom was trying to theorise over Vil being added to the list of people you follow, which was otherwise only Neige and your manager. Really, it was a slight disappointment, but it was also kind of funny, at least the internet didn’t decide it was time for a dose of unjust cancel culture just yet.

A few days later, after school had let up, you went to hang out with Neige in town. It was a tradition between you two, a way to keep in contact despite your busy schedules. The two of you often cycled round different attractions or areas in the city, sometimes just opting to walk around and talk. This time, you were headed to the local museum. It was interesting to read about all the history loaded behind what seemed like a simple piece of pottery, or learn about how certain things were used to supplement both the lack of technology and magic of the older world.

It was mostly things you’d seen here before though, but you’d never paid much mind to the modern art section, you realised after thinking about it. “Hey Neige, should we go look over there? Who knows, they might have your portrait framed or something.”

Your joke was received with a light laugh and, “Sure, let’s go take a look!”

This section of the museum felt a lot smaller, but there were even less people willing to marvel at the paintings that adorned the walls. Coincidentally, the one other person that was there happened to be someone both you and Neige recognised. You wondered if he visited the place a lot, people don’t tend to look so blank whilst visiting a museum by themselves.

Neige turned to you, excited to ask if it’d to be alright to approach him. That’s right, you’d somewhat forgotten that those two knew each-other. “Yeah sure, I don’t mind.” As soon as the sound of his name filled the room, his head turned, and his expression looked mildly annoyed. Did he look like that before? God, you’d have to hope the two of you weren’t upsetting him. Your friend however, didn’t appear to notice anything out of the ordinary as he continued to make small talk.

Gradually, said small talk came to close, and Neige had invited him to spend more time with the two of you, though Vil politely declined. He was rather curt, but he didn’t seem like a bad person, if anything your opinion hadn’t changed since you first worked with him.

Before waving goodbye, you rushed to scribble your phone number down on a crumpled piece of paper to give to him. Momentarily, you pondered wether that was a good decision to make, as he almost stayed silent, but soon put on a smile and thanked you. It was an awkward first meet.

Vil turned away after the two of you had left, it was due time to head back to his dorm, despite his visit to the museum serving a different purpose than intended. For Vil, he had hoped to come about some inspiration in preparation for returning to his work but meeting Neige was a frustration in its own right, considering how a large part of his break was dedicated to self improvement after realising his envy was severely holding him back.

Regardless of his efforts, it was disappointing to see Neige thrive under the same conditions as him and yet thwart all the hardships that Vil faced. Whilst his perfection was his pride it robbed him of approachability.

You however, offered him your number despite how out-of-reach he often is to people through your slight uncomfortableness. He thought it was folly of you, but it was a rare boldness that wasn’t unbeffiting of you - having only experienced similar things from Rook, who sometimes took it to an extreme.

Maybe it came from you also being in the industry, but he found himself thinking fondly of it. When Vil arrived at pomefiore once again, he decided to follow you back on magicam, not unaware of you doing so a few days back, although he made no effort to add your contact to his phone. You were still asleep by morning, enjoying the extra time the weekend was granting you. When you did wake up, you checked your phone, a part of your usual morning routine. ‘Oh, he doesn’t hate me’ was what came to mind after seeing that Vil had followed you back.

Not having any plans today you thought to message him on the app, curious as to wether he’d reply. “Hey, how are you doing? Hope we didn’t bother you yesterday.”

After sending that short message you looked through your feed for a bit. Reasonably soon you got an awfully formal response back. Apparently he didn’t mind your presence the other day, which was nice to know. Now however, you were in a position of not knowing wether or not to continue the conversation or what to say. Reaching out to someone over something so minuscule without making an attempt at getting closer with them proved kind of useless, so the two of you briefly discussed your musings about school and work before cutting the conversation.

That was the last time either of you had talked to one another until the two of you inevitably crossed paths again, outside of the internet. This time, the two of you met at a more understandable place, a model’s holy grail, the skincare section.

Another thing to note was that this time, he was not unaccompanied, unlike you. His purple-haired friend was actually who drew your attention away from the ingredient list on the bottle you were looking at. Being a bit louder than intended, he was complaining about this excursion being a waste of time and effort. When you did turn around, you saw Vil glaring daggers into the poor boys soul. Maybe they weren’t friends as you’d initially thought?

Ignoring it would’ve been your best bet but as you heard Vil sigh and mutter something along the lines of ‘I thought we were past this’ you realised he was dragging himself and his possible-friend in your direction. The two of them started looking at the labels of product after product, after Vil had scanned the shelf for a short while. Vil looked quite nonchalant while doing so, but his friend seemed awfully confused when absentmindedly staring at the product. Considering you knew one of them, you thought it might be good to offer up some advice, and recommend a couple brands.

Vil was actually quite thankful for your help, due to him only using products that he’s created himself, he was only aware of what was currently popular rather than beneficial. And this wouldn’t have been the best way to teach Epel how to pick out certain products without any good examples. He thanked you, and invited you to hang out over coffee some time as a thank you.

It was perhaps a little overboard, but neither of you really minded, considering how it was starting to seem that you could become decent friends. And that was how you ended up here, finally settled in to a popular cafe, that at first proved to be a bit of a poor choice, specifically due to its popularity.

When the two of you met up, the people already around the place started to form a crowd around you. It was reasonable, after all people don’t see celebrities everyday, and whilst you were used to it, it could prove to be rather bothersome. Of course, both of you handled the situation well, but there was something so enchanting about how graceful he was with each and every person who approached him, and how he was able to express his appreciation all the while making sure his air of perfectionism never slipped.

When you eventually got a moment of quiet together, you made sure to learn a lot about each other. He wouldn’t say it out-right, but you could surmise that the purple-haired boy from before and a huntsman named Rook were his set of friends. It sounded like an interesting group, but cute nonetheless. You also figured out that a lot of his personal life revolves around his work, or maybe it would be better to say that they happened to coincide.Despite that, he still seemed less daunting now that you’d got to know him a little.

Naturally, you two hung out a lot more after that, and it was fun as you got more comfortable. You even got to do things like convincing him to pose for you to draw him because, “come one, it’ll be extra practice!” He didn’t look amused at all, but he still let you.

Sketching Vil was enjoyable, but he wouldn’t let you notice how he got increasingly anxious as time passed. Vil normally had no reason to feel anxious around anyone, he usually felt confident in himself, but the issue was that his confidence was surprisingly conditional.

It was strange though, the only person to ever make him feel insecure before was Neige, yet you didn’t make him feel threatened. He could only come to one conclusion as to why he was becoming increasingly sensitive to your opinion on him, and being as self aware as he is, the answer didn’t come as a shock to him. But acknowledging that he was in love was a scary revelation to make.

As you finished up your drawings and showed them to him whilst raving about how pretty he was, he calmed down. His appearance was the main factor in his confidence, and reminding himself that he would always have power in that regard soothed his anxiousness, but what really relieved him this time around was the fact that you weren’t judging him.

The next time you were on-set participating in a photo-shoot together, you’d known beforehand. You were both affiliated with the same company, and had managed to put two and two together when discussing your work schedule.

Things felt a lot more light-hearted than all of the other times you’d worked together. Seeing him there as you’d entered the room put a smile on your face.

As you’d taken your last shot together, and everything was getting cleared up, you went to take your arm of Vil’s shoulder, but as you were doing so, he grabbed your hand. You could feel him tense up, and the walls started to feel slightly closer than before. “What’s wrong?” You couldn’t help but be worried. You saw him take a second to compose himself, before he leaned closer to you and whispered a short confession in your ear, “I’ve happened to find myself loving you… Would you be mine?”

That was… unexpected.

But when you said yes, Vil found himself experiencing a joy he hadn’t felt in a long time, and enveloped you in a gentle, heartfelt hug. The two of you stayed there for quite some time, ignoring everyone else around you because they didn’t matter.

#twisted wonderland #twst #twisted wonderland x reader #vil schoenheit #vil shoenheit x reader #vil x reader #vil #twst x reader #dtw

[leggerefiore]

Opposing The Villainous Team Leaders

cw: angsty as usual, questioning of trust, sort of happy endings?

characters: Lysandre, Cyrus, Archie, Maxie

🔥Lysandre🍷

☕️ He was well aware of the trainer interfering in his team's plans. It was also known that they resembled you, his lover. Lysandre truly did not believe it was, however. There was no reason for you to do such a thing. You were, of course, a member of Team Flare yourself. Not an active one, no, he would not have you so deeply involved. Your membership was simply understood. At least, to him. It was mostly him trying to convince himself it was a misunderstanding or that some person had disguised themselves as you to harm him.

☕️ Which is why he felt confused when one of his admins had reported your presence at the Pokeball Factory. A picture was undeniable proof. Your pokemon party was something he knew well. A shiny Pyroar featured in the picture was a gift from him. His heart burned. It must have been a misunderstanding. You would never do such a thing. Your support for his creation of a beautiful world was something he had heard many times. Long conversations between the cusp of slumber and consciousness, or over a cup of coffee in his café. This must have been you thinking they were doing something cruel. Your heart was too fragile; exactly why you were not an active member.

☕️ Another image came to him of you in Frost Cavern, stopping Team Flare from taking a Mamoswine. His patience was growing short, but he understood your heart was in the right place. You were truly kind. It was a reason he had fallen in love with you. That was why he kept his true plans a secret from you for so long. The frustration of his scientists and admins was bleeding into him, however. Your interference could put you at risk. Lysandre subtly tried to distract you with assorted dates and meetings in Lumiose.

☕️ It seemed as if it worked. You were too busy to act out and kept in his line of sight for careful monitoring. He felt relieved that the misunderstanding had been resolved. It truly must have been an unfortunate case of your kind heart leading to you accidentally opposing him. You were a beautiful person who could be the one to claim Lysandre as a lover. It was why felt confident to release his message and truly begin his plans. The key was nearly his for the Ultimate Weapon.

☕️ Then, you showed up in his labs with a horribly aggressive expression. Your eyes landed on him as he stood in front of the elevator. Had something happened? He was about to ask when you snapped at him. “What in the world do you think you're doing?” you shouted and brought out a pokeball. He felt offended. What did you think you were doing? “I won't let you do this,” you continued and tossed out your pokemon. He stood in even more offence. You… You couldn't be truly intending to…? Lysandre sighed. He engaged you in battle with little hesitation.

☕️ Your victory made him more upset. What had got into you? This behaviour was simply unlike you. He watched as you stepped towards him. Your eyes met his. “... Lysandre, please stop this,” you begged him, “This is insanity! You truly can't intend to kill everyone but Team Flare!” Your kind heart again… Oh, how your hurt expression wounded him deeply. He shook his head. It was far too late to back out from his plans. You simply were fighting the inevitable, but having you in the way would be painful. The risk of you leaving a safe location was also something he considered heavily. Distracting you by letting you play the hero seemed best for now.

☕️ Which is how he allowed things to continue. The weapon would be used whether you wished it to or not, you just needed to allow him enough time to prepare it. He even let you make the choice in an attempt to appeal to your better nature. Unfortunately, you guessed the button to stop the weapon. He had already long gone from the labs at that point, however. The final phase was upon them. Lysandre knew you would follow after him, too. Your safety was still ensured. He would bide more time when you got here.

☕️ Your opposition grew more and more frustration as the end drew closer, yet closer. The way you argued with him about this, feeling more like a lover's quarrel than something of philosophical debate. The resulting battle failed to buy him enough time to activate the weapon, and his loss had him stand aside. His admins and grunts would have to be the one's to halt you, it seemed. Before you left down the staircase, he felt his stomach twist painfully. Of all people, you being so foolish was not expected. Your rejection of the beautiful world he wished to create was something that burned him painfully.

☕️ His already ruined mood was pure rage as admins alerted him that you managed to awaken and capture the legendary pokemon despite numerous attempts to stop you. He rushed down to retrieve it, tired of letting you play hero. They were ninety-nine percent done with the absorption. There was no more reason to let you keep playing these games. Lysandre would unfortunately have to crush the hope that had coasted you along thus far. He stood stiffly before you as you glared at him. “My love,” his voice was commanding, “Return the pokemon at once. This is for the best. I know you have your reservations, but I do not wish for this to become any more difficult than it already has been.” Your silent head shake spoke louder than words could have been shouted. When this was over, he would force you to see his plans were the right thing.

☕️ The moments after the battle were a mess of rage and pain. He screamed and threats were issued. You were unaffected by it all as you simply dragged him away from the darkened chamber of nothing but wire and ominous dull light. His contingency plan failed, as he watched the weapon's attack fall back toward it and destroy the hideout underneath. Lysandre wished he could have been smothered under the rubble rather than face the failure of his plans, but it seemed you were not for allowing that either. He ordered you and you to an isolated retreat as he recuperated from the ordeal. You had ruined everything he had so tirelessly worked for. Yet, he could not even bring himself to hate you. He stood beside you as you gazed at a lapping ocean from the sanctuary of a balcony. “... You have chosen a world of conflict and suffering,” he sighed, “This beautiful world will rot.” You just leaned into his side in reply, silently nuzzling into the soft fabric of his robe. Lysandre bit his tongue. For now, the topic would be postponed.

🌌Cyrus🛰

☄️ The Galactic Boss had heard about the trainer who kept interrupting his team's activities. At first, he opted to ignore it. His subordinates failings were annoying, sure, but it was no actual hindrance to his plans. The trainer could keep playing hero, he did not care. His underlings complaints and descriptions did not even draw his curiosity. It was this apathy, in retrospect, that made the actual situation have such an awful impact on him.

☄️ Celestic Town was supposed to be an intel gathering trip. He still needed to confirm a few theories and possibilities before completely putting his plans into action. One of his grunts, there to assist him, was being loud suddenly. He came to investigate why and felt himself freeze. Of all people… His posture became horribly stiff. The Galactic grunt, an old lady… and you. He tried to maintain himself. So, what if you were here? You were free to go wherever you pleased. Cyrus was not restrictive towards his partner.

☄️ Your battle with the grunt was over in an instant. The moment your eyes met, he could understand everything. The grunt looking mortified to have been defeated in front of him to you staring at him with widened eyes. “… Beloved,” he said simply, “This is unfortunate. I had not wished to involve you in this.” It was obvious you were not listening to his explanation for why he was doing this, which worsened his now ruined mood. The battle that followed caught him off-guard, despite being the one to initiate. His loss must have been due to the affection his pokemon held toward you. Cyrus forced himself to ignore the discomfort your glare singed into him. Temporary, he reminded himself.

☄️ The stories of a trainer interfering in his team's work now haunted him as he headed back to Veilstone. Had you known it was him that lead Team Galactic before then? It did not seem so. Your reaction was that of genuine surprise. Every negative emotion this situation wrought forth from the both of you would be gone with the completion of his plans. Still, he felt strangely… upset. His chest felt tight in a way it had not for many years. It was not a surprise to find you had packed a bag and seemingly left the apartment you both shared. The tightness in his chest felt suffocating.

☄️ His commanders' frustrations about the trainer came through their lines of communication after the awakening and subsequent kidnapping of the legendary pokemon of the lakes. You were not making this easy. Everything was nearly done. His stress was already high enough as it were. All of his commanders being utterly defeated by you made him ponder what this was leading up to. The tightness in his chest grow painful. His hand grasped his shirt over it. The disgusting incomplete spirit forced inside was nothing but torment.

☄️ A last speech to his team left him with a dry throat and tired mind. Forcing himself to speak publicly was always exhausting, but even more so when he saw you attempting to hide just out of sight. Cyrus still was not entirely sure how the following confrontation would fare for you both. It was little surprise when you stepped into his office. Your face was fierce… Until, it was not. Part of him wished to mock the fleeting emotions, but another piece that he wished to suppress the painful expression that fell across your face.

☄️ The battle between you both was one of willpower on both sides. Your heart was entirely in the battle, desperate to stop him, but he could not back down. Not so close to the realisation of his ideal world. You simply did not understand the peace this world would hold. All your conflicting emotions would fizzle away into nothingness, allowing you to finally be at ease. He, too, would be at ease. His victory felt hollow. Your tears nearly made him hesitate. They would no longer matter, he had to remind himself. This new world was mostly for him… But he would not lie and say he failed to consider the benefits of it for you. He left the building with the red chain securely in his possession. You would understand.

☄️ Your opposition saw you even to Spear Pillar. Mars and Jupiter barely managed to buy him enough time to force both the legendary pokemon of time and space out. Your panicked yell could only echo out as a third shadowy pokemon emerged. Annoyance filled Cyrus, but he already prepared himself to call upon the power of time and space and make his perfect world. You would be forgiven for opposing him. Soon, this will not matter at all – The uninvited pokemon came down over him.

☄️ His upset and rage only led to more upset and rage. Emotions, vile and consuming, swirled inside him. His plans were almost finished. You had made everything worse, grabbing onto him right before it had dragged him here. He was going to initiate another battle when you grabbed his hand. The heat of it sank into him. Your eyes were big as you stared at him. His hatred of spirit only grew harsher when he saw you in pain. “Cyrus… Stop, please," you begged him, “Do… Do you truly want to live in a world where we can't even love each other?” He froze.

☄️ You battled the pokemon, Giratina, not long after. He turned away after you captured it and returned to his side. Cyrus would not leave this world yet urged you to. There was no reason for you to remain here. You refused, naturally, and found yourself pressed to his side. There was nothing he could say to make you reconsider, he already knew. A final message to Saturn to not look for him and do to what he wished with Team Galactic left you both together in the strange dimension. He had no intentions of stopping pursuing his goals. “I will not stop,” he had warned, and you just smiled. A tight embrace from you told him everything without saying a word – Neither would you.

🌧Archie🌊

💧 Truly, when he saw you battling his grunts at the Oceanic Museum, he just shrugged it off. Battling was fun, and maybe they had done something to frustrate you. No big deal. You just did not get what they were doing because he had not told you. That was on him. Which why he squeezed you into a tight hug and explained what they were doing. You would get it, he trusted. His Luvdisc knew he would only act with good intentions for the bettering of pokemon and the oceans. Your expression still seemed a bit sceptical. Well, that was fine. You would come around and let it go.

💧 Then… Mt. Chimney happened. The investigation was going well until Maxie decided to have his grunts interrupt. It was annoying, but not something that would stop him. No, what stopped him was you. Beating Shelly, you rushed over with a pokeball still in your hand. What, had you missed him? He had been a bit busy for you lately. Before he could start to apologise, you demanded to know what he was doing with the meteorite. His explanation did not seem to please you, unfortunately. What was up with you? The pokemon you sent out told him you wanted a battle at least. He engaged you instantly. Your victory left him confused, but the meteorite plan was left behind with a message from Matt.

💧 Well, he may have been a bit in denial still, but a third confrontation kind of sealed your intentions to him. Your harsh expression as you demanded he stop was haunting, honestly. You being upset was not a sight he particularly enjoyed. Which is why it felt worse with the nearing of his plan's completion. He told Matt to handle you as he made off with the Blue Orb, not wanting to be swayed over by your pout even a little bit. Did you not believe in him? It stung, but he supposed everyone was entitled to their own feelings. Archie just wished yours did not lead to you opposing him so fiercely. He had to dodge your hand reaching out for him as he ran off. Your expression became something of hurt.

💧 You showing up at the harbour and demanding he stop this finally sealed it. Yeah, you had entirely disagreed with his intentions to wake up Kyogre. That would make you the second person in his life to explicitly call out his plans and go out of your way to attempt to stop them. He and Shelly got away in the submarine, while he felt deflated. Come on, why did it have to be you? He could stand Maxie doing it, but you were just salt on the wound. You seemed to love his interest in helping save the oceans and pokemon before, but when he actually has a fathomable goal, you start going against him? He crossed his arms. Great, now you had him second guessing himself.

💧 He had wanted you at his side for this. You would stand with him, just like Matt and Shelly, grinning as he awoke Kyogre from its slumber to set this world back to a pure state. But, instead, he had you upset with him and demanding he stop. Archie knew you would feel dumb when his plans were completed and everything was better. He would forgive you without needing an apology and put this period behind you both. It would be a nice change. As it was, he hated this. Your support was something he craved. It was not needed, but it would be pleasant to have you smile at him and tell him he was doing something good.

💧 When you burst into the cavern right after he beat Maxie, he felt in between a blast of pride at beating his rival and getting ready to awaken Kyogre and upset. You were trying to stop him again! He was absolutely not letting you this late in the game. Alright, he did not want to have to crush you, but he could not let you even think of stopping him any more. Your battle was intense and full of clear emotions. No matter the outcome, he was awakening Kyogre. Your victory still stung, though. More of your opposition digging into his heart. Shelly suddenly turning against him completely caught him off guard.

💧 Archie was mortified by what followed. The heavy downpour coming down hard on the surface nearly brought him to his knees. This was not what he had wanted at all. A world flood? Absolutely not. He found himself holding you in a tight hug, and he apologised for not listening to you. Instantly, he worked with you to stop the super-ancient pokemon. The Aqua Suit was handed off to you, while he could only hope for your safety as you headed deep into the cave. His relief came when the clouds departed from the sky, and you returned alive and well with the beast captured.

💧 The both of you ended up at his room in the Aqua Hideout some time afterwards, exhausted from the insane events of the day. You laid down on his bed while he took a seat beside you. He felt a bit too lucky you were there to stop him. If you had not been so aggressive in stopping him… He shuddered. This world would not be in a liveable state for anything. “I'm sorry,” Archie said with little hesitation, “I got too caught up in everything… Guess I wasn't thinking straight. It should have been obvious when you AND Shelly started sayin' it was a bad idea.” You looked at him curiously.

💧 Pulling him down, you forced him into a cuddle. He eagerly gave in, happy to finally have some precious alone time with his Luvdisc. Your hands came to cup his face, burying themselves in his beard. He chuckled a bit, but your expression was stern. You squeezed his face. “Bad Archie,” you told him, “You wanting to protect the oceans and pokemon is a good, noble thing, but if you try to flood everyone again, I'll leave you for Maxie or something.” He gasped. You would not! He hugged you tightly. That threat held some heavy weight.

💧 While your opposition had been upsetting, he was ultimately glad that you had done it. There was some kind of madness he would admit having lost himself in, and you being constantly on him about it made him actually be able to realise the errors of his actions. Plus, it was always good to know his partner was fully ready to stop him from doing something stupid. Next time, he hoped for a discussion from you and him to actually sit down and listen, however.

☀️Maxie🌋

🪨 When he had encountered you battling his grunts at the museum, he had thought little of it. His assumption was that you were confused by his intentions. Understandable, truthfully, as he had yet to sit you down and converse about the ultimate goal of Team Magma with you. Despite being his partner, he had yet to involve you. While he may have chosen to stay in his hideout with his team, you did not live there. He sighed and apologised for any ill behaviour from his grunts before explaining his goals. You had nodded along, so he assumed that you understood that he was not up to anything malicious. Maxie expected this situation to be a one-off thing brought on by confusion and misunderstandings.

🪨 That, however, proved to be a wrong assessment on his part. Your presence at Mt. Chimney was unexpected. The fact that you seemingly went out of the way to defeat every single grunt – with the annoying aid of Team Aqua – in order to stop him from using the meteorite he had taken as a possible way to awaken Groudon. He barely had time to question just what you were doing before you tossed out a pokemon for a battle. Was this truly how this was going? Why were you opposing him? Did you not understand? He supposed he would simply have to show his intentions with a battle. Your victory left him astonished. Maxie was not unaware that you were a trainer, but he did not expect to be bested so easily. The volcano plan was begrudgingly given up.

🪨 Once is an accident, twice is a coincidence… A third almost certainly shows purpose, despite how he wished to deny that possibility. Maxie truly did not want to consider the idea that you opposed his goals. Why would you? Surely, you must have understood how important they were to him and trusted him enough to make a good decision. He felt his face genuinely drop at the sight of you at Mt. Pyre. A determined look shined in your eyes. His stomach twisted. Why was this happening? He kept up his facade as he excused himself and ordered Courtney to instead battle you. His plans were nearly completed, and he did not to risk losing time or sanity here. The look you glared into him pierced him deeply as he walked away.

🪨 Your appearance at the harbour truly forced the complicated feelings to set in. Your voice calling out to him and shaming him made his breathing fall uneven as he and Tabitha departed in the stolen submarine. When he felt alone, he ran a hand through his red hair while pondering your intentions. You had not said a word to him about disapproval or disagreement with his interesting in evolving humanity and aiding in overall progress. Suddenly, as soon as he decided to express interest in expanding the landmass, you started harshly and aggressively standing against him. It made him falter.

🪨 Truly, Maxie had wanted to invite you to join Team Magma and stand beside him as he brought his ambitions to fruition. That was simply impossible as it stood. It hurt to lose yet another person in his life to his plans. You would forgive him and apologise for your opposition when he had finished his plans, however. He took off his glasses and sighed in the cramped space of the submarine. Your support would truly do wonders. Only you could make him second guess himself, even with the endless support of his scientists, grunts, and admins.

🪨 You showing up in the Seafloor Cavern was utterly tormenting. Maxie had just defeated Archie as you entered the chamber with an upset expression on your face. He sighed. This was not time for proper discussion, alas. The look in your eyes told him that you absolutely felt the same. Groudon was within his reach. He hoped this defeat would convince you to his side. His loss frustrated him endlessly as he turned away from you. The painful feelings were enough from just having you against him, much less being defeated by you. Apparently your opposition was contagious, as Tabitha then decided to oppose him, too.

🪨 He was not one to admit when he was wrong. Maxie was headstrong and stubborn. Described much like his favourite choice in pokemon, but he even he felt obligated to apologise when he saw the world-ending scenario he had brought upon the world despite your continued attempts to stop him. He did not feel the horrible feeling in his chest subside, even after you risked your safety in trying to quell Groudon. You even managed to catch it. He bit his tongue for so long.

🪨 When it was finally you both alone in his room in the Magma Hideout, Maxie felt his trained posture drop as he gazed at you. You sat on his bed with your arms crossed. He took a seat beside you. His eyes could not meet your own from the shame burning in his chest. “I apologise,” he managed to get out after an uncomfortable silence, “… I still wish to pursue my goals of bettering humanity, but I see that my intentions with Groudon were short-sighted and dangerous.” The redhead finally moved to look at you. You seemed less upset.

🪨 Your arms came around him to pull him into a hug, making him freeze for a moment. The affection was something he had missed during this busy and stressful period of his life. The embrace was returned slowly. “Maxie, I love you a lot,” you softly told him. He felt his heart race. The words were reciprocated instantly, desperate to show that he still cared for you, too. “Now, you're a scientist, right,” you moved to look into his bespectacled gaze, “How did you not consider the possibility that Groudon would eliminate all water through its drought? Or even what offsetting the current balance of the earth would actually do short-term and long-term?” Maxie felt his cheeks burn. You were unfortunately right again.

🪨 Thankfully, your opposition was mostly understood after the high of summoning Groudon subsided. You understood his heart was in the right place, but he somehow lost his critical thinking skills along the way. There were some slight concerns in trust, but a proper discussion between you both helped soothe the worries away. He felt glad, too, secretly. Maxie would come to trust that you would call out his bad ideas when others may hesitate.

#pokemon x reader #lysandre x reader #cyrus x reader #archie x reader #maxie x reader #pokemon/reader #pokemon lysandre x reader #pokemon cyrus x reader #pokemon archie x reader #pokemon maxie x reader #lysandre/reader #cyrus/reader #archie/reader #maxie/reader

[castieldelamancha]

3 days later.

The sound of the empty beer bottle he just sent rolling across the bedroom's floor knocking against the doorframe fills the silence around him.

It's almost a living thing this silence, Dean tiredly thinks to himself, it's pressing down on him, sucking out all the air in the room, asphyxiating him.

It's outside, but, to what would be Dean's horror if it wasn't because of the numbness that has taken over him, it's also inside of him, in his head, in his very soul. His own melody, a jumble mess of chords, a mix of gloom notes and bright tunes, seems to be over, now that what had felt for years as its companion piece is gone.

He must be going insane with this grief he feels, he has started to wonder if the darkness might had taken him too.

He lets his head fall backwards, resting it against Castiel's perfectly made bed. The emptiness of this space only seems to add to the silence around him. Don't get him wrong, there is furniture here, but no life, no soul, like Cas never existed, like he was a product of his imagination. 

He stares up at the ceiling, he reminds himself he has to wash his jacket, get the blood out of it. He shakes his head. He was there, that's all the proof he needs to convince himself it was all real. Dean himself is still here, breathing and moving, he wouldn't say alive, but he is also proof it was all real. 

He doesn't know how he has ended up here, in Castiel's room, sitting on the cold, unforgiving, floor by the bed, drinking the last drops of a beer that tasted like shit and that brought him no comfort.

He doesn't think there is something out there that can comfort him now, unless the wall would open right now and spit Cas out same way it swallowed him. 

It doesn't happen of course.

He wonders if Cas can hear him, he doesn't think so.

"One last miracle," he says anyway, "fuck, I know I have asked for so much from you over the years," he struggles to swallow past the lump forming in his throat and he welcomes it, welcomes the tears he can feel filling up his eyes, because it's better to feel this sadness that nothing at all, "know you have sacrificed so much for me, for us, for this world; but Cas, I need one miracle, I need you back." 

There are so many things Dean has to tell him.

Silence. Nothing. His soul seems to get a leave a message after the tone.

There are so many things he has to tell Cas, but not if he isn't here to hear him.

However, eyes still fixated on the ceiling, he whispers, 

"It was always yours to have, all yours." Forever.

.

10 years later.

There is a fine layer of dust covering every surface around him, not too bad considering the time that has gone by since someone has last set foot in this room. More than five years, maybe, Dean isn't too sure about that.

It's quiet in here but, from the other side of the closed door the sound of laughter and conversation filters until reaching him. The bunker is bursting with life, hunters that come and go, a safe haven for so many. He doesn't feel like being part of all that right now.

He wouldn't have come around if he had realized he would still be here on this specific day. 

The memories are painful enough far away from this walls as it is.

But, well, now it's too damn late.

He sighs, the wound is old, but on days like today it's still tender to the touch, like it never healed properly. He hums to himself, a silly little tune, he doesn't remember where it came from but that's okay, he likes it anyway, it keeps his mind distracted. He lets his head fall back, resting it against the perfectly made bed, the covers smell after years of disuse. It reminds him of the first time they explored the bunker bedrooms. 

It was love at first sight, despite all the work they had ahead of them to make this place liveable again. 

He doesn't miss it nowadays, he is thankful for what was his home when he needed one the most, but he has somewhere else to call a home now. Far away from here.

He doesn't know why he decided to come in when he walked by the closed door, but he is here now, sitting on the floor by the bed, not wanting to think about having to get up or about the pain he has started to feel in his left knee. He is not so young anymore.

He opens his eyes when there is soft knock on the door and a gentle voice calls out his name.

"C'mon in." He calls back, smiling to himself and closing his eyes once more. 

There is the sound of the door closing again, light footsteps that stop next to him, a warm body that joins him on the floor. 

"What are you doing in here?" He doesn't need to open his eyes to picture the squinty look that is being directed to himself. 

"I came here, years ago" he says instead of giving a real answer, "I sat down right on this spot and told whoever was listening that I needed a miracle."

He opens his eyes, turning his head to the side to be able to look at Cas, smiling softly at him. His hair is messy as always but, just like Dean's, it's turning grey, paired with his deeping wrinkles Castiel has never looked more handsome to Dean. More alive.

"Did someone listen?" He asks, with a glint in his eyes that make Dean believe he already knows the answer to that question.

He plays along, anyways. Dean reaches to close his hand around Cas' and, lifting them both to get them closer to his face, he kisses Castiel's knuckles, one by one. 

"It took a while, but I got my miracle after all." Dean looks away, he has been working hard, all these years, to feel more comfortable in his own skin, open up and say what he has to say, but still, sometimes, especially in days like this, when he is feeling too much; when he feels raw, emotional, it can be all a bit too much.

Castiel leans in, he presses his forehead against Dean's cheek.

"I had forgotten it was today, it seems the same thing happened to you."

Neither of them would have wanted to be here today.

Dean nods lightly. He looks up at the ceiling. 

He focuses on their breathing, almost synced, calm and deep, he focuses on all the parts of them that are touching. He grips Castiel's hand tightly, nothing is taking him away, it would have to take Dean too.

Nothing is after them now, though, he allows himself to relax once more, heavily leaning his shoulder against Cas'.

He never washed the jacket, it's still here, he had to put it in Cas' closet, where he would never have to see it, unless he wanted to.

"I am glad" Castiel says after a long moment of shared silence, "I could tell you what I needed to say that day." Dean knows the weight of Castiel's guilt around those last moments, he has never regretted saving Dean, of course, he does regret the pain he caused.

Dean almost makes a comment about him being lucky because Dean remembers he couldn't get a single word out, but he has made his peace with that because, even though it took some time, he could tell Cas what he had been bottling up inside himself for years too, staring into his eyes, for the very first time, then a second time and now he has lost count. 

"I still can't believe sometimes that, well-" he trails off, gesturing vaguely with his free hand.

"That you could have it all?" Dean ventures.

"Yes." It comes out in a strangled whisper. Dean turns his head again, dropping a kiss on Castiel's forehead.

"It will always be yours, all yours." Forever.

#destiel #november 5th #post s15 #the post s15 i deserved of course 😌 #long post #ficlet #vanessa writes ✨ #hoy hay 2x1 en ficlets como en el carrefour #tuserpris

[mia-tiny]

『 Jongho & FaceTime Sex + Lingerie 』 | KTB ‘22

⇒ pairing: c. jongho x fem!reader

⇒ smut, idol jongho, lingerie, mutual masturbation, FaceTime sex, light dirty talk

⇒ word count: 1.5k

💕 view my masterlist here

🖤 view my Kinktober ‘22 masterlist here

⇒ author’s note: only one fic left per member in Kinktober!

The sound of your phone ringing immediately has you grinning like an idiot because you know exactly who it is. Sure enough, you glance at the brightened screen and find your boyfriend’s name over top of a silly photo you took of him while on vacation.

During his tour, Jongho makes sure to speak to you every night because, by the end of each long and tiring day, all he wants to do is hear your loving words of encouragement. This is the first time he has been gone this long since you two started dating, and now you spend every second of every day looking forward to this moment, no matter how tired you are in the morning from staying up so late to chat.

Hating to waste even a second with him, you rush to answer his FaceTime and wait impatiently as it connects. As soon as his face pops up, you beam at him giddily.

“Baby~” you call in your most sing-songy voice, sitting up from your relaxed position in the bed that is far too big without him. He can’t help chuckling at your excitement, but you can see the exhaustion in his face that he tries to mask. You can’t imagine how overworked he must be and you wish you could just hug him right now.

“Hi, babe. How was your day?” He lays back in the all-white hotel bed with a large huff, his freshly washed hair dampening the pillow slightly.

“Boring, as always. There is nothing fun to do when you’re gone,” you pout in honesty, to which he sticks out his bottom lip, humorously pouting back in solidarity. “How was your day, though? Did the concert go well?”

“Yeah, I think we actually did really well tonight,” he answers lifelessly while running his hand through his hair to keep it out of his face.

“Why do you seem so bummed, then? Did something else happen?” You can’t help but be concerned for Jongho when he is down like this, especially when you can’t be by his side to comfort him in person. He lets out a dispirited sigh.

“Honestly, I just miss you so fucking much,” he admits, a blush rising to his cheeks as you grin sheepishly. “It is driving me insane. I just want to hug you, kiss you, touch you, and have you to myself, but there is still so long to go until I’m home.”

“Have me to yourself?” you prompt teasingly, knowing exactly what he means but still finding his choice of words amusing.

“Yeah, I mean… you know…” he trails off in embarrassment as his eyes shift elsewhere.

“You want to fuck me?” You tauntingly bite your lip and put on the most innocent expression you can muster. He clears his throat awkwardly at the sight.

“Well yeah, of course I miss your body, how could I not?” he confesses with more confidence. “Stop looking at me like that, all sexy-like. You’re going to get me riled up.”

“Would that be a bad thing?” you challenge. “I have a present to show you anyways.”

His brows furrow in confusion as he quickly racks his brain to remember if today is an anniversary or special date, but nothing comes up. You, however, nonchalantly position your phone on the bedside table so that it shows your whole body as you kneel in front of it. With a sly smirk, you slowly undo your robe’s tie and slip each side off one at a time to reveal the lacy red lingerie you bought earlier today. 

Jongho watches you closely, his expression turning increasingly lecherous by the second. The exhaustion in face has been washed away entirely as all of his thoughts are instantly occupied by you. The seductive bra, panty, and garter belt set doesn’t leave much to the imagination, but that is exactly what you wanted.

“What is all this for?” he purrs in contentment as you finally throw your robe aside altogether.

“Just because you’ve been working so hard, I thought you deserve a treat.”

“Oh yeah?”

By the slight movement of the camera, you can tell he is reaching down to stroke his cock already and you can’t help but feel a surge of confidence. You start putting on a show for him by running your own hands across your body, stopping at your chest to grope your own tits and moan dramatically for him.

“Do you like your gift?” you coo as he nods with his mouth agape in admiration.

“The only thing I hate is that I can’t rip that off you and bend you over right now.” You tweak your nipples playfully and moan softly.

“For now, just tell me what you want and I’ll do it for you, baby.”

His eyes sparkle with enthusiasm and he readjusts the pillow behind his head as he gets ready for the show. “Go ahead and touch that pretty pussy for me.”

You drag your hand down your stomach to your sex, teasing yourself by rubbing at your clit over the flimsy fabric of your underwear. You make sure to moan a bit more theatrically than normal, which he seems to enjoy by the low groan he lets out.

“Pull your panties to the side and let me watch,” he commands, feeling like he will explode with anticipation if he doesn’t get to see your needy cunt this very second.

Like a good girl, you follow his orders and expose yourself to him, opening your legs more so he has the best view. You continue to stroke your sensitive bud as he lets out hushed whimpers from the pleasure of his own hand.

“Jongho?”

“Hm?”

“Can I see too?”

He smirks as your face reddens, but you can’t go on knowing he is pleasing himself and not being able to see it. He flips the camera input so that it now shows the pornographic scene of his hand stroking his stiff cock, his pajama pants pulled just halfway down his thighs.

“Better?” he teases.

“Much better.”

The aching neediness in your core increases tenfold as you ogle over sight of his perfect dick, pre-cum oozing lazily from the tip. Your fingers automatically pick up their pace to match the slightly faster rhythm of his hand.

“Use your other hand and finger that greedy hole. I want to see you fall apart for me.”

You easily sink two digits in from how wet you are and curl upwards to drag along your g-spot, the sensation prompting you to release a shameless whine. You waste no time warming yourself up, immediately speeding up your movements to constantly stimulate both parts of your sex. The combined pleasure, in addition to the visual of your boyfriend’s own desperate motions, has your climax starting to build deep within your core.

“Shit, baby. You’re going to make me cum if you keep moaning like that,” he pants, clearly close to the edge.

“Cum for me.”

He curses under his breath and speeds up once again as he skirts close to the edge, the camera shaking frantically as he focuses only on the euphoric feeling. It isn’t much longer before his hot cum is shooting onto his abs with a cry of your name that the people in the next hotel room surely heard.

He keeps the frame focused on his cock as he watches you wildly chase your climax. He can tell by your increasingly high-pitched sounds of pleasure that you won’t last much longer and savors the sight of you so needy like this, wishing he could just climb through the screen and dive straight into your pussy to give you the mind-shattering high you deserve. Lamenting the fact he can’t do so, he settles for just enjoying the view for now.

“Your turn, baby. Cum for me now.”

His words flip a switch inside you and cause you to immediately spiral into a shuddering orgasm, Jongho’s eyes closely trained on you as he imagines just how good you would feel wrapped around his dick right now.

“There you go.”

You lightly gasp as you pull your fingers out of your hole, the sensitivity making your head spin. Jongho has flipped the camera back around so it shows his satisfied expression, sweat glistening faintly at his hairline. You also grab your phone and lay down in the same position, absolutely spent.

“Did you enjoy your gift?” you quip despite clearly knowing the answer. He just chuckles and rolls onto his side.

“If you aren’t immediately wearing that when I get home, I swear to–”

“What? You’ll punish me?” you taunt.

“Just wait and see what happens. But I’d be careful if I were you because I have another two months to imagine all sorts of scandalous things I can do to you.”

Your heart skips a beat at his threat, the proposition sounding much more appealing than he must think. A mischievous grin spreads across your lips.

“Then I will make sure to have high expectations.”

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Taglist: @minkysmilk @annaflwrs @han8ul @whatudowhennooneseesyou

#ateez smut #ateez fanfiction #ateez fanfic #ateez fic #ateez ff #ateez imagines #ateez drabbles #ateez headcanons #ateez scenarios #ateez fluff #ateez x reader #ateez x you #ateez jongho #hongjoong #seonghwa #yunho #yeosang #san #mingi #wooyoung #jongho #choi jongho #jongho smut #jongho fanfiction #jongho fanfic #jongho fic #jongho ff #jongho imagines #jongho drabbles #jongho headcanons

[unknownfacelessfanfictions]

Santa Claus

Fandom: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Pairing: Constable Odo x gn!Reader Words: 1.3K Summary: Odo knows a lot of people however he never met a certain "Santa Claus". From what he knows, he might be a criminal

Not my gif !!!!

WINTER WRITING PLAN

Odo wasn't sure how exactly he had ended up in this situation, but at the moment he was sitting at a table in Quarks with the Chief, Doctor Bashir and Commander Worf. Actually, he had only intended to make his usual rounds through the establishment, but the Chief and Bashir had successfully talked him down to join them.

From the look on his face, Worf didn't seem to feel any different.

"So, Commander? How are you going to spend the holidays?"

O'Brien glanced over at the Klingon, who looked even a little grimmer than usual. "I'm going to visit my parents on Earth. So far I had been able to avoid that tradition, however, I'm afraid it didn't work out this time." Bashir and O'Brien grinned at each other before the latter took a sip from his tankard.

"But Worf, Christmas is a time for fellowship, family and love. You must be looking forward to seeing your parents again, right?" Bashir grinned at Worf and Odo could see the man's jaw working.

"I never said I wasn't looking forward to it. I merely think the traditions are ridiculous. Santa Claus, the presents. A fairy tale for children, nothing more."

"Don't say that too loud or Molly will hear you," O'Brien returned, sighing. "She's gone insane lately. That's all she talks about, and she's driving me and Keiko right crazy."

Bashir laughed. "So I guess you're going to stay here?" O'Brien nodded and raised his eyebrow. "And you?"

"Also. I promised Garak I'd teach him some traditions this year. He thinks it's absolutely ridiculous, but it's worth a try."

" How about you, Constable?"  Odo looked up at the question and turned towards the doctor.

"Are you going to celebrate the holidays?"

When Odo did not answer, Bashir suddenly blushed. "Oh, I'm sorry. You probably don't even know what exactly we are talking about, right?"

O'Brien chocked on his drink and started coughing. "Julian!"

"What?! Odo basically 'grew up' on Bajor. They do not celebrate Christmas here!"

Slowly the three men turned to look at Odo, who grew more uncomfortable with every passing second.

"Of course I know what Christams is. I don't live under a rock" he growled before standing up abruptly. "If you gentlemen would excuse me now? I have a job to do!"

~**~

They couldn't really help but twist their lips into a smile when they heard the familiar hiss of doors announcing the arrival of their partner.

They lifted their head from their book just in time to see the doors close behind the changeling.

"Hey," they smiled and reached out to him. "How was your day?"

Odo came over to them and took their hand in his as he settled down, however he seemed lost in thought. "The usual."

Already used to his short answers, they smiled. "Oh, yeah? Well, you were gone longer today for that. Did you have to fill out any reports that were left behind?"

He snorted lightly. "I don't leave anything undone. My work routine is efficient enough to avoid such things." Slightly he rolled his eyes, however they knew he wasn't serious. "When I did my last round in Quark's bar, I was stopped by Doctor Bashir and Chief O'Brien. I tried to talk my way out of it, but it seemed impossible after they convinced Commander Worf.

"Wow," they said, straightening up so they could turn their body to face him.

"Julian and Miles have accomplished what I had always wanted to accomplish with you."

"Talking to me? We do that a lot."

They laughed. "No. Taking you out for a drink at Quark's."

Odo wrinkled his nose, though they could see the corners of his mouth twitch in a desperate attempt not to give in to a smile.

"Perhaps you'll be reassured to hear that I haven't taken a sip myself."

"You hardly ever drink."

"Then you should begin to realise that your great goal will probably never be fulfilled."

A laugh escaped them and Odo felt deep satisfaction in having made his partner laugh. He leaned back as they turned their backs to lean against him.

For some time they sat side by side in silence. As they went back to their book, Odo was perfectly content to rest his chin on their head and close his eyes.

In his mind, however, a question floated around that he did not want to banish.

"Who is Santa?"

They were mid-sentence when he asked his question, however, they stopped abruptly when Odo's question reached their hearing.

"Huh?"

" Santa Claus." They felt Odo shifting back and forth uncomfortably beneath them.

"Chief O'Brien mentioned in our conversation that Molly would not be happy to hear Worf talk about Santa Claus being a ridiculous children's fairy tale."

They sat up straight so they could look him in the face. For a moment they regarded him and with each passing second they realised that it made Odo incredibly uncomfortable not to have that bit of information and their faces softened.

They knew how discomforting it could be for the changeling not to know certain information, especially when it was natural or taken for granted by everyone else.

But the fact that he had confided in them instead of asking the computer warmed their hearts.

"That's what Santa Claus is, technically. A child's fairy tale, a made-up fantasy figure who is the symbol of Christmas."

"But what is his purpose? His function?"

They put the book aside. Probably they wouldn't get very much reading done in the near future.

"I'm not too familiar with the history behind all of it. Its origins are in Europe, with a man, a saint called Nicholas. St Nicholas, parents told their children, judges children's behaviour over the year and depending on how well they have behaved, on one day , usually the sixth of December, he brings them rewards such as small gifts, sweets or fruit, or a rod with which to punish the 'bad' children."

Odo's eyes widened. "He hurts children?"

"No! No he doesn't," they laughed. "That's what they used to tell the children, and in the very early days the children might have really been beaten, but definitely not today. Today the kids mostly just get little presents and stuff, at least in the regions where they still celebrate." Odo nodded slowly, understanding.

"And Santa Claus..."

"Is the American and, unfortunately, more famous version of him, even outside of America. He's usually depicted as an old man with white hair and a white beard wearing a red coat, red trousers and a red pointed hat, flying around the world in his flying sleigh pulled by reindeer.

Depending on the region, parents tell their children that Santa Claus comes to the house on Christmas Eve or during the night and brings the children presents, which they are allowed to open either on Christmas Eve, the twenty-fourth of December, or the morning after. As a thank you they leave him a glass of milk and biscuits, at least in America.

In England, I think they leave a glass of sherry outside. He then eats and drinks these things in the house. The gifts are probably the reason he is so popular. Although they still say that he judges their behaviour, it is hardly relevant to the number of gifts.

If you walk around anywhere on Earth at Christmas time, you can see him virtually everywhere."

They looked over at Odo, who looked plainly horrified.

"So, just to be clear," he began, looking at them from wide-open eyes. "Parents tell their kids they're being judged and stalked all year by an old man who breaks into their house at the end of the year and leaves stuff there that no one knows what's in it, which is a big security issue by the way. Much more, the children have to make sacrifices to him, in the form of alcohol and the parents make them believe that he drinks this glass of alcohol in every house and then manoeuvres a flying sleigh?"

They frowned. "I never thought about it that way, but you could put it that way, yes."

Odo only looked more disturbed than before and rose to leave with slow steps. A laugh escaped them, so loud that they almost missed him shaking his head and saying "humans".

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

@bigblissandlove1 @akamitrani

#star trek deep space nine #star trek deep space 9 #star trek ds9 #ds9 #constable odo #odo #odo ds9 #odo x reader #odo x reader ds9 #constable odo x reader

[greenlantern94to04]

Green Lantern #49 (February 1994)

"EMERALD TWILIGHT," Part 2! Hal Jordan has gone so far off the deep end that he's started imitating one of history's most infamous monsters: Ringo Starr. After the events of last issue, a pissed-off Hal is speeding towards planet Oa to give his bosses, the Guardians of the Universe, a piece of (what's left of) his mind. The Guardians try to stop Hal by deploying formidable Green Lanterns like, uh, this red guy and that purple girl.

Hal brutally whoops their asses and steals their GL rings to become more powerful; if he manages to nab 3597 more rings, he can become a One Man Green Lantern Corps. Hal's dangerous bling addiction even leads him to fight Lanterns he personally recruited into the Corps, like Tomar-Tu (the guy with the bird face who doesn't sound like Geoffrey Rush) and Boodikka, a fierce warrior who refuses to let go of her ring... so Hal just chops her hand off. I like to imagine a Green Lantern from some sort of phallus-shaped alien race turning around at this point and going home.

Meanwhile, in Oa, the Guardians seem pretty confident that one of their "servants" will stop Hal, but their arrogance starts evaporating with every ring he steals. Ganthet, paradoxically the least dickish of the Guardians despite being the only one wearing a ponytail, has some sort of secret plan for how they could "preserve themselves" if all else fails. At first, the others just mock him (for his plan, not the ponytail), but as Hal gets closer, they get nervous and start preparing for Ganthet's plan, whatever it is.

Hal finally reaches Oa and faces one of his best friends, Kilowog, the most distinguished trainer of the Green Lantern Corps and the Justice League's one-time handyman. Hal reminds his former mentor that he's got like ten rings by now, but Kilowog defiantly says, "Didn't I teach ya nothing? It's the warrior, not his weapons."

As it turns out, nope, it's the weapons, because Hal defeats Kilowog too within one page. With no one else around to stop him, Hal heads for the Central Power Battery -- literally, a giant battery that powers every GL ring in the universe, and now Hal wants that power to himself (I guess stealing it from here is easier than figuring out how to wear 3600 rings on his fingers). However, the Guardians still have an ace up their oversized sleeves. A hooded figure walks out of the battery, and the final page reveals that it's the other "greatest Green Lantern ever" who went rogue: Sinestro! A villain so heinous that the Guardians executed him for "crimes against the universe," causing his soul to get trapped inside the Central Battery.

Yes, the Guardians are so desperate that they're willing to give a GL ring to a guy whose name means "evil" and who has tried to kill them multiple times in the past. Interesting tactic. Will it pay off?!

NEXT ISSUE: It doesn't pay off.

Plotline-Watch:

When Sinestro is revealed at the end, we also find out that he'd been narrating the issue, which gives a double reading to lines like: "Were he not blinded by his obsession, would these acts wreak havoc on his conscience? I rather like to think so." That almost sounds like Sinestro's version of the Joker's "Far too late" moment from The Killing Joke.

The fight with Kilowog could be seen as another callback to Emerald Dawn, Hal's origin story, since that contained a montage of 'Wog training Hal when he was a rookie... by making him balance rocks and catch eggs in the air and stuff. Would have been funny if Hal and Kilowog's dramatic face-off in this issue had consisted of an egg-catching contest. To the death.

Ganthet the Least Dickish Guardian first appeared in 1992's Green Lantern: Ganthet's Tale graphic novel by Larry Niven and John Byrne, which establishes that 1) he once drove himself insane by looking at the beginning of the universe, and 2), perhaps related to the above, he has a fondness for human fashion. Ganthet had appeared in exactly two issues of the regular series before this one, but he'll appear a lot more often and have plenty more chances to show off his fashion sense after this.

Also in Ganthet's Tale, Hal learns the "forbidden knowledge" that the end and the beginning of the universe are linked together, which the other Guardians would have erased from his mind if Ganthet hadn't protected him. Not only will this little bit of trivia come in pretty handy for Hal as he starts toying with cosmic forces in the near future, but also, looking at the final panels in the graphic novel, Hal's comments about being disappointed in the Guardians' lies almost feel like a teaser for Emerald Twilight (which, again, was definitely not being planned in '92).

Question for the Hal Jordan veterans in the comments (hi, Neil): was the idea that wearing more GL rings makes you more powerful already a thing before this issue? Seems like something a villain would have exploited by now. Or did Hal change how the rings work through sheer force of will?

Guy-Watch:

Meanwhile, in Guy Gardner's corner of the GL universe: the Guy Gardner series officially becomes Guy Gardner: Warrior with #17, which sees the debut of Guy's new moniker and his shorter, non-Moe hairdo. Plus, artist Mitch Byrd!

In this issue, Guy finally works up the nerve to go back home and tell his abusive dad what he thought of him, only to find out that he died shortly after his brother Mace committed suicide. Both were assholes, but that's still pretty rough. Then, he's attacked by Militia, the armored loon we met last issue. The fight ends when Guy's yellow power ring (which, incidentally, used to belong to Sinestro) suddenly stops working, but luckily, Militia's armor happens to malfunction at the same time and he's ran over by a truck.

Huh, curious that Militia has ginger hair too. Probably a coincidence. To be continued!

#green lantern #ron marz #fred haynes #romeo tanghal #hal jordan #guardians of the universe #green lantern corps #ganthet #kilowog #sinestro #guy gardner #militia #quorum #this red guy #that purple lady #least dickish guardian is still pretty dickish btw

[astudyintheburningofhearts]

Right, so. I wanna imagine this slightly, mildly insane thing, ok? And I have absolutely no clue which ship to use this one for (since I'm currently obsessed with Good Omens and the Not-Nice-Demon and his Bastard-Angel, so yeah. I guess you can imagine it as Merthur if you'd want, or anything else really, but I'm gonna go with A and B this time around). Right. So, imagine this, ok? (It's very specific btw, so bear with me lmao).

Both A and B are aspiring doctors. They were in the same class in 10th grade, and towards the end of the year, B started asking A for help because they were scared of their exams.

Now, imagine for their next academic year that B switches curriculums (though they're still in the same school) and the minimal conversation which both A and B engaged in before is now completely zero.

However! Since they're both aspiring med students at the time, they meet again in a prepratory class they've both enrolled in; a class needed to help prepare for a medical admissions test they both must take.

Now imagine that they begin talking somewhat after their 10th grade results are released (since 10th grade is a board year ykyk), and A slowly begins to catch feelings.

A's schoolfriends don't exactly catch on, but do enjoy teasing them and shipping them with B, unbeknownst to B.

Slowly, over their two year course, they begin talking more, even more than they had before. And before they know it, they're sending in their college applications and whiling away their summer together, having gone from mere acquaintances to close friends.

And then they're off to college, with B staying in their home country while A leaves and goes abroad (I was thinking England, but again, feel free to imagine whatever other place you'd like) for their studies instead.

Imagine they still talk as much as they possibly can, and approximately two years into med school, they begin surprising each other with visits during whatever holidays they can.

Now, well into either their 3rd or 4th year of uni, B surprises A once more, showing up on their doorstep.

A feigns anger and annoyance, the facade immediately dropping once B reveals they've gotten A chocolates from home.

B says that they're visiting for a week, and A is thrilled, but continues to be jokingly annoyed.

Over the course of the week, A and B (obviously) spend as much time as they possibly can with one another, from reading together while it rains outside to visiting shops together and buying breakfast before the other wakes up (just domestic things, but you know!!!).

Eventually, two and a half days before B needs to leave, they go out for lunch and end up dancing along to a live band at a restaurant, along with a bunch of other couples. They begin walking home, giggling and stumbling over one another, unable to stray too far away, and then it begins raining. And they're forced together under the awning of a nearby coffee shop. And then, before they know it, they're kissing. Sopping wet and shivering, but kissing nonetheless. And then they're back at A's apartment and. Well. I'm sure you can piece together where that goes. (They could either you know. Do the thing. Or just like cuddle and watch a film or something else if you're not into that kinda thing, I get it).

And then it's bliss for the next two days, they go nowhere except to shop for groceries.

After that, of course, it's time for B to leave and go back home. Though it's not exactly teary, their parting is filled with yearning and heartache because "why do you have to go, why'd we have to realise so late?" but B promises to come back as soon as they can, and A does the same.

This back and forth goes on for about a year, wherein whenever A visits home, they hide the fact that they are now dating B by saying they would visit and probably spend the night with a friend of theirs whenever they'd visit.

Eventually, however, they decide that it's time for their parents to know, and over a slightly longer, two-week break (or summer break, whichever you want), they decide to get their families together for a lunch, in order to introduce everyone to everyone.

A plans it at their house, ensuring their parents and sibling are out of the house before everyone else arrives, and they're super stressed over everything – "Have we made enough food? Did we buy the wine? I don't think so, wait no we did. But did we buy the chocolates? I don't think we did, could you run by the store and get some? Do I look alright? Should I cha–" and they're so wound up and B just thinks it's so adorable that they have to shut them up with a soft little kiss, saying something like "Hey. We'll be fine. They'll love each other, and I'm sure my parents will love you. Yes, we have enough food, and wine, and chocolates, and you look gorgeous, so stop worrying, we'll be alright."

And then B distracts them by sitting them down and turning on the television. And just as predicted, B's parents simply adore A and A's parents love B just as much too.

Eventually, as they were wont to do, they get married. (It can be either while they're just finishing up med school or after they've finished, that's another choice you make, but).

And though this obviously isn't the end, I'm too lazy to write more haha.

Now, there are a couple things – I know this seems super basic and boring because there's no huge plot twists- but I thought it was nice to just imagine two characters growing up together and falling in love and never looking back idk why. Either way, if you've read until here, kudos to you, this was super long, so thank you :D

#phew #gonna tag the fandoms i talked about before because i can totally see them #long post #good omens #aziraphale #crowley #anthony j crowley #anthony janthony crowley #aziracrow #ineffable husbands #bbc merlin #merlin #arthur pendragon #merthur #fic idea #m tag

[cherryfairytwist]

RickFic Ch2. You’re Not Invited

(Tags: substance abuse / harassment / intoxication / adult situations and themes / Minors DNI)

—- HELLO —-

—- INITIATING DOWNLOAD SEQUENCE MEMORY CLUSTER #2 —-

—-PULLING UP EARLIEST ASSISTED MEMORY RECORDS —-

—- NARRATION SIMULATING NOW —-

 The next few weeks and month ended up roughly similar to how things went that other day at school. Astrid kept finding herself in seemingly awkward or uncomfortable run ins with Rick Sanchez as she tried hanging around his grandkids more. Getting used to working at the school really started to open her eyes as to how much Rick really did show up unannounced. Always plucking Morty and Summer off the face of the Earth and going off on some insane quest for personal gains. Part of Astrid felt a little envious of all that freedom Rick had no problem abusing. Even going so far as getting a little excited when she was accidentally teleported along with the three off planet yet again. 

 “Fuck. N-not this again.” Rick groaned while  looking at Astrid in his rear view mirror. Astrid sat in the back seat next to Summer in the space ship.

 “Mr. Sanchez you’re the one who teleported me here.” Astrid almost annoyed stared directly back at him through the mirror. 

His eyes narrowed even more after receiving the comment, “Oh y-yeah. RIGHT. I’m s-supposed to know my dumb grandkids are still *burp* b-barking up the same tree.” 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Summer asked annoyed as Morty quickly blurted, “Please Rick! Come on! Let her come with us.” 

“It means Summer…..” Rick shouted over Morty, 

“I’m not h-humoring another little unrequited *burp* crush Morty has-“ 

Morty’s face went red as he was about to yell when Summer interrupted him, “Well what about me grandpa?! I want her around. What are you going to say to that?” 

“T-that’s self explanatory.” He smugly laughed, “You’re a stupid teenager. Y-you’d get bored of her. End up being-becoming enemies. She would end up flirt-taking your *eeeruuhg* boyfriend or something stupid and petty like that.” 

 “Well you seem to have it all figured out old man.” Astrid said sarcastically as they propped their feet up against the back of his seat. 

 “That’s it.” Rick huffed and pulled out the portal gun. 

“NO! RICK!” Morty protested. 

Rick fired his portal right next to Astrid and reached back from the driver seat and grabbed her hard by the upper arm. 

“Try again next time.” He sarcastically smiled at her and shoved her through the portal back into an empty school classroom. 

She heard Summer complain, “You fucking suck grandpa!” Right as the portal snapped shut again in her face. 

 “God. Fuck you Sanchez!” Astrid said to herself but stood up grinning. 

She thought about how fun it might be to make her new personal mission to get under Rick’s skin. She laughed and headed home. Maybe things could get more interesting if she started not taking things so seriously. Could be a fun experiment. 

  Easier said than done. It had been weeks since being kicked out of Rick Sanchez’s space ship. She had still caught wind and tail of him in the past days popping in and out of the school. However today ended up not being so great for everyone. Summer and Morty had both freaked out after a mission had almost gone wrong with Rick. They explained to Astrid not take it personally. They just needed alone time after whatever it was that went down. They refused to go into details. This made Astrid always worry about them, relating to how they felt in those moments. It reminded her of how bad training days at the agency went in the past when she was around their age. But she respected their space, worrying it could make it worse if she tried to persist on the topic. 

  It had been hard on her lately too. She had found herself on a drinking binge that previous night after yet again checking in with her Handler and being told to return back to her post. He barely looked at her these days. Always keeping his back to her. So she fell back on old habits and got too plastered to think what was a good vs bad idea. Astrid haphazardly tried to use her “magic” abilities to open a makeshift portal off planet while intoxicated to a popular strip club on a distant planet’s moon. They used to work there during their honeypot training days for the agency. In spite of their current Handler warning them not to return anywhere near the club after the “incident”. Of course they did anyway. In their drunk state of mind they figured they could at least make some cash and be a complete mess at the same time and no one would say anything. In fact the Club’s owner was almost a little too thrilled by their return. The owner went by the name Glacks Asmodeus. Playing into his roll as the said club owner of “The Room”. As loud music boomed through the building he slid over to greet Astrid.

“Hey baby, it’s been tooooo long~” he crowed to her in a sickly sweet voice. 

This sent a shiver down her spine. But she was drunk enough to power through it. She played it up as if she had missed him too. Fake love was currency here. He fancied her as his favorite trophy due to her natorious reputation around the universe.

“Hey daddy.” Astrid quickly replied and braced herself for a hug he would inevitably give her. 

He smoothed back his hair that looked like a slicked down Mohawk full of thousands of sharp quills. His body looked like that of a leather gimp suit if it were for a reptilian. He wore a large fur coat with pink,red,purple and yellow patches all over it. Under that he had a black combo of a button up, vest and matching pants. Multiple chains and pearl strands hung from his neck. And to finish it off he had pointed steel metal toed shoes with custom engraved designs of alien words in the metal. 

“Like the new coat? Hunted it myself.” He hissed proudly, “Finally decided to come back hmm?” He whispered in her ear as he came in for an overly tight and dominating hug. 

“You know I was about to send people to go find you.” he said in a joking manner even though it was clearly a threat. 

“Well you know the agency…” Astrid forced a fake smile, “They insisted I needed a little time off, but you know I couldn’t stay away from you.” She playfully glanced up at him. 

He grinned wide showing his endless rows of horrifying dagger like teeth. 

“That’s right baby.” He pulled her over to his VIP booth and sat her down on his lap with is leather glove covered hands. 

“You’ll always come back to me.” 

He grabbed her chin and took a large hit of some type of cigar and pulled her in close to his face. He pressed her cheeks together making her mouth open and blew a huge puff of smoke in her face.  

“Perfect timing, you showing up.” He laughed as she coughed, “My crew just pulled up to the docks this afternoon looking for some fun tonight.” He gripped her tightly from behind. 

“You can handle a little partying with us like old times right?” He growled in her ear, “That little incident got fixed up by the agency …right?” He curiously pried as his yellow/green reptile eyes locked in her gaze. 

“Yeah…. Completely resolved.” Astrid laughed. “Got reprogrammed with new codes and triggers.” 

“Oh really?” He hissed having a hint of suspicion in his voice, “Well that’s too bad… it was kind of fun hearing you had gone completely ape shit just because of a little office scientist.” he breathed heavily in her ear. 

“Got me all excited seeing what I could have done with all that power if I had gotten the chance.” He chuckled as the velvet curtains around the booth moved to reveal his crew entering.  

As the group of fellow shady looking aliens came in, his attention was completely taken by them as he slid Astrid off his lap to get up to say hello. Astrid knew it was going to be a long night so she took out a small bottle from her bag and chugged some more of the mystery liquor she had thrown in for this exact moment. The rest of the night was a blur again. Partying with hardened criminals, keeping up appearances and numbing the horrible discomfort she felt deep inside. But money was money. The agency only funded things that helped keep her cover. Like her apartment, food, car and gas on Earth. This made it so that she was limited in what she could do besides having a little bit of money being a teacher’s assistant. 

She’d fetch drinks for the group and put up with them toying with her for entertainment. She didn’t dance that night but clearly they got plenty of entertainment by messing with her all night as they’d throw her tips and random jewelry they had definitely stolen on “jobs” they had gone on. After having too much of quite a few different substances, she quickly slipped away from the group. Stumbling through the club’s crowd and down a darkly lit hallway to the bathroom to hide. Being that heavily intoxicated normally meant some of them would end up getting belligerent and try making real passes at her. So she tried attempting another portal back to Earth. However sometimes her “magic” abilities (outside of shape shifting and the agency’s specific training) could get a little unpredictable. Especially when she was fucked up. 

She started getting paranoid about being at the club again. The “incident” that got her in this “vacation” mess was actually partly because of an ex co worker from Cognito Inc. She started to panic and sob in the bathroom. And quickly threw up. As she muttered incoherently some spell like combination, a hole cracked open with bolts of electricity flying in and around the small bathroom. Clearly it was unstable. She continued to persist. Promising out loud to no one in particular that she’d sober up and do better next time. That she just needed a break. Just this once. 

“Please. please. please work.” She breathlessly muttered as she started to slump against the bathroom wall. 

“I know they are waiting out there for me like sharks.” She moaned looking in the direction of the locked door almost falling unconscious trying to grip onto the edges of the portal. 

“Please just send me somewhere safe on Earth.” She said loudly trying to keep herself awake. 

She just had to focus on a location… her mind wandered back to the nights she’d pass the Smith’s house on the way home from the bar. She thought about when Rick had grabbed her arm and shoved her through his portal. 

“What a dick” she thought as she slipped out of consciousness and her body fell sideways through the quickly closing portal.

 She shot through the Earth’s atmosphere like a comet. Little bits of electricity and burns appearing by her sides while slamming into someone’s front yard. She had been lucky it was in the dead of night when no one was around…. Well almost no one. Rick had been up late tinkering in the garage when he turned in the direction of a distant crash outside the house. He went to the dining room and looked out the large window to investigate. He spotted something crumpled up inside a crater that had now formed on the front lawn of the neighbor’s from across the street. He pulled his welding mask off and squinted to see in the dark. But no such luck, so he moved toward the front door wanting to find out what the mystery thing was. But as soon as he opened the front door and peered out, it was gone. He sighed and went back inside. He thought about how he could have sworn he saw something familiar..

 Astrid had momentarily gained consciousness after being awoken by the impact. The first thing she saw in the dark was the faint glow from the Smith house and Rick’s silhouette in the dining room. Her mind instantly raced to not wanting Rick to get the upper hand. She refused to be perceived as weak. With the last of her strength she forced herself up on her feet. Stumbled a bit and attempted to run but instead hobbled over to a nearby fence. Lunging up over it and collapsed on the other side of the wood boards. After she heard the front door of the Smith house open, then close again, she disappeared into the neighborhood limping it off and huffing the cold night air. Astrid wasn’t going to let Rick Sanchez have the satisfaction of finding her a mess in his neighbor’s yard. 

—- PART TWO COMPLETED —- 

—- SHUTTING DOWN —-

—- GOODBYE —- 

#rick and morty #rick and morty fandom #rick and morty oc #rick sanchez fanfic #rick sanchez x reader #crossover #inside job fanfic #inside job fandom #inside job

[breathenbounce]

It's Just a Game

I grew up in a household that loved to watch sports. I was always against the grain when it comes to sports because in the past, I was a very antagonistic sports fan. My family tried to raise me on two premises. There are two baseball teams in Chicago, and you should always root for the team from where you were born. I disagreed with that as I was a White Sox fan through and through and despised the Cubs. I wasn't down with the 1985 Bears, but the 85 Dolphins since they beat them. I also loved the Blackhawks, and eventually found a way to root for the Miami Heat (because I was a very antagonistic sports fan.) However my feelings about sports have been starting to change over the years.

At the end of the day, sports is a game. It's where people compete, but unfortunately it has become much more than that over the years. What started as friendly competition between different humans has now become a pissing contest and a money heist.

First let me talk about the sports industry itself. There are billions of dollars at play here. Billions. Sports is a very marketable commodity and the athletes who participate are paid very large sums of money. I understand that this is what it is and it isn't' anyone's fault. As with most things, human begins find a way to take something beautiful and make it crazy. However, the way some of these athletes present themselves is not cool at all. They are role models to very impressionable young men and women who look up to them. Some of these athletes really do their best to maintain a positive image. People speak of hard work and getting your craft right, which i don't have a problem with. However, the drama show sports has become sucks. We should care more about what goes on in the field, than the locker rooms. The NFL has made itself a year round spectacle with the draft, the combine, and ofcourse we have salary caps and things like that which create much debate between fans.

Fueling the fans anger and "passion" about sports is the talking heads of ESPN and FS1. Listening to the ugliness that comes out of the mouths of people like Colin Cowherd, Skip Bayless just to name a few in insane. These people never have played sports, but they talk like they have so much knowledge about the game. They are very dismissive of people and their opinions. They add fuel to the hate machine that sportsmedia has become.

And the fans are taking things way too far. I have seen so many videos of fans fighting each other over silly stuff. I have seen fans dump popcorn on players heads. Anyone remember the malice at the palace? that was a result of a fan throwing a drink on a player.

As I said earlier, I like the Miami Dolphins. Their quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is one of the nicest, humblest, players i have ever seen, and he had led Miami to a couple of winning seasons, something us Finfans haven't seen since the days of Marino (the guy who made ma fan.) Yet all the complaining and personal attacks on Tua are crazy.

My bottom line is I believe the sports world should be looking at ways where they put kindness and sportsmanship first. I respect peoples opinions but some of the sports talkers out there need to go. Sports has become a world of toxicity and I never really became a huge sports fan until I reached my late 20s and early 30s because I felt I couldn't identify with anything. As I have taken a deep dive into my life, I find myself caring less and less about sports, with the exception of football. Sports is quite the commitment. As I said the NFL runs a year long business. But its only 17 weeks and if you are lucky your team plays a few games in the playoffs where they win and go home. Its not the 162 game marathon baseball is or the 88 game season in basketabll and hockey. It goes by fast, easy to keep up with. However, something needs to be said about the sports culture. The innocence of sports is gone.

People need to remember at the end, its only a game. The players don't care whether or not you have negative feelings towards them. The media only wants you to buy the stuff they advertise in between innings, downs, time outs, whatever. People need to stop taking it so seriously. Start looking at why you take it so seriously. What are you missing? What will help you feel happier? What will make you feel joy? It may be the thrill of victory, but that's not guaranteed. What is guaranteed is the impression you leave on the people around you, and I would strongly caution many sports fans to take that in stride. When you make hurtful remarks, they cannot be taken back. When you go after players, you forget they are human too because of the pedestals they have been placed on. Many sports fans will say they're just spitting facts. Facts don't care about feelings, people do. So maybe less facts, and more empathy is what is needed in the athletic world. These athletes leave the game not the same, and they are lucky to make the money they have, but they bleed red like all of us.

I asked for kindness on a Dolphins fan page on Facebook one day, and people told me to shut up. That this is a sports page and this is how people talk. Change is the most beautiful thing in the world. It has to start somewhere. I hope there are others who feel like I do and want to see less anger and sarcasm. I was there. i was the worst, Looking back I am ashamed how I behaved during my Sox vs Cubs days. I have been trying to grow and at the end of the day, I can only do what I can do. I can decide what I allow in my environment and maybe if this continues, I may have to reconsider my fondness for football and choose kindness and grace instead.

Sorry I rambled alot this week, but it just was on my mind so I spoke on it. How do you feel?

M

#breathenbounce #mindfullness #sportsarentforeveryone #nfl #miamidolphins #chicagowhitesox #love #kindness #compassion #athletesarepeopletoo

[efingart]

Just What I Needed - Chapter 17

tumblr One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight | Nine | Ten | Eleven | Twelve | Thirteen | Fourteen | Fifteen | Sixteen

ao3 link

It was nearly night when they reached the town. 

Chornobyl-2. Once a secret town for Russian military service members and their families. Now? Who knows what condition they would find it in?

Or who might be waiting for them?

He trudged through the forest. The singular narrow road leading into the town made it difficult to approach by car. So on foot, it was. 

He was used to this. 

He, of course, had had worse.

Just ahead, tucked into the trees, he sighted a small guard shack on stilts. The air carried the soft sound of talk radio from the shed to his ears. The shack was dark but definitely occupied.  

Creeping, he slipped just behind the ladder leading up to the entrance and waited. 

As soon as he was in position, he could hear the creaking of the boards above as a person shifted their weight to stand. Dust and other unidentifiable fragments dislodged from the shifting of the floorboards floated softly to the ground.  And the heavy clomping sound of boots heading towards the exit followed. The door opened with a whine, and he caught the scent of a lit match in the air. The wooden ladder rungs groaned under the weight of the guard as he climbed down.

He held his breath and drew his knife, waiting. The guard’s boots hit the ground, and through the ladder rungs, they made eye contact. But it was too late. In a flash, the guard fell—knife in his throat. 

He dragged the body off a distance, plucked the keys from the guard’s belt, and continued forward. He met no further resistance when he entered the town. 

The town looked empty and left to rot. Windows boarded up, doors hanging askew, trash and debris littering the ground. 

A ghost town? Or staged to look like one?

However, the minimal information they could obtain suggested there was still activity here. Perseus may have cleared out, but that didn’t mean the array and the town would be completely abandoned. And posted guards meant they might come out of this with something. The Russians were always good about keeping their secrets.

From little recon they had, they had been assured the families were gone.

That was something, at least. 

The radar array loomed just ahead- an imposing structure. Even from here, he could hear the creak of steel. 

Bell had called it Duga. NATO knew it as Steel Yard. There had been many rumors about what purpose it served: long-range brainwashing, weather control, and some ridiculous theories about extraterrestrial communication. 

He thought they were all bullshit. Stories made up by bored civilians. 

If only they knew how mundane it all really was. 

They liked to craft these insane theories when in reality, it was one guy fighting another guy for power. Simple as that. 

Down the road, he saw two figures passing through the shadows. 

Woods’ voice buzzed in his ear, “Adler, we’re in.”

He was glad to hear it.  Radio interference was expected, but so far, they had been lucky. He looked up at the array.  

He did not like not being able to communicate with his team. 

They couldn’t afford any fuckups. 

Adler scanned the windows of the building to his right for the telltale flash of a patrolling guard’s light, but they all were dark.

He radioed to tell Mason and Woods he was heading in. 

Adler didn’t like the idea of being sent on a mission by one of Perseus’ own. Someone who had good reason to have a vendetta against him. 

Or at least she thought she had good reason.

But he had given her what she could never have had on her own. 

Redemption.

And here she was reaping those unearned rewards while everyone else looked at him like he was the monster. He was doing what was right- stopping a nuclear holocaust. 

Stopping World War III.

Isn’t that one of those things you stop by any means necessary?

He had only been using the tools at his disposal. Bell fell into their laps like a gift from the gods, and what was he supposed to do? Not use her?

But no, it was the terrorist who deserved pity.

At least she seemed to have the good sense to behave as if she didn’t deserve it. 

He could see how she had Mason fooled. But Woods was a surprise. 

Though, Adler felt that Woods wasn’t entirely comfortable with it. 

He pushed against the door, and the wood groaned in protest. Leaning his body weight against the door, it eventually relented to him. He stepped inside. 

Glass crunched under his boot. 

Looking down, he saw that the floor was covered in bits of broken glass and scattered papers. Squatting, he shuffled through the papers, finally picking one up with a gloved hand and shaking off the glass. 

Nothing significant. 

He let the paper fall back into place. 

Of course, Perseus wouldn’t leave vital intel scattered around the floor like this, but it never hurt just to look. 

As he stepped over scattered papers and passed boxes and furniture coated in a thin layer of dust, any doubts he may have had faded. This would be one hell of an elaborate ruse.

Bell had expressed reservations about this mission. She was worried it might be a trap, that soldiers would be lying in wait for someone to show up. 

He thought that she was attempting to throw them off, make them trust her. 

As if he would ever trust her. 

Even if it was a trap, it was their responsibility to investigate every lead they had. 

They could leave no stone unturned when it came to Perseus. He wasn’t just going to back down because he lost one battle. 

Or things were not what they seemed at all. 

He listened, but only his footsteps echoed in the hallways of the building. 

As he made his way through the offices, he saw that most everything had been cleared out. Anything left seemed to be of no use.

Adler reached the top floor of the building. A row of filing cabinets awaited him. He exhaustively checked for any sort of explosive device. Frustrated at coming up empty-handed, he kicked a large dent in one of them. 

Exiting the building, he radioed Woods and Mason to tell them he was moving on to the workshop. This was where the control room for the array was reported to be. 

Their search had also been fruitless, and they would be joining him there shortly.

______________________________________________________________

They had to move quickly. The blaze from the burning plane would not go unnoticed for long. 

Adler had a thought; if Arash had the people traveling with him in the truck dead enough to kill them, they might have something valuable on them. 

He carefully approached the truck as Mason and Woods swept the airstrip.

The body of the driver was leaning against the door. Blood and brain matter splattered across the window just behind his head. No warm breath fogged up the window. 

It had been quick. He decided not to open the door. If he opened the door and the body spilled out, things might get messy. Better to search from the other side.

He moved to the back passenger’s side and looked through the window. 

The second body. This one must have taken longer to die. They had had taken the time to lay across the seats. Maybe they had heard the firefight and attempted to stay down to prolong their miserable life. He put his hand on the handle, but then the body shifted. He watched as they yanked off a glove and touched a hand to their chest. It came away red with blood. 

Fuck they were alive.

Adler opened the door. The person looked up at him, eyes trying to focus. A green balaklava covered their face. Their breathing was laborious. 

They didn’t have much time.

Shit. 

“Over here-” He shouted as he opened the door to the truck, “We have a live one.”

They needed to move now. 

He grabbed their ankles. Woods drove up in a truck he must have found on the airstrip. Mason hopped out of the passenger side and helped Adler lift the person and place them onto the truck bed. 

“Get in front with Woods,” Adler said to Mason.

Mason hesitated for a moment.

“You sure that’s safe?”

“I got this,” Adler said firmly.  He might have only seconds with this person, and he wanted to use all of them if he could.  This was his first tangible link to Perseus in decades.  He pulled the balaclava up over their nose so they could breathe better. Their breath came out in short, pained gasps. 

That’s when he realized they were actually a she.

Interesting. 

She clutched a blue folder, and despite their injuries, Adler still had to wrestle it from her grasp. 

He tucked it into his jacket. 

He grabbed a cloth and moved to hold it to her chest wound. Her ungloved hand shot out, grabbing his wrist and leaving a smear of blood on his skin.

“I’m here to help you,” He said as he twisted his wrist out of her grasp.

“No,” She breathed. 

He pressed the cloth to the wound on her chest, and she whimpered through gritted teeth.

“Not your first rodeo then, huh, kid?”

“Rodeo…” She repeated unfamiliar with the word.

“So, what were you doing on this airstrip? And why did Arash want you dead?”

She glared at him through the eye holes of her mask, her mouth a line, as she breathed heavily through her nose. 

He pressed down harder on her injury. She took a sharp breath, tears forming in her eyes. They rolled down her face settling into the wool of the mask, but she said nothing.

“Think you’re tough, huh?”

“Fuck… you,” She said with labored breath. Then her eyes closed, and her head lolled to the side. Adler checked her pulse. To his relief, she was still alive. He’d make sure she made it to the hospital.  And from there, well, he’d get the answers to his questions. 

“I’m going to need you to stick around, kid.”

______________________________________________________________

He entered the control room. Something was unsettling about it, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

The room itself was a complete disaster.

It looked like it was decaying faster than anything else in the town. The linoleum tile floors were warped, the wood below beginning to rot as water seeped in from a hole in the ceiling. Paint peeling off the wall. Fluorescent lights- the ones that weren’t shattered across the floor, dangled from wires that were barely attached to the ceiling. 

“This is weird.”

He turned to see Woods and Mason just standing in the doorway. 

“Looks like a-” Woods paused as he examined a torn-up map on the wall, “-a movie set or something.”

The plywood on one of the control panels was warped from water damage. Adler placed a finger between it and the wooden frame peeling it back. 

“It doesn’t look like they’ve used this place in years,” Woods said, moving away from the wall and crouching down to examine one of the control panels. 

“What?” 

“Find something?”

From the other side of the panel, Woods grunted. The wooden structure lurched and screeched in protest, but to Adler’s surprise, it began to move. 

“It’s not bolted to the ground?” Mason asked as he stepped around the panel. It sounded as if he was just as surprised as Adler had been.

“Find anything?” 

“Nothing,” Woods said, standing up and dusting off his pants, “Just more tile. It’s not connected to anything.”

Adler pushed a nearby control panel to test it himself. There was only linoleum underneath. No electrical outlet, no wires, nothing. No sign that anything was ever there, to begin with.

“You may have been right about this feeling like a movie set.”

“What the hell?”

“That’s what was weird about this place,” Mason noted, looking around the room, “No electricity. This room should be humming. But nothing. And the array is still functioning.”

Adler switched on his radio to test. The characteristic knocking sound came through loud and clear. 

“So this is some kind of dummy control room.”

“But why?”

“And where is the real one?”

______________________________________________________________

They combed the town for any sign of the control room. Adler was on the ground while Woods and Mason scoured the buildings from top to bottom.

“There’s nothing here,” Mason’s voice buzzed in his ear.

“There’s gotta be something,” Woods responded.

Adler made his way through the wide streets of the town. He hugged the buildings, expecting a guard or two to appear at any moment. But there was nothing- if a tumbleweed rolled by, he wouldn’t be surprised. 

This place really is dead.  

He was about to call it when Woods’ voice crackled over the radio.

“Adler, I see a light, it’s faint, but it’s on the ground. Worth checking out.” 

Woods told him where to go, and Adler headed there. 

It looked like it once was a small park. A crumbling statue, a bench, and a pile of dirt that grass at some point may have grown on, but the evidence of that was long gone.

“I don’t see anything,” He radioed. No response.

Woods stepped out of a building and jogged over to him.

“It’s in the ground,” He said. He radioed Mason. 

“I just realized,” He kicked the ground as he spoke, “It’s not a light. It was a reflection. It’s a hatch- or something.”

He kicked the dirt with the toe of his boot several times, moving as he did so. 

“There, that’s not dirt,” Woods pointed to a spot on the ground and bent down to clear away the dirt. Soon the shine of metal appeared. And in no time, Woods had the hatch completely uncovered.

By then, Mason had made his way over to them.

“Help me with this,” Woods directed Mason. Together they opened the hatch.

The three men looked into a long dark hole. There was a ladder embedded in the concrete that disappeared into the darkness. 

“Well shit, the Reds sure are good at keeping secrets,” Woods said as he dropped a glow stick down into the hatch. They watched as it hit the ground. 

There was that uneasy feeling again. Woods began to climb down first. Mason followed. He watched as the darkness swallowed the two men. 

Adler was last to descend. As he was about to pull the cover back over, the array made an eerie lurching sound.

Then he pulled the hatch closed, which instantly blocked out all outside sounds.

Just below him, he could hear Woods whispering something to Mason. 

The sound of boots clicking as they hit the metal rungs on the ladder echoed in the tunnel. Then they stopped and were followed by a grunt as Mason jumped the last few feet to the ground. 

After a few moments, Adler did the same. Mason and Woods were standing at the mouth of another tunnel, at the end of which was a room emitting a faint orange glow. 

They made their way towards it as quietly as possible. 

They reached the room. It looked like an office. There was a desk in the middle of the room and a still-wet water ring stained the blotting mat. 

The hum of a computer greeted them. 

Mason hung out by the entrance, keeping watch. 

Woods checked out a few of the cabinets.

“Careful, Woods,” Adler warned, “We don’t want to set anything off under here.”

Woods grunted, not hiding his annoyance.

“These don’t look rigged, but this seems like the place.”

“So what? Bell was wrong?” Mason asked, “Or being overly cautious?”

Adler had his own ideas about what Bell was up to. He moved to the computer as Mason and Woods continued their conversation, speculating on her. They didn���t have targets on their backs. 

Bell was smart. And he was supposed to believe she just so conveniently remembered something that might help them here? 

Bullshit.

As she had said, the KGB used Molinya. As if they would only use thermite-rigged traps for documents. That shit could be anywhere.  Protecting supply drops, arms caches- any number of sinister uses. 

Bell was hiding something, he was sure. 

Though he couldn’t be one hundred percent certain she was conscious of it. And that had him more concerned than anything. If he were to believe that her intentions were good and altruistic, there could still be something underlying in her subconscious undermining everything.  

Adler powered the computer on, and it whirred to life, casting a faint orange glow over his skin. 

“I got it here. You go ahead,” Adler said without looking up from the computer.

Both Woods and Mason regarded him impassively but complied. He knew they would never be unprofessional while on a mission.

Those two didn’t build their reputation by fucking around. 

But things were tense. Things had been tense since they left the Safehouse. 

It was fine by him as long as they did their jobs.

He knew the risks, even back then, of having them on his team, but he picked them because they were the best. Finding out about Bell was almost inevitable as long as she remained alive. 

He knew he’d have to deal with it someday. 

He typed in one of the selections from the menu and reviewed the data.

Transmissions. Received and Sent. 

The array, Duga-2, had received a handful of signals. Tests mostly. They would have to cross-reference the dates with anything suspicious the CIA hadn’t yet cracked. 

But in the sent database, there were even fewer entries. He hadn’t been expecting much especially since they had managed to stop Aldrich and pacify the sleeper agents. But it was still surprising. 

One date on the short list stood out to him. 

13/01/1981

A transmission was sent out in the evening.  

Not from the array but another site just across the river. 

So Duga was only a receiver. There was also a transmitter. 

Slipping a hand into his inside jacket pocket, he retrieved a disk and popped it into the computer. He entered the command to copy the data to the disk and waited.

Copy completed; Adler pushed away from the desk and turned off the computer. He left the room, following the tunnel in the direction he saw the others go. 

The first doorway he came to was locked. Keycard access only. Frowning, he continued onward. There was a large window looking out into the hallway from the office. Shades were drawn across it. Maybe he could find some other way to get in. Or if this place truly was abandoned, a good old B&E would do the trick. 

As he walked, he noted that the floor was sloping downward, and it was getting cooler and darker in the hallway.

He stopped to listen for any noise and, hearing nothing, chanced to turn on his flashlight. Keeping his beam on the floor in front of him, he followed the path down and, after some time, found himself in a large room. He clicked off his flashlight. 

At the front of the room he could make out  a large screen. It was on standby, but backlit, casting a subtle glow on the room, but hardly enough to see by. The soft sound of computer disk drives whirring and clicking just below the screen drew his attention. He could barely make out rows of computer consoles lined up in front of the screen.

As his eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, he realized he was in a control room. A real one this time. Adler reached for the switch on his radio to alert Mason and Woods, but he stopped when, just above him, he heard the creak of metal. 

He looked up and peered into the darkness. There was some sort of structure hanging from the ceiling. Maybe a catwalk.

“Adler,” Mason’s voice hissed over the radio. The interference was stronger here. 

“Looks like we found the control room.” 

“See anyone?”

“No, you?” 

“No, but check out the hallway just on the other side. I’d like to get some light in here if we can.”

He heard soft footsteps on metal. The catwalk creaked under Mason’s weight. 

After a few minutes, Mason’s voice came over the radio, “Hallway’s clear.”

Adler turned on his flashlight and beamed it across the room. The light reflected against a glass partition wall. An office. He stepped into it. 

Mason appeared behind him and began taking photos of the graphs and charts along the walls.

“Any ideas what these are?”

Adler glanced at them briefly but shook his head. 

“We’ll have to let Langley figure that one out.”

“Or Bell.”

Adler had reservations about giving Bell more intel on Perseus, but Mason was right. She had done more in less time with intel than anyone in the CIA or MI-6 had managed. She was a frustratingly brilliant analyst and extremely reliable in the field. 

Ask Woods or Mason, and she was just born on the wrong side of things. 

Adler, on the other hand, wasn’t buying her sob stories. He was the only one who had seen who she really was. Before.

“There’s a safe here,” Adler shined his flashlight on a gray metal combination lock safe, “Woods do the honors?”

Woods stepped up and cracked his knuckles checking around the safe.

“Well, would you look at that?”

“Find something?”

“Yeah, it’s rigged like the Fourth of July,” He shone his flashlight down the back of the safe.

“Looks a lot like how she said it would be,” Woods looked pointedly at Adler, then turned to Mason, “Give me some light, will you?”

As Mason and Woods worked, Adler walked back into the main room. He powered on the large screen, and a map appeared. It looked like it covered the surrounding area. The array was marked, as well as the town and the nearby city of Pripyat. And just across the Pripyat river, there was another marked structure. That might be the transmitter. He took a photo of the screen and a few of the surrounding room. 

Adler sat down at one of the consoles. Password protected.

Damn.

“Ha!” 

Woods and Mason must have safely diffused the explosive. 

He walked back to the office. 

“Yeah, don’t get too excited,” Woods chuckled, “You hone those safecracking skills?”

“Yeah, I’m a regular cat burglar,” Mason joked as he bent down to unlock the safe. After a few minutes of careful work, he got it open. 

Inside was a keycard, which Woods flipped over, then handed to Adler. 

“Anything else?”

“Gun, cash,” Mason paused as he pulled out a tiny notebook and flipped through it, “Can you read this?”

Woods took the notebook from him, “Nah. Gibberish. Maybe coded.”

Mason shook his head. “Rigged safe- must be,” He concluded, “Maybe Bell can make heads or tails of it.”

Adler took the notebook from Woods, tucking it away next to the disk. He’d decide what Bell would get her hands on. 

It could be a password, but it wasn’t written like one. 

The keycard was promising. 

“Mason, do you have your blacklight?” 

Mason nodded and tossed the small light to Adler. 

He headed down the dark hallway and found his way back to the room with the locked door. Slipping the keycard in the slot, he ws prompted for a pin. He shined the blacklight over the number pad it seemed to be a four-digit code- as long as none of the digits repeated.

Somewhere in the back of his mind he recalled being told there were thousands of combinations of four numbers. It may have even been Bell who said it. 

Damn.

Fuck it.

Adler used the butt of his knife to break the small window in the door. He reached through the opening and turned the knob opening the door. 

A motion-detecting fluorescent light buzzed on as he moved into the room. 

His first impression was that it was another office. But as he scanned the room, he realized there was a giant window on the opposite wall as well. 

It looked like a broadcasting studio. 

That would only make sense, wouldn’t it?

There could be some recordings here, they would likely be older communications, but they still might be useful. 

He sat down on the chair and bent over to examine the desk for any traps. Finding none, he began to search through the drawers. 

Old cassette tapes filled one drawer. They were labeled, but seemed to all be of speeches, free to check out at any library. Not what he was looking for. 

He chuckled at one labeled Государственный гимн СССР

Naturally. They probably fell asleep to it each night and awoke to it each morning. 

“What is this?” 

Mason was at the door.

Adler looked up from his search. 

“Looks like a recording room. Or broadcasting studio.”

Mason surveyed the room. Then he peered through the glass at the studio. 

“Might be something in there.” 

He opened the door and went inside.

Adler sighed as he finished searching the desk. Nothing of value as far as he could tell. That’s when Mason poked his head through the door; headphones draped around his neck.

“I think I have something. Listen to this.”

Adler walked over and grabbed the headphones. A small chime rang in his ears, then silence, then a woman’s voice read the time and finally followed with a string of numbers. Adler moved one speaker away from his ear. 

“A numbers station.”

Mason nodded. 

He popped the headphones on again—something about that voice.

“That voice sound familiar to you?” Adler asked.

Mason shook his head. 

It was deeper, but-

“There’s something else,” Mason said, reaching for the case. 

Драгович was the first word he caught. 

“Is this-”

“No, it’s something else,” Mason said, shaking his head. He pointed to the date on the case—01/81 written in grease pencil. According to the information they grabbed from the KGB computers, Perseus had requested access to Dragovich’s work, but the brass at the KGB had denied it.

He placed the speaker over his ear one more time. 

That voice did sound-

“Adler, Mason….” Woods’ voice crackled over the radio. The knocking interference had gotten worse.

Mason attempted to radio back, but the array interference overpowered his transmission.

“Grab that,” Adler instructed. And Mason began packing up the tape. When he finished, he tucked the case into his vest. They had just moved towards the door when an alarm blared through the complex. A flashing red light lit the previously dark hallway. Someone fired on them, shattering the glass of the window. They ducked behind the desk and waited. A pair of boots clomped towards them, muffled by the office's carpeted floor. Glass crunched under them. 

Adler pulled out his pistol and looked just around the desk. In one swift movement, he aimed and fired, hitting the guard between the eyes.

They confirmed that no one else had been with him before breaking cover.

“Damn, hell of a shot,” Mason said as he looked over the dead guard. 

Adler just nodded. 

Mason had a puzzled expression on his face. He looked like he was about to say something but didn’t.

“Let’s move,” Adler said, finally. 

They exited into the hallway.

In front of them, they could hear the distant sound of a firefight. 

“Sounds like the party’s already started!”

As they approached the opening to the control room, a spray of gunfire from behind just missed them. Mason crouched and returned fire.

Adler pulled down a large wooden cabinet and let it fall to the floor to use for cover. Staying low he peered through the door. The guards in the control room seemed busy with Woods in the office. 

“Going in,” He said to Mason as he moved through the door.

As he had suspected, Woods was keeping the guards preoccupied.

Adler quickly and easily dispatched two of them. One turned and managed to fire a few rounds, sending Adler under cover behind a computer console. Not the best place to be if he shot the computer. 

The guard followed him and found him crouched there. He aimed, and as he was about to fire when he froze. It was as if his body had been lifted an inch in the air. He seemed to hang there, for a split second, as his eyes rolled back, then he crumpled to the ground. In the red light, Adler could see blood oozing from what must have been the exit wound in his head.

Adler turned, he briefly caught sight of Mason at the door. Then as if they were moving in sync, both men turned and aimed at the remaining guards still focused on Woods. Adler could see through the glass that Woods had also broken his cover.

Three guards, three of them. 

Shots rang out.

The next second? 

Zero guards, three of them.

“Bout time you got here,” Woods chuckled as he walked out of the office. He kicked the leg of one of the guards. 

“Well, he’s not going anywhere.” 

“We knew you could handle it,” Mason joked. He smacked Woods’ chest with the back of his hand. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Woods said with a smirk, “You find anything?”

“A tape of a broadcast. Sounds like a numbers station.”

Woods looked to Mason, “You think-?”

Mason shook his head. 

“I don’t know yet. There’s lots of those out there.”

“So which way, now?” Woods asked.

______________________________________________________________

They blocked the door to the control room as well as the catwalk door and continued forward. 

As they moved, they found empty barracks and a mess hall that looked like it had been abandoned mid-dinner. Possibly where the guards had come from. 

Based on the amount of food and serving wear, not many people were manning the site. But the barracks they surveyed seemed able to accommodate more. 

At some point, the facility may have housed more people before Persues had felt the need to abandon it. 

One hallway branched off into various private rooms. The wall outside of one of these was stained with soot as if there had been a fire. At some point, the door had been removed, and Woods entered cautiously. 

“Someone fall asleep with a cigarette?” Mason offered. 

“Maybe,” Woods poked around the bed, where the burned remains of a mattress still sat. It didn’t seem like there was much anything of value in the room. Adler and Mason continued their search. 

Woods emerged from the room. 

“Looked intentional,” He concluded, “Must have pissed someone off.” 

“Doesn’t seem like the kind of place where you make many friends,” Mason said.

“Come on, we need to keep moving, “Adler urged. He was certain reinforcements would be on the way, though likely delayed by the forest and the narrow road.

At least he hoped. That would mean more time. 

He wasn’t satisfied with what they had found so far, they needed to keep looking. 

They needed something. 

It had been too long. 

How much longer was he expected to wait?

He was so close he could feel it.

They passed a supply room that was mostly empty save for a few blue barrels. Their contents long gone. There wasn’t even a lingering scent to them.

Adler could feel his frustration increase. 

Did Bell send them on a fucking wild goose chase? 

Did she think it would be funny to waste his time?

And maybe she’d even get him killed in the process? A bonus for her. 

Were Woods and Mason a necessary sacrifice to that end?

He came upon a small teller window in the wall and, next to that, a door. Through the glass, he could see racks full of books and folders. And filing cabinets lined the walls.

Maybe a records office. 

He tried the handle.

Locked. 

Adler reached under the teller window and felt the counter's edge for some sort of button or switch to open the door. Nothing. It may have been just out of reach. He stood in front of the door and, raising his foot, aimed his boot directly at the lock. With two swift kicks, the door gave and swung open. 

“Records room,” Adler said, waving Woods and Mason inside. He stood at the door, acting as a lookout as Woods and Mason searched the room.

“Got one,” Woods said in a hushed voice, “Mason-”

Adler turned to look as they examined the filing cabinet. It looked just like all the others. If they hadn’t known to look for the thermite, this mission would have gone south real quick. That didn’t absolve Bell, but it was something to consider.

“Do you think we can move the others without triggering the thermite?”

“Probably best to just disarm it the way she showed us.”

“That’s going to be tricky.” 

A shadow moved across the wall in the hallway.

“We have company,” Adler hissed. He ducked behind the teller window and watched. The shadow stopped moving. 

Had he been spotted?

The teller window shattered. Adler hit the ground. His ears were ringing. 

“Fuck!” Someone exclaimed.

More gunfire.

“Woods!” Mason shouted.

That’s when Adler heard the explosion.

______________________________________________________________

“It’s me,” Bell said in surprise.

Adler was so disgusted he could have slapped her.

That innocent look. The fucking nerve of her.

He wondered if Park and Hudson were buying it. He had been glad to see how they had stepped back from her when they recognized her voice. 

“I’ve had enough of this bullshit.”

Adler grabbed her wrist and pulled her to her feet. 

Bell attempted to twist out of his grip to no avail. 

“Where are they, Adler?!” She asked again.

He ignored her. Hudson stepped between them and grabbed Adler’s arm.

“Adler, what the fuck are you doing?”

“She’s dangerous. You’ve got her set up in a cozy little apartment when she should be in a cell,” Adler scoffed and pulled away from Hudson, “I’ve had enough playing around. She’s a terrorist. Doesn’t anyone else remember that?”

He looked between Park and Hudson. Park didn’t voice disagreement. She remembered. She was the only other person on the team who had seen Bell before. Knew what she was really like. 

The things she had done. 

What she had said when they began to open her mind. 

“Need I remind you that this is a can of worms you opened.”

“And now I’m fucking closing it.”

Adler pulled Bell into one of the small rooms where a cot was set up. 

“Get inside.”

“Are they at least alive?” Bell demanded again, “I don’t care what you do to me-”

She was insistent on keeping up appearances, wasn’t she? 

He studied her pleading face impassively. Then he slammed the door shut and locked it.

“Adler!” Bell wailed, slamming her fists on the metal door. She stopped and sobbed out a whisper, “I just need to know….”

But he turned and walked away. 

 ______________________________________________________________

The guard buzzed him in. 

In the center of the room, under a spotlight, sat the women. Her head bowed, long hair curtaining her face, brushing the tops of her thighs.

At first, it seemed as if she was asleep, but he noted the slight flex of her arms against her restraints as he approached. 

She had already attempted escape once, leaving one guard dead and the other well- he would be working desk duty until the end of his career.  

They had underestimated her. She was more resourceful than they had realized. 

Lazily she lifted her head to look at him through her hair. He noted that she was pressing her legs together to keep her body compact and stay warm. 

Leaning against the wall, he lit a cigarette and watched her. 

“You’re quite the escape artist,” He said with amusement in his voice. 

She sat back and tossed her head so her hair fell behind her.  Dark circles under her eyes, or was one of those a bruise? He couldn’t tell in this light. 

Her lower lip was swollen. A trail of dried blood stained her chin. 

She observed him casually, a bored expression on her face. 

He popped the cigarette back between his lips and moved around her chair. His fingers combed through her hair, pushing the errant strands out of her face. Gently he tied her hair back. 

Then he cut through her restraints, noting the redness around her wrists. She sighed with relief and carefully, slowly, stretched her arms. They must have been aching. Removing his jacket, he tossed it over her shoulders. 

She wrinkled her nose in disgust but pulled the jacket closed with one hand all the same. He understood. Warmth was warmth. 

He handed her his cigarette, which she took with some effort, and he lit a new one for himself. 

She crossed her legs and smoked, looking at him expectantly.

“Why won’t you work with me?” He asked, keeping his voice even, “You can end all this right now. Give me the information I need. And I’ll see what I can do for you.”

She scoffed and shook her head. Her ponytail waved with the movement, hair catching the light. 

Taking a drag she finally responded, her voice a rasp, “I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.”

“Stop fucking around. I will help you.”

“You aren’t going to do shit for me. You want information. Information I don’t have.”

“That’s not true,” He urged her and stepped closer, “Give me what I need and I’ll make sure you’re taken care of.”

She laughed derisively.

“I’m sure you will.” 

She brought the cigarette to her lips and took another drag, inhaling and blowing the smoke slowly into his face. 

He grabbed her chin firmly in his hand, his face inches from hers. 

“Tell me what you know.”

Her eyes met his. 

“I know you,” She said. 

And she pressed the lit end of her cigarette into his chest, where it burned through his shirt and skin.

tagging: @scumbagg @shieldsbucky @sogdads @quizzyisdone @stupid-stinky

#call of duty #black ops cold war #russell adler #frank woods #alex mason #jason hudson #helen park #cod bell #lawrence sims #bocw #oh boy here comes the angst #how do you like that ending #bell gets her licks in #god grammarly was doing some weird shit #so hopefully it didn't mess anything up too much lol #efing fanfics #efingfanfics

[a-god-in-ruins-rises]

9, 16, 17, 18 24, 46 and 58.

9. Ukraine

i've been pretty neutral on the matter since the war, sympathizing with both sides of the conflict. however, lately my sympathy for ukraine has been rapidly drying up. i don't appreciate their sense of entitlement (or at least that of their government) and i don't appreciate how they don't seem to care about dragging america into a war where americans would surely die. i don't think a single american should have to die for ukraine. especially after today where they're calling for nato (america) to preemptively attack russia. fucking insanity.

but either way, i still maintain america should be neutral. i think we've gone above and beyond our obligation with regard to "security assurances" and we should leave them to their fate. i really don't care either way. they aren't our problem. america has no interests there. maybe if they beg us to annex them i will reconsider.

i believe in a more schmittian international order. with the world being divided into regional hegemonies. i think ukraine, being right on the border of russia, falls pretty square into russia's sphere of influence, not america's. i have more complicated thoughts on the matter but this is the gist of my feelings right now.

16. Joe Biden

i don't like him. i think he's a senile puppet. i think he's an embarrassment.

17. Non-fungible tokens

i'm not super educated on the subject but from what little i do know i think it could potentially have some interesting applications but, unfortunately, right now it mostly seems to be used for grifting.

18. Taiwan's status

i not only view them as independent but also believe they have the legitimate claim to rule the nation of china.

i do take issue with their drifting too far from their original ideals and i recognize the complexities of their own self-identity. i'm just saying. if they wanted to take over china i'd support it.

i'm only half-memeing. i really do believe that but i understand it's not realistic. so /realistically/ i just view taiwan as /de facto/ an independent country. i think right now the us has some legitimate interests here and so i would be more open to intervention in defense of taiwan vs ukraine, for example.

24. Space colonization

very big advocate for space colonization. i think it should be one of america's top priorities right now, and thankfully it seems to be climbing back up the list. seriously i'm /very/ pro-space colonization. i want to colonize the moon, mars, mine asteroids, build space elevators, etc. i want to do it all as soon as possible. i have talked about this elsewhere but not only do i think it has all kinds of tangible, pragmatic benefits (assuring post-scarcity) but i also view it as a sacred duty, for reasons i've elaborated upon elsewhere.

46. Transhumanism

i have mixed feelings about this. for me, it really depends on a lot of factors. i'm generally in favor of using technology to /improve/ the human condition /within reason/. i tend to oppose when it goes to far, especially when it starts reaching the point of altering the /nature/ of the human condition. as always, i believe any new technology should be handled wisely and with great caution.

so yeah. i'm ambivalent. pro and anti depending on the specific technology and its intended goal.

58. Universal healthcare

highly support it. i think this should be another priority for america. i'm a very proud american but i think america's lack of universal healthcare when so many other western countries have it is a mark of shame.

[smokeybrandreviews]

Honey Trap Huntress

Azur Lane has been pretty quiet as of late. Not many Reruns or new Events. I mean, there have been and I've cleaned up or whatever but, so far this year, sh*t has been kind of sparse. Compared to last year, it’s been absolutely anemic. Now, I'm not too mad about it. I’ve been steadily trucking along, working on building up my SN dock, the Seasonal Cruise has gone a long way to finishing that sh*t up, and have even been dabbling with the Itais a bit, just to shore up time, but I'd be lying if i said it’s been rough going. I appreciate the ample opportunity to kind of catch up but, like, what’s up with a Shimakaze or Kronshtadt Rerun? I figure while i wait for Manjuu and Yostar to put out something worth doing, I'd tumble back down that Gacha rabbit hole and see what else is out there. What i ended up landing on was Idle Huntress: Adventure.

Idle Huntress is an unapologetic Waifu Collector. Every costume is Live 2D, the reason i opted to give this thing a shot in the first place, and the overall art is pretty solid. It’s only been a round for a year so the player base isn’t the highest but, at the same time, that means when you start, you have a solid show a developing your Roster fairly quickly. Kind of. I’ll get to hat in a minute. Huntress is an Idle type Gacha which means you accumulate rewards passively. The higher your overall level, he more time you can spend just stacking chips. I’m at level five right now and the max time i have to accumulate Idle rewards is sixteen hours. I read somewhere that it ops out at thirty-six or something but that’s another issue for later. Even though it is an Idle game, there are a ton of other things for you to do. There’s Arenas, Guild Raids, a story mode kind of, Boss Raids, Tower Attack, and a lot more. Beyond that, this thing has one of the deepest customization aspects I've seen in a Gacha. sh*t is a legit RPG in that way and it makes for some pretty time consuming tweaking. Idle Huntress is a JRPG Player’s dream but that sh*t will fast turn into a nightmare if you’re not careful.

he biggest thing holding Huntress back is that level wall. I’ve been playing this thing for six days and I've already got to a point where i can’t pas without dropping them duckets, and sh* ain’t cheap. I have a on of SSR Huntresses, a few f them leveled one hundred, one of them at level one hundred and thirty. I can’ get past the level ten boss. It’s insane. Literally, the way you add Stars, basically raise the overall Level Cap for your Huntress, is f*cking insane and absolutely forces you into a pay-to-win scenarios lest you be stuck grinding out the necessary Puzzle Pieces to actually improve your roster. When i started, i was gifted the SSR Octavia, who is absolutely broken, bu it has been a struggle getting her to four Stars. Bro, there’s six total! The overall cap is two hundred! I still have seventy levels to go and, with the escalation in cost to make these evolution happen, I'm looking at hundreds of dollars and a ridiculous amount of time if i want to max out the other twenty-one SSR Huntresses i have on my Roster! And the only reason Octavia is as far along as she is, is because i get her pieces for accomplishing tasks, LIKE COMPLETING LEVEL TEN! WHICH I CAN’T COMPLETE BECAUSE THE REST OF MY ROSTER IS WILDLY UNDER LEVELED! Also, there’s, like, no resources for this thing online. It’s like pulling eye teeth trying to figure out how to just navigate menus.

Overall, Idle Huntress is fine. It’s a nice waste of time but not something you should really invest in if you have issues with impulse control. his “game” will absolutely violate your pockets, man. The grind is fine until you hit that wall and then it’s just goddamn egregious. I heard Genshin does the same thing, kind of, but i don’t play that so i can’t say for sure. I can say, however, that Idle Huntress is a f*cking trap. It’s a money sink that appeals to the eechiest aspects of our weeaboo personalities. The art, live 2D, and overall RPG aspects are dope as f*ck. I’d be lying if i said i don’t find a weirdly satisfying sense of accomplishment when i level up a Huntress and finally beat a level I've been trying to conqueror for a few days, but f*ck that level wall to all hell. I think I've spent, like, forty bucks on this game and feel like that’s all i want to invest in it. I don’t see myself deleting the game because, let’s be honest, i only have to really log in for an hour a day to cash out the numerous rewards but, if i wasn’t invested in Octavius as a character, i would have dropped this thing day two. Idle Huntress is fine but probably not worth the install unless you can manage monotony as well as i can.

#Idle Huntress: Adventure #Idle Huntress