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mahoushojounightmares · 2 months

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Teen Titans Masterpost And Reading Guide -

This is mostly a passion project of mine about my favourite team in DC Comics The Titans ! The general consensus I have seen on this website is that their history is confusing and people don’t know where to start so …. This guide includes ALL ( worthwhile ) pieces of Titans Media .

Ok so this is heavily inspired by @bitimdrake ‘s guide so check that one too !

Just to preface this is all my opinion and you can really start wherever you feel like it if you want to ! Sound Good 👍🏻 Good

TEEN TITANS

Ok so before you begin the og TT series you should read

- Brave and The Bold ( 1955) #54 and #60 if you want to read right from the start chronologically!

The Original Team of the TEEN TITANS was a series that ran through the 60s beginning in 1966 - 1973 and having a comeback in 1976 .

The OG series consisted mostly Robin Wonder Girl Kid Flash and Aqualad with many a cameo from other teens.

You can either read the OG Series but its completely optional it’s pretty outdated and silly but it’s a fun ride even then . In my opinion its best to leave for after you have been endeared to the characters .

If you really enjoy the Silver Age Teen Titans there’s also Showcase #59 before Roy joins and a story in the 80 page Flash Giant ! And after reading issue #20 you can also read #83 of Brave and The Bold.

After #31 theres TBANB #94 and after #34 theres World Finest Comics #205 ( read at your own discretion - totally optional)

Aswell as BANTB #102 and #149

And the utterly delightful Teen Titans lost annual & A story ( worlds oldest teenagers ) in the 80 page Flash giant.

All optional ( they get really weird)

Alternatively just read TEEN TITANS : YEAR ONE .

Some Issues I recommend from the OG Series

- #1 #2 #12 #53 ( last issue )

\ The series continues on from 1966-1976 \

NEW TEEN TITANS

NTT is arguably the seminal run and its best an absolute mustread . ( at it’s worst ….)

- DC PRESENTS #26 ( totally optional)

- THE NEW TEEN TITANS Vol.1

#1-40

- BEST OF DC #18 ( optional again.)

- Tales of The New Teen Titans ( miniseries #1-4 included in the NTT Omnis)

- read the 1st annual after issue #25

- By Issue 40 the series rebrands To TALES Of TEEN TITANS

This continues on from issues #41 to #58 it runs alongside NTT VOL.2 but is set 6 months before .

Read annual 3 as Part of Judas Contract !

- NEW TEEN TITANS VOL.2

#1-49

- TT Spotlight Miniseries !! ( SO GOOD SERIOUSLY)

- There’s also a drug awareness special at some point ( it’s its …. Certainly something)

NEW TITANS

By this point they remembered that “hey these guys aren’t teens anymore ” and thus renamed it to NEW TITANS . This series started off well enough and quickly devolved into arguably one of the worst runs EVER.

New Titans #81 is part of War Of The Gods and Annual 7 is part of Armageddon 2001 ( don’t bother ) annual 8 is part OF YET ANOTHER EVENT . Again don’t bother .

It’s pretty much highly recommend giving it up at #70 regardless .

-THE NEW TITANS

#50 - 100

ECTERA -

- running alongside NEW TITANS by 1992 was TEAM TITANS a series so awful I cannot recommend to you in clear conscience but if your a completetionist ( trust me I get it ) It’s there and Donna shows up alot !

- TITANS SELLOUT SPECIAL (1992)

NEW TITANS : MELTDOWN

The last decaying remains of NT walks on like a zombie on acid but by #100 all of the NTT crew is gone ( well most Mirage Donna as a Darkstar ect ) and leave to be replaced by an all new government sponsored Titans team lead by Roy .

- NEW TITANS

#0 / ZERO HOUR don’t worry about it/- 130

( IF YOU WANT CONTINUITY FOR KORI Showcase ‘94 #11 )

NT end’s with a whole 11 annuals

Ok so I am aware that they aren’t strictly Titans series BUT PLEASE TAKE a minute to read

The Arsenal Special!! Its a short single issue and BRILLIANT !! It informs a-lot of his character later on as well as of course the actual Arsenal Miniseries.

ALSO THE TEMPEST (1996) a absolute must read also informs basically everything about Garth and arguably his best story ever … just take a minute and read these if you want !! Before the Titans (1999)

TEEN TITANS (1996)

Ok so in the 90’s DC decided to start the TT from scratch ( huh see how long this’ll last )

This all new team was comprised of 4 half alien teens and a freshly deaged Atom. It didn’t last very long and while I am fond of it AGAIN you don’t HAVE TO read it

TEEN TITANS (1996)

#1-24

Also a few specials ! And 1 annual

Titans Beat #1

Impulse/Atom DoubleShot #1

Robin/Argent DoubleShot #1

Superboy/Risk DoubleShot #1

Supergirl/Prysm DoubleShot #1

New Year’s Evil : Dark Nemesis #1

JLA/TITANS : THE TECHNIS IMPERATIVE #1-3

Absolute MUST-READ . Literally one of my favourite comics of all time . Also essential because it kickstarts a certain run..

TITANS (1999)

One of If not the best run on Titans ( don’t @ me ) It slowly loses momentum after #26 but I still generally LOVED it . Stellar A++ Titans content !!

( you can also read the Beast Boy #1-4 miniseries prequel . But uh unless you really love Bette it’s not worth it )

TITANS (1999)

#1-50

Also TITANS Secret Files and Origins !!! ( ♥️♥️♥️ )

YOUNG JUSTICE

OK OK NOW IK THIS ISNT A TITANS OR TT RUN but this gen WILL eventually become TT 2003 ( 😒 ) and honestly ……

READ YJ 1998

It’s GREAT.

YJ/TITANS : GRADUATION DAY

Oh brother. Ok so I am pretty salty about this whole comic but it’s essential and has some good moments soo yeah read Graduation Day .

OUTSIDERS/TT SECRET FILES AND ORIGINS ♥️☝️ please read this after Graduation Day It’s heartbreaking and I love it !

TEEN TITANS 2003 - ( until OYL )

After the unfortunate events of graduation day the aforementioned YJ Gen ( - Anita and Greta 😞) and the OG NTT Crew ( Vic Kory Deaged Raven ) join to become …..

TEEN TITANS ( 2003)

( I have mixed opinions on this run some think it a masterpiece some think it awful I generally think it’s…. Fine ? Well “sigh” not fine but give it a go I guess ) I recommend #2-26

- #1-33

After #33 OYL hits

OUTSIDERS 2003 - ( until OYL )

Ok so this run isn’t really…. A titans run but it has fantastic Roy and Dick characterisation and KORY JOINS LATER AND SO TECHNICALLY-

#1-33

Read Annual 1 before #46

Don’t bother after #

POST - OYL TT 2003

Ok so I basically consider post OYL TT ‘03 to be a totally different team because… well it is . All of the NTT crew leave and are replaced by a handful of cameos and eventually like Rose Wilson and Kid Devil and because at this point half of the YJ gen is well…dead . It was pretty awful at this point though I find the character interactions endearing. This series remains like that until N52 .

#33-100

OUTSIDERS/TT 2003 ECTERA

- DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES READ TERROR TITANS PLEASE . Unless you really love Rose..( like me..)

- RETURN OF DONNA TROY ♥️♥️♥️ !!!! Excellent MUST READ !!!!

- TEEN TITANS : COLD CASE - seriously don’t read this if you don’t have too .

- TEEN TITANS : Spotlight - awful . Seeing a pattern ?

THEN - TITANS EAST SPECIAL !!

DC SPECIAL CYBORG #1-6 ( optional)

TITANS (2008)

After all the bullshit THEY ARE BACK TOGETHER AGAIN YAY !!!! To bad there’s so much shit going on OUTSIDE of the Titans that ends up fucking over the characters. E.G Bruce dying so Dick has to go be Batman and …. Hell . Fucking Rise Of Arsenal. If you know what happens in that book well yk that Roy ends up relapsing and going down a much darker mindset .

Series swings between being really good and being a mischaracterising MESS.

TITANS ( 2008 )

#1-23

By Titans #12 the Deathtrap crossover ( pretty mediocre) starts it goes like this

TITANS #12

Vigilante #5

Teen Titans #70

TITANS #13

Vigilante #6

But Amanda why did you put it’s end at 23 when Ik for a fact that goes on for #38 issues ????

Oh boy .

TITANS ( 2008 ) : VILLAINS FOR HIRE

So at issue 23 DC had the genius idea of taking the Titans and …. Turning them into a mercenary and hitman group lead by Deathstroke himself ( why ? I wish I fucking knew.) Filled out with hitman and villains and …. Roy who was now really dark and #edgy . Whatever It was bad and a wannabe secret six .

#23-38

However they’re was almost light at the end of the tunnel …. Jericho ( Joey Wilson yes he IS ALIVE ) seemed to have plans to assemble a new TITANS team and reunite their family and Roy well it seemed he was on a path to redemption he was almost there close to moving to recovery and healing and he could do it with—

N52 . POST FLASHPOINT TITANS.

The N52 was bad isnt a particularly outrageous statement but IT WAS EXTREMELY fucking bad in relation to the Titans . Bluntly put None of it ever happened and the only titans ( TEEN TITANS ACTUALLY) that had ever existed were the TT2003 guys . Just them. Fab Five never existed. NTT never existed.And all of the other og TT guys were …… WALLY never existed. Donna was a one note villain Garth never existed Dick was …. There I guess.. ROY was a dumbed down alcoholic with no purpose other than to gawk at how cool and oh and ahh at Jason Todd . ( KORY …… truly just awful what happened to her )

You can read the TEEN TITANS N52 . I guess .

They have 2 series . Read at your own peril they’re better if you pretend that the characters aren’t supposed to be … like the characters that they are . ( scott lobbell shouldn’t of been allowed to touch a pen )

REBIRTH

- TITANS HUNT ! - WALLY IS BACK

-TITANS VOL.3 is exactly what I wanted in the first half and then falls on it’s ass and burns like a trash fire . recommend stopping at #20

TITANS VOL. 3

#1-40

Justice League : No Justice- happens around this time and it was trying to create a new status quo ( uh-huh DC AGAIN ..) soo

Teen Titans Special #1 before

TEEN TITANS VOL.3

( also as your reading this read #54-55 for context in TT #27 )

“Yeah sure put the 11 year old in charge ”

Do not read this comic . And if you do ? THAT IS NOT DAMIAN . The series starts with Damian leading alot of the OG NTT guys like Kory and Vic + Ace and then it later just becomes Damian + Emiko + Ace and a couple other guys like Crush .

Drowned Earth happens ( not important) but it happens at #28 . And they have a crossover with Deathstroke in

TEEN TITANS / DEATHSTROKE : Terminus Agenda ( it’s vol ) optional though

But

- TITANS : Burning Rage

Slots in at this point so !!

A more obscure pick but no half bad

- #1-7

- Titans Academy

Haven’t actually read this one . Art looks gorgeous though

AND …

It leads too

- TITANS United

And

- TITANS : BLOODPACT

I love both of these Bloodpact in particular and it gives me Dickkory back aswell !! Good story and stellar art !!

NIGHTWING #100 - 104 to explain what is going on in …

- TITANS BY TOM TAYLOR ( Ongoing )

Also BEAST WORLD I guess 🤷‍♀️

Mid at BEST . #1-4

- Tales Of The Titans

A miniseries but so far the best Titans content we have gotten IN A WHILE . ♥️ ( sorta )

#1-4

ECTERA -

- NTT GAMES !

Fantastic and stellar art an standalone (?) dubiously canon graphic novel by Marv Wolfman and George Perez !

- TITANS AND NTT CONVERGENCE

- worthwhile and exactly what’s on the tin ! Love these gave a happy ending to the Post Crisis universe !

- Teen Titans WORLDS FINEST

- wonderful art by Dan Mora . Story is fine

- DC PRESENTS THE UNCANNY X-MEN AND NTT CROSSOVER.

SOOOOO GOOODD

- TITANS : Paper Scissors Stone

Okok elseworlds Titans book but I remember liked it !

OTHER MEDIA -

- TEEN TITANS ( 2003 THE TV SHOW )

A solid adaptation of … most of the characters please don’t go into this show and come out expecting the same from the comics . Did a lot of good for Terra’s character and influences ALOT of public perception. Just … don’t be annoying about the comics after watching this .

- TEEN TITANS GO

YES IK IK BUT ITS AN ADAPTATION AS WELL DONT JUMP ME

- TITANS ( TV SHOW)

….I wouldn’t recommend this show too anyone EXCEPT Titans fans who want more content of the team it’s it’s an experience. ( FUCK YOU FOR DOING THAT TO DONNA )

SO YEAH . Feel free to question me if I have forgotten any I don’t have spectacular memory lol

Happy reading ! !

#dc #dc comics #new teen titans #teen titans #god i love titans #titansfam #titans #dick grayson #roy harper #donna troy #garth of shayaris #wally west

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racingliners · 4 months

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Livery Watch 2024

Well I am typing this out way earlier than I expected (thanks McLaren), but I legit had so much fun rating and yelling about all the different team liveries last year that I'm going to do it again this year.

This was going to be my wishlist/prediction post for each team but lo and behold McLaren revealed their 2024 livery today, so I'll be talking about the remaining 9 teams instead, and I'll go a little bit more in-depth in the reblog below about McLaren's 2024 livery.

Red Bull: As much as I desperately yearn for a return to the glossy dark metallic blue livery of the early-mid 2010s, I am 90% sure we're going to see the same livery on their car they've used since 2016, but with the usual annual sponsor logo adjustments

Mercedes: Given how positively their return to an all black livery was perceived, I think we'll see the same thing on the car this year with very subtle silver and Petronas teal accents. (However a piece of my heart would certainly be very happy with chrome silver as an alternative!)

Ferrari: Also asking Ferrari to ditch the matte paint but I know it won't happen. I honestly loved last year's livery, especially with the text logo on the rear wing, but if they go for a more burgundy leaning red like their 1000th race livery then I will have never said anything bad about Ferrari ever actually.

Aston Martin: Zero notes. Though if I see any exposed carbon I will be suing Lawrence Stroll for emotional damages.

Alpine: I am actually a blue and pink livery apologist (the all over pink is still extremely beloved though!!) so hopefully we'll have more of the same this year.

Williams: I've really loved the geometric blue tile livery they're ran for the past couple of years, my only tweak would be to use slightly lighter shades of blue since overall last year's grid did look quite dark last year with all the exposed carbon. I'm also echoing what I said last year in that a total switch up to the white to blue ombre livery the team ran during their RoKit sponsorship years would be really nice to see.

Sauber: No I'm not calling them Stake F1 Team Sauber, I have better things to do with my time. It's just Sauber. Anyway, I'm expecting the livery to be quite a drastic change as part of the rebrand from Alfa Romeo to Stake, and if we're taking hints from their big social media overhaul I think there's going to be a lot of black and neon green (I do think that they're going to be treading a fine line between looking really nice or the W15 ordered off Wish)

Alpha Tauri/Racing Bulls: I honestly loved the navy and white Alpha Tauri liveries, imho they were really stylish and made them look like less of a Red Bull junior team. I don't really know what their rebrand is going to look like, so in the mean time I am going to yearn for a return to the iconic Toro Rosso drinks can livery from 2017 and 2018.

Haas: Unless Moneygram join the exodus of departures from Haas, I think we're going to see some kind of black and white livery with red accents. Personally I'd like there to be more red and a glossy black (matte pain continues to be my behated) but like with Red Bull if it ends up being a nearly identical livery to last year then I won't be surprised.

#Formula 1 #Livery Watch #Livery Watch 2024 #this one was much more chatty than last year; it's either the cold medicine or my need to yell dfvuhfduvsh #anyway McLaren thoughts coming imminently!

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lecpenni · 10 months

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LEC RETROSPECTIVE: ASTRALIS

Man, this one's just sad.

So Astralis have had a very unfortunate history in LEC so far. Rebranding Origen, which wasn't the most successful after 2016, qualifying to worlds in 2015 and making it to semifinals with that early Niels/Mithy botlane, before losing it to G2 and floundering around the bottom of the table until being demoted in 2017, and then being accepted as a partner org for LEC franchising.

After 2019's "superteam" lost in spring finals to the G2 actual Superteam, 2020's "superteam" (also featuring Upset, natch) performed basically ok then went 10th in summer, and rebranded to Astralis heading into 2021. Signing an all new roster going into 2021, they floundered around the bottom of the table, going 9th, tied 7th, then 9th and 10th in 2022. But the rosters always had flashes of brilliance with endearing players like Zanzarah, WhiteKnight who had arguably a top 3 lee sin in the world during that cursed Lane Sin period, and Kobbe who was a reliable rock looking for a team to finally step out of the shadow of his prior glories on Misfits and Splyce and his 2020 on TSM which was a disaaaaster. Well going into 2023, Astralis actually kept a surprisingly consistent core of Dajor in Mid, Kobbe in Bot, and Korean support Jeonghoon, previously known as Execute, who made a strong impression early in 2022 on Pyke and Bard, despite being on bottom CL rosters beforehand. In addition, they retained the same coaching staff, which while not the top tier of LEC coaches, you could do a WHOLE lot worse. The new additions were Finn in top lane, who had a... odd history prior to this. Debuting in 2019 Summer as a sub for Rogue, who had a fairly weak roster at that point, before making Worlds with a similar roster in 2020, and utterly flopping as the EU 3rd seed, moving to NA and joining CLG during their worst years ever, then coming back to EU and joining Excel during their most successful year, and missing out on worlds by getting reverse swept by a Fnatic who had a fair amount of promise. And in the Jungle, 113. I think most people would say he's probably one of the worse jungle prospects in the ERLs, and he certainly didn't impress while on KCorp, often dragging his team down. But, with a good coach and team around him, he could maybe impress. Early on, not many hopes were had for Astralis, who were often placed bottom 2 or 3 alongside SK in tier lists and power rankings, due to the slightly underwhelming pickups of 113 and Finn, Dajor's mostly amateurish gameplay and Kobbe and Jeonghoon probably being elo helled again due to this topside.

But against all odds, Astralis managed to not completely shit the bed in Winter! Overall they went 3-6 in winter, which did qualify them for Groups, barely. Losses to a new G2 and Yike on a carry jungler, vs Heretics with a brave ass Fiora pick, Vitality who actually did well in Winter overall, and BDS left them very unoptimistic going into week 3, but grabbing a win over Excel meant they were at least guaranteed a chance for top 8, with an incredibly dominant Lucian/Nami, and on Week 3, a clutch Gangplank from Finn snatched victory from the jaws of defeat dropping absolute gorgeous barrels that completely annihilated an MVP level Exakick on Lucian, and then the game that would decide if Astralis could make it to groups, vs a slumped Fnatic that would end up missing playoffs for the first time in their history. Astralis, against almost all odds made it to groups. You could argue it was off the back of Excel looking completely lifeless and horrendous, and Fnatic having a ridiculously poor season in a meta that hated them, but nonetheless, Astralis overcame them and a rising SK to make it to groups. Let's Goooo!!!! And in groups they shit it goddamn it. A 2-1 loss to MAD Lions, who ended up being Astralis' bane this season, with a genuinely unique and surprisingly strong Cassio/Twitch botlane (it lost anyways), and a monster performance from Dajor and the Botlane in Game 2, followed by getting a win over BDS who hadn't come into their winning ways just yet, anchored by a Kled from Finn, his previous one-trick, and a really damn good Varus from Kobbe, carrying them through to one last try at Playoffs. Who's their opponent MAD fucking lions goddamn it all.

A quick 2-0 from MAD, focusing a Dajor who floundered all series, and a fairly disastrous performance from 113, despite Kobbe's best effort on Lucian left Astralis in a maybe not respectable, but certainly surprising 5th place. They scrapped and fought their way up and punched up for most of their victories, demonstrating a style that maybe wasn't unlike some Asian teams, with a toplaner transitioned around the map to generate pressure, a roaming mid-jungle and a strongside botlane who made sure they were the stars. But most of all, they showed 0 fear on engaging and taking every little fight they could, to generate any kind of advantage. That made Astralis genuinely exciting to watch, but there was an obvious weak link on the roster, and that was Mid lane. Going into Spring, Dajor was out, and the rumoured Mid was none other than LIDER, a player who was often considered a dark horse for most inflexible player ever. The narrative was always that the man would and could only ever play assassins, an unusual thing in high level play, as most midlaners since 2016ish stuck to control mages, with occasional assasin picks or poke mages as niche counterpicks. But honestly? That was never true. LIDER did play mages as and when needed, the man just preferred assassins in the game, and he was still capable of your Ryzes, (with the meta changes) your Annies, your Aurelion Sols, even an Azir from time to time. Yes, assassins were his specialty, and mostly what he played, but the narrative that his assassins were his only successful picks? Just untrue. Spring began with a rough first week. FOR ASTRALIS' OPPONENTS, THAT IS. Taking games over KOI, who made playoffs last season, and the Champions G2, with a LIDER Irelia, and dropping a game to SK, with a... unique botlane of Veigar/Pyke that did NOT pay off. Week 2 went rougher, losing to MAD (i told you) and BDS, who came in with a clear gameplan and a perfect plan on how to execute every comp, and then taking a game off of Vitality thanks to a strong LIDER Asol, and a fairly bad game from Bo on the inverse. Week 3 began with a new look again, as LIDER got his Zed, and used it to utterly dominate midlane and carry Astralis through, basically securing playoffs for the team. A win over Excel, thanks to a LIDER Irelia, and a win over Fnatic with another LIDER Zed, a JeongHoon Blitzcrank secured Astralis their first 3-0 week, and a shot at the top couple spots of the season, placing 2nd overall. A damn good finish, if i've ever seen one. LIDER brought so much to the team, and they looked incredibly strong going into the next round. Some things hadn't changed, like 113's ability to be exploited, but overall this roster look shockingly strong, and their playstyle had been solidified, and bright eyes looked forward to groups. We begin the group stage against the one and only Fnatic, a genuinely shockingly close series for what should've been 2nd place vs 8th place, but an odd choice with Illaoi from Finn lost game 2, alongside a misguided Zed pick from LIDER, and a game 3 that hinged on the success of another LIDER Irelia, which managed to finally pull out the win after a half hour slugfest. Astralis, to be frank, were bleeding. They didn't look anywhere as scrappy or exciting as in the regular season, and their next series vs Vitality, to qualify for playoffs, well... Remember yesterday when I said this series was the one that showed the Bo That Was Promised, an insane mechanical hypercarry player who could demolish a team and turn them into a chinese tiktok montage? Yeah, Astralis was on the recieving end of that. 113 and LIDER got absolutely FARMED by a wukong, followed by a Lee Sin, and that was a deathblow for Astralis' mental it felt like. They had beat Vitality already once, like, what was this? Their next series, since they had already won the one vs Fnatic, was vs... MAD FUCKING LIONS. I told you they were their kryptonite this season.

And despite a Cassio and Talon (?) from LIDER, 113 got hard exposed and dominated by the mid jungle of MAD, ending their season, once again, early. This was a sad moment. Astralis had finally begun to reach the heights of the roster that was promised to them, but other teams started reaching their heights much faster than they did, and simply outclassed them. Over the break for MSI, Astralis was one of few roster to make no changes. They had a winning formula, the 2nd place in spring proved that, and the formula and strategy was locked down, scrap everywhere, fight everything, get lane dominant picks and move Finn around to every sidelane to make sure you couldn't do anything without worrying about where he was.

Well... Summer came. And this is where their story goes from hopeful rise of a plucky young adventurer, to a tragedy that ends with the adventurer getting beheaded by the mighty warlord at the end. Summer didn't go well. At all. Week 1 began with a game vs Fnatic, the team that they beat in Spring Groups, however now sporting a fashionable new Botlane of Noah and Trymbi, who proceeded to utterly shitstomp them. A game vs Heretics with a shiny new Vetheo and Flakked, who proceeded to utterly dismantle a LIDER Neeko, but ending the week on a positive note with one of the absolute worst earlygames i've ever had the pleasure of watching in pro league of legends, vs BDS. Nuc simply walks into LIDER for about 10 seconds letting him fully stack Lethal Tempo and nearly 1v2 Adam and Nuc. Please watch it, it's so absolutely pathetic and tragic for how the rest of the game now goes. Finn also helps by RPing Peak Shanji (the OMG toplaner known for his AP tops like Rumble) in the toplane vs Adam, and you know what. It's not the worst. It was a fun fucking game, but the fact that Astralis only won because BDS managed to completely annihilate their ENTIRE early game by doing that wasn't a good sign. Week 2 came by, Astralis were sitting tied with 5 other teams at 1-2, so not that well off, but they could be much worse. Right now they could be Excel still sitting at 0-3! First game, vs MAD lions oh for fuck sake why did they give Nisqy Gragas. That's like rule number 1 vs MAD since winter playoffs, don't give Nisqy Gragas. Well that's lost. Game 2, Vitality well this should be better, vitality look lost and helpless in almost every game now! And Astralis do it! Another Yasuo, with a Gragas for Finn in top handily sweeps the floundering Vitality, and Game 3 of the week pits them vs G2 aaaand yeah it goes about as well as you might think. The game's an absolute snoozer with 10 kills in almost 30 minutes, but demonstrates something amazing about G2 and something really bad about Astralis. Unless they're running the pace of the game, Astralis generally flounder. And G2 are professionals at running the game at the exact pace they desire. Week 3 comes by, and Astralis are a bit worse off. Now they're only tied with 3 other teams, and they could still make it to groups, but few people have high hopes for them. Some of the people they're tied against, they face this week, and BDS they've already beaten. This should be easy, right? Well they beat SK, thanks almost exclusively to a LIDER Azir, giving them one step up on the competition for 8th, now all they need is:

Beat KOI

SK Lose another game

Well, next game vs an Excel who got their first 3-0 week and look decently strong, they lose. No biggie. Would've been nice to win, but all they need now is SK lose (they didn't, they beat MAD) and to beat KOI. That KOI game was an absolute shitshow. Comp pulls out an off-meta Sivir and reminds the world why Sivir was the menace it was just after the rework, with a disasterclass from JeongHoon on Nautilus. Well, their season isn't over just yet! If SK lose to Fnatic, the First place team with a dominant insane botlane, an MVP jungler and one of the strongest toplaners right now, then Astralis qualify! Well they get a tiebreaker. But they've beaten SK before, it's doable again! That SK-Fnatic game was a nailbiter start to finish. From a surprisingly Humanoid Xerath, one of the most terrifying 4/4 Jaxes i've ever seen, and a ridiculous carry performance from Mr Sertussy, it was an end to Astralis' season. 9th place. Where most predicted they'd end in Winter and Spring. Afterwards, it's announced that due to Championship points, it's impossible to Astralis to qualify for Season finals, meaning for Finn, 113, LIDER, Kobbe and JeongHoon, that's it. Their season is completely over. Unlike Vitality who finished last, they're done for now. Following this was some truly heartbreaking posts, especially from Finn, which I'll show here in its entirety:

Finn spent most of the year playing at a high level, being massively underrated on Astralis' roster, and even arguably on Excel, and to lose like this is really heartbreaking. As he says, At the end of the day 2 teams have to miss out, this summer split it just ended up being us. Astralis' future is unknown. Even before the split, rumours were abound that the org was planning on collaborating with KCorp and making the LEC spot a joint-ownership between Astralis and KCorp, but that deal fell through. Most of these players deserve more shots, but most teams won't be shopping around for new players in the offseason until worlds in October/November. I do hope the best comes for this team and these players. APPENDED: I finished this post at around 3:30PM on Friday, and a report has just come out about an hour ago from blix.gg (read here on this link) that Astralis are considering selling their spot again, and negotiations got pretty far with Saudi Org, Falcons, who operate a french CSGO (now CS2 i guess) starring KennyS. Riot apparently blocked the sale, not wanting a Saudi investment firm to get in. Blix also says that some ERL teams are competing for the spot, and if it does end like this, man that's sad. Yeah Astralis weren't the best team but they had heart and their players were likeable as fuck, with genuinely cool plays and players across their history, even in the most dire days of their history.

#lol esports #lec #astralis #ast lider #ast finn #ast kobbe #esports #league of legends

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wearingaberetinparis · 9 months

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Fic Author Self-Rec

Thank you for tagging me @missgryffin and @kay-elle-cee! Those that know me, will recognise that I find it very difficult not to be critical of my own work, but I need to be proud of what I write more often, so this is good practice! (Also: how do you choose anyway? Every fic is my baby and there are so many memories attached to writing them.) Rules: When you get this, reply with your favourite fics that you've written. Then pass it on to fice other writers. Spread some self love.

Shout Out To My Ex (Series)

Phoenix Radio is going through a rough period with the arrival of the new and controversial Riddle Radio. Albus Dumbledore, founder of the country’s number one radio station, asks his team to get ready to rebrand. Gone are the days of family friendly radio, a show where two exes talk about where their relationship went wrong and deliver relationship advice live on air, named Shout Out To My Ex, is exactly what Phoenix Radio needs. Who better to co-host this show than Lily Evans and James Potter, two Phoenix Radio employees who absolutely despise each other, or do they? A Jily Modern AU inspired by Rachel Lynn Solomon’s "The Ex Talk". LINK HERE

ocean eyes (Series)

Lily Evans had been eleven when she and her family moved in next door to the Potters. It was the summer before she would start her year at Hogwarts, a prestigious school for gifted students. From their bedrooms, James and Lily witness each other’s highs and lows, watching the other grow as they go through life apart and yet very much together. A Jily Neighbours/Coming of Age AU LINK HERE

(Didn't I?) (Didn't I?) Didn't I See You Crying?

James Potter has fancied Mary Macdonald for as long as he can remember. Everything about her is practically perfect, except for – if he were being honest and he always liked to be – her choice in friends. For Mary’s best friend, Lily Evans, is a right shrew and, much to his dismay, the Head Girl to his Head Boy. Lily Evans had disliked James Potter with a passion after their first interaction on the Hogwarts Express. A dislike that turned into hate – never mind that she also has an infatuation going, but no one needs to know about that – as soon as he decided to make her life a living hell. Unfortunately for her, he also decided (a few years earlier) that her very best friend in the world was the worthy object of his affections. (Which was fine, really. She wasn't about to cry over it, for Godric's sake. She was a strong and independent young woman, thank you very much. And yes, perhaps she was a little in love, but it was all for nothing, so she had to keep calm and carry on.) Certainly, their complicated past would result in major disaster if common ground was not soon established. For the love of Merlin, though, why did either of them think it would be a good idea for Lily to help James woo Mary Macdonald? LINK HERE

The Very (Un)Ladylike Guide To Fortune-Hunting

"Without thinking highly either of men or matrimony, marriage had always been her object; it was the only honourable provision for well-educated young women of small fortune, and however uncertain of giving happiness, must be their pleasantest preservative from want." (Jane Austen) Lily Evans finds herself wanting, or: so her sister seems to believe. While out on the hunt for a fortune - again: that would be Mrs Dursley mostly - the affection of a number of suitors is most welcome. Especially when a young Viscount's heart is set aflame. A Regency Jily AU. LINK HERE

Lily In The Sky With Diamonds

A series of interviews with the UK’s hottest band, The Marauders, and the singer-songwriter Lily Evans, conducted by Nymphadora Tonks, as they prepare for the UK Tour after the release of their album “Lily in the Sky with Diamonds”. Everyone worships The Marauders. Everyone loves Lily Evans. Together they make hearts bleed. Inspired by "Daisy Jones & The Six" by Taylor Jenkins Reid. LINK HERE

Tagging anyone that would like to do this, but @annabtg and @practicecourts as well. I'm sorry if you did this already. I was obviously MIA for a couple of days.

#ritaskeetered #fic author self-rec

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lizseyi · 2 years

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A New Internet Era - Skywire London

Over the past year or so, Web3 appears to have been the subject of many a debate. The term has certainly received some hype in recent times. But are you, and more importantly, your brand, ready?

Here we explore whether Web3 represents the profound restructuring and reimagining of the Internet as sold as in recent quarters, or whether it’s essentially just a rebranding project for crypto.

What is Web3?

Web3 or Web 3.0 represents the next generation of the Internet, following on from Web 1.0 and Web 2.0. Web3 is a decentralised Internet built on the blockchain, bringing into play related blockchain technology such as cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

The promise is an Internet infrastructure that moves the power back to the consumer and away from the big tech companies and government institutions. Hence, no more having to place your trust in organisations that provide little governance for accountability.

For context, if you were online back in the 1990s as the first publicly available version of the Internet became popularised, it’s worth reminding yourself of what Internet infrastructure consisted of back then - simply static webpages connected by hyperlinks. Otherwise known as the World Wide Web or Web 1.0.

It took until the arrival of the Web 2.0 era for the Internet to become a platformfor content creators. Such Internet today includes ecommerce platforms such as Shopify and Magento, and social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. This form of the Internet has been far much more interactive for regular users, offering the ability to easily publish one’s own content, including via smartphones and tablets.

Web 3.0 or Web3 promises to drastically change the game again. As far back as 2014, the term was coined by one of the Ethereum cryptocurrency’s co-founders, Gavin Wood. Instead of us having to hand over our personal information to tech giants such as Google and Apple in order to have the right to use their services, proponents of Web3 claim that this newly decentralised version of the Internet would be underpinned by blockchain technology and artificial intelligence (AI), with all information being published on the blockchain’s public ledger.

Web3 For Luxury, Lifestyle and Fashion Brands

This new wave all sounds rather exciting, but what could it mean for your brand? At the time of typing, much about Web3 remains more theoretical than a practical reality. Yet, a great deal has already been observed about the potential implications of such decentralisation for high-end brands.

Within this Web3 era, we expect the metaverse, for example, could be central to how users interact with brands, including the fashion industry. This could manifest in virtual worlds in which users enjoy true ownership of digital items, reputations and tools, such as ownership being registered with steadfast decentralised ledger technologies.

Perhaps for your own premium brand, Web3 could mean using augmented virtual reality to allow shoppers to try on your latest designs in a virtual space. Alternatively, it could mean the likes of virtual reality showrooms and trade shows, or using NFTs to offer admirers of your brand personalised experiences and one-off special editions that your rivals don’t?

Indeed, with NFTs having been a particular point of mass enthusiasm over the past year or so, applications such as gaming and digital art are already seeing an emergence in Web3 infrastructure. We recommend brands engage with this immediately in order to become better accustomed to the technology and its possibilities before this new version of the Internet starts to enter the mainstream.

Web3 Digital Marketing Agency

Contact the Skywire team today to investigate how our global digital marketing agency can work with you to support and power luxury brand growth on the latest iteration of the web.

#global digital marketing agency

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slagclaren · 2 years

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the rumours about a possible team doing a "brawn gp" next year.... disgusting‼️‼️ you will never be her, with her double diffuser SO sexy all the other teams were fuming and gossiping about her. with a tp possessing such huge bde that the financial crisis apologised to him for the inconvenience. with drivers so experienced, so legendary, that a 1-2 at the first race of year was the LEAST they could do.... don't you dare speak her name

#that tiktok sound that's like 'take her name out of your mouth'#also it's not even accurate bc the thing about brawn was that they participated in 09 and that was it #like no team is rebranding for this year and certainly not rebranding again the year after #so what are you even trying to do #jenson button #rubens barichello #brawn gp my beloved #f1

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virtchandmoir · 3 years

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Scott Moir caught the coaching bug after 22-year competitive skating career

February 5, 2021

Scott Moir, new head coach and managing director of Ice Academy of Montreal's campus in southwestern Ontario. (Jordan Cowan photo)

Shortly after Scott Moir wrapped up an extraordinary Olympic figure skating career at PyeongChang 2018, he was spotted at the women’s gold medal hockey game, where he showed himself to be as ordinary a Canadian as was ever born and raised.

A TV camera caught him standing among a throng of seated Team Canada athletes, beer in hand, arms spread wide, loudly protesting an obviously horrible call by the ref against the Canadian women.

A successful set of post-Olympics skating tours followed, then Moir was suddenly and unintentionally conspicuous again, this time by his absence from the Canadian consciousness and by contrast to the omnipresence of ice dancing partner Tessa Virtue. She executed endorsement deals with Nivea, Adidas, Hello Fresh, The Brick and Air Miles, and advocated for female athletes on social media platforms. Moir applauded Virtue’s efforts and success, but had no desire to follow suit.

Three years removed from PyeongChang, Moir emerged from the shadows after Groundhog Day to make some news of his own. He is the head coach and managing director of the Ice Academy of Montreal’s expansion into Ontario. The Komoka, Ont. skating club at which he was already coaching rebranded in a partnership with I.AM’s Patrice Lauzon, Marie-France Dubreuil and Roman Haguenauer, who guided Virtue and Moir through the final two years of their starry career in Montreal.

Moir, 33, had already been coaching in fits and starts during the tours, as he would drop into rinks across Canada to help out former Skate Canada teammates who have already made the transition.

“I took some time, got out of the limelight a bit, and started going back into the rinks to just help out. Then I watched some of the kids in my area go to nationals. I kind of thought like many skaters, ‘aw, I’m not going to coach, I’ve already spent my 22 years in the rink.’ But being there and being able to support the athletes and watch them accomplish their goals, I totally caught the bug. It quickly became my passion.”

Knowing he was on the ground floor as a coach, he sought the advice of mentors including Dubreuil and Lauzon. That communication led to the partnership.

“It’s exciting but it means I’ve got a ton of work to do to make sure I’m there for these athletes. So I guess in a way the sleepless nights are back. I used to not sleep thinking I was going to let Tessa down, so I think I’m right back into the fire.”

He has always been driven by an all-in personality that contributed to five Olympic medals, three gold, as well as three world ice dancing titles with Virtue. He is equally committed to taking a solid grassroots program established in part by his mother Alma and aunt Carol — twin sisters who coached each other’s children back in the day — and enhancing it with additional coaches and the on-ice knowledge and off-ice training resources, mental and physical, he tapped into as an elite performer.

“Our goal is to be the main training centre for southwestern Ontario. It sounds cliché but we are trying to set up these kids to have successful lives, more than be successful figure skaters. I do hope it goes hand in hand.”

It most certainly turned did for Virtue and Moir. They remain close friends, and he would love to coax her onto the ice to help out, but she is immersed in an MBA at Queen’s University and in building her personal brand. She also lives in Toronto, Moir outside of London, Ont. The distance and divergence of their careers was a factor in their retirement from the show circuit.

“We had lost the passion for it because we had passion for other things in our lives,” said Moir. “This school is one, and I think people under-estimate the work she has done to be on those platforms and to represent that brand in every room she walks into. You see her in a lot of places because she really works hard to set good examples for young people in sport, to be a leader for girls and women who can realize their dreams, to be that fierce leader in the community like Tessa is. She takes that role very seriously.”

Moir never took much joy from the “marketing stuff” outside the sport, and he knows but does not care that it cost him financially.

“I gave up some money but at the same time I haven’t regretted it a day, a single minute. I believe in the morals that I do. I believe in the projects I take part in and I think that has been my north star. This coaching move is exciting and I get to help the kids and it’s really fulfillment that I’m after instead of the dollars and cents.”

While COVID restrictions delayed his 2020 wedding to fiancée Jaclyn Mascarin — who was his first skating partner at age seven and came back into his life in recent years — it’s on for July, and he wants to build a family soon afterward.

“After PyeongChang and after the tours, I was searching for different fulfilment. And then when my fiancée walked into my life, it became clear the direction I wanted to head,” said Moir. “I feel pretty comfortable.”

—Toronto Sun

#scott #off ice #i.am ontario #interview: toronto sun #funny scott saying #he didn't think he'd coach #little side eye #also i know he doesn't mean #to demean tessa's work #because he compliments her #but then talks #about his own morals #don't @ me #i know it's not intentional but it is #interesting word choice

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1kook · 5 years

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skirt chasers

jjk x (f) reader

summary “Baggy clothes are in, but you wouldn’t know that, Miss I Draw Inspiration From Catholic School Girls.” tags f2l, triple texting king kook, ncampus crush kook who is also the weird gamer boy, the skirt aspect is forgotten towards the end tbh, dumbassery is a disease and we are all affected by it, confessions SO CORNY it could be a 2005 teen romcom warnings smut in the form of: unprotected sex, use of mirrors, mostly heavy petting as foreplay I’m sorry, mentions of Jk’s furry ways as a gag kinda, like an unnecessary amount of swearing wc 7.8k

to make a long story short, i saw this nsfw gif and wrote this entire fic between 2 am and 6 am anyway i actually really like how this turned out!! lmk when u think

Part of the ideology behind the pleated skirt was in hopes that buying a new wardrobe would somehow help you rebrand your image around campus. Truthfully, it was kinda too late for that now; you’d been here going on three years, your friends and anyone with eyes could see that the style of clothing you leaned towards favored comfort over fashion. However, someone—it might’ve been Taehyung—had gone on a drunken spiel the other night concerning the importance of presenting oneself via fashion. It wasn’t aimed at you, but it certainly left you wondering.

Which is how you find yourself shivering to the bone now, lingering around the west quad as you wait for Jungkook to come out of an anatomy lab. He’s at that point in the semester where grades mean nothing and everything to him at the same time, so Namjoon’s commissioned you and your other pals to take turns babysitting him once a week to make sure he gets at least some assignments done.

You don’t know where any of you would be without Kim Namjoon.

Anyway, your legs are fucking cold and if this is what it takes to be known as the fashionably cute girl around campus, you’d rather choke. The imaginary sound of your bones rattling is cut off when Jungkook throws the door nearest you open, his big dopey smile engulfing his face the moment he sees you. He barely acknowledges the gaggle of students that follow after him, all calling out a chorus of goodbyes to him, because unlike you Jungkook was the cute, campus boy crush with his suave looks and comfortable fashion. God, if only you could pull off sweats and mustard-stained Venom shirts like him.

“Lets go,” you yawn, hands stuffed deep into the pockets of your long cardigan. Jungkook jogs over, slinging an arm around your shoulders and nearly knocking you into the emergency telephone you’d been brooding by. “You smell sterile again.”Jungkook grins.

“That’s because I was touching dead people again,” he informs you, too giddy for someone who’d probably fingered the fuck out of a gallbladder twenty minutes ago.

“Ew,” you whine, the sudden urge to shove Jungkook and his dead people germs away from you. He cackles in your face, and you wonder again how he single handedly enthralls half the campus population with a laugh like a seagull.

You’ve barely moved ten feet when Jungkook finally notices your vibrating body, and it’s only because you’re nearly convulsing with shivers at this point. “Woah, what are those,” he exclaims, eyes pointedly eyeing your legs.

You know your bare legs are a rare sight when Jungkook has to resolve to overused memes to refer to them.

“They’re my legs, and they’re fucking freezing,” you calmly reply.

Jungkook seems shocked for only a moment longer, and you almost think he’s gotten over it when he suddenly snorts and scares the shit out of you in the middle of the crosswalk. “Why the fuck are you wearing a skirt in this weather, you dinglehead?”

You shove him, and he stumbles over the curb, but you get the feeling he’d do that without you pushing him. Jungkook was clumsier than Namjoon on his bad days. “I’m trying to be fashionable, you hater,” you huff, not even bothering to say thank you when he pulls open the coffee shop door for you. “I shouldn’t have to explain myself to someone who doesn’t even wear the right size shirt.”

Like always, he’s one step ahead of you and hands the cashier his card before you can even reach for your wallet. Next time. “Baggy clothes are in, but you wouldn’t know that, Miss I Draw Inspiration From Catholic School Girls.”

“For your information I bought this from H&M,” you retort, though you can’t hide the flush that warms your cheeks at his comment. “Also, what's the point of working out your hotbod if you’re just gonna hide it under shirts long enough to be a mini-dress, huh? Riddle me that, Jeon.”

You flinch when your bare thigh touches the cold seat of the booth, something Jungkook doesn’t miss. “Your skirt is mad short,” he points out, and you kick his shins.

You’ve already got a Google Doc open on your laptop from last night when you and Jimin had been going ham on a psych essay, but you also have a Fashion Nova cart on another window that’s just begging for you to check out.

“Short skirts are just a concept made by men with lingering eyes to demean and belittle women who don’t submit to their every want and need.”

“Oh my god,” he groans, and you watch him muffle a laugh into his palm as he gets his own work out. “Do you think I’m gonna pull the meninist card out on you and call you a slut or something?”

You fake gasp, eyes wide and shocked as you give him your best disappointed face. “Jeon, how could you? I expected better from you.”

This time he does laugh, a dorky sound unlike his witch cackle from earlier, and you finally let a smile slip. Jungkook was funny, too sweet and kind hearted for his own good. A little dumb, but most cute guys were. He’s one of those guys who thinks girls are nice to him out of their own free will, and not because they’re trying to bag the campus hottie.

“Seriously,” he says once he’s pulled his fat anatomical reference book out, stuffed to the brim with worn scientific essays he’d printed out, and pictures he’d taken at every single one of his visits to the cadaver lab. His voice is earnest and genuine when he speaks again. “You can wear whatever you want, I was just curious about the skirt ‘cause you normally wear things past the knee and elbow.”

When he puts it like that you kinda sound surprisingly conservative.

You shrug, tapping away at your computer as if the sight of you in anything other than what he said isn’t really weird. “Just thought I’d try something new. Why, does it look too weird?” Your voice suddenly feels meek, and you’re not sure if your cheeks are warm from the chill outside or from something else.

Jungkook shakes his head, coconut hair bouncing from side to side. “Nah, you look cute,” he says, and then, as if an afterthought, adds, “weirdly sexy, too. Like you belong in a Brazzers video?”

“What the fuck, Jungkook,” you groan, sinking your head into your palms.

“What! You asked for my opinion and I gave you it,” he defends, too casual for someone spewing their unwarranted porn knowledge at you. You urge him to do his homework, drink his coffee, anything besides embarrass you further.

He does, but you don’t miss the goofy way he glances under the table one more time.

The pleated skirt makes it’s return three weeks later, this time accompanied by her best friend, the sheer pantyhose.

“Oh, who’s this sexy schoolgirl?” Taehyung exclaims the moment you step into the diner. Your cheeks flush red when the family beside you send you and your friends a disapproving look.

“That’s what I said!” Jungkook says as he gets up to let you slide into the booth. He has this incessant need to be sitting at the end of the booth just in case nature calls in the middle of dinner and he can’t usher the rest of you out fast enough.

(It almost happened once, and the sight of Jungkook shoving Hoseok flat on his ass had been too funny to forget.)

“Wait a minute, is that why you stopped using EOS and started using the Dove shaving cream?” Chaeyoung interrogates from across you. “So you could show off your sexy model legs?”

“No, Dove is just cheaper,” you reply, trying to sound as aloof as possible but if anyone at this table knew you like the back of their hand, it was definitely Chaeyoung. “Why can’t you guys let me live my best life?”

Taehyung scoffs. “Who the fuck are you?”

“Who the fuck are you?” You snap back, but your level of sass can never seem to match his.

“We all know your ‘best life’ would be spent in those fuzzy Cookie Monster pajama pants and one of Kook’s big ass shirts,” he points out, and you hide behind your menu much to everyone’s amusement.

You whine, “why can’t you all just be supportive besties and tell me I look cute?”

“You look gorgeous, babe,” Chaeyoung assures you, gesturing for you to pass her the sugar for her coffee. “It’s just weird seeing your legs out. Almost weirder than if you randomly pulled your tits out right now.”

Behind her, you can see the same mom from the family glaring at you guys. You lower your head in shame.

“For the record, I’m team skirt, but I wouldn’t be opposed to the other,” Jungkook adds after being silent for so long. Taehyung fist bumps him as you slap your hand over your eyes. At this rate you’d rather just put a paper bag over your head.

“We’re sitting on the same side of the table, so you’re supposed to be on my side!” You groan, and Jungkook shrugs mid-milkshake sip.

“I am!” He splutters once he’s gulped down the thick substance. “I just said I was team skirt, did I not?” His scandalized pout twists into the same sneaky little smile he has whenever Taehyung has convinced him and Jimin to do something stupid. “But I’m also a man, and therefore, a skirt chaser,” he winks.

From the other side of the table Taehyung’s eyes twinkle. “Bro, your mind,” he says in awe. He reaches over to shake Jungkook’s hand as if he’s just presented the table with some riveting discovery in the medical field, and the fucker has the nerve to look smug about it too.

“You guys are so stupid,” Chaeyoung whispers right before the server sets her pancakes down.

“Hey, have you seen Joon’s book? He said he might’ve left it—oh, Jesus, fuck sorry,” Jungkook says before whirling around to face the wall.

You turn from your bent over position by your bed where you’d been rummaging around for a book you coulda sworn you stuffed there last week. Jungkook’s blazing cheeks don’t register with you until you realize your favorite skirt is draping over your rear, giving him a clear view of your dorky star-printed panties.

“Kook,” you stammer, quickly jumping to your feet and brushing your hands over your skirt. “H-How’d you get in?” You ask for lack of greeting.

“Um, uh,” Jungkook stutters, eyes laser focused on some point on your wall. “Chaeyoung let me in.”

“Oh,” you say, and then silence falls over the two of you.

Holy shit this was awkward.

Despite being friends for going on three years, you don’t ever remember there being any stale moments between you and Jungkook. You were the type of friends that just clicked, never having gone through that awkward phase before. But you’d also never seen each other in any state less than presentable. (Being drunk at parties did NOT count, and even then, you’ve always been pretty collected.)

To know that he’s seen your ass, covered or not, tilted your Golden Friendship with Jungkook scale extremely off center. Your fingers twiddle at your sides, not really sure if you should mention what just happened or… what?

He coughs, and you snap back to reality. “Um,” he drawls, still not looking at you but at the socks you’d thrown off the second you got home. “Sorry about that,” he apologizes, voice soft and earnest in that Jungkook™ way that made all the girls swoon. “I should’ve knocked before coming in all rude.” He finally gathers the balls to look you in the eye, and the dude looks like a kicked puppy.

“No,” you wave him off, hands fluttering in front of you because standing like some Macy’s holiday mannequin certainly isn’t making this situation any easier. “It’s okay, the skirt—y’know this wouldn’t happen if I just wore pants,” you say, tacking on a self-deprecating laugh. It’s your turn to look away in shame.

Jungkook jumps at your words. “The skirt’s cute!” He basically shouts and you flinch at the sudden increase in his tone. Then you’re both left looking at each other wide-eyed again as he scrambles to assure you it isn’t your fault. “I like it, and it makes your legs look really nice, so don’t-“ he stutters, as if realizing the meaning in his words, “don’t stop wearing it...” he trails off, cheeks rosy. Your mind goes blank.

“R-Really?” You stutter, surprised at his compliment. It’s not like Jungkook never complimented you—dude couldn’t go fifteen minutes without telling his friends how much he loved them—but for some reason it feels different now.

“Yeah,” he assures you. “Makes you look nice, and um. Pretty.”

“Jeon Jungkook telling me I look pretty? Someone call TigerBeat magazine,” you joke, trying to ease the tension somehow. Your chuckle sounds awfully robotic to your ears, but it makes Jungkook crack a smile and that’s all that matters.

“Shut up. You know I’m not friends with ugly people.”

“Wooow,” you laugh, real this time. “How noble of you,” you retort, and he gives you his best snobby expression possible.

“Ya, you’re welcome,” he teases, and then suddenly remembers what he came for in the first place. “Give me Joon’s planner, I know you’re holding it hostage.”

You roll your eyes, and point over to the notebook on your desk that’s absolutely overflowing with sticky notes and bookmarks. “As if I’d want his nerd diary ruining the good vibes in here.”

“These good vibes smell a lot like Bath and Body Works perfumes, you cheapskate,” Jungkook says as he snatches the book off the surface. He’s at the door again, narrowing you with another faux uppity look when he adds, “this is a Victoria’s Secret Bombshell household.”

“Bombshe—you don’t even live here!” You huff in laughter, ushering him down the hall to the front door. He’s half a foot out the door when he suddenly whirls around, making you take a step back in surprise.

“The stars are cute, but I prefer hearts.”

He slams the door shut behind him so fast, that you almost don’t catch the smirk tacked on at the end.

You were many things, but a liar was not one of them. You couldn’t lie to your parents when you were younger and wanted to sneak out, to your teacher when she asked where your homework was, or to your friends when they asked you who you liked. You couldn’t even lie to yourself.

You’ll admit it, there was a time your eyes had lingered a little longer on Jungkook. When you would spend moments tracing the slope of his jawline, and memorizing the twinkle in his eyes. He was devastatingly handsome, and you would be blind not to see it.

But that was before you became close friends—before game nights at Hoseok’s became a regular staple in your schedule, before your little makeshift picnics in the quad, before you all became Park Jimin’s dedicated fan club (it’s a rotating unit consisting of whoever’s able to go to Jimin’s showcases).

Those fantasies of kissing Jungkook and going on dates were stuffed to the back as you became pals. As you’ve mentioned a million times now, Jungkook was the campus dream boy. He was hardly the skirt chaser he made himself out to be, too sweet and romantic for his own good. Besides, there was no need to be when the skirts flocked to him.

He’d had flings, and even girlfriends, in the time you’ve known him, but he rarely mentioned them to his friends. And even though you pushed that teensy crush aside, you still wondered how Jungkook acted with girls he was interested in, if it was the same he treated you and Chaeyoung, or special on an intimate level a platonic friendship could never be.

It’s the middle of the night when you first get a glimpse.

[1:21 am] jk wyd

[1:21 am] you sleeping , u?

[1:22 am] jk same anyway I finally beat world 8 in super Mario bros

[1:25 am] you omg the 1 w dry bowser?? [1:26 am] you wait u said u wouldn’t play w/o me :/

[1:27 am] jk u suck at Luigi and u know it

[1:30 am] you fuck u [1:31 am] you ok but seriously what do u want I have a test tmrw morning and am pretending to be asleep

[1:32 am] jk damn ok can’t I just talk to my friend about my successes [1:33 am] jk but if u must know

[1:33 am] you I must

There’s a lull in messages for a while, and you decide you should finally actually go to sleep, dabbing some spot ointment onto your skin before hopping in bed. You turned off the overhead light long ago, so the only light illuminating you now is the lamp by your bedside. You tap your phone once again right as Jungkook sends another message.

[1:40 am] jk you looked really pretty today

Oh. Your entire body pauses for a moment to process the sudden message, cheeks slowly heating up. You roll your lips in to stop the squeal that threatens to rip itself out of your throat, scrambling for something to type. But it’s the first time he’s randomly thrown something like this on you, and your brain feels like that episode of Spongebob when everything’s on fire.

Before you can send the jumbled letters you’d convinced yourself was acceptable, your phone vibrates with another alert.

[1:42 am] jk I know its weird to say that but I gotta make sure someone told u at least once today

Your heart flutters at the explanation, and you have to slap a hand over your face to get rid of the goody smile that overtakes your features. This time, you’re a little less thrown off and quickly tap out a reply before he can say anything else.

[13:43 am] you thanks kook :) was it the red skirt lol

You’d been experimenting with different skirts lately, quickly growing bored of the black pleated skirt you’d originally worn. Your latest trip to the mall had you coming home with a variety of colors and styles, like the dark red denim one you’d worn today.

[1:45 am] jk no!!!! [1:45 am] jk maybe… [1:46 am] jk ok yes you looked gorgeous

The tiny letters blink back at you, and you set your phone down for a second to smile stupidly at your dark ceiling. You only let yourself wildly kick your legs around for five seconds because Chaeyoung was asleep next door.

[1:47 am] you haha well I’ll make sure to wear it again for u :)

It’s only after you’ve sent the message that the last two words have you stuffing your face into your pillow to hide your embarrassment. Girl, what the fuck!!!

Oh my god, he could’ve just been friendly and polite this whole time. Jimin had said the skirt looked cute on you as well, and you hadn’t responded like this. All it took was a few compliments from Jungkook to have you dopily acting like a clown for his affections.

Before you can scold yourself anymore, your phone vibrates and you have to sit up to retrieve it from where you’d tossed it across the bed.

[1:50 am] jk for me? I’m honored :) [1:51 am] jk anyway get some rest before ur exam!!! [1:51 am] jk night cutie

You squeal, and Chaeyoung kicks your shared wall.

You liked to clown Seokjin for being the president of his fraternity. He was already a stereotypical frat boy, so it wasn’t that hard anyway; he came from money, was ridiculously gorgeous, and played on your school’s soccer team. However, behind that facade he liked to put up, he, too, was infected by the dumbass disease.

“Wait, are those your legs?” He says the moment you step into his frat party. Normally, he wasn’t prone to the same stupid questions that regularly plagued Taehyung and Jungkook (sometimes Namjoon, but everyone had their weak moments), so you deduce that he probably had some alcohol in his system to openly be asking you such a question.

“Yes, now give me whatever’s in that cup,” you brush off, not bothering to stick around to watch him not-so-subtly grope Chaeyoung as she enters behind you. You trust him enough to hand you a drink that hasn’t been roofied, but you’re also aware that Jin drinks like he’s trying to die three times over. One sip has your face scrunching up at the sour bitterness of it all.

There’s a loud cackle of a laugh that you’d recognize anywhere, and you turn to find Jungkook leaning against the staircase banister looking like a wet dream. “Someone lost on their way to Weenie Hut Jr?” he sneers, cheeks a nice rosy color. You flick his forehead.

You don’t bother gracing him with a reply, instead shuffling over so you’re stood side by side observing the party before you. Yoongi’s here, which is an even weirder sight than your legs being out, so you wonder why no one is talking about that. But then you see the way he’s trailing after Seokjin’s cat, Jalapeño, and realize he’s only here to make sure no one hurts her (she’s more important than anyone else here). You honor his service with another sip of Jin’s whatever the fuck mix.

“Wow, getting braver every day, huh?” Jungkook teases after giving you a very intense once over. He’s referring to the skirt you’re wearing, a little black circle skirt that flows around you like the first one you’d worn a couple months ago. Call it a tribute to the one that started it all. You’ve definitely experimented with lengths a little more, the one you’re wearing now brushing just barely below your ass. Appropriate for the frat party, but definitely not for your theology elective.

You hum, stepping aside as a couple makes their way up the stairs. You’re tempted to go tattle on them to Seokjin, but decide against it when you feel Jungkook’s fingers brush against your thigh.

He grins at the surprised little gasp you let out. “Pretty,” he chuckles, deep and seductive in a way you’ve never seen before. You were used to giggly Jungkook, and Jungkook who laughs like the stepmom from Cinderella, but you’d never seen this one before, the Jungkook who looked and laughed like he was straight out of a Calvin Klein campaign.

You giggle like a teenager at his compliment, unsure of what else to do so you settle on chugging Jin’s death drink. You only get a good three gulps in before Jungkook’s tugging the plastic cup away from you and setting it down on the nearest flat surface. “Don’t get all drunk on me now,” he jokes, eyes the teensiest bit glassy. He doesn’t look drunk, and he’s certainly not acting drunk. He might be a little tipsy, you think, because a completely sober Jungkook would never have the balls to tug you closer by the waist like this one does.

Your hands fall flat on his chest, warm beneath the material of his shirt. Not one of his super baggy ones today, but still a bit loose where it could hug his build. “What happened to the little red one? You said you’d wear it for me…” he questions, lips playfully pushing out into a pout.

You struggle to meet his gaze, focusing on the mole beneath his lip instead. “I, um, haven’t got around to washing it,” you stutter, absentmindedly shifting your weight from side to side.

“Really?” Jungkook presses, sounding like he doesn’t believe you at all. After a moment in which he ducks down to catch your gaze, he seems to accept. “That’s fine. This one’s cuter anyway.”

His words are emphasized by his fingers, tracing along the edge of your skirt while purposefully making sure to graze your skin. You shiver, unconsciously arching your chest into him. It’s only afterwards that you realize when Jungkook smirks in triumph. “Easy access too,” he murmurs, and your heart leaps in your chest.

“Jeon,” you whisper, hyper aware of all the people in this house right now. You’re standing at a point where everyone walks by, and the idea of Jungkook groping you in front of these people, some of which are friends, seems horrifying. “People can see.”

Jungkook’s Cheshire smile grows even wider, and you muffle a yelp when his hand slips beneath your skirt to grope your ass. “Since when were you shy?” He says, voice soft and lilting over the hum of whatever music is playing now. “Weren’t shy when you had your ass in the air that one day in your room.”

Your cheeks burn at the memory, but your core surges with a newfound heat at his wandering hands and teasing words. “Remember?”

You nod, tucking your head against his neck in a last ditch effort to hide your embarrassment. From here, your senses are bombarded with Jungkook and only Jungkook.

You feel him let out a long sigh. “Been thinking about you since,” he admits. “Nah, even before that. When you wore my shirt that one day after our balloon fight in the west quad.”

Your heart thunders at his sudden confession. The balloon fight in question had been a little over a year ago, a rallying effort from your friend group to cheer Taehyung up after an exam. After soaking each other to the bone with water guns and balloons, Jungkook had let you wear one of his stupidly big shirts home. So you’d ditched your usual jeans and shirt, wearing his shirt like a dress all the way home.

The fact Jungkook’s been thinking about you since then makes the butterflies in your stomach flutter.

“Every time you wear these little skirts, I think of that day. You, in my clothes, looking so soft and warm. Fuck, baby, you don’t know what you do to me.”

You glance around, and your soul almost leaves your body when you make direct eye contact with Yoongi holding Jalapeño across the room. He gives you that Yoongi look, the whatever you’re doing is weird but I won’t say anything because I don’t care look, and that’s your signal to stumble your way upstairs before Seokjin can see you two and scold you.

You’re not sure who’s room you end up, just that it has one and a half bunk beds in it, so you don’t hesitate to push Jungkook down onto the half. He plops down like a little cherub, all sweet smiles until you see the way his pants strain at the crotch. Of fuck, this is happening, you think as you climb onto his lap.

His lips envelope yours the second you’re in his arms. You’re not usually one to give into those John Green cliches, but everything about being in Jungkook’s embrace feels so right. Like you belong there, or whatever.

He’s a good ass kisser, but you shouldn’t be surprised. Jungkook was good at everything he did—such was a known fact. But he still kisses you like he’s trying to prove something, like he wants you to melt into him, and he succeeds. His mouth moves against yours, tongue sneaking it’s way past your lips until it’s inside yours, and you’re swapping spit. His breath hot, but you imagine yours is as well because just making out with Jungkook has your body temperature hotter than the inside of a sauna.

“Jungkook,” you groan when he pulls away, desperate to feel his mouth on yours again. He smiles, lips slick and cherried as he drops his hands to your waist.

“‘M right here,” he assures you, pressing a few pecks to your mouth before trailing his lips down your neck, deliciously licking and kissing every inch. You let out a choked moan, and you can feel his smile press against your skin. “Cute,” he croons.

“More,” you beg, fingers curling themselves into his hair. It’s gonna way longer these last few months, the front pieces almost brushing the tip of his nose. He looks sexy as fuck.

“At least let me stretch you out first,” he teases, face too cute for someone about to fuck your brains out. You huff in annoyance, snatching his hand away from its path to your panties.

“No,” you whine, and then shuffle forward to grind your center onto him. Jungkook groans, jaw tight as he watches you. “Just fuck me, Jungkook.”

His eyes roll back at a particular roll of your hips. “I-It’ll hurt, though,” he tries to reason, but his hands are already hiking up the back of your skirt.

“Make it hurt,” you mumble, so caught up in the moment that your eyes bulge out when he suddenly lifts you to your feet. “What’s wrong?” You huff in dismay, lower lip trembling at the thought of him changing his mind. He lets out an airy chuckle.

“Turn around for me, doll,” he softly demands, and not a single inch of you feels the need to go against him.

You’re met with the sight of your own expression, staring back at you from the closet’s mirrored sliding doors. It’s a little dark in the room, most of the light coming from a desk lamp on the other side of the room that had been on when you first broke in with Jungkook.

“So pretty,” Jungkook praises from behind you, and you watch in the glass as two firm hands snake around your waist, slowly easing you back into his lap. In the seconds you were distracted by yourself, he’d unbuckled the front of his jeans, the cotton fabric of his boxers brushing against your ass. “Gonna fuck yourself on my cock, baby?”

You nod, unsure of what to do with your hands. You needn’t worry any longer, your body naturally guiding you through the motions, until one hand grabs his thigh and the other grapples for the bedside drawer next to you. His fingers trace around your waist, hiking your skirt up to—only to reveal a pair of white undies with red hearts. Jungkook’s chuckle against your ear makes you clench your legs together. “Fuck, it’s like you knew this would happen,” he murmurs, and you can’t take your eyes off the mirror as you watch his fingers trace over your covered mound. “Did you?” He asks, breath fanning over your ear.

“N-no,” you gasp, hips jumping when he presses a lone finger to where your clit would be had your girly panties not obstructed the way. You’re embarrassingly wet just from kissing Jungkook, and his playful fingers only worsen your state. “Please hurry, Kook,” you plead, grinding back against his engorged cock.

“You sure?” He checks, and your bobble head nods have him muffling more laughter into your shoulder. “If you say so, baby.”

He lifts you up just the slightest bit to tug his cock out of its confines, and this is the only instance where you wish you weren’t looking at the mirror. His fingers dance along your skin again, tugging your panties to the side.

Screw it, just do it, you say to yourself before sinking down on his cock in one go. “Oh fuck,” you cry, head lolling back to rest against his shoulder at the sudden intrusion.

“Holy shit,” he sighs into your hair, one hand circling to the front of your waist, while the other creeps upwards to rub at where he knows your nipple is. If he were to pull your shirt and bra away, he’d see how rock hard your nipples were right now. “Relax for me, doll, I promise it’ll feel better if you relax.”

You nod, eyes squeezed shut as your body slowly assimilated to the feeling of being stuffed full. God, he felt good inside you. Fit every crevice of you pussy like he was made for you. “Jungkook,” you moan, and he hums in response. “You feel so f-fuckin good,” you babble, swiveling your hips much to both your pleasures. “Can feel you everywhere.”

He presses a kiss to your scalp. “Can you move for me, baby?” He questions, dropping his hands to your waist before slowly pushing you up so you’re not flopped against him like a rag doll. “Wanna see you bounce on my cock. You can do that for me, can’t you?”

You nod eagerly, desperate to show Jungkook how good you ride dick. You muster up the strength to sit up, one hand right around his thigh again, but this time the other one clamps down over his hand on your waist. “Good girl,” Jungkook praises, giving your hips a tight squeeze.

It’s like you thrive off Jungkook’s compliments, because soon enough you’re riding him like your life depends on it.

It’s a rhythm of pushing yourself over and over, thighs tense from the effort it takes to pull yourself away from his cock until only his tip breaches you, before dropping back down. You can’t entirely take the credit, because Jungkook’s arms are there, lifting you up before pushing you back down. Truthfully, he’s probably still doing most of the work in fucking you with the way you see his arms flexing in the mirror.

“Lemme hear you, doll,” Jungkook huffs, and you don’t hesitate to moan for him. It feels overwhelmingly good, his hands tight on your waist as they move you up and down, the material of your skirt bunched up between his fingers. What you’d give to feel them inside you some day, a day in which you’re not dying to feel his cock inside of you. “That’s it,” he grunts, and doesn’t even complain when your legs begin slowing down.

He picks up the slack for you, thrusting his hips up into you like you’re just some toy for him to use and discard. But the soft praises slipping past his lips assure you you are anything but. “F-fuck,” you whine, forcing yourself above and beyond as you begin to feel that familiar coil of heat grow tighter in your abdomen. “Your cock’s s-so f-fucking big!” You cry, and one look at the mirror let’s you know you look as stupid and fucked-out as you sound.

“Really?” Jungkook smirks, drilling into you like his life depends on it. There’s an embarrassingly growing stain on the front of your panties that you catch sight of in the mirror, and part of you wants to clench your legs shut so he doesn’t see. But it seems to do it for Jungkook, and he starts rambling about that next. “Look at you. Fuck. You’re ruining your cute little panties. Absolutely fucking soaking them with hot wet you are. I get you that wet, doll?”

You squeal at a particular thrust of his hips, feeling his cock so deep in you that your eyes momentarily go cross eyed. “Yes, yes!” You agree, bouncing yourself with a renewed vigor.

The answers please Jungkook, and he rolls forward until he’s pressing his tip faintly against your cervix, and your body damn near leaves your soul. “O-oh fuck!” You scream, body turning into jelly as your orgasm has you spurting hot cum into your panties and over his cock.

“Pretty even when you come,” Jungkook huffs, hips rocking up into yours for a few more minutes until he eventually comes when you roll your hips backwards. “Holy fucking shit,” he moans, finally releasing your skirt from the death grip he had on it.

You watch it flutter back into place around you, and you almost look like two platonic friends sitting together, but then Jungkook shifts inside you and your body convulses from the oversensitivity.

“Wait, you and Jeon finally fucked?!” Chaeyoung exclaims halfway through breakfast, which she had so lovingly prepared at three in the afternoon. “When? Is that why you made us get waxed last week?”

“No!” You flush, shoving another forkful of burnt scrambled eggs into your mouth. “We waxed our coochies before that, but I didn’t know we were gonna fuck.”

Chaeyoung blinks. She’s stupid pretty even with avacado spread on her cheek. “So do you have like a seventh sense on when to get your kitty trimmed?”

“What? No,” You scoff. “Seventh? What’s my sixth?”

“Knowing the exact moment Taehyung’s gonna throw up at a party.”

You accept. “Anyway, we just… I don’t know. It was at Seokjin’s third birthday bash last weekend.” She nods like she remembers anything besides sucking face with him all night. “We were talking and then suddenly we were upstairs and...” you trail off, glancing at your fake collection of succulents lining the kitchen window.

“Was he good?” She interrogates.

You flop back onto your chair dramatically. “Chae. He was so good,” you whine, and she slaps your arm in enthusiasm. “He made me ride him facing a mirror,” you spill.

Chaeyoung squeals. “Bitch!! Here I was thinking Jeon Jungkook was the poster boy of vanilla sex,” she pauses. “I mean, still pretty vanilla compared to the time Seokjin stuck it in my—“

You gag and she rolls her eyes. “Have you been talking since?”

This is the part where things get awkward, and Chaeyoung immediately senses as much. “Oh, honey,” she frowns, eyes furrowed in worry.

“He walked me home,” you mumble, toying with the tablecloth ends. “Kissed me on the doorstep and all, but besides a few texts, I haven’t seen him around,” you lamely finish. It’s been a week.

“Ugh, men are trash,” she spits, turning in her seat to play with your hair. “I swear if I see him on campus I’ll rock his shit. My older brother used to practice WWE moves on me, I could easily smash him through a table.”

“WWE wrestling is staged, Chae,” you point out. Chaeyoung was about ten thousand times more experienced when it came to men and their behaviors. She’s been played but also has played, so her reaction to you telling her about Jungkook is all you need to hear.

In all the scenarios you’ve ever had about Jungkook, him randomly ghosting you had never even been a possibility. The Jungkook from your imaginary universes either just dumped you, or awkwardly friendzoned you. But completely disappearing on you? Now that was some John Greene shit.

You’ve gone long periods of time without seeing him, like your freshman year you saw him one time in March. But even then he’d made sure to keep in contact with you, randomly blowing up your phone with Cup Pong and 8Ball requests.

He sent you two texts this whole week, and both of them had been to cancel your homework sessions.

You almost couldn’t believe you were living this life. The men are trash, love isn’t real, heartbreak can possibly cause death life. Forget John Green, your life had taken an unexpected Shakespearean turn.

“Oh,” you say the moment you step into Taehyung and Jungkook’s apartment, surprised at the fact Jungkook is there despite the fact he, y’know, lives there. In retrospect, you should have seen this coming when Tae had asked you over to help him decorate a poster for Jin’s next game. He’s never been to a single soccer match in his life. “Is Tae here?” You ask, looking every part the stupid bitch.

Jungkook’s cheeks had flushed the moment he opened the door. “No…” he answers, glances at the shoe rack behind the door as if to make sure. “Were you supposed to meet him?” Well no shit.

“Uhh, yeah,” you say, and it’s even more awkward than the time he saw your star undies. Granted, now he’s become very familiar with your underwear and what’s hidden beneath it. You would think such an encounter would bring you two closer. “I’ll just come back another time.”

“Do you wanna come in?” He blurts out before you can even turn away. You flinch at the sudden intensity of his voice, and then both of you are left staring at each other like cringey high schoolers. “I cut some cucumber slices with lime and that one spice you like.”

“Taíjn?” You confirm, and he nods. “I mean...sure, if it’s not a bother.”

Usually when you and Jungkook hung out at his place, you’d throw your bag across the room and flop onto the ugly armchair the moment you stepped in. Now, you’re awkwardly hovering by the armrest of the sofa, like this is your first time here.

Jungkook disappears into the kitchen to, you assume, get the cucumber slices. He comes back empty handed, and with a heavy heart. “I lied. There’s no Tajín,” he confesses, and you rush to tell him it’s okay but he beats you to it. “There’s no cucumber slices either. I just needed to get you inside to talk to you.”

“You act like I needed to be lured in, Jungkook,” you say, forcing a tight smile on your face. Jungkook visibly deflates at your tone.

“No, this isn’t right,” he huffs, dramatically throwing himself onto the couch. You jump at the loud groan he releases from his position, which is face stuffed into the cushion.

“You...okay?” You tentatively ask, clutching your bag even closer to your side. Jungkook shakes his head no against the couch. “Should I call Namjoon over?”

He sits up so fast you worry he’ll get whiplash. “I have a confession to make,” he informs you, doe eyes wide and serious.

Your brain processes for a minute before slowly responding. “Okay…”

At your response he jumps to his feet. “This may come as a shock, but I’m not a womanizer.”

You blink.

“When have you ever been a womanizer, Jeon?!” You nearly exclaim when you mull over his absurd proclamation. “Are there people who actually think that?”

“I think that people think that,” he stresses to you, running a hand through his hair. “Look. I don’t mean to brag, but I’m really nice and cool, and sometimes people think that means I’m flirting with them.” Valid point. “But I’m not, because frankly I’m terrible at shooting my shot.”

The fact he’s actually admitted it out loud leaves him devastated, and you have to stop yourself from rolling your eyes. Finally, something Jeon Jungkook isn’t good at.

“What lead you to that conclusion?” You carefully press on.

“Because,” he sighs, dropping back down onto the couch, except this time he’s sitting like a normal person. You sit beside him, close enough to the edge that you can just spring yourself out the door if need be.

“There’s this girl I like,” your heart pangs, even though the logical side of you can more or less guess where this is going. You’re stupid, but not that stupid. “She’s amazing, like everything about her makes me like her. God, she’s so cool, like everyone wants to be her friend, even though she sucks at Super Smash Bros., and burns her ear on a straightener at least once a month. But she’s funny and sweet, and makes me wanna join a clown troupe just to hear her laugh. And she looks gorgeous in skirts, and the way she rides dic—“

“Alright, that’s enough of that,” you interrupt, glancing at the coffee table decorated with Jungkook’s anatomy books, because you don’t want to look at the big dopey grin on his face as he talks about you and your dick riding abilities.

Jungkook grins, this much you can tell from your peripheral, before it drops into a frown. “Whole point is, she’s cool as fuck. And I… I think I might love her,” he admits, and you whip around to face him. His cheeks are as red as Taehyung’s current hair dye, which is to say they’re as red as a fire truck. You get th feeling you're mirroring his expression.

The silence following his confession seems to drag on an eternity, but truthfully, you and Jungkook both have the patience of a soccer mom of three, so he jumps to fill the spaces between you. “And like, I just wanna kiss her and hold her and watch her eat and cuddle her to sleep and hold her hand and buy her gifts, and I think I would die for her?—”

“Okay chill, Romeo,” you scramble to cut off that train of thought. Jungkook’s looking at you like you were the creative director behind Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker and the trailer released two minutes ago. It’s a weird reference but coming from Jungkook, it means a lot.

You don’t know what to say, but Jungkook beats you to it anyway. “There’s this girl I like,” he repeats, and your heart does nearly implode on itself when he reaches over to clutch your hand in his. Your hands are sweaty and fidgety from his confession, but so are Jungkook’s. “How do I tell her I like her?”

You gulp, before reaching over to smack at his bicep much to both your surprise. “Jeon Jungkook! How’re you gonna give me the best fucking of my life and then ghost me for a week, because you’re too much of a pussy to tell me you like me!” You almost want to cry, and you almost do when he wraps you in his arms with a delighted, warm laugh rumbling through his whole body. “You suck,” you huff, and sniffle once, and only once.

“Thank fuck,” he sighs in relief. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if you friendzoned me.”

“The friendzone—“

“—is a made up concept created by men who feel like they’re entitled to women and their feelings, I know,” he huffs and you laugh. You push yourself away from his chest to meet his gaze, stretching up to capture his lips in a sweet kiss that quickly turns naughty when you feel the flex of muscles beneath your hands.

“Ugh, you beefcake.”

“I wish,” he snorts, tugging you back into his chest as he flops down onto the couch. You snuggle into him, the position all too comfortable in your skirt. The only reason you’re reminded of it is because Jungkook traces his fingers along the edge of the material. “You asked me why I workout out but hide in big clothes, and the truth is its so I can beat up any meninist douchebag that tries to slander my girl in her thot skirts.”

You sputter. “My thot skirts—you asshole! All my skirts are of appropriate length,” you defend, pinching his side and winning a giggle for your efforts. “That doesn’t even explain the baggy clothes part either.”

“Shh, your thot skirt is tempting me.”

“He made you dress up as a what now?!” Chaeyoung exclaims, fork clattering loudly against her plate as everyone in the diner turns to look at you two. You try desperately to quiet her, but the damage is done and even the server whose long since become familiar with your antics looks disgusted.

“Oh my god,” Chaeyoung sighs, her concern on everything but this public humiliation. “I knew it. I told you he got along too well with Jalapeño, remember?”

[ NOW WITH A DRABBLE WOW!!! ]

#kpopwonderlandtag #thekpopnetwork #jjk♡#jungkook smut #jjk smut #jeongguk smut #bts smut #jeon jeongguk #mine

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adragonhoardingstories · 4 years

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Of Blood and Bonds- Chapter 5

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On that note, this book will contain swearing, mentions of rape and torture. I will try not be explicit but that's really relative. Read at your own risk. There will be warning before if I make a explicit scene so that you can skip it.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy and don't hunt me down for this.

Happy New Year

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

Another day she had needed to spend with the idiots in her class. Once again, she felt like cursing her parents.

Marinette was by all means done with Lycée, she was following University courses but after Tom and Sabine had disowned her in all but name, it's not like they knew that. Most of her old relations had no idea what she was up to and it suited her not seeing them ever again.

But despite everything, the Dupain-Chengs she didn't consider herself one anymore did to her, they still didn't want her to dishonour their family even more so they made an arrangement with her and her Lycée.

She had to at least show up for the exams and any school functions and they would leave her alone to do as she pleased instead of sending her to a boarding school and well with all her responsibilities, she never really had a choice.

Which brought her here - on the Gotham Field Trip. She really didn't know why they had even sent her here, they were only wasting their money and Sabine must have known that the chances of her meeting Bruce were high, especially since their activities were centered around Wayne Enterprises.

Today they were going to be assigned to one person they had to shadow all day - it was supposed to help them get some actual job experience.

Marinette was chosen to shadow the CEO - how surprising - and it just so happened that today was one of the rare days Bruce Wayne was in the company so she would have the pleasure of helping both him and Tim depending on who needed her most - yay her.

She was willing bet her future fashion empire that Bruce had orchestrated this in an attempt to get a chance to talk to her.

However she had to admire that one good thing come out of this - Lila Rossi got served.

Like she had mentioned it before, she didn't have anything to do with her past classmates except the bare minimum but it seemed even now the liar still felt threatened by her every time they met. And honestly, she couldn't care less except that wench was the reason her parents had turned against her and of course how could we forget the worse thing of all? That Lila Rossi was willingly working with Hawkmoth - a known terrorist.

So the jobs had been announced and Lila has started her usual act and name dropping and oh there must have been a mistake, Timothy told me that I would be chosen to work with him since I'm already used to helping him. That had received a sharp look from the one delegating and a simple comment about Miss Rossi you are to report to our legal team, they have something prepared especially for you. Seeing Lie-La pale and shut up so yeah that had been the highlight of her day.

But now, now she was most certainly going to be forced to speak to her father and she kind of wished that Lila had succeeded for once.

Just as the lady she had grown to like was about to show her the way, her father magically appeared not really, she had seen him hiding in the shadows for the last five minutes and offered to guide her himself.

As she predicted, he said nothing else, until they were in his office but once the doors were closed…

"Mari-" He started to speak but then the doors banged open and a haggard looking Tim Drake stumbled in.

"Nette, I heard I got you today. Thank fuck I didn't get one of the brats." He stumbled in on the couch, paying Bruce no mind and grinned at her. "Plus, I get sister bonding time so win-win for me."

Marinette looked from him to Bruce. "You have impeccable timing." She informed him. "So I'm going to make you coffee."

"You are an angel." He declared. "An absolute angel. Now I understand why Damian likes you so much."

Marinette laughed it off. "Damian likes me because I don't call him Demon Spawn Timbers."

"In my defense." He groaned. "He was a brat back then and now, well it's basically a nickname. Call it brother's privilege if you want. And he knows it."

Marinette smiled gently at him as she placed a cup of coffee in front of him and Bruce, and sat down drinking her own cup. "Does he know that?"

Tim blinked at her, a thoughtful expression taking place on his face.

It lasted until he tasted the coffee, then it was replaced by awe.

"This is so good, how is this so good, it's literally the same thing I drink everyday? Can you work for me permanently?"

She was amused and this conversation seemed to shock her father so it was a plus. "But Timmy, if I change my career how are you going to get your special MDC suits?"

That strangely made him go serious.

"About that, I needed to talk to you."

Marinette raised an eyebrow, this should be good.

"What would you think if Wayne Enterprises becomes the main sponsor for MDC?"

She leant back in her seat crossing her feet and took a long sip of her drink.

"Now why would I agree to that?"

Tim looked surprised while she was careful to keep her own face carefully blank but he recovered quick enough and seemed to thrive on the challenge.

Marinette could pinpoint the exact moment when he changed to his game face. "Why wouldn't you? This in the long term will benefit you especially when you decide to release your line or officially start your company."

"Who said anything about releasing a line? Right now I'm on a clientele only basis and the greatest thing about MDC right now is my anonymity. My business is flourishing and I'm on high demand, especially among celebrities so you can imagine the price I get for each of my works. Why would I want to change that?"

"While that is true, the novelty will eventually wash off. Your designs may be good enough for you to get some loyal customers but you won't be as you put it in high demand anymore. And I may have known you for only a while, but I doubt you haven't planned for the future."

Marinette could admit, she was a little impressed. "Also true, but I'm currently a millionaire and have more than enough money to launch a line by myself."

Tim opened his mouth to interrupt but she continues before he could.

"And yes, I do understand how accepting your offer will benefit me more but signing with you also means that will represent my brand and how can I - bearing my own interests in mind - accept knowing is publicly involved with Wayne Enterprises?"

He looked completely lost and Marinette was probably having more fun that she should with this. "I'm not sure I follow?"

"I mean that even if people don't outright state it, everyone knows that the Wayne finances and outfits the Gotham vigilantes."

"And your point is?" The poor boy was going to make her say it.

"Your costumes are a fashion disaster Timmy, an eyesore if not a horror?"

"They're not that bad!"

"Do not get me started on the first Robin's costume. Were you not in your right mind when you allowed it?" For the first time in the day, she spoke to Bruce.

"Wait, you know?" She shot Tim a questioning look. Why hadn't told him, she figured it out? The boy just shrugged and she sighed.

"It's not that difficult to figure out Bats. You and Mom literally met while you training in extreme martial arts and the way she described you doesn't match up with the idea the media has of you so I was already suspicious and then I met them and I saw them in costume, they have the same build and everything and their alibi was frankly terrible. Also the rate at which you take in kids matches with the appearance of each new Robin."

"When was the last time you got your IQ tested?" He demanded.

Marinette elected to ignore that comment in favour of finishing her conversation with Tim. "So?"

"So if I get everyone to agree to a costume redesign by you, you'll sign?"

"I get to re-design and remake all of your costumes as well as become the go to for the family for all your events."

"That's a lot of conditions."

She shrugged, a smile playing on her lips. "Those are my terms but if you'd like, you can consider the part about your costumes a favor to you sister so that she doesn't get a heart attack everytime she sees you suited up."

"I'll agree as long as you admit you're exaggerating."

Marinette gave him a deadpan look. "Have you ever seen the Red Hood helmet. I have nightmares about it."

He considered it. "Yeah okay that's fair. So should I start working on the papers?"

Marinette shook her head. "I'm going to rebrand once and for all once I'm 18 along with my face reveal."

"Rebrand, why?"

"Like you rightly pointed out two nights ago MDC stands for Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Well I don't want to be a Dupain-Cheng for longer than I have to. I'll be changing my name hence the rebranding."

"Would you consider Wayne?" Bruce asked softly. Marinette paused. She had been considering taking Master Fu's name actually. "I don't know B."

"I'll leave you two to talk." Tim said slowly getting up and she would have protested but she could not run from this forever and the Kwami pressing against her leg seemed to agree.

"Yeah just…" She took out her phone and send him a contact. "That's my lawyer, you can send her the papers to review. I'll talk to her about it."

Tim checked his phone and went slack jawed. "Elle Woods. Elle Woods is your lawyer." He threw his hands up in defeat. "I don't know why I'm still surprised at this point but I'm gonna ask, how did you get her to work for you?"

"She's one of my regulars. "

"Of course she is." Tim muttered. Marinette watched silently as he went to refill his cup of coffee but ended up taking the whole coffee machine with him and walked out of the door.

Marinette turned to Bruce. She was not looking forward to this but she sighed and got up. "I'm supposed to be working so give me something to do."

"I thought you agreed we need to talk Marinette."

"I never agreed to anything." She reminded him. "But yes we'll talk." She pointed a finger at him. "While I work. So, give me something to do."

"You need this to be on your terms." He noted.

"I know you've researched what happened. After having been stripped from my senses and having my will taken away from me, yes I do enjoy being in control." She dared him to say something. "So. Give. Me. Something. To. Do."

"You can arrange the paper on the desk. According to the project names, put it in alphabetical order with A being on top."

Marinette set to work without another word. Bruce took that as his cue to start speaking.

"You know about Batman. The year I stopped talking to you was when when I was assumed dead-"

"Then why?" She cut in sharply. "Did Alfred not even deign inform me that my father was dead? Or what about after you came back?"

He stayed silent.

"The truth B is that even before that you were speaking to me less and less. Your phone calls, rare as they were, were always so short I was never able to tell you what i wanted." She gave out a humorless laugh. "You know I used to be scared that you didn't want me. I mean why else would you keep me a secret from your other children? So I didn't complain because I didn't want to stop having the little time you even gave to me. Guess, I was right in the end."

"No." He stood up and came to stand in front of her. "Marinette sweetie, please believe me. I fell in love with you from the moment I saw you. I've never not wanted you but my lifestyle was always very dangerous but I never realised how much it really was until Jason died and then shortly after I returned Damian died. Every child of mine has been traumatized in some way by my enemies. I didn't want the same to happen to you. There are villains out there who know who I am. I got scared Marinette, distancing myself from you was me trying to protect you. I know - I know it doesn't excuse me not being there for you but you need to know I am so so sorry. Please let me make it up to you. "

Marinette felt the kwamis on her person press against her, offering their silent support.

"I'm willing to try." She said at last, finishing arranging the last of the documents. She looked up at him and could basically read the hope in his expression. "But you need to give me space. I'm not coming to live in Gotham nor am I going to defer to you. I've built my own life, you're not going to interfere with in. You can be in it but you don't get to try and change things."

"Okay, okay I can work with that."

"Then you've got yourself a deal." Marinette offered him her hand to shake and he did shake it but right after, he pulled her in a hug.

Bruce realized his mistake when Marinette stiffened up but she relaxed in his arms and she slowly, almost hesitantly clutched his shirt, like a small child holding their dad's shirt, trying to hide in his arms.

And a father's heart broke all over again.

#MLB X DC #maribat #platonic daminette #mentions of rape #torture #lila salt #adrien salt

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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What Nicktoon Reboots We Want to See Next

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When ViacomCBS recently announced the slate of programming that would be coming to Paramount+, the rebranded streaming service formerly known as CBS All Access, the media conglomerate touted a rebooted version of the beloved Nickelodeon classic Rugrats. Described as a “reimagining of the classic ‘90s hit,” the new Rugrats will feature the voice cast from the original 1991 animated series, but present the babies in a brand-new, three-dimensional CG style.

“Rugrats is one of the most iconic cartoons recognized by fans around the globe, and this original version is one we are taking great care and pride in creating for a brand-new audience,” said Ramsey Naito, President, Nickelodeon Animation. “Having the voice cast behind these special characters come together is one of the essential pieces to making the show recognizable and we can’t wait to watch this talented group bring them to life again.”

Rugrats is not the only Nickelodeon property getting an update from Paramount+ The service also announced Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years, the first-ever spinoff of SpongeBob SquarePants, new spinoffs, shorts and features set in the wildly popular world of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra, new live-action versions of both Dora the Explorer and The Fairly OddParents, and a continuation of hit kids sitcom iCarly.

One day the streaming wars will slow down, but until then, media conglomerates like ViacomCBS and WarnerMedia will lean on their wealth of existing intellectual property to entice buyers to sign up for a subscription to their respective streaming services. ViacomCBS is wise to tap into their Nickelodeon vault, as a whole generation of viewers weaned on Nickelodeon’s programming are now media buyers, many with families of their own. Driven by nostalgia and possibly fresh takes on old favorites, Nickelodeon IP could help Paramount+ catch up with its well-established competition.

With recent revivals like Invader Zim, Rocko’s Modern Life, and Hey Arnold! already delivered, here are some other potential Nickelodeon properties ripe for a reboot.

Danny Phantom

While Danny Phantom creator Butch Hartman may not be a favorite among the art community, Danny Phantom feels like the Nickelodeon property most fans are eager to see return. It’s easy to see why; the story of Danny Fenton, a teenager who’s transformed into half-human, half-ghost superhero Danny Phantom after an accident caused by his ghost hunting parents’ technology, had a unique comic book-influenced premise that lent itself well to interesting animation, colorful characters, and an excellent mix of action and comedy.

Superhero content has only further exploded since Danny Phantom’s cancellation in 2007, giving Paramount+ the chance to get in on the action with storytelling beats that are very familiar to Spider-Man fans. Hartman has already pitched Danny Phantom: The College Years on his YouTube channel and confirmed that a script for a live-action reboot exists. Whether the series returns in its classic style, a new CG rendering, or as a live-action property, Danny Phantom seems like a slam dunk just waiting to be thrown down.

My Life as a Teenage Robot

Speaking of superheroes, My Life As A Teenage Robot isn’t one of the most talked about of the old Nicktoons lineup, but it’s one of the series that’s held up the best. Credit that to Rob Renzetti’s art style, which used a classic sci-fi, Art Deco-inspired retro-futuristic look and a bold color palette. Centered on teenage robot XJ9 just trying to live her life as a normal, suburban teenager, the show got a lot of milage out of poking fun at the typical cliches about adolescence.

During MLAATR’s run, critics complained about the lack of complex storytelling, a problem that could easily be fixed by a new writing team focused on continuity and more epic action. Just like Danny Phantom, XJ9 would thrive whether she returns with a new look, in her classic style, or as a live-action interpretation. As long as there are teenagers, then stories about trying to fit in, feeling weird about your appearance, and achieving independence from your “creators” will always be around.

Aaahh!!! Real Monsters

Developed by Klasky Csupo, the same folks that brought you Rugrats, Rocket Power, The Wild Thornberrys, and As Told by Ginger, Aaahh!!! Real Monsters was garish, gross, and grimy in all of the best ways. Embracing gross-out humor and some lightly nightmarish imagery, Aaahh!!! Real Monsters took style inspiration from Soviet cartoons, film noir, and movies like Blade Runner and Brazil. The show followed young monsters Ickis, Oblina, and Krumm as they attend Monster School below a dump in New York City.

The show was cancelled in 1997 due to worries about its “disturbing” content, but the darker quality of the show paved the way for series like Invader Zim and Courage the Cowardly Dog. New York has changed a lot since the ‘90s, which could give Aaahh!!! Real Monsters plenty of material to play with. A new series could bring our original trio back or introduce us to a new class of monsters, giving us plenty of new, weird creature creations.

KaBlam!

Maybe the absolute coolest Nicktoon to ever air on Nickelodeon, KaBlam! was a spinoff of All That conceived to be an “animated sketch series” which served as a showcase for alternative forms of animation, like stop-motion, live-action hybrid, cutout photo, and more. Hosted by animated characters Henry and June, KaBlam! featured recurring cartoons like Sniz & Fondue, Life with Loopy, The Off-Beats, and fan-favorites Action League Now! and Prometheus and Bob, alongside one-off shorts and music videos from artists like They Might Be Giants.

While we would absolutely welcome more Prometheus and Bob shorts, the KaBlam! banner could be brought back to give new creators a chance to showcase their skills and creativity. Technology has come a long way since the last KaBlam! episode in 2000 and there are plenty of new animation techniques that could be put to use.

Hey Arnold!

While the show was recently brought back to life in the form of a 2017 TV movie titled Hey Arnold! The Jungle Movie, everyone’s favorite football head should be at the top of Paramount+’s list for a revival. Created by Craig Bartlet, Hey Arnold! ran from 1996 to 2004 and centered on fourth-grader Arnold as he navigated a facsimile of New York City while living in a tenement apartment with his grandparents and plethora of colorful characters.

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Set to a brilliantly jazzy soundtrack, Hey Arnold! taught audiences about respecting different cultures and portrayed inner-city life and non-nuclear families in a positive light. Hey Arnold! holds up incredibly well, and Bartlet and company could pick up right where they left off in their last feature. The world could certainly use more of Arnold’s optimism and positivity.

The post What Nicktoon Reboots We Want to See Next appeared first on Den of Geek.

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purge-that-urge-rhackathon · 4 years

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Touchy

Commission prompt: Jackothy (though if you want to add Rhys I won’t complain 👀): After having his face scarred, Jack realizes the only way he can see and feel his own face again is if he goes to see Tim. The other doppelgängers use tech which isn’t the same, who knows what they look like underneath? And Tim is... oddly ok with that (not at first tho; Jack was annoying. Still is but it’s oddly charming now) He spent his whole life being overlooked, and Jack focused solely on him is intense... basically Timtam gets a little too heated when Jack looks at and touches his face. Tim thirsts.

This is the first part of the commission :D Subsequent parts on my ao3 here. My masterlist archive of bullshit i write can be found linked at the top of the blog or here.

Handsome Jack was many things.

A hero, in short, opener of vaults and defeater of monsters, and CEO of the most powerful company in the galaxy.

And the price of that power had been his face.

Sure, Jack tried to buy into his own propaganda as much as he expected his employees to, but he couldn’t really lie to himself, even if he desperately wanted to. The ironic fact that he’d fashioned himself a mask of his own face wasn’t lost on him, but denial was a powerful thing.

He was scarred, disfigured with an injury which refused any kind of correction be it medical, scientific, or bordering on alien technology. The mask had been the logical next-step to try to regain some semblance of what he’d lost, and for a time, the power and re-branding that came with seizing an empire for his own was a good distraction.

He’d tried. Oh how he’d tried.

Every day that he looked in the mirror, mask or no, it bothered him just a little bit more until he couldn’t just ignore it. The mask began to overwrite his memories of his true features, making him panic in need of removal, only to have his ruined, panicked face stare back at him from the bathroom mirror.

The mask functioned as his face, but it just wasn’t. And without it, he still didn’t look like himself; not as he truly remembered. The damage his face had sustained did more than just wound his vanity. The deep fissure of old scar tissue bothered him sometimes if he stubbornly left the mask on for too long, and without that technologically-superior second-skin, he was almost totally blind in his left eye. Forgetting his face made him fear he was forgetting himself, and Handsome Jack the CEO of Hyperion wasn’t afraid of anything.

The logical next-step to quell the fear of ignominy was quite clear.

“Rhysie?” Jack spoke up, startling his personal assistant from whatever he’d been doing at his desk as he looked at the younger man. “Call up Timothy for me, would ya kitten? It’s about time for a quality-check. Make sure he’s still on-brand. And by on-brand, I mean me. Heh, get it? Because he’s me; Mr. Hyperion.”

Rhys gave Jack a depreciating moue. “If you’re going to say something about him being on you, or you being on me, or vice-versa, don’t bother. You’ve made that joke before,” Rhys snarked back, the snort Jack gave making the PA grin despite himself. “Get some new material, first.”

“Look at you, thinkin’ you’ve got me figured out,” Jack teased. “What color underwear am I wearing today, cupcake?”

“I’m surprised you even know about underwear, Jack.”

Two for two. It made the CEO genuinely grin.

Rhys was a good little assistant. Even if his creepy fanboy-gazes had eventually stopped after a few months of working for him, he still blushed when Jack brazenly flirted with him, though the older man never took it too far. Rhys was efficient, and despite Jack’s teasing, he did know the older man better than any past secretary or other idiot that couldn’t carry out Jack’s iron will the way he wanted.

Jack had gone through… a lot of personal assistants. The ones that had nervous breakdowns were one thing. The incompetant ones he certainly didn’t miss, but a couple had at least been amusing until Jack had had to airlock them.

And then came Rhys. The younger man wasn’t just good at his job, but he was one of a very few people to act normal around the older man despite his obvious hero-worship; to tease him back and roll his eyes at Jack’s too-sweet coffee-orders, and laugh at his dirty jokes, or come right back with ones to challenge them.

Jack knew it said a lot about him that he enjoyed an (ex)-creepy fanboy as the one to handle the personal details of his day, but he also felt just a little bolstered by the fact that Rhys still flushed pink sometimes over some of his more creative innuendos, despite the back-talk and rolled eyes. It reminded him that even after years of wearing the mask-- of no one seeing his true face- that he could still make a pretty, leggy PA blush. Despite the fact his face wasn’t exactly a face.

He was insecure. He was vain.

He knew he was vain, but the choice to rebrand himself after the branding-incident was wrought from insecurity above anything else, and he lied to himself about that as well. He changed his name to reflect what he wanted to believe: Handsome Jack. That he came into this world good-looking-- and so help him god- he wouldn’t let current-circumstances let anyone forget that fact.

Reminding himself, however, was where Tim came in.

“Tim is still on Elpis finishing that… thing,” Rhys informed with a slight, distasteful raise of his pouty lips. “When did you want me to set it up?”

“That thing,” Jack began, ignoring Rhys’ question to grin a little, “is going to make me even more stinkin’ rich than I already am, kiddo.” Rhys gave him a further-displeased look. “Oh come on, you liked the idea of eternal youth.”

“Spreading some Shuggurath-derived wrinkle cream on your face isn’t the same thing as eternal youth, Jack.”

The CEO didn’t miss a beat, and didn’t allow himself to dwell on the subtext Rhys didn’t even know he was on to. “It won’t just be the face, kitten. My scientists are gonna make it work on everything.” The regenerative-properties the creatures had were promising, according to the eggheads in R&D. Jack shot him a smirk. “Balls, too.”

“Gross.”

“What, you some too-good-for-nice-smooth-balls type?” Jack gave an exaggerated look over his desk. “You?”

Rhys put his face in his flesh hand. “I’m more disturbed by the fact you’ve got Tim out there milking them, Jack.”

“I was just being nice saying that.” Jack’s grin grew. “He’s not milking them for the compound so much as--”

“Aaaaand file that under things I definitely do not need to know about before lunch,” Rhys quickly interrupted, ignoring the older man’s grin and murmuring about ‘protein’ strands and regenerative ‘slimes’. “When do you want me to have him come up once it’s done?”

Jack knew exactly when he wanted Tim here: after-hours in private once Rhys had already left for the day.

He needed this. He needed it badly and couldn’t hold off any longer.

It had been over a month since Jack’s last ‘quality check’, and while Tim submitted to them without issue, too many not-between-missions-checks might raise the double’s suspicions as to what Jack was really doing. Looking at photos of the double were one thing (and good to help him hold out against the fear of losing himself in his mind’s eye), but it wasn’t the same as touching the planes of your ‘own’ face.

Good thing Tim was on a relatively-safe job collecting samples from the otherwise-dangerous creatures; Jack would be able to look and feel to his heart’s content under the guise of genuine quality-control when he knew there wasn’t a threat at all.

“That job’s almost finished though, right?” Jack asked conversationally. “Day after tomorrow? Did Timtams send you an update?”

Rhys’ lips pulled thin. “Yes. And he sent pictures, too.” Pictures Rhys honestly didn’t need to see, though Tim’s comments on each one were funny at least. The one the annoyed-double had sent of himself covered in… Well, Rhys wasn’t sure Shugguraths had entrails, but the caption of ‘Hyperion Beauty Cream coming to a store near you!’ made the image amusing at least.

It was still a gross assignment though.

Jack grinned at Rhys’ sour look. “Heh, neat. Send those to my comm, wouldja sugarplum?”

“If you have nightmares, it’s not my fault,” Rhys warned as he did as Jack asked. “There. Sent. Ew.”

“You could always send me some nicer pictures to give me sweet dreams, Rhysie,” Jack purred, teasing a bit even as his heart rate spiked at his PA’s words. Rhys just rolled his eyes with a little blush and a muttered “buy me dinner first” which made Jack relax a bit through a smirk.

There was no way Rhys could know what was going on in Jack’s head-- his words were coincidence was all, and Jack knew he was getting paranoid again- but the promise of his double’s return from Elpis was a relief that kept his worries carefully contained.

No one knew what was going on in his head. No one knew that Handsome Jack-- most powerful man in the whole goddamn galaxy who put the word ‘handsome’ into his own name- suffered from poor self-image. And no one would, as far as Jack could help it.

Hell, no one would believe that at any rate, either, which Jack was immensely grateful to his PR team about.

He was just tired. Stressed. Seeing Tim would help matters. Feeling him would help a lot more.

The taunting nightmares were keeping him from restful sleep; looking into a dream-mirror to pull off his mask only for nothing to be beneath it but a horrifying blankness, and in the dream (and sometimes still once awake) Jack really couldn’t recall what his face had once looked like. Putting his actual hands on his double would soothe his psyche a great deal, the tactile-sensation further embedding the shape and feel and perfection of Tim’s own face back into Jack’s subconscious.

Rhys set up the meeting, and now all Jack had to do was wait.

It hadn’t been easy to not watch the clock, or to keep his foot from tapping anxiously under his desk days later, but once Rhys had packed up-- asking multiple times if Jack would like him to stay- the CEO was pacing the space behind his big desk waiting for Tim’s return.

Elpis loomed outside the large window, it’s pink glimmer lending an ethereal-quality to Jack’s office as Rhys got the main-lights as he’d left. Only the light on Jack’s desk remained on, the rest of the office bathed in Elpis’ glow. To think he’d once wanted to crack the proto-planet like egg, only for it to be key to his recovery.

The Shuggurath research was extremely promising. That the creatures could generate other creatures-- not that Rathyds were particularly useful themselves; moon-Rakks, Jack called them- lead down some very interesting paths.

Rathyds shared a few qualities with the Shuggaraths that spawned them, but genetically they were different creatures. Shuggaraths bred just like anything else to create more Shuggaraths, but the fact they were capable of creating a second, unique animal held implications which got Jack very excited indeed.

The skin that was scarred by Eridian-technology refused any attempts to change it, while minor nicks and cuts that Jack got while shaving around the thing healed back up just fine. By his own observations (and tests several techs did before he airlocked them for what they saw) his normal skin was fine and unaffected by the depth of the brand, while the scar itself was… different.

Genetically different, but still a part of him.

Jack believed that the weird moon-dwelling animals were key to healing his face. Whatever protein or enzyme or slimey bits that they contained might be able to rewrite the damaged cells and reverse the scarring, or at the very least, minimize it to not need the mask anymore. The ugly, bulbous creatures created much more elegantly-designed animals somehow, and if that was possible, then maybe it could be applied to himself as well.

He could be normal again. Be handsome again, without the necessary moniker.

Until that happened though, Jack had Tim to get by, and he was antsy as ever to see the younger man.

“Did you forget to pay the power bill?”

Jack spun around on his heel, a grin on his face even though he’d been taken by surprise from hopeful, antsy thoughts. “Timmy! There’s my favorite double! Flip ‘em back on, wouldja kiddo?”

Tim rolled his eyes, but he had a smile on his face as he did just that, and crossed the office towards Jack’s desk. His mission had gone well, and he’d brought back more than enough samples to last quite some time. The confidence he felt over it was all over his face; especially from the lack of injury he’d come back with this time. “I think you’re gonna be impressed.”

“That so?” Jack said with a raise of his brow, impatience over wanting to get his hands on the other man’s face kept carefully tramped down. “How’s that gorgeous face, kiddo?”

“I’m more worried about my jacket,” Tim responded with a sour look. There had been… a lot of slime. “Did Rhys show you the pictures?”

“Not the ones I wanted to see,” Jack said with an implicit smirk, forcing himself to walk slowly towards the double as Tim climbed the steps to the dais Jack’s desk was on. His eagerness wasn’t something he wanted to showcase.

“Of Rhys, or of me?” Tim joked right back, grinning at Jack’s surprised bark of laughter.

“Cute, Timtam. Real cute.” Tim smirked unapologetically, and Jack knew well the mischievous look on the double’s face. So Tim was in a playful mood, then. The mission must’ve gone very well indeed. That was beyond excellent. “You feel free to send me whatever pics you feel like, handsome. I’m a big fan of close-ups.” The smile on Jack’s face was genuine, even if he was dying to get his hands on the body double. “Remind me to give you a raise, too.”

“Add that to the extra vacation days you also said you’d give me.”

Jack grinned as they stood before one-another. Tim was giving him a doubtful, accusing tilt of the head, and Jack’s fingers itched so badly to rove over Tim’s face that he didn’t even bother teasing the younger man. “I did say that, didn’t I?” He raised his hands to Tim’s face, the double patiently waiting for Jack to remove the mask himself. It was something the older man insisted upon-- part of the nightmare he badly needed to address- to remove the mask and find no damage beneath. “Echo Rhysie about it. Now let’s see that gorgeous face.”

Jack tried to keep his fingers steady as he reached for the double’s face, and Tim waited far more eagerly than he wanted to appear.

Tim didn’t necessarily care for these ‘brand-checks’ at first. Jack already demanded most of his time, and what little free time he did have, he didn’t want to waste on his boss making sure he still “looked right”.

Pfft, as if Tim wasn’t a professional.

Tim wasn’t exactly vain himself, but he did take pride in his acting skills, and no one was a better Jack than him. That was just a fact. Because there were no other Jacks like him. None who’d undergone extensive plastic surgery, modulator-implants, and actually fought side-by-side with the CEO before he was the CEO. Tim might not have been much pre-surgery, but Jack had seen his potential, and Tim had risen to all expectations. And he was proud of that.

None of the other doubles knew Jack the way Tim did, either, not to mention actually looked like him. The others used tech which was fully reversible. What he did was an art, regardless of his personal feelings on the matter.

So needing to be checked if he was ‘on-brand’ was insulting to his professionalism at first, and annoying at best, even if it was always the same. Jack’s scrutiny had made him uncomfortable, as if Tim could lose everything he’d managed to gain after being overlooked for so long in his life. And Tim hadn’t liked it.

He liked it now.

Jack had nice hands. He’d know. It wasn’t an awful thing to be so casually handled by him, and regardless of how long he’d known Jack now, the intense focus of such a powerful man always got his heart beating just a bit faster.

Jack’s hands were expert in the removal of Tim’s own mask, the CEO undoing the clasps before setting the material down on his desk. His attention came back to Tim, and at that moment the double watched him carefully for the change that would occur in the older man during the reveal.

Jack was… different during these checks, but not necessarily in a bad way.

He always took a moment after the mask was fully removed-- eyes darting about Tim’s face as if to check that everything was still there- before a sort of almost relief settled into the older man’s eyes. And then came Tim’s favorite part: the quirk of Jack’s lips as the man cupped both his cheeks in his large, warm hands, and firmly brushed his thumbs over Tim’s cheeks.

Tim used to blush heavily when Jack had first started demanding these checks. The intensity of the CEO’s focus had made poor Tim go entirely red in the face, and he had trouble meeting Jack’s eyes the first few times. Jack’s hands were always surprisingly gentle if not firm on him, the inspection a lot more like a full face massage than anything else. The touches and traces of fingers and thumbs over the bridge of his nose, under his left eye, the bottom of his cheeks, all made Tim want.

They hadn’t at first, though. Tim was observant, and the simple fact alone that Jack wanted to inspect under the mask-- where no one else ever saw anyways so what would it matter if he had some blemish or something?- made him think.

Tim wondered sometimes if Jack ever forgot that he knew what the CEO really looked like under the mask, or if he thought Tim might be repelled by it, and thus hid what Tim suspected were the true reasons for checking. The double had his own suspicions on what Jack was really doing.

He’d been there when Jack had been branded. It made an impression on him for multiple reasons: the way Jack handled the pain; the visceral reaction to seeing-- essentially- himself be branded, skin ruined and blistered. The way Jack was still somehow strong after the fact and overcame it all. Yeah, Tim had changed his entire being into someone else, but it had been more or less voluntary, and wholly expected. What Jack went through…

Well.

Tim had been there for it and he still couldn’t imagine going through that himself. Not without totally breaking. Him and Jack maybe butted heads sometimes but he admired the hell out of the older man, and even a bit more than that.

It was part of the reason he submitted to these examinations. There was something pitiful and desperate and utterly human in the way Jack’s thumbs sometimes slid up his cheekbones, palms sliding down to turn his chin this way and that between his big hands. Jack might’ve poked fun about telling him not to break Jack’s investment in ‘his’ face, but there was something a little too real behind his concern. It made Tim ache for the Jack he knew right before the man was betrayed. He knew what the scarring looked like, but such superficial things, ironically, didn’t matter to the double.

Tim tilted his head as Jack’s thumb slid down the side of his neck, hoping the older man wouldn’t register the hard thump of his heart, and then Jack breathed out in clear relief before letting Tim go. He tried to hide his disappointment that it was over already.

Tim’s voice wasn’t as confident as he would’ve preferred, but he kept the excited tremor from it, at least. “Everything still in one piece?” he joked as Jack looked at him a few moments more.

The CEO raised a brow, cocky-smile back in place. “Why, got something more interesting to show me, Timtam?” He waggled his brows in what was clear tease as Tim rolled his eyes.

“I only got a little electrocuted, and nowhere interesting,” the double replied.

Jack didn’t miss the slight pinkness to Tim’s actual cheeks (the sight was going to be in his dreams tonight for its rareness, that much he was certain) but the older man didn’t comment on it. “Interesting for you, or interesting for me?” He gave the double a wink.

Tim felt his heart thump hard in his chest, deciding to play a little with the older man in lieu of getting to truly indulge; Jack flirted with everyone. It didn’t mean it was real, or that he meant it. Tim still liked it, though. “I’m not stripping to let you find out. It’s cold in here.”

Jack snorted and retrieved the mask from his desk. “You can always send me pictures. Don’t forget about that!” Jack handed the mask back to Tim. He never liked putting the mask back on the double himself, and Tim never questioned it. It was something he preferred to watch Tim do; something his subconscious would have to reconcile as an active choice to cover his unharmed face.

“There would have to be pictures for me to even send,” Tim muttered as he put things back in place.

“I like your thinking, pumpkin! Let me know if you need any inspiration.”

Tim snorted but left on his way as Jack shooed him out.

The CEO collapsed into his chair once the office was again left in Elpis’ pink glow. He felt more relaxed than he had all month, and with the relief of Tim’s visit finally washed over him, he knew he was going to get a very good night’s sleep indeed.

He wasn’t even mad that he didn’t have any dirty dreams that night, instead happy to sleep like the dead.

He’d need to take advantage of all the rest he could get now, before the shame of his true face caught back up to him again.

Chapter 2 will be found at my ao3 :)

kofi | ao3 | commission ‘info’

#jackothy #rhackothy #handsome jack #timothy lawrence #borderlands fanfic #rhys the company man #rhack #rhys #fanfic #my fic #i keep getting carried away im having a super fun time and like i know the first part is a lot of exposition but bare with me! :D #WOOOOO :D hehehe my ot3 <3 <3 <3 THANK YOU FOR THIS PROMPT

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yergink · 4 years

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countdown timer

all my thinking about colress has manifested into a fic.

Crossposted to Ao3

---

A megalomaniac and a scientist discuss evil plans over coffee and cheesecake. It goes about as well as you'd expect.

How Doctor Achroma joins Team Plasma.

--- In a rooftop cafe in Castelia City, Doctor Achroma waits patiently for his coffee to arrive. He sits alone at a window side table, his chin resting in a delicate hand as he watches the movement of the crowded city streets below.

Achroma is an accomplished young pokemon researcher, who has rapidly gained fame in the recent months, and who is known well by the general public for his papers discussing the nature of a pokemon’s strength. His name is often passed around university circles, and his work in recent years has only caused him to have an even greater public presence.

This is how the waiter at the cafe recognizes him, setting down his ordered cup of dark espresso with a shaky hand. Achroma gives him a smile, and the waiter works up the nerve to ask in stumbling words if the doctor would look over some of his notes for him.

“An up and coming researcher, are you?” Achroma asks.

“Yes, sir,” the waiter replies, holding the platter he’d delivered the coffee on tight against his chest. “And your work has just been such an inspiration.”

As he draws the cup closer, Achroma responds amusedly, “So I’m told.”

He goes silent for a moment, turning back to the window and gazing at the skyline. The waiter’s knuckles clench tighter around the platter, gut churning in a mix of anxiety and anticipation. Then, Achroma laughs. It’s abrupt enough to startle the young server.

“You know, the person I’m meeting with was supposed to be here ten minutes ago,” the doctor drawls, producing a red pen from a pocket and setting it down next to his cup. “I think I have some time to kill. Do you have your work with you?”

Almost dazedly, the waiter nods, hurrying to the back room to fetch his notes.

The bell above the cafe entrance chimes. It is the third time it has done so since he has arrived, and Achroma does not look up.

He can hear one of the wait staff flustering over the new customer, who grumbles rather loudly, “I’m meeting someone here. You don’t have to seat me.”

“Sir, please--”

“Out of my way.”

A short yelp bursts from the attendant as the cafe’s new arrival shoulders past her. Achroma can just see it over the top of the notebook he’s holding. He sighs, knowing what’s next.

Ghetsis slides into the seat opposite Achroma, immediately clattering his cane against the table and hissing, “I believe I requested we meet somewhere more discreet.”

Indeed he had. But Achroma had figured that allowing Ghetsis to choose the location of their meeting would give him a little too much control of the situation. Plus, he was bound to pick somewhere creepy, and no matter what anyone said, Achroma prided himself in having standards.

In response, he simply hums, eyeing Ghetsis over. “Well, to be fair, I didn’t realize you’d be coming looking like that .”

Ghetsis’ outfit is what Achroma would not-so-lovingly refer to as a ‘Manic Cult Leader Uniform,’ complete with high collared cloak and elaborately decorated cane. It seemed almost as if he wanted to be clocked as a former Team Plasma leader. Not that regular clothes would have done much to hide his identity anyway, with a face like the one he had.

Achroma gestures to his own attire: a sleek black turtleneck and gray slacks. “It could have been discreet. If you’d taken a bit more thought.”

Instead of trying to refute Achroma’s smug comment, Ghetsis just scoffs. “It’s fine. Can we get to business now?”

Achroma taps his pen to his chin, looking down the page before him. “We can. Just as soon as I finish looking at this.”

“Excuse me?”

The sound of the pen scratching is Achroma’s only reply. Ghetsis slams a hand onto the table, and the force of the blow causes the doctor’s coffee to spill from its cup and for his pen to slash a jagged line across the paper.

“This is important business, Doctor,” he sneers.

Silently, Achroma puts down the notebook and reaches for a napkin, mopping up the spill. “I had to wait nearly twenty minutes for you to arrive,” he informs Ghetsis, his tone frigid. “So you’re going to have to wait a little while for me.”

Ignoring how his statement leaves Ghetsis fuming, Achroma resumes his reading. In the end, it only takes him a minute more or so. A ridiculously short wait time for Ghetsis to get so fussy about.

When he’s finished, Achroma caps his pen and sets it down, waving the server over once more. Nervously, the young man approaches the table.

“What did you think?” He asks, clearly anxious about the doctor’s response.

Achroma hands it back to him, and says, “It’s a solid start, but you need to step out of the hypothetical and put some of your theories to the test. Other than that, I can see that you certainly have a lot of passion for your research, and I'm sure you'll be able to find success."

Practically beaming, the young man stammers, “Thank you sir!” He marvels at the page for a moment, as though he’s been handed some sort of prize rather than his own notes.

It’s only then that he seems to notice Achroma’s companion. He turns to Ghetsis, pencil ready, and asks, “And, um. Can I get you something?”

“You have cheesecake?”

“Yes, sir.”

“That, then. And make sure it’s cold.”

The waiter nods, jotting it down before scurrying off, leaving the two men alone. Achroma sips his coffee.

“I didn’t take you for a cheesecake type. Always thought you were more into danishes,” he comments.

“It’s been years, Doctor. You think my tastes have all stayed the same?”

“I suppose not,” Achroma muses.

A brief bout of silence descends upon them, broken when the waiter arrives once more with the cheesecake. When he sets it down, Achroma can see it is chilled enough that the top is coated in a sheen of ice crystals. Ghetsis does not thank him for it, and the waiter takes his leave.

“Can we get to it now?” Ghetsis asks with poorly concealed impatience, picking up his fork and cutting into the slice.

Achroma has never seen anything more ridiculous than the overwhelming figure of Team Plasma’s former leader delicately eating a slice of cheesecake. He smiles in amusement and pretends it’s agreement instead. “Of course. With pleasure.”

Ghetsis swallows a bite of cheesecake before speaking. Achroma’s eyes follow down his throat.

“Now, I’ve gotten together nearly fifty of the old members. A great number were taken in by police, but I believe that we can begin recruitment again. With a little rebranding, it won’t be difficult. Of course, there is nothing that can be done about our runaway sages, but I believe…”

Slowly, Achroma’s eyes begin to glaze over as he listens to Ghetsis spew statistics about membership and plans and incomprehensible ideology. He realizes, quite suddenly, that he honestly couldn’t care less about the activities of a failed cult, and there were plenty of other things he’d rather be thinking about.

For example, as he watches Ghetsis speak, he finds his gaze trailing down at the half-eaten cheesecake, where the ice coating has begun to melt, moistening the surface. He thinks about a recent event he’d heard about, where an ice type trainer had developed hypothermia from prolonged proximity to his pokemon. He figures that you could craft an effective freezer from just the use of a few ice types, and then realizes that the idea probably wouldn’t fly with most manufacturers.

He glances outside, where the light of the midday sun reflects off the tops of skyscrapers, coloring them white. A flock of pidove fly by, chattering and cooing. One of them nearly grazes the window. Achroma thinks about how the top recorded speed of a pidove in flight is 92.5 miles per hour and wonders if there was a way he could increase it.

“Are you even listening?” Ghetsis asks suddenly, pulling Achroma out of his thoughts.

Not in the slightest, he thinks but doesn’t say. Ghetsis is glaring at him now, his one good eye narrowed and suspicious. Achroma takes his time answering, allowing himself a sip of coffee before cracking a reassuring smile. “Of course, my friend. And you’ve brought up several fantastic ideas,” he says and nods, as though he has any clue what nonsense the man in front of him has been rambling about. While his response is somewhat thin, it seems to do enough to convince Ghetsis, who calms and settles back down with a grunt. It appeared he’d gotten so worked up at the possibility that Achroma hadn’t been paying attention that he’d actually risen from his seat.

“Good. You always were a bit of an airhead, so I just had to make sure,” the villain grumbles.

Achroma doesn’t even waste his time thinking of a comeback to that one. Although, he does find Ghetsis’ needlessly emotional reaction amusing. He wonders idly how in the world Ghetsis came so close to becoming the most powerful person in Unova when he clearly had no capacity for complex thought.

In fact, he doesn’t know much about Team Plasma’s first attempted takeover at all. He’d been traveling in Sinnoh at the time, and now that an entire two years had passed since the event, it seemed like most of Unova were hesitant to speak on the subject.

Before he can spend too much time following that train of thought, Ghetsis says, “And I assume you’ve thought over my proposal?”

Ah, there it was. Finally. The reason Achroma had agreed to this meeting at all.

“I have,” he starts, carefully. “And I can’t express how intrigued I am by it. I mean--” he lowers his voice, leaning over the table. “Capturing Kyurem? Using it? As a weapon? You know me too well, old friend.”

“I figured you would be interested. Yes, that is the plan. And you’re the only person I know who I believe would be able to do it.”

Achroma hums. “Yes, I believe so too. It’s not something any self-respecting scientist would want any part in.”

“It’s very lucky then, that you have no self respect.”

Achroma laughs. “Well, no respect for the ethics of science, at least.”

He pretends to think for a moment, as if he didn’t already know exactly what he was going to say.

“And, as Head Scientist, I assume I would have full reign to do whatever I want with Kyurem? As well as the other captured pokemon?”

Ghetsis chuckles. It’s a dark, scathing sound. “Oh, yes. About that. I don’t want you to be Head Scientist, my friend.”

“No?”

“No.” A malicious grin crosses Ghetsis’ face. “I want you, Doctor Achroma, to lead Neo Team Plasma.”

Out of everything else, that’s what startles him. His eyes widen, and Ghetsis looks incredibly self-satisfied at having caught him off guard.

“Leader of Team Plasma, huh,” he considers the sound of it.

“It would suit you,” Ghetsis offers. “You’d have free reign of the entire operation. No limits as to what experiments you can conduct. As long as, of course, you also work to forward the overall goal of the team…”

“So you would, what, lead behind the scenes, then? Make me a figurehead?”

“Not quite. No figurehead this time. I’m not repeating my failures.”

Achroma doesn’t know what he means, but he decides it doesn’t matter. This opportunity was a good one. It would certainly suit his needs. Of course, he understood what Ghetsis was doing. Always ready to throw the blame onto someone else. But Achroma was smart. He wouldn’t let himself be so easily duped.

He’d take the bait and use Team Plasma, and by extension Ghetsis, for as long as he so desired. And then, once he’d tired of his playthings, he would see to it that the team was destroyed, and Ghetsis put away.

It would be easy.

He smiles warmly, extending a hand. “Alright then, old friend,” he says. “You’ve got yourself a deal.”

#pokemon #colress #colress fic #achroma #pokemon black and white #pokemon black and white 2 #pokemon fic #fan fiction #my writing #marine blogs #reblogs appreciated !

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woodwind-sensei · 5 years

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Top 10 Figure Skating Programs: 2018-19 season

It’s been about a month and a half since the normal figure skating competition season came to a close, bringing us one step closer towards the next Olympic Games. With the advent of the new IJS, the programs we saw this year was nothing like we have seen before, and some of them rank among the best programs in figure skating history (that’s right, I’m going there, kids). Without further delay, here are my personal Top 10 figure skating programs from this season.

10. Mariah Bell (USA) “To Love You More” short program, choreographed by Adam Rippon

Mariah Bell missed an Olympic berth last season, mostly due to inconsistency and packaging issues. With a majority of the major U.S. ladies out of the picture this season, it was high time for Mariah to step up to the plate. I absolutely loved the upgraded packaging and content. The short program was so positive in spirit, and it was a pleasant surprise to see Adam Rippon’s competitive choreographic debut (to my knowledge) to be a job well done. I hope we see a lot more Celine Dion power ballad programs in the future.

9. Shoma Uno (JPN) “Stairway to Heaven” short program, choreographed by Mihoko Higuchi

Figure skating’s resident smol boi/silver princess Shoma Uno hit it big with this short program. Sexy, daring, and smoldering with intensity, Shoma showed his capability of the dramatic with this program. Though his inconsistency with the jumps made it hard to enjoy sometimes, he just has an x-factor on the ice that draws you in. That spread eagle after the triple axel gets me every time. It’s such a small moment, but it gets me so excited because I’m completely hooked by how statuesque he becomes in such an instant.

8. Peng Cheng/ Jin Yang (CHN) “Ophelia” short program, choreographed by Lori Nichol

Peng and Jin had been the pair that was ever the bridesmaid. When Peng was with veteran pair skater Zhang Hao and Jin with up-and-coming star Yu Xiaoyu, the federation decided to switch these two partnerships up. Yu/Zhang always got the political push, and that somewhat left Peng/Jin in the shadows. That all changed this season, and a lot of it had to do with this short program. They really found a style all their own: simple, uncluttered, yet packed with stunning elements and a cute and charming spirit. We’re going to be seeing them for a while, and I promise you, they will be a force to be reckoned with.

7. Wakaba Higuchi (JPN) “Energia” short program, choreographed by Shae-Lynn Bourne

Wakaba Higuchi might have had a spotty season this year, but this short program showed us why we fell in love with her in the first place. Shae-Lynn effortlessly displayed her power in this program, emphasizing Wakaba’s capability of flow and control while balancing fun and working the crowd. Japanese Nationals was the peak of this program’s life, and I certainly hope Wakaba uses this as an exhibition piece in the future. Shae-Lynn was also responsible for her legendary James Bond free skate, and will choreograph Wakaba’s short program next year to “Bird Set Free” by Sia.

6. Kaori Sakamoto (JPN) “The Piano” free skate, choreographed by Benoit Richaud

So, as all three of my online figure skating fan friends know, I am a Kaori stan. I love and appreciate children of pure sunshine with fantastic skating skills, and Kaori is just that. Though this program isn’t the best program she’s had, what I think works is that the program is built on momentum. It builds continually, reaching a climax with the choreographic sequence moving straight into that stellar triple loop. It also shows how Benoit choreography is supposed to look. Benoit Richaud uses a lot of angular movements but tries to combine it with the natural flow a skater must have over the ice. It works better on Kaori than opposed to his other big ladies’ client Bradie Tennell (USA). Bradie’s movements and angles are so sharp and harsh it seems forced and almost unwatchable, while Kaori’s smoothness over her blades is more pleasing and interesting to digest.

5. Sui Wenjing/ Han Cong (CHN) “Rain, in your Black Eyes” Free Skate, choreographed by Lori Nichol

Sui and Han made a surprising comeback after withdrawing from the Grand Prix series due to an injury and surgery to Wenjing. This program was iconic. From the very opening poses, it absolutely melted me. I don’t think it’s as good as their Blues for Klook short from a few years ago, but this free skate was overall amazing.

4. Evgenia Medvedeva (RUS) “Orange Colored Sky” short program, choreographed by David Wilson and Sandra Bezic

Evgenia’s move to Brian Orser created so much buzz, and everyone was waiting to see what she would do with choreography not from Ilia Averbukh or Daniil Gleikhengauz. I have to say, they really hit the nail on the head with this one. I thought the rebranding to the ingenue was so great, and the little touches from Sandra really brought the program to life. Those opening poses were my favorite part. It’s unfortunate that this program was eventually shelved, because I definitely liked this program more in comparison to the Tosca program, but I understand how important it is to make sure Evgenia has authority over her own skating career.

3. Gabriella Papadakis/ Guillaume Cizeron (FRA) Free Dance to Rachel Yamagata songs, choreographed by Marie-France Dubreuil

Papadakis and Cizeron continue to evolve their unique style with this amazing free dance. I was personally very curious to see how they would have topped their timeless Moonlight Sonata FD from the Olympic year, and this program is right up there with the best programs of all time. The way they look at each other throughout just draws me in. Even the softest touch with a finger puts them in total sync. My favorite moment is the twizzle sequence that really comes out of nowhere. It’s so smooth. And then that low, flat curve lift is out of this world. No one can touch this team.

2. Lim Eun-soo (KOR) “Somewhere in Time” short program, choreographed by Jeffrey Buttle

Eun-soo’s rise to the senior ranks was one of the big buzzes of the season. With a recent move to Rafael Artunyan, it looked like she was ready to take her competitive career to the next level. And this short program was BEYOND almost every program that everyone else had. Every element was beautifully woven into the choreography. She just looked stunning on the ice almost every time. The only criticism I have is that the sleeves on her costume were a bit distracting, but that’s such a minute detail on an otherwise ethereal program.

1. Satoko Miyahara (JPN) “Song for the Little Sparrow” short program, choreographed by Lori Nichol.

This was the clear standout program of the season for me. Out of all the skaters from the previous Olympic cycle, I thought it would be hardest for Satoko to keep up with the pack. But I was proved wrong, with this short program proving that artistry is still what brings the audience into a skater’s performance. Everything is so perfectly placed: every hand had a purpose, every stroke had a meaning, and it all melded together to create a masterpiece. This is what skating should be.

So many of the programs were good this year, but these 10 are the ones I want to watch over and over again. They set the bar for the Olympic cycle so high, and it’ll be interesting to see if these programs will be surpassed. We’ve already had some interesting announcements in terms of next season. I’m particularly intrigued to see Benoit Richaud work with Satoko Miyahara. The premiere of that program at Fantasy on Ice wasn’t stellar, but I’m interested to see how the program will evolve as Benoit and Satoko continue to work together. Figure skating continues to bring it with amazing programs, so next season should be an interesting ride.

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thelastraigeki · 5 years

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Things Might Be Looking Up!

About a few weeks ago, I had managed to apply for Jo-Ann Fabrics which is about a ten minute walk to a two minute drive from where I now currently live, and after what could be considered three weeks of waiting, I had recieved a phone call yesterday which was to set up an appointment for an interview with the hiring manager at that particular store and today was the interview-- It was a relatively quick interview and I managed to get offered the job, and I accepted it. The pay is relatively good and the hours are more or less comparable to the house which I had worked when I was employed for Toys R Us-- although this place seems to be a lot more relaxed and I won't have to deal with rambunctious children who leave the aisles a mess. Of course, I still have to provide information for a background check and I might start the earliest around Tuesday of next week.

This is something which I have been waiting for almost a little over a year for-- because it has been one year since I've worked after Toys R Us had shut down when the company filed for chapter eleven and closed all of their stores within the United States and laid over thirty one thousand employees just to avoid paying whatever debt that they seemed to be experiencing, and restructure and rebrand the company. And add on top of that, the board members of Toys R Us have given themselves a million dollar bonus and didn't give the little guys, some of whom had remained loyal to the company for over thirty or more years, severance pay. Employees had to fight for that severance and supposedly, they are still fighting for it... I don't know the details, but as my hours were manipulated by the management team at my Toys R Us, I was ineligiable for unemployment benefits nor am I able to see that severance pay money in my hand.

But things are finally looking up now... I was offered the job at Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts, and the starting pay is actually higher than what I was being paid at Toys R Us when the company had shut down. This actually makes me very happy as in my second year of Toys R Us, I wasn't seeing an increase of pay and pretty much wasn't valued very much over there but the atmosphere of this new place seems to be pretty relaxed and the hiring manager seemed to be an overall nice guy. Of course, I am going to have to learn some new skills which I didn't learn at Toys R Us such as cashiering (this is something... I absolutely dread) and working the cutting table for fabrics. Of course, I am going to be trained to do these things but... it might be hard. But if I have to learn it to keep my job, so be it.

Over all, I am just happy that someone had decided to pick me up for a permanent part time job. It seems like things are going to be looking up for me and my family... family being myself and my mother only, of course and we're going to try and pick up the pieces which has been a struggle for the last eight years. We're living in a new condo which we moved into around late November, early December and we don't have lousy neighbors living above us like before.... Although they seemed to be quite heavy footed in their steps and seem to be moving furniture around a lot, vacuuming too since the have a Cocker Spaniel and that breed of dog tends to relentlessly shed. But at least they're not getting drunk, watching football and stomping around or having drunken sex like the last neighbors.

I'm just happy that I will be making money soon, and that could mean I will be able to do a lot of things such as helping my mother out with the bills and hopefully... once again be able to pay for my own comic books and pay for commissioned artwork once again.

I feel really good about this... Maybe things are looking up for me. I most certainly hope they are... I've been through so much.

#Life #Real Life #Employment

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katwriting · 5 years

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Fic: Sound of your Heart

celebrity AU // chapter 2

After their chance encounter at the coffee shop, Alec and Magnus meet again. This time, they linger. Or at least they try.

word count: 4.9k (7.6k total) // Read on AO3 (or continue reading below)

The door to the office fell shut heavily behind Alec as he strode into the room, brows furrowed and lips pulled in a thin line. Saying he was beyondpissed that he had been dragged away from the coffee shop after meeting the most gorgeous stranger he had ever seen, would be the understatement of the century.

"I swear to God, Izzy, if this isn't an absolute emergency, I'll –"

Across the room, his sister Isabelle looked up from the thick folder she had been going over, completely unfazed. "Chill, big brother," she said, pushing her chair back and getting up from the table.

"Besides," she said with a wink when she reached him, "this is an emergency." She led Alec over to the small coffee table in the corner of her spacious office and pointed towards two flower bouquets resting in vases on the glass surface. "White or light pink roses?"

Alec glared at her. "Are you serious?"

"Dead serious. Now, are you going to help me decide which flowers to put in my wedding bouquet or not? Because the flower guy wants a decision by this afternoon and we're not getting any younger here, Alec."

Alec rolled his eyes in exasperation, but eventually obliged. "Both. Mixing them up a little will look great, I think." He looked at the flowers again and sighed. "Why do I have to do this again?"

"Because," Izzy said as she stalked back to her desk, stiletto heels clicking on dark tiles, "Clary is busy picking out Simon's tux with him. So you, brother dearest, get to be my maid of honor for the day."

Alec winced. "What about Jace?"

Isabelle just leveled him with an unimpressed glare over the rim of her reading glasses. "Are you serious?"

"Fine," Alec surrendered, a smirk pulling at his lips at the thought of their kind, but not exactly flower-savvy brother picking out Isabelle's wedding bouquet. "It may not be the very best idea."

"I think apocalyptic is the word you are looking for here."

Alec chuckled. "Alright, you win. Is there anything else you need me to do or can I go back to enjoying my day off before mom finds out I'm here and starts pestering me about the paperwork I'm not going to do, even if she reminds me a hundred more times about it."

A low ping from Isabelle's computer, announcing a new email, made them both flinch. Sighing, Izzy looked at her screen and then back at Alec, regret in her gaze. "Looks like she just found out. She wants us both in her office, pronto."

With a sigh that sounded like the weight of the world had just been put onto his shoulders, Alec turned towards the door and walked out, Izzy on his heels. If there was one thing that everyone in this company agreed on, it was that you better not let Maryse Lightwood wait.

***

The decision to start working in his mother's publishing company had been a no-brainer for Alec. Lightwood Publishing had always been a family business. Alec had grown up watching his parents run the firm like their own personal empire. He knew most of the people who worked there, was on first name basis with the essential personnel. He had been raised knowing he would run that company one day if he wanted.

Things had shifted after his parents' divorce, though. Lightwood Publishing had belonged to both Alec's parents equally, but it had always been Maryse who had run things. After the divorce she had taken over as sole owner. Robert had moved to Los Angeles, taking up a lucrative offer of an old college friend to join the board of a new company. Most of the board members had left with Robert, either joining Robert in his new company or taking up competitor's offers, leaving Maryse to put together an entirely new management team. That had opened the window for Alec to rise from his previous job as an editor with a bunch of administrative tasks to a more strategic position. He was now head of fictional publishing and took care of all projects that fell into that area. He also took care of a lot more managerial tasks than before, with the eventual goal to follow his mother's footsteps and take over the company one day.

Two years had passed since then, two years that Alec and Maryse had used to completely rebrand the company. They had butted heads more often than Alec could count, which had mostly been due to Maryse still clinging to her and Robert's old ways of running things, whereas Alec had been aiming for a slightly more modern approach. It had taken many more or less constructive discussions (and a bunch of very non-constructive arguments) to eventually figure out where they wanted to take the company in the future. In the beginning, every new author Alec wanted to sign or any new genre he wanted to implement in the company's lineup had been a struggle. It had taken them a while to figure things out, but now that they had, Lightwood Publishing was doing better than ever.

With Alec and Maryse finally working well together and Isabelle being a force to be reckoned with in terms of marketing and public relations, the company had turned from a successful and respected, yet antiquated publisher of classics and political biographies to a recognized player on a much broader market, its program now including a broader variety of genres and targeted at a more diverse audience. With the help of Isabelle and her talented team in PR and marketing they had been able to make the rebranding process go over relatively seamless, as far as the public was concerned. There had been some hiccups along the way, but judging from the most recent figures, people liked what they did.

The rebranding process had been lengthy and arduous, but at the end of the day, Alec was still very satisfied with what they had created. Plus, it had helped him to a job with tasks and responsibilities he enjoyed.

Well, most of them.

What he certainly didn't enjoy was that despite him having risen to management level, Maryse could still send him to any and all appointments she didn't have time to attend herself. That list included a few very interesting types of appointments, but mostly they were the kind of trips that required a commute halfway across the city (which was of course a total coincidence).

One of those meetings was the reason why about two weeks after running into Magnus at the coffee shop, Alec ended up walking through the streets of Brooklyn once again, fuming with anger about how useless the entire appointment had been. He'd thought most of their business partners had realized by now that Robert Lightwood wasn't coming back and Alec was now their first contact for anything fiction. But apparently news hadn't spread yet to that particular illustrator's headquarters. Despite him sending them the details a few days prior, they had not even looked at his plans. And after they had asked for the fourth time in an hour when they were going to be able to speak to management, Alec had politely, yet distinctly ended the meeting (and mentally crossed them off his list of potential artists for the upcoming young adult series he needed a cover illustrator for).

Alec had come across people like that a lot back when he had first been promoted. Most of the company's business partners had been fine with the change in leadership and they had continued a reliable business partnership with them. But every now and then there was that one company so used to making deals with either his father or his mother that they just wouldn't accept or respect the fact that the younger generation slowly taking over.

Meetings like that frustrated Alec more than any other part of his job, sometimes so much that they left him in a foul mood for the rest of the day.

However, over time Alec had found a way to cope with that anger and prevent it from ruining his day: Plugging in his headphones and going for a walk whenever he had the time. Given how stupid the people at the meeting had been, it seemed like just the right way to clear his head before returning his office.

He had been strolling through Brooklyn for about ten minutes and was contemplating whether to grab lunch now or rather hope for a good day at the cafeteria back at the office when his surroundings started to get familiar. Alec realized that he was just a few minutes away from Pandemonium, the coffee shop he'd met Magnus at. Checking his watch, he realized that he still had some time until his next appointment, then without much thought crossed the street and headed towards the coffee place.

Alec's go-to remedy for anger over ignorant business partners may be some music and a walk, but a large latte to drown his sorrows in turned out to be just as fine. Especially since this time around, Pandemonium wasn't nearly as packed as the previous time and Alec could easily find a seat.

On his way to a table in the far corner of the room he walked past the table he'd sat at the last time he had been there. He didn’t feel a tiny bit of melancholy when he walked past the occupied table, not at all. And it absolutely didn't get worse when he, once he had sat down at his table, surveyed the room to see if maybe, against all odds –

Alec snorted at his own pathetic behavior. He had met Magnus once. They had just sat together because there had been no other space to sit left. They'd had a good chat, so what? People did that all the time.

Yeah but people don't think about that chat two weeks later, you idiot, he internally scolded himself. Sighing, he grabbed his messenger bag and pulled out one of the manuscripts one of his editors had forwarded to him for consideration. Might as well get some work done.

He had made it through about twenty pages of a really promising story about a young policewoman working her ranks through NYPD while at the same time uncovering a massive legal scandal when next to him, someone cleared his throat.

"Excuse me, can I sit here?"

Startled, Alec looked up – right into a pair of dark Ray Bans. It took Alec a few seconds - and the owner of those dark Ray Bans pushing them down and looking at him over the edge of the tinted glass - to put the pieces together. But when he did, he smiled in surprise.

"Magnus! Hi!"

Magnus smiled back. "Hey. I just saw you sitting over here all by yourself and thought I had to say hello." He then paused, a hint of doubt crossing his features. "Is this weird? I can totally sit somewhere else if it is. It's not like there's lots of people here this time around."

Alec's brain had mostly clocked out to focus on the hint of Alec's eyes visible behind his sunglasses so he wouldn't stare at Magnus' ridiculously tight jeans or the gorgeous leather jacket over a navy V-neck sweater. Thankfully, it kicked back into action at the slightly nervous tone in Magnus' voice and prevented him from any potential embarrassments.

"Don't be ridiculous," he said hurriedly. "I didn't mind your company last time and I don't mind today. Have a seat!"

"Thanks", Magnus said, sitting down across from Alec and crossing his legs. He placed his mug on the table and smirked as he saw Alec's mostly empty latte. "So the coffee they sell here managed to match your high standards after all."

Alec chuckled. "I have been a couple times before last time, thank you very much. But yeah, the place grew on me a little.

"As it should. I don't call this place my favorite coffee shop for no reason," Magnus quipped. He took a sip of his coffee, then set his mug down and looked back at Alec. "So. How have you been?"

Alec sighed, thinking of the meeting that morning. The short walk from his meeting to the coffee place had helped, but there was still plenty of unresolved frustration growling in his stomach. "Besides my job kicking my ass recently and my sister's wedding plans stealing my last nerve whenever my job doesn't? Fantastic. You?"

Magnus smirked. "Well, my cat apparently thinks he's Banksy now and started systematically ruining my new living room curtains by running his claws through it until they tear. But other than that, I don't have anything as fancy to report as a sibling's wedding causing me headaches. But I have to admit, I would love to hear more about that story. That bad, huh?"

Alec let out a defeated sigh at the thought of The Bouquet Incident, as he had dubbed Isabelle's interruption for his last meeting with Magnus. He didn't even want to start thinking about all the other small and bigger mishaps that had followed.

"You have no idea. But if you really want to hear it, I hope you brought some time with you, this is going to be a long story."

Magnus grabbed his own coffee mug and leaned back into his chair comfortably. With an elegant wave of his hand, he motioned for Alec to begin. "I'm all ears."

"Well, it actually all began with the reason why I had to leave so suddenly the last time –!

"Oh, you mean when you just bailed on me and all you left was that charming little note?"

Alec huffed in amusement. "Yeah. Arguably not my best moment."

"Not just arguably."

"Hey! I'm trying to tell a story over here. Do you want to hear it or not?"

Magnus laughed softly, then reached out for his coffee and took another sip. "Sorry. I'll be nice now, I swear."

Talking to Magnus was just as easy as it had been the last time. They had a good laugh about The Bouquet Incident and all the other little hiccups and problems of organizing Isabelle's wedding. In return, Magnus told Alec a few stories about his best friend's moving troubles and how someone from work majorly pissed him off, which then led to Alec telling Magnus about his meeting earlier that day and everything that had gone wrong with that. Magnus sighed, laughed, rolled his eyes when Alec walked him through what had happened, from time to time interrupting with an anecdote or two of his own. Oddly, Alec felt himself relax more and more the longer he talked to Magnus. Which was even weirder considering Alec usually didn't open up to strangers that easily, let alone tell them about his personal life.

But he found that talking to Magnus was actually enjoyable. He was interesting and attentive, funny and sassy without ever being condescending or judgmental. He had fascinating stories to tell, yet was great listener as well.

And he seemed to know on instinct what to say to make Alec feel better. Whether by telling him about his cat's most recent antics (Alec had a good laugh when he learned Magnus had named his cat Chairman Meow) or by recalling one of his mishaps while writing new music (Magnus had previously mentioned that he sometimes liked to write songs in his spare time) – the longer they talked, the more Alec's anger fade away.

Unfortunately, the remaining time on Alec's lunch break faded away just as quickly. When his phone pinged with a reminder that his next appointment was approaching, he felt like barely twenty minutes had passed when a glance to his watch told him they had actually been talking for almost an hour and a half. Alec's heart sank at the thought of having to leave Magnus once again. He put his phone down and looked up, only to realize that Magnus was already frowning at him, cautious.

"Bad news?"

Alec cleared his throat. Magnus' gaze lingering on him totally didn’t make him nervous. It didn't.

"Sort of. Lunch break is over; I need to go back to work."

Magnus pouted, which totally didn't pull Alec's entire attention to his lips for a second. Not at all.

He snapped out of it just soon enough for Magnus not to notice – at least he hoped so.

"Aww, shame," Magnus said, "but I would have had to go soon anyway. Are you taking the subway back to Manhattan?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I'm headed that way too. Want to walk together?"

Alec smiled and nodded. Apparently he wasn't the only one who didn't want their break to be over yet.

He totally wasn't relieved about that. He wasn’t.

Fine, maybe a little.

The walk to the subway station was short, but comfortable. They kept talking about they had planned for the rest of the day. Alec learned that Magnus was going to visit a friend in the afternoon and told him about the meeting with finance he had scheduled next. Magnus, who had put his sunglasses on again the second they had left the coffee shop, grinned at Alec's lack of motivation and Alec was sure that behind the dark glasses his eyes crinkled with glee.

They reached the subway stop way too fast for Alec's tastes. Alec sighed when he stopped a few steps away from the stairs and turned to Magnus, who was already looking up at him.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye again, then?"

Magnus chuckled. "I suppose it is." He paused, looking at Alec with a slightly hesitant expression, almost as if he was contemplating something, weighing the pros and cons. "Except if you're interested in a rain check?"

Alec felt his lips pull into a smile. "I'd like that.

Magnus grinned back at him. "Me too."

Alec's gaze drifted down the street, back down the sidewalk they had taken to get from Pandemonium to their current location. "So I guess I'll just see you next time I run into you at Pandemonium?", he teased.

Magnus' laugh was as soft as his voice had been over the past few hours. "I guess so. But to be totally honest with you – as much as I enjoyed our chance encounters, but…", he said, pausing for a few seconds, before glancing back up at Alec. "How about we make things a little less complicated and you give me your number?"

***

Alec didn't mind working for his mother. He didn't.

Or at least that was what he tried to remind himself of as he was stuck in his second boring meeting of the day, trying his best to not fall asleep while Aldertree from finance talked about the company's most recent revenue figures. Well, talking wasn't exactly the correct term as far as Alec was concerned. Trying to convince Maryse that Alec's children's books program line was doomed to fail sounded more like it.

They had been going back and forth for almost an hour now. As a consequence of Lightwood Publishing's rebranding process, Alec had implemented a line of books for children under the age of ten and signed a bunch of promising authors. Just like everything else that meant a change from the company's previous ways of work, it had taken Alec some convincing until Maryse had agreed.

However, things had been changing recently. While at first she had merely tolerated the program, she seemed to have warmed up to it. A few weeks prior, she had even expanded Alec's budget for the project. He'd already had thought of a few interesting ideas on how to go forward with it, but apparently - if things were up to finance - those were never going to happen.

He was dragged out of his thoughts when Aldertree directly addressed him for once, instead of just talking to Maryse all the time.

"Look, Alec, I'm not trying to crush your plans here. I'm just trying to make clear that the children's book program hasn't been performing as well as we had thought it would. From a financial perspective, it would make sense to invest that extra budget into something else with a higher return, like the classics."

Alec snorted. It took everything in him to not roll his eyes too, instead he leveled Aldertree with an unimpressed glare. "The classics? The very thing that has been keeping the company from becoming more popular with younger people, or you know, just people in general, for the past few years? Sure, makes total sense," he deadpanned.

Maryse sent him a sharp glare from her seat across from him. "Alec."

"I'm sure these ideas are well and good from a financial point of view" Alec continued. "However, we have to keep the creative aspect in mind as well. And judging from that, I see no reason why we should shy away from expanding our children's section. It's brought us a considerable amount of new readers, also it has made us look better in the public eye." He paused, looking at Aldertree and then his mother. "It's only been about a year. Let's give it some more time."

Aldertree opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by Maryse herself. "I think we are done here for today," she said, closing the folder with the figures they had been going over for the past few hours. "Thank you, Victor, for your suggestions. I will review them with Alec and get back to you early next week.

Once again, it took Alec everything in him to hide his reaction. Only that this time, it was a smug smile. A glare from his mother made it disappear rather quickly, though.

"What was that, Alec?"

Alec sighed and turned towards his mother. "Aldertree has tried to sabotage my work ever since I got promoted. I'm done putting up with everything, just because he's the head of finance. That was that."

Maryse's features softened. She got up from her seat and circled the table, sitting down in the chair next to his. She reached out and took his hand, squeezing it lightly.

"I know you're not exactly his biggest fan" – this time, Alec did roll his eyes – "The thing is, he's doing a great job as head of finance. You're doing a great job as this company's future CEO. You don't have to like him to work with him. I'm not too fond of him either. But can you, please, make it seem a little less like you want to kill him on sight every time you see him?

"I'm not –" Alec tried to protest, but was silenced by a knowing look and a raised eyebrow from Maryse. "Fine. I guess I can try."

"Thank you. I appreciate it." Maryse got up and ruffled through his hair, which had long gone messy from Alec running his hands through it in annoyance throughout the afternoon. "Speaking of trying, how did your meeting this morning go?"

Filling his mother in on everything that had happened earlier that day took Alec about another half hour. After that, he felt drained, even though it was only 4pm and he still had work to do. Since heading home for the day wasn't an option, he did what he always did when he felt like going home but couldn't actually do so yet – he made his way to his sister's office.

Isabelle was on the phone when he entered her office. He leaned in the doorway for a second, hesitating, just in case she was talking about anything important. Isabelle waved him in as soon as she noticed him standing there, gesturing for him to have a seat at the couch she kept in her office for precisely moments like that

With a sigh, Alec flopped down on one the couch, his back flat on the cushions and his legs dangling over the edge. He closed his eyes and tried to ignore the sound of Izzy's phone call while also trying not to focus too much on the headache that was building up just behind his temple.

Eventually, Izzy hung up and came over. She took in her brother's sprawled out form and chuckled. "That bad, huh?"

"You have no idea," Alec retorted and groaned when he turned his head to look at her and moving his head made the pain worse. "I had a meeting with Aldertree."

Isabelle grimaced. "My condolences. That guy is a nightmare," she said, sitting down in the chair across from Alec. It had originally been just the couch in her office, but she had added the chair after Alec had made coming over to vent whenever work pissed him off a recent event.

Alec sighed. "Tell me about it. I wonder if he's made it his own personal goal of ruining every idea I have, or if he is that much of a jerk with everyone.

Isabelle had started skimming through one of the gossip magazines she kept in her office to indulge in sometimes, and looked up at Alec, unfazed. "Oh, he is like that with everyone. Lydia had a meeting with him last week, when she came back I thought she was about to take his head off. Something about cutting costs of our book presentations for the next quarter."

Alec pulled out his phone and started scrolling through his messages, just in case Magnus actually started to use the number Alec had left him. He smirked at Izzy's mention of Lydia's murder plans. "I relate to that sentiment on so many levels."

Chuckling, Isabelle softly slapped him with her magazine. Alec yelped. "Hey! I came here to rant about Aldertree and my general state of misery, not get physically assaulted by my own sister."

"It's not assault if it makes you stop saying stupid stuff. Besides, you're not ranting, you're staring into your phone. What's so important on there? Hot date tonight?"

Alec waited just a second too long with his answer. Long enough for Isabelle to realize just how close to home she had hit with her joking assumption.

"Oh my gosh, you totally have a hot date tonight!" She put the magazine cover away and leaned forward, curiosity radiating off her. "Tell me everything!"

Alec felt like smacking himself into the face as he dropped his phone on the coffee table. Feeding his sister that type of information never ended well. Once something had caught her attention, she was like a bloodhound in fancy clothes and high heels. Elegant, yet deadly precise. It was what made her great at her job, but also terrible whenever it came to matters Alec would rather keep private.

He groaned at his own stupidity, then rolled his eyes in a desperate attempt of making Isabelle believe she had assumed the wrong thing. "There's nothing to tell."

"You really need to work on your lying skills, Alec. I don't believe you for a second," Isabelle said with a laugh that only grew louder when Alec felt his cheeks warm up in embarrassment. "So, who is he?"

"I told you Isabelle, there is no one. And even if there was, I wouldn't tell you. You're too nosy for your own good sometimes."

Isabelle tossed her hair over her shoulder and shrugged. "It's not my fault I'm fabulous. But you're still a terrible liar."

"I'm not –" Alec started, about to start ranting about how he still deserved to have a private life, even if Isabelle and him were very close. But he didn't get to actually do so, as his phone had apparently picked just that moment for the ultimate betrayal. Out of nowhere, it started vibrating with a new message, the glass coffee table enhancing the sound. It was only thanks to Alec's long arms and quick reflexes that he could save it from his sister's nosiness.

"Hands off!"

Isabelle giggled. "Wow, that has to mean it's something serious."

"It's not serious, we've barely – ", Alec mumbled, shutting his screen off, before he'd even realized what he'd said. When he looked at Isabelle again, he let out a defeated sigh. Her shit-eating grin spoke volumes.

"You know what, I'm gonna go. I've had enough people annoying me for one day."

"Whatever you say, big brother," Isabelle called after him when he walked out the door. "But don't forget to tell me what your beau texted you."

"You know I won't," Alec retaliated, waving over his shoulder as he walked out of her office.

He didn't get to check the message until later that night, when he was back in the quiet safety of his own apartment with no annoying clients, colleagues or meddling younger sisters in sight.

When he finally did pull out his phone again and opened his unread messages, he was glad he hadn't. The message's content made him let out an embarrassingly loud laugh he really, really wouldn't have wanted anyone to hear.

Alec! I really enjoyed our talk this afternoon, but I'm not sure if I typed in your number right. Just text me back to let me know, will you? Also, if I did get the number wrong and this is the phone of a nice old lady or some other handsome single guy, I sincerely apologize. Well, in the old lady case. - M.

Still smirking, Alec dropped onto his couch and started typing a reply.

#malec #malec fic #malec fanfiction #soyhfic #katwriting #magnus bane #alec lightwood

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