#promos are a shot in the dark but i will keep having hope!!

[kookslastbutton]

Guilty Pleasures ༓ jjk, kth (m) | chapter ii

✒ Summary: Three years of being Seoul's power couple earns you nothing but a big fat divorce settlement and your face plaster on every gossip column around town. You're angry, hurt, and desperately want to move on, but worst of all? You're still in love with the man who started the whole mess, even though the most he can ever see you as is a friend. The renowned actor you've hired to be your company's new endorser seems to have a soft spot for you though. He's easy on the eyes, you'll admit, but who actually wants a divorcee like yourself? It's unrealistic really.

pairing: ex-husband ceo!jungkook x ceo!reader, actor!taehyung x ceo!reader

genre/AU: angst, smut, fluff, loverstoexesto ?, coworkers2?, unrequited love

Word count: 4.5k

Warnings: oc and jk are both 30, Taehyung is 32, swearing, fighting, confrontation, tornado of emotions, mentions of alcohol consumption, mentions of sexism in the media and business world, public shaming (both direct and indirect), morally grey characters, mentions of toxic relationships, mentions of abandonment issues, mentions of therapy, attempts to self-regulate but reader is pissed, mentions of self-blame though oc knows its not entirely her fault, mentions of defamation charges, JK is just 🤬 while KTH is 😇

playlist: Unkiss Me, Apologize, Hate That I Love You, etc.

a/n: Woah okay....so had I fun writing this, even though it took me a hella long time to decide whether to continue the story as a series or not 🫣 Anyway I altered the summary slightly from chapter one (and updated for consistency purposes), but it doesn't change my overall plans! As you read this chapter, I hope you will be able to see my vision (I'm nervous af! haha)! Enjoy 🥰 (edited but pls forgive me for any oversights...my typos are ridiculous)

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You’re seated in a wide sofa chair, surrounded by four blank walls, and the gentle sound of water tricking from a faux rock waterfall. Every element of the space is carefully integrated as a means to calm you. Yet it doesn't calm you in the slightest. Your hands are clammy. Muscles tense with the adrenaline spiking through your veins. It doesn’t help that you’ve been running on nothing but black coffee all week either, refusing to eat until the first promo shoot with your company’s new endorser was launched.

A natural in front of the camera, Kim Taehyung was able to speed the process up, yet it didn’t stop the massive dark circles from forming under your eyes. This morning, he'd told you they were unnoticeable but you've seen how you look in the mirror, and they're anything but unnoticeable. Still, you find his gesture to soothe sweet. Thankfully, your new partnership has been smooth sailing which is quite a blessing considering the disaster he nearly walked into.

Yes. You’re referring to that disaster in particular. When, in some desperate last-minute attempt for validation, you threw yourself into the arms of your ex-husband.

More like fixed the collar of his shirt and whoops, slid right on his dick…again.

What is wrong with you?

You’ve been asking yourself the question far too many times. You’d think being a hot-shot CEO of a million-dollar tech company would make you like titanium, resilient as finely pounded steel but no; you're just barely keeping yourself together. You regret your rash decision that day, you regret ever marrying Jeon Jungkook, and you regret ever giving in to your stupid feelings.

That’s why you’re here now, waiting in the office of your therapist’s private practice, hands restless in your lap. You’ve been seeing Melody for just over two months since your divorce was finalized, ready to move on; trying to, more like.

‘JeonX CEO Jeon Jungkook’s ex-wife compensated $1.8 billion in divorce’

‘South Korea’s Golden It couple split with ex-wife taking half the company revenue’

These are the lovely words that greet you from your phone screen.

You have the urge to grab your special red ballpoint pen from your bag and scribble out the entire paragraph, except it’s not a printed gossip magazine— it’s a newspaper column on the internet. Instead, you close out the pesky tab on your phone and reply to its sender.

Chim 🐥: can you believe this crap they’re saying about you?! It's no shit you were given a hefty divorce settlement. You brought in half the income! They’re making you look like some kind of gold digger. I swear if I ever lay my eyes on that pretty ex-husband of yours, I will end him! 😡 [sent at 5:06 pm]

Park Jimin, your childhood best friend, sends you a follow-up text when you don’t immediately reply to the news articles he forwarded over. He’s been extremely overprotective of you lately and especially pissed at how the media’s been portraying you, while Jungkook is seemingly getting a free ride. He’s always had an axe to grind with your ex-husband, to be honest, the divorce gives him only more reason to hate him.

You: Thanks for your concern Chim, but nothing they say surprises me anymore. If you don’t mind, can you stop sending these to me? [sent at 5:12 pm]

You hope your message doesn’t read as cold or dismissive. Jimin’s concern for you is a light in a dark place, but you don’t really want to be reminded of the amount of slandering articles still targeted towards you.

Gone are the days when the public saw you as a powerful woman in business, the one to watch, or the CEO of the fastest-growing startup in the last ten years. You're now simply Jeon Jungkook’s conniving ex-wife; as if you’ve merely seduced him for his money and ran when the going was good.

Of course, the whole situation is skewed to his side; half the world is in love with him after all, and that includes the few lingering reporters who've been practically salivating three feet from you at any given chance, hoping to get an exclusive “inside look”. Your marriage was a sham, you wanted to scream, a mutual business transaction.

Too bad rather than an increase in status, resources, and market share, you gained a pile of twisted, unwarranted emotions and regrets.

“I apologize for the wait Ms. __."

The door swings open as your therapist rushes into the room. She stops at her desk to retrieve last week’s session notes, then takes a seat in the chair adjacent to you with crossed legs.

“It’s okay,” you assure, straightening your posture. “I understand how crazy busy the day can get. It wasn't a long wait anyway."

Melody gives a small smile and jots a few words on her notepad. “Thank you for understanding. How are you doing this week?”

You take a deep breath. "Tired," you respond, "especially this week at work. It's like as soon as I wrap up one project, there's another jumping out from nowhere." You used to be ahead of the game. Now you're barely surviving.

"That's right," she hums. "Last week you mentioned having to attend a charity gala soon. Would you like to start there today?"

Crap, you're suddenly reminded that you have to pick up your gown by 7 pm tonight. You entertained the idea of not going to the gala at all, but that would do you no favors in the end. Given your situation, you can't skip out on such an important charity event.

"Sure," you nod. "The Winter Gala's tomorrow night, actually. It's funny how I used to look forward to it every year, being an opportunity to network and catch up with my peers. I can't say I feel the same thrill this time around."

"Because of the divorce you mean?"

"Exactly. Being the CEO of one of the largest software corporations in the world, my ex-husband's influence far exceeds my own. So whether out of loyalty or political agenda, anyone who's anyone will be on his side of the room. I'm gonna end up being that one awkward person in the corner in a far too expensive Dior gown who no one wants to dance with." You nervously chuckle out the last sentence.

Melody opens her mouth to respond, yet stops when she notices you're not quite finished.

"It'll be the first time seeing my ex-husband after months of no contact too. I guess that's what I'm looking forward to the least."

When you think about it, the most you've seen of Jungkook is his face appearing on the massive screens downtown. He's been featured in at least a dozen interviews lately, teasing a brand-new product his company's planning to release in the spring. Seems he's doing well.

"What you feel is valid Ms. __." Melody seeks to assure you. "In the past, you used to go to these events with Jungkook right? He provided you with a sense of safety, as you did for him, no doubt. I wonder if it's a lack of consistency and belonging that worries you, more than it is about seeing your ex-husband and your peers. Companionship too, of course."

"I suppose that makes sense, but it never used to be this way." Your voice raises to match your sudden argumentativeness. "I used to be very comfortable in my own skin. I used to be confident going to these events alone, long before Jungkook came into the picture."

You pause to take a breath before continuing.

"When Jungkook became CEO of his family's software company, JeonX, he was steps away from being bought out by both our competitors, so a partnership was proposed. We married at 27 as nothing more than two ambitious, rising leaders in business. Neither of us was after love or romance when our careers were at stake."

"But then that changed for you," your therapist carefully observes. "Combined, you both held the largest share of the tech market. You and Jungkook were also in an extremely intimate relationship, yet treated it as a business contract. Unfortunately, those don't always come out clean in the wash. It appears to me that while you gave him three honest years of your life, he stole those three years from you."

The words take a moment to sink in; Jungkook stole three years from you. It conflicts with what you want to believe, though from the bottom of your heart, you know she's right.

"I feel so...guilty. I hate that I fell for him, and I hate that I'm struggling this much to let him go." As you tear up, Melody hands you a tissue from the side table with an empathetic gaze. You mouth a thank you and gently dab your eyes with the soft fabric.

"I'd give yourself some grace Ms. __. But if I may ask, what about Jungkook?" she gently probes. "Do you think he feels the same?"

"No...," you say with remorse, shaking your head. "He's moved on."

Melody remains silent for as long as you need in the moments following, cautious to follow your lead. The last thing a therapist should do is rush their patient through the session, so she sits patiently and waits for your go.

"Sorry," you finally say. "We should continue."

"No need for apologies," she replies. "Take your time."

It takes a good minute or two longer of sitting in your car before you can fully compose yourself. As usual, your session with Melody was intense and insightful, but it was far too short. You're gripping the wheel with both hands when her final words of the session echo through your head: "Give yourself some grace; blaming yourself won't do any good."

Seemingly simple advice, yet tough to follow when you constantly feel responsible for the mess you're in. Yes, even though Jungkook has the bigger end of the stick, you made your share of mistakes too. You should have looked into other options when you found out your competitors were looking to buy out JeonX instead of eloping with their CEO.

Just what were you thinking __? you harshly scold yourself. You were trying to protect your company. You both were. Too bad you placed the cart in front of the horse.

Forcing yourself to take a slow, deep breath, your eyes widen in alarm when you catch the time on the clock— 6:38 pm. Fuck! The boutique that's holding your gown for tomorrow's gala is closing in twenty minutes. Without a moment to spare, you yank the seatbelt and slam your foot on the gas.

"Good evening Ms. __." A young woman, fitted in a black pencil skirt and white blouse, greets you with a faint bow as soon as you step foot into the posh boutique.

"Hello, Hana," you refer to the young lady by name with a smile. "I'm terribly sorry to be coming in this late. I came by to pick up the gown I sent in for alterations two weeks ago. The event's tomorrow and I know the shop will be closed for the day."

Knowing the exact dress you're referring to, Hana responds with a soft tone, "Please don't worry Ms. __. We have the gown ready." She disappears to the back of the shop to retrieve it.

As you wait, your mind drifts to memories of last year's gala. You had worn a vibrant, gold gown that evening, slightly risky with a low neckline. Jungkook liked it though, as he wore a matching gold vest himself. You can imagine how crazy the press went when you both set foot on the scene, arms linked and appearing to have coordinated your attire perfectly.

Every investor at the gig wanted to be your friend that night, anxiously pushing through the crowds to speak to you. One of them nearly split your dress in two, as he had accidentally stepped on your gown after one too many drinks. You recall Jungkook scolding the man before turning his full attention to you, making sure you were alright. You consider this to be the first time you truly started looking at him as your husband, a feeling of warmth blooming inside you.

How foolish you were to let that feeling grow.

You're attending the gala alone this year, without him.

Possessing no desire to call attention to yourself this year, you've chosen a rich, navy blue gown instead. It's subtle yet sophisticated. Made out of the finest silk, its silhouette is sleek and falls straight down to the floor without any extravagant frills. The neckline is simple too, paired with a tasteful open back. There are no flashy accessories or embellishments, just a straightforward, classic design. You find the gown beautifully elegant, and nowhere near as bold as your previous one.

"Here it is Ms. __," Hana chips from afar, her heels clacking against the polished floor tiles. In her hand is a generously sized garment bag, your dress flowing underneath.

"Thank you so much, Hana," you say, taking the gown from her hand. "Again, I'm sorry for my tardiness picking this up. I hope you have a wonderful night."

You leave the boutique, the sun having already set.

The Winter Gala takes place on the top floor of Seoul's most luxurious hotel, specifically in its grand ballroom. The walls are adorned with gold trim, and its floors are elegantly lined with polished black marble. Above, a magnificent glass chandelier glimmers, catching the moonlight filtering through the surrounding glass windows.

Despite being a private event, the gala attracts a whole slew of press and locals who eagerly gather on either side of the hotel's front doors, treating it as a prime spot for viewing the red carpet.

Physically, you're ready; dressed to the nines, and makeup done just right. Mentally, you're absent; secretly sipping a margarita at the end of the earth, wherever that is. The day finally comes for you to make an appearance at the Annual Winter Gala and it's clear, you're not prepared in the slightest.

Your nerves consume you as you sit in the backseat of your limousine. You protested against being dropped off at the front entrance. Hell, you hadn't even wanted to arrive in a limo. However, your PR team insisted you be seen arriving, happy to be supporting a charitable event for the eighth year in a row.

Reluctantly, you complied.

Chim 🐥: I wish I could be there with you tonight 😞 No matter what, don't let those snobs get into your head. You look stunning and you have nothing to be ashamed of! [sent at 6:23 pm]

"Thank you, love," you whisper to aloud upon reading your best friend's endearing message. Before you can craft a reply, your door is flung open, with harsh flashes of cameras blinding you. When you step out of the limo, you hear a mix of passionate cheering and interrogative remarks.

"Ms. __, could you share with us your experience of attending the gala without Jeon Jungkook by your side for the first time?"

"Ms. __, it's unexpected to see you here this year, especially considering your recent separation from your ex-husband, who is also on the guest list!"

"Ms. __, how do you plan to navigate the evening's festivities without the familiar presence of your former partner?"

Just keep walking __. If you can just get inside the building and tune out the noise, you'll be fine. You coach yourself with every step, but make little progress with the amount of discomfort only skyrocketing. Your photos are being taken, and questions barrage you from all angles. To top it off, you feel a strong migraine coming on and oh fuck— is that the devil now?

You don't have to glance back to guess the sudden increase in cheering is due to the arrival of another hot A-lister. It has to be Jungkook with a new woman by his side. You think he wouldn't bring a date to an event like this, even if she were a hire? You'd be horribly mistaken.

You fight against the urge to turn around and confirm if your suspicions are true.

"__!" a voice calls out, which you ignore.

But wait a minute.

You stop in your tracks—that's not Jungkook's voice at all; it’s far too raspy.

Peeking over your shoulder, your jaw falls open as you see Kim Taehyung steps behind you wearing a boxy grin on his face. He's dressed to the hills with a shiny maroon, Louis Vuitton suit hugging his slim waist. Quite handsome, per usual, but what is he doing here?

Taking the initiative, Taehyung strides next to you and waves to the crowd charismatically. “My movie shoot wrapped up early so I thought I’d swing by and see what all the excitement’s about,” he says.

You observe how easy it is for him to appease the crowd, a skill you’re still working to sharpen.

“Tae-” you begin.

He then turns to you and looks straight into your eyes. You shiver at from the sudden intensity.

“I got an invitation too, and the gala happens to support a cause that I find close to my heart.” His voice lowers for the next part, allowing only your ears to hear. “I also didn’t want you having to be alone this evening, __. I hope I didn’t overstep my boundaries.”

Taehyung’s words manage to coax you away from your previously frazzled state, comforting you as the chaos quiets around you.

“Thank you, Taehyung. You didn’t, don’t worry,” you reply, giving a tight-lipped smile. “It’s actually a good thing you came since you’re basically the second face of my company after all.”

“I’m happy to hear that. We’ve been working so well together recently, and I don’t want to ruin it. May I?” He offers you an arm.

“You may.” You slip your arm into his and continue towards the hotel entrance. You admit you’re glad to see him.

With Taehyung nearby, your apprehensions of the night start to subside. He’s not always beside you, slipping away to mingle often, yet his mere presence relaxes you. You haven’t even thought about Jungkook to be honest. Well, maybe a little bit.

You take a sip of the drink in your hand and casually scan the ballroom until bingo, you spot your ex-husband by the bar in the middle of half a dozen people. Figures he’s the center of attention, effortlessly tethering people to himself. Jungkook loves the spotlight, and the spotlight loves him. As you continue watching him from across the room, a whirlwind of conflicting emotions swirls within you; longing, sorrow, anger. You haven't seen him in over two months, it feels surreal.

Memories of your time together come flooding back all at once—both the good and the bad, yet mostly bad. It's strange how someone you were once so close to can suddenly feel like a stranger. You allow your gaze to linger a moment longer, curious to conclude a date is nowhere in sight. Perhaps you’re mistaken and they’ve merely slipped away for a second. You’re positive he would’ve brought someone.

Bitterly, you gulp down another sip of your drink. When you place your glass down, you nearly choke at the sight of Jungkook's dark eyes burning holes at you. You avert your gaze immediately, silently begging that he didn’t just witness you staring at him and take it as an unsolicited invitation to come over.

“So,” a provocative voice unexpectedly slides next to you. “Looks like you just traded one bachelor for the next __. I’m shocked to see you’ve shown up to our little soirée.”

Oh god, you roll your eyes, recognizing the owner of the slithery voice like the back of your hand. You do not have the stamina for this tonight.

“Kathy," you greet with the fakest, yet sweetest smile possible. "Nice seeing you again. I haven't seen you since last year. How's the baby?"

"Oh please," she scoffs. "Don't try to deflect, sweetie. We both know it's you who is of far more... intrigue. If you understand my gist."

You want to hurl at this woman's condescending tone. Nothing gets under your skin more than someone your age calling you sweetie. It's not endearing in the slightest, especially when it's Kathy Lee, Director of CommaTen. You despise each other, likely because you both hit it big in the industry at a young age. Meeting someone who reminds you so closely of yourself isn't always a blessing.

“Anyway, as I was saying," she continues, brushing her hair behind an ear. "I have quite the bone to pick with you about stealing that actor from me. Kim Taehyung was mine first, you know."

Hers? She speaks as if a person can be owned. You won't lie, you're surprised Taehyung agreed to partner with you at a time when most of Seoul's elites have turned against you. You're naive to assume that his support wouldn't backfire on his reputation. On the other hand, he's been your endorser for two months now and his following remains fully intact.

“To be frank, I didn't know the two of you were talking business at all," you respond to the accusations with composure, though burning up inside. "But of course, he's free to make his own decisions, can't he? Whatever the reason, something must have enticed him."

“You—" Offended by your insinuation that your offer was better than hers, Kathy doesn't stop what comes next. "We both know the only reason why Kim Taehyung's with you is because Jungkook left you! And you need the extra publicity, isn't that right?"

Fuck. Well, now you're really fucking embarrassed because, at that moment, everyone in the room shifts their attention your way. A pin drop could be heard in the entire ballroom since even the live band ceased their playing.

This is why you didn't want to come. Your fingers fumble with the fabric of your gown.

“Don't act like you're above me just because your company might be worth more than mine, __. We'll catch up with you soon," Kathy spits her final words before spinning around and triumphantly walking away.

Don't cry, you tell yourself. Everyone's staring at you; the press, your peers, Jungkook, and Taehyung. Don't you dare cry.

As the murmurs of conversation gradually resume around you, you force yourself to take a deep, steadying breath. Kathy's words were nothing but a feeble attempt to save her own face. Besides, what company doesn't have at least one endorser?

"Are you alright?" Taehyung's low, gentle voice catches your attention as he swiftly returns to your side, no doubt influenced after witnessing Kathy's verbal jab.

You manage a tight-lipped smile, nodding faintly as you attempt to push back the overwhelming wave of humiliation. "I will be," you reply, though the words feel hollow even to your own ears.

His gaze lingers on you for a moment longer, a silent understanding passing between you.

"I hope you don't take her words to heart, __," he mutters. "I chose to become your partner because I genuinely believe in your product. I'm selective about who I support, so please trust me when I say it wasn't because of material gain or pity."

You're on the verge of responding to his reassurance when you catch sight of your ex-husband from the corner of your eye, striding his way over to you for the first time tonight. His expression is unreadable, so you brace yourself, unsure of what to expect.

"__," he starts, his voice low but carrying an unmistakable urgency. "Can we talk?"

You and Taehyung share a quick glance before you follow Jungkook out of the ballroom, seeking privacy.

As soon as you're out of earshot, Jungkook turns to you, his features softened by a hint of concern. "Hey," he starts. "I meant to get over to you sooner but got tied up. You know how it is."

"Yeah, I know," you respond, though you'd rather he didn't come over at all, especially after being dragged into the spotlight in front of all your peers and colleagues.

The two of you share an unsettling silence before he speaks again.

"You-You look good." He allows his eyes to rake up and down your body, causing you to cross your arms in discomfort. There was a time when his gaze brought a flutter of excitement, but now, you're not so sure it brings you the same pleasure.

"I'm sorry for what happened in there," he says. "You okay?"

"What?" you repeat, your eyes wide with surprise, stunned by his unexpected apology. "Am I okay?"

Where was this concern when he handed you the divorce papers nine months ago? Or when he willingly took advantage of your vulnerability that time in your office, only to disappear afterward, as if he hadn't just torn your heart out of your chest? You clench your fists, trying to contain the rising temperature of your anger.

"Yeah, about what she said about you," he clarifies. "It was uncalled for, and I feel horrible about it." He reaches out to touch you, but you instinctively step back, as if his touch would scorch you.

"Please, don't," you sigh, a trace of weariness in your voice. "It's fine."

"I'm serious __, I can have her charged with defamation for that. It wouldn't take much!" His insistence is unwavering, and it strikes your last nerve.

"You don't need to fight my battles for me, Jungkook," you suddenly snap, voice stern. "I'm not completely helpless now that you've divorced me!"

Jungkook's expression darkens, regret flickering in his eyes. "I'm not saying you are. I'm just trying to help."

"Help?" you repeat, doubtful. "How do you think that's going to look for me in the media? Jeon Jungkook slaps another high society member with a defamation charge for ex-wife. Thanks, but no thanks. I get enough of that as is."

He sighs, running a hand through his hair in frustration. "I know they've been difficult on you recentl—"

"Difficult?" you interject, your anger bubbling to the surface. "In case you haven't noticed my face is on every gossip magazine, billboard, press release, and anything else they can use to scorn me with. It's unbearable, especially since I still have a business to run."

Jungkook winces, clearly stung by your words. "Then let me help. I'll get them removed for you. I still care about you, __."

You scoff. "You care about me? Is that why you made me sign our divorce papers three months after you found out I wanted more than a fake marriage?"

His jaw clenches, gaze dropping to the floor guiltily. "It's not like that, __. I'm not trying to be an avoidant asshole. I want you to-"

"Find someone else. Yeah, I got it," you mutter bitterly, feeling a fresh wave of hurt wash over you.

"I'm sorry, __. I am."

You stare at him, torn between resentment and a lingering ache for the connection you once shared. Now, he's apologizing?

"So am I," you say, slowly backing away from him. "You don't have to do anything, Jungkook. I'm fine."

You then turn on your heels to return to the ballroom where Taehyung still waits for you, leaving your ex-husband standing in the hallway, alone.

a/n: A much-needed confrontation between oc and jk eh? But... *laughs evilly*..this is not the end...LMK what you think! 🤔🤍

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side note: I tried tagging readers in comments but most of them didn't go through, so i'm sorry about the clutter here...😬

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[tired-night-owl]

Blood Runs Cold

Fandom : Star Wars The Bad Batch

One shot ?

I tried to write a small fic about Crosshair and Omega in the new promo that’s been released because I can’t wait to see them together in the new season even if I know my heart is gonna get crushed by Dave Filony again… Hopefully I am the opposite of last season and I am soooo wrong and they will all be reunited as a big family where no one dies or sacrifice themselves for the others ! Anyway I hope you enjoy :) 

Word count : 866

Summary : Crosshair has much to think about in his new conditions, what doesn’t help is when a far too bubbly and optimistic teenager comes and ruins his peaceful self pity moment.

Notes : brief mention of torture I guess, small but graphic description of tech’s death, Siblings!crosshair x omega, Spoilers for the new promo clip !

He noticed it a while ago, when they first started their wicked experiments on him. He tried to keep it under control mostly for his pride because seeing as with such a condition, his (now rendered useless) talent would be even more so wasn’t helping his morale. Crosshair didn’t mind it too much for now because not one clone in this cursed facility was in any shape or form to judge him in his misery. That is until the girl showed up. 

That child has been the sole cause for any misfortune he had to live though in the last couple of months he thought, but scolded himself to at least not make it show. She has enough to deal with too at the moment without having to suffer his endless wrath and sorrows. Still she cost him everything. His family, in more ways than one, his station, attempting to save her branded him a traitor and a VIP ticket to Hemlock’s test table and —

His mind went silent 

His brother Tech…. He had to give his life for hers. Skull smashed to pieces because they didn’t heed his warning. There's no way the batch can survive without its brain now. 

His mind whirled with thoughts like these locked in his dark cell all day. Some would say they were enough to drive a man insane but Crosshair already knew insane, and it wasn’t by his choice. Now he sees it, the effect that damn chip has had on him. How it made him turn on the only people who ever cared for him. He couldn’t turn on this one now. 

« Crosshair… »

« Crosshair ! I tried to come earlier, but there are too many guards watching me…»

He tried to calm his usually snappy tone for the sake of the girl who must be as terrified if not more than he is at the moment.

« You shouldn’t be down here at all » he tried to make her realize a little harsher than he wished.

It was foolish of her to put a target on her back by snooping around, on THEIR backs. In a situation like this where there is no hope, it’s best to comply and hope you die as painlessly as possible. Though that seemed unlikely for him at the hands of that sick scientist. But there might be hope for her yet if she stopped escaping her quarters.

The girl continued with her misplaced energy and optimism.

« How else are we gonna plan an escape ? »

An escape ?! Had she gone insane? Did she not realize they were in the middle of no where, in an unknown imperial playground, surrounded by guards with no moral compass except loyalty to the credits they earn at the end of each shift filled with screams of tortured people. Better to kill that idea in the egg before she gets too altruistic. 

The sniper resumed his usual cold and unapproachable attitude, hoping the girl would realize that planning an escape in a place such as this with only 1 ally was foolish already but with no one, it was simply stretching your neck to help the executioner do his job. 

« There is no WE, and there is no escape… I’ve already tried. » 

The young clone didn’t budge.

« Every stronghold has a weak point ! Maybe I could convince Emerie to help, she’s one of us. »

His brothers has taught her well he could tell, and by that he meant by filling her head with useless idiotic tactics and informations for a obviously changing galaxy. Besides if they shouldn’t trust one person in this Sarlac pit, it was HER. That double crossing scientist woman. Testing on people was bad enough but on her own « brothers » that was being a plain sociopathic hypocrite. 

« Not every clone is your ally ! » The sharpshooter reminded her.

« You trust too easily… »

He expected a reply and one sounding similar to that one too, so he doesn’t know why her words struck him so. 

« Maybe you don’t trust enough. » Omega replied with that same misguided hope as earlier.

An uncomfortable silence surrounded the two and then it started again : the shaking.

The stupid shaking he couldn’t stop. The best sniper in the whole GAR with quivering hands, how ironic. He felt uneasy having her see him like this. It was as if his own brothers could see how low he had fallen and for a prideful man like Crosshair, it was not an easy feat to overcome. 

« Crosshair ? »  The young girl asked after her gaze fell upon her brother hiding his hands from her. 

Not so long ago he would’ve snapped at her for simply seeing him in a state like this, desperately trying to steady his once reliable hands but now, he just didn’t have the heart or the energy to do so…

« Just… Go. » he simply said. 

« Before you make things worst for both of us… »

In this moment he came to the conclusion that yes, he didn’t want to be punished for the girl’s misbehaviour but he also mostly didn’t want her to suffer because of him. 

Knowing Hemlock, he wouldn’t even do it to punish Omega… but he would do unexplainable things to the girl to make HIM suffer. 

#the bad batch #star wars #tbb #tbb spoilers #star wars the clone wars #tbb finale #tbbspoilers #tbbedit #tbb crosshair #bad batch season 3 #tbb omega #Siblings!omegaxcrosshair #my fic #crosshair the bad batch #crosshair #omega bad batch #omega tbb #star wars fic #star wars fanfiction

[rou-luxe]

THEORIES

babe wake up tragic yaoi dropped *THIS ACCOUNT DOES NOT USUALLY POST ALNST FANTHEORIES. IF THAT IS WHAT YOU WANT THIS IS NOT THE PLACE. theories / commentary / spoilers under the cut

I don't know 100% ALNST lore... most of this is speculation I think some people have commented on this already but apparently the one in the couple who wears white dies (Sua, Ivan) Following this pattern, Hyuna x Luka's relationship is complicated but if we go by that Luka is dying next round... But the next round is Till vs Luka, which would be different from the pattern (Sua vs Mizi, Ivan vs Till)... so maybe to complete the pattern Hyuna puts herself in instead of Till. mom pick me up I'm scared On top of that, Ivan wore black before, but switched to white. Does this have to do with something... (Was Till supposed to die instead...) Luka and Hyuna evidently have VERY different singing styles though so that would be interesting def Also the characters look older (not only the haircut man... they're taller) so I wonder... how much time has passed in ALNST??? and is it proportional to irl time (probably not) Not sure about the other videos I need to check but this time there are human spectators amongst the aliens in the crowd for the first time??? is alnst so powerful that they want to watch the showdown too??? Till sounds like he's about to break poor bb Till's lyrics in the beginning start off hopeless, asking someone to hurt him. To dissolve and drown in someone, to become one with them. Definitely Mizi. When Till's master shoves his face towards the newspaper, he's probably telling him to snap out of it, sing properly and let go of Mizi??? Then Till gets his ahh beat and he reaches for Mizi, his one hope in the darkness "Icy lips" - he already thinks Mizi is dead??? Ivan's eyes look empty. interruption from mizisua sponsor /j Even though the MIZISUA video is more of a backstory video, it also suits Round 1. I think it might suit Ivantill as well hold on When Mizi and Sua found each other (refer to MIZISUA video), Sua has lost hope already, but Mizi's love gives her some hope in the dark. Then they are torn apart, but still want to be together. The one who lives (Mizi) is in grief. Ivan's empty eyes look like he has lost hope, just like Sua. Till gave him a reason to keep going (see: Black Sorrow, their relationship shown in Cure <- this video)

Back to the video Till laying there by himself, Ivan moves the (muzzle?) restriction, maybe to help him breathe Ivan's verse reflects Till's but it's different in multiple ways "Cold words" - Referring to Till? (well... till has always been naturally sassy...) Similar to Till's statement in the first part, Ivan is saying that Till can break him apart and build him back again (mend) I guess they fought and became friends 💀 "I'll drown in you" as well. Till would sacrifice himself for Mizi, Ivan would sacrifice himself for Till (CRIES) Ivan feels "seen" by Till, Till wants to dissolve in Mizi's gaze Why does he reach for the back of Till's neck? Till unawares (sleeping)? Are the two somewhat related? Ivan reaches for Till (love) but Till unaware (once again 💀) Consume me + licking the blood from Till's wound. they really want to become one person don't they 2:46 Ivan turns away from the camera is he giving Till a kiss on the cheek or is he whispering something to Till in his sleep we'll never know

"We shall dance", with "our story". TOGETHER. THEY WANT TO BE TOGET- *gets shot* PLEASE LET THEM BE YAOI AGGHGH everlasting memory this moment will last forever THE KISS SCENE I WAS SO HAPPY AT FIRST AND THEN WE ALL KNOW WHAT HAPPENED I rewatched this video too many times the animation just too pretty man 😭 Till pushes him away I noticed this in a lot of promo arts and stuff because yk Mizi

okay back to the video Ivan's expression when he chokes Till kind of looks like him looking down at the camera like he did at the end of Black Sorrow am I reading too into this Till gives up. He doesn't even fight the choking. Normally this would be uncharacteristic but yk Mizi 😭😭 I'm confused how Ivan gets hit??? I think it's bullets but who knows maybe the rain is possessed or maybe Ivan did it himself Like in Till's song (it's been confirmed by the creators that Till killed his enemy to win apparently), if the enemy is killed then you win. Ivan sacrificed himself so Till could win, so Till could live There was also a theory I read that Luka was pissing off Mizi so she would fight back, so she would continue living BUT LUKA IS A WHOLE OTHER STORY THIS ISN'T ABOUT LUKA WE'RE TALKING ABOUT IVANTILL At the end of MIZISUA video, Mizi wakes up crying in the rain. Till stands in the rain staring at Ivan's corpse (but we don't see the body) The light is focused on Ivan, not Till. The light of Ivan's life has been snuffed out, but it also leaves Till in darkness I was expecting Till to make some sort of movement once the lights turned off but nope omg Luka vs Till... Till is gonna kill his ahh for disrespecting Mizi 💀 THE OTHER YAOI DUO!! WHAT HAPPENED TO HYUNA BRO IS MAMA GONNA DIE WHO INTRUDED imagine if the intruder was luka that would be so funny also there is a heavy heartbeat motif in the kick drums for the song omg there is no heartbeat during the music when - Kid Ivan stares deadly at the camera (it stops there) - Ivan enters stage - They build the heartbeat motif again slowly during the backstory part - back to life. Starts with a single kick then double - Ivan is falling insert ivantill my god my universe memes again, Till is literally Ivan's reason for living

thank you for reading my nonsense ramblings it's 3:30 am Ivantill is worth staying up any day THIS IS NOT PROOFREAD I am CRYING 🔥🔥 WE COPE GOOD NIGHT might draw ivantill fanart... doubt I have time though

#alnst till #alnst ivan #Youtube #alien stage #theories #ivantill #alnst

[snowbellewells]

Self Promo Sunday: "Still Here in Spirit"

This week's promo fic is just a bit of a missing moment/divergence from early season five. I was feeling a bit of angst at the end of 5x02 when Emma was left outside the diner watching the rest of her family together, and I think this was mostly born out of that feeling. I've always had a bit of a soft spot for this little one shot, and here's hoping you may enjoy it too....

Summary: Though Emma cannot be with him as he wonders just what wrong makes his love keep her distance, Killian and all her family and friends still keep the Savior close to their hearts...

Can also be read on AO3 or ff.net if that is your preference...

by: @snowbellewells

Chuckling good naturedly in spite of himself from where he leans casually against the staircase railing in Regina Mills' spacious foyer, Killian Jones watches the festive bustling and last minute preparations before the Hood-Mills-Charming families can head out on the streets of Storybrooke trick or treating. He had truly held no interest in the odd modern day custom of dressing up in unusual garb and wandering the streets begging others for sweets. Of the many strange and ridiculous-seeming practices he has been introduced to in this realm, this so-called "Halloween" seems to be one of the most ludicrous.

However, when Henry had looked at him hopefully, urging his mother's boyfriend to join them on this nighttime excursion, Killian found he could not deny the lad. There is a certain expression Swan's boy possesses – fervent, wide-eyed and engaging – that reminds him so much of Emma that day Storybrooke had been on the brink of destruction and she had looked straight into his soul and urged him to be a part of something, that he is hard-pressed to deny Henry anything, despite what his original inclinations might be. Though his weary soul had balked at laughing with light heart and playfully making merry when his love was out there somewhere, alone, cloaked in darkness and lost in her bitterness at wrongs the rest of them cannot remember committing, watching the group straightening each other's outfits, gathering Roland and little Neal's baskets for candy, and warmly trying to enjoy what they can of this moment of relative calm – even if one of their number is missing – makes him smile through the twinges of pain.

Reaching out affectionately to straighten Henry's green woolen cape and then the quiver slung over his shoulder, Killian feels the corners of his mouth pull up in a reluctant but sincere smile at the picture the boy paints in his get-up with his assorted motley band of outfitted family. There had been heated debate whether Henry should dress as knight like his Gramps or a pirate like his adopted stepfather until the boy had eventually settled the dispute by dressing like Robin as a bandit of the forest. His other surrogate parent had tried to appear casual about it, but the glimmer in his eyes as he loaned his old cape and quiver had given away how flattered he was, not to mention the Queen's grin of joyful satisfaction and the couple rogue tears she had brushed away. It warmed Killian's ancient pirate heart as well, even though he had lost out on having a miniature double for the night's festivities.

The boy gives him a nod of thanks, and pirate and young prince's eyes meet for a charged moment of bittersweet understanding, both knowing Emma should be there with them and yet not wanting to voice how much her absence hurts. Not wanting to speak sadness into an evening that is trying to enjoy the good moments.

Then, with a steadying hand on the lad's shoulder, Killian vows to follow him and make sure this "Outlaw of Storybrooke Forest" rapidly becoming a young man enjoys himself tonight. Emma would wish it, and someday – he swears to himself – he will tell her about tonight's hijinks, and her parents dressed as Bonnie and Clyde (whoever they might be) with Regina and Robin as Romeo and Juliet in tow. Little Roland looks a bit out of place in their group dressed as a "minion" – which Henry had explained was in some moving picture the little lad had just seen – and bouncing around the rest of them as if he simply cannot wait another moment from them to be off.

The night progresses beautifully, with laughter and smiles that Killian knows he will hold in his memory for years to come. Being drawn into and accepted as part of a family, and necessary for its happy celebrations, was a gift he had long since forgotten and never expected to be a part of again. Yet, he cannot help wishing Emma could be here with them, looking on proudly as Henry takes care to see that Roland doesn't get too far ahead and become lost, that his little uncle is given his fair share of their sugary haul, and constantly glancing back at the group of adults who love him as if making sure that they too are happy and content. His Swan would be so proud of the good heart and concern for others her son continues to show, despite moving into those sometimes troublesome teenage years. He wishes so fervently that she was there beside him, her small, strong hand slipped into his, her head laid gently on his shoulder, just barely leaning into his side as they walk, that his hand clenches into a tight fist at the absence. Those easy, safe, and comfortable times together seem so far removed now from the cold distance that the Darkness has formed between them.

Still, there are many good moments too: Granny and Ruby offering wolf-shaped cookies and hot chocolate to all those who come to their door, with Ruby smirking and shooting a playful wink to he, Snow and Charming from beneath the painted wolf face and ears she wears atop her dark curls and asking, "Well, what else would I be for Halloween?" with a playful giggle; Belle meeting every child at the door to the library all lit up with carved pumpkins in each window, eager to give them a handpicked book of their very own, and taking a moment to slip a gilt-edged paperback into his hand as well. "It's The Princess Bride," she whispers surreptitiously to him with a sympathetic smile. "Emma mentioned how much she liked it once, and when I re-read it, I knew that you would appreciate it too, Killian."

By the time the group reaches the mines where the dwarves and fairies are giving lighted tours of the caves and sending their guests off for home with hot apple cider to warm their hands and stomachs, Killian is truly feeling cheered – if only at the happiness of those around him and the comfort of being welcomed wholeheartedly into their midst. When he parts ways with Henry and the rest of Emma's loved ones at the loft, savoring the hug Henry gives him before bounding after Regina, Robin, and Roland to get back to their house and go through all his candy, and possibly holding on a bit too tightly to the lad for just a moment, he pauses in the street lights' glow, peering into the night and mulling his next course of action.

Eventually he turns back toward the Jolly Roger and the docks, walking slowly and trying to keep himself from whispering Emma's name into the quiet evening. He knows that bringing her to him when she is not herself will only bring him more pain; their last encounter in his private quarters had taught him that lesson all too well. However, as he boards his beloved ship, strides across the deck and comes to stand by the wheel, gazing up at the clear night's multitude of stars, he does leave her a small remembrance. "I know you're out there somewhere, Love," he whispers to the breeze. "I cannot hold you tonight as I desire, but you were never far from all of our minds. Enjoy your Halloween treat."

He slips below quickly, knowing that tangling wits and words with her now will only make things worse. Head bowed, he can only hope she will sense how much he misses her in the gesture and that she – the real Emma - will feel a moment of his care. The captain has entered his cabin, leaning against the closed door and praying desperately that she is not lost in torment somewhere with no one beside her, when on the deck above him, a swirl of magical smoke clears, and Emma appears by the ship's wheel, a tentative, tiny smile upon her lips. Picking up the still-hot cup of cider he has left for her there, she takes a sip and imagines that the warmth spreading through her at first swallow is from him being able to hold her close once more. For now, it is the only treat they can allow themselves… so she closes her eyes, thinks of him, and tries to let it be enough.

Tagging a few who might enjoy: @jennjenn615 @searchingwardrobes @kmomof4 @laschatzi @whimsicallyenchantedrose @jrob64 @apiratewhopines @xsajx @bluewildcatfanatic @lfh1226-linda @teamhook @revanmeetra87 @stahlop @sotangledupinit @justanother-unluckysoul @drowned-dreamer @gingerchangeling @gingerpolyglot @blackwidownat2814 @elizabeethan @the-darkdragonfly @donteattheappleshook @booksteaandtoomuchtv @kazoosandfannypacks @tiganasummertree @optomisticgirl @spartanguard @therooksshiningknight

#self promo sunday #ouat 5a one shot #cs one shot #missing moment fic #still here in spirit #a bit of angst #and apple cider ;)

[czenzo]

The Final Applicant

[ao3]

summary: ‘Neat’ and ‘proper’ was far from the kind of vocabulary I would have used to describe her, but I’d have certainly leaned towards ‘experienced’ and ‘a damned well better fit for the role than the last ten applicants’. They’d all arrived in blazers and pencil skirts, and I’d never been particularly fond of standard interview attire – it felt overly formal for a business like mine. My own clothes… notwithstanding, that is.

Lucy's interview, told from Lockwood's point of view.            

words: 2832 rating: G

note: all the hype around the official netflix promo stuff has given me l&co tunnel vision and I suddenly went from having zero wips to wayyy too many for my poor brain to handle, but alas!! it got me thinking about the scenes I'm most excited to (hopefully) see in the show, and this interview scene is definitely one of my favourites. despite the fact I have an exam tomorrow I thought it'd be a fun challenge to try and write the interview from lockwood's POV :)

also note that this is chapter six of TSS just rewritten to be in lockwood's pov; all of the dialogue was taken straight from the book and all of the credit for it goes to our beloved mr stroud!

To say it had been a long day was a complete understatement.

Interview after interview, I’d been greeted by smiling hopefuls and cycled through the same few questions with them more times than I could fathom, on account of only a small handful of them actually making significant progress without hightailing it within the first five minutes. It was a rather repetitive day, the monotony of which was only cushioned by my getting to meet an interesting variety of people (albeit only briefly).

It was when a young woman grabbed her belongings and stormed out of the room without being sat down for longer than a couple of minutes or so that I genuinely began to wonder whether we’d ever actually manage to find a decent replacement for Robin; though I’d already placed a bet with George as to whether we had any more applicants due to arrive, so I wasn’t to let go of my last shred of hope just yet.

Still, seeing the blood drain from that girl’s face before she shot me a deadly look and sped out of the living room was not particularly encouraging. Neither was the ear-splitting shriek that erupted from the depths of her lungs beforehand. Though, it was hardly my fault she wasn’t up to scratch.

I’d been so preoccupied with the world’s shortest interview that I hadn’t heard the muffled conversation from the hall straight away, but I soon realised that it must mean another applicant had arrived, so I quickly rose from my seat, reset the items on the table, and inwardly celebrated my defeat over George. Slim chances could stuff it – we had another shot at finding our third employee, and I was going to take it.

George emerged into the room first, followed by what seemed to be the fiftieth young girl I’d seen that day. As I pulled out one of my broad, welcoming smiles, I noticed her eyes dart between me, the table, and the living room decor (which I was particularly fond of, and glad she took a second to take in), and I jumped on the opportunity to quickly give her a once-over.

Now, I’ve never been one for judging books by their covers, but one has to admit that a fair chunk of information can be gleaned from the way a person dresses, preens, and holds themselves. The (presumably) final interviewee of the day had a standard agent’s appearance – perhaps a year, maybe two, younger than George and I, though the deep set of her eyes suggested experience no grown adult would ever know; her hair was cropped short and framed her round face, which was ideal for keeping it out of the way during work and suggested a no-nonsense, dedicated demeanour. She was considerably shorter than I – though I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t expected that of all of the candidates – and wore many dark layers protecting her from the harsh nip of London’s late afternoon weather, along with a pair of boots sporting an array of impressive ectoplasm stains. In short, she looked ready to go out and do some field work right there and then.

‘Neat’ and ‘proper’ was far from the kind of vocabulary I would have used to describe her, but I’d have certainly leaned towards ‘experienced’ and ‘a damned well better fit for the role than the last ten applicants’. They’d all arrived in blazers and pencil skirts, and I’d never been particularly fond of standard interview attire – it felt overly formal for a business like mine. My own clothes… notwithstanding, that is.

After the split second whereupon she scanned the room and I, her, she crossed the room towards me, and the slight far-away look in her eyes told me she used her senses as she did so. An excellent sign of a promising candidate – alert and focused.

She gave a good handshake, too.

“Hello,” I said, still smiling. “I’m Anthony Lockwood.”

“Lucy Carlyle,” was her reply. It was a fitting name.

“Very good to meet you. Tea? Or had George already offered you some?”

George made a vaguely disdaining gesture. “I thought I’d wait until the first test was done,” he said. “See if she was still here. I’ve wasted that many tea bags this morning.”

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, and instead of retorting with a quip of some kind, upheld my professional demeanour in a way that surely amused George. “Why not give her the benefit of the doubt,” I said, a silent challenge laced in my words, “and go and put the kettle on?”

I was feeling good about Ms Carlyle. George’s scepticism be damned.

“All right." He didn’t seem particularly convinced. Still, he turned and slowly plodded towards the kitchen, adding, "But I reckon she’s a bolter.”

In an attempt to move her attention away from George’s behaviour and back towards the matter at hand, I waved Ms Carlyle towards a chair. “You’ll have to excuse George,” I said as she settled in. “We’ve been interviewing since eight, and he’s getting hungry. He was so convinced the last girl was the final one.”

“Sorry about that,” she said, casting one last glance towards the door. “I’m afraid I haven’t brought you any doughnuts either.”

I paused for a second – how on earth had she known about that? – and shot her a sharp look. “What makes you say that?”

“George told me about your daily deliveries.”

“Oh.” I felt myself deflate ever so slightly. “For a moment there I thought you were psychic.”

“I am.”

“I mean, in an unusual way. Never mind.” I settled down opposite her and smoothed out the papers she’d placed down on the table, skimming through them as I tried to ignore the feeling of her eyes on me. Just as I’d taken in her appearance earlier, it seemed as if she was returning the favour.

Her letter mentioned the Cheviot Hills, and I quizzed her about the famous outbreak there (I distinctly remembered reading it in my Gazetteer of British Hauntings), and the conversation soon meandered into a discussion of her Talent. Listening was her thing, she told me, though Touch often merged with it and her Sight was above average, too. Good. George could do a bit of Listening and Touch, but it was never really his strong suit. That, and the fact I myself am completely and utterly tone-deaf when it comes to Visitors, meant Ms Carlyle was looking to be a good fit.

I couldn’t get my hopes up just yet, however.

We moved onto the topic of her training and qualifications – her lack of final certificates or letter of referral was more than a little unusual, but to be honest, it was far from the most important thing. If she proved well in the tests, we could sort out certificates and the like later on.

“You know, I can’t think what’s keeping George,” I said, knowing full well he was likely stood around in the kitchen, letting the kettle boil but making no moves to prepare any tea. He was waiting for Ms Carlyle to hightail it, but I wasn’t having it. I added, just loud enough for George to hear, “A trained baboon could have made the tea by now. It’s really time for the tests.”

“Yes, what tests are these? If you don’t mind my asking,” Ms Carlyle said, somewhat hasty. There was a hint of agitation – perhaps confusion – in her voice. Chances were, this wasn’t her first interview as of late, which would explain the eye-bags that were beginning to form on her face. (That was always the case with our applicants. After being insulted, belittled, and ultimately rejected from the big-name companies, they’d eventually show up at 35 Portland Row, wondering if they needed a job so badly they’d willingly work alongside two lone teenagers. Admittedly, Lockwood & Co. was never anyone’s first choice.)

“Not at all,” I said, going on to give her a quick rundown. Letters, referrals, certificates… those scraps of paper weren’t held in high regard here; I much preferred to see Talent with my own eyes. I glanced at my watch and reasoned I had enough time to give her a quick briefing about the company before George scooched back in here with the tea.

“Who are your supervisors?” she inevitably asked. “Do I get to meet them too?”

I couldn’t help the flicker of a frown that made its way onto my brow. “No supervisors here. No adults. It’s my company. I’m in charge. George Cubbins is deputy. Some applicants had a problem with this set-up so they didn’t get very far. Does it bother you?”

“Oh no,” she said. “No, I like the sound of it fine.”

Thank heavens for that.

George backed into the living room just in time to cut off any discussion about poor Robin, carrying a tray of three steaming mugs and a plate of biscuits. He looked rather dishevelled, and I made a mental note to interrogate him about it later. “Still here?” he said. “Thought you’d have scarpered by now.”

I held back the easy reply of ‘Shut up, George,’ and instead responded with, “Haven’t done the test yet, George. You’re just in time.”

“Good,” he responded, taking the largest mug and retreating into his usual spot on the sofa.

Mugs were distributed, sugar passed around, and eventually I encouraged Ms Carlyle to take a biscuit, lest George and I inhale them all ourselves.

I took a bite of mine and willed my eagerness to control itself. This was the good bit. “Right. Just a few tests, Ms Carlyle. Nothing to worry about at all. Are you ready?”

“Sure,” she replied, keeping calm and collected despite the two pairs of eyes trained on her.

I started with the make-or-breaker; the concealed skull jar in the middle of the table. I flicked away the spotted handkerchief covering it, and eagerly awaited her reaction. “What do you think this is?” I prompted. Ms Carlyle leaned forward, inspecting the plug and handles, the murky yellow smoke within the glass, and the suggestion of something dark and solid within. She squinted at it.

“It’s silver-glass,” she said. “Made by the Sunrise Corporation.”

I nodded, pleased. Good basic industry knowledge.

She gently tapped the side of the glass with one nail, disturbing the smoke and revealing the rather sad, stained brown skull clamped to the base of the jar. Not a moment later, true to form, the Visitor trapped within pulled one of its classic faces; it rolled its eyes and gaped its mouth, phantom tongue lolling in such an unpleasant way that Ms Carlyle immediately jerked away from the glass. Her Sight was unlikely to be good enough to see the same level of horrific detail my own eyes provided me, but it was sufficient enough to see the basics of the skull’s horrors, which was more than satisfactory in my books.

She also hadn’t shot out of her chair and made a frantic beeline for the front door yet, which was also a good sign. It was here where most interviews had been cut incredibly short.

The ghostly face dispersed and the yellow smoke stilled once more, and Ms Carlyle took a breath and cleared her throat before continuing.

“Well, it’s a ghost-jar. The skull’s the Source, and that ghost is tied to it. Can’t tell what sort. A Phantasm or a Spectre, maybe.” She sat back, seemingly unconcerned, and admittedly it surprised me. My smile froze; it took me a short moment to resume and continue as usual.

“Yes, that’s right. Well done.” I nodded, re-covering the jar with the handkerchief before heaving it up and out of sight.

“She was shaken,” George said between sips of tea. “You could see it.”

“Where did you get the jar?” Ms Carlyle asked, ignoring him just like I had. “I thought only Rotwell and Fittes had them.”

Great question. Moving on, I opened a drawer in the table and pulled out the red box containing George’s toothbrush cup, placing it on the table before her. “Please tell me, if you can, what supernatural resonance you detect here.”

Here was where things could go downhill. As Ms Carlyle took the cup in her hands and ran her fingers around its circumference, I suppressed the urge to recall the – quite frankly, hilarious – tales some previous applicants had spun up. I sat in wait and silently prayed it wouldn’t occur again.

She shook her head, scrunched her face, and turned the cup in her hands some more. Frustration was evident from the tightening of her brow, likely worsened by George’s incessant tea slurping, until eventually she let out a breath and put it back onto the table. “I’m sorry. I can’t detect anything.”

“I should hope not,” I nodded, somewhat gleeful, though I dared not let it show. “This is the cup George keeps his toothbrush in. Good. Onto the next.” I tossed the cup to George, who miraculously caught it. Things really were going smoothly.

It was as I turned my attention back to Ms Carlyle that I realised something was amiss. Her cheeks were flushed an alarmingly bright red, and her hand reached down to firmly grasp the handle of her rucksack before abruptly standing. “I’m not here to be made fun of. I’ll find my own way out.”

“Ooh,” George said. “Feisty.”

Another ‘Shut up, George,’ would have been more than appropriate there, but I resisted. Before I could intervene, Ms Carlyle turned to him with a look so deadly I wondered how George was still breathing.

“That’s right,” she said, nostrils flaring. “Step over here and I’ll show you exactly how feisty I am.”

George blinked. “I might just do that.”

“I don’t see you moving.”

“Well, it’s a deep sofa. It’s taking me a while to get out of it.”

Good Lord. “Hold on, both of you. This is an interview, not a boxing match.” I raised a hand, and threw caution to the wind. “George: shut up.” It was a relief to finally have those words out there, and even more so that George obeyed long enough for me to calm Ms Carlyle down and explain myself. The trick test was a handy part of the interview, and eventually she came to understand this, as she settled back down in her seat and watched as I produced the next three items from the table drawer: my uncle’s knife, the ribbon from the Kensal Green woman, and my personal favourite, Harry Crisp’s watch.

Ms Carlyle spread the three items across the table and picked them up one by one, closing her eyes and carefully turning them this way and that in the same manner as the cup. As the time went by, George buried his head into a comic and became far more engrossed in its pictures than the ongoing tests, though I couldn’t say the same for myself. I’d leant forward far more than I ought to, hands clasped between my knees, expressing perhaps a smidge more interest in Ms Carlyle’s abilities than I had for any other interviewee.

She inspected each item exactly three times before opening her eyes, then took a long swig of her tea, which was surely horrendously cold by then. “Did any of your other applicants get this right?” she said quietly.

I simply smiled at her. “Did you?”

“The echoes were hard to disengage,” she replied, “which I suppose is why you threw them at me all together. They’re all strong, but distinct in quality. Which do you want first?”

“The knife.”

I knew the verdict of the interview before she’d even moved on to the ribbon. Not only was Ms Carlyle headstrong and self-assured, but her Talent was advanced far beyond the rest of the applicant pool, and – despite her minor tiff with George – my gut instinct spoke for itself. She was the perfect fit, and my confidence only grew as she progressed through the items, explaining the sensations she experienced and the information she could glean from them.

It was as she finished and took the final two biscuits that I grimaced. That wouldn’t do, but it was an easy fix.

“Well,” she said finally, breaking the long stretch of silence that ensued. “I guess I know where the door is.”

George read my mind. “Tell her about the biscuit rule.”

Ms Carlyle looked at him. “What?”

“Tell her, Lockwood. We’ll have to get this straight or there’ll be hell to pay.”

I nodded solemnly. “The rule here is that each member of the agency only takes one biscuit at a time in strict rotation. Keeps it fair, keeps it orderly. Nicking two in times of stress just isn’t done.”

“One biscuit at a time?”

“That’s right.”

“You mean to say I’ve got the job?”

It was the start of a new chapter; I resisted the urge to beam at her. “Of course you’ve got the job.”

#lockwood and co #lockwood & co #lockwood & co fic #anthony lockwood #lucy carlyle #george cubbins #czenzo.fic

[twdmusicboxmystery]

i know obviously this community is not one to talk, but i genuinely can’t understand how troy survived? i mean if anything it’s good for us because it proves anything is possible. literally anything if troy can survive that. i haven’t really been keeping up with amy promo for fear, have they announced how he survived? because i’m so confused

i mean this is obviously very good for td, fear having multiple characters come back from the ‘dead’ now, and one of them from a major head injury. i also wanted to ask, as it’s been for madison and now troy, they’ve announced the return before the episode airs with the reveal. so do you think they’ll do that for beth? or do you think they won’t to make it more shocking and no one will suspect it if there’s no announcement. i also think beth’s return will be 100x bigger than troy and madisons return too.

sorry for this weird random ask i’m just genuinely confused, i mean he must have some brain damage or something cuz that swing for madison was HARD.

I love your ask! And it's a great question.

As far as I know, they haven't announced how he survived, yet. I'm sure we'll find out when the episode airs, and I'm excited to see what other parallels he has to Beth. Was he in a coma for 3 weeks? Did he have any memory loss?

I agree about this being good for TD and showing that anything is possible. I mean, you could technically have claimed that after Carl survived being shot in the head, but that happened in the comics as well, so people were more willing to believe.

Honestly, for me it's the Sirius symbolism of his one missing eye that's exciting. I mean, there was LITERALLY a one-eyed dog around Beth in Alone.

As for how they'll reveal her, I honestly don't know. I guess I'm 50/50 on whether they'll announce it beforehand. In the past, I definitely would have said no, they won't do that. But it's also true that times have changed. The TWDU has vastly expanded, fewer people are watching, and a LOT fewer are watching live because most people stream. Maybe they've learned that they get more publicity and reach when they announce it beforehand and build hype and discussion online. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

On the other hand, if they DON'T announce it (and I honestly hope they don't; I just think it's better that way) the best strategy for her return would definitely be in the Daryl spinoff. We've talked about the possibility of her returning in other shows before, like Fear or TWB, and obviously it hasn't happened yet. But because Daryl always has been and still is the fan favorite, his show will have the most eyeballs on it. Far more in terms of audience numbers than Fear or any of the other spinoffs.

Not to mention, despite what they say, you know a certain dark ship will be watching, and when Beth is revealed, they're going to start screaming about it online. Sure, it will be negative stuff about how stupid Beth's return is and how the show has "betrayed" them and all that nonsense, but they'll still be giving the TWDU the best publicity that anyone ever could. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Sorry. I'm rambling a bit. I guess the bottom line is, I don't know the answer, but I can't wait to find out! Xoxo! ☀️🔥💘

#beth greene #beth greene lives #beth is alive #beth is coming #team delusional #team defiance #td theories #bethyl #td theory #beth is almost here

[walker-extended-universe]

Season 2 Episode 20 Review

Well “Something’s Missing” at the end of that episode.

What a whirlwind! Even after the promo, the pictures, and all the bts shots and news blurbs, I was a left a little surprised by some of the events of this episode.

I’m gonna cover each plotline as we go, starting with the lighter stuff and and finishing off with the big stuff. I’ll also have my thoughts and predictions at the end.

Let’s start with Cassie:

She and James sit in the ranger HQ going over the hired guns that attacked the safehouse. So far, there’s nothing connecting them aside from their work the other night. Cassie knows this is connected to what Miles was investigating and references his paranoia on the night of his disappearance. 

This paranoia is reflected in her actions during this episode. She didn’t tell Trey she moved into the same building he did until they ran into each other during move in day. She didn’t put her job in her Tinder profile or mention it to her date for fear that it might bring danger to the people she cares about. And, after figuring out that her date was more of a recon than a fun night out, her first thought was that Cordell might be in danger. As she said to James, after everything that happened with Miles and Fenton, there was a dark cloud looming over all of them. Something tells me this “cabal of cabals” is going to have a lot of impact on her arc next season.

Next, let’s talk about Trey.

He enters Ranger HQ with the intention of doing some consulting work and helping with a psychological profile of the shooters at the safehouse. He already deduced that they were military men and he wants to help his friends. James is happy to hear this and takes this as a sign that his instincts were right. He tells Trey that he’s made a few phone calls and, if he wants it, he can be a ranger rather than just a counselor.

Trey, naturally, needs some time to think about this. He’s intrigued by the offer, of course, and it does feel like something he should do. But he knows there’s a lot of risk in the job, just like when he was in the military. His mother is unhappy that he’s even considering it; she did her time as a military mother and she’s not ready to do that again. Even putting that aside, Trey wants to settle down and have a family of his own one day and he’s concerned about how being a ranger would affect that. He knows first-hand how demanding the job is and how easy it can be to let personal issues fall to the wayside in the line of duty. As interesting as the concept is, he doesn’t want to regret it down the line. Personally, I was looking forward to seeing Trey as a ranger counselor but it looks like the writers have other ideas in mind.

Liam is also facing the winds of change. He hasn’t had a job as a lawyer since he was fired from the DA’s office earlier this season and it’s hard to say he’s even been looking. In this episode, he admits he’s not sure that he wants to pursue law as a career anymore. He feels lost and he admires his father’s drive and sense of purpose in his life.

Later in the episode, after the Walker ranch is returned to its rightful owners, Liam tells Bonham that he wants to pursue working the ranch in the future. He did want something different for himself many years ago when he went off to school in New York but he’s ready to try something a little more familiar. I must admit, I was a little surprised by this turn of events, but I’m happy to see Liam moving on.

On a lighter note: Stella is graduating! She’s headed off to Sauburn in the fall with Todd. She also intends to keep her relationship with Colton, despite the distance and everything between their families. She’s mostly just happy to be moving on to a new chapter in her life and exploring all her options. She feels like she has a direction now.

Right behind her, August has concerns about the future. He has some time before he goes off to college but he has a lot of questions that still need to be answered. He’s hoping he’ll have Trey around for support, just like Stella did.

Cordell is also dealing with his own emotions surrounding his little girl growing up and going out on her own. It still feels like just yesterday he brought Stella home for the first time and now she’s leaving it. He’s unspeakably proud of how mature she’s become and how she’s made the hole her mother left behind feel less empty. While I do feel he gave her a little too much credit for “holding the family together”, I do have to agree that she’s grown a lot since the pilot and I’m curious to see where she goes next.

And now, on to the big show!

After Stella’s celebratory breakfast, Liam and Cordell discuss options on getting the Davidsons to talk on who cut the saddle. Liam is concerned that they’ve exhausted all their options but Cordell thinks they might have one last Trojan horse in the form of Geri, who’s started to lose her faith in Gale and her family.

Cordell meets with Geri and talks her into getting Gale or Denise to confess to cutting the saddle or even about anything that might have happened at the barn that fateful night 25 years ago. Geri seems a bit reluctant but she agrees and goes along with his plan to stage an argument between them to get Gale talking.

Geri plays a lot of emotional manipulation cards to get Gale to talk. She calls her “Mom”, she insults the Walkers, and she plays up how much she wants to be a part of the family. She asks soft questions about Marv and the circumstances around her disappearance. Gale tells her that Marv just told her that Geri died shortly after the birth and she never even got to see her. When Geri presses for more answers, Gale starts to get defenseless and storms out of the room. 

Geri calls Cordell for advice, concerned she’s losing her chance. He advises her to take Gale out to the old barn and ask her more questions there. He mentions taking Stan out to where he killed Emily and how that forced him over the edge into confessing. Maybe the same thing will work on Gale. Geri takes this advice and tells Gale that she wants to see where her father died.

It’s dark when they get to the barn and Geri gets Gale talking by bringing up Hoyt and how much losing him had hurt. She had to leave town to deal with her emotions but she came back because running away wasn’t the solution; she had to deal with her problems head on. 

Gale slowly opens up and Geri gets her to admit that she knew for a long time. Marv told her the night of the fire because Abby pushed him to. Gale goes on to say that he brought her out to the barn first because he was worried about Denise and the news about Geri just slipped out as an afterthought. All of her emotions hit her in a rush and something in her snapped. So, she grabbed the lantern that Cordell had left behind and hit Marv over the head with it, knocking him out and starting the fire. She left him behind and ran to cover her tracks. She blamed Cordell for it because he brought the lantern but it had been her that made the first step.

Geri is shocked to hear this news, horrified even. When Gale sees this and tries to comfort her, she backs away and hits a workbench nearby, knocking over a lantern onto the ground and starting another fire.

Not too far away, Cordell is headed for the barn to confront Gale as well. He sees the fire and rushes in to save Geri. Thankfully, she was near the door and got out safely but Gale was still inside behind the flames. Without a second thought, Cordell rushes in to save her. He carefully steps around the flames and picks up her unconscious body. He carries her out of the flames and out into the fresh air, where she regains consciousness and emergency services are called.

The next day, both families are near the barn. Gale’s prepared to confess and everyone had been made aware of what she’s done.

August is initially furious that she managed to get away with murder for so long, but he’s calmed down by Cordell, who just wants to move on. He’s in a bit of shock himself; he spent so long blaming himself for what happened that night and hearing that it wasn’t his fault in the slightest is strange. But he’s not holding a grudge over it. When Gale says that he didn’t have to pull her out of the flames, he says that he did. Saving her was a part of healing himself. He tells the officers not to cuff her and steps away to talk to Denise, who’s extremely apologetic. She spent all those years blaming him and holding her mother on a pedestal. He doesn’t hold it against her and chalks it up to childhood trauma.

Behind them, Abby steps up to confront Gale. She calls her old friend out for not apologizing for how she treated Cordell and their family. She tells Gale that whatever had happened between them, she was furious on her behalf for what Marv did to her. Gale admits that she’s right and apologizes. She also says that coming back to Austin was initially about regaining what had been lost but her guilt drove her to want more. She then says she’s ready to go and heads for the police cruiser.

Off to the side, Stella and Colton observe the wreckage. Colton is worried that this might be the final nail in the coffin for them but Stella refuses to let him think that. They are not their parents and they don’t have to be defined by their families. She then tells Colton to go to his parents.

Denise is still in shock from hearing that her mother was the one to kill her father all those years ago. Her world was rocked that night and her whole life was built from that moment forward, even down to her marriage. She apologizes to Dan for how she’s treated him and to Colton. She also admits to cutting the saddle before the race. She says that she just wanted the Walkers to feel the same loss that she felt that night, the same loss she thought they caused.

Back at the barn, Geri approaches Cordell and they hug. She them tells him that they can’t be together anymore. It was too soon after Emily and Hoyt. They both still need time and space to find out who they are to each other outside of grieving buddies. Cordell is surprised by this but accepts her decision. Geri then reminds him that Stella is graduating and that they have a lot to be happy about.

And so the episode ends. Stella is prepping for graduation and the Walkers have their ranch back. All is well that ends well and there’s even time for a friendly race between Cordell and Trey and Liam before the end. From one end of the property back to the house. Cordell is so far ahead, Trey and Liam lose track of him and it becomes a two-man race to catch up.

Except...he isn’t at the finish line like they thought. Stella is the one that grabs the hat and there’s no way he was behind them.

The episode ends with a shot of a gray, nondescript van. Inside is an unconscious, bound Cordell, off to an unknown destination.

What an episode!

I think season 3 is going to hold a lot of surprises. The “cabal of cabals” will undoubtedly be the main antagonists and I’m sure they’re behind Cordell’s kidnapping. I wouldn’t be surprised if Trey gets some time as a Ranger while they look for Cordell. I can also see Cassie going off the deep end trying to find her partner. I can only imagine what this will do to the family, especially with Stella’s already planned departure. 

#walker #walker spoilers #walker review #s02e20 #something's missing

[eliza1911o1]

Chapter 17 Review (more of a play-by-play)

/Mandalorian S3 spoilers ahead/

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I enjoyed the start. For the most part. To me, the initiation scene felt a bit awkward and more roleplay-esque than dramatic swearing into a cult-that-makes-you-wear-a-helmet-for-eternity.

I think this comes down to the cinematography, particularly the really bright coloring and shots they used. Personally, I found the filter used overly lightened and emphasized the colors in a manner that made the props (especially helmets) and environment seem fake. I thought the outfits and props looked kind of cheap in general. Kinda hated the banners. And the helmets. The whole thing just felt equivalent to a promo for really good cosplayers and appeared pretty low budget for one of the most anticipated shows of the year.

A lot of semi-wide and wide angles were used to show how small the group was, which was probably to emphasize the rebuilding of the clan, though it felt more LARP with class friends than anything… I wish they would’ve used more closeups, especially in the scenes between the kid and the armorer, since it seemed a bit stiff. Scenes (especially the introductory scenes with the Mandalorians) feel stiff, mostly likely to editing rather than camerawork, as the aesthetic shots are undermined with clunky switching, lingering frames, and an inconsistent visual tone. The child actor was a bit lacking, especially since his delivery was a pivotal part of the intro, but he has plenty of time to improve and what I think might be hinting at a future flashback of Din’s introduction into the group.

Not a fan of the giant crocodile fight sequence. I found the sequence generally repetitive and flashy, with a lot of random shots being fired and people being knocked back. I don’t know if I expected them to be better prepared since they’re known as legendary fighters, but they shouldn’t have been that weak, right? Really hoping this was used to show how the small group is struggling rather than highlight Din’s intro… though it was a sick intro… either way, shout out to the flying GoPro dude though. Armorer and Din sequence was also vaguely uninteresting, though they’re definitely hinting at some things.

The following hyperdrive scene is one of my favorites in the episode. I’m not an expert on the original animated series or Ezra Bridger, but space whales are cool no matter the circumstances. And, while this is overall just a really pretty and cool sequence, the way grogu snuggled up into Din’s arms while he slept left me in tears. Absolutely adorable. Couldn’t have come up with better myself. Though I still don’t understand how tf Grogu got from his seat to the driver’s seat since there’s no visible whole…

Renovated Nevarro reminded me of the prequels and Naboo, which was interesting since we also saw snippets of Coruscant from the trailers. Don’t really know what to make of that information, but since Darth Maul once held the dark saber, maybe there’s some implications about the series connecting to the prequels and the sith; maybe I’m just making up conspiracy theories

Pimped out Greef Karga is exactly what I needed — what really does it for me are those little droids carrying his cape. Pure comedy right there. His character arc has been pretty interesting, since he’s still primarily in it on wealth and power, but appears to be orbiting around a new set of morals (like when he tells off the pirates in front of the school), though this might be attributed to wanting to get away from his past… either way, he seems to be taking on more of a comedy role.

Also, what was he expecting from Din the workaholic and full-time dad (Grogu. Come again? His name is Grogu). They handled Cara Dune’s exit pretty cleanly, but there’s definitely the want for a new supporting character since hers was originally pretty central. Guess we’ll have to keep our eyes out to see if Cobb Vanth is coming back. In the meantime, pirates are a very fun new introduction and Vane seems like he could be a good recurring character

Din was hot leaning against that tree. I don’t make the facts.

There is a clear emphasis on IG-11 throughout the entire episode, which does feel redundant. I enjoyed Din’s tinkering and was a big fan of the zombie droid moment. It was a unique enough idea for me not to completely hate the revival, though Din’s lack of shooting accuracy felt misplaced and the tone of the scene felt disjointed from the others. But we did get an iconic one-liner from Din that is redefining comedy as we speak though (I wish I could use “now that’s using your head” casually).

Loved the Anzellans making an appearance and got some of the most iconic shots of the episode. Din sitting cross-legged and Grogu trying to steal one of them was peak humor.

And now we’re at my other favorite part of the episode. Din teaching Grogu what it means to be a Mandalorian is not only incredibly soft and cute, but also a great way for us to understand his internal dialogue and learn new background. And also just really cute. This was also by far one of the coolest dog fights we’ve gotten. Admittedly, I am a simp for the N-1 Starfighter, but the maneuvering and usage of the asteroids was way too cool. The music was especially good during the fight and into the pirate’s intro as well. Grogu tucking himself into Din’s belt and being way too excited at the fight was perfect.

Adore the design for Kalevala; they did a great job of adapting it from the animated series. Having it be raining was a great visual choice too, really highlighted the color palette. Personally, I’m not big on Bo-Katan so far, but I’m up for this season making me a fan. Though the ending sequence seems to undermine her importance to the season, we all know she’ll be a big player. Just have to point out Din’s introduction too, using his full name and everything, we love to see it

Overall, I thought this first episode was great, albeit an underwhelming premiere

I’m holding back a lot of my theories, but to sum it up, I think the most prominent challenge of this episode seems to be pacing and clarity.

Either way, though this definitely was not the strongest start (especially when compared to other seasons), the newfound freedom found in the expansive world building supersedes it. And seeing all the characters again too. From what I know of the LA premiere, they showed the first two episodes and although Chapter 17 received a similarly lackluster response, apparently Chapter 18 was amazing so I guess I’ll just suffer and over-analyze until then

#mandalorian #the mandalorion spoilers #the mandolarian #the mandalorian season 3 #season 3 #din djarin #grogu #greef karga #cobb vanth #nevarro #kalevala #mandalorians #mando #mandalorian and grogu #mando and grogu #mandalorian meta #episode 1 #chapter 17

[skelltan]

Indie Promotion Round Up - Edition 1 Part 3 - NWA USA

This is a continuation from my last post. Check it out here!

Well, that only leaves one more show for this week. Back to the NWA for NWA USA, season 5, episode 1. NWA takes a cue from MLW and gives us no time to process that Kyle Davis is again here, this time with the United States Tag Team champions. Yeah, as I mentioned before, the NWA has midcard tag belts.

Anyways, The Fixers are the champs. FTR were called The Fixers in NXT, but this isn’t them – I hope they’re a fraction as good as FTR. This team is made up of Jay Bradley, who’s had appearances in WWE, IMPACT and ROH in the past, but was just a jobber. Instead, he mostly spent his time in OVW (both the WWE and IMPACT owned incarnations) and IWA Mid South. His partner is Wrecking Ball Legursky, who’s mostly worked North East Wrestling.

They’re gonna face The Country Gentlemen. Wrecking Ball does a joke calling out country musicians, not The Country Gentlemen, but I didn’t know that’s what he was doing, so. Probably the worst promo I’ve seen in this set of shows so far, I have negative interest in these guys.

The intro to USA has a more solemn acoustic guitar song, for some reason. But then there’s another intro right after with more generic electric guitars? It’s a bit confounding. We have the same commentary team.

The Country Gentlemen come to the ring. They’re cowboys. They’ve done even less than their opponents in their careers in terms of working notable promotions. I won’t bother naming the Country Gentlemen, but Jay Bradley is in the ring first for The Fixers. He lands a cheap shot and tags out. The two attack Gentleman A. Legursky picks up Jay as if he’s going to slam him, but stops for some reason.

They keep the attack on Gentleman A. Jay tags back in. Apparently they’re working the neck of Gentleman A. Another tag, more attacks, another tag, more attacks. I will admit I’m not calling all the moves, but they really are just wailing on Gentleman A, basically. Nothing too notable has been omitted from my summary.

The Fixers do tag team based offence where Jay shoves Gentleman A’s face into Wrecking Ball’s ass. I’m not even being snide, that’s legitimately their tactic, on some Rikishi stuff. Anyways, hot tag to Gentleman B. He hits a power slam for the first cover, a two count. He then tags in Gentleman A. Gentleman A attacks Jay in the corner, but Gentleman B comes in to tell him that’s not cool.

Are you kidding me? No one knows who these two are. Why are we working a dissension storyline with a team we’ll probably never see again? Plus, he didn’t really do anything worse than The Fixers were doing to him earlier.

Anyways, The Fixers take advantage of their quarrel and hits Gentleman A for the win. That was a stupid match. It was boring, and then The Fixers only won because The Gentlemen argued, so that doesn’t really make them look all that strong. I don’t really want to see these guys again anytime soon.

--

After a merch ad like the one from Powerrr, we get a women’s match with no introductions. Missa Kate vs Madi. Madi was known as Madi Wrenkowski on AEW – no idea why she got rid of the last name – and was mostly on Dark, but has been on NWA more recently. Misa has also had a couple of Dark matches.

Apparently these two were a tag team, and at Hard Times lost a match for the Women’s tag titles. They both jockey for an early pin, but get back up to their feet to exchange holds. Misa gets a rollup for a two. Madi then gets her on a submission on the mat where they do more reversals. Madi gets a 1 count on two different occasions.

They get up and Madi hits Misa. Misa then takes her to the mat to clobber her some. Misa then takes control, sending Madi to the corner, but Madi gets the power, getting Misa into the corner. Madi attacks her some more for a two count.

Madi goes for a pin, but the ref notices she has her feet on the ropes. Madi guys for a big boot, the Reality Check, which I guess is her finisher, but Misa hits her finisher, the Kick Filet (a roundhouse) for the win. It was alright, better than the first match, but nothing amazing. I haven’t written off either of these women, but I’m not clamouring for more. They have a handshake and hug after the match, but Madi feigns an attack on Misa, but ultimately doesn’t.

--

May Valentine is backstage with the Thrillbilly, Silas Mason. He gets to face Cyon for the national title. He fits the NWA brand, since he looks like he comes from the territory days. He’s apparently managed by Pollo Del Mar, a manager who does drag who’s appearing for the likes of GCW and Hoodslam. This guy must be a heel, because he says he wouldn’t bring her to a stinkhole city like this. He also wants to know what nation Cyon is from. Is he racist? Maybe.

Another ad for Austin Idol’s school. After that, here comes Homicide. He’s a legend on the indies and was mostly in TNA and ROH for stints. I’ve seen a bit of him, but not a lot. He’s here facing Jace Valor. Jace is another Wildcat guy.

Homicide lost the Junior Heavyweight title at Hard Times. Homicide takes him to the corner, but is called off. He does it again, biting him this time. They go to the outside. Homicide wants to attack him with the ring bell, but the ref says no. He then slams Jace on the table, though and then tries throwing a chair at him.

Homicide does more biting. Jace runs the ropes a bit and hits a dropkick. He goes to the top rope and hits a sort of crossbody for a one count. Homicide is back in control and does some more biting. They go to the outside again, where Homicide hits a scoop and a slam. Homicide gets him back in the ring, smothering him in the ring apron and loses via DQ.

Homicide keeps raging and yelling. The audio keeps cutting out, so I guess MLW can swear, but NWA can’t. Probably due to the extra networks they’re on. They ARE both on youtube, but they also have deals with other streaming services.

The highlight of the episode comes when Homicide steals a fan’s jacket, so Joe tells us, “Well, it is cold here”. I didn’t mention it, but NWA has clickbaity titles – the episode of Powerrr I watched was called “We have a new world champ”. Alright, that’s true. This episode of USA was subtitled “He took us off the air”. When Homicide was causing a ruckus, the screen flashed as if he damaged the cameras, so I was expecting it to hard cut off, even if it was in kayfabe, but it didn’t, so that was a letdown.

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Another main event, another angle set up. I don’t tally how often main events are used to set up angles, but I noticed that pattern here as I paid attention to writing down the events of these three shows. But if WWE or AEW or any other promotion I’ve seen do it, they sure don’t do it to this level.

For example, on the most recent episode of AEW Dynamite, Claudio came out to stop Jericho from attacking someone. But that was after Jericho had a decent sized, decent quality match with Tomohiro Ishii. All of these just use the main event for an angle.

I get it, they don’t have 2 hours like AEW Dynamite does, they don’t even have a total hour for any of these shows, and to be fair to MLW, that was one episode as opposed to the two here of NWA, but both these companies could learn to not just use their main event as an angle and give us a bit more action.

Though, as I mentioned, MLW’s was less egregious. I have nothing more to say about this episode of USA, so I guess it’s time for the final verdicts. The best overall show was MLW. As I said, the opening match was great and the segments were pretty good. It had its flaws, but I do want to see more. The worst was the episode of NWA USA. I didn’t really like anything and it felt like any random old indie show. The best performer would probably go to La Estrella, the worst going to The Fixers.

I’m not going to lie, MLW was better than I thought, and NWA was worse. I thought the NWA would be funny bad, but it was just average at best, and genuinely bad with no ironic enjoyment at worst. If I do make this a series, I’m not paying a lot of attention to the NWA. I wouldn’t mind either recapping their PPVs or their weekly shows with much less detail, but the thought of doing both doesn’t appeal to me at all – so if you have any suggestions, let me know.

I would try and find another promotion to replace my coverage of NWA, but I don’t really want to watch IMPACT as I’m not a fan, nor larger promotions because that’s a larger undertaking with people already working on it. On the other end, I don’t want to cover an indie promotion with a weekly show like OVW or Reality of Wrestling, as while I’m sure there are some talented wrestlers there, unless I’m sure it’ll be an entertaining watch, I don’t really want to sit through a bunch of wrestlers on a smaller stage still honing their craft – that’s why I don’t want to keep up with NWA!

I was considering covering notable indie promotions instead like Warrior Wrestling, House of Glory, GCW or Prestiege, but while they do have some storylines, I feel due to not having weekly TV, I wouldn’t be as interested in covering them.

If you have any suggestions for a replacement for NWA, let me know – hell, maybe I’ll cover an older defunct promotion, like Smokey Mountain Wrestling, or HUSTLE. Until then, I’ll try to be back in a week with MLW coverage if nothing else – I might just focus on getting up to date on the most recent episode while I work out what supplementary content to check out. See you next time!

#nwa #nwa usa #mlw #mlw fusion #aew #aew dynamite #wrestling #pro wrestling #indie wrestling #nwa powerrr #wwe #my reviews

[beyondspaceandstars]

congratulations! 📚 could you do promos 4 & 7 from the smut with Natasha Romanoff???

by the way, I hope you have a great day/night!

Brat

Relationship: CEO!Natasha Romanoff x Reader

Warnings: SMUT, NSFW, fingering, dirty talk - 18+, minors DNI

Word Count: 1.7k

A/N: I went a bit CEO!Natasha with this one - hope that’s okay, I thought it lent well! Also, thank you! I hope you're having a nice day/night as well :)

Masterlist

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

You really didn’t want to go and Natasha knew this but she was also quite the persuasive one, having such a dominance to her that you could rarely, if ever, say no to.

So, that’s how you found yourself a bit grumpily sitting in the car passenger seat while your girlfriend drove you two to whatever charity banquet this was.

Natasha was constantly getting these invitations being the high-up, fancy CEO that she was and usually you were fine with them. You liked the little appetizers and flutes of champagne. You especially liked your girlfriend parading you around, showing you off to fancy city people.

But tonight just wasn’t the night for you. You had had a ridiculous day at your own job and frankly, you just wanted to lounge around with your girl, maybe order pizza, and have lazy sex. Natasha had shut down your idea, saying she already RSVP’d for you two. Grudgingly, you shoved yourself into a dress and let her whisk you away

Little did she know, though, that you weren’t letting down easily. You had some potential ideas for the night, hoping that maybe — just maybe — you can rile Natasha up enough to keep her focus just on you and not the millionaires trying to network.

Upon arriving at the event, you hunted down the first tray of champagne you could find, taking a swig of the alcohol promptly. Natasha followed your path, stopping every now and then to chat, but once she was free of the schmoozing, she marched right towards you. An arm made it was tightly around your waist.

"What is your problem?" She gritted in your ear just below a whisper so no one could pick up on the tension. Your eyes darted around the room

"Nothing," you responded, taking another sip of champagne.

Natasha scoffed. "Well, you’re acting like a brat." She grabbed your glass out of your hand. You gasped but before you could protest, Natasha asked, "Is this because I made you come here tonight?

You shot her a look before taking back your champagne and finishing it off. "I’m gonna go get another drink."

Before your girlfriend could pull you back to her, you were already on a rampage for the bar. Luckily, no one tried to stop you. Thanks to your relations with Natasha, you had worked up a bit of your own status but it wasn’t like anyone genuinely cared. You weren’t negotiating deals.

You leaned on the bar and signaled for the bartender. You asked for something a little stronger. He nodded politely and got to making the drink. You turned your attention to the freshly polished wood of the bar.

Running a finger over it carelessly as you waited, out of the corner of your eye you noticed someone approach beside you. It was a man you somehow didn’t recognize. He looked very well put-together, almost like he was trying too hard, with his designer pressed suit and hair that could go up in flames from all the product in it.

You tried to ignore him, turning your attention to the bartender who was still at work, but it was hard when the man was not-so-subtly inching towards you. This wasn’t going to go very well, you thought. But you weren’t stopping it.

"In need of something to get you through the night?" The man suddenly asked. Your gaze shot over to him.

"Excuse me?"

He chuckled, "I meant the drink."

As if on cue, a glass was placed right in front of you. You wrapped your hands around it, slowly bringing it to your lips for a sip as you eyed the stranger. He was watching you quite intensely.

You hummed, delighted by the cocktail. "These things can sometimes be…draining."

He sighed. "Tell me about it."

The conversation fell into a lull. You tried glancing around at the other patrons, all completely oblivious to the bar, but just couldn’t shake this man and his eyes which were still watching you. They shamelessly took in the curves of your dress and even lingered a bit on your chest.

Your stomach dropped as you suddenly saw him step even closer, his finger lightly brushing your arm in the process. You froze but still made no chance to dash away. Maybe your goal of annoying your girlfriend tonight was going a bit too far…

"You know," he began, his voice dangerously low, "if you wanted to sneak away for a bit—"

"She doesn’t," Natasha gritted as she suddenly approached you two. You just about let out a sigh of relief as her arm came around your waist, pulling you into her side. You yelped at the action, stumbling a bit, but she held you tight.

The mystery man looked you two over, a bit of a pleased expression graced his face. But he didn’t press further, probably very deterred by the daggers Natasha’s eyes were shooting at him. He collected his drink from the bar and raised it at you two as if in some awkward toast.

"Fair enough, ladies," he said, and then he was back in the crowd, lost in the sea of aristocrats.

You didn’t know what to do now, opting to stare down at your drink.

"What the hell was that about?" Natasha asked.

"I- He just came up to me," you pouted.

Natasha shook her head in disappointment as she began walking you two away from everyone else. You didn’t know where she was leading you until you were roughly pulled into the women’s restroom. It was empty, thankfully, and you heard the turn of the lock as you placed your drink on the counter.

"He just came up to you," Natasha repeated. She was sauntering over, looking very much more like some powerful CEO than your sweet girlfriend. You gulped and gripped the edge of the bathroom sink. "He may have came up to you but I didn’t see you making any moves to walk away."

"Well—"

"And you let him touch you," she scoffed. "Don’t think I didn’t see his fingers on your fucking arm." For emphasis, she gripped the spot he had brushed over. You yelped. "What made you think he could do that, hmm? What, did you forget who you belong to?"

"No, Natasha, I didn’t mean—" You pleaded but she wasn’t buying it.

"I’m not buying it," she said as she roughly turned you around, her back pressing your front into the bathroom counter. "In fact, I think you need a little reminder."

You held your breath in anticipation as Natasha began gathering the skirt of your dress. You knew what she was going to find underneath. And you certainly knew it wasn’t going to help your case.

Sure enough, once your lower region was exposed, Natasha let out a gasp. “No panties? Are you kidding me right now?!”

"Natasha, please—"

"You really are a fucking brat, aren’t you?"

You tried shaking your head but it was no use. Her mind was made as she pressed into you even more, her hand now coming to caress your inner thigh. You whimpered out your girlfriend’s name as her fingers began slowly circling your clit. She chuckled in your ear before collecting some of the wetness dripping from your folds and putting attention back on your clit.

"So wet for me," Natasha murmured. "It is for me, right? Or did that man out there get you dripping like a needy slut?"

You groaned, captivated by the action happening between your thighs. "Just for you," you said as your eyes slowly fluttered. Natasha picked up the pace adding slight pressure as well. You squealed.

"That’s it," she whispered, holding you tighter around the waist. "That’s my girl."

Suddenly, though, she moved her fingers back to your folds where, without warning, she shoved two fingers inside you. You yelped, twisting in her grip. She didn’t even budge. You cried out as the fingers flicked upwards, hitting just the right spots.

"If you want to act like a slut you have to deal with being fingered like one, got it?" Natasha said. Her mouth was practically on your ear, she was whispering so lowly it sent goosebumps up your arms. She was pissed and serious. You were loving it.

"Y-Yes, Natasha." You barely managed to get the words out but your girlfriend seemed very pleased. Her fingers picked up — significantly. A squelching noise now filled the bathroom, coming directly from your wetness which was not stopping any time soon it seemed. Natasha was also taking the moment to make sure her hand was hitting your clit. With every single pump. It was getting overwhelming very, very fast.

You spoke again, "Please, please… I’m gonna cum."

"Yeah?" Natasha mocked. "My little slut needs to cum?"

You nodded your head profusely. "Please, please." The begging was becoming second nature at this point, your only instinct. Natasha seemed very pleased with that.

"Fine," she huffed. "Cum all over my fingers you greedy little girl. And you better scream when you cum. I want every single person, especially that man, to know who’s treating you so well."

Her paced picked up even more (how that was possible you didn’t know) and your body reacted wonderfully. Within moments, you were crumbling like a house of cards. Your orgasm rushed over you as you cried out much louder than you had actually intended. You couldn’t stop as Natasha continued to work you through the orgasm. She didn’t give up until you were limp in her arms.

She chuckled, watching your body practically collapse from pleasure. "Was that good, honey?"

"Yes," you mumbled, leaning into her body. Natasha fixed your dress and brought her hand to caress your cheek.

"Good," she said and placed a quick kiss on your lips. "Maybe that’ll teach you to behave."

Now it was your turn to laugh. "Why would I behave when that’s what I get for being bad?"

Abruptly, Natasha’s hand came around your neck, forcing you to look at her. Her gaze was dark, her CEO stance still very much engaged. "Don’t even tempt me."

You bit your lip teasingly but nodded your head slowly. You certainly didn’t mean it, though, already secretly planning the next time you could ruffle her feathers.

#1k celebration #request #natasha romanoff blurb #natasha romanoff drabble #natasha romanoff smut #natasha romanoff one shot #natasha romanoff fluff #natasha romanoff imagine #natasha x reader #natasha romanoff oneshot #natasha romanoff x reader #natasha romanoff #black widow one shot #black widow fanfiction #black widow x reader #black widow #smut #wlw #avengers #marvel fanfiction #marvel one shot #marvel #mcu fic #mcu #one shot #writing*

[extasiswings]

“I felt it shelter to speak to you.” for Buddie

This was...not supposed to be this long but all the recent promo content has been...inspiring. Anyway...on ao3 here.

The first attack happens on a Saturday afternoon.

There’s nothing special about the day, nothing strange. Christopher is at a friend’s birthday party, Buck is off somewhere with Taylor, and Eddie is grocery shopping before he’s meant to meet Ana for an early dinner.

His shoulder aches a little—that’s what he notices first—but that’s not too unusual. It happens sometimes. Even as physical therapy has helped him regain strength and mobility in his arm and shoulder, a high caliber sniper round ripping through his upper chest is no minor injury. Plus, while he’s hardly ancient, he’s not even as young as he was when he was shot the first time, and those bullets left behind their own patches of scar tissue and occasional twinges.

So. His shoulder aches. It’s fine. He ignores it and moves on. Goes through the store, checks out, put his bags in the backseat—

There’s a glare off a window in the apartment building across the street.

Eddie reaches for the handle of his door.

Suddenly, his fingers start tingling, uncomfortable pricks of icy numbness traveling up his hands like they’ve fallen asleep, but shaking them out doesn’t help. And then, without warning, pain lances through his chest, sharp and acute, and he can’t breathe properly, as if his torso has been trapped in a vise that’s slowly tightening more and more.

His vision swims. He sways on his feet, grasping at the door handle with clumsy, numb fingers to keep himself upright.

He feels like—he feels—

He feels like he’s dying. It strikes him with sudden clarity. He’s dying. Dying in a random parking lot—he always assumed he was too young to have a heart attack but the symptoms fit and he’s just—

He can’t. He can’t die. Not when he’s survived everything else. This can’t be—

“Sir?” There’s a woman with a station wagon parked in the space next to his truck and she’s looking at him with no small amount of concern. “Are you okay?”

Eddie’s mouth is so dry and his breathing so irregular that it takes him a moment to respond.

“I—I think I need to go to the hospital,” he grits out as another wave of dizziness threatens to send him to his knees.

She calls 911. Eddie spares a moment to be grateful that the paramedics who show up a few minutes later aren’t from the 118.

As it turns out, he’s not dying. And he didn’t have a heart attack.

“A panic attack?” Eddie’s voice is distant to his own ears as he stares at the ER doctor in disbelief, his stomach flipping with a new kind of dread. “Are you sure?”

“Your symptoms resolved on their own and your EKG is normal, Mr. Diaz,” she replies as she flicks through the screens of his chart on her tablet. “And nothing in your prior history or other recent tests indicates that there’s anything physically wrong with you—you were healthy before you were shot and your recovery has progressed smoothly up to this point.”

She pauses and looks back at him. “Have you...spoken to a therapist? I noticed that your treating physician made a referral for counseling when you were originally discharged, but…”

Eddie clears his throat roughly. “Yeah, no, I, uh...with the PT schedule and everything else going on, I never followed up with that. But I’ve been fine. It never seemed necessary.”

“With all due respect, Mr. Diaz,” the doctor says, “you’re in the emergency room because of an acute stress response in which your brain tricked your body into believing you were in danger to such an extent that you thought you were dying. I’m not sure you’re as fine as you think.”

There’s probably some truth to that. Eddie can admit that much. But that doesn’t mean he needs—he’s been shot before. He’s been in a warzone. He didn’t need therapy to move forward from it then and he shouldn’t now. He can—he can handle this. He can make himself get over it.

He’s already spent months leaning heavily on everyone around him. The thought of not being okay, of asking for more help when he’s finally easing back into working, when things are finally getting back to normal, when they all have their own issues to focus on—

God, it makes him want to throw up.

So...no. He’s okay. Because not being okay isn’t an option.

He’s fine. The panic attack was...a fluke.

“I appreciate the advice,” Eddie says finally. “I’ll think about it.”

He can tell the doctor doesn’t believe him when her lips thin.

“You know, more likely than not, the panic attacks will keep happening if you do nothing,” she points out. “Ignoring this won’t make it go away.”

“I understand,” Eddie replies. “If that’s all, does that mean I can get out of here?”

The doctor sighs. “Sure.”

Eddie’s phone rings while he’s in an Uber on the way back to his truck. It’s Ana.

He swears under his breath as he sees the time—he hadn’t called anyone, hadn’t wanted the hospital to call anyone either, but that means he’s now late for a date that he doesn’t really want to keep after everything and further doesn’t leave him with any good excuses for his absence except the truth which...he doesn’t really want to admit.

Before the shooting, Carla told him to make sure he was following his heart. And he’s been too exhausted and focused on his recovery to really think too hard about that. But now—

For a moment, Eddie considers it. Telling Ana the truth. Showing her some of the dark, messy, ugly pieces of himself. Being vulnerable.

The very idea makes him recoil. Not because he thinks she would run away necessarily, but because he just...can’t.

He can’t. Not with her.

And if he’s that uncomfortable with the idea of letting in someone he’s been dating for over half a year, if he can’t imagine himself ever actually being comfortable with that...then what the hell is he doing?

He calls her back when he gets to his truck.

“Hey—I’m so sorry, I had a little emergency—yeah, everything’s fine now, but I’m not sure I’m up for going out. Can I meet you at your place? ...okay, great. See you soon.”

He may know even less about ending a relationship than he does about dating in general, but he figures he at least owes it to her to end things in person.

*

Eddie goes to work on Monday feeling fine. Great, even. He sleeps well the night before, he gets Christopher off to school on time, traffic is light enough that he gets to the station early—

Everything is fine. By all accounts it should be a good day.

At least, that’s what he thinks right up until all of them get different emergency alerts sent to their phones and they find out the city’s systems have been hacked. From that point forward, everything is chaos. Damage control. Twenty-car pile-ups because stoplights are being messed with, an outbreak of animals from the zoo when the electric locks on their enclosures released—

Eddie’s fine though. He’s fine. It’s nothing he can’t handle—in fact, he’s usually great with chaos. He’s focused and sure and capable. Nothing else matters but the work, certainly not himself. When he’s busy, he has no time to think about anything else.

The gradually worsening tension in his shoulders can be ignored. The way he has to clench his hands into fists to keep them from shaking in a way he hasn’t had to do since his earliest days in Afghanistan can be brushed off. He doesn’t have time to think about anything but the jobs in front of him, which means he doesn’t have time to think about his own state.

Brush it off, pick yourself up, keep moving forward. That’s what he knows, that’s what he can do.

Except, then they end up at the hospital and—

A medevac helicopter falls off the roof. Bobby nearly joins it. Buck and Eddie barely manage to get him back.

A cold sweat breaks out on Eddie’s brow as Bobby leans heavily against the wall next to the roof access door to catch his breath. His stomach roils. He doesn’t feel fully connected to his own body, caught somehow between present and past, a rooftop in Los Angeles and a desert in Afghanistan.

He breathes in. He tamps down on the rising panic.

Bobby is fine. The helicopter pilots and their patient are fine.

He’s fine. He’s fine.

“Are you okay?”

Eddie jumps at the question, his head whipping around to find the source. Buck’s brow furrows as he holds up his hands.

“Sorry,” Buck says quietly. “Didn’t mean to startle you.”

Eddie swallows hard and shakes his head. “You’re fine, don’t worry about it.”

He glances toward the door. “You know, I think I’m going to head back down,” he says, hoping Buck won’t notice the fact that he hasn’t answered the original question. “I want to make sure the pilots are holding up alright.”

“I can come—” Buck starts to offer, only for Eddie to cut him off.

“Someone should stay with Bobby,” he replies. He forces a smile as Buck’s eyes search his face. “I’ll be fine.”

Buck glances at Bobby, then back to Eddie before he finally nods.

“Okay,” he says. “But here, take the radio. If anything happens—”

“I’ll let you know.”

Eddie makes it down one flight of stairs before he decides to take the elevator the rest of the way down. The numbers on the top of the doors tick down, down, down—

And then, abruptly, the elevator lurches to a halt, throwing Eddie off balance and into the wall as the lights go out, plunging him into total darkness.

His ears ring from the impact.

He’s trapped. Trapped in a metal box in the dark. A box that could easily become a coffin if the emergency stop failed and sent it careening down to crash at the bottom of the elevator shaft.

Eddie’s breathing speeds up against his will. His chest starts to hurt.

Not again, he thinks vaguely. Not here, not now, not again.

But. He can’t move. He can’t breathe. Some distant part of his mind recognizes that what he’s feeling isn’t real, that he just needs to calm down, but he can’t—

He’s going to die. He’s going to—

The radio crackles in his belt.

“Eddie? Eddie! Can you hear me?”

Eddie’s mind latches onto the sound of Buck’s voice like a lifeline in an ocean of distress. It takes him a moment to make his trembling hands work through their numbness, to remind his fingers how to work the buttons, but eventually, he lifts the radio to his mouth.

“I’m here,” he says. His voice shakes. “I’m in the elevator. It’s—I don’t know which floor. Or if I’m between floors. I don’t—”

He shudders. His eyes close, not that it really matters given how dark the space is already.

“It’s okay,” Buck replies. “It’s okay, Eddie, we’ll find you. We’ll get you out, don’t worry.”

“I don’t want to die here.” It slips out of him before he can pull it back. Buck takes a sharp breath on the other end of the line.

“That’s not going to happen,” Buck says firmly, although his own voice seems less steady than usual. “I would never let that happen. I’ve got your back, remember? Always.”

A shudder rips down Eddie’s spine and he slides against the wall to sit on the floor. The walls still feel too restricting, like they’re closing in on him more each moment that he looks away.

The radio crackles again.

“Eddie. What can I do? What do you need?” Buck asks.

I don’t know. I don’t—I can’t—

“Eddie.” The fear and desperation in Buck’s voice cuts through the fog in Eddie’s mind.

He never wants Buck to sound like that.

“Keep talking?” Eddie replies. “I—just keep talking to me. Please?”

Don’t go, is what he really means. Stay with me.

He’s never allowed himself to say those things though. Not during the early days of the pandemic when they were sharing a bed in Buck’s loft. Not after he moved back home with Christopher and the other side of his bed felt too empty for sleep to come easily. And certainly not after he started dating Ana.

During his recovery, he never had to ask Buck for anything really. Buck was always just...there. Even though he was with Taylor, he was still there with Eddie and with Christopher whenever Eddie needed him. Like he knew somehow. Or maybe as if he needed to be there as much as Eddie needed him there.

Eddie hasn’t looked too closely at any of that. He’s not ready to. It’s too much, too complicated, too—too—

Dangerous.

“What do you want to talk about?”

Eddie swallows hard as his head rests against the wall. As he allows the sound of Buck’s voice to wrap around him like armor. Like home. Insulating him against the panic and isolation.

“Anything,” he says quietly. “Just keep talking.”

And Buck does. He talks about everything and nothing, random facts and stories from his past that Eddie hasn’t heard before, he talks and talks and talks until his voice grows hoarse in Eddie’s ear and the pressure on Eddie’s lungs eases.

Eddie exhales shakily and takes a few deep breaths as he continues to listen, as his body shifts from hyper-awareness and panic to wrung out exhaustion. When Buck finally cuts off, it’s because there’s an ugly screech of metal as the elevator doors are pried open, as light filters back in.

Eddie’s legs are unsteady as he gets to his feet. He trips on the edge of the elevator door when he exits—

Buck catches him before he can fall. Because of course he does.

“Thank you,” Eddie breathes into Buck’s shoulder as he finds his balance.

Buck shakes his head. “I promised we’d get you out, didn’t I? Besides, I—I shouldn’t have let you go alone.”

“I decided—”

“I shouldn’t have let you,” Buck repeats, low but insistent. His eyes meet Eddie’s and Eddie swallows hard.

“You weren’t okay. Were you?” Buck asks. And Eddie—

He wants to lie. Part of him does at least.

But he can’t lie to Buck.

Not to Buck.

“No,” he confesses. It’s half a whisper. “No, I wasn’t.”

Buck bites his lip and nods once.

“Okay,” he says. “We’ll figure it out.”

And somehow, Eddie believes him.

#chapel writes #prompt fill #letmetellyouaboutmyfeels #buddie #eddie diaz #buddie fic #buddie ff

[eldragon-x]

Hollow Mind predictions/speculations

Hollow Mind is finally gonna get out this Saturday, I am very excited and in fear, I have a lot of thoughts, let’s get in on it.

I’m parting this post into three parts: Analysis where I look at promo material and see what I can make out of it, Hopes / Luz and Hunter where I list a few things I hope we will see/learn about and speculate about what this episode will mean for Luz and Hunter in the future and Hunter and the Day of Unity where I pose a theory I’ve had since the last episode. It doesn’t necessarily relate to Hollow Mind, but I think it’s worth including, as it’s possible we will learn something about Hunter’s purpose for the DoU.

Analysis

Let’s look at this shot first

Obviously, Belos’ mindscape. Our only frame of reference on how mindscapes look and work is Willow’s scape which looks like a forest, due to her discovering that plant magic is her thing, with each memory being a framed picture. Belos’ mindscape appearing like a palace, or the hallway of one, with pictures of memories along the walls adds up.

I’d also like to point out that while Belos’ mindscape is this dim, dark hallway, Willow’s is very different, being very bright and free. Probably to set a mood, but I can also imagine it being a portrayal of Belos being very narrow-minded.

I want to put attention on the paintings we see here

On Luz’ side, we got Belos appearing very mighty with a landscape and the ribcage of the Titan in the background. I imagine the other picture depicts the events of “Young Blood, Old Souls” with Eda in her Owl Beast form fearfully looking up at Belos. It specifically reminds me of the scene where he uses his staff to bring Eda to consciousness while she’s affected by her curse.

Now to the paintings on Hunter’s side

I think maybe the one the furthest away could relate to the covens? I’m reaching but there is a silhouette of a person that reminds me of how Darius is pictured in the banner of the Abomination Coven.

The other two pictures are incredibly interesting to me. We get glimpses of Belos’ past after he already abandoned his identity as Philip! The one on the left appears to be him leading a large group of witches away from some sort of disaster and the one on the right seems like probably those same people celebrating him as a hero, assuming it stands in context to the other painting.

The thing is, while it’s nothing new for Belos to be painted in a light of admiration, we know that it was a result of lies and covering up history. But these? Those aren’t actual paintings or the like. Those are memories. Events that factually happened. 

Belos is worshipped because he can supposedly speak to the Titan who is supposedly against the use of the supposedly dangerous wild magic. But we know for a fact that witches and demons lived pretty peacefully and happily when they were allowed to practice any magic freely and I personally never believed that Belos has a connection with the Titan, especially now that we know Philip took forever to find the different Glyphs, almost as if the magic was hiding from him, as he phrases it.

What I’m getting at here is that I think the events in those two paintings depict one where Belos was on his path to convince people that wild magic is dangerous and destructive and that he can keep people safe from it. Maybe he himself caused the disaster in the left painting. Maybe he caused an incident that involved magic to overblow and go further out of proportion than it would normally have. Either way, it caused real damage and an opportunity for him to set himself up as a savior. 

This character is probably one of the most outstanding things that we get to see in the promos and for obvious reasons: They’re a purple glowing child wearing a mask that resembles the one Belos wears. We can also pretty surely assume they’ll show up in this episode, looking at how the background in the first image resembles the mindscape.

My first solid thought on them was that they’re Belos’ inner self, as we know that every person has an inner self who serves as the gatekeeper of their memories and emotions. On the other hand, I found it hard to justify for myself why Belos’ inner self would appear as a child. However I came across this post here which has a pretty good explanation for it. But in short: Belos never grew up emotionally which is portrayed by his inner self being child-like.

One other possibility is that this is just Belos at a younger age from one of his memories. In “Understanding Willow”, we see Willow’s actual inner self alongside a youger version of her from a childhood memory after all.

But honestly, I don’t think that’s the case. I get the impression that this character will be more present than just being Belos as a child. Plus the mask is such a specific design choice. We are meant to see and recognize this kid as Belos and I think there’s reasoning to that.

Another thing I want to adress about the child is that the purple coloring stands out to me. It reminds me of inner Willow being pink while she was upset unlike the standart blue-ish coloring. I think Belos’ inner self is similarly going through a strong emotion, explaining his colors.

Talking about emotions, inner Belos looks rather startled in the first image which, aside from his appearance, has me thinking he’ll act more like an actual child and less like Belos himself. I’d argue it would make sense too, someone’s inner self isn’t actually them. Inner Willow always refers to Willow in third person. 

Finally getting to the images themselves, I think in the first one, inner Belos is just startled about Luz and Hunter being there. I’m uncertain about the second one, but the monochrome background makes me think of a damaged memory. Either way it’s not in the main area of the mindscape.

Onto another interesting one:

My simple assumption is that this is Belos in his cursed form, probably as seen in one of his memories. We’ve seen that he has actual antlers in his cursed state and the blue eyes remind me of how his scar, which may be influenced by the curse, looked in a storyboard of “Eclipse Lake”, being blue and having bubbly spots that almost look like eyes.

My more outside-the-box assumption is that this is what inner Belos might turn into at one point during the episode. Much like inner selves, he has a glowing outline, and we also did see inner Willow transform into something unrecognizeable from herself.

Next we have this very interesting bit

Luz and Hunter fighting or struggling? before light pours out from where they are. What stands out much more to me though is this room. Not only does it clearly reference the Collector, it’s a part of the mindscape itself and not just a memory, as we see paintings on the sides of this shot. I’ve said before that I think the Collector has done several favours for Belos, including giving him a long lifespan and taking part in the Day of Unity. Maybe this room represents how intertwined Belos’ life has become with the Collector. He has been working towards whatever will happen at the Day of Unity for 400 years. He would be long dead under normal circumstances. Of course the Collector is incredibly important to Belos.

Now let’s talk outside the mindscape itself.

The promo shows us a short clip where we see Hunter pointing his staff, about to cast a spell before Luz leaps? falls? onto him and they both fall onto a spell circle. It’s probable that this clip is from Hollow Mind and this is how these two end up in Belos’ mindscape. 

We get a few more very quick and obscured clips afterwards which, judging by the background, will likely take place in the same setting. 

We see Hunter running

Raine and Eberwolf with Darius who is doing something on the ground with his hand, drawing a spell circle I’d guess.

followed by Eber and Raine facing Darius, and Raine pulling a flute out of their cloak. Maybe intending to use bard magic?

Now that we got confirmation that Darius is working against Belos, I’m sure Eber is in on it too. Just last episode, Raine (and we) got new information from Darius about the Day of Unity and the situation seems bad. Raine rejects Darius’ suggestion to get help from Eda and says they’re gonna find another way.

So, I’ve already reblogged this post where op had pretty much the same thought as I: What if the three Head Witches try to gain more information by attempting to go into Belos’ mind? And perhaps they were caught by Hunter who is about to attack them before Luz comes in and they both land in the circle by accident.

I’d like to say maybe we could get a B plot around the rebelling Coven Heads with this, but that’s probably just my wishful thinking. But I think Raine, Darius and Eber will at least show up near the end again to get Luz and Hunter out, as we know that mind-entering needs a third party to get the person/people inside a mindscape out of it.

Hopes / Luz and Hunter

There’s really a lot of possibilities of what will happen in this episode in terms of Luz and Hunter - as well as we as the audience - discovering and learning new things. But my personal hopes are:

- seeing what Philip’s relationship with his brother was like and how the brother died/parted ways with him

- Hunter’s origins (that grim walker theory is looking promising right now) and maybe what his relationship with Belos was like when he was younger

- I’d personally love to see the point of Belos’ life where he just took on his new identity and is starting to set his whole plan into motion by gaining a reputation. Something like we see in the paintings I talked about earlier in this post.

- information on the previous Golden Guards

- maybe Terra’s early days as a head witch working with Belos? I think it’s interesting that she grew up without the coven system and yet seems to be Belos’ ride or die ally.

- Belos is Philip in-universe revelation. We already have Luz discovering Glyph-combos for petrification (which Belos uses to basically execute people) and those clawed, meaty arms (which Belos utilizes during the s1 finale) in Philip’s diary and the connection with old B will sink in for her here.

I think whatever happens in this episode is going to mean a lot for Luz and Hunter going forward. If Luz learns about Philip, she’s going to have to think about what that means for her hopes of getting home. “Elsewhere and Elsewhen” already made the diary less reliable with Philip changing up the story and not even planning on using the Collector to build a portal, but knowing that this is Belos adds another layer to it. Plus her learning that she, at the time unknowingly, helped Belos by teaching him the Light Glyph.

Hunter isn’t going to immediately get away from Belos after this episode because let’s face it: It’s going to be hard for him and take more than that. But I’m sure this episode will be another important step in his arc and his relationship with Belos isn’t going to be quite the same afterwards, especially with the very horrid knowledge that Belos will be aware of everything Luz and Hunter do in his mind.

Hunter and the Day of Unity

Now... this is a very loose theory, you’ll just have to run with me here, I’m going to sound silly, but I do want to get it out.

As I’ve said before, last episode gave us another insight on the Day of Unity.

Belos plans to drain witches of their magic and use it for some kind of powerful spell. The Collector seems to be involved throught the eclipse. But what really peaked my interest is that the magic will be drained through the sigils, which every witch who is part of a coven has.

Before this, we knew the purpose of sigils was to restrict witches from using any kind of magic that doesn’t allign with their coven. And apparently, Kikimora can also use them to knock out people as we’ve seen her do to Raine in “Eda’s Requiem”.

We don’t know much about this specific ability yet, but my assumption is that it’s reserved to high-rank members of the Emperor’s Coven (by which I mean Kiki and maybe Belos with the help of artificial magic, I hesitate to assume that Hunter knows about this) and can only be used against witches with any other coven sigil.

Interesting thing is, Hunter does have the sigil of the Emperor’s Coven

and I have to wonder what purpose it serves. Hunter can’t naturally cast magic like most witches, so it can neither drain from him nor restrict him in his magic. On top of that, witches in the Emperor’s Coven are allowed to use all kinds of magic so their sigil presumably doesn’t seal away magic anyway.

Assuming I’m right about Kiki’s thing only working on other coven sigils, it wouldn’t be useful for knocking out Hunter Just In Case and I’m sure with how she has tried to kill and otherwise bring harm to him, she would’ve taken advantage of it by now if that was possible.

It’s not unreasonable to assume that Hunter will play an important role in the Day of Unity with Belos’ whole “The Titan has big plans for you” ect. and I believe this is where his sigil comes into play. Once again, this is loose, but what if Belos needs a vessel to hold all that magic that will be drained? What if the sigil is there to make it possible for Hunter to recieve that magic and use it to pull off one of the final steps for whatever Belos is planning to do? I could be entirely wrong, maybe it’s just going to be the Head Witches casting that magic together, but getting this new information just made me think on Hunter’s sigil. It might as well be just an identifier for him as part of the coven.

#I'm making up whole headcanons here #owl house #toh spoilers #hollow mind #belos tag #hunter tag #raine and darius arent as major here for me to tag em

[snowbellewells]

Self Promo Sunday: “Prestidigitorium!”

When I originally wrote this little one shot after Season 5′s premiere episode (5x01), I remember being both excited and anxious for what was to come for Emma and those who love her most. I couldn’t help wanting to write a bit of sweet fluff for them, in the midst of all the angst that I’m now sure is on the way. (Boy, we couldn’t have even guessed at how angsty Season 5 would really get, could we?) I loved that little Emma in the flashback was seeing The Sword in the Stone, and the title of this is from that movie’s song Merlin sings while showing Wart how to pack magically.

Also available on A03 or ff.net (As part of my One Shot Collection “Of Swans and Swords and Hopeful Hearts) if you prefer to read on one of those platforms.

Summary:  Canon Divergent 5a Missing Moment /// Sometime in what I hope is the near future, a simple family movie night after Emma has defeated the Darkness…

The little yellow cottage by the water seems lit from within on this chilly autumn evening as night begins to fall over Storybrooke, Maine. Though it hasn’t been home for long, Emma Swan’s first place of her own – that isn’t a tiny apartment in some huge, bustling city – is already exactly the cozy sanctuary she envisioned. It hasn’t been more than a couple of weeks since she moved her things in, settled into the space, and she is only now starting to feel that she really will be alright. She will be able to stay here in this little town, and she won’t have to fear hurting the ones she loves, because the darkness is finally, completely gone from inside her.

Most of that credit goes to her two True Loves seated right in front of her, part of the gathering in her little home tonight. Her sexy and sweetly devoted Captain, and her precious son who never stopped believing in her, are the ones who kept her fighting even when her battle against the Dark One curse began to feel hopeless – when she might have otherwise lay down in defeat and been subsumed by the horrific and overwhelming power that had coursed through her veins, aching to take her over.

Tonight is not about that though, even if she cannot help ruffling Henry’s hair with such an overflow of affection that it makes momentary tears well in her eyes as she pauses by the back of the sofa where he sits with little Roland Hood, waiting for everyone else to settle in with them to begin movie night. Killian is sitting quietly on Roland’s other side, clearly trying to appear extra calm and still, Emma can tell, because of the little boy in their care. Finally feeling like herself again, Emma had offered to babysit so Roland could join their little party and Regina and Robin could have a much-needed night alone to truly reconnect, talk, and heal. It made her feel even more accepted and restored to normal when Regina didn’t hesitate to accept her offer at all. Still, Roland hasn’t spent much time with any of them except Henry, and Emma finds it insanely adorable how hard her former pirate boyfriend is trying not to spook the child, to the point of keeping his hook shielded from view at his other side. As if sensing her thought, Killian tilts his head up against the back of the couch to look at her hovering over his shoulder.

“You’re thinking quite loudly, Swan,” he quips playfully, though she sees the unasked question in his eyes behind the jest. After all they have been through recently, he is especially attuned not to let her thoughts veer back toward guilt and fear over where she has been or what she has done, not if he can help it.

Emma bends down to kiss his forehead affectionately, happy to bestow any bit of encouragement or sweetness on him after the lengths he went to in order to bring her back and what he endured when she was not fully herself. She doesn’t want to dwell on those memories now, and so she keeps the kiss brief and innocent, standing again swiftly and shaking her head clear of the heavier thoughts. Tonight is meant to be happy – a celebration – and she intends to keep it so.

“How’s the popcorn coming in there?” she calls toward the kitchen where her dad is trying to work the microwave and prepare their snack, while keeping her little brother occupied as well.

“Yes, Dave, need a hand?” Killian quips, the old joke of his only having one to spare familiar and accepted between them.

“Everyone just needs to hold their horses a minute!” David admonishes, no real scold in his eyes though as he strides into the room, one arm holding little Neal balanced on his hip, while carrying two huge bowls of mouth-wateringly scented buttered popcorn, one in each hand. “I’ve got it under control.”

Henry jumps up quickly to take one of the bowls from his grandpa and allow the man a free hand. David settles into the recliner with his young son, digging into the popcorn for his own handful and his eyes widening in pleased delight. “Wow! This is incredible!”

Henry laughs aloud, and Emma shoots her father a knowing look from around the people sitting between them. “See? Didn’t I tell you so?” She nods with playful gratification. “You can’t have a great movie night without buttered popcorn.”

“One point to the modern world,” David acknowledges with a conciliatory nod.

Killian reaches over to the bowl, putting his own handful of the hot, salty treat in his mouth. His eyes widen comically as well, and he nods vigorously in agreement. “Oh, aye, this is something the Enchanted Forest should truly be sorry they are lacking!”

Everybody crams into the cozy, but admittedly small, living room of Emma’s waterfront cottage as Henry pushes play on the DVD player and the movie begins. He’s been going through the Disney classics with little Roland, who is still wide-eyed and amazed by so much in the modern world, but clearly adores both the real world magic of animation and a catchy song as much as any other child. The selection for tonight is The Sword in the Stone, and though both Killian and her father had started to protest, afraid their recent adventures and trials – and how different Arthur, Merlin, and Camelot itself had proven to be from the legend they had known – might be upsetting or painful for Emma and all of them, Emma herself had urged them to let the boys pick. She could see the appeal in comparing the made-up story to a place they had just been able to experience for themselves.

What she didn’t say aloud was that the real ache in her chest came not from remembering Arthur’s machinations and veiled treachery or the danger they had all faced, but from the memories of this movie being the first one she had ever seen in a theater, how she’d had to sit all alone with no one to buy her snacks, laugh along with her, or be sure she was enjoying herself. She remembered all too well having to walk past the popcorn in the theater lobby with no money of her own, and the way she had so easily filched a candy bar from that other theatergoer without thinking twice. Perhaps the Darkness had always been in there with her light, long before she could have possibly understood…

As the cartoon reached the spot where Wart wonders into Merlin’s cottage and the bearded old wizard is magically packing his entire home into a single bag with his “Higitus Figitus” song, Emma can’t help curling in a little closer to Killian from where she has already wedged herself onto the couch between him and the sofa’s arm, leaning her head sadly on his shoulder.

“Alright there, Lass?” he whispers, breath warm and soft on her forehead so as not to disturb their younger viewers.

“Fine,” she answers shortly, knowing she’ll tell him later about how that scene had only served to remind her of all the times she had been packed back up from a foster home and sent away again. For now she only wants to snuggle up to his warmth and be glad he is still here with her, despite what she had almost become.

However, when she gets up later to check on popcorn and drink refills, she simply has to bring the two boys candy bars when she returns, and somehow with their smiles and excited thanks, and the arm of her pirate wrapped around her once again, the void from so many years ago is finally filled.

Tagging: @jennjenn615 @searchingwardrobes @kmomof4 @whimsicallyenchantedrose @laschatzi @jrob64 @apiratewhopines @spartanguard @therooksshiningknight @xarandomdreamx @sotangledupinit @scientificapricot @winterbaby89 @teamhook @revanmeetra87 @cosette141 @anmylica @xsajx @donteattheappleshook @the-darkdragonfly @elizabeethan @stahlop @wefoundloveunderthelight @motherkatereloyshipper​ @kday426​ @gingerchangeling​ @gingerpolyglot​ @tomeandflickcorner​ @caught-in-the-filter @ineffablecolors @nachocheese-itsmycheese @tiganasummertree @optomisticgirl

#self promo sunday #cs one shot #ouat one shot #5a canon divergent ff #missing moment ff #prestidigitorium #emma angst #cs fluff #captain cobra swan

[somebodycall911onabc]

Some post-4x13 Buddie because ummmm no to everything that just went down and whatever the hell they're doing with that promo. Pre-relationship Eddie introspection, guest-starring sleepy Buck and Chris (how often can I have these two idiots—Buck and Eddie, not Chris—wake each other up too goddamn early in the morning; the answer is infinite).

Eddie wakes up.

The world is a quiet, washed-out hum of static and dim light. He listens to his breath, in and out, in and out, as the room comes into focus. The rhythmic beeping monitor. The rough sheets over his chest. The hollowed-out numb of his shoulder where—

fuck. Where he’d been shot.

Eddie blinks open his eyes and grimaces. He’s probably doped to hell but his shoulder aches like forest fire, like a pain that will consume him and the whole world too, if he lets it. His head feels like someone pumped it full of air right up until the point before it bursts. He grits his teeth and gathers saliva on his tongue, carefully distributes it so that when he swallows, it will feel less like he’s ingesting a quart of sand. He knows this song and dance. He wiggles his fingers and toes and notes that remarkably, everything’s in working order. He wonders how often you can cheat death before that karma comes to get you.

Although he thinks Buck would probably go to bat for him, even against death himself. The heart monitor spikes as Eddie remembers with a vicious and cruel clarity Buck’s eyes on his as Eddie shuddered and collapsed. Buck’s wide, deer-in-headlights eyes, all that Eddie could see, just two pinprick pupils until there was nothing else, just the black, blank darkness.

Eddie tips his head to the side and opens his eyes, unclenching his fists, and nearly reels back when he sees Ana. She’s crumpled in the seat beside him, her chin resting on her collarbone, her long, dark eyelashes twitching against her cheek as she sleeps.

He closes his eyes and turns his head away.

But Ana’s a light sleeper. She was already waking up when he looked at her, roused from the shallow depths of unconsciousness by the change in Eddie’s breathing pattern, or something. His eyes are still closed when she croaks out, “Eddie?”

He looks at her.

“Eddie!” She says, raising her hands to flutter them over his chest, his face, his un-wounded shoulder. “You’re awake! You’re alive! Thank God,” she says, fervent. Like a prayer.

“Guess I’m just… lucky,” Eddie wheezes out. She smiles at him, eyes watering, and he gave the PG-version of his Silver Star story in her classroom but there’s no hint of recognition in her eyes.

“Either the luckiest man alive, or the unluckiest,” she says. “I’m pretty sure a lucky man wouldn’t be shot at quite so much.” She presses a kiss to his temple and Eddie has the horrible impulse to bat her away from him like she’s an overbearing aunt.

God, he’s an idiot. And it would take getting shot for him to realize it.

“What… happened?” Eddie asks, relieved when she leans back and settles into her chair.

“I’m not sure… I heard there was a sniper on the scene. The police think he might be targeting first responders, because how could this year get any worse?” When she shakes her head, her curls bounce in a way Eddie found appealing, once. It feels like a million years ago.

“Chris?” He asks, heart racing once more. She glances at the monitor and then back to him, offering a reassuring smile that does little to soothe his nerves.

“He’s OK. Buck’s with him.” Those three words calm Eddie instantly, like someone turning off an electric kettle, the worry bubbling up inside him simmering to a still. Because it means Chris is OK, and so is Buck. “I’m really grateful to Buck,” Ana is saying, taking his hand in hers, drawing his attention back to her. “It means I get to be here, with you.” She smiles at him like he’s fragile.

Wrong.

Eddie looks at her and doesn’t know how to tell her. How to tell her that the right thing would be for her to be at Chris’s side. That Chris always came first. Chris was the first and only priority. Chris was Eddie’s heart, raw and exposed, just like Bobby had said.

He looks at her and thinks about Chris’s smile, how he lights up the minute Ana walks in the room. He thinks about Chris confessing to him, quiet and anxious, that he’d asked Santa to find Mommy. He thinks about his parents telling him that the proper thing to do was to marry the girl carrying his child, even if he wasn’t sure he loved her.

Chris has been and will always be the most important thing in Eddie’s life. But Eddie’s starting to realize that even with a Northstar as good and perfect as Chris, Eddie didn’t always make the best choices. For himself, for Chris, or for their family.

“Can you call Buck, for me?” Eddie asks, brushing his thumb over Ana’s delicate knuckles. “If it’s not too late. I want to see my boys.”

She hastily bends down to pick up her purse and fumble her phone out, tell him it was fine, Buck had wanted her to call him as soon as Eddie woke up, anyway. He catches a glimpse of a “5” as she unlocks the phone and opens her contact list.

In the early morning, hospital quiet, Eddie can hear the phone ring on the other end of the line. Once, twice. Click.

“Hello?’ Buck asks, voice scratchy with sleep.

“Let me talk to him,” Eddie says, before Ana can get a word in. She hesitates, opens her mouth, but he holds her gaze until she extends the phone to him. Eddie’s hand is steady when he takes it from her.

“Hey,” Eddie says. Buck’s bleary-eyed, curls smashed to one side of his head, half his face obscured by a dark shape.

“Eddie,” Buck says, a ragged, relieved sound. He shifts, and Eddie hears him say, “Chris, Chris wake up, it’s your dad, Chris, he’s OK!”

And then there’s another face, pressing too close to the camera, so that Eddie mostly sees a nostril and some chin.

“Daddy!” Chris whoops, and Eddie smiles, and Buck pulls Chris back from the phone screen so Eddie can see him.

“Hey there, buddy,” Eddie says, “sorry I scared you.”

“W-wasn’t scared,” Chris insists, blinking rapidly because without his glasses, the world was mostly a multi-colored smudge. “I had Buck.”

Buck—who settles Chris’s glasses over his face with heartbreaking tenderness. Buck—who wraps an arm around Chris and scoots them back against the headboard so they can both see Eddie. Buck—who had clearly been sleeping in Chris’s bed, keeping him safe while Eddie was getting several pints of blood pumped into his body and shrapnel extricated from his shoulder.

“That’s good,” Eddie says. “Really good.”

“We knew you’d be OK,” Buck says. “Right, Superman?”

“Yeah. ‘Cause of your lucky charm.”

Eddie has to close his eyes against that. Chris is still so young, still Disney-innocent and honey-sweet, and Buck knew exactly what to say to calm Chris down. He knew Chris’s favorite bedtime story and the playlist Eddie made for him to help Chris fall asleep.

“That’s right,” Eddie chokes out. “My St. Christopher medal.”

“No.” Eddie blinks at that, at the stubborn line of Chris’s mouth. “Me. And Buck.”

Buck looks just about as surprised as Eddie feels.

“What?” Eddie asks.

“What?” Buck asks.

“What?” Chris asks, confused at their confusion. He addresses Buck. “Daddy said that I was his good l-l-luck charm. Because he loves me. A-and he loves you, so you’re his good luck charm too.”

Eddie isn’t sure if his kid is perceptive or just putting together ideas in the way only kids can. But it doesn’t really matter, because he isn’t wrong.

“Got me there,” Eddie agrees. “I must be pretty lucky, since I’ve got the both of you watching my back.”

Buck’s smiling a pleased, sunshine grin. The room is too dark and the connection is too poor, but Eddie would bet money that Buck’s blushing.

Eddie very deliberately doesn’t look at Ana.

“We’ll come visit as soon as the hospital opens,” Buck promises. “It’s good you called, because we should probably get going.”

To his right, Chris gives a huge yawn.

“You sure? I’m not going anywhere.”

“You think we’re gonna be able to sleep now that you’re awake? No way.”

“No way!’ Chris agrees.

“We’ll be there in fifteen. Twenty. Ten?” Buck looks down at Chris.

“Five!” Chris shouts. “The f-firetruck could make it in five minutes!”

“But we only have Buck’s jeep,” Buck says, pouting at Chris. “Definitely not a firetruck.”

“Fifteen,” Chris amends.

“OK,” Eddie says with a laugh that barely hurts. “I’ll see you soon. Thanks, Buck.”

“For what?” Buck asks, ruffling Chris’s hair with the hand that had been draped over Chris’s shoulders. “Be there soon.”

The call disconnects with the finality of a book snapping shut. He squares his shoulders (as much as he can while lying in an inclined hospital bed with a bullet injury) and turns his head to face Ana.

Her eyes are narrowed and hard, like ice over a troubled stream.

“So,” she says, slow and calm, “Buck?”

“Yeah” Eddie says. It’s all he can say. He can’t tell her how to be what he needs, what Chris needs. He can’t tell her to put Chris first like a reflex, like an instinct.

He doesn’t blame her. He isn’t mad at her. He isn’t even disappointed. He’s as shocked as anyone that he met someone who understood, immediately and profoundly, that Chris was Eddie’s world. Eddie had never counted on someone like Buck. And it was time he stopped running from that and accepted it for the undeserved, unparallelled gift that it was.

“I’m sorry,” he adds.

“Me too.” Ana takes her phone back with a snap of her wrist and drops it in her purse. “I’m going to go home.”

“Yeah,” Eddie says, feeling a little guilty. He knows what it’s like to feel left behind, waking up with nothing but a note and the realization that you could never be good enough.

Ana gets to her feet and smooths the wrinkles of her blouse, and for a moment she reminds him so much of Shannon that he’s dizzy. The straight back, the self-posession, the tumble of curls swept over her shoulder.

He hopes Ana finds a love worthy of her, someone who will treasure her and believe her when she says, “sometimes our limitations let us know who we are.”

Because Eddie looked at the world like a challenge. He threw himself into it like the world might burn up tomorrow, but he would fight to the last breath anyway. He peeled away honorable discharge and may experience lifelong mobility dilemmas and we know what’s best for him and don’t you know how hard it is to be a single father like strips of old paint.

And Buck was the same way. Buck was I had to do it and didn’t you know Jim Abbot played baseball with only one hand and I’m in. You wanted us to bond, Cap. We might end up real close.

Eddie watches Ana leave, her heels clicking sharp against the tiled floor. At the door, she turns her head.

“I am glad you’re OK, Edmundo.”

“Thank you.”

And then she’s gone.

And then Eddie waits, anticipation mounting, for his boys to bring him home.

#once again Chris is the best and most unintentional wingman #buddie #ray writes #911 spoilers #can you tell I've been binging The Locked Tomb series because I nearly slipped into second person like a thousand times #writer can't fucking figure out a voice of her own #don't worry about it #I sure don't #it's all about the idiots to lovers #Buck is just one giant golden retriever #also yes I nearly had an aneurysm at just the idea of Buck snuggling Chris to keep away the nightmares and I HAD to share

[absolutebl]

This Week In BL

Feb 2021 Part 3 

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs. 

Ongoing Series Thai 

1000 Stars Ep 4 - so flipping lovely, I’ve come entirely around to this show. 

Manner of Death Ep 13 - the penultimate episode was as angsty & twisty as we could want, but it’s starting to feel a bit stretched. Although new tag #oakcake is the best thing ever. 

Brothers Ep 2 - still a mess but there’s a cute foodie side couple (young college student wants cute older baker). As the world’s foremost ChampDoc proponent I am obviously in it for them. The other couples though... eek. 

Ongoing Series Not Thai 

You Are Ma Boy Ep 6 (Vietnam) - second week running with no new episode and no indication as to why. If it ended at 5 then it ended on a cliffhanger. Grrr. 

Amore Ep 27 (Pinoy) - FINALLY finished its run at 27 episodes! TWENTY SEVEN. I stopped watching it ages ago but it’s done now so if you’re a binger and you need to see the “everyone wants Joey” show, it’s all on YouTube. We salute your bravery. 

Stand Alones 

Finally watched Korea’s Step For You from 2018 (in preparation for You Make Me Dance). OMG it’s SO CUTE. And who says Korea can’t do kisses? Oh wait, that was me. Anyway, no dead fish here. School newspaper journalist has to interview the next big thing senior dancer and falls in love with him. Short af but ADORABLE. 

I got my brains back and decided to FINALLY watch 2015 Japanese BL Seven Days. It comes in two parts: Seven Days: Monday - Thursday & Seven Days: Friday - Sunday. You can watch it eng subbed on YouTube. It’s one of the best Japanese BLs ever made (FIGHT ME) and that’s because it has a lot of the breezy style of something like 2gether (with, sadly the same heat level - low). The leads have a similar comfort level with each other which yields up fantastic on screen chemistry. It’s a charming af high school story with none of the usual stalker/obsession/rapey elements (nor the egregiously cartoonish humor) I’ve come to expect from Japanese BL. Despite the setting, it’s a lot more in the Cherry Magic vain than, say, Takumi-kun. GO WATCH IT. The hair is bonkers, but if that’s all I can think of bad to say, you know it must be good. 

The TharnType Wedding Special PPV dropped last week. Champ & Doc officially got together so I was happy. They hit a bunch of tropes, said I do, and that was that. I pronounce it... 

 Breaking News - So Many Teasers & They Dark AF 

More promos for HIStory 4 keep dropping so I think we can assume this is coming sooner rather than later. (Taiwan doesn’t raise funding the way Thailand does with test teasers, so we only see promo when the thing has started filming.) 

We Best Love 2 dropped its trailer. It’s a doozie. We’re all hoping for a happy ever after but frankly Taiwan means 50/50 chance at best. They love pathos and many of us will never recover from HIStory 3: Make Our Days Count. I’m terrified by the season 2 trailer. 

You Make Me Dance dropped a teaser, that’s our next one out of Korea. 

Lovely Writer showed its dark underbelly with a new angst-riddled teaser... what’s that? A wheaser? 

Secret Admirer the Series dropped its first teaser. I had this one on the rumors list but not actual, so I bumped it up in the upcoming 2021 BL master post. It’s only a taste, it could be gunning for 2022. The director can’t be trusted with happy endings - so I’m not sure about it. 

Gossip 

Wild rumors persist that there will be a new 2gether installment in which someone gets married. I wouldn’t be surprised to see GMMTV milk that cash cow especially if F4 is delayed. (With all these BLs featuring marriage, maybe the Thai government will legalize it on account of the boost destination weddings would give the tourist industry post covid?) 

Bad Roommate dropped a teaser for all you Gen Y Padlock lovers out there (waves at @heretherebedork​). Do we trust Star Hunter after the Gen Y debacle? Maybe? I don’t know. Who cares, it’s fresh content. 

More rumors of a We Best Love special episode before season 2. If they’re true my guess is it’s another behind the scenes thingy. 

Fish Upon the Sky is reported to drop ep 1 on Friday, April 9th, 2021! This is the rivals to lovers BL I’ve been waiting for! 

I am SO FLIPPING EXCITED. 

Initial murmurs about Close Friend - a 6 ep run featuring established BL ships from an unknown director: KimCop (2Moons & Gen Y), OhmFluke (Until We Meet Again), JimmyTommy & MaxNat (Why R U), JaFirst (TharnType 2), and YoonLay (YYY). Either each couple gets their own episode (like Our Skyy) or it will be more like You Never Eat Alone. Ships may or may not be playing the same characters as previous. 

A few more promo shots posted for Y-Destiny. It looks more serious than director Cheewin normally goes for (YYY & You Never Eat Alone). I don’t know if that means anything or if it’s just a mature styling we’re seeing in Thai BL as a result of the actors getting older and the influence of Manner of Death and KinnPorsche. 

Speaking of You Never Eat Alone is supposed to be finally dropping official Eng Subs somewhere, and ep 9 features Prem & Boun. I’m not bothering with this one so I don’t know where it’s posting. 

Next Week Looks Like This: 

Upcoming 2021 BL master post here. 

Links to watch are provided when possible, ask in a comment if I missed something. 

#thai bl #thaibl #asian bl #asianbl #1000 stars #manner of death #brothers #history 4: close to you #taiwanese bl #taiwan drama #tharntype 2 special #tharntype wedding #We Best Love: Fighting Mr.2nd #KimCop #OhmFluke #JimmyTommy #MaxNat #JaFirst #YoonLay #brothers the series #you are ma boy #Vietnamese BL #amore the series #pinoy bl #history 4 #we best love 2 #you make me dance #korean bl #lovely writer #Secret Admirer the Series

[suganovakawa]

𝐒𝐀𝐔𝐃𝐀𝐃𝐄 .

PAIRINGS : tooru oikawa x fem!reader , platonic hajime iwaizumi x fem!reader

GENRE : angst , romance

WARNINGS : cursing , car accident , amnesia recovery

SYNOPSIS : tooru doesn’t understand how special you are to him until he comes close to losing you forever . as he struggles to comes to grips with his feelings and balance it with his future , you still have to recover from your own injuries , but without your memories to assist you .

𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍 < [ 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 ] > 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄

what is hajime’s deal ? what did oikawa do to him to get him so upset ?

word count : 1.3k

SAUDADE

( 𝐧 . ) a nostalgic longing to be near again to something or someone that is distant , or that has been loved and then lost ; “ the love that remains ”

⠀you weren't an idiot. you know, damn well at that, you are far from an idiot. and you sure as hell hoped hajime didn't take you as one. you lost your memories, not your common sense.

⠀it was quite obvious that hajime had that oikawa boy pinned up against a wall, and not in the dreamy way fanfictions like to describe it as. no, there was definitely unwanted tension between the two; it was evident they didn't like each other. despised each other, even. whether you had known of this before or after your incident, you wouldn't have been able to remember something like that.

⠀you really, truly hoped hajime didn't underestimate your observation skills, or your common sense. any random passerby would've seen the anger blazing those olive hued irises of his as he glared down at your classmate. was it coincidence that it was oikawa of all people that you two happened to bump into after school? you wouldn't have known of the brunet's reasons to have stayed at seijoh; then again, it probably wasn't any of your business.

⠀you wanted to speak up and confront iwaizumi as you had turned the corner - he was fast, but not fast enough to back up from the other before you laid eyes on the two boys. if the atmosphere between the three of you alone wasn't suffocating, you might've. it wasn't like you were afraid of confronting him. he seemed like a reasonable person, open to communication.

⠀in truth, it was oikawa you were worried about.

⠀the poor guy turned pale, the color draining from his skin when you entered the scene. as to why he had such a pitiful reaction, you wouldn't be able to guess. from the looks of his typical poise and attitude during school hours, he certainly didn't seem like the weak, bashful type. and according to hajime, he too had played volleyball alongside him. however, the universe seemed to not want you to know of their current relationship status - every time you asked, distractions would get in the way of an answer. in this scenario, oikawa’s silent plea for an escape was what drove you to play the oblivious card. the relief that shone in both of their eyes as you turned around to walk away sent your stomach in nervous turmoil.

⠀come to think of it, you were pretty kept in the dark about all of this. you only knew as much as hajime was willing to tell. the idea of asking others wasn't appealing to you yet; hajime seemed to be quite content being the only individual answering all of your questions. and while you were more than grateful for his assistance and his company alike, there was always that voice in the back of your head trying to reach out to you, but you had no idea what it was trying to say. it was too blurry to be put into words.

⠀you waited in front of aoba johsai with your arms crossed loosely at your sides, waiting for iwa to take you home as he had been insisting to everyday this week. whether he wanted this to occur everyday or not, that’s what it seemed like to you. you didn’t mind, but you wanted to branch out and find out who your other friends were. you spoke to the volleyball team at lunch time, and you enjoyed their company tremendously. alas, it was the only time of day you were able to give them, as hajime was quick to escort you everywhere, practically glued to your hip.

⠀the thought of you two being in a relationship crossed your mind, more times than one. it would be a valid explanation for his behavior. he acted the way a boyfriend should - walking you to and from school, helping you with assignments and keeping you company after hours, even offering to carry your belongings when you can clearly do it yourself. you appreciated and acknowledged the chivalry, but when it became too out of hand, you were curious. if you two were an item before your accident, was there a reason he hadn't told you yet? you remembered quite clearly what happened that first day you woke up in a hospital bed, he made it clear that you and him were just friends - nothing more, nothing less - but his behavior has been convincing you otherwise.

⠀"hajime - " you were cut off by the way he gripped your wrist - firm, but nothing that could hurt you. you wouldn't have been able to pull away if you wanted to, though. his strength outmatched yours. your words caught in your throat, he was angry, very angry. the scowl painted on his face frightened you; you hadn't seen him act this way all week. was this oikawa's fault? what could he have done to make him this worked up?

⠀"hajime, please slow down. i can't keep up with you pulling me around like this." your voice was solid enough to knock him out of his frustration, he jolted a bit and loosened his hold on your wrist so you could pull back. his hands clenched into fists, but you could tell he had calmed down. not all the way, but he was sensible. you were on your guard. usually you could read him like a book - he was always open to you. now, there was no telling what he was going to say to you next.

⠀"y/n, i have a request for you." his voice was quiet, soft spoken - as if projecting any louder would let off a bomb. "of course, you're not obligated to, but i would really, really appreciate if you could do this one thing for me."

⠀"sure, it's the least i can do to repay the kindness you've showed me all week. i can handle a simple request." your body was tense, and so was his. however, the tension was created from two different reasons. "what do you need from me, hajime?"

⠀"stay away from oikawa."

⠀you blinked. "excuse me?"

⠀"as far away as you can, don't let him talk to you, don't let him step near you, nothing. you shouldn't be with someone like him." your eyes shot open wider as your feet abruptly ceased walking, your chest dropping to your stomach as he caught onto your reaction. you didn't need to open your mouth, he knew exactly what you wanted to say. "he doesn't look like it, but he's a bad person, y/n. you don't need him in your life, you're better off without that germ infecting it. he's done bad things - especially to you. i don't need to remind you, i'll just plague your thoughts with bad things. you don't need to hold that burden."

⠀the vendetta he held against oikawa sent goosebumps through your body, and it wasn't anything comfortable. now he's telling you that he knows something about you he never bothered to tell you about before? didn't you have a right to know? if oikawa hurt you, shouldn't it be your business so that you yourself can judge if you should stay away from him or not? his lack of logic was beginning to concern you, but the glare in his eyes stated clearly that he was taking no argument. and since he was the one with all of his memories, you really had no room to impose.

⠀"... yeah. got it. oikawa bad. very bad. do not engage." hearing your compliance flipped a switch, he smiled brightly and nodded.

⠀"i knew i could count on you, y/n. believe me, you're much better off this way. the things he's done, are completely unforgivable. if you had your memories, you'd agree with me."

⠀maybe, but you wanted to be the judge of that.

a / n : this stupid taglist almost made me cry i had to do it six times because tumblr kept glitching on me n my dumbass kept forgetting to save it BAHAHAHA

wow i’m being productive lmao. second post in one night WOOOOO who needs school 😼 n e ways bit of a self promo but my new smau, rumor has it, is finally out! would be grateful if u check it out 🥺👉🏼👈🏼

taglist : @ot127 @rena0921 @karlitabi-rrito @psychicpercyjacksonfan @crescentbitch @amelimiles @damnirina @pasta-warlord @blossomingbangtan @clinomanians @i-am-kinda-in-a-lot-of-fandoms @manq-fandoms @citruss @sugar-wara @haikoo @anime-simp @kairostatue @awkwardspontaneity @iwantapoptartqwq @aquariarose @softestdreamer @plantisnotplant @avylee @froppysgirl @that-animebitch @wisepandaslimeland @samanthaa-leanne @dumplingzumispam @0hakaashi @captain-janeway @afterglowkuroo @bellabelieveme @attixca @chickenrest @tycrackculture @ynjimenez @lissa-writes-and-does-matchups @lavieenblancetnoir @dabilove27 @cuddleslut @crypto-s @keigosbitch @readeretal @shittykawaa @donghyuckster @adriloen @ella-solei @emiyummy @kukiisan @catyuyuyuu @sillykittt @dolan-mendes @kiritokunuwu @the-third-wall @yammers @monviemoo @dicerawr @psychopath-satan

taglist closed , i’m so glad you’re enjoying the series! 🥺🤲🏼✨❤️

#haikyuu!! #haikyuu imagine #haikyuu scenarios #hq #haikyuu x reader #aoba johsai #haikyuu angst #haikyuu headcanons #hajime iwaizumi #iwaizumi x reader #iwaizumi hcs #iwaizumi fanfic #haikyuu iwaizumi #iwaizumi oneshot #iwaizumi hajime #iwaizumi headcanons #iwaizumi fluff #iwaizumi angst #tooru oikawa x reader #oikawa tooru #tooru oikawa #oikawa fic #oikawa tōru #haikyuu oikawa #oikawa x reader #oikawa angst #oikawa x y/n #oikawa x you #iwaizumi x y/n #iwaizumi x you