#but the rest of the room didn't have a clue about those jokes

[loupy-mongoose]

*Ahem*

Happy Halloween!! ^w^

Bug Fables.

It's my current favorite video game, and actually, you can thank it for Linden Roots existing~

I'll explain, but in order to do so I have to dive into spoilers for one of my absolute favorite plots for one of my absolute favorite characters, so I need to slap on a;

MASSIVE SPOILER WARNING!

In my opinion, this game is best experienced SPOILER FREE, so if you haven't played it and want to some day, I recommend skipping my info dump below. (This info can be acquired before beating the main game though. :>)

You're okay with spoilers? Yes? Okay, carry on.

So.

Those who are familiar with Leif's story will probably see how Bug Fables influenced the creation of Linden Roots.

A long while ago, I mentioned Randy being inspired by my favorite fictional character.

That's Leif.

Leif is a moth who is ancient.

And dead.

Loooooong before the game takes place (I can't find an exact timeframe; it's like a generation or two), Leif went with a team of bugs to explore a cave, but ended up dying in there. In that same cave, a group of scientists later experimented on cordyceps. Now, as soon as they became relevant to the story I was HOOKED.

I learned about cordyceps as a kid, and they scared the crap out of me. But it also was one of those morbidly fascinating things I'd look into once in a while. (Before anyone tells me, yes, I know that's what's in The Last of Us.)

If you don't know, IRL cordyceps basically turn bugs into zombies.

Anyway, the scientists were trying to find a way to create eternal life (what else is new lol), and did this through cordyceps. Which, as one could guess when dealing with zombie fungus, ended up going badly for the scientists.

One of the "failed" experimental fungi was thrown out, and found its way to the deceased Leif, and brought him back to life. It took on his memories, and Leif woke up without knowing what happened, until you dig into his story during the game. So the "Leif" we know in the game isn't truly Leif, but is the fungus living as him.

Now... I'm sure that sounds a bit familiar...

This idea of a character being dead-but-not struck a chord with me. It fascinated me to no end.

But there's more to it.

As one might expect, Leif has some tragedy surrounding him.

While playing the game, you can stumble upon his decedents.

This here is Muze. With a 'z'

This is Leif's great great however-many-greats grand-daughter, who you meet in the game's present day.

When he was alive, he had a wife.

His wife was Muse. With an 's'.

We never get to see what Muse looked like, but he says in-game that Muze is a spitting image of her. Hence why Akoya is dressed as she is in my pic. She's dressed as Muse.

Now, according to the developers, Muse was pregnant when Leif went into the cave where he died.

And he didn't know.

There are several moments in the game that show Leif's potential as a father, but one in particular stood out to me.

(Note for the images; Leif refers to himself as "We/Us".)

Oops, I forgot one. Vi finishes by shouting "I said it's not happening!"

The text in the last shot bounces/wiggles in-game, indicating playfulness or joking.

If you're familiar with Goombario and Goombella in the Paper Mario games, this dialogue is this game's version of that. You can have the main characters give flavor text on any area and most characters in the game. (And I recommend doing it often, as it adds SOOO much to the game! ^v^)

This bit takes place in the first room after Kabbu and Vi meet Leif. And at the end of the room, an event happens to change what's said for the rest of the game. Meaning, the only time you see it is RIGHT after they meet; He was getting playful with these two bugs he'd met only moments ago.

I'm sure it can just be seen as sarcasm, but having found this dialogue after learning about Leif missing out on raising a child, I saw it as a clue that he would've been a great dad. And it shattered me. ;w;

Randy and Akoya are wish-fulfillment. They're my version of Leif and Muse. They're my way of giving Leif and Muse what I'm sad they missed out on, while also keeping some of the angst, lol. Thankfully, they've evolved into their own separate characters that I feel I can be proud of, but Leif's story and tragedy still has a deep, well-protected place in my heart.

Anyway, thanks for checking out my ramble. I accept no blame for any potential spoiler you might've seen against your will. XD

#Pokemon #Linden Roots #Art #Bug Fables #<3

[halothenthehorns]

Chapter 21: MY BIRTHDAY PARTY TAKES A DARK TURN

Thank you so much to:

@ary-cm

on Tumblr for the awesome cover image!

I can't believe I'm already almost done with one of the three series?!

PJOPJOPJOPJO

Will read what he was sure to be the last chapter title with heavy concern. What on earth could be left to happen to Percy that couldn't have waited until the next disaster of an adventure to start with?

Nico's heart sunk that's how his appearance was described. Apparently whatever respect he'd gained from Percy was already twisted into fear so early. He couldn't blame him, after what he'd talked him into. A lifelong curse he now had no clue about...

"Please involve something cool and fun for once," Thalia sighed, imagining him having one last fight to the death and passing out on his birthday or something. "Like blacklights! You don't enjoy the effects of those enough!"

"To see all the blood in my room? No thank you," Percy scoffed.

The rest of the summer seemed strange because it was so normal.

Will's tone was happy, hyper even, he seemed genuinely excited he was finally getting to share Percy having a normal time at their camp for actual weeks on end for once.

The daily activities continued: archery, rock climbing, Pegasus riding. We played capture the flag (though we all avoided Zeus's Fist).

"Clarisse actually sat out of most of them," Percy recalled in surprise. "Her whole cabin didn't, but she and Chris helped be the medics for a few fights. It was sooo weird, but it made a lot of the campers who were clearly uneasy about him warm up a bit. Especially when Mrs. O'Leary cuddled up to him too."

"He caught on pretty quick," Will agreed, "he still helps out in the infirmary too when he doesn't really need to anymore," he finished with a significant look at Nico. Most kids didn't seem to care who was helping them as long as the pain was going away, his parentage or whatever he'd done in the past usually wasn't on their mind when it hurt like that.

"Are you sure it wasn't changed to Kampe's fist?" Alex asked when Nico didn't seem to be answering in any way. "The first never even seemed to fit."

"Do you have any idea how exhausting it is to try and get everybody to agree on a new name for something?" Will asked. "Even if we did a poll it would be chaos."

Which was no bother at all to Alex of course, so she looked at him like he was the one who was nuts for pretending that was a good excuse not to.

We sang at the campfire and raced chariots and played practical jokes on the other cabins. 

Will hid well how hard the adjustment had been for him that time marched on. Kids had come and gone from the camp, his siblings hadn't been immune to shocking deaths from a random monster attack in the forest or even defecting, it wasn't even the first time he'd been witness to such a thing, if only a handful of times before; but it was usually the ones who'd been there a few weeks. The kids who he'd barely gotten to know.

Lee had been there from day one. Had shown Will the ropes and been his Luke, his best friend, his go to for advice on everything there. It was strange for so long to not wake up every day and have him rousing them for breakfast. Micheal had never tried to emulate him either, he'd done it his own way, which had been all right, but a part of Will had wished someone in there would keep making Loony Tunes references, would keep challenging them to archery target practice instead of just letting the memory of him slowly fade away. Hearing him in Percy's life had been the most he'd been able to think of him in a few years now, and it felt nice.

I spent a lot of time with Tyson, playing with Mrs. O'Leary, but she would still howl at night when she got lonely for her old master. Annabeth and I pretty much skirted around each other. I was glad to be with her, but it also kind of hurt, and it hurt when I wasn't with her, too.

Percy expected the laughing at the teasing, probably a few snarky comments about Rachel.

None came, and as he looked around in surprise he just saw sympathy. Because he didn't have that option now with her nowhere to be seen. He had friends down here, but he still didn't have someone very important to be going through all of this with him.

I wanted to talk to her about Kronos, but I couldn't do that anymore without bringing up Luke. And that was one subject I couldn't raise. She would shut me out every time I tried.

Jason couldn't let that one go without a good laugh though. "I'm now imagining you following her around and she actually darts into random cabins or bathrooms or anywhere she can to slam a door in your face. Maybe even a window if you agitate her enough."

"You're right Jason," Percy sighed with indulgent exhaustion. "I should have cornered her in the woods, maybe used Grover and Tyson to triangle her in so she couldn't escape."

"You say that like she doesn't need an intervention," Thalia grumbled.

July passed, with fireworks on the beach on the Fourth. August turned so hot the strawberries started baking in the fields. Finally, the last day of camp arrived. The standard form letter appeared on my bed after breakfast, warning me that the cleaning harpies would devour me if I stayed past noon.

Magnus opened and closed his mouth several times like he couldn't decide if he wanted to ask how real that threat was. If he stayed and killed the harpies would he be punished or rewarded for yet another fight for his life? Would they devour him if he stayed until 12:01 or if he managed to avoid them until next summer would the ban be lifted?

He ultimately closed his mouth and decided it wasn't worth the headache.

At ten o'clock I stood on the top of Half-Blood Hill, waiting for the camp van that would take me into the city. I'd made arrangements to leave Mrs. O'Leary at camp, where Chiron promised she'd be looked after.

"Tell me you at least intend on riding her down the streets of New York once Percy," Alex looked rather betrayed such a glorious hound was being confined to one camp.

"She deserves to be on a farm where she can stretch and be happy, um, without the death metaphor," Percy shrugged.

"You can still have her for the weekend," she sighed but didn't argue the point further.

Tyson and I would take turns visiting her during the year.

I hoped Annabeth would be riding into Manhattan with me, but she only came to see me off. She said she'd arranged to stay at camp a little longer.

"I can't decide how the bus should feel about that," Jason told him with an almost straight face. "You now range from blowing them up to awkward silence when she's around."

"He's blown up more on his own in his younger years without her, I think the bus should be worried," Thalia offered.

Percy sighed and muttered something about normal friends, whatever that meant.

She would tend to Chiron until his leg was fully recovered, and keep studying Deadalus's laptop, which had engrossed her for the last two months.

"I think you should be thanking some god out there for making sure she stepped away from it," Will agreed.

"She slept with it, Malcolm has proof," Thalia agreed.

Then she would head back to her father's place in San Francisco.

"There's a private school out there that I'll be going to," she said. "I'll probably hate it, but..." she shrugged.

"Yeah, that but," Percy agreed with the same feelings of awkwardness swimming through him now. A feeling that apparently wasn't as good of a swimmer as him, as it kept coasting up and down his throat like vomit!

"Truancy, something even a child of a wisdom goddess would never break the rules for," Alex agreed tragically.

"Yeah, well, call me, okay?"

"Sure," she said half-heartedly. "I'll keep my eyes open for..."

There it was again. Luke. She couldn't even say his name without opening up a huge box of hurt and worry and anger.

"I'll get the key," Nico promised through gritted teeth.

"Maybe you could lose a few while you're at it," Will muttered. Nico seemed to have been better as of late about not keeping everything so close to the chest, but it was still something he found himself worrying about.

"Annabeth," I said. "What was the rest of the prophecy?"

She fixed her eyes on the woods in the distance, but she didn't say anything.

"You would nag Zeus himself about not finishing destroying you," Alex told him with a hint of awe in her voice.

"Seriously Perce, learn to let it go," Jason couldn't help but agree with a troubled frown. Annabeth had been through enough.

Percy didn't feel particularly ashamed though. His stubbornness paid off, and if Annabeth didn't resent him he wasn't going to let these guys make him feel guilty for getting the full picture. It had happened so rarely before meeting her.

"You shall delve in the darkness of the endless maze," I remembered. "The dead, the traitor, and the lost one raise. We raised a lot of the dead.

Magnus had a cheeky remark on his tongue for, 'who's this we,' before he paused and realized. Bianca might never have revealed herself to Nico if Percy hadn't been there. His coming along on Annabeth's quest was likely essential for that to happen. It hurt his head, a lot, to realize all over again how powerful those fates were to be able to weave together such immensely different and important things.

We saved Ethan Nakamura, who turned out to be a traitor.

A line that Annabeth had probably hoped referred to Luke all this time, Thalia thought miserably. The girl had been a hopeless optimist when it came to him, but that would imply she'd ever fully admit to Luke being a full blown traitor.

We raised the spirit of Pan, the lost one."

"Raised, and or released," Will agreed.

Jason pursed his lips rather than putting in. He kind of regretted his comment to Percy because he loved that they went over these at the end to analyze them, but he felt like he'd only be encouraging Percy.

Annabeth shook her head like she wanted me to stop.

"You shall rise or fall by the ghost king's hand," I pressed on. "That wasn't Minos, like I'd thought. It was Nico. By choosing to be on our side, he saved us.

Nico still smiled at how casually Percy acknowledged the good he'd done on this quest instead of that unfortunate period of threatening his death. Seems Will had been right, Percy really didn't go around saying a bad thing about him.

And the child of Athena's final stand—that was Daedalus."

"I'm sure Malcolm is so relieved," Percy snorted.

"Percy—"

"Destroy with a hero's final breath. That makes sense now. Daedalus died to destroy the Labyrinth.

"Which is very awesome," Alex couldn't deny. "Though I'm still mildly disappointed Annabeth didn't discover some kind of sonic blast breath or something along the way."

"She uses words as a weapon, isn't that enough?" Percy sighed.

"Whoever said words don't hurt never got hit by a dictionary," Thalia nodded in agreement. She'd gotten quite angry in her youth trying to memorize all the homonyms once and thrown it across the room where Thalia's head happened to be.

But what was the last—"

"And lose a love to worse than death." Annabeth had tears in her eyes. "That was the last line, Percy. Are you happy now?"

"No," Percy whispered, shivering for the first time in the cold depths of the ocean. He'd always known she liked him, but it didn't really hit him until now she liked liked him. Not just admired and was impressed, as Percy once was. It left a very dead feeling inside him, wondering what had stopped her from running away with Luke back when he'd tried to kill Percy. If Luke had gone to Annabeth and taken her away then, how different his life could have been without her.

The sun seemed colder than it had a moment ago. "Oh," I said. "So Luke—"

"Percy, I didn't know who the prophecy was talking about. I—I didn't know if..." She faltered helplessly.

If it meant him, Percy clearly understood that context! She'd thought him dead, she might have even thought kissing him was some final breath that had been all her fault!

He found himself scrunched up in his seat to stop himself beating at the walls. He wanted her in here! He wanted Annabeth to look him in the eyes and say she was okay with how this had all gone and mean it! It was probably selfish of him to want her to relieve this nightmare with him, but he ached for her in a new way he couldn't even begin to describe to himself. Annabeth meant so much to him, couldn't her prophecy have mentioned that!

"Luke and I—for years, he was the only one who really cared about me. I thought..."

Before she could continue, a sparkle of light appeared next to us, like someone had opened a gold curtain in the air.

Magnus finally released a breath he'd been holding for getting to jump off the topic of the creepy idea of his cousin hoping some guy twice her age would be in love with her too and instead blanched in horror if that was Kronos/ Luke about to appear from thin air and murder them all. How was it possible her life was so much more miserable and complicated than his?

"You have nothing to apologize for, my dear." Standing on the hill was a tall woman in a white dress, her dark hair braided over her shoulder.

"Oh hey," Alex said with a hint of violence already on the horizon. "She owes you an explanation!"

Percy grinned a scary sight, tapping his fingers impatiently on his leg and glowering at the book. She'd scarred the piss out of Annabeth, her advice had been in no way helpful, and he had a bad feeling already he could blame more on her soon for how miserable this quest had gone.

Jason sighed. Just what they needed, another god for Percy to piss off.

Thalia was glancing uneasily between Percy and Jason though as her own guilty thoughts got an unpleasant jumpstart. Their reaction to her showing up only reinforced in her she was doing the right thing for now, keeping her suspicions to herself. Percy was already unhappy at Hera for his own and Annabeth's past, if he found out what Thalia was considering he'd rip apart the ocean in a heartbeat just to get rid of his growing tension.

Jason, Jason just looked like he would want no part in this. He was too cautious, to content to let things slide. She enjoyed that about her little brother, it would make picking on him much easier and made him nothing like their dad, but for this it felt right to keep him where he felt safe.

"Hera," Annabeth said.

The goddess smiled. "You found the answers, as I knew you would. Your quest was a success."

"A success?" Annabeth said. "Luke is gone. Daedalus is dead. Pan is dead. How is that—"

"Our family is safe," Hera insisted.

Will couldn't help but read that in agreement. He couldn't help but share the sentiment, that the good had outweighed the bad this time. His brother had died, his camp had felt vulnerable and left him scared to sleep at night like nothing before...and yet he still had a bed. Siblings he could lean on. Not all was lost as it could have easily been. There were better paths out there, like if Hera had actually stepped in and banished all the monsters before any of her 'family' had to die, but Will honestly read that with a sense of joy in his tone that, to Percy's ears, had somehow been lacking. Hera had been stating a fact with pride, Will made Percy smile in some sense of agreement of the word family, even if not the whole pie.

"Those others are better gone, my dear. I am proud of you."

I balled my fists. I couldn't believe she was saying this. "You're the one who paid Geryon to let us through the ranch, weren't you?"

Hera shrugged. Her dress shimmered in rainbow colors.

"Taking a rainbow in vain," Alex scowled hotly for such a beautiful representation of inclusiveness being taken hostage by someone so selective.

"I wanted to speed you on your way."

Will's voice cracked, like someone had stabbed his bubble with a knife. He knew Annabeth had a beef with Hera, the whole camp knew she blamed the goddess for Percy missing. His heart broke though that Nico's journey hadn't even been considered in her wisdom? That she'd only paid for just Annabeth's group to get through and any other half-blood could suffer the consequences? That had been Hera!

"But you didn't care about Nico. You were happy to see him turned over to the Titans."

"Oh, please." Hera waved her hand dismissively. "The son of Hades said it himself. No one wants him around. He does not belong."

The pain of hearing that surprised Nico more than the actual words. His dad said it all the time, he assumed it frequently from the few interactions he'd had with these major gods, but for Hera herself to just come outright and say it made him flinch.

Which quickly morphed into admiration when he heard Will cuss. He hadn't seen that before. Sure he'd been angry in the past, but never full-blown swearing like he was doing now. His southern accent really came through too, he was twanging bad on all his i's and drawing them out to a noticeable level.

"It's, erm, not a big deal Will," Nico patted his hand again. Not one person in here looked like they even sort of agreed with Hera, instead they all looked varying levels of anxious at Will and a tad angry too and his behalf. For some reason that didn't surprise him anymore, which surprised him. "We all know that's how the gods feel about-"

"It is a big deal Nico, because she's being a mother fu-"

"Will," Alex sighed, rubbing her temples. "I agree with every word you're saying, but maybe use some other language, oh child of a poetry god."*

Will finally shut his mouth with a restrained grimace. He didn't feel nearly the amount of better as he'd have liked after venting, but Alex looked as discomforted as Nico for once, who was looking equal parts uncomfortable as usual at being so focused on, everybody watching him for his reaction, and just a tad flattered at Will so vehementily defending him; all while looking rather anxiously at the book clearly wondering how Percy had reacted to that.

So Will conceded he'd made himself plain enough while wondering what the opposite of an offering was as he muttered and searched for his place.

Thalia looked on, mildly impressed and perhaps recruiting Will on her kill Hera crusade, while Percy just felt bad the guy was finally at his level of outrage. He hadn't wanted to drag anyone else down with him.

Magnus and Jason were to busy glancing at every speck to make sure Hera wasn't going to appear and blast them all to smithereens to react properly in time.

"Hephaestus was right," I growled. "You only care about your perfect family, not real people."

Will's voice still shook with fury at just how right the god of the forge was about that apparently. When the gods were born, how much understanding did they have? Had this newborn child looked up at his mother and seen the look of disgust on her face before being pitched off a mountain?

It was an ugly truth Will had never really been confronted with until this moment. It made him sick to realize if Luke had been telling kids this kind of stuff all along and how it wasn't that unbelievable to him anymore. He'd never considered the gods perfect, but growing up in camp had always given him a sense they'd at least grown from their first depictions as the very worst they could be called today. They'd laid out a safe space for their kids to practice and grow, they had to have been evolving with the times, if slower, right?

His breath shook loose, a calming feeling as he remembered his dad helping Percy find Artemis and how awkwardly yet fervently Posideon continued to help Percy. None of them were perfect. They were distant and often harsh and more often unhelpful if they did try and tended to make their lives worse, but Hera was just a horrible exception.

Ares and Hephestus, Zeus and Posideon, he'd never really had much firsthand experience with any god except Mr. D and flip-flopped between pitty and heavy annoyance with him with minimal grudging appreciation he didn't just incinerate them all and call it a job done. Percy's adventure in detail didn't really change anything, it just gave him a heavier feeling of what he'd been fighting for than he'd gone to Manhatten with.

It sort of scared him for a moment, actually, as he frowned at the rest of the page and his skin twitched with displeasure at what he'd really just been doing. He never would have considered thinking all that before being thrown in here, let alone saying it out loud, verbosely, and only having to be stopped because someone asked him to. He'd been noting Nico's slow change with enthusiasm, but hadn't really stopped to consider his own until this moment, and it left an uncomfortable knot in him as he continued.

Her eyes turned dangerously bright. "Watch yourself, son of Poseidon. I guided you more than you know in the maze. I was at your side when you faced Geryon. I let your arrow fly straight. I sent you to Calypso's island. I opened the way to the Titan's mountain.

Nico felt his mouth open for several moments before he realized he should close it. Not since the stories of old had he heard such blatant interference, and it kind of impressed him. That Hera had gone so out of her way, unprompted, to help them every step of the way. He'd never have believed such a thing from Percy's own mouth, but to hear it from an Olympian herself was amazing. Like a real flip of the cards to reveal what her plan had been all along and strike down all foes come to life.

It was, of course, possible she'd done all that just to gloat and change history a bit in making her seem like the caring mother her title suggested she could be, Thalia's painful looking sneer proved this wasn't a popular thought, but Nico still found it extremely fascinating. He'd have never wanted such help from a god before all this, every interaction he'd had with them was laced with tension and she herself proved they wanted nothing to do with him in return...but that didn't make this less interesting to hear by a mile.

Annabeth, my dear, surely you see how I've helped. I would welcome a sacrifice for my efforts."

"Do you think anybody sacrifices to her?" Magnus had very mixed feelings about hearing this, Percy was a tad disgusted to hear a touch of pity in his voice. "I think she really did do this, like a kind of adoption?" He didn't sound that sure though. Like a theory he expected to get trashed. He even mouthed 'sorry' to Nico, not trying to disconnect from the fact she didn't do it well! Yet Annabeth's own mother didn't seem to have stepped in here, maybe Hera had really wanted to help and was just out of practice.

Percy strived to keep his voice even and not too harsh in return. "I, um, think it's a tad more selfish. It sounds like she was willing to win by any means necessary, it just happened to align with our means."

Annabeth stood still as a statue. She could've said thank you. She could've promised to throw some barbecue on the brazier for Hera and forget the whole thing.

Jason looked very queasy at all of this, for once instead of being the arguing party he understood both sides well. Juno probably did feel undervalued, with no direct link to those kids at Camp. Her temple dusty, her history rarely spoken of and if so negatively.

Yet, he had a feeling what Annabeth was about do. The same thing Percy would have done. He had almost grown used to the level of disrespect these guys so often showed to the gods, and it froze some inner part of him with dread at the mere bubble of thought, let alone what his ears were about to hear worse than anything Will could have called her.

But she clenched her jaw stubbornly. She looked just the way she had when she'd faced the Sphinx—like she wasn't going to accept an easy answer, even if it got her in serious trouble. I realized that was one of the things I liked best about Annabeth.

"Name a thing you don't like about Annabeth," Thalia rolled her eyes.

Percy opened his mouth, closed it, thought about it for a moment, and then said with confidence, "her love of olives. I tolerate them at best, but she puts them on everything!"

"Ah, the olive theory, a classic," Alex snickered while Thalia just looked at him with complete pity. Gods, boys.

"Percy is right." she turned her back on the goddess. "You're the one who doesn't belong, Queen Hera. So next time, thanks...but no thanks."

"Not really as harsh as I was expecting," Magnus admitted even as his heart tried to jump around his chest like a jackrabbit on crack no matter what he said.

"I guess that was her restrained dismissal," Alex agreed with a tad more disappointment. She'd probably wanted at least one jump scare at minimum to impress her.

"And this was the girl who warned you to be polite to Ares," Jason mumbled through numb lips, expecting her to drop dead any second honestly.

Hera's sneer was worse than an empousa's. Her form began to glow.

"That, is not great," Magnus said with a very dry mouth. Somehow Percy constantly pissing off gods felt like second nature by now, it really wasn't that great of a concern at this point since he was alive.

Where the heck was Annabeth?! Was this curse to be forced to live at the bottom of the ocean meant for her? If so, the digs seemed way to nice, though perhaps by their standards this was poverty?

"You will regret this insult, Annabeth. You will regret this very much."

I averted my eyes as the goddess turned into her true divine form and disappeared in a blaze of light.

Most of the others flinched and instinctively wanted to close their eyes, imagining a mushroom cloud in her wake after that.

Except Jason, who sat frozen in place without the good sense to do anything other than mutter, "uhoh."

Percy sighed, already knowing he'd probably have to tackle this idiot to the ground at least once in his life if he saw something cool enough to kill them all.

The hilltop was peaceful again. Over at the pine tree, Peleus the dragon dozed under the Golden Fleece as if nothing had happened.

"I'm sorry," Annabeth told me.

"She's sorry?" Percy asked meekly, a very strange expression on his face. "Where's my apology?" His tone implied none was needed though, his lips were twitching to much and he kept rubbing his thumb across them. They all figured out what that tone was and collectively decided they didn't want to hear it again.

"I—I should get back. I'll keep in touch."

"Listen, Annabeth—" I thought about Mount St. Helens, Calypso's Island, Luke and Rachel Elizabeth Dare, and how suddenly everything had gotten so complicated. I wanted to tell Annabeth that I didn't really want to be so distant from her.

Then Argus honked his horn down at the road, and I lost my chance.

"Remind me to smack an eyeball onto Argus's sense of timing," Thalia groaned. She would have personally handcuffed the two together if it would have resolved their problems already.

"Duly noted," Percy and Jason both promised, causing the others to snicker hard.

"You'd better get going," Annabeth said. "Take care, Seaweed Brain."

She jogged down the hill. I watched her until she reached the cabins. She didn't look back once.

Percy had never felt so much at once seeing her take off like a blond comet across the green fields. Her confidence in every stride, how happy he was for her she'd finally made peace with her dad and felt no need to look back.

The longing he wished she'd at least slow down, that she'd shove that tenacity of hers in his face and kiss him again when he wasn't about to die. That she'd tell him he was a Seaweed Brain and that her feelings for him were just as complicated as they were for Luke's at minimum.

Will's voice startled him out of his memory, to be dragged back here as lost and confused as ever what Annabeth would ultimately decide was best for her with no clue how to show her it could be him.

He didn't even know who to ask for advice about this. His dad was kind of out of touch at the dating thing, he'd probably just suggest Percy snap his fingers and offer to split the ocean for her or something, or ban him from talking to Annabeth if he didn't already know who she was. His mom was just way to embarrassing to even consider every time her name came up. Chiron, maybe...nope. Still to awkward. He was starting to become more convinced by the hour that lone memory he'd awoken in here with was a dream and a fortune teller was probably his best bet. Gods he was hopeless.

Two days later it was my birthday. I never advertised the date, because it always fell right after camp, so none of my camp friends could usually come, and I didn't have that many mortal friends.

"Do you, have any?" Thalia honestly tried to ask without sarcasm, but it sounded that way anyways.

"Um, I used to cat sit for this really old lady before we moved and she'd give me jelly beans when I walked her dog," Percy shrugged.

"A true bestie I'm sorry we never got to meet," Thalia chuckled.

Besides, getting older didn't seem like anything to celebrate since I'd gotten the big prophecy about me destroying or saving the world when I turned sixteen.

"There are so many themes you could do around that though!" Alex sighed. "I can think of three off the top of my head!"

"Alex can and will make a volcano explode in your apartment," Magnus sighed with full confidence.

"But I'll leave the surprise of who jumps out," she winked.

"Pass," Percy could only say hesitantly though. It sounded fun, he'd never even had a bounce house before...but hadn't it already happened? Retroactive birthday party? Maybe? If he survived another year?

Now I was turning fifteen. I was running out of time.

My mom threw me a small party at our apartment. Paul Blofis came over, but that was okay because Chiron had manipulated the Mist to convince everyone at Goode High School that I had nothing to do with the band room explosion.

"Yes!" Percy fist bumped the air with such exuberance there was yet another new crack in the ceiling. "I thought of that before but didn't know if I'd remember to tell Chiron before I left!"

"Now remember this plan for the next time," Nico chuckled.

Percy sighed at the already assured knowledge there was going to be a next time, but it had been a nice five seconds while it lasted.

Now Paul and the other witnesses were convinced that Kelli had been a crazy, firebomb-throwing cheerleader, while I had simply been an innocent bystander who'd panicked and ran from the scene. I would still be allowed to start as a freshman at Goode next month. If I wanted to keep my record of getting kicked out of school every year, I'd have to try harder.

"You say that like it was your fault," Magnus told him bracingly. "Until someone invents monster repellent, you can try all you like and get nowhere."

He meant it in a positive way, but Percy nodded as glumly as before. It was something he'd heard all his life being ADHD. He'd have to try ten times harder than the 'normal' kids and still never be on their level, which to him sounded like he really shouldn't bother trying that hard at all.

Tyson came to my party, too, and my mother baked two extra blue cakes just for him.

Percy bounced in his seat for a moment with one of the happier grins they'd seen on his face today. Annabeth couldn't or wouldn't be there, Percy didn't feel like his own birth should be celebrated, but his little brother was there. His mom had opened the door and greeted him with a Tyson worthy hug and had extra cake just for him and that was pretty much the greatest birthday present he'd want anyways.

While Tyson helped my mom blow up party balloons, Paul Blofis asked me to help him in the kitchen.

As we were pouring punch, he said, "I hear your mom signed you up for driver's ed this fall."

"Would Percy's bus explosion problem translate to cars?" Alex asked eagerly.

"Gods I hope not," Percy sighed.

"I'm not sure I get the stereotype about New Yorkers and driving," Magnus admitted. "You have to walk everywhere because the streets are horrible, but if everybody walks or takes the subway why are the streets so bad?"

"We're fearless about any obstacle but are to impatient," Percy grinned.

Magnus might as well have asked him to spell out those Canadian monsters names again for all the light that provided on the subject.

"Yeah. It's cool. I can't wait."

Seriously, I'd been excited about getting my license forever,

"Pretty sure that's something we look forward to from the time we're born," Will said wistfully. He'd spent the whole day of his sixteenth birthday on the chariot track, imagining it as his dad's sun-mobile. He'd spent the previous week painting it bright red and everything and, according to his own imagination, won every Indie 500 Race that day.

Only to have several of his siblings show up and hog the races the rest of the day from the rest of camp to make that a reality. Kayla had even painted brands and logos on some of them for authenticity while Micheal and Lee somehow always had the dastardly bad luck of fumbling the finish so Will could sail through.

It really had been a good day, and only a tad bittersweet at the end as he sat on the roof of his cabin watching the sun go down, his prayer unanswered of hoping his dad would just make an appearance, let alone let him touch the sun. Austin had assured him that night as he flopped into bed they'd all made that wish and Apollo hadn't answered in centries for any of his kids, just another day.

but I guess my heart wasn't in it anymore, and Paul could tell. In a weird way he reminded me of Chiron sometimes, how he could look at you and actually see your thoughts.

Will realized his thoughts had drifted him into a melancholy mood, and trying to jump right back out, he offered, "hey, did you know Chiron will help kids at camp get their license if they want to. He does something with the mist, gives them papers if they need it, but they still have to pass on their own merit," he finished with a grin at remembering Connor nearly drove his practice car into a jewelry store and still insisted it was an accident. It probably was an accident, but it was still funny too.

"I was actually wondering about that for a second," Magnus told him gratefully. He knew he was out of luck on that front and would likely remain homeless forever because of it, but for once this Camp finally had a solid, irrefutably good thing he might be able to look into.

 I guess it was that teacher aura.

"Is the dark turn Paul's been a secret FBI agent all along infiltrating the school," she paused with a wild gasp, "or your family! And he reveals the secret conspiracy of hauling you all away to Area 51!"

"Alex," Percy sighed with a good-hearted grin. "You are going to be excellent at whatever you decide your life is."

"Living that dream," she smirked.

"You've had a rough summer," he said. "I'm guessing you lost someone important. And...girl trouble?"

"I guess we know who the problem child is, the ones the parents gossip about," Thalia did a pretty good impression of an ornery older sister to Percy's ears while he flushed and muttered a bit about how he wasn't surprised this had come up with his mom.

I stared at him. "How do you know that? Did my mom—"

He held up his hands. "Your mom hasn't said a thing.

"Oh," Thalia sounded as stunned as anybody while Percy went from shocked to pleased the fastest. Percy had never really missed his life as a mortal, he'd spent to much of his younger years being the odd kid out to even know what that felt like but at this moment he knew that if Paul was the dad in his life that he didn't have to be, things would have still turned out all right for him.

And I won't pry. I just know there's something unusual about you, Percy. You've got a lot going on that I can't figure. But I was also fifteen once, and I'm just guessing from your expression...Well, you've had a rough time."

I nodded. I'd promised my mom I would tell Paul the truth about me, but now didn't seem the time. Not yet.

"Save that for his birthday," Jason chuckled, "see how long he thinks you're pranking him and asking for his real present before it sinks in."

"Well I know who I'm scratching off my next guest list," Percy rolled his eyes.

"I was on the list?" Jason looked surprised, which Percy hoped was a joke. Obviously everybody in here was.

"I lost a couple of friends at this camp I go to," I said. "I mean, not close friends, but still—"

Will looked touched all the same Percy didn't go back to his home and try to forget it even happened. Maybe the next time there was a war council meeting and Lee wasn't at the table Percy wouldn't just blink and breeze right past it like it had entirely left his mind.

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah. And, uh, I guess the girl stuff..."

Percy had never been the greatest with his words. He had no more clue what to say to Paul than to Annabeth herself, how to get started on her and Rachel and Luke and the constant question mark bouncing around in his head. It wasn't because of Paul though. He'd stood there waiting patiently the entire time as he'd gathered his useless thoughts and then scraped them at least five times.

"Here." Paul handed me some punch. "To your fifteenth birthday. And to a better year to come."

We tapped our paper cups together and drank.

Percy couldn't have asked for a better toast. Any year had to be better than the one he'd just had. Right?

"Percy, I kind of feel bad giving you one more thing to think about," Paul said. "But I wanted to ask you something."

"He asks you if you're a half-blood?" Thalia asked, because really, it had to be something with Paul. Maybe he could see through the Mist too and never knew how to say it before he saw Kelli.

"Is he going to ask what he should have gotten you for your birthday?" Will asked, imagining he'd gotten Percy, like, a black puppy that turned out to be a hellhound too or something and that was the 'dark turn.'

"Is he going to ask to move in already?" Magnus asked, no clue how fast these things were supposed to go, but it felt like 'a step,' worthy of including Percy.

"What is the capital of Bulgaria?" Alex chuckled.

"Yeah?"

"Girl stuff."

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Oh gods," Jason's mind started spinning like a guinea pig. "He's not going to ask you what he should get your mom for her birthday?" 

"Sounds, um, kind of nice?" Nico offered. Percy obviously got along with Paul, maybe Paul was looking for a way to spend more time with him.

"Your mom," Paul said. "I'm thinking about proposing to her."

"Oooh," all seven of them said with the same blank look. That was, so beyond the scope of their understanding honestly, they barely knew how to react to that other than nonplussed, maybe a little mild pleasure. None of the others really had a great enough relationship with their own mortal parent to process entirely what was being said.

I almost dropped my cup. "You mean...marrying her? You and her?"

"Sally and Paul, sitting in a tree," Thalia burst out singing with surprised laughter.

Percy came out of his dumbfounded state enough to react to that and give her a shove. He was happy for them, a hundred percent. Really, it wouldn't even be that weird, the guy was over all the time anyways. He just didn't even know how to process something like this because it didn't involve stabbing something.

"Well, that was the genera idea. Would that be okay with you?"

"You're asking my permission?"

Paul scratched his beard. "I don't know if it's permission, so much, but she's your mother. And I know you're going through a lot. I wouldn't feel right if I didn't talk to you about it first, man to man."

"Man to man," I repeated.

Percy had never been called anything more than his mom's little man before. He found himself sitting up straight in his beanbag chair, smiling with a new kind of pride.

It sounded strange, saying that. I thought about Paul and my mom, how she smiled and laughed more whenever he was around, and how Paul had gone out of his way to get me into high school. I found myself saying, "I think that's a great idea, Paul. Go for it."

It had felt like the obvious answer the moment he'd said it. Paul had looked him right in the eye while asking, despite their height difference. He was always there for his mom, he'd never made her cry. Percy didn't even know what else people needed to be in a marriage, but he already knew it would be better than what she'd had before.

He smiled really wide then. "Cheers, Percy. Let's join the party."

Percy had followed him with a strut in his step he'd never had before. His imagination had already been going wild, asking Paul to help him put on those weird monkey suits he'd only seen on TV. Would Paul ask Percy to call him dad? How upset would he be if Percy never wanted to?

But his mom...those seemed like minor problems when he could already feel the happiness through a kind of faith alone he'd never had for the gods that she was never going to stop smiling after this day.

I was just getting ready to blow out the candles when the doorbell rang.

"Did you make a wish?" Thalia asked with interest. The only time she'd ever managed to sit down for one of her birthdays was over a trashcan fire with Luke and Annabeth. They'd found some lumpy, frozen chocolate that had clearly all once melted together and were chipping it away, the two teasing her not to blow out their 'candle' that was keeping them warm, and she'd only promised her wish would be it never did. Other than that experience, she had no clue what someone would wish for.

"Yeah," Percy grinned without elaborating. It had just been a feeling really, of hope, that everything would be okay. He'd bottled it up tight and been about to exhale it onto that candle as a kind of offering all its own to the cosmos when that knock had interrupted him. He tried not to frown at that being some kind of bad omen.

My mom frowned. "Who could that be?"

It was weird, because our new building had a doorman, but he hadn't called up or anything. My mom opened the door and gasped.

It was my dad.

Percy had instantly felt zapped, shrunk back down to twelve years old again and seeing him for the first time on Olympus. He'd wanted to load him into a taxi and have some fairy tale ending. Instead, he'd told Percy he regretted him being born.

He was wearing Bermuda shorts and a Hawaiian shirt and Birkenstocks, like he usually does. His black beard was neatly trimmed and his sea-green eyes twinkled. He wore a battered cap decorated with fishing lures. It said NEPTUNE'S LUCKY FISHING HAT.

"Pos—" My mother stopped herself.

"What kind of fake name could she have even given?" Alex asked in amusement. "Pos, pause, pus," she kept trying to enunciate that into something and looked increasingly frustrated coming up with nothing. "Posterior? Pustrami? Pussudinym? Postumus? Possible? Positive, Pustual, Potter, Pos-"

"Posey?" Percy offered. That was a flower, and a girl's name, right? Then he went crosseyed as he realized what he just suggested his dad should go by for any length of time.

"Yes! Great one Percy!" Alex cackled in delight.

"I think we could go through every religion to find his alter ego and he'd still rather just go by his own name," Will finally interrupted the madness with a laugh.

She was blushing right to the roots of her hair. "Um, hello."

"Hello, Sally," Poseidon said. "You look as beautiful as ever. May I come in?"

"Can you say no to that?" Magnus stage whispered.

"I wouldn't want to try," Percy shrugged though because it was his dad, not in general.

My mother made a squeaking sound that might've been either a "Yes" or "Help." Poseidon took it as a yes and came in.

Percy shook his head at the six of them getting a good laugh out of that, Thalia of course escalating it by giving him a hearty clap on the shoulder and saying, "well, now we know where you got that from too."

"I don't squeak," he finished with a long, exhausted sigh knowing he couldn't really deny any such thing.

Paul was looking back and forth between us, trying to read our expressions.

Jason nodded in understanding. Some random guy showing up probably had Paul instinctively worried about Gabe showing up, if Sally had shared anything about him at all.

Finally he stepped forward. "Hi, I'm Paul Blofis."

Magnus crinkled up his nose in disgust at the idea of a creepy, three-eyed monkey coming to mind who always introduced himself like that at the end of those old cartoons. He'd really hated that thing. It had nothing to do with Paul, it was just a bad name association.

Poseidon raised his eyebrows as they shook hands. "Blowfish, did you say?"

"Ah, no. Blofis, actually."

"Oh, I see," Poseidon said. "A shame. I quite like blowfish.

"Poseidon's favorite son confirmed," Will snorted.

"At least it's not Antaeus," Percy shrugged.

I am Poseidon."

"I kind of like that better," Alex said. "Just come right out with it, why hide?"

"I think we just heard Alex's life motto," Nico grinned.

"Poseidon? That's an interesting name."

"Yes, I like it. I've gone by other names, but I do prefer Poseidon."

"Like the god of the sea."

"Very much like that, yes."

"Well!" my mom interrupted.

"I have never thought of your mom as a killjoy before this moment," Thalia admitted. "Even when she's being boring and safe and loving, telling you not to die and be careful and all that nonsense. This, this I would have paid to see how long your dad would go on like this."

"She's a little stressed," Percy shrugged, "and she gets a free pass."

"She gets all the free passes," Thalia nodded in agreement.

"Um, we're so glad you could drop by. Paul, this is Percy's father."

"Ah." Paul nodded, though he didn't look real pleased. "I see."

"Oooh, jealousy," Alex snickered in surprise.

"I'm guessing Paul's not his biggest fan," Percy agreed, confusion mixed into every syllable of how he felt about this. "My mom always made sure I knew my dad didn't abandon me, but you know, I was a little kid. I don't think Pual would have taken to that lost at sea thing. He probably wants to speak to him man to man too," he finished with an awkward smile he'd definitely have to be a part of that conversation to make sure nobody got turned into blowfishes.

Poseidon smiled at me. "There you are, my boy. And Tyson, hello, son!"

"Daddy!" Tyson bounded across the room and gave Poseidon a big hug, which almost knocked off his fishing hat.

"Naww," Magnus smiled in surprise.

"It was that or Tyson was going to burst into tears of joy or something," Percy grinned in relief at this choice.

Paul's jaw dropped. He stared at my mom. "Tyson is..."

"Not mine," she promised.

"Legally," Percy mock whispered, using air quotes and everything.

"It's a long story."

"I couldn't miss Percy's fifteenth birthday," Poseidon said. "Why, if this were Sparta, Percy would be a man today!"

"That's true," Paul said. "I used to teach ancient history."

Poseidon's eyes twinkled. "That's me. Ancient history.

"Have the gods written a memoir?" Jason asked with a false amusement meant to hide his instant need for such a thing. "An autobiography? A manuscript? A rough draft I could steal?"

"Jason, that last one could count as high treason, worse than stealing the bolt," Percy told him with wide-eyed concern that wasn't really mocking.

Jason laughed like he was kidding, but even to his own ears he knew he didn't convince anyone.

Sally, Paul, Tyson...would you mind if I borrowed Percy for a moment?"

He put his arm around me and steered me into the kitchen.

Once we were alone, his smile faded.

Percy sighed as that chapter title came true, again. He wished they wouldn't even be there to kill his blue skies, always looming over whatever nice moment he'd been having. Like storm clouds rolling in and chasing everyone off the beach. His dad hadn't done it on purpose he was sure, it had just instantly killed his mood.

"Are you all right, my boy?"

That immediately felt like the storm running out of rain though as Percy smiled. Chiron had called him that many times, but it had never hit as hard as that did.

"Yeah. I'm fine. I guess."

"I guess," Thalia nodded without surprise. "You know Percy, you don't have to guess every question you're given."

"I'm right like, fifty percent of the time," Percy shrugged.

"I call bullsit on that number," Jason scoffed.

"And I'm to bad at math to do the actual percentage," Percy scoffed right back.

"I heard stories," Poseidon said. "But I wanted to hear it directly from you. Tell me everything."

"See, this is why they invented cellphones though, to avoid awkward moments like this," Magnus said with a twitchy feeling in his gut. The gods popped up at any old place now, yeah been there done that, but something about Poseidon being in Percy's apartment was giving him a feeling of anxiety. Ever since Gabe had left, Percy had always felt safe there, and though his dad was clearly no threat to him, it felt invasive. Like he could hear howls in the distance...

So I did. It was kind of disconcerting, because Poseidon listened so intently. His eyes never left my face. His expression didn't change the whole time I talked. When I was done, he nodded slowly.

"I cannot say I've ever had a god's undivided attention before," Will said with a touch of awe. When Annabeth had done it, he'd been infuriated beyond words. Now his mind felt overflown with jealousy at Percy getting the same from his dad. It really did feel like all or nothing for the Olympians sometimes.

"So Kronos is indeed back. It will not be long before full war is upon us."

"As opposed to the minor battles you've been dealing with," Nico sighed.

"What is war if not just for a bunch of little battles," Thalia agreed.

"Violent," Alex offered.

"Profitable," Percy raised his hand for something he actually remembered from a class.

"You two think you're so clever," Thalia scoffed.

"What about Luke?" I asked. "Is he really gone?"

"I don't know, Percy. It is most disturbing."

"But his body is mortal. Couldn't you just destroy him?"

"We've been asking that since he summoned a scorpion and tore a rip in the air with a sword," Magnus said, and by we he clearly meant himself.

"Mortal, perhaps, but there is something different about Luke, my boy. I don't know how he was prepared to host the Titan's soul, but he will not be easily killed. And yet, I fear he must be killed if we are to send Kronos back to the pit. I will have to think on this. Unfortunately, I have other problems of my own."

"That, was the best summary of the gods, and I didn't even have to Sparknotes it," Nico sighed. Yeah, your problem sucked, but I'm busy with other things!

I remembered what Tyson had told me at the beginning of the summer. "The old sea gods?"

"I wonder if Oceanus is listening in on us and muttering about how his strategies still would have worked," Thalia said with interest. She wished he wasn't such a reclusive old nut, she'd have liked the chance to hear the perspective of an old Titan.

"More likely he'd forget our names every other minute and be whining about how the Olympians run things," Percy rolled his eyes.

"Back in my day we squashed puny mortals on their birthday!" Alex even gave a helpful old man impression again to prove Percy's point, earning a grin from said child of the sea.

"Tethy's didn't seem that bad," Jason was clearly on Thalia's side with a hopeful smile at the door.

"So long as she keeps that thermometer away from me," Percy insisted.

"Indeed. The battle came first to me, Percy. In fact, I cannot stay long. Even now the ocean is at war with itself. It is all I can do to keep hurricanes and typhoons from destroying your surface world, the fighting is so intense."

His dad had been stroking his beard the whole time, a nervous tick Percy had never seen him do before. He didn't have his triton on him, also a first. Poseidon had seemed more human in that kitchen than Percy realized he even could be. Like that delirious moment of him just waltzing back into his mom's life and snapping his fingers to make everything perfect was possible for just this second.

And then what he'd said really sunk in. That his dad, in all his godly power, was already exhausted and torn in half by a war long before Zeus even admitted one was happening. His father, like any of the gods, was far from perfect.

"Let me come down there," I said. "Let me help."

"The summer camp I'm honestly surprised you haven't attended yet," Alex agreed.

"Not for lack of trying!" Percy groaned.

Poseidon's eyes crinkled as he smiled. "Not yet, my boy.

"Yet," Percy sighed, though when he did try and search through his mind to get a glimpse for that feeling, it hurt. A trace of pain lancing through him he had no wish to play connect the dots with in the slightest.

I sense you will be needed here. Which reminds me..." He brought out a sand dollar and pressed it into my hand. "Your birthday present. Spend it wisely."

"Is, that a joke?" Jason asked slowly.

"Um, spoiler, I didn't laugh," Percy promised if it was.

"Uh, spend a sand dollar?"

"Oh, yes. In my day, you could buy quite a lot with a sand dollar.

"Could probably buy a whole sand mansion or something back in his day," Nico snorted.

"Wasn't he kind of born owning the ocean?" Magnus asked. "How rich is he from just all the treasure in the seas?"

"More immeasurable than his already infinite power I'm sure," Percy sighed at them missing the point, as usual.

I think you will find it still buys a lot, if used in the right situation."

"What situation?"

"When the time comes," Poseidon said, "I think you'll know."

Percy sighed at the strange feeling that gave him. Like he knew his dad was right, and it wasn't even particularly painful like the last time he'd just tried to understand this cryptic advice, but it was still as exhausting as wondering whose string those old ladies had cut. Better than sending him another card though.

I closed my hand around the sand dollar, but something was really bothering me.

"Only one something?" Jason sighed. "Because I'm over here losing track of all my somethings."

"I prioritize better," Percy smirked.

"You forget more," Thalia rolled her eyes.

"Dad," I said, "when I was in the maze, I met Antaeus. He said...well, he said he was your favorite son. He decorated his arena with skulls and—"

It had been a really horrible moment in a vast, never-ending sequence of horrible moments down in that maze. Nobody was surprised this one had stuck with Percy.

It was nice he got the chance to air it for once. That Poseidon had a chance to answer for why he'd never stepped in and told Antaeus to knock it off with the murdery entertainment.

"He dedicated them to me," Poseidon supplied. "And you are wondering how someone could do something so horrible in my name."

I nodded uncomfortably.

Poseidon put his weathered hand on my shoulder. "Percy, lesser beings do many horrible things in the name of the gods. That does not mean we gods approve. The way our sons and daughters act in our names...well, it usually says more about them than it does about us. And you, Percy, are my favorite son."

Percy smiled to bright for them to do anything other than smile along, the answer had clearly meant a lot to him that they weren't going to badger for more.

Yet it felt more like a redirect than an answer.

He smiled, and at that moment, just being in the kitchen with him was the best birthday present I ever got. Then my mom called from the living room.

"Percy? The candles are melting!"

"You'd better go," Poseidon said. "But, Percy, one last thing you should know. That incident at Mount St. Helens..."

For a second I thought he was talking about Annabeth kissing me, and I blushed, but then I realized he was talking about something a lot bigger.

"There was something bigger that happened?" Alex said in an oh so innocent impression of Percy's voice.

Percy gave her an eye roll for that, a blush on his cheeks but sinking lower in his seat all the same for what he'd done.

"The eruptions are continuing," he said. "Typhon is stirring. It is very likely that soon, in a few months, perhaps a year at best, he will escape his bonds."

"I'm sorry," I said. "I didn't mean—"

Poseidon raised his hand. "It is not your fault, Percy. It would've happened sooner or later, with Kronos awakening the ancient monsters.

Percy couldn't believe the weight that was lifted off of him, like taking a much needed breath of air. He did still feel the responsibility of that on his shoulders, but for his own dad to assure him it wasn't his fault was unbelievable when he knew best the gods would try and blame this kind of mistake on the easiest target available.

But be aware, if Typhon stirs...it will be unlike anything you have faced before. The first time he appeared, all the forces of Olympus were barely enough to battle him. And when he stirs again, he will come here, to New York. He will make straight for Olympus."

"Oh, so it's not just my birthday that took a dark turn," Percy sighed. "It's the whole stinking continent that's soon going to be covered in ash and blotting out the sun getting a dark turn."

Thalia gave his shoulder a gentle shake and her usual spiel about not freaking out to early while Nico batted his eyes at Percy in surprise. He'd been so sure that stupid thing related to him, that he'd hear Percy's uncomfortable thoughts about inviting him inside to darken his apartment. Percy's wasn't exactly a great interpretation, but it certainly was different than his.

That was just the kind of wonderful news I wanted to get on my birthday, but Poseidon patted me on the back like everything was fine. "I should go. Enjoy your cake."

And just like that he turned to mist and was swept out the window on a warm ocean breeze.

Alex chuckled for a moment before telling Nico, "you still have the best calling card in this one by the way, but Poseidon does get points for spirit on that."

Nico swelled with pride he was being compared to some god other than his dad to care what those points were worth.

It took a little work to convince Paul that Poseidon had left via the fire escape, but since people can't vanish into thin air, he had no choice but to believe it.

"I feel so bad for Paul," Magnus chuckled as he rubbed his temple. "Knowing the answer you're given isn't the truth but feeling crazy there's no other answer."

"Yeah," Percy agreed with a sorrowful nod. He'd felt awful lying to Paul after the awesome talk they'd just had and resolved in himself to tell him the truth sooner rather than later. He hoped he'd managed to do that before this whole disappearing off the face of the earth thing he'd apparently done so his mom had someone to really confide in about her worries.

We ate blue cake and ice cream until we couldn't eat anymore. Then we played a bunch of cheesy party games like charades and Monopoly. Tyson didn't get charades. He kept shouting out the answer he was trying to mime,

"Which is lucky for you because he would have kicked all of your butts being such an awesome artist," Alex grinned.

"I call him on my team!" Jason instantly yelped.

"Hey, no dibs before we even set up our own game night," Alex narrowed her eyes with a menace none of them were sure was entirely playful.

"Got to be faster Alex, sorry," Jason just shrugged smugly.

Thalia loudly cleared her throat to move that on before she had to restrain the two.

but it turned out he was really good at Monopoly. He knocked me out of the game in the first five rounds and started bankrupting my mom and Paul.

"I see Tyson really got all of Poseidon's good traits," Magnus laughed in surprise.

"I call him on my Monopoly team," Alex said swiftly.

Jason sighed in defeat they would switch it up between games and gave in.

"How do you play Monopoly in teams?" Percy asked.

"By making shit up I'm sure," Thalia shrugged at the amount of chaos that was going to happen when this night happened.

I left them playing and went into my bedroom.

"Aw Perce, don't tell me you're a sore loser," Will frowned.

"More like I was getting a headache watching their money move hands so fast," Percy grinned.

I set an uneaten slice of blue cake on my dresser.

Nico smiled in surprise that finally explained why, when he'd materialized, he'd heard shouting in the background like there had been a gameshow on when the TV was off as he'd come in. He'd thought he had shut it off or something crazy when he'd come in with his weird powers and aura and they'd fallen silent upon seeing him. Turned out it was a much more fun, and mundane reason.

Then I took off my Camp Half-Blood necklace and laid it on the windowsill. There were three beads now, representing my three summers at camp—a trident, the Golden Fleece, and the latest: an intricate maze, symbolizing the Battle of the Labyrinth, as the campers had started to call it. I wondered what next year's bead would be, if I was still around to get it. If the camp survived until next summer.

Percy did have another bead on there, of course, and he clasped his fist around the lot now, his throat as tight with worry as ever what had happened between all that. He felt like the best-case scenario was he'd come out alive, but the more realistic possibility was he'd just gone nuts and molded one for himself in a mock victory from his grave or something before being plopped in here.

I looked at the phone by my bedside. I thought about calling Rachel Elizabeth Dare. My mom had asked me if there was anyone else I wanted to have over tonight, and I'd thought about Rachel. But I didn't call. I don't know why. The idea made me almost as nervous as a door into the Labyrinth.

Thalia sighed with guilty relief he hadn't. It would have just been awkward if Annabeth found out about that...and yet she knew from Annabeth Percy had spent a large chunk of time coming up hanging out with Rachel so she was a tad surprised that hadn't started here.

I patted my pockets and emptied out my stuff—Riptide, a Kleenex, my apartment key.

"You kept up with that this whole time," Will asked in complete disbelief. "I need the brightest rainbow lanyard I can find to keep up with my key to my cabin because I keep losing the dang thing and my siblings started locking me out after the seventh time."

"I never lock my cabin door," Percy said blankly.

"You scare kids to much to sneak in there," Thalia scoffed.

"I want to know how and why you got a kleenex," Alex snorted. "And, more importantly, why you didn't offer that to Annabeth when she was sobbing her nose out."

Percy's heart froze and his mind scrambled as he suddenly found himself asking the same thing before Magnus jumped in saying, "probably pocketed it from that meal with Hera, I wouldn't trust that thing not to be poisoned anymore. Grover's probably just immune to such things."

Which didn't make Percy feel better, but did make him laugh for a moment along with the others.

Then I patted my shirt pocket and felt a small lump. I hadn't even realized it, but I was wearing the white cotton shirt Calypso had given me on Ogygia.

"I bet Annabeth loved that," Jason muttered, imagining she'd hardly looked at him the entire time because of the reminder.

Percy had been amazed it held up so well, covered in dirt, mud, and other unmentionable things he was sure. She was probably more amazing with a loom than Circe for giving him clothes he hadn't lost and or torn to shreds.

I brought out a little piece of cloth, unwrapped it, and found the clipping of moonlace. It was a tiny sprig, shriveled up after two months, but I could still smell the faint scent of the enchanted garden. It made me sad.

Percy touched where the little pocket had been over his heart, of course no longer there on his camp shirt. He had done the impossible, he had forgotten about Calypso even for a brief time in all the other madness that went on when he came home. Now it was Annabeth, Rachel, and Calypso all bouncing around in his head like a screen saver all fighting for his attention as his fingers tightened in his shirt before he dropped his hand back to his lap and sighed.

What the hell had Hera meant by it, sending him to her island? Had it been a warning, that all the Titans had faced punishment and Percy had better remember which side he belonged on? Had it been her deranged way of helping, giving him a chance to heal there, a place she knew he'd never stay on?

All he did know was that, like all help with the gods, it felt more harmful than good really. From now on, only his dad was allowed to send him off on vacations, and that was a spotty vow considering he wasn't sure what the outcome of this place was going to be yet.

I remembered Calypso's last request of me: Plant a garden in Manhattan for me, will you? I opened the window and stepped onto the fire escape.

My mom kept a planter box out there. In the spring she usually filled it with flowers, but now it was all dirt, waiting for something new. It was a clear night. The moon was full over Eighty-second Street. I planted the dried sprig of moonlace carefully in the dirt and sprinkled a little nectar on it from my camp canteen.

Nothing happened at first.

Then, as I watched, a tiny silver plant sprang out of the soil—a baby moonlace, growing in the warm summer night.

"I'm surprised Grover didn't sniff that out and eat it," Alex broke the heavy tension falling around them. "I honestly expected this to be mentioned back at camp as an invasive species and D would rip it up and threaten to strangle you with it."

"My brain works in mysterious ways," Percy grinned, a sad but meaningful one to help take his mind off all the bad. "That's probably why it waited until just now, weeks later, for me to ever think of cleaning out my pockets."

"Mmm, yes, mysterious," Alex laughed, because she said mysterious like one would their least favorite kind of cheese.

"Nice plant," a voice said.

I jumped. Nico di Angelo was standing on the fire escape right next to me.

"Nico's back!" Will yelped in surprise. For once he hadn't been tensing up beside him, fidgeting and internally freaking out about this happening, so Will had not a hint of warning any more than anybody else.

"I've been here the whole time you nit," Nico rolled his eyes with a smile.

Will's arm pulled him just another tiny little bit closer as he just laughed in surprise and kept going like the whole room was a bit brighter all of a sudden, making Nico blush and for the first time think of pushing him away making this 'a thing.' It was just a fleeting thought though, one he didn't act on.

Will didn't find it hard to explain to himself why he was so jazzed for this news. It was the very first instance of Nico reaching out to anybody, especially the most perfect person on the planet being Percy with his mom right on the other side of that door. For Nico to get a glimpse of how he should be greeted any time he entered a room.

"Is anybody going to ask how?" Percy yelped loudly, rudely interrupting Will's joyful reading as he stared strangely at Nico. "You appeared out of nowhere dude!"

"Practice," Nico said with pride in his voice, which of course, was no answer.

Percy groaned, Chiron and Thalia were known to do that too so it wasn't just the gods being cryptic and annoying, they were passing it on!

Nico really did give him a sorrowful smile though and pressed his finger to his lips, his skull ring gleaming. They had shadow-traveled a lot in the coming time, and he didn't want to upset Percy now when he saw the last page in Will's hand. They were nearly done with another, no need to go pushing Percy's mind to its limit when he'd get his answer without Nico forcing it on him soon enough.

He'd just appeared there.

"Sorry," he said. "Didn't mean to startle you."

"That's—that's okay. I mean...what are you doing here?"

Nico inhaled carefully, letting his mind think of that with interest now rather than the little happy dance he'd been doing in his head Percy's first reaction back then hadn't been pushing him off the fire escape in surprise. Now he really heard this for what it was. Not the blatant acceptance he so craved, just Percy reacting to him somehow even better than he had Rachel popping up in his mortal life. It was surprisingly a nicer, warmer feeling than his old feeling he had to keep off any part of his face.

He'd grown about an inch taller over the last couple of months. His hair was a shaggy black mess. He wore a black T-shirt, black jeans, and a new silver ring shaped like a skull. His Stygian iron sword hung at his side.

"An outfit you apparently never changed out of," Jason chuckled in surprise.

"I bet he has a closet full of the same outfit," Alex sighed tragically.

"I like this color," he kept the childish note out of his voice almost well enough. He should get used to defending his odd choices now if he was going to go to camp and hear this over and over...then he was surprised how easily that thought had come to mind. Tartarus had gone to far from his plans, he realized as a cold feeling swept him.

Will's hand curled gently around his arm, a warm pulse radiating from his palm that gave Nico a chance to exhale and focus on this.

"I've done some exploring," he said.

"A common day pirate," Will smiled in delight. "A vassst yee, I shall be tied down to no land!"

"See, now you're getting it," Nico's eyes shimmered with delight at the goofy impression.

"Even pirates need a secret cove to bury all their treasure," Will reminded hopefully. If that's all camp could be to him, a way station of safety, it would feel like enough so long as he'd always feel free to use it.

"Hmm, I'm not much of an artist Will, I'll have to work on getting a map together," Nico couldn't help the glib comment, the wishy-washy response. Despite how comfortable he felt under Will's arm, it was the longest, most permanent feeling he'd ever had in his life up to this point. Something so solid, even more permanent like Will kept wanting still sounded like to much for him to wrap his mind around right now.

"That's okay, I know a good one. X marks the spot and all that," he grinned all the same. He'd still carve that on Thalia's old tree when he got back and knew Nico at least would get the reference.

 "Thought you'd like to know, Daedalus got his punishment."

Will's voice somehow sparked with even more joy getting to read this so soon. He really had wanted to know his fate, and Alex was right there with him, leaning forward eagerly in her seat, her teeth sunk into her lip as she wavered back in forth in her head how harsh she wanted to hear this being.

"You saw him?"

Nico nodded. "Minos wanted to boil him in cheese fondue for an eternity, but my father had other ideas.

Nico had been surprised when he'd showed up in his courtroom he hadn't even needed to step in and offer anything for this. Daedalus had been such a notoriously lost soul for so long Hades had already taken an interest, and swift execution before Nico had even woken up.

Hades had laughed to himself about the cheese fondue idea and even filed it away for later though. As far as Nico knew, Minos was still on his seat at the judge's table, so he hadn't exactly been as punished as Nico would have liked, but hey, you win some you lose some.

Daedalus will be building overpasses and exit ramps in Asphodel for all time. It'll help ease the traffic congestion. Truthfully, I think the old guy is pretty happy with that. He's still building. Still creating. And he gets to see his son and Perdix on the weekends."

It was just the perfect kind of Greek ending really. Quintus, Daeadlus the fifth's body, had had a very long road, and his punishment was to continue making them. It was no reward, but really, it was no great punishment. Hades seemed to have found a stroke of balance in his domain that all wished for really, a kind of medium eternal life after his grand adventure that rocked to many boats.

"That's good."

Nico tapped at his silver ring. "But that's not the real reason I've come. I've found out some things. I want to make you an offer."

"What?"

Percy hadn't squinted suspiciously at him or anything, he hadn't gone for his sword or jumped back in and slammed the window in his face. He hadn't exactly jumped to his feet with delight either and hugged him for finding all this out, so, that had been the highlight of Nico's month.

"The way to beat Luke," he said. "If I'm right, it's the only way you'll stand a chance."

I took a deep breath. "Okay. I'm listening."

Will's voice was so happy as he read that, his pupils kept wanting to jump away from the text to glance at the two with such bright eyes. This, this had been what he'd been hoping for Nico for so long, ever since he'd vanished after the Titan War. He already knew Percy and Nico made an awesome team, the two working together had been the saving strategy and the reason they were probably all alive today. Why did Nico constantly think he wasn't accepted again when Percy had been open and amenable from the start to his plan?!

Nico glanced inside my room. His eyebrows furrowed. "Is that...is that blue birthday cake?"

It had been the strangest feeling, Nico shook his head at himself. He'd been glancing around for an enemy, someone eavesdropping. Instead he'd seen the brightest splash of color, a blue swirl patterned cake with sprinkles. The exact kind of thing Bianca would have smacked his hand for reaching for, telling him he'd get a cavity just looking at that thing.

He sounded hungry, maybe a little wistful. I wondered if the poor kid had ever had a birthday party, or if he'd ever even been invited to one.

No, and no, Nico pursed his lips together rather than answer. Will, thankfully, read right over the moment without waiting for an answer, bless him. Nico still considered himself a no on both too, because he hadn't been 'invited' to this party. He'd gate crashed.

"Come inside for some cake and ice cream," I said. "It sounds like we've got a lot to talk about."

"Everything Percy brags about his mom's cooking is true by the way," Nico said swiftly before anybody could ask questions they weren't going to get an answer to. "It was, the best cake, I've ever had." He smacked his lips in appreciation at just the thought. It had been the most solid food he'd had in months and he was pretty sure his ambrosia had switched to tasting like that for a while.

"We'll get her her own cookbook, or a TV network show or something," Jason laughed.

Percy had a lot more questions buzzing around his mind about how that night would have continued. He opened his mouth with at least three trying to all bunch together, but all that came out was a very rude yawn.

"The question now is, do we take a break or just start the next one?" Thalia asked, stretching and jumping to her feet all the same.

"A break, definitely," Percy pleaded at once. "Hell, can I take a nap, since the days all out of whack anyways and we start the next one tomorrow."

"Nap yes," Thalia told him not unkindly, "but I am waking you back up to at least start on the next one! We'll be in here for twenty years if you sleep to your heart's content Rip Van Winkle!"

Percy nodded and then, actually just slumped over, right there in his chair. It would have been a tad concerning if he hadn't started drooling only moments later.

Nico expected Will to jump up and join the others as they all started talking quietly, stretching and going off to eat, but instead he stayed in place, hugging the black book tight to his chest and smiling at it still. Nico still thought him nuts, but a very charming kind. Nuts and berries.

Something had been nagging at the back of his mind though. A pessimistic idea that wouldn't leave him, an observation about Will always being so happy and optimistic at the idea of Nico being at camp. "Did you kiss me because you want me to stay at Camp?" Nico asked, his stomach in painful knots that the answer was going to be yes and how much he should care about that and how much it would make a difference. Maybe Will did just want something from him-

"No!" Will's startled blue eyes were pure honesty. "I kissed you because I wanted to, no other reason." Nico still seemed confused though, so he offered, "look, I, I feel like I should apologize, for kissing you right then," Will confessed. "That, um, wasn't exactly, 'friendly,' and if that's what you need right now-" his arm started to pull away even.

"I like it," Nico interrupted, the surprise on his own face for admitting that causing him to sheepishly avert his eyes, but his hand darting up to hold his fingers in place, nearly pining them to his black shirt. "L-liked. Um, it was, it feels- felt, good, but if you regret it-" his hand spasmed as he told himself to let go.

"Woah, I never said that," Will interpreted right back. "I've been trying to get to know you since we met. I just, um, was trying to make sure-" he was blushing himself and stammering and going very blank in the mind to find words to describe anything.

"Right, well," Nico took a shaky breath but looked back at him with a hesitant smile. He interlocked their fingers, and Will easily mimicked him. "That's, established. Neither of us, regret it, and we both like talking, so let's just, keep doing, that."

"Sounds perfect," Will grinned.

PJOPJOPJO

I am not promising that this will be the last book to end with Solangelo, I don't want to be a liar like that, but I do already have the ending to the next book planned out and it's not focused on them, so there's that?

So I'm taking a short break and then posting Demigod Files next month for sure, and then I'm going to start Last Olympian in May! I'm so excited guys, I'm looking forward to it all as much as anybody!

*I know most people probably imagine Alex using the f' word like a bestie, but I'm more familiar with people who grew up in verbally abusive households disliking strong language because it's been used on them to much. Also I do my best to keep these PG, T at most, so it's going to stay at least in the level of clean you've seen so far in the tone of the original books, so this is what I'm going with.

#pjo #Percy Jackson #HDYSG #Thalia Grace #Jason Grace #alex fierro #Magnus Chase #Will Solace #nico di angelo #solangelo #fierrochase #percabeth #BotL #battle of the labyrinth

[songbirdseung]

matchy matchy / lee heeseung

You know Hansel and Gretel, the classic fairytale. You know the breadcrumb trail. This part of the story could be compared to the way you and heeseung drop hints about your secret relationship to your fans. Just like how the breadcrumbs were eaten by the birds.

Right in this moment, you felt like you were living a double life. The 'hannah montana' of your generation. You kept a secret to pretty much everyone in your life. It was easy to hide and joke around about, cause who in the world would believe you were dating lee heeseung of enhypen.

Blending in was not exactly blending in for you. Easily, no one would think twice about your photocard dangling on the side of your bag, your matching purple hair with your boyfriend, and the jokes you make about being delusional. Yes, you were an idol under HYBE, but you still were a fangirl at the end of the day, so it made your job easier.

The beloved second half, heeseung. He didn't have to do much either, all he needed to do was think before speaking, joke around with fans, keep them thinking that he was single. Of course, you'd be slightly jealous but cringe at the same time when you see new content of him flirting with fans.

But at the end of the day, you win.

Cause right now, you were laying in a hotel room in Japan. Heeseung's arms gladly wrapped around you and you both watch a movie. "Aren't you tired of hiding?" Heeseung looks down at you, laying on his chest. You look back up at him and smile before saying "No matter what the circumstances, as long as I get to be with you. I'd love it" The statement sounded better in your head, so you cringed right after you said it. You two share a laugh and continue your focus on the film that was playing.

The rest of the night, you two stay unaware of what is happening between your fandoms. All because the similarities and the timeframe of you and heeseung's post on social media. Each of your fans go detective and try to piece together the evidence. Some have come to believe it, some don't.

(a/n: the following accounts are fake and made up, but if you so happen to have that handle...cool)

@/EnhyFam_123 Hey guys, I've been scrolling through Y/N's Instagram lately, and I couldn't help but notice something interesting. 🕵️‍♀️ Do you remember Heeseung's post from a month ago where he's holding a cup of coffee with a cute heart-shaped latte art? Well, guess what? Y/N just posted a similar coffee pic with heart latte art today! Coincidence or something more? 🤔

@/InSomnias4YnH OMG, you won't believe this, but I think I've stumbled upon a clue! 🕵️‍♂️ Y/N and Heeseung both posted pictures of them hanging out at the same amusement park last weekend. Y/N captioned it "Fun day out," while Heeseung said, "Rollercoaster adventures!" Could they have been on a secret date? Check it out and let me know what you think!

@/HONEY10_Heart Okay, fam, this is getting TOO SUSPICIOUS! 🧐 Heeseung posted a selfie last week wearing a blue hoodie, and guess what? Y/N just shared a selfie today in a BLUE hoodie too! 💙 It's not just any hoodie; it's the same shade! Are they sharing clothes or sharing their hearts?

@/YnHeeShipper4Eva Guys, let's not forget about that mysterious photo challenge Heeseung started a while back, where he shared pictures of his favorite spots in town. Y/N just posted a pic of one of those EXACT spots today! Coincidence? I think not! 😲 Is this a subtle way of confirming their relationship or just pure coincidence? Share your thoughts!

@/HesitatedHeeStan I can't help but notice that Y/N and Heeseung have been wearing matching bracelets lately. They both posted about them separately, but I have a feeling they might be sharing something more than just jewelry! Is it time to ship them officially? 🚢

@/YnHee_Heartbeats Okay, I've seen Y/N and Heeseung's posts from the past few months, and I swear their captions seem like they're finishing each other's sentences! Heeseung posted, "Lost in the music 🎶," and Y/N followed up with, "Found in your smile 😊." Is this a hidden love story playing out on our feeds?

@/EnhaYnLove4Eternity Guys, it's official! I'm convinced that Y/N and Heeseung are dating! 🥰 I've seen so many similarities in their posts, and they keep dropping hints like breadcrumbs. It's not just one thing; it's the whole package! Their matching outfits, shared locations, and synchronized captions… It's a love story in the making! ❤️ #EnhaYnForever

@/CuriousKpopStan I don't know about you all, but my heart is doing somersaults over Y/N and Heeseung's possible relationship! 💞 From the subtle hints to the uncanny timing of their posts, it's hard to deny something's going on. 🙌 #YnHeeLove

@/YnHeeDenier_99 Okay, folks, let's not jump to conclusions here. Just because Y/N and Heeseung have similar posts doesn't mean they're dating. Maybe they just have the same taste in coffee and hoodies, right? ☕️👕 I mean, come on, it's all just coincidences!

@/SkepticalStan_27 I'm sorry, but I refuse to believe they're dating just because they went to the same amusement park. 🙅‍♂️ Lots of people go there! It doesn't mean Y/N and Heeseung are secretly in love. Let's be rational about this, folks.

@/HeeYnFriendzone Guys, I've been thinking. Maybe Y/N and Heeseung are just really good friends who happen to have similar interests. People can be friends without it being romantic, right? 🤷‍♀️ I don't want to burst anyone's bubble, but let's not get carried away.

@/JustBFFsYnHee I hate to break it to you all, but matching bracelets don't automatically mean they're dating. Maybe they got those bracelets together as a friendship thing or a symbol of their bond as colleagues. Let's not make assumptions. 😐

@/YnHeePlatonicShips Honestly, I think some fans are reading way too much into this. Y/N and Heeseung are professionals who work together, and they probably hang out as friends. We should respect their privacy and not speculate about their personal lives.

@/NotBuyingIt_YnHee I can't help but roll my eyes at the idea of Y/N and Heeseung dating just because of similar captions. Maybe they both read a book or watched a movie that inspired those words. It doesn't automatically mean they're romantically involved! 😒

@/RealisticStan_123 Let's not forget that Y/N and Heeseung are in the entertainment industry. Their job involves creating hype and intrigue. They might be doing this on purpose to keep fans guessing. Don't fall for it too easily, folks! 🤨

@/ChillOut_YnHeeFans I'm not trying to be a buzzkill, but we should all take a step back and relax. Jumping to conclusions and making up stories can put unnecessary pressure on idols. Let's enjoy their music and performances without getting too invested in their personal lives. 🎶🤷‍♂️

You both are only made aware when you two simultaneously receive a text from your managers at the same time.

"Heeseung, Check SNS, your fans are going crazy"

"y/n, you got some explaining to do"

"It's up to you guys if you wanna tell everyone, we'll have a company meeting after ya'll come back from Japan"

They found themselves in a cozy hotel room, far away from the public eye, where they could finally discuss their next steps. Heeseung reclined on the plush bed, his laptop resting on his lap, while Y/N perched beside him, scrolling through their phones.

"Let's see what they're saying." Heeseung says and pulls you closer.

Y/N opened Instagram, and they both leaned in to examine the posts from fans.

Post 1: @EnhyFam_123 "OMG, look at Y/N's latte art! Same as Heeseung's from last month! Is it a coincidence? I think not! 🙈❤️ #EnhaYnLove"

Post 2: @YnHeeLove4Eternity "I'm CONVINCED! Matching bracelets, shared locations, synchronized captions… It's a love story, guys! 😍 #YnHee"

"Seems like they've got their detective hats on." Hee says

They continued scrolling through more posts, some excitedly shipping them, while others remained skeptical.

Post 3: @JustBFFsYnHee "Matching bracelets? Come on, people! They're probably just really good friends! 🤷‍♀️ #FriendshipGoals"

Post 4: @RealisticStan_123 "Let's not forget they're in showbiz. They could be playing it up for publicity. 🎤📸 #KpopMystery"

They continued scrolling, reading comments and reactions to the various posts. Some fans were excitedly discussing their supposed relationship, while others were analyzing every detail, trying to debunk it.

Post 5: @ChillOut_YnHeeFans "Guys, let's remember they're entitled to their privacy. Enjoy their music, not their personal lives! 🎶🤐 #RespectBoundaries"

"Some fans have the right idea." you pause from scrolling and look at heeseung.

As they reached the end of their social media dive, Heeseung closed his laptop, and Y/N set aside their phone. Then, out of nowhere, Heeseung grabs his phone and opens up weverse.

"What are you doing?" you start to panic and hide when you see that he's about to press the live button.

"Going live, what else?" he chuckles and waits for fans to arrive.

Your heart races as the number of viewers starts to climb rapidly, and the comments section fills with emojis, greetings, and excited messages from fans.

Heeseung smiles at the camera. "Hey, everyone! Surprise live session today. I've got someone special here with me, but I'm not revealing who just yet. Stay tuned!"

The chat explodes with speculation and curiosity, but Heeseung keeps engene guessing.

You watch from your hiding spot, feeling the intensity of the moment. This was it; there was no turning back now.

"Alright, alright, I won't keep you in suspense any longer. Drumroll, please!"

Heeseung's fingers hover over the screen, and with a dramatic flourish, he pans the camera to reveal you, hiding behind a curtain, a playful grin on your face.

"Ta-da! Look who's here! It's Y/N!"

The chat erupts with emojis, greetings, and an outpouring of love and excitement.

You shyly wave and greet engene "Hey, everyone! It's nice to finally meet you all. Heeseung and I wanted to chat with you and clear up some rumors."

"That's right. There have been a lot of speculations lately, and we wanted to address them ourselves." Heeseung sets the phone down where both of you are in frame.

The questions from fans start pouring in, ranging from the nature of their relationship to their favorite memories together. As they answer, you can't help but feel a sense of relief. Sharing their story with their fans was important, and it felt good to have their support.

The next hour flies by as you and Heeseung engage with your fans, sharing stories, laughs, and even some exciting news about upcoming projects. The atmosphere in the live session is filled with warmth and positivity, and you're overwhelmed by the love and support from your fans.

As the live session comes to a close, Heeseung reaches out and takes your hand, squeezing it gently.

"Thank you all for joining us today and for your unwavering support. We appreciate each and every one of you." Heeseung says.

Then you smile as you reply with "Yes, thank you for being so understanding and respectful. We're grateful for this wonderful community."

The chat fills with hearts and words of encouragement as the live session ends. You and Heeseung share a heartfelt moment, knowing that you've taken a big step in your relationship by sharing it with your fans.

"Now, we deal with the company and leave the aftermath to the side"

#enhypen #enhypen imagines #enhypen au #engene #enha #enhypen x reader #lee heeseung #heeseung #heeseung imagines #enhypen heeseung

[i-used-to-wear-the-fedora]

History of the Wrong Guys

Eddie Munson was gay. You didn't have to be a genius to figure this out. He openly flirted with guys when given the chance and when he was dating someone, he'd get on a table and proclaim to the world (or whoever happened to be nearby) how much he loved whoever the guy he was with at the time. The entire Hellfire club was well aware of his antics, bringing the boy du jour with him and spending more time focused on his boyfriend than the campaign. It might not have been so bad if he didn't have such terrible taste in men.

Gareth had just joined the club half way into his sophomore year when Eddie started showing up with some rando named Scott who looked way too old to be hanging around with a group of highschoolers after school.

"So what school do you go to?" Jeff tried to ask the guy who Eddie was practically hanging off. Scott laughed and waved his hand at the question.

"I haven't gone to school in a long time."

"What? You a dropout or something?" Gareth asked pointedly, ignoring the look of disapproval Eddie shot him.

When Corroded Coffin finally got an official gig at a small dive bar called The Hideout, Scott had been there. Already drunk and obnoxiously cheering as they played. Afterwards he bought Eddie a drink. Way too old to be dating a junior, Gareth and the rest of the band had decided.

Scott lasted about two months before he stopped showing up. Kevin tried to bring the man up once but he was quickly shut down and they never talked about Scott again.

The next guy was a few months later. His name was Tate. He didn't really talk to anyone except Eddie. Hanging around the back of their club room and never saying anything, even when someone talked to him. He was weirdly quiet. Gareth saw him whispering into Eddie's ear whenever someone was around just low enough to not be heard. One of the freshman had come in early to grab a book he forgot when he'd stumbled upon them arguing loudly. The two having a shouting match about Eddie spending way too much time with his stupid club.

After that fight, Eddie stopped showing to their meet ups more and more before disappearing from school all together for a month. His uncle called all of them up after a few weeks asking if any of the had seen Eddie. No one had. It was another month before Eddie showed up again. Stumbling into the ER covered in track marks and bruises according to Mr. Munson. Eddie spent the rest of the semester in the hospital's rehab center. He was held back that year. Gareth remembered the party they threw in celebration of Eddie finally completing his recovery program. No one found out where Eddie disappeared to for those two months. Eddie admitted he barely remembered anything from the time he was gone. Gareth noticed their band's lead singer started taking ceftriaxone when he came back.

Somehow Tate wasn't the worst. It was Eddie's second attempt at his senior year when he started to come to band practice and Hellfire club with the same stupid grin on his face he had when he started to date someone. Kevin was the first to ask him what was up.

"Just some guy."

"What's his name?"

"Can't tell ya."

Whoever it was, he wasn't out. Not surprising. Being out in a small town like Hawkins wasn't easy. Eddie dropped clues here and there about who the guy was. He went to their school and was on the basketball team.

"When you said fuck jocks Eds, you should've told us you meant it literally." Jeff joked during band practice one day, earning a guitar capo being tossed in hus general direction. The guy also had his own car. Driving Eddie places while he waited for his minivan to be fixed but always dropping him off a block away so they weren't seen together by anyone. It was fine, Eddie said.

What wasn't fine was when Eddie started showing up with bruises.

"You get in a fight?" Kevin asked when Eddie showed up with a shiner on his left eye.

"Should've seen the other guy." The black eye lasted a lot longer than it should've. During gym class, when they were getting changed, Gareth noticed a lot more injuries. They looked a lot like hand prints. Usually they were hidden but more and more, they'd been appearing on the metalhead's wrists and neck.

"Are you okay dude?" Gareth leaned against the back of the school's brick wall, watching as Eddie took a drag of his cigarette. The red haired boy's eyes had fixated on Eddie's bruised neck.

"Just a hickey."

"A hickey? Eds, it looks like someone took a chunk out of you."

"Come on Gareth, you know I like it rough." Eddie laughed as he winked at the other boy but Gareth and the others were still on edge. Gareth's mom was the first one to get the call Eddie was back in the hospital. Everyone was worried their dungeon master had relapsed when they went to visit him. Instead they arrived to the hospital room to find Eddie hooked up to a ventilator with Mr. Munson sat next to the bed, his head in his hands. Eddie was a mess. So many cuts and bruises yet he still looked pale, almost dead.

"What the fuck happened?"

"I-I came home and I found him like this." Wayne managed to choke out eventually. "They had revive him twice."

Gareth had never felt more helpless in his fucking life than at that moment. Him and the rest of the Hellfire club had taken rotations to check on him as they waited for him to wake up. All of them knew it was Eddie's shitbag excuse for a boyfriend. Making a silent pact to murder whoever it was if they found out.

Gareth and Kevin had been there when Eddie woke up. It took everything in the shorter teen to not rush over. Both of the boys going over to hug him. Eddie freezing for a moment before he broke down sobbing in their arms.

It had been almost a year when Eddie started to date someone again. Steve fucking Harrington. The instant he started showing up to their games, everyone was on the defense when he was with their dungeon master. Sitting in Eddie's lap during their campaign as all the club's senior members did their best to ignore him.

"Why are you guys so angry at Steve? He's a good guy." Dustin asked as they packed up for the night.

"He's a jock Henderson, they're all the same."

"Lucas is a jock."

"That's different." Gareth snapped.

"How?"

"He's not...you know what, you wouldn't get it."

"Come on dude, just give him a chance. You'll see he's not as bad as he used to be."

"I doubt that."

Gareth was at the game store, looking for a new pair of die when he noticed the couple at the miniature section. Not so subtly sliding behind the collection of poster boards to listen in on the two.

"-but these are pre painted. Wouldn't it just be easier to buy these ones?"

"Yeah but painting is half the fun." Eddie picked up a small plastic figurine. "Besides I need a new barbarian after *someone* crushed my other one with his fat ass."

"Hey I said I was sorry." The former jock apologized as he leaned over and kissed Eddie along the side of his neck. "Maybe I could do something else with this fat ass of mine."

"Oh my God Steve." Eddie laughed as he playfully pushed Steve before returning a quick peck. Gareth faltered as he watched the two. They looked so happy together. The way Eddie's eyes lit up around Steve and how Steve looked at him like he was the center of the universe.

Maybe...Steve Harrington wasn't that bad of a guy afterall.

#stranger things #fanfiction #stranger things au #eddie munson #steve harrington #steddie #eddie x steve #st gareth #tw: abuse #tw: unhealthy relationship #st jeff #st kevin

[my-soupy-brain]

Just wanted to let you know, I enjoy all your fics! Constantly reading them all. ❤️ If you feel up for it could you write one with Jason/reader. Could be anything that comes to mind. Smut, soft, angst. I just can't get enough!!

You are WONDERFUL - thank you for the kind words and all you're lovely support. I'd love to write some more Jason so let's just see where this goes. I'm literally going into this with NO direction. This'll be fun. Let's gooo!

---

Relationship: Jason Sudeikis x reader

Warnings: I have no clue, writing blind. Probably smut and angst.

---

You weren't sure what dating Jason would be like. You were crazy about each other, that much was true.

But being in the spotlight, trailed by paparazzi, dealing with the flash of cameras at events -- it was a lot.

And there was self-doubt. Because of course, there was.

His ex-girlfriends were models, actresses. He worked with some of the most beautiful women in the world on sets.

And you were...well, you.

He wasn't untrue. You trusted him. You just didn't trust you could sustain his interest. And that was on you. Which made it worse.

At an event afterparty -- Jason's hand around your waist -- you can't help looking around the room at the beautiful, leggy cocktail waitresses and models who had been invited.

Your arm around his waist tightened as you smiled up at him.

Maybe if I grip him harder he won't float away, you always thought, as if you were still living in a dream.

The two of you met by happenstance, at an event like this. You got to talking, hit it off, and the rest is history.

You smiled and nodded, joining the conversation. Laughed at his jokes, because they always make you laugh. You always threw your head back and laughed with your whole body -- it wasn't a dainty cute laugh, but he loved it.

"I'll be right back, you want another drink?" he asks you, holding up his empty glass. You nod. "Yeah, that'd be great. Vodka tonic, thanks, babe."

When he moves to the bar, your eyes follow the women in the room who are watching him. His handsome waistcoat and dress slacks make you purr...

RED. YOU SEE RED.

A tall, thin, honey-skinned blonde puts her dainty little hand on his shoulder and introduces herself, batting her big eyelash extensions at him.

You're trying to pay attention to his friends who are still chatting away, but your stomach is in your throat.

Take a breath, take a breath, take a breath...

"Will you excuse me for a second?" you ask his friends, who nod and smile.

"Hi, babe, need help with those drinks?" you ask, sidling up to his side. He smiles down at you and kisses your lips quickly.

"Yeah, here ya go. Just as ordered for my lady," he jokes. "Y/N this is Alex. Alex this is Y/N."

She gives you a half-hearted smile and returns her full attention to Jason. You're zoning out, trying to think of a way out of this woman's tractor beam.

"So are you two serious?" she asks, waking you out of your daze. Jason laughs and puts his arm around you.

"I mean, I'd say so, right, babe?" he asks you, looking into your eyes. You nod enthusiastically, painting on a big smile.

"Absolutely! You're my guy! My person, I can't let you go," you answer, leaning into his lips to kiss him.

Suck on that, Alex.

Alex gives up her attempted robbery of your boyfriend, and as the night winds down, Jason is still chatting with a few people, taking selfies with the wait staff.

"I need to use the ladies room, I'll be right back," you say, walking into the bathroom to wash your hands and fix your hair.

Of course she's here. Of course.

"Hi, again," you offer Alex, who's reapplying a glop of lipgloss to her puffy lips. She barely even looks at you. She gives you a sarcastic smirk.

"I'm kinda shocked to meet you," Alex says with a patronizing tone. "I didn't think you were Jason's type."

You smile, reapplying your own lipstick.

"I met him a couple years ago through mutual friends. He, ah, goes for much prettier women usually..." Alex says, smacking her lips together.

"Is that so?"

She nods. "I mean, look at you and then look at me. If you were a guy, who would you choose?" She grins with her mouth tightly closed. "He'll realize it eventually."

It happened in an instant. You don't even remember.

First, you stepped closer to her, politely asking her to leave you alone.

And next, she's scratching your neck and pushing you out the door of the bathroom and into the hallway.

"Get the fuck off me!" you shout, Alex's slender frame straddling your legs as she tries to pull your hair.

This is where your not-model frame has an advantage. As you get up move her off you, she grabs the strap of your dress, ripping it off, your red lace bra hanging out one side.

A crowd is gathering, some tipsy patrons cheering on the girl-on-girl fight.

When you flip over to pin her down, you're gritting your teeth.

"Listen, crazy train. He's not interested, stay away from us!" you shout.

"He'll be mine soon enough!" she's screaming, and now Jason is there.

"Babe! Oh my God," he says, putting his drink down to pull you up, but before he can, Alex takes you back down holding your ankles, rolling around with you, slapping, pulling your hair.

"Get the fuck off me!" you shout, pushing her away before finally, the right people get involved to pull her off you.

Your breath is heaving, your chest scratched, your face red from a slap she managed to sneak in, your bra hanging out of one side of your dress. And you're missing a shoe.

This is like coming home from a rough party in college. What the hell just happened?!

Jason holds your face in his hands as he tries to get your attention.

"Are you OK?!" he asks, his eyes bunched and worried.

You nod, looking down at your dress, your missing shoe. The scratches on your neck bleed a little.

"What the hell happened?"

"I'll tell you what happened," Alex shouts. "This bitch thinks she's good enough for you!"

Jason looks over at her and is completely perplexed. Two women fighting over him? What is happening?

You motion your thumb behind your shoulder.

"That. That's what happened. Wrong place, wrong time. She came in swingin'."

The staff escorts her off the property, asking you if you'd like to press charges, to which you deny. You don't need any bad press, and you certainly don't want Jason attached to it.

Jason takes you in his arm and walks you out and back to the car, the party is now officially over.

In the back of the car while at a stop light, he looks over at you where you're blotting the scratches with a napkin and fixing your makeup and hair.

"Are you sure you're OK?" he asks. You look at him and smile. "I'm fine, babe. I can hold my own." He nods.

"I know you can," he whispers, leaning over to kiss you. "It's...kinda sexy you got in a fight over me. Not that I want it to become a habit..."

You flip your compact mirror close and smile.

But Alex's words - about you not being his type - are rolling around your head. He can sense it immediately as you approach his front door where he pulls you in.

"Talk to me."

Your eyes are wide. He can read it on your face. You try to shake your head, and he touches your chin with his thumb and finger, tilting your eyes to his.

"Talk to me, sweetheart."

Your eyes cast down. "She said something that got me thinking..."

He takes a deep breath.

"That I'm not your type. I know we're crazy about each other, but..."

He starts to shake his head.

"No, but listen. I'm not. If I look at your track record, I don't fit the mold. That's all. Maybe I was a novelty, but what if the novelty wears off?"

Jason chuckles and takes another deep breath, stepping closer and his dark hazel eyes look deep into yours -- despite the running mascara.

"Do you know why I love you?" he asks. You chuckle and start, "Because..."

"Because you broke the goddamn mold."

"But I'm..."

"I know what you're going to say. Comparing your looks and all that," he says, waving it off. "You. You broke the mold."

“That goddamn laugh, your smile. Your brain, your sense of humor. I’ve never laughed as hard as I do with you,” he says, smiling, his dimple making you swoon.

You smile in return, his fingers caressing your shoulder where your black dress strap hangs, ripped apart, your red bra strap hanging out.

"I mean, listen. Seeing this beautiful, curvey, strong body in action -- defending you, defending me -- she didn't stand a chance..." he mutters, kissing your neck.

His hands go around your waist, running up and down the hills and valleys of your waist, hips, and ass, then up higher to your ribcage and breasts...

"Jesus Christ," he murmurs against your hair, his cock tenting in his pants as his hands continue their journey around your body. You palm him and make him moan your name, low and husky in your ear.

Your kiss connects gently at first, then you tease his lips with your tongue, and he cups your face with one hand and pulls you closer with the other, leading you both to the couch and pulling you on top of him.

His hands skate up your dress, to your thighs, then behind you to your zipper, which he tugs down while you kiss.

"You may as well rip the rest of it, baby," you whisper to his lips, making him smile. He wastes no time, ripping the other strap of the dress and groaning at how it feels to claim you.

He pulls your hair down from its updo and tangles his fingers in it while he kisses you deeper, his lips trailing down your neck, now to your collarbone and breasts where the dress hangs off your body.

"I only want you, sweetheart," he murmurs to your skin. "Let me show you how much I want you, how much I love you..."

You nod, your lips parted and plump from kissing, your cheeks blushed and eyes glassy. You nod.

"Please."

His pants get kicked off and his shirt is thrown over his head on the way to his bedroom.

Once there, he lays you gently on the bed and like a fine piece of art, touches your body and smiles, his eyes roaming every inch. You almost feel embarrassed under his gaze like this, until he crawls between your legs and dips his lips to yours again.

"Perfect," he mutters. "You're perfect."

---

I don't know where this came from. I'm feeling feisty and wanna start a fight? I don't know. Alex is my target. I totally just invented her and now I really hate her. She's gonna be where I direct my kickboxing anger from now on. Thursdays, man. Thursdays. THANKS FOR THE PROMPT, FRIEND! I hope you enjoyed it. I wanna do more with reader x Jason. These are so fun...

#jason sudeikis x reader #jason sudeikis rpf #jason sudeikis x you #im gonna fight anyone who even tries #yay imaginary ass kicking!

[pevensiechase]

Star Wars: The Clone Wars Incorrect Quotes As Said By My Friends

Ahsoka [about Barriss]: I was friends with a murderer... ------ Anakin: Okay, we're not gonna eat cucumbers today Obi-Wan: Those are celery Anakin: It's the same thing ------ Obi-Wan [about Anakin]: Is he making a second Orbees pool? I swear, if he's making a second Orbees pool... ------ Anakin: I did jiu jitsu! I'm so smart! - [ten seconds later] Rex [about Anakin]: Anndddd...he's on the ground ------ Echo: Well, we should either video this...or- Fives: No. There's no other option. We're just gonna record it. ------ Obi-Wan: You just went from pop to Beethoven. ------ Ahsoka: Why did you use such a big knife for a strawberry? Anakin: It's the only one we had left! ------ Echo: They're already dead! You can't assassinate someone if they're already dead, Fives! ------ Kix: I can't wait to go to forensic science. And we're gonna look at more femurs and pelvises and humeruses. ------ Tech: The people in my physics class didn't know what a kriffing seagull was! ------ Kix: Wait, go back. That one. That one's the medkit because that's the symbol for bacta. Jesse: Wait, you know what bacta is? Kix, the literal medic for the 501st: *looks into the camera like on The Office* ------ Wrecker: And then they set the place on fire! It was hilarious! ------ Cody: My entire life is a joke. ------ Fives: I knew. I was just making sure that you knew that I knew. ------ Boost: WHY DO I ALWAYS PUT THESE SOCKS ON INSIDE OUT?! ------ Fives: Where's the cleaner? Echo: In the other room. Fives: This thing? The thing that looks like a goose? ----- *toilet flushes* Hardcase: HIYAHHH Jesse, walking out of the bathroom: *shrieks* ------ Fives: You want me to think? Do you know how dangerous that is for me to do? ------ Anakin: Chartreuse? It's a yellow-green. I learned that from Blue's Clues. And the color was chosen by a cat named Periwinkle. ------ Tech: I have no idea how football works. It's like "throw the ball, touchdown! 5 points!" The rest of the Bad Batch: Uhhhh, it's 6 points. Tech: Wait, a touchdown is 6 points? I thought it was five points! ------ Obi-Wan [to Anakin]: Do you see what Yoda says? Yoda is right. ------ Cody, reading paperwork: WHERE DOES IT SAY KRIFFIN' WALT DISNEY? ------ Anakin: Charge your phone, woman. ------ Hardcase: Oh, I knew a horse that did that! Jesse: That horse was autistic.

(Part 2, coming soon!)

Edit: Part 2 is up!

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

#incorrect quotes #incorrect clone wars quotes #star wars #the clone wars #clone wars #tcw #captain rex #anakin skywalker #obi wan kenobi #ahsoka tano #ahsoka #obi wan #anakin #bad batch echo #clone wars echo #clone wars fives #clone medic kix #clone wars kix #212th attack battalion #arc trooper fives #501st legion #arc trooper jesse #arc trooper echo #the bad batch #bad batch #tbb #tbb wrecker #tbb tech #commander cody #clone trooper hardcase

[candied-cae]

S2E2 Ed's plot my beloved-

I ADORE THIS EPISODE IN HOW IT PORTRAYS ED'S MENTAL HEALTH!!!

TW, this post is going to discuss Ed's suicidal behavior and attempt in depth. It will not be heartwarming, I am agonizing over the details. Please don't open if that reading is going to be damaging at all to you. Protect yourself first, y'all! Anyway...

Every little detail from his time on screen is spent sending hints to the viewer that it's Ed's last day alive.

The first time we see him that morning, he looks refreshed. He's decidedly sober and cleaning up his cabin and he's joking and almost... bright again. He's talkative and seems so calm. And it's because he's finally decided to kill himself.

It's been a long observed point for folks with suicidal thoughts/actions that once they've decided on doing it, there's a certain kind of peace that comes with that. Because it's going to be over soon, you know you'll be able to rest. There's an expiry approaching, and there's a comfort in knowing you've almost reached the end, like getting close to the end of a long work shift.

And so he's cleaning up, so he'd doesn't leave as much of a mess behind (Also something that is well documented from people who attempt). At least, assumably that was the idea, like he hadn't originally planned to take the whole ship down with him, it seems like he was planning to do something smaller for just him as of that morning. So he’s tidying up for the rest of them.

It's both a gesture of kindness to make sure they aren't left with as much of a "hassle" once they find him dead, but it's also a point of "pride" in a way. So when it's all over, they will sweep through a cleaner room and remember him better in that last day, than so much of the mess and stress of the earlier ones.

The second time we see him is when he's figured out Frenchie didn't finish off Izzy. And not only does he offer for Izzy to do it, he tells him that it'd be a good thing for him to do. Like it was a favor, killing him would've been "just what the doctor ordered" to make him feel better.

But Izzy doesn't do it, and he assumes Izzy ends himself after he's left the room.

The third hint is that he's so forgiving with everyone. He doesn't hold a grudge against Frenchie for lying to him and hiding Izzy in the secret room, he doesn't yell at anyone (like Jim or Archie) for conspiring with him, he even tells Frenchie to take the day off and thanks him for the closure.

Again, it's following that motion of peace and contentment, he doesn't have to go into death mad, he can do it calmly. He can let it all go, because soon enough it won't be a problem and he knows he's now decided to take them all down with him. So he might as well let them enjoy their last few hours as much as they can.

And he instead resides to sit at the wheel, turning them sharply right into a dark storm, all the while he wears the softest smile. Because he is calm, he is clear headed, and he is done waiting for something else to kill him. And that's a very common thing for people to want in those last moments. To go clean and sober and content and in peace.

They hit a lot of the MAJOR signs they teach you that someone is about to take their live, the only one I can think of off the top of my head that wasn't explicitly included would've been the giving away of personal possessions.

(But, perhaps even following the idea that originally he was going to go alone, he was going to be leaving everything including the boat to his crew, so maybe that idea was kind of hidden in there. It's just not as direct as personally going to people and handing over things.)

Anyway, I'm sure a lot of these clues were well picked up by the fandom, I'm sure a lot of us have learned about these stages of suicidal action for various reasons ourselves. I just wanted to point out that timeline and how perfectly it seems to fit across the whole episode as this singular, unspoken intent behind every single one of Ed's actions until it comes to a head and the crew on deck can't ignore how drastic everything had turned.

#Cae Has Lots of Feelings About Our Flag Means Death #I love love love this plot of the episode #From the moment it started and we saw how at ease he seemed... I knew what was coming #The suicide plan was officially in motion as far as Edward Teach was concerned #And there is some soft sweetness that he was going to do it all alone originally. #That he had made the decision that there wasn't anything to live for and he was going to just take care of himself in that way. #That he only decided to try and take the whole ship down with him when he was 'scorned' again by his crew. #AHHHHHH! #I just love Ed so much and his character is so beautifully written and played and expressed #That moment towards the end as his crew huddles together - terrified - and they can't figure out why it all seems to backwards #Why he's acting 'better' but steering them right into the violent waters of a sea storm #Because they weren't taught these things. They don't know what it looks like when someone's ending their life like this. #And they are trying to follow the logic of 'Ed is a sailing genius' 'He knows what he's doing' 'He has to' 'But this...' #It's 100% perfection #and though I definitely have a few gripes and concerns about this season so far... This episode's Ed plot is not one of them. #Not in the least. #Our Flag Means Death #OFMD #Our Flag Means Death Season 2 Spoilers #Our Flag Means Death Spoilers #OFMD Spoilers #OFMDS2 #OFMD s2 spoilers #Edward #Edward Teach #Blackbeard #The Kraken

[frickingnerd]

all the things we said (and all the things we didn't)

pairing: desuhiko thunderbolt x gn!reader

summary: desuhiko hasn't been acting like himself lately and when you confront your friend about it, you're quite surprised to find out the reason why...

a/n: i love my underappreciated boy desuhiko and had to write something for him <3 he deserves the world!

desuhiko had been acting differently lately. usually, he was the loudest person in the room, always putting himself at the center of attention and bragging about his many talents, as well as flirting with any girl he came across or at least comment on how attractive the women he saw on the street were. but for the last few days, he had been quiet. no flirting, no joking around, no nothing. he was still talking to everyone at the nocturnal detective agency, calmly greeting them and having some simple small talk with them. but he wasn't himself anymore… 

as a fellow detective, you had noticed the change in his behavior quickly, but didn't bring it up right away. you didn't have enough clues to figure out why desuhiko was acting differently. though, even as time passed by, you simply couldn't figure it out. had anything happened that you forgot about? surely, there had to be a reason for the change in his behavior! and so, you decided you couldn't wait around any longer and confronted desuhiko about why he was acting so strange! 

"you've been different those last few days…"

the two of you were at the nocturnal detective agency by yourself when you pointed his change in behavior out to desuhiko, sitting on the couch and flipping through some files that were resting on your laps. the others should be there soon to discuss a case with you, but for now you two were alone on the submarine. 

"you notice– i-i mean… yes, i suppose so!"

for a moment a grin hushed over desuhiko's lips, before he fought the urge to smile and instead replied in such a formal way, that was quite unlike him. 

"but… why? did anything happen? are you trying to get into character for a new disguise? or did someone say something that made you change?"

the last question got a reaction out of desuhiko, yet one you hadn't expected. he was smiling, but his eyes weren't smiling with him. he looked like he was reminiscing about something. no, he looked sad. 

"someone did say something! was it yuma? or maybe fubuki? whoever it was, i'm sure that–"

"it was you…"

"…what?"

you were the one that had said something to desuhiko? something that must've been so hurtful that he rather wanted to be someone else than continue being himself? but why couldn't you remember? the two of you hadn't been fighting or anything, so what could you possibly have said? 

"just… forget it"

desuhiko waved his hand, trying to brush you off. but now that you were so close to figuring out the truth, you didn't want to give up. not just that, but you wanted to apologize! you just didn't know what you'd be apologizing for…

"desuhiko… what did i say?"

you looked deep into his eyes, so deep that desuhiko couldn't even hold eye contact with you for longer than a few seconds, before turning away. 

"you didn't say anything… it's more like… remember when i asked you out for a coffee a few weeks ago?"

you nodded. 

"you declined. then i asked you again a few days later to watch a movie with me. and you declined again. and then a few days ago, when i asked you to grab something to eat with me, you…"

"i declined again…"

desuhiko nodded softly and leaned back in his seat. 

"i figured it was because you didn't like me. you've been out buying meat buns with yuma before, you worked on a case with the chief before and you always talk about books with vivia… i realized that you weren't interested in doing anything with me, because you weren't interested in me… and then i thought… if i were less of myself, maybe you'd like me more!" 

it was true, you had always declined when desuhiko tried to spend time with you. but not because you didn't like him! 

"i… i didn't want to get close to you" you admitted. "but not because i don't like you! i just wasn't sure if i could trust you. you're always flirting with girls and i figured you ask out tons of girls for the movies, dinner or coffee! i didn't want to get close to you, just to realize you weren't serious. and that's why i kept my distance…" 

you could almost see the wheels turn in desuhiko's head as you explained yourself to him. a relieved smile hushed over his lips, before he quickly interrupted you. 

"but i am serious with you! i really like you and i want to be close to you! even if you'd only see me as a friend, i'd settle for that! you're a great person! i'm sorry that i made you feel like you weren't special…"

you hadn't expected desuhiko to be so honest with you, nor did you expect him to feel this way about you. knowing he felt like this about you managed to make you blush and as soon as desuhiko noticed the red color on your cheeks, he couldn't help but blush as well. 

"w-why are you looking like that? c-come on, you're making me nervous! please, say something…"

he mumbled, sneaking glances towards you. 

"i… really like you too"

was all you managed to get out. desuhiko's face lit up and he turned towards you, a big smile on his lips. 

"does that mean… do you like me enough to do… this?"

carefully, he cupped your cheeks and inched closer. he was being as slow as he could, giving you enough time to pull away and reject him. but you didn't. instead, you smiled and nodded softly, before gently pressing your lips onto his. 

it felt like the two of you were kissing forever, your eyes closed and leaning against each other. though it was only a few seconds into the kiss that the door opened and chief yakou and the other detectives entered the submarine, catching you two intertwined in each other. 

"wooaah there!" it was yakou who first made a noise. "no making out at work! come on, this is still a detective agency! get a hold of yourself!" 

desuhiko and you quickly pulled away from each other, both a little flustered. yet desuhiko did enjoy having the others see him with his significant other – or his soon-to-be-significant-other, after he'd finally ask you out properly. though he had a feeling that after what just happened, you'd agree to going out with him this time…

#desuhiko thunderbolt x reader #desuhiko thunderbolt #desuhiko #thunderbolt #master detective archives raincode #master detective archives rain code #master detective archives #master detective archives: rain code #master detective archives: raincode #master detective archives x reader #x reader #fluff #headcanons #angst #angst with a happy ending #confession #dating #relationship #crush #crushing #oneshot #fanfiction #x you #x y/n #x gn reader

[arosesstorm]

untied spell | Alec Lightwood 

words count: idk sorry

gender neutral reader! x Alec Lightwood

warning: angst, my fav

summary: the nigh of Max's party at Bane's, a truth was revealed, a painful one, yours

English is not my first language loves, trying my best, enjoy :)

"dear, so glad you came" Magnus welcomed you inside the house, his sharp eyes the first thing that reminded you you were in trap.

"how could I not come, after all, it is Max's party" a sigh escaping your lips as Magnus closed the door behind your back.

"here" he handed you a drink, his mouth close to your ear "I know you and Alexander aren't in the best of terms now but I beg of you let's enjoy the evening"

a light of amusement crossed your face "what the high warlock of Brooklyn says.." a gulp as the drink slide into your throat.

as Magnus looked at you make your way into the living room he couldn't help but sigh "this is going to be a disaster".

as soon as your eyes met Izzies a calming wave washed over your body "so glad I found you" you admitted as soon as the dark haired reached for your arm to interlock with hers.

"So glad you found the right member of the Lightwood family you mean"

you couldn't help but glare as she put her hands up in surrender "alright, got it, I'm sorry".

finding out you were not the only Herondale left was one thing, discovering your younger brother was Jace Wayland was a total different matter.

you would have be the happiest to hear the news if not only the closest friend you had didn't hide it from you.

"for your own good" Alec had said, but it just made you want to throw up.

"you don't have a clue on what's good for me" you had replied the night you had found out.

safe to say, you avoided the man since.

you and Izzy went for the bar, ordering the strongest they had with only a thought in mind, the time of your departure.

"why hasn't Max still arrived?"

"Alec was meant to take him but he's running late"

"as usual" you felt the need to add, as you sipped from your second drink, it was strong.

when you turned to the door again you saw him, his place steady, his eyes hard, all that gloomy act and Alec was still Alec, a ferocious dog without teeth.

"let's go great Max" Isabelle dragged you toward the small circle as you looked at everyone but him.

"my little hunter!" exclaimed the girl hugging the boy thigh as you smiled down at him "guess you'll be my next right arm huh?" you joked ruffling his hair.

"you bet since everyone seems to die when they get close to you" your head shot in Alec's direction, your eyes as thin as those of a fox "what did you just say?"

the man shook his head, looking around for support, "what do you mean?" he asked.

you were about to bark back when Magnus stood between you two, his voice louder "ah! it is a great party, let's leave the celebrated to it".

eyes glaring while you sighed hard, "need another drink".

the rest of the evening went down better than expected, Alec seemed to respect your boundaries, in fact, you were able to avoid him for most of the night.

it wasn't until you saw Clary shot for the bar on the left that something just switched.

"i have to go" you told a tipsy Isabelle as you left the couches, your steps taking you to the terrace when you noticed a door slightly open, someone laying on the floor.

your feet stopped as you regained consciousness, what was going on?

only when you made your way inside the room you spotted a terrified Jace on the right.

"Jace! what is going on?" you asked reaching for who you had recognized was Maryse Lightwood laying unconscious on the floor.

"she tried to kill me!" he spoke, his voice harsh yet panicked, "Maryse?" you asked, too unlikely to be true.

"yes!" he half screamed as he approached you, his eyes wet with tears and his jaw hard.

he was in pain and it pained you too.

your brother, was in pain, your brother, was in pain.

you didn't know how you arrived to that conclusion but suddenly, as bright as day, the culprit's name flashed before your eyes.

Alec.

Alec was the reason your brother was in pain, the reason you yourself were.

you marched out of the room, a surprised Isabelle crossing your path as she got in.

"y/n!" she called for you, but it was late now, you were already half way to the terrace when you spot him.

Lost gaze as he was stearing at the night sky, his back facing you.

he felt someone approaching and was quick to turn around: "y/n.." he had the time to say before you pushed him backwords, hands searching for the daggers behind your back.

"y/n!" he screamed now, his eyes blank as he was glaring at you.

"hiding my brother for me is a thing, but hurting him?" you half screamed, daggers now in view.

then, the unexpected happened, his lips lift into a dark smile as he chuckled "what am I? the bane of your existence?" he laughed.

you were taken aback, losing your steadiness as you stumbled back, his body swinging forward as he took the daggers out of your hands, hitting the ground hard.

"what is going on with you?" Alec asked but you couldn't help but hear "Just say it, we both know what your problem is".

your heart roared as you jumped on him, fist swinging, as he tried to block you as best as he could.

"you know nothing about me!" you screamed.

"I do, I always did" he spoke, as you fell on the concrete, his body steadying you as he positioned himself above you.

"you are not mad at me because I've hidden Jace is your brother, you are mad because you are a worthless piece of shit, the weak of the family and the soft hearted", your hands burning as you were trying to get free, "all this time and you were just trying to run away from your feeling, from your feelings for m-"

"no!" you screamed as your feet kicked him on the back, the boy crawling to the floor.

you looked like an animal, a beast as you jumped to Alec's lap, your fist white as you aimed for his face.

"you have to stay away from me!" you screamed, gatting the dagger from the ground as you pressed it to Alec's throat.

your eyes watery as ho looked at you sympathetically.

"y/n!" you heard a voice as you suddenly snapped out of it.

your hands trembling as you throw the dagger away, looking at Alec on the ground, his eyes soft, in pain.

"I'm sorry" you mumbled, quickly getting on your feet again.

Magnus rushed forward as he touched your shoulder softly, "I'm sorry he was-", "he was saying things I-", "I'm sorry".

you felt like throwing up.

"Alec!" Maryse rushed forward, kneeling on the ground, "what happened?"

"I'm fine" he breathed, his eyes glued to his opponent's face.

"y/n" the boy spoke, getting on his feet "are you alright?".

"have you all lost your minds?" Maryse barked, shooting for Jace who was now standing behind you and Magnus.

"you almost killed me!"

"do you all hear what she is saying to me?"

"Jace" Clary touched the man's shoulder as Simon entered the room.

"what is wrong?" he asked, "Maia is by the bar if you are wondering" Clary blunted stern.

"something's wrong" you heard Magnus whisper as he left your side, making his way inside the apartment.

"don't you ever spoke to me again" you stated with gritted teeth, eyes wet with tears as Alec looked at you with that same very eyes.

"don't be ridiculous" he answered.

you turned your back as you left the crowd, your brother trying to reach you but failing.

you had just touched the door's knob as Alec held your arm forcing you to turn around.

"reason with me" he pleaded "let's be logical".

"I can't!" you answered with a ferocity that broke the man's heart.

"you know why" a string seemed to unlace inside your head and your vision cleared again, but it didn't change the fact that it was obvious now, at least to you.

"y/n" he breathed.

"we know why" and you left the room praying for the night to end painlessly.

part 2?

masterlist

mia

© 2023 of Mia (arosesstorm). All Rights Reserved.

#alec lightwood imagine #imagine #fanfic #netflix #alec lightwood #alec lightwood bane #alec lightwood x reader #gender neutral fanfic #gender neutrality #gender neutral reader #gender neutral sub #shadowhunters fanfiction #shadow and bone #shadowhunters #the shadowhuter chronicles #shadowhunters edit #shadowhunters tv #shadowhunters incorrect quotes #magnus bane #isabelle lightwood #clary fairchild #shadowhunter #x reader #x you #reader insert #angst

[pankowperfection]

Caught Red Handed

Summary: Fantasy becomes reality when you get to meet Rudy and he reveals his secret

Warnings: smut, oral (fem receiving), rough sex, spanking, choking, 18+

A/N: this one kind of got away from me and ended up being kinda long. Hope you like it!

You couldn't believe it was real life. You had entered into a contest to meet Rudy Pankow on the set of OBX and you somehow won, shocking you as usually your luck wasn't so great. With flights and a hotel booked to Charleston, you couldn't wait to see him in person and hopefully get some more material you could use to write fanfiction for your blog. You didn't know it yet, but Rudy had hand picked you as the winner with a secret motive behind it.

Your meet and greet was set up for you to go to set and watch filming for the day. As soon as you arrived, Rudy eagerly came over to greet you, acting as if he had known you for ages rather than treating you like a fan. His personality was exactly as you had imagined him, relaxed and carefree, super down to earth and always cracking jokes or goofing off. He helped you get settled into a chair before running off to film some scenes, coming back over to chat and introduce you to other cast members every chance he got. Dinner was planned for that evening, so you left set a little early to go back to your hotel to get ready.

A surprise was waiting for you when you got back to your a room. A beautiful sparkling dress in none other than your favorite color, teal, as well as a matching pair of heels. You stumbled in shock over to it, seeing a card laying on the chair. "Picked this out just for you, a little birdie told me it was your favorite color. Hope you love it, Rudy." You swooned at the thought of him picking this out for you. No clue as to who could've told him about your favorite color. Rather than asking questions you took a quick shower, pulled on a matching set of lingerie and put on the dress. Of course it fit perfectly, highlighting your curves just right, the color really standing out against your tan skin.

When you went down to the lobby another surprise greeted you. Rudy was waiting out front, leaning against a sleek black Mercedes convertible. He looked good enough to eat, patterned button down shirt with the top two buttons undone revealing his necklace and a bit of toned muscle, khaki pants hugging his legs just right. You had to stop your mouth from hanging open, truly shocked that this was actually real. The ride to the restaurant was picture perfect, cruising down the busy streets of Charleston, taking in the sights around you as the sun began to set. Of course he had rented out the whole restaurant, wanting to spend the evening just the two of you.

After getting comfy at your table and placing your order, Rudy felt it was the time to come clean. "So y/n, I actually have a confession to make." You nervously swallowed a large gulp of your wine, not sure how many more surprises you could handle. "What's up Rudy?" "Uh well, I actually hand picked you to win this contest." "What?! Why? How?" your pulse was racing now, mind spinning out of control. "Shh relax baby. I um....kind of sort of....found your blog. And read all of your posts." Embarrassment floods through your system, heat instantly rising to your cheeks. "Oh my god, I am so sorry. You must think I'm some sort of freak, writing all those dirty things about you when I don't know you." A sexy smirk forms over his face as he takes your hand in his. "Relax sweetheart, I loved it actually. You got most of my kinks right, only missed a few." He gives you a wink and you swear your heart stops. Could this seriously be happening? "I knew I had to meet you in person, see if I could make some of your fantasies a reality. The selfie you posted took my breath away, so I did everything in my power to get you here with me and impress you."

You chugged down the rest of your wine, seriously considering ordering something stronger as you let out a shaky breath. "So you're telling me that you, Rudy Pankow, not only read my smut about you, but you want to recreate it with me?" "Yes baby girl, that's exactly what I'm saying. What do you think?" His baby blues are locked on your face, praying that you say yes. Empowered by the wine and adrenaline, your mind is made up. "How could I say no to that?"

The drive back to your hotel is full of tension, his hand on your bare thigh through the slit in your dress, dangerously close to your core. His lust filled eyes finding yours at each stoplight. When the elevator doors close behind you, he's on you instantly. Hands cupping your face as his lips crash into yours hungrily as he presses his body into yours, shoving you against the wall. When the elevator dings signaling you're at your floor he pulls away, dragging you down the hall behind him to your room. As the door closes he prompts you to jump, your legs wrapping around his waist as his hands fall to your ass, carrying you to the bedroom.

"I knew you'd look fucking amazing in this dress. Can't wait to see it off though." He spins you around, standing behind you as he kisses down your neck, hands slowly sliding down the zipper. As the dress hits the floor you turn around to face him and all he can do is stare. Your breasts are barely hidden away in your bra, nipples so close to coming out of the top of the lacy cups. Perfect, round ass framed by a black thong with crystals on the sides. "God, you look so good." "You are wearing way too many clothes." Your hands drop to his shirt, undoing the buttons quickly and revealing his toned tummy, instantly getting wetter at the sight of him. Next comes the button on his pants and zipper, you struggle to peel them down over the massive tent in his boxers. Deciding to tease you wrap your hand around his covered length, softly stroking him as moans spill from his lips. "This all for me Rudy?" "Fuck yes y/n, all for you."

Almost like a flip switching in him, he quickly grabs your wrist, yanking your hand away and shoving you down onto the bed. He crawls up over your body, finding home between your thighs. "Now, I'm going to do whatever I want to you. If it gets to be too much, tell me. Understand?" He waits for confirmation, not touching you until you give permission. "Yes Rudy, please." His lips collide with yours again, tongue swirling into your mouth and taking your breath away. He bites and sucks his way down your neck leaving dark bruises behind to mark you as his. As his mouth connects with your breasts his hand finds your panties, softly tracing over the damp material as you moan. He kisses a blazing path down your body, coming to rest in between your thighs. Each one gets undivided attention from his mouth, kisses and bites placed right up to your panty line. "Rudy please." you can't handle much more teasing, clit throbbing as your hands find their way into his soft blonde locks.

"Don't worry baby, I've got you." His fingers pull your panties to the side, hot breath fanning over your pussy and driving you crazy. Two fingers slide through your folds and up to your clit, spreading your wetness around before sliding inside your entrance. Your back instantly arches off the bed, so desperate for relief already. He buries his tongue in your folds, licking over your clit with fast, hard strokes. His fingers pump in and out at the perfect pace, curling as they enter you. It's like he knows exactly what gets you off, and maybe he does after reading all of your smut. You can't hold off your high any longer as you come with a scream, body convulsing below him as he continues to eat you through it.

He stands up to shed his boxers and you drool at the sight. His dick is beautiful, perfect length and width and way better than you had imagined. He catches you staring, grinning at you cockily. "Like what you see baby?" "Oh fuck yes." He lets out a sexy laugh as he climbs back up over your body, pumping himself slowly before lining up with your entrance. "Ready for me to rock your world?" he teases himself through your folds, head of his dick pressing against your sensitive clit. "Come on Rudy, fuck me." He slams in with one thrust, bottoming out with a moan as he starts to fuck you hard and fast. One hand grabs your wrists, pinning them down above your head. The other wraps around your throat, choking you lightly. You moan his name loudly, pussy already clenching around him. "This what you wanted princess? Wanted me to take control and own you?" His thrusts somehow get harder, scooting you up the bed slightly every time your pelvises meet. "God yes, don't you dare stop."

Just to prove to you that he is in charge he slows his hips down almost to a halt. You let out a whine and his grip on your throat tightens. There's a challenging look in his eyes, almost daring you to say something. "Tired already?" you can't keep your smart mouth quiet, secretly hoping if you press his buttons he'll respond roughly. "Oh now you're really in trouble," he chuckles darkly, pulling out before flipping you over onto your hands and knees, roughly pulling your ass into the air. He spanks you hard, moan spilling from your lips at the pain and pleasure. He pushes back inside you roughly, spanking you again on the other cheek. His hands grip your hips hard enough to bruise as he sets a brutal pace with his thrusts again. The new angle has him hitting so deep inside you, another orgasm building quickly. He tangles one hand into your hair, yanking your head up so your back arches more. A few moments later and you can't hold it any more. Your walls pulse around him as you fall apart, soaking the sheets with your release as you see stars. The way you're clenching his cock sends him over the edge, thick ropes of cum filling you up.

You both collapse onto the bed, struggling to catch your breath as you recover from your orgasms. "So, was real life me better than fantasy me?" he leans up on an elbow, scratching your back lightly. "Oh definitely better. I'm glad that I pretty much nailed how you are in bed though." He laughs before leaning in to kiss you sweetly. "Give me a few minutes to rest and we can go again." "Again? I don't know if I can handle any more earth shattering orgasms." "Oh sweetheart, I think you can and will handle whatever I decide to give you." Your walls clench around nothing, wetness already growing again at his words. Turns out sometimes fantasy can become reality.

Please let me know if you want to be added to be taglist

@adventuresinobx @starkeyobx @hoebx @ailee-celeste @pankowforlife @outerbankspov @houseofperfecttaste @vesperluvsbillie

#rudy pankow fanfiction #rudy pankow x reader #rudy pankow smut #obx smut #smut

[magnetarbeam]

Scandal of the Century (WIP 2)

[The changes are mostly additions to the scene I wasn't finished with in the last version, and I did manage to work some of my thoughts about Jaina and Tahiri into an actual fic for the first time.]

“Do they have any clue about me?” Zekk asked.

Jaina and Jag considered their mutual fiancee's question as Javis Tyrr's holonews footage revealing the two's relationship played on the viewscreen in front of them.

“I don't think so,” Jaina admitted.

“I haven't seen any evidence of it,” Jag agreed after a second. “And we would have.”

The grins that crossed Jaina and Zekk's faces told Jag that whatever they were plotting over their unusually strong bond could be nothing but mischief. That didn't necessarily mean it was a bad idea, but one of them had to be reasonable, and that was usually Jag.

”All right,“ he sighed, ”let's hear it.“

”Since the nexu's already halfway out of the cage,“ Jaina said, her mischievous smirk widening, ”I think we should have a little fun with it.“

—

As much as she would have wanted to see the looks on the Masters' faces, the three of them did feel that Jaina and Zekk's duty as Jedi obligated them to let the Council in on it.

”It would help draw media attention away from the Order,“ Kyle Katarn said contemplatively.

“Which we desperately need,” Cilghal agreed.

Acting Grand Master Kenth Hamner pressed a hand to his forehead and sighed in exhausted exasperation. He said nothing, and they all knew that a specific direct order would be the only way to stop Jaina and Zekk from carrying out their scheme.

Kyp had been grinning in anticipation ever since he heard the proposal. ”I can't wait to see the look on Daala's face when you finish with this.”

—

“You could start a whole new Imperial custom,” Jaina joked, making fun of Jag for accidentally shooting his deputy minister in the foot as he foiled the recent assassination attempt. Zekk grinned as the playful banter went on.

Not for the first time, Zekk thanked the Force for how much both of his lovers had healed in the last few years, since those days off on Kashyyyk when they had all collectively realized how they truly felt about each other, after Jag had had to deliberately set himself up for Jaina to deliberately almost kill him in order to get through to her about how much of herself she was losing to her fixation on her training.

“So, your imperial majesty,” he asked Jag playfully, “does Conspiracy: A Methodology offer any advice on the best time to start our little scheme?”

Jag hummed in consideration. “If I ever get my hands on a copy, I'll let you know.”

———

The viewscreen wall displaying an image of Alderaan blew out, and an assassin entered, followed by two YVH droids. Jaina, Zekk, Leia, Han and Jag felled the attackers before the Pangalactus security personnel even entered the room. But then they were standing amidst the wreckage, and Jag was on the receiving end of a fusillade of profuse apologies.

And Jaina shot Zekk a grin. Now? she asked over their bond.

Now, he agreed.

Conveniently standing behind Jag, but in full view of the other observers, the two pulled into a passionate kiss.

———

”Well,“ Lecersen remarked after a moment of stunned silence. “I didn't see that coming.”

”No way,” Treen laughed as the conspirators observed the immediate fallout of the expected failure. ”This is too perfect.“

Lecersen smiled and began drafting the holonews article, with the scandalous capture as the cover image.

———

Over their mercifully uninterrupted second attempt at that night's dinner, Jaina didn't even notice that her ADHD meds were starting to wear off, because she was so hyperfocused on her anticipation.

She found what she was looking for even faster than she'd expected to.

The rest of the conversation, whatever it was, stopped in its tracks as she collapsed into helpless laughter, dropping the datapad on the table.

”Oh, this has gotta be good,“ Han remarked in anticipation.

Tahiri, who had joined them on the way back from Pangalactus, was quicker than Zekk in snatching the datapad from the table.

“'Jedi Cheating Scandal!'“ Jaina's sister read excitedly, raising her voice to be heard over Jaina's cackling. ”'The revelation of Head of State Jagged Fel's relationship with Jedi Knight Jaina Solo has drawn plenty of criticism from many, particularly Fel's detractors among the Imperial Remnant.'”

Tahiri paused for a moment as Jaina finally managed to get a grip, but the ”Galactic Empire“ correction didn't come because Jag had food in his mouth.

”'But it appears the situation may be even more complicated than anyone had realized,'“ Tahiri continued. ”'Mere hours ago, Head of State Fel was dining at the Pangalactus restaurant with his girlfriend, her parents, and fellow Jedi Knight Zekk, when an assassin blasted through a wall and attempted to kill Fel, followed by two YVH combat droids that attempted to kill the Organa-Solos in an apparently unrelated attack.

”'As the local security personnel arrived and conversed with Fel, Jedi Solo and Jedi Zekk kissed each other in full view of the holocams.'”

Tahiri paused for a moment, staring at the datapad incredulously, before continuing. “'Historically, Jedi Solo is not known for subtle approaches to problems, so it is quite a shock that she could keep a man as observant as Fel in the dark about a secret affair.

“'If Head of State Fel has not already heard of this story, he undoubtedly will soon. We wish him the best.'”

“And so,” Tahiri concluded dramatically, ”the Trickster works her magic again.“

”Kriff off, Ri.“ Jaina's smile belied the halfhearted eyeroll with which she habitually reacted to her sister's references to the act of deception that had long since become a running joke between them.

The nickname Ri was the syllable shared in the names from both of the personalities who had merged to form the individual who was called Tahiri today, and might or might not choose to be called Riina tomorrow. One never really knew.

[I don't really know where to go next with this. I've thought of having some scene spun off Jag's meeting with Lecersen in reaction to the attack at Pangalactus, which takes us to the end of Backlash. I might skip to mid(?)-Allies when the Skykhai vid goes viral, and the "breakup" of Jaina and Jag would also be staged for drama.]

#star wars legends #fate of the jedi #jaina solo #jagged fel #zekk #zekk solo fel #tahiri veila #riina kwaad #jaina x jag x zekk

[seacharms]

BTS reaction to you having autism (Hyung Line)

~Hey guys, I made this for the autistic side of our family. Love y'all~

Stimming is when an autistic person starts fidgeting around to relieve stress or anxiety. They also do this when they are scared or nervous. For example, Flapping hands, biting lips/pens, shaking legs, scratching lips, etc.

Namjoon 🐨:

He wouldn't know that you had autism until the day he walked in on you stimming. He knew what stimming was, he had done a little research for his autistic army but he didn't expect you to have it! He felt heartbroken that you were too scared to tell him such a crucial part of yourself. "When were you planning on telling me? " he said disappointed, "Umm, I guess after we broke up" you said nervously. That was it. He was emotionally destroyed, his heart actually hurt because of this. "Why would you say that? " he said as he tried to hide his tears. "Because I'm too stupid to be with such a genius like you" you were on the verge of crying, you got ready for the worst, he saw a few tears rolling down your cheeks and you suddenly started stimming again. He instantly pushed his feelings away and pulled you in for a tight hug. "Jagi, you are the smartest person that I know, I'm sorry If I made you feel scared of me". You both spent the night together, hugging, cuddling and talking about life.

(Istg I luv this gif)

Seokjin 🐹:

Seokjin would already be aware of your autism so he would be very careful before he made jokes. He would always try to make you feel safe and comfortable. "Baby, how was your day?" He asked as he picked you up from work. "A few guys made fun of me for 'not being able to do simple things' and that the boss should've fired me already since, I couldn't do a few tasks that they could." You said as tears escaped your eyes. That's it! he was furious! "Baby do you know where and who they are?" He asked you, you simply nodded your head and gave him the location, he started driving really fast. You both stopped near a bus stop, where those guys were standing. He got out of the car, slamming the door and stomping towards them. You couldn't hear much of the convo but you could clearly see him scolding them for what they did to you and if they did it again, there would be consequences. Once he got back in the car, one of those guys came up to your side of the car and asked you to roll the window down, you followed. He started apologising for how him and his friends treated you. That night, you were truly proud of your boyfriend.

Yoongi 🐱:

Yoongi knew about your autism but he never had the time to deeply research into it. You both would spend time with each other every time he had a day off of work. You both were very happy with your lives. One day, you were crying in the corner of your room hoping that nobody would see you. Yoongi saw you crying, he was worried. He walked over towards you and gave you a curious face. You instantly covered your eyes and wiped your tears away. He removed your hand from your face and kissed your forehead. "What happened bebi? Who made you cry?" he asked, "Some of my coworkers made fun of me by saying things like you would find someone better and throw me away or I won't be able to have kids because I'm too dumb to have sex". He looked at you with pity. He suddenly sat down next to you and started sucking your neck till there were marks left behind. "What are you doi-" he cut you off by saying "I'm going to prove to those bimbos that neither of the things they said are true or ever will be true". You both spent the rest of the evening getting pleased by each other.

Hoseok 🦌:

You were very open with Hobi and told him everything, he knew about your autism but not completely sure of what it's like. So one day, he walked in on you stimming, he had no clue of what you were doing and looked absolutely horrified of him walking in. He simply came over to you and asked you what the matter was as he hugged you tight. You melted in his embrace and told him everything. He patiently heard you out and kissed you after you were done. "It's totally fine sunshine, I love you and if you feel good or comfortable after doing this then why are you so embarrassed? I'm happy you're getting relief from this. Remember, you can tell me anything ok? I love you sunshine" He said, giving you a warm smile. You smiled back at him and hugged him tightly.

(Aish my sunshine <3)

~Heyyyyyy guyssss I know that I've not been very active these days and it's because of my back - to - back exams and school stuff so anyways- I hope you enjoyed reading this- tell me if you want a maknae line ver. of this :) luv u~

#bts #bts army #bangtan #bts fic #bts fanfic #bts namjoon #bangtan boys #kim namjoon #kim namjun #bangtan sonyeondan #autism #stimming #rm bts #bts smut #bts suga #bts jimin #bts jin #namjoon #taehyung #hoseok #bts x reader #jimin #joonie #jinmin #jin #jjk #seokjin #bangtan seokjin #seokjin x reader #jiminbts

[f1tyreslightmyfyre]

Bloody Hearts - Pt. III

A Mafia-Assassin AU Lestappen Fic

Main Series List

Warnings: Explicit 18+ NSFW sexual content (including knife play, anal sex, possessive kinks), explicit language, mafia assassins, general themes of murder as a profession, the power of Charles' piano

A/N: Let's make it a double... story update this week! Cheers, y'all ❤🏎

The Billion Dollar Man

He hates his professional name even though he'll never admit it. Lewis doesn't seek out the high profile jobs, but he's the only one that Boss Toto trusts. Maybe it's because he doesn't crave the spotlight and he never has. He works best behind the scenes, moving with silent stealth and deadly grace. His success speaks for itself despite how much he politely demurs. Maybe, someday soon, he'll retire... or, maybe he'll just take it all.

Depends on the day, really.

Mr. Consistency

The thing about George is: he never misses. Ever. Whether he squeezes a trigger or depresses a plunger - he always gets his target. But he never forgets his pleases and thank yous along the way. His impeccable manners are a right and proper asset - he even loves to joke that he kills with politeness for a living, and most people brush off the comment with a laugh. Only those that really know George know that he's not entirely joking.

Indeed, holding a door open for someone or helping them cross the street can prove fatal.

Max walks around Charles' dark apartment. For a man of his profession, Charles' place has surprisingly rudimentary security. Either Charles is a man of little paranoia, or he's just that confident - or perhaps he's just never had a man like Max hunting him down.

The thought shouldn't be as delicious as it sounds. Especially not as Max takes in the finer points of the posh interior. There's only a singular light on in the kitchen, but the nearly solid white interior reflects enough of the city lights that Max can see without needing his penlight.

Much like his own place, Charles' home reveals precious few personal items, but the items on display are plenty revealing. Only three photographs adorn the mostly barren bookshelf in the living room, and Max only recognizes one of the photo's other occupants.

Sebastian Vettel's arm rests around Charles' shoulders, and both of their mouths are open in a moment of hysterical laughter. Genuine amusement wrinkles the corners of their eyes, and Max can almost make out what he thinks are balloons in the background. Almost like... they had been at a party of some sort? There are no other clues that Max can deduce, and he sets the picture frame back in the exact spot he found it.

He adds it to the list of questions that he has for Charles whenever the other man returns from dinner.

The kitchen turns up nothing interesting, and the dining room matches it in terms of blandness. For as much blood as Charles surrounds himself with professionally, it's almost a wonder that he surrounds himself with so much pristine white at home. Is he not worried about stains? Or is it just a testament to his careful nature? Max finds himself more intrigued than he should be.

It's the number one rule of contract killing, after all.

Never humanize your victims.

The photo of Sebastian and Charles flashes in Max's mind, and in that moment, it's so clear. Charles couldn't have killed Sebastian, especially not if the two men were really as close as the photo suggests. But how had that happened? Max doesn't know for sure when Sebastian's time with the Bull Pen came to an end, but he didn't know that the man had any connection to The Stable. Or had that been before Charles started working?

Max's mind continues to spin as he makes another circuit of the apartment, searching for anything else insightful before he lets himself focus on the apartment's centerpiece.

The famed, upright piano gleams snow-white in the low light. Dark red L-O-V-E letters stand silent vigil atop the instrument, reminding Max of blood stained roses. It's an admittedly odd touch for The Pianist, but even Max can admit, this visit continues to surprise him.

He sweeps his gaze over the row of black and white keys, and an idea forms in his mind. Who says that Max doesn't have his own flashes of dramatic brilliance?

After all, YouTube does have its uses.

The melody echoes in his ears, and the three notes are easy enough to memorize. Even the harmonized notes of the second refrain come easily enough. Maybe Max has more musical talent than he gives himself credit.

To Charles' credit, though, the instrument has a gorgeous, sonorous sound that defies human language. It speaks to everything that could possibly be beautiful in this ugly world. As he continues to practice, he longs to hear how Charles' fingers could make these keys sing.

The distant ding of an elevator door stills Max's hand. He stays silent, poised like a black-clad specter on the glossy white bench. Charles' key clicks in the lock, and his easy footsteps echo off the hard floors and walls.

More light spills into the living room from the kitchen and fabric rustles - perhaps Charles is sliding out of a jacket? Max tries not to let the thought distract him as he resets his right hand over the keys.

He starts softly, droning out the three-note melody of Chopin's Funeral March. The somber tune carries through the room, and he adds the harmonized notes just as a shadow moves over his shoulder.

He doesn't hear Charles move - that's the whole point - as Max repeats the melody within the narrow bandwidth of his skill. Scents of sea spray and citrus perfume the air as Charles draws close, folding himself onto the bench next to Max. Their gazes don't meet, each watching the keys as Charles raises his left hand.

Bass clef notes match Max's pace and melody, infusing the grim tune with a heavy, gorgeous gravity. The piano comes to life under Charles' hand, and their duet twines together in the darkness. It takes a life of its own as Charles leans into the stark rhythm, his right hand creeping into the treble clef range to accompany Max's basic refrain.

Charles' mastery takes hold, and the music swells to a crescendo as Max lets his hand fall to his lap. The Pianist continues to play, building on the theme and letting the music flow as if he'd been born to do nothing else.

The fall of each hammer on wire reverberates in Max's chest, his heart stuttering to the beat of the enthralling tune. Desire heats his blood as he watches Charles' elegant fingers fly over the keys with nimble artistry. He wants those fingers to play him just as fine. He wants to hear Charles' pleasured cries ring out with the same beauty that he coaxes from the piano.

"Do you even know what this piece is called?" Charles' words cut through Max's fog of arousal.

He works a swallow down his dry throat. "The Funeral March?"

"More commonly, yes." Charles answers, still continuing to play as he distills the grandiose piece back down to its simple roots. "It's Chopin's Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-Flat Minor, Op. 35."

"You don't need to impress me." Max listens as Charles mimics his opening interlude. "And you don't need to mock me, either."

"No, mon cher," Charles turns towards him, his green eyes mercurial in the low light. "But you should know that the last man who touched my piano uninvited lost his fingers."

Max arches a teasing brow. "Just his fingers?"

Charles' face creases with mock-indignation. "I'm an assassin, not a monster!"

A soft chuckle rumbles in Max's throat. "If you said that he couldn't satisfy you in addition to touching your piano uninvited - then, I wouldn't blame you."

Charles hums an indeterminate sound in his throat as the last notes of the piano die out. A suddenly tense silence falls despite their shoulder-to-shoulder press on the narrow bench. Charles' tongue darts out, wetting his top lip. "Why are you here, Max?"

"A stupid question, don't you think?" Max carefully averts his gaze.

"Depends, I suppose," Charles agrees. "On balance, I assume that you're here to kill me - but that line is getting rather old. Perhaps... perhaps, instead you're here to learn the truth."

The photo of Sebastian and Charles returns to the forefront of Max's mind. A stab of jealousy shoots through him as he stares at the crimson letters atop the piano. "What was Sebastian to you?"

The full weight of Charles' gaze hits like gravity, but Max refuses to fall into it. The moment is too tenuous, and he can't afford to be caught off-guard. Charles' gentle sigh hangs in the air before he speaks. "Seb was... a friend first, then a mentor. He... he taught me a lot."

"Was he a lover?" The words leave Max's tongue before he can stop them. Of course, it's none of his business, but his blood boils at the thought just the same.

"No." Charles sounds wistful, regretful. "I wanted, though... but he - well, he was married."

"Married?" Max turns to face Charles, startled by the admission. "In our line of work? Married?"

Charles tilts his head, incredulous. "It's not such a ridiculous prospect even in our line of work. Who says our profession dictates whether we live a life of solitude or not?" His too-green eyes are dark and beautiful in the low light, and they gleam with an edge than Max wants to cling to for the rest of his life. "No wonder that you're sitting here with me now."

"Instead of pinning you against the piano with my hands around your throat?"

Again, Charles hums in his throat, but this time it carries the heady weight of hunger. "No doubt you could crush my windpipe if you put your mind to it, but as you said when we first met - there are other ways to have fun. And you're...," Charles breaks off with a sigh, lowering his gaze in a flutter of lush lashes before looking back up at Max. "You're the most fun I've had in a long time."

Max goes dizzy from the force of blood rushing to his cock. He wants to lose himself in Charles' heat, he wants to drown under the force of Charles' gaze. If he's going to die for his failure, there's no place he'd rather be than Charles' arms.

Charles' elegant fingers find the back of Max's hand as it rests in his lap, tracing the veins and tendons to where they disappear under the cuff of his shirt. They dance along the underside of his wrist, stoking the arousal curling at the base of Max's spine.

"Strangle me now," Charles whispers with deadly sin. "Stab me, shoot me - end me. Or come to bed with me. Fuck me, destroy me - carve a V in my chest." He exhales a thready sigh. "You are mine... and I am yours."

All semblance of coherent thought leaves Max's mind. His mouth finds Charles' without even trying. They fit together, giving and devouring as their tongues tangle. Charles tastes of decadent dark chocolate and bold red wine - a potent combination that stirs an appreciative growl in Max's chest.

He lets himself be pulled from the bench and manhandled through the shadowy space to Charles' bedroom. So long as he has Charles pressed so close, hearing the leaner man gasp and pant as he nips at his racing pulse, Max doesn't care where they are.

They tear at clothing, quality be damned. Buttons rip from Charles' fine dress shirt, and Max strips his black turtleneck over head. Charles' fingers work Max's belt and trousers as expertly as he played the piano, and Max makes quick work of Charles' dress trousers.

Charles shivers in Max's arms as they fall against the night-chilled bedcovers. Max can't believe his luck to have Charles so bare and visceral in bed with him. It's everything he can do to keep his hand from trembling as his works between Charles' legs, unraveling every last secret that the man possesses.

When Max finally buries himself inside Charles' pliant body, he swears he sees stars. No man has ever consumed him body and soul - no man has ever stolen his heart so irrevocably. It shouldn't make sense. It doesn't make sense.

But as Charles' blissful cries echo over the tandem pounding of their hearts and Max plants his release so deep that Charles can never get him out - there's no other answer in the universe that makes more sense.

Charles loses track of the hour. He also isn't sure how many times Max has fucked him to the brink of madness, but that's the beauty of it. Each time Max splits him open, he pierces his soul.

After-glow and over-stimulation numb all of Charles' senses. Even the dull ache of the fresh wound in his chest feels far away thanks to the cocktail of endorphins flooding his system. He flexes his toes against the soft sheets, sighing with drunken contentment.

There's no drug on Earth that equals the blissful high of being addicted to Max.

Charles' lips curl as he looks down at the dark stain on the sheet that matches the stained lines on his chest.

"I tried to tell you." Max's voice holds the rasp of exhaustion as he lounges beside Charles. "You've probably stained the mattress, too."

Charles purses his lips. "Pfft, do I look like I care?"

"No, snoepje." Max murmurs as his mouth descends to Charles' nipple. "You look so gorgeous."

The wet heat and suction of Max's mouth sends fresh waves of electricity through Charles' strung out nerves. His back arches against the bed covers, and impossibly, he feels his cock start to swell. He threads a hand through Max's thoroughly mussed, unbelievably soft hair and gives it an encouraging tug.

A hungry growl rumbles in Max's chest, and Charles responds in kind. He spreads his legs on instinct as Max shifts to rest atop him, all the while still showering Charles' chest in devout affection.

"You're so fucking perfect," Max breathes, his heavy cock brushing against Charles. "How have I known about you for so long, but never known that...."

"It doesn't matter now," Charles sighs, hooking a leg around Max's waist as he again arches his back and extends the length of his neck. "You're here now... and you're mine," he echoes his earlier words as he places a hand over the dark pink 'L' scar on Max's chest.

Max groans as he wraps a hand around Charles' thigh, pressing his leaking tip to the loose ring of muscle. He pauses just on the edge, curving his palm over the freshly carved 'V' on Charles' left pectoral. "Just as you are mine."

It feels like the promise of a lifetime as Max slides inside him and tears well in Charles' eyes.

Toto Wolff glares at his top two men who stand opposite his desk. A tense silence hangs in his office as neither one of them dares to speak. He glances between them, searching their faces. "Is this some sort of joke?" He finally says with a derisive scoff. "I should have you both skinned for wasting my time."

Indignation flares in George's grey-green eyes. "It's no joke, boss. We wouldn't bring this kind of news to you if it was unconfirmed." 

"So, you're telling me that two of the best in our business - The Flying Dutchman and The Pianist - just quit their jobs? Two killers who no longer kill." 

The corner of Lewis' mouth ticks up. "Well, they may still kill, but not in the capacity they used to." He darts his gaze to George with a faint air of amusement. "It's tough to work for dead men." 

Toto's face hardens with displeasure. His patience isn't inexhaustible, and he's killed men for less in his past.

George sends Lewis an inpatient glare before turning back. "Mattia Binotto found dead from a million-dollar shot through the heart. Thirty minutes later, Christian Horner found dead with a piano wire noose still wrapped around what was left of his neck." He shrugs as if the answer is obvious. "Both Charles' and Max's apartments show signs of abandonment, and the Sedici left port with no registered travel plan or destination." 

Toto processes the information, prioritizing accordingly. "Who's in charge now?" 

"Smooth Operator heads The Stable for now," Lewis answers. "And the Minister of Defense holds the Bull Pen." 

Toto snorts with derision. "Neither one of them can hold those seats of power for long." The corner of his mouth curls darkly. "Max and Charles may well have handed us an early Christmas gift." 

George's brow ceases with doubt. "The word on the street, according to Little Lando, is that they're going to let bygones be bygones and partner up." 

"Partner up?" Toto snaps, his tone sharp. "The Bulls and the Stallions?" 

Lewis shrugs. "Little Lando's rarely ever wrong." 

Toto swings his gaze to Lewis with an angered snarl. "Zak's errand boy is the biggest snitch in the business." 

"He's the best spy in the business." George dares to correct. "He has everybody's ear and isn't shy about how he gets it. If he says Carlos and Checo are planning to team up and fill the power vacuum, then we have to act quickly." 

Toto darts his gaze back to Lewis. Even at George's age, the older man had always been more level-headed and less likely to charge into a situation with guns blazing. He nods towards his trusted right hand. "Is that what you say, too?" 

"I won't deny it's an intriguing opportunity," Lewis admits. "But Bono and the team have a good thing going. I'd hate to disrupt that unnecessarily, and there's only so much that we can hold with muscle alone."

"We can do it, Lewis." George insists with a firm look at his teammate. "Or if you want to ride off into the sunset with Max and Charles, then l can -" 

"That's quite enough, George." Toto measures his tone as he cuts the younger man off. As much as he appreciates George's eager gusto, he is still the one in charge. "In sentiment, I agree with Lewis - but for a different reason." He leans back in his plush chair. "If Carlos and Checo insist on burning their empires to the ground to try and build something from the ashes, then I say we let them. The dissenters and deserters will need a place to call home, and we will welcome them with open arms. Most of them, at any rate." 

Lewis nods. "Build our numbers, consolidate our strength. And when the moment is right?" He glances over at George with a nod. "I'll even let you choose which one you want."

"Unless Toto wants them both for himself." George counters, keeping his calm. "What better way to send a message to anyone who thinks about knocking him off and taking The Quiver of Silver Arrows for themselves?"

"And that goes for the two of you." Toto pushes to his feet, letting his physical presence command the space even though the effect is largely lost on Lewis and George at this point. "If I ever catch a hint that either of you are planning against me, then you won't know what hit you." He fixes his gaze on George. "Stay on Little Lando - find out what else you can squeeze from his loose lips." He shifts his gaze to Lewis. "Recall de Vries from his current job - we'll get him on the inside of this horse- and bull-shit pen to learn what's really going on there."

Both George and Lewis nod to confirm their assignments, and Toto allows the corner of his mouth to lift with a wicked smirk. "Then, I guess there's just one question left - does de Vries look better in blue or red?"

#formula 1 fanfic #max verstappen #max verstappen fanfic #charles leclerc #f1 #charles leclerc fanfic #carlos sainz jr #sergio perez #lestappen #mafia au #assassin au #f1 rfp #lewis hamilton #george russell #toto wolff

[strivetothrive94]

Sometimes I write things…

Exposed

He had been teasing her for months. States away there was a certain comfort, safety, that he wouldn't just show up on her doorstep and ask her to leave with him. A part of her wanted to run and see what all she was missing. Did he really know how to use that metal rod? Could he be the one to make electro-play fun for her? Pleasurable? But there wasn't room for her to think like that. He lived over 900 miles away from her. No way would he finally take advantage of all she offered him. That's what she thought... until today.

The day started like any other. She woke up and went to her in home office to start work. She wasn't dressed fancy. The only person who ever saw what she was wearing was Him anyways, due to the nanny cam set up on her desk. That started off as a joke. A dare. A light tease about her being a cute little pet for him. It turned into more. As the weeks went on, he would pop in and tell her to stop biting her lip. Pull her shirt down a little. Ask her why she is staring into her computer so hard. The first time he saw her cry, she wanted to hide in a hole. Nothing is less cute than tears for the wrong reason. But he stayed around. He talked her through it. She came out of her office that day without the heavy feelings still weighing her down. The nanny cam was more than just a way for him to check on his favorite pet. More than a way for her to show him her tits. It was a window into her life. She had what she wanted through that nanny cam- a way to feel Seen. The good, the bad, the ugly- it was all displayed for him. No barriers, no picking and choosing what parts of her he got. Vulnerability never had felt so good.

Soon, that vulnerability became addicting. She would escape to her office after work was done just so he could catch her and make a comment. The attention was more than she expected. Even if he wasn't awake at the time, the camera recorded things so he asked about them the next day.

"What were you doing in your office at 2am? What could be that important? Was that a bag of candy you walked out with?"

His questions were comforting. Did he care about her late-night bingeing? Her lack of sleep? Was he truly curious about her? The things that she wondered about when she laid in bed at night weren't how she wished he was there touching her, kissing her, spanking her. She wanted to know more about what led up to those acts. What would earn her those rewards?

Months went by, nothing happened. He continued to tease her, but she was still secure in her little office in front of her little nanny cam. He hadn't come to kidnap her. He didn't blackmail her or try to manipulate her. She trusted him.

She trusted him so much, she turned on her phone location for him. That vulnerability didn't dull. She wanted to expose herself to him in all the ways. Sure, he had seen her nude. He knew what her ass looked like red. He knew how water streamed down her breasts and her nipples in the shower. She may have spread her lips once or twice to show him her new manicure. Revealing her location to him though allowed her to dive deeper into the fantasy of him just showing up and dragging her out to his van. Would he come in the dead of night when the rest of her block was asleep? Would he show up at the store she's shopping at and steal her away there? Would he show up in a ski mask as she visits her friend's house and lead her out the backdoor at knifepoint? There is a thrill in not knowing, but the hope is always there.

Today is the day. He decided to grab her, finally. He watched her all morning on his drive into town, conversing with her like normal. They talked about her plans for the day- her thinking he is just sweet and wants to know about her day, and him knowing he's about to disrupt her entire life. When he got to her house, she still had no clue. He knew she was notorious for not locking her back door, so he waltzed right in without a care for a neighbor noticing the strange car and the unknown man. It wasn't like he broke in.

She heard a sound coming from outside her office and wondered if it was just the old house making noise from the wind. Her office door handle started to turn, and she spun around in her office chair with a frightened gasp. There was an intruder in her home. A small thought had gone out that at least He would see her abduction and alert the police. Then she took in her "attacker". It was Him. He had at last come for her.

He went to her immediately and gave her a minute to take in what was happening. "Trouble? You okay? You look like this is some sort of surprise."

She couldn't do much other than take deep breaths to keep her panic attack at bay. The day she hoped for, the moment she had fantasized about was finally here. He was here. In her office. That's when she noticed what was in his hands.

The look of fear-turned-arousal was evident on her face. Her cheeks were on fire. Mouth parted. Eyes wide. That's when he set his supplies down. While her eyes followed the supplies, his hands took hers and he started to get to work. Securing them with medical tape, he set them down on her lap and started getting stern with her. "Don't touch anything. Hands stay there. Got it?"

Her head nodded and she moved to speak when his finger was placed on her lips. "No words either, unless it's your safeword."

Soon, he led her to the back door with her hands immobilized under the coat draped on her, her feet bare, and his hand in her hair. To anyone else, they looked like an odd couple. He looked so loving with his hand in her hair. Only she could feel the tight grip he had on her. It was just the way she imagined it would be. She felt a touch scared, but mostly safe and excited.

He pushed her into the back of the van. The surprise and disappointment she felt at not being allowed to sit up in the front with him was soon replaced with a sense of awe. There were Little things in this van. A cute hot pink blanket was on the floor with a mermaid pillow. There were battery operated fairy lights strung around the ceiling. There was even a sparkly purple sippy cup that had "Little Captive" written on it. She blinked. Once. Twice. Everything looked so well thought out.

"Sir... have you been planning this for a while?"

"Only since you turned on your location. Before that, this was all just a dream. Please lay down. Get comfy. It's going to be awhile till we stop for the night... can't have you too close to home. Wouldn't want you thinking you can go home if things aren't as easy as you think they'll be. I'm planning to use you quite thoroughly. Enjoy your luxury now, Little One", he said as he started the car and turned out of her driveway.

Hours passed until the car finally slowed down. She tried to sit up and look out the window, but it was difficult with her hands still taped together. She scooted to the side to get out and stared up at him when he slid the door open. Instead of stepping back to allow her to get out, he stood there and unzipped his fly. Her eyes grew wide, unprepared for what was about to happen.

He whipped out his cock and stared down at her saying, "I hope you drank all your water, Little One. I need that mouth nice and wet for me. Open up."

Instead of just sliding the tip in like she expected though, he stuck his fingers between her lips and all the way to her throat. "You look so cute baby. Look at you taking all my fingers in. Oh? What was that? You want more? Well okay then... all you had to do was Ask."

He smirked as he took his fingers out of her mouth. Drool was dripping from her lips. He took the head of his cock and wiped up all of it before thrusting into her mouth. She laid there and took it. Hands tied up on the floor of a van and completely in his mercy, she had never felt so understood. Being used for his pleasure gave her purpose. With that thought, she got more into it. Her tongue flicking the slit on his cockhead. The extra swallow as he groaned before releasing down her throat- it all made her feel complete. The only thing she was in that moment was his little toy.

She met his eyes as he pulled his cock out of her mouth. He raised an eyebrow at her and she knew why. She made sure to put her head down and lick up the bit of his cum that spilled out onto her new blanket. Keeping her tongue out of her mouth, she looked up at him. He looked pleased. Satisfied.

"Come on baby. You did good. I'm proud of you." He took her bound hands to help her up and out of the van.

She looked around the parking lot, expecting to find one of the usual types of hotels he liked. She was met with something very different. Woods. Woods surrounding 3 sides of this parking lot.

"Hope you don't mind taking a little hike with me! This is what you always wanted right? A little outdoors time with me?" he said while watching her blink away the overwhelming emotions.

Yes, this is what she dreamed about. But she didn't think this would actually come true. She had thought this whole "kidnapping" thing was the extent of the fear-factor he was going to try with her. Clearly, he had other things in mind. All of those months of conversations about hiking and running through the woods to "get away" from her attacker come to mind. How she wanted to be in a secluded enough place that no one would hear her cries for help. She turned her head to the side to look at him. The wicked grin she was met with told her all she needed to know about what was about to happen.

He licked his lip. Her heart dropped. This was becoming more real. It was just the two of them out here, and he made it clear what was about to happen. Her feet dug into the earth a little more just as his voice dropped low and she heard what she had been waiting for.

"3... 2... 1... Run."

#mine #fantasy

[naturecpw]

The Family and Me by Defne Aruoba

It's been over a year since I first met the Ulas family. Now that I'm writing about "these extraordinary people"—as most scientists like to call them—I wish I had kept a journal last summer. But then again, who had the time? Along with the scientists, the film crew, and the local people who were helping us, I was working 14-hour days, dealing with a wide range of problems, obstacles, and intense emotions. I remember at first they felt "extraordinary" to me as well, but now they are my friends. Well, more than friends—friends usually don't change one as much. This experience has had such an enormous impact on how I think and feel about some of the most important issues in life, both in my personal life and in the life that exists on this planet in general.

The true nature of altruism I now know from firsthand experience that justice is, in fact, just a concept. Altruism is really not practiced as much as it could be. The Ulas families of this world can be helped and their situation improved with very little effort from the more fortunate. Moreover, everybody is aware of this. But somehow our daily lives don't allow us to remember and make room. We all feel the urge to give to others; even the most selfish person thinks about helping someone at some point. But then the phone rings or family or business matters intrude, and we are back in the little individual worlds we have created for ourselves. Those little worlds make us feel safe, as if we could never become ill, get old, or die. Especially in the more civilized parts of the world, the house, the money in the bank, the career, the fit body, the family, the lover make up the safety nets, the silk threads of our cocoons. This illusion of protection is at the root of our separation from the rest of life and, consequently, the cause of our misery.

“I didn’t want to be there as a ‘psychologist.’ I just wanted to be there for them.”

The remarkable thing about "altruism," which I discovered while I was spending time with the Ulas family, is that it is reciprocal. Altruism is not just about giving, or helping, or concern for the welfare of "others." It is also about opening yourself up to foreign territory and feeling that nothing/nobody is really "other" than you. It is about getting past the illusion of separation to a place of union, where it is no longer clear who is helping whom.

A feeling of protectiveness I have lived my whole life in two of the most hectic, cosmopolitan, ambitious cities in the world: Istanbul and New York City. Just going to the remote Turkish village where the Ulas family resides was a very unusual experience for me. I was the first one to arrive there, because the rest of the science and film crew were traveling in a different car. I approached the stairs that lead up to the family house dragging a suitcase full of old clothing I had brought for them. I had heard that these people were quite deprived, and I had seen an obscure one-minute video of one of the affected siblings. That was all. I didn't know what to expect—nobody did. As I went up the stairs, my initial feeling was one of fear. Fear of the unusual, and fear of my own boldness. It sounds like a contradiction, but that's how it was. I had no plans, no clue to what I was doing. At first the family members looked at me with questioning eyes. But as we started checking out the outfits, joking around with the girls, mostly with gestures, we all started to feel at ease and began having fun with one another. I was among friends, visiting them at their family house. These weren't scientific breakthroughs for me. They were Asiye, Miyase, Bayram, Cebrail, Hacer, Emos, Senem, Safiye, Huseyin, Gulin, Zeynep, and their parents. And from that point on my initial fear transformed into, and continues to be, a feeling of protectiveness towards these people. I knew within the first minutes of meeting the Ulas family that I didn't want to be there as a "psychologist." I just wanted to be there for them, in whatever capacity they needed me.

A father's concern My main motivation for joining the team of scientists and the film crew had always been "How can this international exposure help the affected members of the Ulas family, medically and/or in any other way possible?" For exposure they have been getting. Indeed, their discovery has caused a huge controversy in the scientific community. Over the past year I have watched each scientist approach the family with his or her own preoccupation, each wishing desperately that the results from the brain scans, neurological tests, DNA tests, and so on would prove his or her theory. I was asked, as a psychologist, to run some tests as well, in order to evaluate their level of intelligence; their cognitive, sensory, and motor skills; and their emotional, social, and behavioral adaptations. I did so, and the tests did reveal some important facts, but none that is conclusive.

“I don’t know what caused their disability. But I am positive that these people can be helped.”

The Ulas family remains a mystery to the scientific community, and the controversy surrounding them continues. Every once in a while, a new scientist appears in the village and offers a new treatment or asks for the father Resit's permission to do more testing. He doesn't say yes, and he doesn't say no. He is in complete surrender to what life brings. His only concern is the welfare of his disabled children after he dies. And he is right. These adult individuals are completely dependent, not because they lack the necessary skills to take care of their own basic needs, but because they haven't been rehabilitated.

Reaching out If nothing else, I want to emphasize as a psychologist that these people learn, which is the most important, perhaps the only necessary skill for improving their quality of life. I don't know what caused their disability. I don't know if we can ever really know for sure what causes any disability. But I am positive that these people can be helped. We have been able to help in some practical and therapeutic ways, but their physical and living conditions certainly require further improvement. For this, initially they need an occupational therapist who is willing to spend sufficient time in the village with them to teach them how to take care of themselves. Inspired by their last name "Ulas," which means "to reach" in English, I plan to establish a Ulas Foundation. My aim is to start with the affected Ulas individuals and then reach out to other families who are in need, in any kind of need. I am hoping that the Ulas Foundation will become, in its small way, a bridge of altruism that reaches across social boundaries, uniting the rich and the poor, the proactive and the submissive, the spiritual and the materialist, the educated and the uneducated, the doctor and the patient. In this way, the polarities of existence that we all experience inside and outside will merge into and nourish each other with their inherent wisdoms, reciprocally, without judgment.

"We all started to feel at ease and began having fun with one another," Defne Aruoba says of her first hours with the Ulas family. "I was among friends, visiting them at their family house."

Her initial trepidation quickly became a strong urge to protect the family, says Aruoba, here with two of the Ulas children.

Aruoba, pictured above with Hatice Ulas, the handwalkers' mother, plans to establish a foundation that she hopes will be "a bridge of altruism that reaches across social boundaries."

Defne Aruoba is a Turkish psychologist based in Istanbul and a doctoral candidate at the New School for Social Research in New York. She served as psychologist and interpreter during the filming of "Family That Walks on All Fours" in summer 2005.

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Origins of Bipedalism

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"We all started to feel at ease and began having fun with one another," Defne Aruoba says of her first hours with the Ulas family. "I was among friends, visiting them at their family house."

Her initial trepidation quickly became a strong urge to protect the family, says Aruoba, here with two of the Ulas children.

Aruoba, pictured above with Hatice Ulas, the handwalkers' mother, plans to establish a foundation that she hopes will be "a bridge of altruism that reaches across social boundaries."

[latin-dr-robotnik]

Yo, I don’t want to ventilate my very few gripes with the Sonic Movie before I finish my full thoughts post that I want to unleash tomorrow (with also two reviews over at my Spanish blog with the possibility of a third one coming).

But man, how could they do such blatant Olive Garden advertisement and not even reference the best, funniest YouTube skit ever.

I mean, COME ON DOWN TO THE OLIVE GARDEN AND GET YOUR FREE BREADSTICKS

#sonic movie spoilers #i mean i'm surprised that shit survived the international dubbing #i only know about olive garden because of that vid #but the rest of the room didn't have a clue about those jokes #i was surprised to see the latin american dub rolling with the olive garden jokes #during the old simpsons day they would've totally changed that joke to a more local one #also yes i used to watch vanossgaming #at least between 2012 and 2017 #then i grew up tired and simply parted ways #i sometimes miss his old black ops 2 videos #those were the days man