#sometimes you gotta look out for the people who look out for the people

[brilliantblasphemer]

ᴅᴇᴀᴅ ᴅᴏɢ'ꜱ ᴅᴇᴠᴏᴛɪᴏɴ

ao3 | gender-neutral reader | no use of y/n | ghost and reader are lowkey toxic and decidedly a bit weird | cw: violence (minor), implied rough sex, no communication, unreasonable amount of em-dashes used

[i]

It’s a tale as old as time—he comes home and only feels comfortable enough to lay down to die in your presence. Docile with snarling teeth, like something sick waiting to be put down. You will not hold him when his body succumbs to injury. You will not pet his ears and dirty blonde hair in comfort. Instead you tug on it when his mouth isn’t greedy enough, when he needs to be eased into using his hands for something other than violence.

(His devotion will be the death of him, but it will not win him yours.)

You’d liked the routine at first, no matter how cruel—he’d return, sometimes together with you, and you would keep him from dying. It made you feel important, wanted. For a while that was enough, an exchange of mutual interest.

Now he comes home, and every time you find that you are overcome with longing for something you have never encountered.

(An end?)

(… no. Oh god, no.)

You are Sisyphus pushing the rock up a hill, and soon enough his blood is on your hands; his blood which trickles down his pale torso red-hot and much too fast and knocks the air right out of your lungs.

He’s bleeding out over your bathroom sink, and you are helpless against the implication that there will come a day when it does not stop, when all of your needles and gauze will be rendered utterly useless.

Your hand only shakes sometimes, but each time you apologise profusely to Simon, who does not realise you say it for your sake rather than his. Deflection comes easily to you both—which does not mean your heart doesn’t squeeze together in agony a little more when he dismisses your pain with a quip.

“’s not like I was a beauty to begin with.”

“Yeah, well, if I’ve gotta bury you, I’d at least want my handywork to look nice from the coffin,” you joke back weakly, not apologising for the shake in your voice.

“That’s a fuckin’ waste then, love, don’ you think?,” he laughs, and the tightness in his baritone raises the hairs on your arm.

“Really? You don’t want people to gush over how wonderful your burial was, with an open casket and all that bullshit?”

“Won’t ‘ave one,” he shrugs, much too casual for your taste and it has you halting in threading your needle through shredded skin.

“Why not?”

Simond hesitates to answer, and you are almost glad that he doesn’t. Think the painkillers might have finally kicked in, but when he does speak again, it is clear and cut, matter of fact in a manner that causes you to freeze.

“’cause I’ll be cremated, sittin’ in a right pretty tin above your bed,” he sounds almost proud of the sentiment, “Recon I’d be more useful that way.”

You wish you didn’t ask. The bile in your throat is easier to swallow down than the objective truth—there is no version of him that would give up on his life for you; just as there is no version of you that could make him.

So you scoff, tell him: “What the fuck makes you think I’ll keep it?”

If Simon sees right through you, he musters the rare amount of grace not to mention it.

Later, when the painkillers do kick in, you excuse yourself from your own bed to retch into the kitchen sink. Tears obscure your vision as your hands shake too much to find purchase on the counter. You spit bitter bile into the stainless-steel basin and you forget to wash it off the sides before crawling back under sheets too warm for the season.

Fear has made a home in your ribcage for some time now, occupying a space that once held Simon and before him had never been considered empty anyway.

You hold him through the night and ride him in the morning, his face obscured by the crook of your neck, and nothing changes.

The rock rolls back into the valley; the story remains as it always does—his blood on your hands; his blood trickling down his pale torso red-hot and much too fast.

(You want to tell him you are sacred of the ending, but you don’t. He wishes you would.)

[ii]

The sink is thoroughly scrubbed by the time Simon wakes up. Still a little dopey, his eyes crinkle against the mid-day light flooding your kitchen. It’s a good look on him, the repose still lingering in his shoulders.

(You note, immediately, that it is just as unfamiliar. Terrifyingly so. There is no good reason for you to know him like this—even less for you not to. You feels like an intruder in your own home.)

The cup of coffee you hand him has already gone cold.

[iii]

“Wouldn’t even get my urn, would you?”

(War never leaves his shadow; he tears through the silence with the precision of a trained killer. Grabs an end and pulls. You try to wish for something, but he is too fast.)

The tea in your mug has been steeped for too long, the bitterness provoking you to partake in Simon’s attempt at casual cruelty, “Suppose I wouldn’t.”

A grunt emits lazily from the back of his throat. The acknowledgement is all you need to set your cup down on the table and wonder how the fuck you even ended up here. It makes your skin crawl, the way he so carelessly picks your concern apart.

(An attempt to ease your worried mind, you try to not lose sight of that, but it is so ill-mannered and deluded that it creates a sting in your chest. Like you can’t breathe whenever he lies next to you, like you can only breathe when his death is the topic of ridicule.

No, you’ve got that wrong, surely.

As does he.)

“It’d end up with ma’ next of kin,” he adds, looking at you expectantly. His point eludes you despite it. So you add, helpfully;

“It would.”

“Want you to have it instead,” there it is.

You think that is all, that this is about his ashes on your shelf again, so you shake your head in disbelief, grin a little as irritation floods you for a short second.

“I told you: I don’t want it.”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“Excuse me?,” barking out a laugh, you are cut off by your throat threatening to close up, “That stupid tin belongs with your family, which clearly, I am not. So they’ll be the ones to get it.”

“Wha’ about you then?”

“I’ll be wherever they send me, and I will never hear a thing about your death unless it is by chance, and it’ll be fine.”

Droplets of spit follow the end of your sentence but you are much too fed up to be embarrassed about it. No one knows he’s spent the past year sleeping in your bed, drinking your fucking coffee. The silence festering between you like a nasty infection is more than enough proof that no one ever will know. Wide-eyed, his hands starts drawing shapes on your kitchen table.

You aren’t family, never have been. When he is gone, the only evidence that the two of you existed will be you.

Simon’s chest expands in a way that has you worried he’ll tear out his stitches all at once—sucking in air like he’s preparing to force the words out of his mouth by breath alone. You feel cruel watching him do it so intently.

(The kitchen floor is polished wood; it holds memories. You don’t want to remember him dying here.)

[iv]

“Marry me,” he says, at last. A statement, not a question, made from far behind that skull-plated monstrosity with as much detachment as any of the other pieces of conversation that you have to rip free from his massive frame.

(Spat out at your feet like he had chewed the meat of the words and decided that maybe today, you deserved the bones that even he could not swallow. He looks proud of it, too.

God, you’ve never see him without that mask.)

“Marry me,” he says, and you slap him square across the face.

[v]

You don’t see him until two days later, and he wears too much eyeblack then for you to tell whether you’d done any damage aside from scratching your hand on the cheap Halloween-aisle plastic of his mask.

The urge to stroke across his cheekbone is strong, if only to jab a finger or two into a hopefully cracked bone. The image of him writhing beneath the relentless ministrations of your hand is what you will think about later, alone. When he moves his hand to brush a stray hair from your face, you are already gone. He understands the hint. He does not honour it.

(For all his staring, he never sees you leave. Wistful thinking, perhaps.)

[vi]

He’s not menacing so much as he is just haunting.

(A dead man walking, unsure of where to go. So he lurks around, stays where he feels most comfortable, and it is not the notion of home that draws him in but the familiarity. He does not care that it means he’s simply grown docile towards his wounds. That ripping them open was always for his joy, not yours.

Bitterly, you note that you had liked this about him; in the beginning at least, when you still considered this to be kind.

This—whatever it even is; whatever it was supposed to be.)

[vii]

He corners you by chance, when you are taking your laundry to the washer with whatever strength your body can muster that late into the evening. One might call it impressive, how he moves with a kind of agility no man his size or weight should have, yet you are only agitated at his massive frame blocking your view.

“You’re overreactin’.”

The willpower it takes to bite back the mean laugh bubbling in the back of your throat should earn you at least two medals and a fucking raise. Instead, you are forced to make do with Simon towering over you.

“Apologies start with ‘I’, usually.”

“… ’m trying,” he grunts, and your eyebrows draw together almost as quickly as he admits it. He sounds pleading in your ears, disgustingly so. You distractedly wonder why he doesn’t just look for some doe-eyed rookie to fuck instead, but the genuine sparkle of hope in Simon’s eyes requires most of your focus.

(It isn’t enough; you hope he knows that.)

“Are you?”

“Mhm.”

“Don’t you think it’s a shame then? That you try, and this is the best you can do?.”

(You don’t just mean his dogshit attempt at reconvening; you hope he knows that.)

[viii]

If he wanted to threaten you into submission, into forgiving him, he’d do so outright.

(Has done it before, and the way your thighs clench reminds you that you liked it. Liked the way his hand had shoved you face first into the pillow while the other made fast work of bruising your hip. Short and hard; fingers squeezing around your throat until the lack of oxygen made you forget that his monstrosity extends beyond a rough fucking.)

But he just hovers behind you now, as if to catch your gaze by coincidence.

Look at me, it screams, please just fucking look at me.

You make it a point not to.

[ix]

“You look lovely today.”

The trick is old, but Simon refuses to learn new ones. You know how this goes by heart: he pretends to be nice to you, and you fall for the bait—not the compliment that is, but the invitation to get angry at him.

(By now you are aware that it is just a game to him. Gets rid of your scorching anger, the one he thinks is a joke anyways, to make way for his cock shoved deep inside you between dirty rags and a stinking mop.)

Your back is turned reflexively towards him to mask the expression of vitriol that flits across the planes of your face as his tone registers in your ears.

The cadence in which he talks sounds off, strained. Raw and raspy in a way you have hardly ever heard from him. Motherfucker.

He has the gall to sound tortured.

“Didn’t mean it, a’right?,” he tries again, different tactic this time, but the hope remains. You cannot recall when he had been so shy, so soft, last. Like ancient parchment about to rip. Like a bomb about to blow.

Didn’t mean what? Demanding you marry him at the off chance that his pathetic mortal remains might get a top-shelf view watching you have a wank after he perishes in some off-the-records campaign?

You don’t want to have this conversation, not when he pretends that it isn’t is fault you are in this position in the first place.

He’ll just fuck you and consider that enough of an apology. You will let him and neither of you will feel any less guilty.

(You want to scream, and cry, and tell him that he is just as hopeless as you are because how else would you even begin to describe what you feel for him if not as the dreadful absence of hope; and you don’t. There is no way out—no story in which the rock will not tumble down some other hill again, even if you manage to cross this one. His ashes are the shape of your likeness. You like to think you’ll toss them somewhere quite before they collect too much dust.

Had he asked you in the beginning, you would have said yes, doesn’t he know? You would have said yes.)

You sigh, washed out and weary to your bones.

“Move, Ghost.”

He flinches at his callsign, and you file away this memory, too, like all the ones of him recoiling from a different sensation.

You look at this sorry excuse of a man as you leave and you say nothing more.

[x]

(You know what comes next.)

[xi]

He sits at the edge of your bed with his hands uselessly dangling over his lap, waiting. His feet are planted to the ground perfectly parallel, a degree of accuracy he usually fails to exercise when he leaves his boots next to your door.

(One of the laces is flaked with rust-coloured dots. He still wears them inside the house. You’re not sure there ever was a moment when he took them off.)

Rigid back, steel-spine; the painful strain right beneath his shoulder blades doesn’t deter Ghost—your doorstep is the only place he dares lay down. Simon does not move.

[xii]

Dogs that bite get put down, and he thinks this is your way of breaking the news to him.

Given all the times he should have died in this place, Simon should have guessed sooner that you’d abandon him when it came down to it. He does not resent you for it.

He only resents you a little.

(Even dead, even dying, he still wags his tail at the noise of a key jingling before being put into a lock. It’s just the neighbour.)

[xiii]

You don’t come home that night.

(Or any other night.)

a/n: not proof-read or edited, parts of this i am not happy with but fuck it, for something that was made in almost its entirety at two in the morning this isn’t too bad. also fun fact, the numerals can be rearranged in almost any order and still make sense :) i think

#bri writes #simon ghost riley x reader #simon ghost riley x you #simon riley x reader #simon riley x you #ghost x reader #cod x reader #call of duty x reader #call of duty x you #cod x you #simon ghost riley x gender neutral reader #simon riley x gender neutral reader #call of duty fanfic #call of duty fanfiction #modern warfare fanfiction #simon ghost riley #simon riley call of duty #ghost call of duty #ghost mw2

[slasherscream]

i would love to know which of the crazy ass boys gang would indulge a partner who watches reality tv? whose getting just as invested and angry and who is standing to the side saying it’s dumb and fake? (i know it’s kevin)

❥ who grins and bares it so they can bond with you ❥

Billy Loomis - This is just a bonding activity for Billy. It’s not awful. Nor is it the most fun thing in the world. It’s just one of those tiny moments that relationships are built off. The small bids for connection that build intimacy. You don’t bitch when he wants to watch Psycho for the sixth time in two months. He doesn’t bitch when you turn on trashy TV. He pulls you close, so that you’re sitting in his lap, or laid up against him, and pays enough attention to ask you the odd question or two to clarify what’s going on if he gets lost. What do you mean they switch couples?? When did they start doing that? Last week… oh I bet Luca was pissed. 

David Mccall - David is obnoxious because he pretends to be the type who is upset when you watch without him. He’ll come home, glance at the TV and gasp dramatically: Baby! Why are you watching our show without me?! How far along are you? You watched an entire episode? You know better than that, baby! You gotta rewind it, hold on, I’ll order us some pizza. Can’t believe you’d watch behind my back! This is a ridiculous pantomime that you may or may not pick up on. Mileage varies as always. David couldn’t care less about the reality TV shows you watch. But he likes the way you giggle as you rewind it for him. Or the way you light up when you’re discussing it with him. You used to spend way too much time talking with your friends about this stupid crap. Now you talk to him. Who gives a shit about whatever mindless little thing you’re watching. What David enjoys is your undivided attention. 

Jason Dean/JD - JD also sees this as a bonding activity and bid for connection… However, JD is a born hater. He bonds by talking shit. He’s not necessarily trying to be a bummer about the things you enjoy. He’s just a certified yapper when it comes to shit-talking. If he thinks something is stupid he just can’t sit in silence. This is his most underdeveloped life skill. He’s got ten minutes of quiet in him max. If he does manage to bite his tongue his face gives him away anyways. So what was the point? Will say something pretentious like: “Why are we watching people play out a badly scripted version of their lives through a screen when we could be out living ours, right now? Let’s hop on my bike and just ride, darling! Live a little!” Sir, I just worked an eight hour shift. I need to see someone who doesn’t deserve a rose get sent home in tears. Read the room. Get a grip. 

❥ who is pissed off/devastated when you watch it without them ❥

Sebastian Valmont - What can he say? Sebastian likes to watch people experience psychological torment. He’s trying to turn on the first seasons of “America’s Next Top Model" and watch a girl get sent home in tears after the judges convinced her to shave her head bald to look more fierce.This is the type of quality reality TV that makes Sebastian laugh. Watching people go through their darkest moments in front of a camera that highlights the creases in their cheap makeup is how he likes to spend the occasional date night. You had to put him onto reality tv shows, but now he’s hooked. He probably watches more reality TV than you do. If we’re being honest. You think this might be how he gets to still live out his glory days of being an unrepentant asshole. Sometimes he sighs a little too wistfully when someone is being a monster. 

Jordan Li - Jordan enjoys anything you do together. Even if they hate a particular activity, at least they’re spending time with you. Still, there are reality TV shows that Jordan really likes, such as: home improvement shows, “Say Yes to the Dress'', “Face Off”, “American Ninja Warrior”, and “RuPaul's Drag Race”. And then there are shows that Jordan puts on a brave face about. Things like “Love Island” and “Jersey Shore”. Jordan gets queasy just scrolling past them. There was a time before they became one of Brink’s favorites that their parents kept pushing them to try and be an entertainment Supe. No one is taking you that seriously, anyways! Maybe you’ll do better in the reality TV circuit. It’s unlikely Jordan will ever get stuck in projects like that now. They’ve proven they can be a heavy hitter. Proven that they’re strong enough to not need to sell themselves as cheap, easily-digestible, entertainment. Still, they don’t like thinking of the alternate world where they’re having to sit in front of a camera and do twenty retakes of “authentic” confessional room venting.

Stu Macher - He likes reality TV and doesn’t care who knows. Hooray! A shared interest… except watching these shows with him will piss you the fuck off. He has dog-shit opinions about everything. You will never be rooting for the same people. You will never agree on who handled a situation better. He’s always rooting for the asshole, it seems. You don’t even think he’s doing it to be contrary or to make you mad. He’s genuinely on their side (most of the time… he does enjoy making you mad.) Watching reality TV with Stu makes you want to kill him. It also makes you look at him funny. Why are you always siding with the bastards? You don’t think Ekin-Su needed to apologize? Stu, are you out of your fucking mind?

Josh Washington - You’re gonna try to tell me that the twins weren’t making him paint toenails while they pulled all nighters of “The Bachelor”? Sure, okay, if you’d like to believe that. And his inner circle consists of Emily and Jess? Please. He’s been watching trashy TV for years. He’s watched a little of everything. He is so well acquainted with the dark underbelly of reality TV that it would roll over for a tummy rub from him. It knows his scent. He can easily keep track of the names, faces, and plots. Who’s fucking who. Who hates who. Who’s forming secret alliances. You’ll probably be more lost than Josh ever gets. He’s a day one. He’s an OG. 

❥ who is pissed off to even be hearing about it second-hand ❥

Sparrow!Ben Hargreeves - He has better shit to do than watch reality TV show crap all day, and so do you. These are the kinds of harsh words that will be waiting for you if you try and get him to watch anything fun with you. Ask him one too many times and, like a parent who is annoyed that you are bothering him, he will begin to fill up any moment of free time the two of you have with activities. No, babe, we can’t watch “90 Day Fiance.” Why? Because we’ve got to run the marathon for kids with cancer and then we’ve got dinner with the mayor after that. You two are gonna be booked and busy. You were obviously bored. Now you won’t have time to even think!

Kevin Khatchadourian - Please don’t remind him so blatantly of his own intellectual superiority over you (he’s an asshole.) He gets the ick of the century when you try and tell him what happened during one of your little…programs. If you have the audacity to take it a step further and ask him to watch with you? He’s rendered speechless. Since when is this relationship a safe space? He doesn’t enjoy well-written, heart-stopping, incredible genre-defining movies and television. And yet, somehow, you’re so delusional you think he’s gonna sit through reality television with you? Don’t piss him off. He doesn’t even bother responding. Enjoy the view of his back as he walks away!

❥ secret fourth worse thing ❥

Nathan Prescott - Nathan is once again in a category of his own, which you might call: too nosy to not get into it, but doesn't want you to know he enjoys it. He made fun of you when you first started to watch reality TV. He can’t go back on his word now. If you were cuddling on the couch he’d have his face turned into your stomach and dramatically roll his eyes at your absentminded head rubbing. Could we focus on what’s important please? But then the plots started thickening and the heated exchanges started to pique his interest. He knew he was cooked when he started recognizing names, who was booed up with who… wait that disloyal prick hooked up with who this week?! He tells you to just replay the episode because you’re explaining it shitty and you obviously want him to watch it and talk to you about it. It isn’t for his benefit at all. Turn the subtitles on, god dammit.

A/N: this was really fun! how did you know i've been watching reality TV shows lately?? if you enjoyed these headcanons consider reblogging, leaving a reply, or an anon! a writers fuel is engagement. xoxoxo

#crazy ass boys gang #black!reader #black reader #billy loomis x reader #jordan li x reader #josh washington imagines #nathan prescott x reader #jd x reader #jason dean x reader #stu macher x reader #sebastian valmont x reader #ben hargreeves x reader #kevin khatchadourian x reader #david mccall x reader #ben wants to tire you out like a mom who puts their kid in karate and soccer and gymnastics five days a week #this one made me laugh while writing it

[mossy123302]

I feel like...we have skipped over the whole prison arc-

Because when I saw it. I was instantly smacked by nostalgia of Cops and Robbers, and... No one, as far I'm aware, made a whole au about it-

Like-

Prisoner Philza & Guard Missa.

Or better yet, a criminal Missa who is disguised AS a guard, and is trying to break Roier and his boyfriend Cellbit out of prison. However, Cellbit said he refused to leave behind his father figure, aka Philza whose the most well known criminal for his entire crimes against the Federation.

Now Missa is sweating bullets, because he didn't sign up to do a whole jail break. He was confident before, because he planned ahead but now he's gotta save a famous well known guy, or else Cellbit will refuse to go and that means Roier won't leave either. He has to add more months to this whole jail break.

So Missa bit back his fears, and hesitantly agreed that he will find a way to help Philza break out. He's never seen this infamous man, and now he was about to once he finally rose through the ranks where he was trusted enough by the prison guards to bring meals to Philza.

They kept Philza much more isolated from people, to ensure, that he wouldn't come up with any schemes or ideas. The corridor was more dim, barely lit up...and it was making Missa regret every decision possible. He should have just left and never look back, but curse his heart. He couldn't leave Roier behind, and if Cellbit is familia. Then so be it—

With shaky hands, Missa unlocked the door to Philza's cell and slowly entered inside. He was aware that he wasn't supposed to enter, in fact, there was a food slot for a reason. But Missa is literally trying to get the guy out, so... He definitely has to make up some lies to tell the guards on why he was inside the cell.

Missa immediately froze when he heard slight shuffling coming from the dim cell room. He could barely make out a silhouette that was rising up from the bed, and faintly...he could see large black wings flutter and spread out, which Missa assume, may be Philza's wings stretching out. Missa swallowed his fear down his throat, and carefully he set down the tray of food on the ground, making an very obvious clatter noise which immediately there was a loud crack which made Missa quietly wince.

Missa slowly looked up, and immediately almost tripped backwards when he saw blue eyes stare at him, almost as if Philza was trying to read his soul. He nervously grinned at the infamous crow father and awkwardly waved.

"..Hola, es...tu...you're...you're Philza, si?" Missa quietly asked. Philza's eyes slightly narrowed, contemplating answering but considering this fool of a guard was inside his cell and might...die, or get fired immediately for entering his cell. Philza knew that was a strict rule, no guards were allowed in his cell unless it was for trial related stuff.

"...Whose asking" Philza finally said.

"...Cellbit..." Missa quietly replied. "B..Bolas? He said...to use that word? I..No sé, I'm...just here to break you out. Please...I wasted enough time here.."

Oh

Oh.

Missa is breaking him out. He was in this place for a reason, and Cellbit sent him.

Well, Philza can adjust to this. It was good to finally have something new, an actual plan forming in his head. He was going to finally escape from this place, save the others, hell burn this place down while he's at it.

Philza hummed thoughtfully. "..What's your name"

"...Missa"

"Well, Missa, I think you already know my name, but it's Philza. Honored to be working with you, for now until my escape"

"....Yes"

"You also really shouldn't be in here, mate"

Missa pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a tired sigh. He ...he was still trying to come up with a lie for that, but hell, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. "Just...knock me out"

Yes, Missa does eventually get Philza out once he understood how to get rid of those bracelets that prisoner's have. The bracelets were like shock collars basically, so it'll hurt a lot and signal guards that a prisoner was escaping...

Philza happily burns the place down, while Baghera, Cellbit, Slime, Foolish, Jaiden and Carre quietly chant "Bolas" behind him.

Missa is just staring at the burning building, already making his will and retirement letter. But... unfortunately he won't get far since he already caught the Crow Father's attention and his heart.

#deathduo #pissa #thoughts #qsmp missa #philza qsmp #bolas mention #qsmp jaiden #qsmp cellbit #qsmp baghera #qsmp carre #qsmp roier #qsmp slimecicle #they're mentioned #someone help missa #he's so tired #he just wants to go back home to his two kids #a single father that is doing a jail break #look it pays a lot #and roier is his boss #he needs the money- #luckily philza is extra rich #missa is set for life #and tallulah and chayanne will get another dad #as extra bonus

[georgeclarkewifey]

Inconvenience | g.clarke

Chapter 4: Tough Day

Summary: The boys try and help Noa with a new project

Word Count: 1.2k+

Warnings: swearing, George being a dick (again)

Roughly a week or so had passed since Noa moved into her new apartment, and her hopes that George would warm up to her hadn’t been achieved yet.

Even though she spent most evenings with the boys, he would still only talk to her if the others were there, and whenever he could he avoided her at all costs.

It was beginning to bother Noa. She couldn’t understand why he was acting this way towards her, and after thorough discussions with his other roommates, they confirmed that she hadn’t done or said anything to cause this behaviour.

Luckily, Arthur Hill and her got on like a house on fire, and being one of the better housemates at DIY, he aided in building most of her new furniture whenever he wasn’t recording a video or working on his new song.

“So when’s it coming out? I feel as if I can only listen to the same sound bite before I go crazy.” Noa said, glancing up from her laptop to look at Arthur, who was sitting on her kitchen counter.

“Should be done in a couple of weeks, just trying to iron out the wrinkles and sort the bridge out.” He replied, taking a long swig of tea out of the mug that she had leant him. “What are you working on? I feel as I can hear your brain whirring.”

Noa grumbled and massaged her temples. It was moments like these that she wished she had an influencer job, with complete creative freedom and a flexible schedule, instead of her gruelling 9-6. “Trying to find as many different types of ancient column design as possible. Well, not too ancient because the clients want their building to look modern enough.”

Arthur gave her a sympathetic look. “You really are bottom of the food chain in your firm aren’t you?”

“Yep. That’s what you get when you’re the new kid, all the tasks that no one else wants.”

“But at least you’re not having to make coffee and do paperwork right?” He asked hopefully.

Noa raised her eyebrows at him. “Why do you think I’m having to do this at home, and not in the office.”

“Ah.”

“Ah indeed.” She muttered, scrolling through another page of Grecian inspired pillars. “Honestly, sometimes rich people have too much money to spend. I mean, who needs a foyer with the three types of alternating pillars, that match the fountains? Do you know how expensive that is Arthur?”

He winced. “I’m guessing a lot.”

“Correct.”

“Noa!” Chris yelled, swinging the door open. “You, me, George and the two Arthurs and the club. Yes?”

“Chris, it’s a Thursday night.”

“Exactly! Thursday night, do you have anything better to do?”

Noa blinked at him. “Be up in the morning with ample amount of sleep ready for work?”

“God I forget you have a boring actual job.”

“Someone has to remind you guys there’s an actual world out there.” She muttered, typing quickly on her computer, eyes widening as her stomach let out a low growl.

Chris and Arthur slowly turned their heads to look at her. “Okay, new plan. Order takeout and watch a movie?”

“I could be up for that.” She said quietly, absentmindedly chewing on the end of her pen, before going to jot down some notes. “Just need to finish working.”

Chris’ eyebrows raised. “And when will that be?”

“Before the end of time.” Noa said. “Or at least I hope so. I’ve gotta figure out the best combination of these pillars and then I’ll be done.”

“And how many combinations are there?”

“Well there’s eight main types, but then there’s different patterns within those. I might have actually lost count.”

Chris moved so that he could peer over Noa’s shoulder, and winced at the number of tabs open she had on her computer, as well as the scribbles that adorned her notebook.

“Gonna be honest. I’ve got no clue at what looks good. But I believe in you Noa, if anyone could figure it out it’s you.” He said reassuringly, patting her head. “Right, Hill let’s order food, at this point in time Noa will probably eat whatever we put in front of her, so what are we feeling up for?”

arthurhill

liked by arthurtv, maxbalegde and 28,039 others

arthurhill everyone drop your favourite pillars and columns to help with Noa’s latest design

Comments open

fan1 everyone knows the correct answer is doric

��� fan2 booo temple of winds supremacy

maxbalegde scared and confused at this comment section

⮑ noamurphy they’re all just architecture nerds like me

arthurtv correct answer is ionic

⮑ noamurphy no it isn’t I promise

⮑ arthurtv one day you’ll see

⮑ noamurphy sure. also we’re getting take out if you wanna join

⮑ arthurtv I am running to the elevator

fan3 noa in the ikea vlog is everything 😫🤌🤌🤌

⮑ fan4 she is a divine queen

⮑ fan3 her and George in the bed 🤌🤌

⮑ fan4 nooo that was the most forced and uncomfortable thing I couldn’t with it-

gkbarry_ we stan a hardworking queen

⮑ noamurphy love you boo

⮑ gkbarry_ okay now girlie take a break

“Okay Noa, maybe take Grace’s advice and stop? Surely it would be better to rest up and then be able to finish it when you’re not exhausted?” Chris asked gently, reaching to slide the laptop away from her grip.

Noa glared at him and swatted his hands away. “No Christopher. No.”

Chris gave her a stern look, only looking away when the door slammed open again, revealing Arthur Television in his pyjama trousers and hoodie. “Food, when?”

“The one with the law degree decides to speak like a caveman.” Chris muttered, shaking his head, as a much calmer George walked through the door.

Walking into her apartment, George was hit with the realisation that he’d never been in Noa’s apartment before - she’d always been at theirs, or if Chris and Arthur where heading down he’d give the excuse that he was busy planning videos.

He was pleasantly surprised. Well, he didn’t exactly know what to expect, but it definitely wasn’t a light and airy apartment. Maybe he thought there would be neon lights everywhere, like the ones that adorned Chris’ room or stacks of books like Arthur.

The living room was cosy, and he recognised the two sofas that they had picked out in Ikea, as well as a plush rug, with a coffee table that matched the dining table and chairs. A couple of pictures adorned the walls, a simple beach watercolour as well as some cinematic shots of her playing football with Arthur and Chris.

His brow furrowed. Neither of them mentioned that she played, and since she’d arrived they had filmed a football video for Chris’ channel, but she didn’t take part. Surely if Noa was good enough to warrant her to have photos of her playing, then surely Chris would want that talent in his videos?

George cast his eyes to Noa, who was hunched over her laptop, still trying to finish the designs. Arthur TV sat next to her, and the pair were discussing which column designs worked the best together.

“Maybe that person was onto something bringing temple of winds into the conversation…what if you put them with some Doric pillars, then…” Arthur trailed off, stumped.

“You see? Finding two designs that go together is easy, but a third? A fucking third?” Noa sighed, resting her head on the keyboard.

“How rich are the clients, ie, what’s the budget?”

“Yeah, are they Ronaldo rich, or so rich that you’ve probably never heard of them?” Arthur Hill asked.

“The second one.” She muttered. “Which is why it has to be perfect, because they are paying us a lot.”

Noa sighed and pulled up the designs of the fountains that had been chosen. She studied them meticulously, trying to find a hint that could help her. Even though it was strenuous work, this was one of the reasons that loved designing buildings, once you found all the right pieces, it perfectly fell into place like a puzzle. It was incredibly satisfying, and seeing the final projects always made her heart swell with pride.

But this was really trying her patience. Why couldn’t she figure it out? It didn’t also help that she had a live audience watching her stress over it. “Do you know when the food’s getting here?”

“Should be about five minutes.”

“Thank god.”

“Oh never mind, the guys here.” Chris said, slipping his shoes on, that had been previously abandoned by the door. “Arthur can you help carry it?”

“Sure.” Both of them replied, following Chris out of the door, leaving George alone with Noa.

She was silently cursing the three that had just left, physically wishing all the curses and ailments upon them for leaving her with George. Who, was silently leaning against her kitchen counter.

George didn’t know what to do. Ever since the trip to Ikea he hadn’t been close to Noa again, not that he wanted to, but he wasn’t sure if he should mention it. Why should he? If she hadn’t mentioned it then surely she was fine, right?

Not that he even wanted to talk to her.

George couldn’t fully see into Noa’s room, most is it being blocked by the angle at which he was looking in, and from what he could tell, it was just like the rest of the apartment, except with more decorations. He wasn’t sure why, but he was curious about what was inside, how Noa had organised her bookcase, what perfumes she used, how she kept her jewellery, the way her plans laid out on her sketching desk.

And he didn’t know why.

As far as he was concerned he actively disliked Noa, and so he couldn’t fathom why a part of him was so interested in her, why he wanted to know the little details of her life.

Noa closed her eyes. She was genuinely considering giving up, but she knew she couldn’t. This had to be finished that evening so that it could be sent to her supervisor ready for the next morning. Pushing her chair back, she stood up and paced into her bedroom, unknown to her that George’s eyes followed her every step, hoping that one of her books would provide her with some inspiration.

But it wasn’t any of her architecture books that caught her eye. It was the battered copy of the third Percy Jackson book - it was her favourite of the series, and would read it religiously as a child. Partially, as a child it was her dream to become a Hunter of Artemis, and so she could read the book over and over again without tiring of it.

Somehow, this was the prompt she needed to let the puzzle pieces fall into place. “OH MY GOD!” She exclaimed, sprinting out of her room and skidding on the wooden floor to the table. Noa grinned whilst nearly destroying her keyboard at how quickly she was typing.

“FOOOOD!” Chris called, carrying the plastic bags and setting them down in front of Noa.

“Dude give me two minutes I’ve figured it out.”

“Really?” Arthur TV asked excitedly, pulling the chair next to her out, so he could see what she was working on. “Caryatids? Noa that’s genius! They match the f-“

“Fountains yeah, because they’ve got marble women carved into them, and so they’d match perfectly.”

“Have we ever said you’re a genius?” Chris asked, smiling proudly at her.

“Only when I do genius shit.”

#arthur frederick #arthur hill #chris dixon #chris md #george clarke fics #george clarke imagine #george clarkey #george clarkey x reader #uk youtubers #youtube

[xhanisai]

It's nice to see many people excited about the new, updated model for Marinette for season six!

I'm just a little iffed out with how some of yous are celebrating that she looks "more Chinese" now and more how wasians "should look like".

Her OG model did that perfectly too and you gotta remember, mixed-race people will never look the way you expect them to. Same with people who aren't mixed race sometimes since mutations are a thing and how you can inherit features from generations before your parents and etc.

Anyways, I can't wait to see her in action and I'm looking forward to season six~

#delete later #gotta love the fandom triggering your racial dysphoria again LMAO #not abiding to the stereotypes of your own race does not make you any less of that race

[s0lar-ch3ri]

Paranomally Hotline #1: Introduction

Many people have their own beliefs. They follow in their own superstitions, read about all kinds of monsters, and we hear about new creations of creatures and places daily. Inspired from already set up and built legends, or entirely original myth, you may have made some ideas yourself. At the very least, you've heard of one. However, to the average person, a myth is all they remain.

Sometimes though, the average person isn't so lucky, and stumble apon a truth: these "tall tales" are fact, not fiction, and could come for you at anytime. With the knowledge that these creatures exist, surviving them can be difficult when nobody you turn to has an idea of what you're facing.

Not, unless, you're calling the Paranomally Hotline.

Specialized in dealing with all entities and creatures of out this world, the Paranomally Hotline believes those who call and will help guide you to safety. Available whenever you need (some places may have more or less then 24 hours available), someone skilled and trained for your kind of situation is there to talk to.

If you don't know who to call, ring the numbers-

"God damn, they play whatever on these fuckin things." A man, appearing about mid 30s, turns the TV off. He gets ready for work, brushing his teeth and getting food to eat. He waves goodbye to his wife, a woman with black hair, and walks into the busy sidewalks. Walking among the people, bag on his side, he keeps going until he reaches a corner.

The scene has changed. As he turns this corner, he runs, panicked, running out of breath. He can't run forever, and hiding feels like a death trap. A creature roars out behind him, and all he wants is to go home, back before this happened.

"Someone please come save me, Lord I beg of you now, spare my soul of this fate just a bit longer," he mutters to himself as he slips into an alleyway. Through his panicked thoughts, something slips into his mind, a crystal clear one: a phone number. As he turns on his phone, which he wasn't even aware still had battery, already has a number put in. Not in a state to question it, he hurriedly rings it.

"Hello, you've reached the Paranominally Hotline, here to help with all entities and paranormals, what's got your ghost?"

"Y-you gotta help me! Th-there's a- a thing! And it's chasing me! And- and- I just want to go home, see my wife again!"

"That's what we're going to do. Now, to help figure out how I can assist you, I'll need you to answer a couple questions. First, do you believe you are still in our world, or does it seem home to somewhere else?"

"Wha-what are y- Yeah, no, it- it's all red- the sky- and it's bleeding- oh my god I didn't notice, it's fucking bleeding- I gotta get out of here-"

"Alright, let's keep a level head sir. When did you get here, and if you remember, how?"

He jumped, hearing a loud roar from this creature. "T-today, maybe 3-30 minutes, 25, gi-give or take. I went into the closet at my job and- look, can we hurry this up? There's s-something ch-ch-chasing me, and I think it's going to k-kill me."

"Alright. This is a very necessary procress, but I have an idea on how to help. Can you make it back to where this closet was?"

"Th-that's the way the monster i- you're trying to fucking kill me!"

"Sir, please. I'm trying to get you home. If you can make it over, and I'm thinking of the right thing, grab the string of the lamp above and pull it to turn off the light."

"No- why should I fucking trust yo-"

Another roar plays out. It's closer.

"...Are-"

"If I’m fucking killed, call my wife and tell her I love her."

"Of course."

The man breaks into a sprint and heads out. His legs are aching, but he has to make it, he has to. Looking straight ahead, he goes straight past the beast, about 30 feet tall and blurry as it roars again, following behind. The man begins to silently sob as he sees the building he exited from up ahead. Running inside, he closes the door of the strange building and locks it as best as he can. He runs down a hallway, where a brown closet door awaits him. It's a dingy closet, brown shelves and a blue school chair. Nothing more or less. He slams the door shut as he hears breakage outside and the loud stomps of feet. Muttering a prayer, he grabs the string of the closet's lightbulb and yanks it down as hard as he can.

Everything goes black, but he finds himself on the floor of the closet. It's a storage one, filled with boxes and shelf racks, the same one he walked into, although one of the shelves has been knocked over just inches from where he once laid unconscious. As he questions what just happened, the reality of what he just faced, he hears his phone hang up, the caller name showing.

The Paranominally Hotline.

#Paranormal Callings (And How We Got You Out) #the bright smoothie of words #WE GOT THE FIRST ONE WRITTEN BABBYYYYYYY #gonna draw it like comic style as i plan out chapter 2 :3

[onegirllis]

So, about the new LIS trailer

It took me some time, but forgive me for the delayed response. I had to dig myself out of the fandom grave to actually look around and notice what the hell was going on. I spent another moment pondering if I still care, and with the answer "barely," I came here to write this post.

1) For whatever reason DickNein (yes, I didn't miss the scandal, who is the nazi now?) still doesn't understand what made LIS 1 so successful. It wasn't the diversity; it wasn't the same copy-paste lines; it wasn't the murder; it wasn't the superheroes from small towns with different powers. It wasn't even the lesbians (I know, shocking!). There were merely a few elements that made LIS special: - Magical Arcadia Bay with its residents - The rewind time superpower, which was one of the best mechanics in narrative games since the genre was born - Max, Chloe, and Rachel (not necessarily in that order), and you need at least two to make it work, preferably with Chloe at least somewhere there. - the specific art style and saturated colors (butchered a bit in BTS but then going full SIMS 4 for the rest of the games) - and most importantly - the soul Sure, DontNod could get away with alteration, to no fanfare and sometimes to no success, but their experiments came from the right place. This shit ain't it.

2) For whatever reason, Chloe is now a dog. I know. I know. I understand. Listen, my fellow comrades, I know how it feels when the devs pull put shit like, "Oh, they were just friends and grew apart, but now she named her squirrel after the love of her high school life".

3) Max had plastic surgery. She also decided to be entirely anonymous so that she looked like everyone else. Every model looks the same, and I hope they will have their names spelled above them as they walk around. Otherwise, I have no idea who is who. Frankly, she looks a little bit like Steph had a lot of fun with the entire cast of Sims 4 and then had a baby.

4) On top of everything, the new Max, however, probably now goes as Maxine, is teaching her Polaroid skills at a university. Now we know we are in an alternative universe all along. I hope the tuition matches the useful photography skill set you obtain there.

5) For any other reason unknown, she can dress up as Chloe, who can be dead (see the Ultimate edition). I know Max has a long tradition of dressing up as dead people, but I hoped it would go away with her Botox and other plastic corrections. But hey, we survived Chloe dressing up as Rachel and cosplaying as her dad, too, so I guess I shouldn't even be surprised. Not that it's a low-budget movie, and they have a limited wardrobe. It's a video game, but the tradition of having a mental stroke is still strong.

6) Oh no, another murder I gotta solve! I shall use my powers. Why now? Is it another girlfriend who is into printing photos? Or is it her student? Or both? Max becoming Jefferson would be a nice twist, even if not loved among the community, but I don't think it would get anywhere that dark. It just will get stupid.

7) This is supposed to be a fanservice a little too late and on the wrong foot. I know y'all missed Max. I didn't, but I understand the hype on seeing her on the screen. Although following a teenager in Arcadia Bay was interesting, simply by the shot of nostalgia with every step, here we are following a middle-aged single art teacher (or someone who looks middle-aged to the point that they decided on fixing their face). NO ONE WANTS TO FOLLOW THEIR ART TEACHERS WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK.

8) The Nazi problem (well, well, well, the turntables). I know DeckNein had to do some cleanup among their staff. I hope they did, but somehow, I doubt it was done for the right purpose. Therefore, I'm uncomfortable giving them any of my money, now or ever. I know, there are worse studios. I know it's stupid, but LIS was always special, filled with this little genuine spark. It just doesn't feel right.

9) The game has the worst UI in the history of modern gaming.

10) And to finish my rant on something even worse, LIS4 is coming just before DontNod's new game, most likely to compete with it on the market. A bit sus, don't you think?

Anyway, dick move, my friends. All of it. Actually, waving dicks around in the air all along. Despite our differences, this ain't right. And God knows how much worse it could be.

#life is strange #life is strange 4

[luck-of-the-drawings]

smth smth about 'the thing that the character did that you thought was rly rly funny in the moment is actually linked to a terrible trauma that lies within said character.' or wahtever.

#jrwi show #jrwi fanart #jrwi riptide #gillion tidestrider #made this within a short span of wahtever bc i gotta go up to the mountains for my stupid gay job tonight n im trying #nnot to frrRREAAAK THE FUCK OUUTTTTTTi dont wanna work but. get that bread we fuckin shall i guess #ONWARDS TO THE FISH TORMENT!! sometimes flowers feel pain when you trim them before their blossoming. atleast i imagine so #i used to draw gillion with loooong hair tied into a big ol braid. and then it was confirmed that he had short hair when he was little. #AT FIRST I WAS SAD. but then i realized the duality of. when they were little. gill had short hair. edyn had long hair. #AND NOW THEYRE OLDER. and gillion has long hair. and edyn has short hair #both mirroring eachother. looking up to eachother. subconsciously or not. they most certainly care. and most certainly miss eachother. #GILLION ALWAYS LOVED HOW LONG HAIR LOOKs. atleast i imagine so. he hasnt cut it since he left the undersea. sure he wanted to go back home #but even at the very start. he knew he was free in some way now. free to grow out his hair. an adventure would await him before he returns. #he knew it would be a while. so he cant let this go. he cant let this sought-after hair-length get cut away from him again #not yet. not yet. i like to think he loved music too. I SAW SOMETHING INTERESTING A BIT AGO #i see alot of ppl commenting on my baby gill comics like;'i wouldFIGHT this teacher i wanna KILL EM i want them DESTROYED #all very good and nice sentiments! i LOVE the energy here! and it would be nice. to have that catharsis #but the story of young tidestrider is not a story of catharsis. it is a story of agony and being so so small and so special and also so dum #and sucking so bad. and just being a kid and doing the things that a little kid does and so many tired tired people reacting badly to it #youre supposed to be the hero that will save us. our world hangs in the balance and you are the one who tips the scales. #YOU are supposed to SAVE US!! you NEED to SAVE US! CAN YOU PLEASE STOP SQUIRMING IN YOUR STUPID CHAIR!! #you'd think that young tidestrider ought to prevail. and be tucked someplace all safe and sound. #elders gone missing and rotting in a jail. their cultists nowhere around. but theres no happy endings. not here not now. #this tale is all sorrows n woes. you may dream that justice n peace win the day. but thats not how this story goes #BIG ideas for this lil baby gillion series. if anything i make ever gets disproven im killing myself in a well as to poison a water supply

[fauvester]

bridgerton s2 was SUCH a clayhoun slay. thots in tags

#henry clay the ACCOMPLISHED rake (also a marquis and the richest man in the county) #who apparently ruined a girls honor and left her at the altar when she was engaged to someone else #the secret is that thats not true.. she was engaged against her will and he 'ruined her honor' so her fiancee would dump her #now his reputation is ~scandalous~ but like nobody cares about all the naughty stuf fhe does do (cards gambling horse racing drinking snuff #anyways duke tom benton visits him in the country seat hes retired to to do scientific farming and raise racehorses #(tom is the cousin of the girl that he ~ruined~. he almost challenged him to a duel but his cousin stopped him) #like. ok. soooooo I need your help #in love. with this guy. but. his older half brother HATES me and will NOT let us have a single god damn moment together #please help.... i know you.... sometimes do that sort of thing for people 🤔 #clay flipping switches from Aw yeah i fucked your cousin lol get at me to UGH i cant believe lucretia fucking narced #benton like please. i will truly do anything sir. and clay like well..... thats a handsome arabian stud you bought last season.. #whats a horse to a husband anyways? dont you love this fellow? all I want is a silly little animal! #anyways at first he tries to pretend to court mr hayne. so that benton looks like the more palatable option to mr calhoun #but hayne is instantly like Im ever so sorry! but if your intents are matrimonial i am already spoken for! <3 so sorry!! #clay like hm. welll. fine I guess I gotta seduce the older brother now #mr calhoun... the serious argumentative not-noble lawyer who s fighting suitors off his rich charming half brother with a pool cue #clay instantly falls in lust. and then quickly thereafter in love... #THE DRAMA.... THE ROMANCE... THE BOSOM CLUTCHING.... CLAY SNIFFING HOUN .. SO UNSERIOUS!! #bridgie3 came out and im nutlost. thats the post

[thiefbird]

Well my sleep schedule is fucked(nearly an hour past Bedtime and I'm vibrating) but don't cry. 21 pages of Stephen Maturin trying to convince himself he's not in love with his captain, alright?

#my pages are much smaller than most people's bc i handwrite everything lmao #but i broke out my 12 years of Formal Latin Classes and Osmosis Catholocism for this #taking latin from age 7 isnt the most useful skill but i can write a mean adhoc catholic prayer #especially for the POV of a man who probably hasnt gone to church in five years #look. do i think maturin considers himself catholic? yes. #do i think he does this just to annoy people? also yes. he is not particularly practising #but hes been at sea for a while and superstition is contagious so if hes scared jack's gonna die on his table(post fanciulla) #then yeah hes gonna break out the trinity and a very abbreviated litany of the saints #i have been to a catholic church all of two times in my life and sometimes *I'LL* do the trinity in latin. or a kyrie #somtimes you just gotta chant a spell in latin. the spell is “make me less scared” and the words are whatever you want them to be #stephen maturin #aubrey maturin #aubreyad #aubreyad fanfic

[cinnamon-notes]

i have been ghosting my friends for idk a month??? and they have been doing the same??? except for when we meet in a workplace cuz somehow our jobs decided to cross over :)

#feeling so bad about it but like i cant bring myself to interact with people right now but i am also constantly sad because i dont interact #with anyone out of work :/ but working makes me socially exhausted & tbh all i wanna do is be depressed with my books & my movies &my tunes #but i also crave affection like i realize i have zero social life and i sometimes schedule some hangout with my friends but it's almost #become like idk a task? something i look at through work eyes. like- i arrange our hangouts the way i arrange work meetings. it's so sad. #i know it is. but still- i cant help it. through all my life ive been missing having a lifelong friend who knows me like the back of their #hands and i know like the back of mine. never had it. cant cry over that. it's passed. i cant invent lifelong friendships that never existed #and i gotta make peace with that. plus- what am i complaining about if im just incapable of keeping any friend for longer than a month??? #after the first month- maybe the first couple of months- it all gets boring and dont get me wrong i really love my friends but somehow they #lose interest in me and i lose interest in them and we become just people who know each other and occasionally hang out but like- i've never #had a friend who's there for me when things happen in my life. i've always had friends to tell things to afterwards. like- i know i cant #really pick up the phone and say “hey. im having a bad time. can we take a walk? talk on the phone? can you tell me about your day? can you #just be here for me?“ and i cant even idk just randomly pop up with a ”oh my god i hate him i hate him i hate him it's a whole montague vs #capulet but if romeo and juliet never existed kind of hatred!!“ i just cant vent right away. ive always thought that that's my problem. #and maybe it is. but still- how's come they can vent to me? im always there right away. i do love my people and i show up for them. #sometimes my depression makes it soooo difficult to hang out constantly but if there's one thing that cannot be said about mw is that i dont #care. cuz i do. and maybe that's the problem #and maybe it's just easier for me to care than let others care? idk? but then again- i did try to open up. i did try to let them care. i did #try everything by the book & off the book but still- idk it's always just an “im sorry” never an “i care so much to say more than im sorry” #and yeah it's my problem cuz i am not a constant person im not that steady in what i do. i still dont know if it's because i havent found #yet the people worth doing it or if i am just traumatized (my ex is knocking on this door lol) but- idk it makes me extremely sad!!! #and ive rambled on way too much but i jusg needed to let some things out of my mind cuz i cant understand whats wrong with me and why i #crave true friendships although im hella scared of and bored of and unwilling to nurturing one :) #cinnamon diary

[haledamage]

Chin for Kira and Adam 👀👀

[ CHIN ]: as they stand close to one another, the sender hooks a finger and tenderly lifts the receiver’s chin, tilting it up so that they can look at one another, and running a thumb across their skin lightly.

A bit of closure I found missing from TWC book 3. Spoilers for pretty much the whole book. 1700 words, Kira/Adam, also starring my truest Wayhaven OTP, Kira/Emotional Vulnerability because my girl thinks she’s Elsa. You can’t “conceal, don’t feel, don’t let them know” your way out of this one, Kingston, with musical guest “Adam’s attempt to  distance himself is no match for Kira being sad”

--

There was an envelope on the kitchen table that had Kira’s name on it.

She approached it cautiously, half expecting it to be another fancy invite to some horrifying auction. When nothing jumped out of the shadows or attempted to kidnap her, she gave in to her gnawing curiosity and picked it up.

It looked like a perfectly normal letter, addressed to “Agent Kingston” with the facility’s address underneath. A yellow sticky note was attached to the front covered in Rebecca’s familiar, tidy handwriting:

“Kira, This letter was given to me by mistake. I apologise for opening it, but I promise I stopped reading as soon as I realised it was written to you.”

Kira laughed fondly to herself at her mother’s message. Always so formal, even when accidentally committing mail fraud.

She turned the envelope over to find the neat slit that had been cut across the top, and pulled out the simple sheet of notebook paper inside. She didn’t recognise the handwriting, so she scanned the note quickly to see who it was from and why:

The Agency told me this was the best way to get in touch with you. I really hope they gave me the right person because otherwise I’m going to sound crazy. I guess there are two Agent Kingstons here? This is for the one in Unit Bravo, so if you aren’t her, can you get this to her? Thanks.

Hi. You probably don’t remember me. But I wanted to thank you for saving my life. If it wasn’t for you, I’d be in Trapper custody now. Or worse.

I don’t know how you did it. The last thing I remember was that big man with wings taking me, and then I woke up in the hospital a few days ago. The doctors said someone found me unconscious in town and brought me in.

The rest of the words on the page blurred as Kira’s eyes filled with tears. Her knees gave out under her, and she didn’t bother trying to catch herself before she collapsed to the floor, clutching the letter tightly as she tried to breathe around the lump of emotion in her throat.

As if in a daze, she looked down at her arms, her mind conjuring the memory of long, jagged lacerations carved into them, and the girl that had done it. She remembered her face with vivid clarity, wide-eyed with terror as Sin had practically ripped her from Kira’s grasp. 

Several of those marks had scarred, leaving a permanent reminder of that day etched into her skin. One of them bisected the tattoo on her wrist, the black crown broken into two uneven pieces. Numbly, she pressed her thumb to it; she could feel the frantic flutter of her own pulse underneath.

“Kira? Kira!”

She barely heard her name being called. The first time, cautious and surprised, or the second, harsher with the edge of fear.

But she felt it when Adam joined her on the floor. His arrival broke through her daze and what little remained of her composure, and tears flowed freely down her cheeks.

Adam’s hands shook as he wiped them away. Kira could feel the tremble in his fingertips where they brushed her face. She covered his hands with her own before he could try to hide it, pressing them more firmly against her skin. Even after everything, she still craved his touch, greedy for every second of it she could get.

He swallowed hard, but didn’t pull away. “What’s wrong? What can I do?”

She shook her head, attempting to give him a shaky smile. “Nothing. Everything is fine.” It sounded so ridiculous, she couldn’t help but laugh. It just sounded like a sob.

Finding the fallen letter on the floor, now tear-stained and partially crumpled, she held it out to him. She watched his expression as he scanned it, but whatever reaction he may have had never showed on his face.

Somehow, Kira’s voice remained strong, even if the rest of her was falling apart. “When she wasn’t with the others at the auction, I--I thought she was--” She didn’t know if she meant to say “dead” or “already sold”, or which would have been the worse fate. A new wave of tears came, and she squeezed her eyes shut as if it could stop them. “But she never made it to the auction. Sin never handed her over. He saved her.”

Adam hooked a finger under her chin, gently coaxing her to open her eyes and look at him. When she did, he smiled softly, eyes warm and shining with pride. “He didn’t save her, Kira.” His thumb brushed lightly over the swell of her bottom lip. “You did.”

A ragged sob tore its way out of her throat, and Kira buried her face in Adam’s shoulder before another one could escape. His arms immediately wrapped around her, pulling her closer until she was practically in his lap.

Through everything that had happened these last few weeks, Kira had refused to let herself cry. She had kept moving, one persistent step at a time, bottling up all her pain and fear and heartbreak. Through the bounty, and the kidnappings, and the breaking and slow mending of her friendship with Verda. Through too much work on too little sleep, and juggling more and more secrets, and buildings collapsing on her head. Through swallowing her rage as she met Anwir’s eyes and hiding it behind a hollow but convincing smile. Through the constant tidal flow of Adam’s affection, pulling her close only to push her away again while all she could do was try to weather the currents.

If she was honest with herself, she’d been fighting to hold everything in for a lot longer than that. Since Murphy’s assault on her apartment. Since she learned the truth about the supernatural. Maybe since the first moment Unit Bravo had stepped into her office.

But this one tiny, unexpected victory had shattered all her hard wrought restraint. The bottle was broken, and everything came pouring out.

Adam held her through all of it, warm and strong and solid, the only place in the world that she felt truly, completely safe. His hands were a soothing weight in her hair and down her spine, his voice a comforting rumble in her ear, though she was too far gone to process anything he was saying.

Even when Kira finally ran out of tears, he didn’t seem to be in any hurry to let her go. That felt new. A delicate tendril of hope unfurled in her chest, and for once she let herself feel it without trying to push it away.

Taking a deep and blissfully unfettered breath, she sat up a little, just far enough to rest her temple against his cheekbone. “Thank you.”

Adam chuckled, a gentle and fond sound that made her heart do somersaults. “There is nothing you need to thank me for.”

She leaned back a little more so she could see his face. “For being here to put me back together. Again.” This time when she laughed, she sounded like herself again.

Adam brushed her hair out of her eyes before settling his hand against her cheek. “I will always be here for you, Kira.”

“I know.” And she did know, but it felt so good to hear it out loud. She mapped out the shape of his smile with her fingertips, tracing the curve of his lips and the slight indentations of his dimples. Committing all of it to memory. “I’m here for you too. Whenever you need me.”

“I know.” He almost sounded like he believed it. That was new too.

Before either of them could sabotage the moment by overthinking it, Kira leaned in and kissed him.

It was nothing like the first kiss they shared. There was no edge of despair or desperation, none of the bitter taste of “goodbye”. It was slow and sweet, heat simmering under the surface but never boiling over to become something else. Hungry, but without any bite.

Adam broke away first, gasping in a shaky breath, and Kira braced herself for the inevitable moment when he closed himself off again. With as raw as her emotions were, she’d need a little more time to swallow down the pain.

Except it never came.

When he turned away, it was only to brush his lips against the inside of her wrist. He trailed light kisses along the length of one of her new scars, followed by a firmer kiss on the broken crown tattoo, and a final one in the center of her palm.

He looked up at her, naked need in his eyes and his lips still pressed to her skin, and she forgot how to breathe.

It took every ounce of restraint she could muster for Kira not to immediately grab him and kiss him again.

Adam didn’t give her the opportunity. He dropped her hand and his gaze, suddenly unable to look at her anymore. Clearing his throat did nothing to make his voice less rough. “How do you feel?”

Weightless. Like if you keep kissing me like that, I could fly. “My head is fucking pounding.” It was also the truth, but a much safer one. Still, she couldn’t help but add, “Except for that, I feel great, actually.”

The glint in his eyes told her that maybe he’d heard the part she didn’t say, too. He knew her too well not to. “Then I shall make you some tea, to help with your headache.”

“Wait.” She grabbed his shoulders as soon as he started to move away, clenching her hands into his shirt like it would make any difference if he actually wanted to leave. “Can we… just stay like this a little longer?”

Adam didn’t respond except by settling back down on the floor. He leaned his back against a nearby side table, and then his arms wrapped around her again, pulling her close. Kira released a breath she hadn’t realised she was holding. She rested her head on his shoulder and melted against him, trusting him to hold her up.

The rest of the world would still be waiting for them, when they finally decided to move. But for the first time in a long time, Kira felt ready to face it… eventually.

#rhi writes #twc #kira kingston #kira/adam #it bugged me that even though we as players knew what happened to that girl the detective never found out #so I wanted to give kira some closure and she decided 'oh I'm going to fall apart about this thanks' #sometimes you just gotta have an emotional breakdown in the kitchen at 10am ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ #I like to think the rest of unit bravo started to walk in on them #but felix went NOPE LET THEM HAVE THIS and shooed nate and mason away before they could interrupt #(kira is one of those people who looks pretty when she cries and I hate her for this a little bit)

[altschmerzes]

always good to remind oneself that it is always an option to simply block and ignore people who are being Weird To You on your posts. it is never necessary to engage. If It Sucks Hit Da Bricks.

#gav gab #sometimes people will invest their entire personality in being pr/osh/ip or whatever #and then they will take any post they can get their hands on and use it to be like #OH SO YOU HATE PEOPLE WHO WRITE FICTION? YOU HATE QUEER PEOPLE? #YOU DONT KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN REAL AND FAKE? #YOU THINK THE HUNGER GAMES MAKES SUZANNE COLLINS A CHILD KILLER? #YOU THINK PEOPLE WHO WRITE TEEN CHARACTERS IN RELATIONSHIPS SHOULD DIE? #and you just gotta look at those people and go #wow! okay! you seem normal! and then you move on #i simply dont have time for people who are gonna leap on any opportunity they can to try and trap me into an argument #about whether or not it is weird for people to be writing hardcore smut about characters who are in middle school #Do Not Start Shit With Me Over This Post #neither pr/osh/ip nor an/ti/sh/ip but a secret third thing #(a person capable of holding nuanced and situation-based opinions who writes a lot of quote unquote 'dark shit') #(but who also thinks that 'chill bro it's fiction you're the purity police youre the fan caps youre a puritan catholic whatever') #(is not a free pass to do whatever you want forever without criticism) #(no people who write a fic that happens to include rape or torture or suicide or whatever aren't monsters or whatever) #(yes people who write uhhhh rpf rape smut about teenage actors or whatever are engaging in seriously fucked up shit they shouldn't be doing) #(NUANCE. CRITICAL THINKING. NOT PRETENDING YOU DONT KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THOSE THINGS. IMAGINE IT!) #like yeah searching out a one sentence personal post i made two months ago to reblog it and accuse me of being some kinda puritan #because it had some vague language (about something not actually related to fic at all - it was abt tagging unreality) that you interpreted #as me expressing distaste for whatever gross shit you take offense at having referred to as 'gross shit' #that's totally normal and chill and non-harassing behaviour #unlike the people you're screaming about in every other post at the speed of light #good job you won being the rational adult here lmfao

[ducktracy]

Idk how influential you are on the LT fandom on a Whole but you definitely inspired me to check out the originals, and especially appreciate Porky/Daffies more. It helps that my favorite short for years was Yankee Doodle Daffy!

AWWWWWWWWW THIS IS SO SWEET THAT IS 100% MY GOAL THANK YOU!! you don’t know HOW much this means to me!

i tend to stay away from fandom spaces/don’t consider myself a part of the fandom, so quite honestly your guess is as good as mine—i HOPE people think of me or associate me with these cartoons HAHAHAHA but 100%, my goal is to spread the joy of the originals and shed a light onto the people who made them and how their experiences and input inform the cartoons as a whole, and maybe how our perceptions of these shorts and characters have changed as time has gone on…

there’s no right or wrong way to enjoy the franchise, but i really do think it is a more fulfilling experience to Experience The Originals for yourself. i really enjoy talking about cartoons that are given less love from a mainstream angle and that 100% includes the Porkies and Daffies (and is also why i’m so adamant about spreading The Porky Gospel; he gets such a bad rap and is so underappreciated and every person i’ve spread my gospel about him to seems to really like or appreciate himself after HAHAHA. Daffy will always be my #1 favorite but he doesn’t really suffer from this, though i absolutely think his ‘40s persona gets a lot of misunderstanding as well)

THIS REALLY MEANS A LOT TO ME GENUINELY. making the plunge and checking out the cartoons is the best decision i’ve ever made. there’s a lot of rightful hesitancy to be had since there are SO many cartoons and it’s hard to find a starting point (and not to mention the many, many, many, many aspects that have aged poorly and/or were poor to begin with), but i can’t begin to tell you how fulfilling this experience has been.

so, if anyone who’s following me is cautious about making the plunge, i encourage you to give the originals a chance, ESPECIALLY if you’re into more modern LT media to familiarize yourself with the source material. you absolutely do not have to be a nut like me and watch every single in chronological order, but these cartoons are so ingrained and formative in the animation landscape today that i think anyone with an interest in animation should definitely give them a chance. and, if you’re a bit of a history nut like me, it’s very fun to see the evolution of culture as a whole as the years go on… radios evolve into TVs, the rambunctious attitudes of the shorts during the war years take a more domestic turn after the war, celebrity references depend on the decade, even the stylings of music, and of course the art styles of the shorts themselves… it’s so fascinating from a multitude of reasons. i really can’t tell you how happy i am to hear this (and Yankee Doodle Daffy is a GREAT favorite to have!)

#i’ve never fit particularly well with fandom spaces because i’m a bit of a contrarian and very stubborn/dedicated to my points of view and #often times they’re viewpoints or interests not largely reciprocated by other people and so i just really enjoy marching to the beat of my #own drum. i don’t go in tags or look up fanart or anything like that #not that that’s a good or bad thing but i feel the originals as a whole are undercirculated in fandom spaces or misinterpreted/viewed with a #very fandom centric point of mind if that makes sense. and while there isn’t anything wrong with that i personally encourage people to seek #out the real thing and frame their experiences from and opinions from that because sometimes a game of telephone happens if you know what i #mean. like i’ve seen people say Bugs Bunny was 100% intended as a gay icon in good faith and that’s just blatantly false. i WISH the #intentions were in good faith and he 100% is a gay icon but… these cartoons were made by people who made fairy jokes and described their #units as being filled with ‘drunks and queers’. i’m 100% for reclamation but i think it’s ignorant to assume they weren’t laughing AT us #while making those jokes… and i guess that’s just my issue with fandom as a whole with that sort of misinterpretation. #not at all trying to be like ‘i’m better than you because i watch the originals’ FAR FROM IT i don’t think i’m better than anyone at all but #i do tend to wish people would watch the originals more and familiarize themselves with them because i feel so much more fulfilled as a #result and i want others to experience that same joy #AHHHHHH i’m sorry i hope this doesn’t sound preachy or egotistical i’m in too deep i don’t wanna come off as the fun police or like I Am A #Genius You Are Doing It Wrong way. i’m digging myself in a hole here and gotta stop but basically thank you #anonymous #asks #long post

[vanibear]

we have now reached the stage of family vacation where i have a meltdown

#mmmmmmm they were just straight up playing an antivax youtube video on tv . it took every ounce of my composure to not burst into tears on #The spot .Ive now gone to bed early so i can go cry very quietly upstairs in my bathroom #its just. it makes me insane my family is so fun and awesome until it comes to their politics !!!!!!!!!! #i try not to think about it very often .but sometimes im just hit fully with the fact that if they knew who I truly am . #there is a scary scary chance they would just never accept me. #its so easy for ppl to say oh if they wont accept you just walk out and leave they never really loved you anyway #but it’s so complicated in real life i cant just leave my family i love them !!!! they love me !!!!!they are all I have #and the thing is I never talk to them about this stuff .i have no idea how they would react and it is Scary #i ache with my whole being sometimes to just share everything with them. im so tired of secrets .it hurts I just wish i could just live #openly with them like some people do #but the possibilities and consequences are just far too grand for me for now #so I just live in this limbo. and I do a good job most of time ignoring the fact that I do #but sometimes (like tonight) it just hits me all once .the weight and burden of all that I hide from everyone. #pride month especially. it can be a very hard time for me #oh I think I hear ppl coming upstairs now gotta make it look like I haven’t been crying bc i do Not want anyone to ask .i will not be able #to answer without sobbing and I cant explain slash excuse my way out of this one without talking abt what’s really going on #And I don’t want to have that conversation for a Long time #ok byebye #kat post

[killstreak-kritzkrieg]

ngl work left me feeling particularly mentally disabled today

#i swear sometimes people are speaking another language at me sometimes #walking away while mumbling orders at me like. hello??? i can’t fucking do what you need me to do if i can’t hear what i need to do!!! #one of the guys who looks real mean was real nice to me and was like #super patient with me thank god #i had to go out in front of like 100 strangers and stand around looking confused and lost #asking the same questions like 6 times before anyone actually gave me an answer i could kinda work with #point at a vague direction and go ‘yeah the thing you gotta do is over there’ and i walk over there and there’s fucking nothing!!!!! #i was super frustrated and wound up crying