#// let me know if i should or shouldn't throw the plot of the show into this bc i am... undecided just yet.

[ashes-writing]

light my fire pt two | stranger things ; j.byers

|| taglist,babes + req rules + send ?s + masterlist ||

chapters ;

one can be found by clicking. stranger things masterlist is here if you want to see that. needs to be updated though.

summary ;

-- school projects have a way of bringing people together.

warnings ;

female reader with working female parts from birth. mutual crushes/pining, awkward but cute 'getting to know each other' phase, writer completely took it upon herself to invent an urban legend for Lovers Lake -and a 'haunted' out of order bridge to go with it, set in season 1 -have not decided if I want to have the Upside Down / it's events through the series take place here, if y'all want that, I'd certainly be willing to try. Other warnings to come as plot is decided. For contextual purposes, this is set in October, towards the end. And this chapter is later in the evening from the last. Let me know whether you think I should have the events of the series occur here, i'm undecided so for now, it's vague on that..

taglist ;

- these are the only people on my taglist. If you'd like to be added, please click the link at the top of the page.

@musichealsscars

@allelitesmut

@hcloangcls

@aries-arcade

@scoobiessnacks

@krys-orion

@heyaitsklaudia

@cole22ann

@letsbedragonstogether

@untitledarea

@icequeen1371

@suits-and-smirks

@aurumbelis

@louderfortheback

@secretsicanthideanymore

@hoeshii

@thechoiceslookgrimm

@ebonybloom

@hotgirlsshareaccounts

@oflavenderandevie

@chieflawyerpastatoad

@fandomfreakforever

@untoldshortsofthefandoms

@thatsthewaythechrissycrumbles

@Sporadiccherryblossom

@sparkletash

@liberhoe

He’s more than a little nervous as he stands on the steps outside of the brick building. It takes a minute or two but he finally makes himself pull open the heavy wooden door and step inside. The sounds of music playing softly trickle out to him and he starts to call out your name but he stops himself. 

Then he spots you, further to the back, attempting to climb up onto a higher shelf to put away a pile of books. He makes his way over and he doesn’t mean to startle you when he clears his throat quietly to announce his presence, but that’s what happens. He manages to catch you before you lose your balance and fall, holding you in his arms as he wants to disappear into a hole. He almost made you fall off the shelf and he feels like an idiot. He could’ve just waited until you climbed down from putting away the books.

Meanwhile, you’ve melted against him just a little before you can stop yourself and once he puts you down, you have to take a second or two just to attempt pulling yourself together.

“Sorry.”

“It’s not your fault. I was up on the shelf in the first place. If it’s anybody’s fault, it’s mine.” you insist, trying to reassure him. Smiling a little as your face heats up when you tell him, “Besides, you caught me. That more than makes up for any fault you think you had.”

And there’s this just slightly flirtatious tone that creeps in before you can censor it -or yourself. Jonathan takes the last three books that went up on the shelf and raises up on his feet, reaching the shelf easily to put the books away.

And then, before you can stop yourself, you’ve grabbed hold of his hand and you’re dragging him over to the section of the library where all the microfilm, old newspapers and documents are kept, excited. And your excitement is contagious, because he chuckles and smiles to himself as you’re leading him over.

You’ve already got the micro film and a short book written about the story behind Lovers Lake and the old bridge nearby set aside. Jonathan sits down and you pull over a chair, settling in next to him. 

Jonathan starts to read and you’re sitting beside him, doodling on a piece of blank paper. You start off doodling but you wind up sketching him as he sits there because the angles and the lighting and the way it just makes him look so… Pretty. That’s too good to pass up.

You’re careful to keep your little sketch hidden though because the last thing you want to do right now is making things weird or creepy. 

When Jonathan finishes reading all the old news clippings, he rubs a hand over his face.

And he steals a look at you, staring for a second or two. Watching as you draw something on the paper in front of you, the way your tongue drags soft and slow over the outline of pillowy lips. Mesmerized by it until you seem to sense him staring and sit the book and paper to the side, meeting his gaze.

You give an annoyed eye roll as you push your glasses up onto your nose yet again and he chuckles quietly.

“All of this really happened out at Lovers Lake?”

“Mhm… and supposedly, if you go to the lake on midnight on Halloween, you’ll see the headlights from the car shining under the water. They never found that guy or his girlfriend.”

“Wow.”

Jonathan was still taking in the fact that there was an urban legend about Hawkins that he hadn’t grown up hearing. The fact that it was based in truth, well.

“Okay, so what’s the rest of the legend? Like, what do people say happened?”

“Well, they couldn’t ever figure it out. One of the cops over the case said that it was raining that night, it looked like the guy’s brake lines had been cut or something, so they think someone cut his brakes and then when he was taking his fiance home, he hit a water pocket on the bridge and the car went off the edge. That’s why the bridge isn’t in use now, actually. Took all that for them to realize it's not structurally sound. Then they just couldn't fix it, I guess." you pause a second, biting the edge of your thumb in thought as you add quietly, " This actually wasn’t the first time someone drove off, it was just the first time foul play might have been involved.” you realize you’re rambling, off on a tangent and you go quiet, giving a sheepish and apologetic shrug. “Sorry..”

“No, it’s fine. That’s actually interesting.”

“One of my aunts went to nursing school with the guy’s fiance. She claims that an old boyfriend or something cut the brakes.” you laugh it off, shaking your head. “She also claims that the bridge and the lake are haunted, so…” you trail off.

Jonathan happens to catch sight of what you’re actually doing on the piece of notebook paper and when he realizes you’ve sketched a side profile of him, there’s this slightest flutter that happens in the pit of his stomach. And he’s staring at you under the hazy glow of the crappy overhead lighting as you concentrate. If I had my camera right now, he thinks to himself, this would make a beautiful shot. Even with the shitty lighting.

“There are so many other urban legends about Hawkins.” you blurt out after a few seconds when the silence is just too much and you feel the need to ramble in order to break or fill it. You laugh quietly and admit, “I spend hours going through all this stuff.”

“You like history?” Jonathan asks. Some of your hair brushes against his arm and he bites the inside of his cheek just so he doesn’t freeze or flinch or do anything to make things awkward because it’s the last thing he wants to have happen.

“A little, yeah. Especially the creepy and weird side of it.” you admit it with this cute little sheepish look, face on fire as you get lost in his eyes just a little. You’re twisting your hair around your finger and trying to get his jaw accurate in the sketch you’re doing and you must be staring a little too hard, because he looks back up at you after a second or two and nods to the way you have the hardcover book and the paper balanced on your knees. He nods to the paper in front of you. “What’s that?”

You bite your lip a second or two, gazing at him. Mulling over whether or not you should show him the sketch you’re doing of him. Ultimately, you see no point in hiding it or anything because that’ll just make things weird and right now, they’re not. You hold the paper out to him and raise a hand, letting it settle in your hair. “It’s not my best one, but the lighting was uh.. Too good to pass up and you were reading, so gave my idle hands somethin’ to do.”

Jonathan’s cheeks are on fire all over again as he looks at the sketch of himself. “This is really good. Do you draw a lot?”

“Draw, paint, write…” you laugh a little as you shake your head. “It’s not my best one. Hold on.” you raise up from your chair and wander over to your tattered and patched black backpack, digging through until you find the sketchpad that’s full to bursting with sketches coming loose from the binding. You hold it out to him and he gazes at it and then you, unsure. 

“It’s okay, take it. It’s not like it’s top secret.”

Jonathan takes the sketchbook and flips through it, pausing on the sketches that catch his eye. The one of the local cemetery explains what he saw you doing out in it a few weeks back when the weather and the leaves were just starting to change colors.

“These are really good.” he mumbles as he flips through, lingering on another page, this one a full body sketch of him, he’s leaning on the brick wall outside of Hawkins High before school starts. He’s glad he’s not looking right at you because he knows he’s definitely blushing even more now. He clears his throat and flips the page to find a random drawing done in watercolor pencil of a man in a black brimmed hat with black eyes and a bloody Glasgow smile. “What’s uh… what’s this?”

You shrug. “Just me goofing off, honestly. Told you, I like creepy stuff.” you laugh but it’s awkward and it falls silent quickly. You were expecting it, truth be told, outside of your mother and the aunts, nobody really gets your dark humor or the attraction to dark and scary things. 

Jonathan surprises you when he chuckles quietly, “This is really good. My little brother… he draws a lot too. Sometimes his drawings are similar to this. I mean not the same, but like… Same creepy factor.” Jonathan wants to kick himself as he stammers through what he’s trying to say because it’s a good drawing, it really is.

,,Then again, he finds himself thinking, you like her so anything she does is gonna seem good or amazing to you.”

He’s on the last page and he finds another original drawing, this one looks a little messier than the rest, but it’s of a 2 story house similar to the one you actually live in and it’s on a cliff. There’s a group of women in the backyard in a circle, the full moon high over their heads. 

You nod to it when you see him staring at it. “It’s a coven of witches. That house is one that’s back where I used to live, actually. It was outside our town, everybody used to insist the old women who lived in it, as well as my aunts and mom, were witches and had a coven? People are weird, right?” you explain, going quiet. Trying to shut your mouth before anything else comes out to make things more awkward than you’ve already managed to. Palming your face while he’s not paying any attention.

You nod to the sketchpad. “You can take a few if you like, it’s not a big deal..”

Jonathan’s brow raised as he nods to it as well. “Are you sure?”

You wave off the question. “Definitely. It’s not a big deal. I have a box full at home.”

Jonathan picks the last picture in the book -to your surprise, you honestly felt like it was not one of your better ones, and one of the cemetery sketches where the focus is a barren tree near the back and the sunset behind it. He pushes the two sketches towards you and your brow raises until he asks, “Will you sign them?”

You laugh softly but nod, digging around in your bag until you find one of your two favorite ink pens, the calligraphy one you keep on your person at all times. After signing both drawings, you push them back to him. “There ya go. So… the library is gonna close early today… where do you want to work on everything at? We can start tomorrow if you want?”

He chuckles and nods. Thinking it over as he rubs his chin. “We could do it here or your house?”

“How about my house? The aunts are making brownies tomorrow night, they always do on the weekend.” you smile and so does he. “Yeah. Tomorrow, your house… The same time as today? Will that work?” Jonathan asks and you nod, smiling as you slip your backpack onto one shoulder and tug on the straps. “Yeah, that’ll work great. I warn you now, my room is probably going to be a disaster.”

Jonathan laughs it off and shrugs. “It’s not a big deal.” he mutters as you both step out of the library and into the evening chill. You hug yourself a little bit and he nods to the house right across from the library, the one with the arched rusty wrought iron gate out front. “Is that your house?” he asks. You nod and give him a thumbs up.

The porch light is on.

He clears his throat. “It’s getting late. I can walk you over?” he suggests, wanting to kick himself for asking, it’s not as if you’re going two or three blocks away and you might be ready to get away from him by now. But he doesn’t want the little meeting to be over just yet.

He’s surprised when you smile and nod. “Yeah! I don’t mind at all.”

And as the two of you wait on the sidewalk for cars to pass through, his hand finds the small of your back. You’re super aware of how close he’s standing, the clean scent of his clothes and something earthier mixed in with his usual shampoo fills your nose and you take a deep breath to breathe it in a little better. Before you realize you’ve done it, you’re stepping closer to his side as the two of you take off across the street.

You see your great aunt Bernadette peeking through the curtain in the parlor window as you stop at the gate out front and you’re bracing yourself already for the endless menagerie of questions and good natured teasing you’ll hear when you go into the house soon. You shuffle your feet against the concrete and play with your backpack strap as you look up at Jonathan and smile. “See you tomorrow!”

Jonathan smiles back. “See you tomorrow.”

He watches as you take off your boots on the porch and leave them sitting by the front door before stepping into the house, closing a white door behind you.

As he walks back to the parking lot beside the library where his car is parked, the realization hits him and it hits him hard.

If he thought he had a crush on you before, it’s so much bigger now.

And he knows already, this project is probably going to be his undoing because he’s going to be around you a lot more than he usually would. Which means he’ll get to know you better. Maybe even make friends with you.

He shakes his head at the thought and laughs as he gets into his Galaxie to drive himself home.

If the project ends with at least a friendship between both of you, he won’t be mad at it, not at all…

#jonathan byers #jonathan byers imagine #jonathan byers fanfiction #jonathan byers x fem!reader #jonathan byers fic #jonathan byers x fem!reader fanfiction #// let me know if i should or shouldn't throw the plot of the show into this bc i am... undecided just yet.

[imaginechb]

Don't Drink the Kool-Aid

Synopsis: You are considering joining the Hunters of Artemis, but Jason can't let you do that without at least telling you how he feels.

Warnings: use of the words "pretty" and "beautiful", and the plot is kinda female implicating, but I made it as gn as possible for all of you lovely Jason simps. Enjoy!

Tags: @writerofthewinds

Jason's hands trembled as he held the pamphlet. He knew he shouldn't have looked, it was invasive, and he already got what he came to get, but this made him glad he peeked. Or not. He couldn't decide.

You had asked him to grab your notebook from your backpack, you had plans for the upcoming quest in there and needed to show him. Jason, of course, agreed. It was a simple favor, but he felt honored that you asked him, of all people, to go through your things. you trusted him.

But what he found inside your backpack made his stomach do a somersault, and then a cartwheel on top of that. It was a piece of paper covered in words, words that made him want to scream and cry and throw up, all at the same time.

You were thinking about joining the Hunters of Artemis.

Under normal circumstances, he would be happy for you, and support you with whatever decision you made for your future. Hades, he'd even hype you up.

But this was a commitment, a commitment to leave camp and normal demigod life behind. A commitment to an immortal life, and most of all, a commitment to never love again. Problem was, Jason liked you. Like, really liked you.

Was it selfish? Absolutely. But Jason didn't care, he wanted you around. He wanted to take you on a date and maybe have the chance to have a real relationship with you. He didn't want to see you run off into the woods, living an immortal life while he gets old and dies.

The whole walk back to Bunker Nine he debated if he should bring it up or not. If he did, you might be upset with him for looking through your things, but you also might reciprocate his feelings. If he didn't bring it up, you might join the Hunters and he would never get the chance to be with you.

He decided he had to bring it up.

When Jason got back to Bunker Nine, Leo was gone, and you were left standing over his work bench, staring at plans for the Argo II. He handed you the notebook, and you immediately knew something was bothering him.

"Jason, are you okay?"

He meant to be more smooth with how he brought it up, but between your sweet voice asking if he was alright, and the concerned look you were giving him, it all just kind of fell out of him.

"Are you going to join the Hunters of Artemis?"

You blinked at him a couple of times before realization set in. "Oh, you found the brochure, right?"

Jason couldn't read your mood. You didn't seem angry, but you weren't enthusiastic either. He did the safe thing and nodded silently.

You sighed. "Yeah, I was thinking about it. I'm still not sure on my decision. Lady Artemis asked me herself last summer after the war, and I told her I would think about it, but it's a big decision. Lots of benefits... but it's also a lot to give up."

Jason was silent for a moment before he spoke again. "Please don't join."

You looked at him, a bit shocked. "I'm sorry?"

He took a deep breath. "I know it's selfish, and I really shouldn't be influencing your decision, but I can't help it. I really like you, Y/n. If you don't like me back, that's okay. If you've already made up your mind, that's okay. I just couldn't let you join the Hunters without at least telling you how I feel."

You were stunned. Wide eyes, mouth agape, stunned. You looked him in the eyes for a second, then your gaze dropped to the floor. "Jason, I... this is a lot to take in. I haven't made my decision, and I'm not rejecting you, it's just... I need time. It's a lot."

You backed toward the door of Bunker Nine, notebook in hand.

Jason looked at you, his heart somewhere between fluttering and breaking. It wasn't a 'get lost!', but it also wasn't a 'yes, I want you too!'.

"Okay," he said. "That's fine, take your time, I'm not... I'm not going anywhere." He chuckled, a heartbroken mockery of a laugh, and scratched the back of his neck.

You left, and Jason let out a breath he didn't know he was holding in. What just happened?

Meanwhile, your mind was racing. He liked you. He liked you. After pining after the seemingly clueless Jason, you finally decide to move on and leave the idea of him behind, only for him to come out of nowhere and have feelings for you? Did he expect to drop this bombshell on you and you'd just... drop the idea of joining altogether? Who was he to ask you not to do this?

You didn't know where you were going, you just knew you needed to get away and think.

~

The canoe lake at camp was beautiful, especially when it was empty. The greenish color of the sea combined with the sun glimmering off the surface, the deep green trees dusting the edges of the shore. Sometimes you could see the naiads waving up at you from the depths.

It was your favorite place at Camp Half-Blood.

You were there about ten minutes before a naiad named Cordelia swam up to the surface. She poked her head out of the water and grinned at you. "Whatcha thinkin' about, Y/n?"

"I'm, uh... I'm having guy troubles..." you admitted, somewhat sheepishly.

Cordelia lit up. "Oooh! Can I help?"

Cordelia was one of your closest friends at camp. You would come to the lake and talk to her or swim together, and she would offer you advice when you needed it. She was always so carefree, and you envied that about her.

You explained the situation to her, and how it made you feel, and she listened intently before humming.

"Sounds to me like this guy really likes you. I mean, you wouldn't ask someone you don't seriously care about to give up immortality for you, right?"

You hadn't thought of it like that. "Well, no... but what gives him the right?"

"Dunno," she said. "I think he just doesn't want to lose his opportunity. Oh, to have a hero falling at my feet like that..." Cordelia swooned.

You sat in silence for a moment, thinking about what she said.

"So, is he cute?"

"Cordie!" You blushed and found a sudden interest in your feet. "Yeah, he is."

"Then what's stopping you? If things go south, you can always join the Hunters later! If I were you, I'd see where it goes with this Jason guy."

"You're right, Cordie," you sighed. "As always. Thank you."

She beamed at you, and you took your leave.

Heading back to your cabin, you were somehow thinking harder after your conversation with Cordelia the naiad. You knew she was probably right, but that didn't mean you were completely ready for what it meant.

It was still a lot, and you needed time.

~

Three days. That's how long it had been, and Jason was losing his mind.

Sure, he told you to take your time, but it was killing him inside. He knew it was a big decision. Live an immortal life as a Hunter, running through the woods and killing monsters with your eternal family, or stay here at camp and go out with the former-amnesiac son of Jupiter until he has to leave on a potentially deadly quest, and go back to his own camp.

Honestly, he knew what he would choose, and it was breaking his own heart.

By the end of day three, he was ready to accept that you didn't like him back, and you were just too nice to shut him down immediately. That's when you sat by him at the campfire, and asked him if you could talk afterwards.

He may have said yes a little too quickly to be casual.

After the campfire, the two of you walked to the beach side by side. You didn't have long before the harpies would be out, but you had long enough.

You stopped before you reached the water, turning to face each other in the sand. Even though you had that serious look in your eyes, and Jason had the feeling that you were about to break his heart, he couldn't help but notice how pretty you looked. Your hair tousled gently by the breeze, your camp necklace resting gently against your collarbone, gods, you were beautiful.

He shook himself out of it before you could get uncomfortable with his staring.

"So..." Jason started awkwardly. "About eternal life and—"

"I like you too, Jason," you interrupted him. "I'm not going to join the Hunters."

It was Jason's turn to be stunned, staring at you incredulously while the waves crashed to your left. "You're... not?"

"No, I'm not. I just needed time to process things. It was a lot, you know? Suddenly finding out that someone you've liked for a long time has feelings for you, but ultimately having to decide if you're going to accept that and be with him, or move on and join a group of immortal monster hunters? It's a lot."

Jason chuckled and took a step towards you. You reached for his hand, holding it in your own.

"But I think... deep down, I always knew I would pick you."

He couldn't believe his luck. You picked him. Over immortality, you picked him. And he'd be damned if he wasted this chance.

Between Piper, who he had supposedly been dating and who he should love, and Reyna, who he had real history with and who loved him, he was being torn in two directions, neither of which he was sure he actually wanted.

To him, you were clarity. You were the one he wanted. You were the one he thought about constantly, the one who made his heart beat faster.

And you wanted him, too.

"So... does this mean I can ask you out?" he asked shyly.

You smiled at him. "I would love that."

#toa #trials of apollo #hoo #heroes of olympus #pjo #percy jackson and the olympians #chb #pjo hoo toa #percy jackson #camp jupiter #jason grace #jason x reader #jason grace x y/n #jason grace x reader #jason grace x you #jason pjo #jason hoo #jason toa

[revolversandlace]

The Dangers of Summer

Dutch/Arthur/John x f!Reader

Warnings & Tags: Explicit, Smut, Swearing, M/M/M/F, f!Reader, Plot? What Plot? DubCon, No Y/N, Minors DNI

Word Count: 2.8k

Summary: Dutch asks you to rob a homestead, unfortunately the loot isn’t what you expect. 

A/N: I’m sorry I got horny and this happened. It is what it is.

AO3 Link

You’d been with the gang some weeks now, and not a day had gone past without the men trying to break you.

You weren’t even sure why they brought you into the fold, except for them to tease you with dead end goose chases or some impossible challenge even they couldn’t complete.

One day after the other, you were just as keen as the last to prove yourself fit for the gang. And just when you thought you were on a job to prove yourself, it turned out to be another waste of time.

‘Miss,’ Dutch called, beckoning you to his tent, the dramatic classical music playing softly in the background and he puffed on his fat cigar.

You marched over, as your boots crunched over the leaves.

He leaned back in his chair, hands folded behind him, watching your every move. You could feel his eyes boring into you. His face was impassive but his gaze held you in place. You stared back at him, throwing your hands in the air.

'What is it now, Dutch?'

'It'd pay you to show some more respect around here, Miss.'

You pursed your lips taking in a deep breath. 'I'll try my best,' you said coolly.

He nodded slowly. 'Good girl. Now I have a job for you.'

You arched an eyebrow. 'Another one? I'm getting tired of these endless jobs that don't go anywhere.'

'This one will be different.' He took off his hat and placed it on the table. His hair was disheveled, falling over his forehead and he looked like he hadn't slept in days. 'It's a homestead in south Leymone, not far from Braithwaite Manor.'

'Am I supposed to find anything there or will it be like the last one?'

Dutch laughed, a low and filled with danger. You really were beginning to think that perhaps this gang wasn't the right fit for you. But then again if you didn't want to join them maybe you shouldn't have come along with them in the first place.

'I expect there to be the usual wares. Jewellery... Cash,' Dutch waved his hand dismissively. He reached to the inside of his waistcoat, pulling out a silver pocket watch. 'If you leave now, you might make it for sundown.'

'Is that all?' You asked surprised. You felt like you should have been doing something more than stealing jewellery and money.

'That's enough for now,' Dutch said looking at you intently. 'Now gear up and let me see what you can do.'

You did as he instructed, quickly putting on your hat and grabbing your gun belt from where it hung in your tent. As you walked towards your horse, Arthur stepped in front of you, blocking the path between you and your mount.

'Finally got a job, I hear.' Arthur said, his smug smile plastered all across his face. Since being within the gang, Arthur had barely said more than four words to you, usually opting for silence and grumbles.

'Get out of my way,' you sighed, already exhausted with the men of the gang.

'Not until we talk about how you're going to repay us for saving you from those bandits.'

'You saved me? That's news to me.'

'You know we did,' Arthur snorted, placing his large hand on your shoulder and leading you towards your horse.

'Arthur, if you've got any issues, take it up with Dutch, okay?' You said, your voice tight as you shook his hand from you.

'Oh I will,' he said with a smirk, tugging at the brim of his hat as you hoisted yourself onto your horse.

You rode away without another word, wanting nothing more than to get out of there. You were sick of their constant teasing and taunting and wanted to be left alone. You didn't care much for Arthur but at least he was easy to deal with compared to the others.

You rode hard, reaching the homestead just before sundown. The sky turned to a bright orange hue, bathing the trees in a golden light as the birds began to sing their evening song.

Hitching your horse and throwing a sack over your shoulder, you checked your revolver and opened the barrel to see six rounds nestled in the metal. You flicked the gun with your wrist, closing it back up and you made your way to the house.

One by one, you checked the windows to make sure the house was empty. You heard nothing and saw even less, as you rattled the back doorknob and pushed it open.

You raised your gun and you pulled up your bandana over your nose and mouth, your skin prickling with excitement. Finally, a job where you could show your worth to the gang.

You checked the drawers, every cupboard you could see and a pair of pearl earrings and a wad of cash later, you made your way from the back room into the hallway.

Just as you were about to open the door to the next room, you heard an unmistakable clatter.

Shit.

Walking slowly towards the room that the sound came from, you lightly put one foot in front of the other, as your hand gripped tighter around the gun.

You tried to listen through the wall but couldn't tell what was happening. Was someone still there? Or was it just some noise from outside?

You took a deep breath and held it in your chest as you slowly opened the door.

What you saw however, was the last thing you expected.

'Told ya she didn't know the shortcut,' Arthur said, sitting in a chair with his foot on his knee, rolling a cigarette between his fingers.

John was sitting beside him, with a wide smile.

'I'm surprised she made it at all,' he said

'What the fuck is going on?' You said, searching both of their faces as you pulled down your bandana. 'What's this all about?' Your voice rose as your heart began to speed up in your chest.

They said nothing, as they stared at you with boyish grins on their face.

'I don't have time for this,' you said, turning away from them.

'Don't worry about her,' Arthur called after you. 'She'll come round.'

'You can say that again,' John laughed.

You stopped in your tracks, your temper rising.

'I can't believe you've done this again! Why can't you just give me a job and leave me be?' You waved your gun at them, in half your mind to shoot them where they sat. They both laughed, clearly not as threatened as you'd thought they'd be. Although if you were expecting anything from either of them by now you were mistaken.

'We're sorry darlin' we didn't mean to scare ya,' Arthur said, standing up and putting his hat back on. 'But you know how it is with us.' He smiled down at you.

'Yeah, I do. You're real shits you know that.' You said, folding your arms across your chest. 'Wait until Dutch here's of this.'

The men looked at each other smiling as you heard a laugh from behind you. Spinning round you nearly collided with Dutch as he towered over you, his black mustache twitching.

'Who's ideal do you think it was?' He said and you slowly took a step back. 'Now, missy. I've had a word with these two and they both agree. You're attitude is...'

Dutch licked his lips hungrily, staring down at you as your chest became tighter.

'Unwelcomed.' He said, his face turning to a near snarl.

You didn't know what was happening, but you didn't like it. You felt uneasy and you wanted to get out of there but you knew that would only make things worse for yourself. So instead you remained quiet, staring at Dutch.

'You need to learn your place,' Dutch growled, stepping closer to you.

You could feel his hot breath against your neck as he whispered, 'You belong to us now.'

You swallowed hard as he grabbed hold of your hair, pulling you off balance. He turned you around to face both John and Arthur, who looked at each other with excitement.

You tried to struggle from Dutch's grasp but his fingers just dug further into your scalp.

'Now we won't hurt,' Dutch said into your ear as he marched you towards the table, 'as long as you behave.'

You were scared, but not as scared as you should have been. You would have been lying if you said you weren't excited at the thought. You'd thought about the men before, although not at the same time, in the late hours when your hand would drift lower to pleasure yourself.

You didn't want to admit it but even then you were curious about the way they treated you. The way they talked to you and the way they acted around you.

Dutch let go of your hair as the back of your thighs met the edge of the table as all three men stood around you. You could feel your cheeks burning red as their eyes roamed over your body like a pack of wolves.

Arthur stepped forward and lifted you up onto the table, placing himself between your legs. He pressed his hands against your breasts, kneading them roughly.

'Now boys, take good care of her,' Dutch ordered as he pulled out a half-smoked cigar, lighting the thick end.

'Get her ready for me,' he nodded, pulling a chair away from the table and sitting down to watch the show.

You swallowed hard, as Arthur's large, rough hands worked over your body as he made his way to your shirt buttons.

'Make sure you share, Arthur,' Dutch said, leaning back as Arthur started to unbutton you.

John joined him, kissing your neck and running his tongue along your skin. You moaned at the sensation as the two pairs of hands continued to roam over you. Your cunt was throbbing, as you ran your leg up Arthur's side, whilst John continued to kiss you.

Helping Arthur shrug off your shirt, the cool breeze hit your nipples as he took one of them between his thumb and index finger, giving it a pinch.

'You like it rough girl?' He growled as you whimpered, all words caught in your throat. All you could give him was a weak nod as he applied more pressure on your nipple as your wetness grew.

'Good,' he grunted, squeezing harder on your breast. 'This is going to be fun.'

He released your breast as both he and John began to work at your trousers, unbuckling you and pulling the jeans and your boots from you as you sat on the edge of the table completely naked.

Arthur pushed you back onto the table and kissed you roughly, pushing his tongue inside your mouth as you kissed him back, feeling John's hands run over your thighs and towards your sopping wet heat.

You gasped as you felt a finger slip inside you, making you buck your hips as Arthur continued to work his tongue in your mouth.

'She's already wet, Dutch' John said, pumping his fingers into you, stretching you out as you moaned into Arthur's mouth.

Arthur pulled away from you, his lips glistening with your saliva as John continued to bury his fingers in you, curling them around deep inside of you. You continued to moan, and rock your hips.

'Think I'm gonna use that mouth some more,' Arthur growled, as he began to undo his belt.

You looked up at him with mewls falling from your lips as he pulled out his thick cock. Giving it a few pumps, he grabbed the top of your hair, and pulled your head onto his cock, and shoved it into your mouth.

You sucked hard, taking it deep as you tried to swallow it. You gagged and choked as you tried to keep up, as the other two began to laugh.

'You're going to have to learn to take it all,' Arthur grunted, as he pulled your head away giving you a second to breathe.

'I'm sure she will,' Dutch said from the chair, watching you intently.

'Open up, darlin', and try and take the whole thing,' Arthur said as you forced yourself harder onto John's fingers, the coil already beginning to tighten in your lower stomach.

You nodded, opening your mouth as Arthur shoved his cock back into your mouth with no mercy. Using his grip on you, he moved your head roughly onto him and you tried your best to breathe as your throat became fuller and fuller.

'Come on, girl,' Arthur grunted, 'take it all.'

You tried your hardest, but you couldn't. You could feel his balls tighten and his cock swell as he continued to thrust into your mouth.

You gagged and spluttered, but he didn't stop. You kept your mouth open as he used you, whilst John pushed another finger into you. Moaning onto Arthur's cock, you felt your own orgasm building.

You were desperate for release; you needed it badly. His cock was too big for your mouth, and it wouldn't stay still. It seemed determined to stretch you to breaking point. As he pounded your mouth mercilessly, his breathing picked up as his grip got tighter on your head.

You felt John remove his fingers from you, as you looked down, he pulled his cock from his trousers and shoved the thick head into your dripping cunt.

You moaned again, both your holes filled as the men ravaged you. You felt your toes curl as you arched your back, your cunt growing tighter around John's cock as he thumbed at your clit.

It was almost too much as a wave of pleasure crashed over you as you screamed onto Arthur's cock whilst John fucked you harder. You came quickly as your orgasm ripped through your body leaving you weak.

Arthur withdrew his cock from your mouth and grabbed hold of your hair, forcing you up onto your feet as you felt your legs struggling to hold you up.

'Think she's having a good time, Dutch' Arthur mused as you panted, desperate for air as the bliss tingled over your skin.

'It does appear that way,' Dutch said, nodding as he stood. You could see John stoking himself as Arthur grabbed you by the wrist, pulling you on top of him onto the table.

'I wanna see you how tight you are,' he said, his hands digging so hard into your hips you know they'd leave bruises for days.

He speared his cock into you as you mewled again, your eyes scrunched tight as Arthur fucked himself into you. You felt John's thumb circling your asshole, as he spat onto you letting the liquid drip down.

'Please,' you whined, as you felt the head of John's cock push into your other hole, the pain and pleasure melding into one.

You were full, stuffed and revelling in ecstasy as the two men fucked you.

'I can't last much longer,' John groaned, pressing his hands against your hips and rocking his hips forward as you cried out loudly.

'Don't let me interrupt you gentleman,' Dutch said, making his way over to the table removing his hat as he removed his belt.

'Why don't you come see how a real man tastes,' Dutch chuckled, stepping out of his trousers and wrapping his hand around his hard cock.

You wasted no time in obliging, wrapping your lips around him and now every single one of your holes were filled. Dutch pumped himself faster into your mouth while his hands played with your breast.

He leaned in close and whispered, 'good girl,' as he slapped your cheek.

You felt his hot cum splash across your tongue and into your mouth as you gulped it down greedily. You could hear him panting above you, as he pulled you from his cock. You felt John thrust faster into your ass, bruising you further as he grunted, his cum filling you and spilling out, dripping down onto your cunt.

Arthur wasn't far behind, as you continued to bob on his cock, the last drops of cum dripping down your chin as Dutch wiped his brow.

John pulled himself from you as you now felt empty, except for Arthur who continued to pummel you hard. The familiar feeling rose again, as you ground your hips into Arthur, as the slaps continued to fill the room.

Another orgasm erupted, as you screamed into the air, the pleasure almost unbearable as Arthur, unrelentingly chased his own as you were filled up one last time.

Arthur stopped, holding himself deep within you as you collapsed onto the table next to him panting. You rolled onto your side, looking at the mess you made and seeing the satisfied smile on each of their faces.

Covered in cum and sweat, the men dressed as you lay there on the table, legs shaking and the pain of having three men inside of you started to settle in.

'That was certainly an experience,' John smiled, picking up his clothes from the floor.

'I certainly think Miss here will behave herself from now on.' Dutch said, as the three men left the homestead leaving you there naked and beyond content. 

#reader x arthur morgan #reader x dutch #reader x john marston #reader x arthur morgan/dutch van der linde/john marston #rdr2 smut #fanfic #f/m/m/m #red dead redemption 2 #arthur morgan x you #dutch van der linde x you #john marston x you #reader #f!reader #arthur morgan #dutch van der linde #john martston #arthur morgan x reader #john marston x reader #dutch van der linde x reader #smut

[thefloatingstone]

I've potentially convinced a Discord server I'm in to do a watch party of Utena. As a professional Utena enjoyer, could you give me a list of all of the TWs that Utena entails? I know about a few, but I haven't watched the entire series myself, and I'd rather they be informed about what they're stepping into. 🙏

oh oof. OK! This may spoil certain things but I also understand the concern.

First, importantly, the show is PG13 so remember that nothing I am about to list is shown GRAPHICALLY on screen. You're never going to see detailed nudity (They're all barbie dolls) or sexual acts in detail. But the situations are IN the show and although some things are told through symbolism and metaphor... a lot of it is not.

I don't want this list to make you feel you shouldn't watch it, because almost every fucked up thing in the show is treated as being as fucked up as it is and does NOT paint these things as good or cool. As well, because the show uses metaphor and symbolism a lot, (as well as being aimed at teenaged girls) these topics are never graphic or presented as violence or in a "horror" way. It treats these subject as serious and mature, not as shock value or trying to upset the audience. This isn't Midori or anything.

So this is more if people would like to avoid certain topics COMPLETELY. But if they're not super triggered by the topic itself, they should be ok to watch the show as it portrays these things carefully and with consideration.

Also all of these triggers are plot important and tied directly to the narrative, and are not just there to be there. They all impact the story in a major way.

Also reminder what the show looks like

OK! So here's the list;

Trigger warnings for

A character throws a kitten into a river where it drowns (not graphic. Just very sad)

Flashing lights

incest between siblings (not shown in a positive light)

The characters are 14 despite not looking like it. So also sexual relations between an adult and several of the underage characters (it's fucked up and presented as fucked up)

Grooming ^ (once again fucked up and presented as fucked up)

Suicide attempt

suicide ideation

Terminal illness

High school bullying between girls

the character Anthy has multiple moments in the show where she is slapped by someone including some of the male characters

emotional and mental manipulation

The show is about "Gender is a construct. Tear it apart" so there are moments of deliberate misgendering and a LOT of misogyny from some of the worse people in the show

blood free stabbing

Parental death and grief is a large plot point

And finally; Nanami turns into a cow

I think that's everything. If anyone remembers a major trigger that needs to be added let me know.

#Utena #C-Puff answers

[dorizardthewizard]

Galactik Football season 3 rewatch, eps 22 - 24

Episode 22:

Yeah Thran, you SHOULDN'T be there! Why are you with the Pirates in the first place other than you knowing the plot needed you to help out there?

I'll always love how that memory wipe device is literally just the one from Men in Black

Honestly can't believe the Xenons haven't scored yet

Oop! Spoke too soon!

WHYYYYYYYY DID YOU LEAVE SHARKY'S CAMERA INTACT!!!! He was snapping with that thing all the time, I don't believe the Pirates would fuck up that badly. Even if Harris's cat hadn't found it, Hush Sharky could've just woken up, seen the pictures, assumed he'd had his memory wiped (in season 1 Aarch seemed to have the common knowledge that Pirates do that), or he'd had a fun night lol, and then published the photos anyway! He would've spun some made up story from them! WHY IS CAMERA

YESSSSSS MEI!!!!! epic goal

fsdkjfsdkjdfs look at this

Yeah with Vega controlling the team Paradisia girls they do feel more like androids, even if they're not supposed to be. How much of this is control and how much is their own free will? Spooky

THRAN IS ON FIRE! YOUR DEFENCE IS TERRIFIED! 🎵 Ok I guess it would be their attackers, but he's going on the offence too because he's just that cool in this match

Holy shit 4-1? Man they nerfed the Xenons. They were running circles around the Snow Kids in the first half they should have scored more than one goal then

Aww another respectful handshake between D'jok and Luur

Nork: Artegor, what are your impressions of the match? Artegor: Excuse me, but I think I have to go join my friends!

Awwww Artegor has come so far since season 1

D'jok and Mei holding hands...... not sure how to feel about this........ I will reserve judgement for now

Thran being the one to fall asleep this time I love it

Sidney and Harvey reunion! Peace and love <3

Nothing like a bit of clubbing to celebrate a victory, would be a bit weird with your parents there though LOL

Sinedd's parents live so far out they've never heard of the GF stars? Sounds a bit hard to believe in this universe I mean, I don't really care about irl football but I still know who Messi is. Also Maya STILL hasn't spoken to D'jok LMAO

Why the fuck would Adim and Aarch being in a relationship mean the Snow Kids could get disqualified. Literally the only case I can think of where they could have accused Adim of favouritism is letting them form a team way back in season 1, what else could she have possibly done to help them win? Some guy on the news accuses them of cheating, but WHAT does cheating in Galactik Football even mean????

LIKE. Look I hear all sorts of accusations of corruption and rigging every world cup but usually people actually have something to point at – poor ref decisions, easy matchups, whatever! There was none of that for the Snow Kids, I know it's supposed to be ridiculous that this is going on, but idk it just doesn't feel that believable to me as this huge deal and not like, a bit of drama that will blow over once the next scoop comes out. Sure they might lose some fans but there's no real risk of them being disqualified because for that you need concrete proof of favouritism.

Clamp spitting fax!!! Exactly my thoughts

Callie is throwing SUCH shade at the Aarch Adim scoop hahaha

Mark is having his romeo balcony moment but much more emo. It's so dramatic but whenever this happens in shows I always end up thinking about how they can't have known each other that long to be so in love 😂

RIP Brim Simbra. Didn't even get a funeral eulogy

Side note Dame Simbai's flux society shades are swag

Episode 23:

Whyyyyyyyy does Aarch have to quit because of this?? This is all.... so sudden! We've got like 3 episodes left after this one and we're having Aarch quit? Right before the FINALS? And why would you not at least discuss this with Rocket first before springing the surprise that he's gonna be the coach now in front of everyone???

It's NOT the only solution Aarch this is so dumb 😭😭 It's not like they even went for an arc where he realises it's time to pass on the baton and settle down into a new life of whatever, it had to be with the drama

I do like that it didn't end in Adim quitting her position though

And now they're throwing in like two lines about Aarch being happy about his decision and moving on, but there was no build up or arc about him needing to quit coaching!

Work it, Magnus. Of course Artie and Bennett can't stop themselves from cracking up hahaha

Clamp getting the recognition he deserves <3 Sorry Aarchtegor fans, he was not included in this goodbye speech. We can't have it all

Ooooo Tia's dad mentions he's the ambassador of the Obia moon, not specifically Akillian. Was Obia mentioned specifically prior to this season I can't remember

Geez Sinedd is the spitting image of his father

Hey check it out, this is almost a looping gif! This is not sped up, the animation really is this goofy 😂

Sooo this flashback thing Maya communicates to Sinedd's mother through mind-meld confirms D'jok and Sinedd used to be friends, which is something we'd been wondering about for a while. It would make sense why Sinedd is so hung up on their rivalry.

I headcanon that he got jealous of D'jok's life (having a parent, being really good at football etc.), feeling worse about himself, especially with him never getting an adoptive family. Maybe he even was the first to start playing football, but felt like D'jok was surpassing him and this was another thing taken from him. So he starts putting down Micro-Ice so he can feel superior and challenging D'jok, who eventually ditches him. It's an interesting dynamic, would have been cool to see some full flashback scenes about this.

Yay more Elektras water skating!

Awww rip Elektras :( Their friendship and support of Yuki is so cute I love them

Bwuh???! Where on Akillian did Rocket get the idea to recruit Sinedd back??? Like sure the audience knows he has the potential to develop into a nicer person and actually work in a team with the Snow Kids, but Rocket doesn't! Like, in my head I'm imagining they had interesting interactions in season 2 during the whole Netherball thing, but we were never shown enough of that on screen for this to make sense.

Like. With Aarch gone Rocket seems to think they need a change? HOW DOES THIS SOMEHOW CONNECT TO GETTING SINEDD TO COME BACK??? And so close to the final? Changing things around like that last minute is crazy. I just... SINEDD COMING BACK TO THE SNOW KIDS AFTER THREE SEASONS SHOULD BE A BIG DEAL WHY IS IT SO RUSHED 😭😭😭 I mean I know why it's rushed, the showrunners knew they probably wouldn't get renewed so tried to tell as much of the story as possible, that's just how it is unfortunately

BWAHAHAHA why is Sonny just hiding directly behind Magnus during this call instead of... anywhere away from the camera ahahahaha that's so stupid Sonny there is NO NEED stop being so dramatic

Rocket (to Sinedd): We need you to beat team Paradisa, you can make the difference!

Again, WHAT DIFFERENCE? Why is he so sure they need an extra player all of a sudden, are team Paradisia THAT good? The Snow Kids have been training hard with this lineup and they're two-time champions. Sinedd is a great player sure but... WHY.

On the other hand Rocket is the first guy on the show to be like: hm... maybe we SHOULD have at least one substitute for our team huh?

Rocket: Deep down, you're a Snow Kid too. Rocket: You come from Akillian, and you've mastered the Breath

UHHH, HAS HE? I'm pretty sure he left before he even got to use the Breath, actually

Sinedd is so quick to consider this offer FSDJKDFSKJDFS THIS IS DONE SO BAD I'M SORRY 😭😭 Like the concept is fine, I really like that it's Rocket calling him back (as someone who also needed his team to bring him back once) but it's just... the pacing is so bad and Sinedd's development was so all over the place that it just doesn't seem believable that he would take up this offer right now, especially with D'jok on the team

Episode 24:

Callie I know it's for your “a day with the Snow Kids” report but maybe at least knock first?

Neither Mei nor Tia are morning people lol

Oh of course Mark has a cup of tea for breakfast XD Or maybe it's coffee, idk.

The way Rocket bats the camera away 😂 Isn't it weird to do this report right before the final, and broadcast it live? Aren't training sessions supposed to be more secretive at this time?

Aw Sinedd's sister is cute

Micro-Ice: Yeah well, Tia is by far our best captain in ages, because D'jok- D'jok: Oh, yeah?

Besties! <3 No I still haven't forgiven how quickly D'jok was accepted back into the team <3 Also yeah D'jok wasn't a great captain <3

Callie why are you sitting like that. Rocket get her a chair

Oh wait there is a chair

Aww Lun-Zia's little high-five with Luur. Fun training session!

Wow we really sped through Sinedd meeting his real family huh 😭 And just like that, he's back with the Snow Kids because his little sister wants to see him play. Let me guess, Rocket didn't discuss this with the others first?

This is making me want more sports with the flux. Just imagine, galactik volleyball! I have a whole AU in my head and I will draw it one day I swear ToT

If Sinedd isn't a hologram, then why does he spawn into the holo-trainer like that? They've done that animation a couple of times in this season and it doesn't make sense considering how we've seen the holo-trainer work before. It's not them teleporting in, the holo-trainer manifests itself around them and... wait, how DOES the holo-trainer work? My brain hurts just thinking about it

Oooooh Rocket didn't discuss this with anyone and just gets Sinedd to join in the middle of a practice what a surpriiiiiise, there is no way this could go badly whatsoever /s

D'jok accepts that Sinedd is back way too quickly, I get that he messed up too but he immediately switches to “ok you're on the team, but remember you're a substitute, bitch <3” (Mark: Well thanks)

I'm still sad we don't get a scene of Sinedd leaving the Shadows, I mean the guy played with them for yeeeears they must have had SOME sort of connection. He calls them family earlier!

I like this sequence where Sinedd's flux keeps switching between the Breath and the Smog. I imagine that with the Smog being so powerful, and it lending itself to Sinedd's emotions more, it's gonna be hard to give it up.

Bennett is once again trying to find the location of a bomb hahaha

I was about to comment on how cute it is that Aarch can finally spend more time with Norata but JUST as Aarch starts relaxing, Clamp tells him there's a multi-flux bomb on Akillian LOL. Guy can't catch a break, he really didn't sign up for all this shit

#galactik football #dori watches galactik football #my posts #next post will be the last one!

[itsclydebitches]

Too a certain extent I honestly really like Ruby being battered mentally by the ghosts of ppl who died,,, I just wish it wasn’t so violent and attached to Neo. We’re in the Ever After, what’s stopping Ruby from making her way back to the garden and having a trip in Mushroom Gorge? What about her ending up in a new place that starts distorting reality? Now it suddenly makes sense for these characters to show up(minus, Lionheart, Clover, & Oz what are y’all doing here)(1/2)

On another post someone pointed out that Neo is basically just throwing all the trauma at the wall (Ruby) and seeing what sticks. Yeah, I get that, the idea makes sense to me... but it also doesn't make sense because why would Neo think that half of these people would successfully guilt-trip Ruby? As you point out, Neo shouldn't know that Penny has just died. She probably doesn't know that Ironwood is dead either unless she just assumes as much based on the wish. She doesn't seem to know anything about the Haven confrontation (Lionheart). She doesn't seem to know anything about Qrow's confrontation (Clover). And she knows Ozpin has not only reincarnated, but been traveling, very much alive, with Ruby. So if Neo is the catalyst for this attack, the attack should be centered around her knowledge:

Neo summons images of people she is 100% sure have died near Ruby. AKA Roman and Pyrrha.

Neo comes across new information in the Ever After that let's her expand her repertoire. AKA she overhears the girls discussing Penny's death.

Neo stupidly throws a bunch of random people from the "Maybe dead?" to the "They're maybe alive based on what I know, but they stood near Ruby once!" category and we get a moment where Ruby is legitimately confused about so-and-so's appearance. Maybe, like while falling through the Ever After void, Neo just cycles through people until she hits some jackpot.

Or, better yet, make this about Ruby's journey, not Neo's revenge. Yeah, Ruby can wander back to the mushroom garden, or stumble across a new form of magical insight, or deal with the Ever After manifesting her guilt, etc. and then suddenly anyone can show up because it's all stemming from our protagonist. Penny is there. Pyrrha is there. Roman is there as the first real death she's witnessed (I believe Ruby came in just after Penny has been dismembered). Ozpin is there blaming her for his latest death and saddling Oscar with his soul. Ironwood is railing against her for abandoning him - do you even know if I made it out? Do you believe that everyone else is safe? Clover and Lionheart I'd still be side-eyeing, but at least Ruby has met them.

It's by no means a bad idea but - as usual - it's horrendously executed. Beyond everything already stated, I also feel like things happened too fast? The whole scene is massively uncomfortable to watch (deliberately so) and yet despite how horrible it is, I still find myself going, "That's it? Really? Two days of depression and you're ready to die?" Given how long it's taken to get Volume 9 and the length of each season in general, I think a lot of fans have forgotten that it was literally like 72 hours ago that we had a confident, hopeful, "That was before you trained us" Ruby Rose. Yeah, obviously she's suffered some huge blows in the last few days, but it's still wild to me that Neo's revenge arc succeeded in getting Ruby to commit identity suicide through, again, a group of semblance people with tenuous connections to her guilt, after just a few days of grappling with these feelings. If we're going to go that route, at least let these manifestations be stemming from Ruby, rather than a villain's plans that work because the plot says they need to.

#rwde #rwby #mymetas

[galactic-pirates]

How about Sanctuary fandom + Once Upon a Time (show)?

Ok cool. This will be the top 5 things off the top of my head, so I reserve the right to facepalm if I forgot something important. Thanks for the ask!!!

send me a tv show/book/fandom and i’ll say the top 5 things i’d change about it

Well first off let's address the elephant in the room that there are two ways to answer this question. 1) Is how I would change it to make it more like what I wished it was, 2) Is how I would change it to improve on what they actually chose to do. Those are two very different things. I am going to attempt to answer in the vein of number two, accepting canon and just tweaking it to be better, rather than throwing out everything in favour of the show I would have written, as I feel that's more in the spirit of what the question is actually asking.

So without further ado!

(I am longwinded so cut)

Sanctuary

Will was an entitled arse and that reflected badly on Helen. Why did she allow it? I'm sure he had some skills... maybe? I mean Season One Will wasn't so bad, but merlin by Season Four I was like "why is he even here?" and "the stones to demand Helen let him be an equal partner" - I mean how was he an equal??? Like NO! Anyway ahem I would change this. Lose the entitlement, increase the respect and definitely increase the competence. I'm not saying he shouldn't disagree with Helen because debate is healthy, and even the legendary Helen Magnus will sometimes miss an angle to consider but there are ways to write that respectfully.

Ashley lives! Is Sanctuary the Helen Magnus show? Or is it an ensemble? I think it sort of walks a middle ground, and I definitely feel like there should have been room for other characters to go on their own journey's and Ashley had a rich seam to mine. The whole "only child of the Five" thing, and her bio-dad being possessed by The Ripper. I googled after one of the previous asks made me go 'hey why did she leave?' and apparently it was a network decision and ugh. No. She still had a lot to contribute. Just imagine Ashley and Kate sparring together. Ashley noticing something was wrong with Biggie and saving him (I mean he was like her father figure right? Family!). Ashley being there for Henry, roasting him as only a sister can over Erika. Being all protective future auntie when he discovers he's going to be a dad.

This leads to the next point really - amp up the family vibes. I love James Watson as a character (and not just for ship reasons). Killing him off in his second episode was so wasteful and one of those reasons was because he was a link to the past. To Henry and Ashley growing up. To all those decades as Helen's friend. James was family. Yeah we had a couple of plot-centric flashbacks interweaving with present day. I loved seeing him like that but it wasn't enough. I know I said I would try and answer this as 'tweaking canon' rather than rewriting the show, and my desire for more of The Five probably falls under the latter, but still Uncle James, head of the London Sanctuary had more to contribute.

More worldbuilding/make use of the environment. I appreciate that this was probably a budget thing but I am dying to know more about Old City vs New City. From the pilot they teased that Old City had rumours of weirdness, and season 4 showed a large abnormal population (had that always been there?). I headcanon that an abnormal is what wrecked the old bridge but how? It just would have been cool to make more use of the setting, and deepen it/ground it more.

Last one (from off the top of my head) and I say this about most things I watch but honestly more politics. I know that we had the UN and SCIU and I mean that but also not. I feel like it would have been good to have more of a feel for the Sanctuary network as it was. Hear more/see more about the different Sanctuary's around the world before the network got rolled up in season 4. The whole "everyone has an abnormal taskforce" in season 4 was interesting but why did it wait until then? Like yes the Sanctuary network had a mandate but full offense really to the military complex - I call bullshit. The Sanctuary is about helping people, not about using abnormals for their skills. The show touched on this occasionally with Kate, and the black market, and of course we had The Cabal who seemed to be corporations in it for the money. I also get that the show was relatively light and it would get depressing being too realistic about how darkly self-serving governments could be. I just feel like the delicate balance/other players etc. should have been established earlier than season 4 somehow. Because even if they supported the Sanctuary officially, I can't believe they didn't have shady underground projects the whole time.

I know, I know it was supposed to be five changes. Call this one a bonus. Something a bit more about how the secret was kept. Why the world in general didn't believe/know? Especially with the advent of the internet/video. As a big picture thing. And then so I don't make a Point Seven - consequences. More about people struggling to fit in, struggling to hide, or not wanting to hide. A bit like "mutant and proud", as why should they have to? The whole abnormals thing speaks to me as someone who is other, and I wish they had delved more into this, "putting a face" on it so to speak, with individuals grappling with what their abnormality means in a world where it's "secret". I mean if there are those who want people to know, does the community force them to not stand on rooftops and shout? (metaphorically speaking). Do they keep silence for all the others who wish to hide? So yeah. More about the personal struggle.

Once Upon a Time

Neal should have lived. I said what I said. I know that wasn't the show they wrote, but I stand by the fact that is when the show started to really go off the rails. Now this isn't about shipping anyone in particular with Emma, it's about the heart of the story. Neal was a linchpin, connected to everyone, and made for a deeper story with more feeling. He was the reason for the dark curse, he was Henry's dad, he was the son of the dark one. I'm not Hook's biggest fan (I will get to him) but Neal (or Bae as he was known then) knew Hook on Neverland. Hook loved Neal's mother. Now I said this wasn't about shipping so CaptainSwan was canon, so we'll keep that, but imagine Hook pursuing Emma with Neal still alive. I think it would have humanised Hook a bit more, to have him apologise for having let Milah down, when he let Bae down on Neverland, and to promise that he wouldn't do that for Henry. To let Neal have feelings about that, to have them come to an understanding over it. Imagine a season 5 with Emma now as the Dark One, with Neal looking at Henry in horror, as his son now has a parent with that curse, for Neal to see his dad without it, and then to see his dad take it back. I could write far more than a (very extended) paragraph about this as Neal would have added so much to every plotline they wrote (even if I wish they hadn't written some of them).

Consequences. This is a theme I sort of touched on but oh man it's true. My biggest issue with Hook is the disconnect between reality and what the characters say. It makes it feel very OOC. Just declaring someone a hero, doesn't make them one, it doesn't erase their past or grant them instant redemption. Hook and Zelena did whatever they wanted with impunity and it was all just glossed over as they were "one of the heroes now" but they never actually changed. I'm not talking about punishment here, or justice, as that's a whole can of worms, I'm talking about the fact that they didn't do the work on themselves. Regina is probably my favourite character so I'm definitely not against redemption, but she struggled with it, wrestling with herself and with her past. She made clear steps over and over to make better choices. That was not true at all for Hook or Zelena. Actions speak louder than words. I absolutely hated how the narrative said one thing, but then the characters parroted something else - it just did not make sense. What the characters said/thought/felt needed to reflect the events on screen.

Pacing, logic, common sense. I often say that up until mid-season 3 the show was better, and it was downhill pretty much after that. However, season 3 was not immune because dear oh dear Neverland. The way they just wandered around the jungle for episodes and episodes, and then everything just got all crammed into the last couple of episodes in the arc. I really, really, really hate this tendency of shows. I rant about it often. Some shows are worse than others, (Picard Season 3 was a particularly bad offender), but Once had it's moments and it didn't even make sense. Another thing I super hate is when for no apparent reason really competent and powerful characters don't use the skills we know they have. If there is a) no reason why they can't, and b) they don't because it would solve the plot too easily - that's a writing problem. Make the villains more powerful, make there be a reason why they can't use their powers, but just to have them be incompetent is incredibly frustrating. Let them be awesome and still fail - that is fine. I'm not saying they need to be successful. I'm saying I shouldn't be side-eyeing them for walking around a jungle for eight episodes before doing what they should have done Day One.

Answer the damn questions and respect the viewers intelligence. Harsh? I said what I said. I am a writer and I create worlds and yes you don't have to know everything, giving the allusion of depth is a valid strategy - right up until the point that a plot point hinges on it and it doesn't make sense. Season One started with Henry stealing Mary Margaret's credit card, and using the internet to find Emma. The town was cursed, frozen in time, how did she have a credit card? WHY did she even have one? They couldn't leave. What about food - where did that come from? Petrol for the cars. Fashion - they were not dressed like it was still the 80's. Yes, I know magic/the curse, but how? It seems like such a vital underpinning they handwaved away, and it doesn't stack up. Going with the premise of "well it's cool" is fine for a personal project, but a multi-million dollar primetime show? I expect better.

Finally in the same vein - continuity. I have referred to this many times because it annoys me so damn much. In the Underworld arc they established that a special chisel/hammer thing was the only way to etch the tombstones. Then three episodes later Hook's hook could do it. When I complained about this before I vaguely recall somebody telling me it was spelled for that. All these years later I'm not sure but I am a detail-orientated person and I find it hard to believe I would have been so up in arms at the time, if that had been the case. At the very least it wasn't explained properly/shown explicitly, and I pay attention. I do. So if I missed it then GA would have. And the entire plot hinged on how they couldn't leave because of these tombstones so it was a pretty important detail. Anyway! This is only one example and there are others (but I have rambled long enough). I just feel like they should have had a series bible where they had a complete timeline of events, where everything they had established as fact was written down, so they didn't contradict themselves or wind up rehashing the same plot point a different way, like we'd forgotten this had already been dealt with (as I had not). Once is not the only show with this issue. I yell about it often. It's not hard to keep track of your own canon and I wish shows would do a better job of it. Callbacks are a favourite of mine because yes I do remember, thank you for respecting me.

#I answer things #sanctuary #once upon a time

[fractualized]

what's your favorite form of batman? meaning, do you prefer the comics, the movies, etc? i'm really curious to know if you like any of the cheesy stuff, like batman and robin... famous nipple costumes... or if you like more of the serious stuff, like the original source material... i know you really like comics but when it comes to the ideal flavor of batman, what kind of story do you most enjoy?

For my favorite, I always go with Batman: the Animated Series, which feels inevitable for anyone who grew up watching it as appointment TV with obligatory commercials, but I've never done a poll. lol Even watching it now and noting its imperfections, it's the gold standard for me. The art deco aesthetic, the storytelling, the characterizations, you can really see how much care went into it and the respect for the lore. Not that I knew much more than the lore basics at that age— but I didn't need to, because it was a well-done show that drew me in on its own. And in terms of serious vs cheesy, it had a good balance.

And really that's my preference! I don't need Batman to be dark and dour all the time, but I also don't want it to be nothing but goofs. I like a story that has stakes and knows when to be serious and also knows when to lighten up. Bruce's costume shouldn't be the only signal of how he was affected by his trauma, but when his behavior turns shitty, it shouldn't amount to him just being a rageaholic. Joker should be a dangerous villain but he should perform and make jokes because he's a friggin' clown, like come on.

Not that I'm against takes that lean harder on comedy. Er, nowadays. Back in the day, I thought going too funny with Batman just didn't fit, and it should be avoided unless it was parody or fanfic. So I enjoyed Batman Forever, but Batman & Robin veered too campy for me, and I wasn't interested in the '66 series. I guess eventually I got a better sense of humor, or maybe it was batmedia as a whole seeming to get too gritty after the Nolan movies, but now I'm all for being silly with it. You can't ignore that you're watching a bat fight a clown forever.

Though I still want a comedic version to be, like, good. I've seen many episodes of Batman '66 now and I think they're great. Hopefully one day I can get around to watching the whole thing. I saw Lego Batman in the theater and was thrilled.

Batman & Robin… I still think is bad. Less because of the camp and more because of the plot and the takes on the characters. Another example is the Harley Quinn animated series. I enjoyed much of it for the first three seasons, but ultimately I had to stop watching because the serious/comedy balance was off for me. Too often it had these serious moments that would affect character growth, and then it would throw them away for a sake of a joke later on rather than… just making a different joke that fits with your plot, I dunno.

It feels hard to say that I "like comics" since they're such a mixed bag by the nature of an 80-year-old franchise. I am certainly not having much of a good time right now. 😂 And as a consequence of Batman being represented so many ways over the decades, if I said I prefer the comics over other iterations, would that really mean anything? … Well, I guess by saying that, it could mean appreciating the fact that there's been so many takes over the years and that the medium allows that flexibility, that it is like fanfic (or exactly fanfic) and lets someone new come in and say, "But what if it happened like this?" That is a conflict I've felt when enjoying and not enjoying comics. It allows for change… but that can lead to a frustrating lack of continuity, change that comes not from where you understood the character to be from previous runs but almost from wholecloth. Which is all to say, my appreciation for comic Batman is in constant flux.

I can't close out without mentioning Telltale Batman, of course. Enemy Within is the game that brought me back into fandom and writing. A fresh new universe with a lot of room for reinterpretation, not as weighed down by the source material as the comics. (And a heartbreaking batjokes relationship that I still haven't gotten over.) Obviously with the choice system, the tenor depends on how you play, but once again it's a story with stakes that takes the time to add some silliness, so it works for me! (And I let BTAS Bruce guide my primary playthroughs. Except for my first go at the end of Enemy Within. I know Bruce would let Alfred leave but I couldn't do it gaaaahhhhhhh)

#ask #batman #my jibber-jabber

[acrylic-reverie]

🖋 (I should have sent this before the headcanon thing but it's fineeee)

🖋 Potential Dynamic Ideas | Plots Meme

You're totally fine!! Throws my dynamic ideas at you... mostly DSMP! I'd love to hear your thoughts and preferred combinations too if you'd like to share :D

Rivals Duo ✦ I need more of them!! Gimme the friendly/competitive rivalry, or the enemies with a common goal trope. Times where they have to cooperate and times where they want each other gone -- I'm not picky! I just love the silly dynamics where they're always trying to be better than each other, as if they aren't the best of the best already. ✦ Bonus points if they finally come to understand each other's worth instead of being competitive about it and start to work together instead!

XDNF ✦ We have a roleplay going on with these two already… But either way, they're one of my favourite pairings! I write about them an unhealthy amount and I'll always be delighted to throw them into more dynamics together. There's just something so fun about the relationship of a god and their favourite mortal; one of my favourite dynamics in general is when weaker characters get their hands on a power that they shouldn't have. A mortal learning the consequences of messing with divinity… A god stooping to the level of humans and trying to learn their customs… You literally can't go wrong with this duo.

Canon Deities ✦ There is so much creative freedom with the gods of the server and I'd love absolutely any dynamic involving them! XD and HD, a little bit of Mumza sprinkled in there, even PandasPVP who I'd consider to be a pretty rare muse! The hierarchy of the divine is not spoken about enough... I wanna see the side of them that they don't show to mortals. The behind-the-scenes of their creations, the true extent of their power, even the stupid disputes that they get into with each other.

Drunz ✦ I'm a recent lover of Drunz dynamics and I really want to look into them more. There's so much more to their relationship than what they show on a surface level, what with the fact that they both have egos too big for their little human heads and share a common goal of experimenting with the revivebook. I just know there's darker stuff going on beneath it all because they're too willing to sacrifice for each other... you can't tell me they aren't crazily close to each other. ✦ The angst hits really hard with them, too. Give me all their selfishness within their relationship whether it's romantic or platonic, give me the unintentional hurting because they care too much about their goals to think about each other until it's too late. And definitely give me tragic mistakes that force them into realising just how much they truly care, they're just not letting themselves express it. My sillies.

Awesamponk ✦ I feel like Ponk writers are super rare and I was really excited to see them on your muse list! I'm a sucker for c!Awesamponk's convoluted relationship and I haven't really been able to explore it much in the past. Everything about them is so messy and I love it. All of the emotions that they've had buried beneath the torture that they keep putting each other through... not even Pandora's Box and the Egg could properly tear them apart. No matter the situation, the AU or whatever, these two stick together like glue!

Owen and Oeca ✦ Crossovers aren't everyone's cup of tea, but if you are interested, I think a dynamic between Owen and Oeca would be interesting to explore. Oeca already has a strained relationship with the Owen from his universe. Meeting a second who has no idea who he is? There's so much potential there!!

#drowse ⋆ answers #dreaming ⋆ ooc #dcathbook

[farfromstrange]

Foreigner's God: Chapter 11

Main Masterlist

Pairing: Matt Murdock x OFC

Chapter Summary: Hunting down one lead leads to another, but this time, Eliza gets knocked down hard. A ghost from her past returns. It's bound to lead her down an even deeper rabbit hole. Can she prevent the disaster that is looming on the horizon?

Warnings: drugs, language, a lot of plot, Matt's wound up and he says some things he shouldn't

Word Count: 16.1k

A/n: it’s less the title that fits, it’s the song. some of the lyrics spoke to me during the climax of this chapter.

Read Chapter 11: New Invention here on AO3!

18+ MINORS DNI

The darkest parts of Hell’s Kitchen are the most terrifying, even with the sun on full rise. There was little tourist activity, the streets were chronically empty and when someone did end up walking the streets, they were most likely carrying some kind of weapon.

Eliza supposed this was the place where Daredevil mostly operated. He never swayed further than Hell’s Kitchen, and there happens to be enough crime to go around in that part of New York for him to be satisfied for years to come. 

“Where are we going?” Foggy asked her eventually. 

They reached the brownstone. It looked all the same, old and broken down, and the homeless people on the front steps were still the same crowd she’d left back then. 

“Here,” she answered. 

She smelled the heroin reek through the cracked windows, fixed with newspapers like the works of an amateur. 

“Here? Are you sure? This is a drug den.”

“Exactly. Don’t tell Matt.”

An addict in a drug den has the same energy as a lamb in a lion’s cage. The door opened and a man stormed out. He had the pockets of his hoodie stuffed, his face pale, and sweat all over his body. When he saw her, he panicked. She wasn’t sure who he thought she was. He didn’t recognize her, she was sure of that, though it kind of seemed like it for a second. She opened her mouth to ease his conscience, but the man ran before she got the chance to speak.

She caught the closing door, still trailing after the man. She decided it was his choice like it had been hers. She wasn’t allowed to make conclusions or to judge. Part of her wanted to run after him and offer him redemption, but who was she to offer him the same thing she refused herself to achieve? Alcoholism was as much part of addiction as consuming other substances was. Alcohol made her forget. Sobering up had been the hardest thing she ever had to do, not to mention the withdrawal and physical side effects. She was proud to have overcome it, but she was nothing but a hypocrite in the end.

The wooden tiles creaked under their shoes. She met an even heavier whiff of freshly cooked heroin and crack. The grainy scent of weed clung to the ceiling. She stepped through the smoke. Drugs mixed with vomit – the blend made her want to throw up, too. 

Foggy tripped over what seemed to look like a bag. Her hand shot out to catch him. “Careful,” she said.

“Thanks.” He shook the hair out of his face. “Man,” he asked, “What’s that smell?”

“Some heroin and cooked cocaine, I suppose.”

“So, crack?”

Eliza snorted - the reaction to hearing something funny, may I add; she did not snort cocaine. “Yes, crack.”

“Are you sure you should be here?” he questioned. “With your history and all.”

“I shouldn’t do a lot of things, Foggy, doesn’t mean I won’t do ‘em.”

“Yeah, I figured. Considering we had to bail you out of jail the first time we met.”

“Guilty as charged,” she said.

“You know,” – she wasn’t exactly sure what told him that they could have a full-blown conversation in the middle of a drug den – “The way Matt looks lately I’d say you’re doing a pretty good job at showing him a mirror.”

“How so?”

“He seems to have developed the ability to actually care for someone as deeply as he cares for you, and while he has tried to push me away again, he didn’t. This is the first time he actually lets me help. All thanks to you. I think… yeah, Matt is starting to become more human.”

“He’s always been human,” Eliza stated. “The state he’s in… all this pain, it’s what makes us human in the first place, so there’s no one quite as human as someone who has suffered the pain of two lifetimes. And he’s lived just a little over thirty years, so of course, he is the way he is.”

“You sound like you know what you’re talking about.”

“Yeah, well, the only difference between me and Matt is that I’ve never been human and I probably never will. That makes him so much stronger than anyone else. You know why?”

“No, why?”

“The things he had to suffer through should have killed him, but they didn’t. He’s still here. He’s still standing. If I were him, I don’t know where I would be right now. I guess that’s why he acts that way around me; he knows I know what he’s going through, and he knows that I can catch him if the need arises because I’ve been through it many times before. I know what it’s like to feel broken beyond repair. Trust me,” she stopped in front of the stairway at the end of the hallway, “There is no one more human than Matt Murdock.”

Foggy scratched his neck. “Wow,” he muttered. “I actually haven’t thought about it like that before. Now that you mention it though…”

“He just doesn’t want to lose you,” she answered his unspoken question. “The only reason he treats you this way. I’m not saying it’s right, I’m just saying that Matt requires an ungodly amount of patience. He’s afraid the people he loves will eventually leave him, that’s why he never tells them. He’s trying to show it, but he can’t do that either because the only person who’s ever shown him, real love, died when he was a kid. I wouldn’t take it personally.”

“I’m not. It’s just… it’s hard. I can’t fight for him if he keeps breaking my back. You know what I’m saying?”

She nodded gently. “I know. Just,” she said and leaned into him, “Don’t leave him. You and Karen, you’re all he’s got.”

“What about you?” he asked.

“We all know how this is gonna end,” what she hadn’t dared to voice before became shockingly clear. It hit even harder than the drugs in the air. “He’s gonna need you guys when I’m gone,” she said. “But let’s face it, once this is over, I will be gone. There is only a five percent chance I will actually survive, and that is kindly put.”

Foggy stopped her before she could ascend the stairs. “Eliza,” he called softly.

“Foggy?”

“Don’t say that. This is not over, okay?” He grabbed her by the shoulders. His soft eyes bore into hers. “And don’t you dare say you’re gonna die. I won’t allow that. Not on my watch, young lady!”

She chuckled. “You can’t change the inevitable.”

“How are you so calm? Stop it!”

“I’m just facing the truth,” she said. “That’s my life. I’ve been prepared for my life to end my whole life. As someone who’s never quite felt human or like she even belongs here, I’m okay with where this is heading. And what’s more human than dying?”

“You know, if you only took me with you to tell me that you believe you’re gonna die and you don’t want to hurt Matt,” he took a shaky breath, “this was a real dick move.” He looked so hurt like this.

“I’m sorry,” Eliza sighed. “I just thought it’s best to tell you in case this all goes downhill today or- or even tomorrow. I’m not sure, I just got a bad feeling. You’re the only one with a clear mind right now, Foggy,” she said, “and I think you’ll understand what I’ve just told you once you need to.”

“I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do with this info now,” he said truthfully.

“Don’t say anything. Shit hasn’t hit the fan yet. I’m trying to hold on to hope as long as possible, but my gut is hardly ever wrong, and it’s telling me that this – all of this – is not gonna end well.”

“But we can talk about that when it’s time.”

“Sure. When it’s time.”

“Which, hopefully,” he said, “is never.”

She chuckled, her mind absent. She was floating somewhere over the Grand Canyon. Her headspace was undetermined. She wasn’t sure what to believe in anymore, so she simply stopped. Hope was nothing but empty promises now.

She waved for him to follow her up the stairs. “C’mon,” she told him. “We’ve got a job to do.”

Foggy wanted to push the conversation away. He refused to believe that this was the direction she had set sail on. He refused to believe that there was no other way. And no matter how many times she told him not to worry about it until the time came, he couldn’t stop replaying her words over and over in his mind, suddenly overcome by nausea and the looming feeling that everything was about to change very soon.

Eliza guided them up the stairway to the first floor. There was a commotion in the hallway. She pressed a hand to Foggy’s chest and pushed him against the wall, the doorframe making him almost invisible to anyone coming at them. She pressed a finger to her lips. He nodded. He knew what that meant. 

She slid her hand around the gun in the back of her pants. The barrel was cold against her heated back. “Hi,” she said casually. The two men guarding the door turned at the same time. “I’m looking for Royal?” 

They huffed. Their automatic weapons were charged and ready in front of them. 

“Who are you?” one of them asked. 

“A well-paying customer. Who are you?”

“Yeah, right. As long as you don’t have an appointment, we have to ask you to leave.”

“Appointment? What is this, the doctor’s office?”

The other scowled at her. “Get lost!”

“Okay.” She pretended to turn away, the hold on her gun long gone. The men chuckled at each other; they were making fun of her. Eliza sighed. “Why does it always have to come down to this?” she said. “Don’t you guys know any better by now?”

“Lady, we told you-”

“I know what you told me,” she landed her elbow in his nose, then went straight ahead to kick his partner’s side flat with the sole of her boot, “but I simply don’t care.” Her fist was finally enough to leave them motionless on the floor. She unloaded their weapons and tossed the ammunition to the other side of the room. 

She waved at Foggy. He followed hesitantly, his satchel a pathetic excuse for a shield. At the end of the hall, they stepped through the door into the makeshift office. The man she was looking for stood at the wooden table, bags of white powder and green leaves scattered around. “Royal,” she called out. The man flinched, ready to grab his gun. The barrel clicked against the back of his head. “Na-ah.”

He lowered his arms and the gun into her hand. “What do you want?” Royal asked.

Eliza handed the weapon over to Foggy to take, but he simply stared at the black object with wide eyes. “Take it!” she said. 

“Me?” he stammered. “I’m supposed to- I don’t believe in guns.”

“Trust me, they’re very real, now take it.”

“Geez, okay. Um-” he held it with his pointy finger, dangerously close to the trigger. 

She groaned, grabbed the handle, and turned it around so he was holding it far away from their possible demise. “The safety is undone,” she told him. “Jesus, Foggy, you want to kill us?”

He panicked. “How was I supposed to know?”

“You- alright, never mind! Just hold it like that and do not drop it. Please.”

“Got it,” he nodded. 

“Thank you.”

Royal peaked over his shoulder. His dark brows were furrowed in an amused frown. “What is this?” he asked. “Kindergarten party?”

Eliza dug her gun deeper into his skull. “If you don’t stop talking, this is gonna be your funeral,” she shot back. 

“Sorry, sorry! I’m sorry. Just don’t shoot me, Jesus.”

“Turn around.” 

He did. “Liz?” it dawned on him. “Man, what the fuck are you doing here?”

“I want answers.”

“And who’s this guy?” he asked. 

“A friend.”

“A friend, huh? What kinda name is Foggy?”

Foggy blushed bright red. “It’s short for Franklin,” he defended himself. “It’s a family name. My mom’s very proud of it.”

Royal laughed. It was the kind of laugh that made everyone want to cut it off his face. The sound could’ve easily been the cause of mass murder. 

“Okay, sir,” – and just as Eliza was about to shush him because god forbid, she would’ve been the next one to die if something happened to him, Foggy stepped up like a genius and said, “You know, I’m the one holding your gun right now. And from what I’ve heard, the safety’s off, which means it can shoot. You don’t have a gun anymore, so, I’d be careful what names you want to make fun of. Sir.” 

Eliza raised her eyebrows. 

“Was that good?” he asked her.

“That was- it was something, yeah,” she said. 

Royal crossed his arms behind his head. “Look, I don’t want trouble,” he said. 

“You should’ve thought about that before insulting us, punk.” 

She shook her head. “That’s going a bit too far now, Foggy.”

“Right,” he retreated, “Sorry.” 

Eliza eyed the heavy supplies of drugs around him. “Business is flowing, I see,” she pointed out.

“You looking to buy something?” Royal asked. 

“No, I’m not doing that anymore.”

“Explains why I haven’t seen you for a couple of years. Where are you these days?”

“Trying to catch dirtbags. Which brings me to you, Royal…”

“What do you need, Liz?”

She smirked. “I need information.”

“Information?” he questioned.

“On something that went down in Hell’s Kitchen, over by the docks, last night,” she said. 

“The explosion,” he knew exactly what she meant. “They’re saying it was a gas leak.”

“It wasn’t. But I think you know that. I heard about what was going down on the dark web. If they knew about the Viper, you certainly do too.”

Royal scoffed. “The Viper,” he repeated. “Yeah, I know him.”

“You do?” Foggy asked. 

“Of course, he does,” Eliza said. 

“Not personally, of course,” Royal stated. 

“Of course not.”

“But if I did I’d say his name was Ivan Borodin.”

She expected something, but it certainly wasn’t Ivan’s full name or the fact that Royal knew him. Curiosity was spiked. Eliza crossed her arms. “You know his name?” she asked to clarify. 

Royal nodded. “You want any more than that, it’s gonna cost you.”

“Seriously?” she scoffed at his approval. “I’m not gonna buy anything, but here,” she handed him a fifty-dollar bill, “That enough?”

He didn’t answer, at first. “Ivan Borodin. The Viper,” he told her. “I had some dealer come up to me two weeks ago, told me he got hired by someone called The Viper. He was scared and all that told me he didn’t have much time but that he was supposed to get an order from one end to the other.”

The pair shared a look. “What’s his name?” Foggy asked.

“That’s confidential.”

Eliza wasn’t having it. She cocked the gun. “Is it still confidential or do I have to shoot your dick off to get answers?” 

The wisest choice was to cave, he realized. The way she looked at him left no space for interpretation. With his arms raised, he admitted, “People on the streets know him as Venom.”

“Venom? The enormous black rage monster?”

“No, not that thing. His real name is Jerome something.”

The gun wavered.

“Jerome Walton! His name’s Jerome Walton.”

“And?” she pushed. 

“He used to operate out on 12th Avenue by the docks. That’s probably where they caught him. He came here from the Bronx. Real tough guy. Seeing him scared like that was, whew, something else.” 

“Thanks.” She tucked the gun away. “Wasn’t so hard now, was it?”

“With a gun to my face, I beg to differ.” 

“Oh, relax. You’ve had worse.”

“Doesn’t change the fact that I don’t like to be threatened in my own home,” Royal argued.

“Your home?” Eliza asked and looked around. “Man, I feel bad for you.” She didn’t know if it was the smell of drugs or the vomit or perhaps both.

He only scoffed. “Jerome didn’t tell me what was sold, just that he had to do it or else they were gonna kill him. So I did my research.” 

“Did you find anything?”

“Bitch, what you take me for? A fool?”

“Sorry, I was just asking.”

“I’ve been doing this a lot longer than you have, man. I always do my research with precision. I figured out where the deal was gonna go down and when. My guy told me it was some kind of serum, but he couldn’t talk about what it was exactly. Guess he needed a witness in case something went south. So I tracked the stuff to some German guy in a cancer research lab.”

“Robert Pfeiffer.”

“Yeah.”

“Did it look something like this?” She pulled the vial from her back pocket. The clear liquid inside hadn’t changed since she got it. 

Royal gasped. “Where did you get that?”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“This is exactly what Jerome showed me,” he said. The serious look on his face changed into something more distant, something that resembled fear, even. She felt the confidence shift. “Listen, I don’t know what this is, but people are clearly willing to kill for it, so maybe you should just leave.”

Eliza grabbed him by the collar. “This isn’t some new drug, Royal,” she said. “This is the kind of stuff that could pay millions. I need to know more about the people Jerome was working with. As you said, they’re willing to kill for this, and I would like to stop them before any more people have to die.”

His lip quirked up. “You know what it’s inside.”

“I do, but I’m no scientist. I’m not like Pfeiffer. This is only my insurance.” She stuffed the vial back where it came from. “Now, talk before I shoot you.”

“Geez, woman! Alright… so, the guy died, right? My dealer told me he’d die if something happened because it was the last of it, but somehow he got another order because they got that stuff from someone else, right? Don’t know who because the Viper guy got dangerously close to figuring me out so I dropped it and after last night, I’m pretty sure the guy is dead. And my dealer, which is pretty unfortunate.”

That was disappointing. “Anything else?” Eliza grasped at straws. “Any more names, places, coordinates?”

“What else you want? My bank number?”

“I do,” Foggy raised his hand. 

“He doesn’t,” she said. “Ignore him. He’s just my bodyguard. Anyway, what were you saying?”

Royal flinched away at the look on her face. “He may have said something about a storage unit where he picked up the order, but you know, he was scared and we only talked swiftly because he was pretty damn sure he was being watched. What’s all of this about, anyway?” he asked. “Why you so obsessed with this?”

“You don’t wanna know.”

“I do wanna know.”

“If you know, the same thing that happened to your friend will happen to you.”

“Oh, my- why so fucking mysterious?”

“That means you wanna tell me about the storage unit so I can make this all go away, right?”

“Right,” he patted his pants down, “I only remember the sign thing-y. He made me a little note but I threw it away because I’m not that stupid. I can draw it for you, but that’s all I have.”

“Thank you, Royal,” this time her words were soft, genuine.

He finished drawing the logo. She barely could make it out because of his shaky hands, but what he showed her seemed familiar. Eliza nodded at the note. “Thank you,” she said again.

“Just make this go away, whatever it is,” Royal said. “It’s bad for business, especially when my dealers drop like flies.”

“I promise.”

Before they left, Foggy had the courage to speak directly to him. “Maybe you should think about relocating,” he suggested. “The drug numbers are rising.”

“That’s good for me, bruv.”

“Think about it. Maybe you should go somewhere else, start another business, maybe one that’s not illegal.”

“You want to tell me about justice, Liz’s bodyguard? Mind your own business!”

“I’m a lawyer, I could help you.”

“Lawyer? What the fuck? What you bringing a lawyer here for?” he asked Eliza. 

She rolled her eyes. “Security, I told you,” she said. 

“You’ve gotten boring, man.”

“I know. Just trying to make the world a better place.”

“You’re at the wrong address here. Now, you better give me my gun back and leave before I change my mind.”

“Change your mind?” she snorted. “I can kick your ass in my sleep. Thanks for the info though. It was nice seeing you again, Royal.”

He took his gun back quickly as Foggy handed it to him. “Can’t say the same about you,” he said.

“Ouch.”

“Get outta here!”

She threw up a peace sign. “See ya around, Royal!”

“No, you won’t.”

“No, I won’t.”

Eliza punched Foggy hard in the shoulder as soon as they were out. “You could’ve gotten yourself shot!” she said. “What is wrong with you?”

“I’m sorry, I panicked!” He hugged his satchel tighter. “Maybe you should’ve taken Matt. He’s way more intimidating than I am.”

“The guy would be high by now, with his senses and everything. No, you’re good, you’re just a bit stupid sometimes.”

“Wow, thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” 

“So, what do we do about the logo?”

Eliza scanned the note with her phone. “I have this app,” she explained. “Tony taught me how to code, so I know a thing or two about writing programs.”

Foggy looked over her shoulder. “What does it do?” he asked.

“The app runs the drawing through every database there is. Storage Units and every other business are documented in ledgers and on websites. The program filters logos that look like this one or might resemble it and gives me a list of possible hits.”

“Can I download it on the App Store?”

“Not yet. Didn’t want to sell the code. I could create it for you though. Shouldn’t be too hard, I have the blueprint somewhere. I mean, it’s not as smart as Jarvis, but it’s something.”

“I’m so impressed right now.”

“Okay, Foggy, I think we’re going a bit too far now.”

“Sorry. I just think you made me fall in love with you.”

She chuckled. “Happens to the best of us.”

The phone pinged after another minute. Bingo.

“StorQuest Storage!” Eliza burst through the door into the apartment. Matt almost dropped his cereal bowl.

Foggy entered after her. It looked like he had been running up the stairs. “How is it that your little legs manage to run faster than mine?” he panted. 

“Those little legs are about to kick your ass,” she retorted. “Anyway, StorQuest Storage. We got it, Matthew!” 

Matt frowned. “What?” he asked.

“StorQuest Storage,” she said. “The seller that brought the serum to the warehouse met the supplier at this storage facility.” She slapped her phone down on the table. He eyed it first, then trailed his head up to Eliza. His mind reeled.

“You know he can’t see that, right?” Foggy said. 

“Right, my bad. Sorry.”

“How did you find that out?” she’d never seen his eyes so wide and impressed before.

The honey brown of his irises looked so adorable in the soft sunlight; she could’ve sworn she saw speckles of green, whenever the sun stood right in the sky. His hair was still disheveled in all directions and the cuts on his face slowly turned from red to blue to green. He stood like a lost puppy in his kitchen, attention diverted completely toward the girl in his apartment. 

“I talked to the right person,” she said.

“Was that person a drug dealer?”

She knew he’d bring that up.

“Let me guess, I smell like heroin?”

“Foggy does. Among other things.” His jaw clenched. “What were you doing in a drug den?”

“Getting information. From a drug dealer.”

“Why the fuck would you go to a drug dealer for information?”

“Why the fuck wouldn’t I? Drug mules actually prove to be pretty reliable sources."

Matt's sigh was one of disappointment. "Alright," he mumbled to himself.

"Matt," she realized she'd made him upset. "Matt, talk to me."

"Take your shirt off," he said instead.

Her jaw dropped. "Pardon?"

Foggy stood there with his eyes wide. “I’m not down for a threesome,” he said. 

"I don't see how that's relevant."

“Take it off, now,” Matt repeated. 

“Why?” she asked. 

"The smell's killing me. Now, I know you don't like to talk about it and while I don't like you going out and about with drug dealers, I won't force you to speak about something you're not ready to share with me yet. But please, for the love of all that is holy, let me wash that shirt!"

Matt Murdock didn't settle. He didn't move on after something like this. He closed chapters before they were finished and then he abandoned them, scared of the ending, even if there was a silver lining hidden somewhere in there.

Eliza had the choice once again. Like the night they first met though, she was sure she had made a bad judgment call and she would regret it, but it would always be worth more than doing nothing at all. Perhaps she could still fix him. Perhaps…

“StorQuest Storage," he said. "What’s it mean?”

Eliza scrambled to pick up her brain again. “Uh, it’s- it’s where the seller got the serum from the supplier, I told you that,” she said.

“Yes, but there’s more to it, isn’t there?”

Foggy stepped forward. “The seller’s name was Jerome Walton. Here,” he searched for the name on his laptop. “The guy’s got a record. Larceny, B & E, assault, attempted murder, possession of illegal substances, possession with the intent to sell, possession of an illegal weapon–“ he stopped. “That’s a lot of possessions for a single person.”

“He’s a drug dealer,” Eliza deadpanned. “What’d you expect?”

“Oh, there’s more! He was the suspect in an alleged human trafficking case in which Russian girls were found in a container at the Hudson.”

Matt opened his mouth. Trafficking. Young girls. He felt sick. “Foggy, how long ago was this?” he asked.

“Three weeks,” he read. 

“Three weeks…”

“My source said they’d approached him about two weeks ago,” said Eliza. “This can’t be a coincidence. I mean, Jerome used to work down at 12th Avenue. They must’ve recruited him there.” 

“This could be it,” Matt told her, nudging her slightly. He sensed the hesitation. She tried to pull away. He took her hand regardless. 

"This could be the key," she kept saying to herself as she paced the kitchen floor. "This could be it. I solved it. I solved it."

This could be it. This could be the key.

Eliza dried her cheeks with the rough insides of her palms. “We, uh, we need to talk about our next move,” she said. “StorQuest Storage. What do we do?”

She realized they were staring at her. “What?”

“You sure you’re okay?” Foggy asked.

“Yeah, fine. I’d be better if this were all over. It’s just… the anxiety, I can’t control it.” She returned to the laptop.

The truth was, she didn’t know how to feel. She freaked out, that was normal. She worried too much. She worried too much about the wrong things and that was dangerous. Feelings were dangerous. She didn’t know what was happening to her. She was terrified. The anxiety she could deal with, but fear was something else entirely. The fear struck through her skin into her bones. It became part of her. She was scared of herself – she was scared of her feelings, scared of him, scared for him. No right way to explain it, words weren’t enough. 

The state of not knowing is the most unpredictable state known to man, and that was exactly why Eliza couldn’t help but be numbed by the fear it came with. 

“Karen, Karen, Karen!” Matt’s phone called out from the bedroom. 

The three of them exchanged a look before Foggy blurted out, still bitter from the fight before, apparently, “Oh, so it does work!”

“I plugged it in,” Eliza admitted. Matt was more than glad for her save. “You know before you busted me in his bedroom.” She grinned cheekily back at him. 

 “Doesn’t matter,” Foggy said. “You gonna answer that, or not?”

“No,” Matt said. 

“Why? It’s Karen.”

“She’s just gonna ask me what’s going on. I don’t have the nerve to lie to her right now.”

She saw what he was about to say. “Don’t,” she warned. “No more fighting.”

Just in time, the ringing stopped, followed only seconds later by Foggy’s ringtone filling the apartment. “You gonna get that?” she asked him. 

He scoffed. “I hate you so much sometimes.” He pushed the green acceptance button. “Karen!” he answered. “What’s up?”

Matt tilted his head to listen in. For a second, Eliza considered asking him to translate, but then she remembered that it was their law firm and for once, this was a personal issue she shouldn’t get involved in, so she ignored the urge to be curious. Instead, she went into the kitchen to fix herself another coffee. The lack of sleep was slowly putting more and more weight on her burning eyelids. 

“I was checking on Matt,” Foggy said. “I think he has the flu, that’s probably why I feel a little sick myself. You don’t know how he is when he gets sick. It’s almost like he’s having a psychosis.”

He shook his head at her. “Not true,” he mouthed. Eliza chuckled. Then, his smile dropped. 

“NO!” Foggy almost yelled. It was loud enough to echo. “You don’t need to come over,” he said. “Really, I can take care of him just fine. It’s- well if the case is that important, I’m sure you can just send me an email- we don’t even know if we’re gonna take the case, Karen. For all we know, it may be useless to defend this guy… yeah, I know he’s in jail, but maybe there’s a reason for that. If I had the file, I could take a look and then get back to you.”

Matt motioned a hand at his friend. He excused himself and placed the phone on his shoulder, “What?”

“Go,” he said. 

“What?”

“Go to the office. Take the case.”

“Matt-”

“This is not about you helping us, this is about Nelson & Murdock.”

“If I go there, Karen will know that I am not sick with the flu!”

“We need to keep our doors open, Foggy.”

“Oh, so just because you don’t like doing your job, I have to?” He scoffed. “Unbelievable. And I hate that you’re right.” Foggy lifted his hand off the speaker again. “You know what,” he told Karen, “I’ll come over and take a look at it in person. Just try to keep your distance because I might be infectious and the last thing we need is for us all to be sick and hallucinating. Not- not that I am hallucinating. Matt is, but he’s asleep right now, so I guess I can spare a couple of hours. I just need to lock all the doors and make sure he doesn’t get on the roof. I swear he’s like a cat when he’s sick. Anyway-” he reached for his bag, “I will be right there. Call the family and tell them to meet us at the office.”

Eliza wordlessly handed him a to-go cup she found stashed away in the kitchen after he had hung up. 

“Thank you. You guys stay safe, alright?” 

“We’ll be fine,” Matt said. 

She wanted to punch him. “We’ll try our best and call you if there’s anything new,” she phrased it way better. 

“I’ll be counting on it,” Foggy said. 

The door fell shut behind him, leaving Matt and Eliza alone in his apartment. She hadn’t realized before that he was wearing his glasses. She got so used to him not wearing them around her, it confused her a little. 

She felt confident to make an assumption after she made sure Foggy was gone. “You don’t like it when he sees your eyes because that makes it easier for him to read you.”

“What?” he asked. 

“Foggy. You’re wearing your glasses again. You don’t do that around me.”

He appeared behind her in the kitchen. This time, she allowed him to take the beer bottle from the fridge. He tried to remove the cap with his hand, but he flinched away in pain as his muscles tensed. The stitches pulled hard and heavy, and the wound underneath began to throb. 

Eliza took the cold glass. She twisted the metal to the left. It gave in with a loud click. 

“Thank you,” he said, but she didn’t hand it to him, not yet. She guided the bottle to his hand, though not without trading it for the glasses on his face. He raised his eyebrows. She could’ve sworn he was staring at her, following her with his eyes, although it wasn’t possible. The challenging look he held made her shiver. 

It wouldn’t have been Eliza if she had just taken the awkwardness of the situation and dealt with it. She slipped them on her face. “I have a question, Mister Murdock,” she said. “How exactly do you see through these?”

The thought process flashed perfectly across his eyes. No matter how miserable the joke was, his tense expression cracked up the second he managed to make sense of what she had just said. He laughed. It was a quiet one, and it was barely there, but his grin was enough to make her smile. 

“Thank God. I was starting to think you’d lost your humor completely.”

“You see,” Matt began, “There is this thing I have, Miss Bennett.”

“Oh, really?”

“It’s called chronic blindness.”

She snatched the beer bottle from him, took a sip, and then gave it back to him. “Sounds serious,” she said. 

“Incurable, I’m afraid.”

Eliza chuckled to herself. “I like this version of you better.”

“What version?”

“The one who isn’t afraid to be himself.”

“Well,” he reached for his glasses, “At least I’m not a thief,” he said, and promptly, he stole them back. He put them back on his nose. “Now, don’t we have a storage unit to investigate?”

She sighed. “I mean, yeah. We should go there.”

“Yeah,” Matt agreed. Something soft hit him in the face. He knew what it was, judging by the horrendous smell, but he didn’t make an effort to catch it. “Ow?”

“May I make use of your closet to get a new shirt, Mister Murdock?” she asked. 

He felt stupid. The blood rushed to his cheeks knowing she was standing there in only her bra – lace, he could tell by the way it moved against her skin – and that she didn’t even try to hide it. Karen had done it too, the night she spent at his apartment after he and Foggy got her out of jail. He had told Eliza it was fine, he couldn’t see, but the knowledge alone made him feel like a teenager all over again. 

He scrunched his nose. “Yeah,” the answer came quietly. 

“Thank you. Anything, in particular, I am not allowed to wear?”

“Knock yourself out.”

She disappeared into his bedroom. The fabric kept brushing against more fabric as she gently rustled through his drawers. She steered clear of his dress shirts, knowing they were ordered a certain way. His collection of sweaters and sleep t-shirts was messy though; the only way he could tell them apart was by fabric. The clothes he wore more often were all sorted in a certain way, but since he hardly wore anything other than his suits and sweatpants on off days, there was a lot he didn’t mind being taken. 

Not that he would’ve minded if Eliza had walked out with one of his suits. The thought alone excited him in a perverted way and he hated himself for thinking that way. 

Her boots patted against the floor. “You know,” she said, and he turned his head in her direction, “This is actually a tight fit.”

“What’re you wearing?” Matt asked.

“I don’t know. It’s black, that’s for sure. And it’s tight. Long sleeves, too.”

He smelled the faintest remains of sweat and blood that stuck to the fabric. “That’s my-“ he didn’t finish. 

“What?” he only imagined the innocent look on her face. 

He thought he had a problem with her wearing it, but those times were over and he no longer needed it. The shirt was just that, a shirt. Nothing more. It had been a symbol once, but that symbol had long been replaced by something else. 

“Never mind,” he waved her off. “Probably looks good.”

He knew it did. She felt comfortable in it, too. And she smelled like him, which was a bonus. 

“It’s comfortable. Not too loose, not too tight. Feels like I’ve seen you wear it before, but I can’t remember when. It’s weird.” 

“Yeah. Weird what tricks your mind can play, right?”

Maybe she looked like him, minus the mask and the black jeans. She was wearing boots though and her hair was braided, he could tell. It didn’t move against her shoulders too much and her natural scent radiated off her throat without any borders to filter it. 

“Anyway,” she said, reaching for her old shirt. He frowned at the simple action. As she walked through the open bathroom door, her voice sounded back to him. “We need to go to StorQuest Storage and see what connection the place has to Jerome.”

He heard the washing machine open. She popped the shirt in. The laundry detergent was hidden in plain sight. She poured some of it in, as written on the instructions. Exactly the right amount. 

“It’s, unfortunately, the only way if we want to find answers.” 

She was about to suggest something, but knowing her, he cut her off. 

“I won’t let you do this alone this time,” he said. 

His washing machine made the sound it always made whenever the chosen program started. She peaked her head around the corner. “But-”

“No. You said you can’t do this yourself and I won’t let you.”

“You’re probably right,” she came out with a sigh. “I’m worried about your injuries though. You can’t walk around like you’re healthy and risk internal bleeding. I mean, it wouldn’t help any of us.” 

He directed his eyes to the ceiling. “I’m gonna be fine. I fought a bunch of guys in a hallway after my lung almost collapsed and I survived. It’s no big deal.” 

Eliza stared at him in absolute horror. “That’s supposed to make me feel better?!” she asked. 

“No, probably not. Heh.”

“God,” she pinched the bridge of her nose. “Let’s say you go in as yourself. Maybe not tell anyone you’re Matt Murdock. This is a storage facility. It’s not like anyone cares. And even if they do, I have ways to lie my way out of things.”

“I’m not Matt Murdock if I can’t be Daredevil, Eliza.” 

Her eyes softened. “For all I know, you’re just a lawyer. People look at you and they see a blind man. They don’t see a city-wide known vigilante. I mean, we can hide the bruises. There’s concealer for that. And if anyone asks, you just had a fight with a raccoon.”

Matt deadpanned at her. “This is your understanding of a good excuse?” 

“You were drunk,” she suggested.

“No.”

“Well, what do you tell your friends when you come in with a shiner like that?” she pointed to his eye. “You know, before even Foggy knew, how did you explain all the bruises?” 

He pursed his lips. “I stumbled, hit my head. I once said I got into a car accident, but I doubt Karen believed me. I know she didn’t.” 

“Really?” Eliza glared at him. “And she didn’t believe you?” 

“Yeah. Although I did look the part.” 

“I can’t believe you made it this far without anyone finding out. Blows my mind.”

“Well, I am blind.”

“Your excuses are terrible. Do better.”

“Ha ha,” he breathed out. “Very funny. I mean, do we even know what we’re looking for?” he quipped.

“No,” she said, “but we have a face and a name. How hard can it be?”

Very hard, apparently. 

“On second thought,” - Eliza stared at the maze of storage units - “Maybe I was wrong.”

When they arrived at the storage facility, the woman at the front desk eyed them wearily. 

“She’s not gonna give us anything,” Matt whispered in her ear.

Eliza figured as much. 

“Welcome to StorQuest Storage. What can I help you with?” the woman asked.

“Sorry to barge in like that,” Matt greeted her with a charming smile. “It’s just that I and my wife were looking to rent one of your storage units to keep our furniture before we move into our house. A friend of ours recommended this place.”

The woman eyed Eliza. Something didn’t feel right. Her fingers drew circles. The smoke conquered her soul. For a second, the woman’s body went entirely stiff. When her eyes opened, there was a glow inside of them. Her mood shifted. Eliza felt the pressure of an unloving husband and kids that danced around the house, not cleaning a single inch. They struggled with money and it made her sad, it made her bitter. She wasn’t open to persuasion. With one flick of her finger, all of that disappeared. Left behind was the kind of woman that was willing to help them out.

“Hi,” her voice sounded higher. “I’m sorry, what were you saying again?”

Matt tilted his head in the direction of the sizzling. The sound made the air smell sweet. 

“Me and my husband are looking for a storage unit,” Eliza said.

“You’ve come to the right place, then.”

“One of our friends came here some time ago. He, unfortunately, died in a car accident yesterday.”

“Oh, my God. I am so sorry.”

“Yes, very sad. Anyway, would you mind if I showed you a picture of him? I kinda forgot which lot he had rented and I was thinking of maybe taking it for our furniture. You know, get his belongings back to his family.”

“Yeah, sure. I’m the only one working here lately, so I remember most faces that come and go. Something about lack of staff or something.”

Eliza handed her the picture she previously printed. “His name’s Jerome Walton. Was,” her eyes teared up.

“I am so sorry,” the woman said again. Pity tasted almost like cinnamon. 

“I know,” she made the tear slip down her cheek. “So shortly after the wedding, too. He was such a good friend and now he’s just gone.”

Matt was completely bewildered.

“That must be so hard for you.” The woman eyed the picture. She caught a glimpse of her name tag. Brenda. 

“Thank you for doing this, Brenda,” Eliza said, still crying. “It means a lot. We swore to name our son after Jerome, he even had this little blanket he wanted to give us. I believe it’s in the unit too.” 

“I remember him.”

She suddenly had to put more pressure on her powers. 

“He came here about a week ago with some ‘friends’. They didn’t seem legit though.” 

“Oh, I didn’t know Jerome had friends here in Hell’s Kitchen.”

“They didn’t look too close. He rented this unit by himself a couple weeks ago, and then he suddenly started coming in more often, leaving some things there every once in a while. I’m not sure what was going on. I just hope your friend hasn’t gotten himself in trouble.”

Eliza placed a hand over her heart. “That is so overwhelming,” she sniffled. “Jerome was a good man. I can’t see why he’d come here so often.”

“I’m not sure either, but I can give you the spare key if you want. You have to find it yourself though because it’s against policy for me to even tell you this.” 

“You’d do that for us?” 

“Of course,” Brenda smiled. “Anything for your closure. I’m sure you’ve got plenty enough trouble already.”

“We do, yeah. I mean, my husband’s blind-“ Eliza patted his cheek.

He laughed awkwardly. “I was born like this,” he told her. “Birth defect. I’ve never been able to see anything, not even my wife’s lovely face.”

His grip around her hip tightened. He wasn’t enjoying this, but fortunately, his charming voice didn’t betray him. 

“There’s a chance our children might be blind too,” he added.

Eliza has never been so proud of anyone before. “Yeah, but we make it work, don’t we, baby?” She poked his side.

He bit his cheek. “Of course, sweetheart.”

“Oh, that is such a lovely story,” Brenda almost swooned. Her eyes filled with unshed tears, tears of pity, fake tears. They weren’t real, and neither were her feelings, but to her, they seemed real.  “I’m sorry for what you’ve been through. I can’t even imagine!”

She searched for something inside the key box. “Lot 435,” her eyebrows furrowed, “Though his name isn’t listed as Jerome Walton.”

Eliza twisted her finger again. She was fighting it. “What?” 

“Yeah, he signed under the name Alyosha Popovich. I don’t know what that means.” 

Her head cocked to the side. For a moment, she almost lost control. “That’s his Russian name,” she found her way around it. “He’s not Russian, of course, but my family is.”

That was such a blatant lie, Matt struggled to make out any of her usual markers. Her hand fisted around his suit jacket. The name hit a nerve. She was thinking hard about something. 

“Oh, that’s lovely,” Brenda said. She used that word an awful lot.

“Yeah, our culture is a bit… different. I’m not orthodox, but my family’s very traditional.”

“Well, if that’s so. Here- “She handed them the key. “And I’m sorry for your loss, again.”

“Thank you.” 

As they turned away, Matt leaned in. “What was that?” he rasped into her ear.

“Relax,” Eliza eased him as she eased her hold on Brenda. She slowly slumped back in her seat. “I’m not hurting her.”

“I know that, but it’s risky to use your powers right now.”

“I’m gonna delete the footage anyway.”

“How are you gonna do that?”

Eliza tilted her head. The lines behind the TV screens began to crackle. The energy seeped through it like a worm. And just like that, the feed went out.

“It was a live feed,” she stated. “There are no recordings.”

Brenda slapped the screen. “Damn it!” but at that point, the pair was already out of sight, out of mind. 

So that’s how they got there, standing helplessly in front of the maze of storage units. The key dangled loosely at Eliza’s side. 

“On second thought,” she said, “Maybe I was wrong.” 

“Lot 435,” Matt repeated back to her.

“I know that, I just don’t know where to start. If you could see this, you’d agree. There are like a thousand lockers here. How are we supposed to find this one?”

“I’m blind, Eliza. I can’t help you with finding the number on a door.”

“Wow,” she turned to him. “Thanks for stating the obvious.” She looked at the navigation signs that hung from the ceiling only to figure they weren’t helpful at all. 

Eliza pointed right. “Lots 350 to 450 are in that direction.” 

Matt folded his cane. “Then let’s go,” he said.

They began to walk in the direction she pointed them to. She checked every row for any indication that they were getting closer, but the path was long, and the finish line was nowhere in sight. After about five minutes of desperately searching, Eliza stopped.

She pushed at Matt’s chest. “We need to go down here,” she said. 

“Do you have any idea where we’re going?” he asked.

His dress shoes echoed off the linoleum floors. His plump lips formed a thin line and the muscles of his jaw clenched like bodybuilders during a staring contest. Eliza didn’t miss the obvious distaste that radiated off of him.

“Okay, hold on.”

“What?”

“What’s up with you?”

“Nothing,” he claimed.

“You look like someone just threatened to kill your dog. What’s wrong?”

The glasses hid his eyes, but she knew better than to narrow them down to the upper part of his face. His head tilted ever so slightly, and teeth dug into his cheek. 

“Didn’t know you could cry on demand like that,” he said. 

“Is this what this is about?” she asked.

“No… yes. I don’t know.”

It slowly started to dawn on her – the look wasn’t one of distaste. 

“You played with that poor woman like she’s the Sunday Morning crossword puzzle.”

“And that’s a problem to you?” 

“Hearing you talk about your powers is one thing, but experiencing them in action- experiencing what you can do with your mind alone, the mask of pretense you put on just to get what you want, it’s crazy.”

“I know I’m crazy,” her eyes darkened. “The question is just, can you handle it?”

He chuckled, out of breath. “Sweetheart, I’ve dealt with crazier than you,” he said. “What you are is powerful, and that’s much more terrifying than any psycho I’ve ever encountered.” 

“You’re scared of me?”

“I’m not scared, you’ve just- You’ve drawn me into your spider web and now I get to watch you play, and all of that, the uncertainty of it all, is breaking my mind.“

Eliza smirked. “At least you’re self-aware.”

“My mind can’t comprehend this. It’s like you’re two entirely different people.” 

She shook her head. “You don’t get to do that,” she said. “You don’t get to tell me I’m two different people when you’re the one acting like he’s this catholic good boy during the day and then turns into the devil at night. If you want to blame someone for being two-faced, blame yourself.”

“That’s not what I meant and you know it.” He tried to keep his voice down. The sound echoed dangerously loud through the hallway. “It’s just that with you, I never know what I’ll get. I never know who I’m dealing with because you change drastically so damn quick. I can’t predict what you’re going to do next. I should be able to, I mean we’re partners, but I can’t. Every time I think I’ve heard it all, you put another cherry on top.”

“Well, I don’t know who I am either if that makes you feel better. I don’t even recognize the person in the mirror most of the time, so don’t worry, you’re not the only one who’s fucking confused.”

“You’re blocking.” Matt placed his hands on his hips. “I know you, Eliza. I know you’re not fine. I know this is all too much for you, but you keep going because you feel like you have to. That’s the person I know, but this other side, the Avenger, it’s not just a separate part of you. She is you. You only feel brave in moments like this, in moments where you can be in control.”

She crossed her arms. They were really doing this, in the hallway of a storage unit.

“I’m not normal,” she reminded him. The definition of normal went out the window the second she came into the world. 

Matt shifted his stance. “In moments like these, you’re this power-hungry creature who thinks she can do it all,” he said. “Whatever it is you can do, it’s scary. It’s scary for people like me who can’t do what you do. I’m not used to it. I’m trying hard to get used to it. I know that if I want to work with you, I have to get used to this, but it just doesn’t sit right with me. God works in mysterious ways but I never truly believed this could actually exist.” He pointed to her hands.

“So I’m unholy now, is that it?” the calm tone of her voice broke the air in the room. 

“You’re not unholy, you’re just you. I believe in God – the supernatural is on a whole new level and it’s gonna take time. It’s gonna take time for me to differentiate between you and… and you. Alone me saying that is… I don’t know. It’s a lot. And I’m a blind man with super senses, so I would know.” 

A few beats passed. “Okay,” she eventually said. 

“Okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, okay. Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

Eliza tried to turn and leave, but keep searching for the right storage locker. Matt grabbed her arm. “Oh no, sweetheart. I’m not letting you off that easy.”

“Don’t touch me.”

“Was it really so wrong what I just said?”

“It’s not what you said, it’s how you said it. I mean, what was that earlier? You only seem to have a problem with me when I do shit like this. After Foggy and I came back, you put your defenses up and I was already wondering what was going on. Is that- were you really scared of me because you saw the lengths I was willing to go to?”

He was searching for the right words. 

“Oh, my God! I can’t believe you. And you said we were partners. We fought together in that god-forsaken warehouse. You heard the story about how I killed a child, how I was sexually assaulted by the man who kidnapped me and you still kissed me. You begged me to fix your pain. You know I can do it for you or Foggy, simply fix what you’re feeling, but me controlling a person the way I was actually taught to use my powers is too much for you?”

“Eliza, you don’t understand-”

“I understand. You can deal with me being a vigilante, fighting with my fists, but as soon as I completely rely on my powers or- or whatever illegal things I can think of to accomplish a mission, your understanding stops. I get it. I really do. I just don’t know why it takes us fighting for you to tell me you still haven’t quite recovered from the truth.”

“You know I care about you,” he told her. 

“I’m trying to tell you that you can’t have one without the other, Matt!” she said. “You can’t like me one minute and then pull out the other because your brain is fried. You either stand by me completely or not. Make up your mind.”

“Alright.” His jaw was set in stone. “I don’t care if you’re a witch or a goblin or whatever else you might be. Just don’t undermine me again without telling me first. If you want to take control, tell me. Don’t make me look stupid again.”

“Are you afraid that I’m stronger than you?” she asked.

“No.”

“You sure? May I remind you, you’re not wearing your Daredevil suit right now? Which means you’re vulnerable.” She pushed him back. His pecks tensed under her touch, light as a feather and yet strong enough to make him stumble. Or was it her mind that was making him do this? He wasn’t sure what had the stronger grip on him anymore. “You’re right, I want to be in control. I’m power-hungry. All that’s true. You think you’re the only one who can play, Daredevil? You’re God’s disciple and get what you want just by letting the devil out?”

Once again, he found himself pushed back.

“Well, you’re wrong. You can try to force me into submission all you want, but when we’re like this, I’m the one with the advantage.”

He licked his teeth, not his lips. Like a wild predator ready to pull his prey. In the flickering lights of the facility and their height difference, he might’ve just started hunting her. Eliza knew that she would probably lose when it came down to it, but she liked the thrill of it. 

“Lot 435,” he stated. His arm extended to the metal door to his left. 

Eliza raised an eyebrow. “Impressive,” she said, though her voice said the opposite.

“Don’t lie to me,” he bared his teeth again.

“Why not? It’s been so fun arguing with you.”

Matt’s laugh was almost manic. “I promise you, if you keep this up, I’m going to snap and then you’re gonna suffer the consequences.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said. 

“That’s another lie. I’d be careful now if I were you.”

“Why? What’re you gonna do, kick me out? This is my case as much as it is yours, don’t flatter yourself. I’m not doing this for you.”

“God, you think you’re so smart, don’t you?” he laughed again. “I wish I could keep you restrained for the whole fucking day and make you reflect on the way you just acted." 

“Look at you, saying the Lord’s name in vain.”

His head cocked. A dangerous turn, something she'd never seen before. To anyone not accustomed to him or his antics, the simple action would've seemed terrifying, but to her, it was nothing but a satisfying tingle of thrill. Eliza realized he was actually warning her this time. She had to admit, her teasing had been anything but gentle, but the reaction it coaxed out of him blew even her mind. 

She grunted, strangled. “Don’t look at me like that,” she said. “It’s not a good look on you.”

He shamelessly took a deep breath to breathe in her scent. “Open the door,” he demanded. The golden-boy smile was back, nothing like the devil that had peaked just minutes before.

Eliza licked her lips. This wasn’t the end. She wasn't sure what had come over her, but she couldn't keep this going for much longer without eventually succumbing to the fire he ignited deep in her chest. 

She slid the key into the lock. The door flipped open. Disappointment was the first thing that came to mind.

“It’s empty,” she stated. 

Except for a table on one side and a light bulb from the ceiling, the locker was absolutely empty. 

“Someone has been here recently,” Matt said. He passed by her and stepped into the darkness. “I can smell their cologne. Three people at least.”

Eliza turned the lights on. “Why is it empty?” she asked.

“I don’t know. Something doesn’t seem right.”

“What if they just used this place to make their deals?” 

“Then why rent an entire storage unit? What did Brenda say was the name listed for this place again?”

“Alyosha Popovich.”

“The name means something to you. What?”

She gave in. “Alyosha Popovich is an epic hero of the Kievan Rus era. He stems from Russian folklore. He was a mighty warrior and a trickster; one of three well-known bogatyrs, similar to other medieval knights-errant.“

“Russian folklore,” Matt said. “Do you think this unit might’ve been rented by Hydra? They could’ve used Jerome as a façade.” 

Eliza kept her distance, knowing he had his process and she didn’t want to disturb him again. Since she was apparently so distracting.  

“Did you know, in Byliny – that’s Russian ballads – he is described as a clever-minded priest's son who wins by tricking and outsmarting his foes,” she said.

So much for not distracting him. 

Matt chuckled slightly at the story. “Really?”

“Yeah. He defeated the dragon Tugarin Zmeyevich with trickery. And some say he’s also considered a mocker of women.” Her face faltered. “Mocker of women,” she breathed. The realization hit hard. “This is Ivan’s doing. He did this! The bastard’s mocking me.” 

Matt’s head tilted and suddenly locked in place. He lifted his finger towards the wall. “There’s an electrical current running through this wall,” he said.

“What?” Eliza watched as he inspected the wall. His fingertips brushed it only slightly. 

“There we go.” He pushed down on something. The buzzing reached enough decibels for her to hear it, too.

“What the fuck?”

The wall, raising itself off the floor, revealed another door behind it. It was locked with deadbolts. 

“It’s soundproof,” Matt stated.

“Not surprising,” she said.

“Can you pick the lock?”

“Yeah, sure.”

The wood fell out of its hinge. He nodded. “Or you could do that.”

She searched for the light switch on the left wall of the room. Her fingers hovered hesitantly and yet shook with anticipation. The white neon momentarily blinded her. Eliza placed a hand in front of her eyes to shield her from the artificial, painful lighting. As her eyes grew accustomed to the room, the lump in her throat grew. 

For the first time, she cruelly wished blindness upon herself, just so she wouldn’t have to see the danger seeping off the walls like mold. 

She sucked the air into her lungs and then it just stopped. Matt was afraid she might’ve died, but her heart was still beating, though irregularly and way too fast for any normal human being to survive. 

“Holy fuck,” she breathed out. 

Pictures lined the walls from top to bottom. Red threads connected the prints with each other in a carefully thought-out spiderweb. Flashcards with hard-to-make-out handwriting adorned some of them while the rest was painted on with black markers. The entire room was rigged like dominos - kick one over and the whole place might come down. 

One side of the wall was covered in at least dozens of pictures of her face. In some, she had barely turned a teenager. The others appeared to be more recent. Eliza recognized the route from her therapist’s office to the coffee shop she frequented. Someone had photographed her on runs in Central Park, on her lunch dates with Pepper, and even on small hang-outs with the Avengers at the bowling alley. All of her official outings were meticulously documented. 

Looking further, she caught a glimpse of Wanda’s face. The protests in Sokovia inevitably lead to the Maximoff’s volunteering for Hydra. After the city came down, she joined the Avengers, and someone made sure there were photos of her arrival in New York. The documentation stopped right after Lagos, her face clear as day as she had to stare at the mess she made. Red circled her face and drew upon it, a target. After that, her trail went cold. 

Eliza turned. They kept tabs on Bucky too, she realized. Pictures from his time as the Winter Soldier lead to the fight with Steve and Natasha on the bridge, and then melting over into the fall of SHIELD  and his disappearance into nothingness. The timeline went all the way to the UN bombing, and his descent into madness just to be reborn again. After Berlin, he was wiped off the face of the earth. 

THE WINTER SOLDIER PROJECT.

Wanda offered herself to experiments with the Mind Stone. Pietro died protecting a boy’s life. Von Strucker glowed with pride before the Avengers put an end to him. His name stood somewhere between Wanda’s name and her family history.

Over her own face, Eliza read the bright letters of PROJECT CHAOS. Familiar faces of young children formed something similar to tree roots out of her existence. DECEASED. FAILED. The red circle brought attention to the true victory – Eliza.

The thread connected Eliza to Wanda and those two were connected to Bucky in the middle of the maze. She reached for the card that hung from the center.

X.

Just X.

“There are pictures everywhere,” Eliza said. “Me, Wanda, Bucky… they were monitoring us, even when we thought we were in the clear.”

Matt traced his fingers over the thread above their heads. “What are they planning?” he wondered. 

“We started this.”

She stared at the X just a little longer, wishing for it to give her a different answer, to change her conclusion, but her intuition was hardly wrong. 

“All of this, I’m the epicenter.” She reached for her picture on the wall. “I did this.” 

“That can’t be true.” It was sweet how Matt tried to keep hope for the both of them. To no avail. 

“It started with me, the first enhanced person in Hydra history.” She followed the thread across the room. “The Winter Soldier project started long before me, but that was easy work. Just a serum and some brainwashing, nothing quite like what they did to me, someone who was born like this. They took Bucky and then they-“ she stopped at Wanda’s wall, “waited until they got volunteers for what they were planning with Loki’s scepter, and poof!”

Eliza stopped in the middle.

“They made three absolutely powerful creatures. But that wasn’t enough, was it?” she asked herself. 

Her eyes stopped at the laptop in the corner. 

Matt followed her distinctive movements to the X on the ceiling. “They wanted to combine what they did to you,” he said. 

“One of us wasn’t strong enough to make Hydra invincible, so they needed not only two but three blueprints. Me, Bucky, and Wanda. All three of us combined could make the most deadly weapon known to man, easily granting them control over everything they desire. More than just one combination? Now that calls for world domination.”  

She should’ve been happier about figuring out the truth, but there was nothing but dread about where the realization came from.

“They could topple the entire government. Destroy what’s left of the Avengers. Destroy the Accords. Cause a Battle of New York similar crisis. They infiltrated SHIELD. Who’s to say they couldn’t get into the White House or the United Nations. Who’s to say half the Secretaries aren’t Hydra operatives? Wouldn’t be the first time. I think they’re preparing for a war they’re going to start.”

Eliza couldn’t wrap her mind around it, or maybe she didn’t want to; either way, her skin crawled at the mere thought of what they were trying to accomplish.

She flipped the laptop open. “Maybe there’s something on the hard drive that can help us figure out who this unit really belongs to,” she said.

Matt appeared behind her, chest pressed to her back. “Are you okay?” he dared to ask.

She merely scoffed. Her fingers danced over the keys, playing the tune to open the doors. The laptop was protected over three different security passwords, set to delete everything at even the slightest misstep. Eliza wasn’t sure if the override would work, though when the laptop finally gave the green light, she felt prouder than ever in her abilities. 

An open tab popped up on the screen. “That’s the security feed,” she said.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, listen!”

Matt tilted his head towards the speakers. “I can’t hear anything,” he said. 

“Exactly. If this were on time, you’d be able to hear our conversation from before or see our faces, but there’s nothing on here. This feed is linked to the front desk. Whoever this belongs to has been playing one and the same footage on loop for at least a week.” 

She skimmed through the programming history, but she couldn’t find anything. 

“The cameras stopped recording around the same time, but I can’t figure out when this all started. Whoever did this knows how to hide their tracks even on their own device.” 

Matt slipped the glasses from his face. His torso ached all over, eyes tired from being awake for so long. He lazily rubbed over them. “So Jerome and his friends could slip in unnoticed, no one would’ve been able to prove it,” he said, voice hoarse. 

Eliza met his bare eyes. “This is definitely Hydra.”

He didn’t bother to put his glasses back on. “I’m sorry,” knowing she’d feel more at ease if she could meet his eyes, even for a moment. 

She smiled. It was fake. Her attention diverted and he chose to cover back up. 

The laptop wasn’t tied to anything. She searched for cables or a flash drive, but the room was void of any of that. There had to be a tracker inside, she figured. Leaving it unattended and untied was amateur work and the room looked nothing like it had been made by an amateur.

She slapped her hand down. “Damn it!” the table nearly broke.

“We should pack it up,” Matt suggested. “Take as much as we can carry and go over it back at my place, see if we can find anything.” He placed his hands on his hips. 

“No, I need the laptop,” Eliza said. “I need what’s on it, but I can’t take it without risking our safety. It could take a while to filter out any bugs or tracking devices, time we don’t have. Fuck!”

“Can’t you just take the hard drive?”

“Knowing Hydra, the tracker is the hard drive.”

“How about you pull the information into your phone? You did it before.” 

She frowned. “Okay, I’m not gonna spend the little time we have left to explain technology to you because what you just said was wrong on so many levels, but this is different! The whole place is probably filled with booby traps. One wrong move and we’ve got all of Hydra’s soldiers knocking this door down. Or, what’s left of it anyway. No, we can’t risk that. Hacking a hacker’s laptop is like stealing money from the bank.”

“We’re gonna be colored in blue paint?” Matt asked.

“Metaphorically, yeah,” she said. “Even opening this video feed was risky enough. If I could just get in there… If only I had Friday.”

“I don’t think the weekday’s gonna matter much.”

“It’s not- never mind!”

She hated to admit it, but maybe she shouldn’t have given up on Tony that easily.

A phone rang. It wasn’t hers and when Matt didn’t move, his was out of the question too.  Eliza looked to her left. The sound came from the first drawer on the desk. She eyed him first, waiting for his silent agreement. He nodded. She dove in. It was a burner phone, the number unknown.

He sensed the glint in her eyes. “Don’t answer that,” Matt warned. 

She huffed. 

“Eliza-“

The phone flipped open. 

“Who’s this?” she asked.

He groaned, head in his hands. She had to do the one thing he asked her not to do. Curiosity killed the cat. A call from a strange phone in an unoccupied storage locker with a secret door and pictures of her hanging all around should’ve been a red flag; Eliza went straight ahead, acknowledged it was there, and then walked right through it anyway. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could keep her safe with an attitude like that.

The hairs on her arm stood at full attention, the laugh on the other end low, mocking. “You can put the Russian act down now,” he said. 

She choked on nothing. The language center of her brain seemed to short-circuit. 

“Did I take your breath away, Liebes? Or has your Russian gotten rusty? We can do it in German if you’d like. I’m certainly still very fluent in both languages.” 

She kept staring at the only blank spot on the wall across from her. 

“Still no? Well, I thought we could have a nice little chat now that you have dug your nose into business you shouldn’t have.”

“How’s this possible?” she asked.

“How’s anything possible? It all depends on your mindset, but you knew that already, didn’t you?”

“I put you away,” Eliza’s fist clenched. “You’re in jail. Frank Mueller, you’re supposed to be in confinement.”

“Oh, I am,” he said. “Unfortunately, that didn’t change. But I have been making amends. I was just waiting for the right time to call you, honestly.”

“The phone, how did you know? Did you put it there?”

“Don’t you want to talk about this in person?” she heard him smirk. 

“I’m not here to play games, Mueller. What do you want?”

“I told you, I want to chat with you.”

“I’m not interested.”

“What a shame, considering you’re looking into something that could get you killed if you don’t figure out what it’s about.”

“The fact you knew about this phone - that you knew I'd be here today, looking into this - tells me you’re involved.”

“Not necessarily. I know you'd like to figure out how I know this, how I know that - if you're willing to talk to me, I can answer all your questions. You just have to come and see for yourself.”

“Mueller, you little shit-“ She didn’t even get to finish.

“Nu-uh,” he clicked his tongue. “You and your little friend, Daredevil I believe he is called these days, the masked vigilante running out and about in New York, are moving on dangerous territory, but I’ll allow it if you do something for me in return, little girl”

She looked at Matt. He was even more tense than before. He heard every little sound coming from either side of that phone and it didn’t sit right with him. Eliza touched his arm and tried to take the edge off, but he flinched away. Perhaps someone so riled up shouldn’t be helping someone who was equally disturbed.

She sighed. “What do you want?”

“You,” Mueller stated simply. “Just twenty minutes of your time. I suppose you have questions and I have some, too. We can help each other out, like old times.”

“Fuck you!” she hissed.

“No, thank you. I’d like to see you tomorrow before lunch. You can figure out when that is. If you don’t show, I’ll make your little secret public. If you decide to show though, I’ll reward you nicely.”

She was full-on panting. The anger sizzled off her like a ticking time bomb. 

“Who’s to say you’re not behind this, huh? Who’s to say this isn’t just some twisted game of yours that Ivan got you into? You can be evil even out of prison.”

“The last part is correct. But no. Unfortunately, I am not involved. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't. That's just one of the downsides of being detained in a little glass chamber away from everyone else. I don't have contacts, I don't have anything other than my books and some walls of glass. Would I be calling you if I wanted you dead? No? You see, child, it's not always as bad as it seems to you. Sometimes an old friend only wants to talk, not hurt you.“

"We are not friends!" She hesitated, “But maybe you're right. You wouldn't call and want me dead. That's not you. I hate admitting it, but it's true.” 

“See? We should definitely catch up. I’m already trapped in here, what business would I have in trying to harm you? Certainly not to get the kicks. I couldn't even savor it if I wanted to.” he said. “I just want a little something from you, Liebes. To talk to you, spend time with you. After all this time I've gotten lonely and there are some things that I need you to hear. This is the only time I’ll be asking you this nicely.”

Eliza swallowed her fury. “You said before lunch?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“How about tomorrow morning instead?” 

Matt stared at her, completely blank. “What are you doing?” he mouthed. 

“Just wait,” she mouthed back. 

Mueller hummed in agreement to her offer. “That would be very fitting for me, indeed,” he said. 

“Okay, then I guess I’ll see you tomorrow. If you dare to even think about breaking the terms of this agreement, I swear to God-“

“No need to swear, I always keep my promises.”

The line clicked, though his laughter kept echoing in her head. The dreaded song that’s playing on the way to your own wake, a tsunami destroying the city of your dreams. The phone snapped in between her fingers. Metal flew across the room. She stared at the mangled device in her clutches. 

“Matt, we need to talk,” she said with such tranquility.

Matt still stood there, hands on his hips. The muscles in his arms twitched. He scratched his stubble. Composure was faltering. He could only stand so much.

He exhaled loudly. “What did you do?”

“Not here.” 

Eliza took another look around. She had to do something. The evidence hung high on the wall, used as nothing but wallpaper. It all meant something, essentially, and she would’ve been damned to leave it behind. 

He must’ve realized what she was planning. Before she could move, his arm shot out. He pulled her aside, finger on his lips, shushing her. 

“Someone’s outside,” he said. 

She eyed the door. “Who?”

“I don’t know, but they just asked for this lot. We need to go. I got a bad feeling about this.”

Eliza pointed to the chaos. “We can’t just leave this here,” she argued. “What if they take it back?“

She hoped he caught the pleading look on her face somehow. “Alright,” he gave in. “Take what you find most important. I’ll buy us some time. Five minutes, tops. Then you’re out of here.” He unfolded his cane.

She watched in awe as he straightened out his suit. Matt said he didn’t know how to act; the truth was, he knew very well how to pretend to be someone he wasn’t. He did it every day. He put on the same suit and the same glasses every day and made everyone believe he was a helpless blind man working as a lawyer. People believed he took charity cases because he cared. Not a single soul who didn’t know him would’ve suspected him to be Daredevil. Eliza never suspected it and she was trained to do it. He was that good, and watching him get ready to buy her some time without even questioning it proved her point because he didn’t care to be seen – he knew he could sell this without them ever knowing. 

“Matt,” Eliza called out.

“What?” he turned around.

“Thank you,” she said. 

Silence was the answer. She heard both doors fall shut, leaving her in the barely lit hidden room of the storage locker with all the pictures of familiar faces and files that would’ve taken ages to filter out. Five minutes. It wasn’t a lot but it wasn’t nothing. She could extract a lot in five minutes. 

Eliza didn’t waste another second. She began to turn the room upside down. There were several files she threw into a box. She took some of the pictures as evidence. She even picked up the broken burner phone off the ground, making sure the SIM card was still intact. The question about the laptop remained. Usually, ideas came easily to her. She knew her way around technology. She knew how to hack, how to restore information, and retrieve it from servers that seemed impossible to infiltrate. She knew how to do it. She’d learned how to do it. If she knew it, why did she hesitate? 

Fear is a paralytic. 

“Damn it,” she cursed. The table shook under intense pressure. What would Natasha do? 

Certainly not panic. Who was she if not spy first and person second? Her hand swayed in the air before it went down with the biggest ball of electricity she could muster, burning the insides of the laptop to a crisp. The release of energy eased her nerves a little. 

Natasha probably wouldn’t have done that, on second thought, but it was the only thing she could think of that made sense. Without a flash drive, there was no other choice but to bring the entire thing back with them. The charge of her powers must’ve burned just about everything inside. Pulling information off a broken laptop was complex, even for her, but not entirely impossible. Eliza put a lid on the box. She had to get out of there.

The faint sound of grunts on the other side of the door caused her to halt. She leaned against the metal to detect the direction of the sounds. The loud thud that followed was unmistakably a heavy body. She considered staying in, but checking the time she knew she had exceeded her five minutes, and there was no other way but to face the music. 

Eliza took a deep breath before she opened the storage unit as quietly as possible with the unoiled hinges. She clutched the box tight to her chest, daring to look around the corner for the first time since they had gone in. The sight surprised her - she shouldn’t have been, really, but she still stopped and stared at the suited, glorious backside she had grown accustomed to. 

Matt straightened his tie. The cane lay somewhere next to a brunette guy at least half a foot taller than him, knocked out with blood trailing down his nose on the ground. He picked it up, casually, and flipped it back open. 

“That was longer than five minutes.”

He dared to scowl at her. She gawked back at him and if she had been more in control of herself, she would’ve said something, but she still wasn’t over the sight before her. 

He strutted up to her, his suit perfectly buttoned back up again. There was a soft blood stain on his cheek that he wiped with his thumb. 

“Close your mouth or you’ll catch flies,” he said. 

Eliza pointed at the guys on the floor, then back at him. “I…”

“Yeah. Come on.” His grip was harsh on her elbow, his steps relentless. She almost dropped the box of evidence in the process. Behind his glasses had to be the wildest pair of eyes - she could only fathom what he looked like without them at that very moment. The adrenaline was as high as the nights he went out as Daredevil, but the comfort of his suit was so far away. It had never occurred to her that he could come out of himself without a mask to protect him. 

Matt kicked the backdoor open with his expensive dress shoes. Not a single scratch was to be seen on them. He shoved her out first just so he could lock the door behind them. When the sunlight finally hit his face, her own features darkened. She saw it - she was in for it. 

The gravel crunched loudly under them as they attempted to put space between them and the storage unit. By then, someone must’ve clearly found the knocked-out men, or they must’ve woken up and were in an uproar, either way, it was only a matter of time before people - authorities or not - would come to scout the premises. That was something, Matt, out of all people, wanted to prevent. 

Somewhere near the main road where the cab driver had dropped them off earlier, he finally stopped. Eliza was out of breath by the time they got there. She met his glasses. He stood with his hands on his lips and it seemed like he was staring holes into her soul. That was supposed to be her job. She couldn’t feel anything though. Her fingertips were numb and her heart kept on racing out of her chest. 

He huffed the air out of his nose. An attempt not to growl. “Do you ever think before you act?” he condescended. 

“Do I?” Eliza said. 

“I’m asking you. Do you ever use your head before you make decisions or do you just think ‘fuck it!’ and go with the first thing that comes to your mind? Because I feel very much compelled right now to walk you back there and have them arrest you.”

She had to correct whatever thoughts she had in the morning - his silent anger was worse than anything else. She missed his yelling, at least to that, she could find an easy reply. The tone in his voice though was dangerous and she knew if she said the wrong thing, she would’ve made things much worse. 

He cocked his head to the right. “Hm?” he said. “You know, when I ask you a question, I expect an answer.”

The box wasn’t acting as much of a lifeline as she had hoped. 

“Eliza, I am giving you permission to speak. Do not make me force you.”

“I was doing us a favor,” she said. Her voice was quiet. God, it was pathetic, really. She was stronger than him. She could’ve stopped him then and there, but no, she couldn’t. She physically wasn’t capable of teasing him anymore. 

Matt laughed. “A favor?”

“Yes! I mean, we needed what was in that storage unit. We needed the laptop. We- we need the answers, Matt. I mean, that’s what we came here for. It was better than doing absolutely nothing if you ask me.”

“Watch your tone, sweetheart.”

Shit. 

“Sorry.”

“So you’re telling me you thought about this beforehand?”

“I…” There was no satisfying answer to that question. 

“No, you haven’t.”

“You know, I stole that stuff because we needed it-”

“I’m not talking about the fucking evidence, Eliza!” He bared his teeth. “Look, I just want to know, what on earth were you thinking?”

“Is this about the phone call?” she asked. 

“Yes!”

“What should I’ve done, not answered it?”

“You don’t just answer a strange phone call in a room full of pictures of yourself and then agree to meet that person, even if you know them!” He was talking to her like he would to a child and it was offensive, but at the same time, she deserved it. Truly. Her actions had been beyond stupid, brainless, and absolutely childish. 

Of course, Eliza would never admit that out loud. 

“You said you needed to talk. Who the hell was he?”

“Matt, maybe we shouldn’t do it here-”

“No, you tell me now! I deserve to know the truth,” he said. “Who is Frank Mueller?”

She released a set of silent curses. “He was the man who experimented on me when I was a child,” she stated. To say it out loud felt weird, way too real. “You must’ve read his name in my file. I, uh, helped SHIELD put him away for the illegal human experiments after they started dismantling all the Hydra bases. The trial itself is confidential, but I think they’ve mentioned his name somewhere regarding my- my history.”

Instead of experiencing circuit failure again, Matt simply shook his head. “Brilliant!” 

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t say you’re sorry. I know you mean it, but this is not something you should be sorry for. What you should be sorry for is just making this decision without consulting with me.”

“And how was I supposed to do that?”

“I don’t know, you always find a way for everything, don’t you?”

“I didn’t know he’d call!” Eliza said. 

He expected this all to be so easy.

“You could’ve just hung up,” he told her. “It would’ve been the smartest choice. I mean, what the fuck was going in your head, I really want to know because it makes absolutely no sense to me whatsoever.”

“Matt-”

“No. What about the fact he knew you were gonna be here today out of all days? What about the fact that he had the number to a burner phone inside a storage unit with a hidden room that was obviously established to stalk you and your friends? Or that- that this unit obviously links back to Hydra, what about that? And he used to be a doctor for Hydra. He used to be your-  He was Hydra, Eliza. And he called you to get you to talk to him because he knew you’d come to both StorQuest and now his prison cell as well. He knew you’d do it because it’s what you do!”

At this point, they were both loud enough for the entire neighborhood to hear. 

“This isn’t just for me,” she argued. “I protect your ass too!”

“This is not what I’m talking about. You can protect me even when you tell me what you’re planning. I’m your lawyer, you know that, right? So as long as you don’t fire me or Foggy, we’re the ones who have to get you in there tomorrow. We’re the ones responsible for you in a legal sense and I am responsible to you in a personal sense now, too. This is- this was the most foolish decision you could’ve possibly made.” His chest heaved. “But you knew. Oh, you knew I’d tag along, no matter how it makes me feel. And you know that, even now, I’d even go in there for you. Hell, I’d walk through fire for you! These guys- I didn’t know what they were, but the thought of them hurting you was enough for me to beat them senseless. Do you realize what this does to me? What you do to me?”

Eliza gnawed at her bottom lip. He was so much taller in front of her like he could step on her any moment. “Matt, I’m so sorry.”

“This whole thing’s fragile as it is,” he said. 

“I know.”

“And you go ahead and put even more cracks in it. When instead, you could’ve just… you could’ve just talked to me and then called him back or- or you could’ve just not answered it and we could’ve made sure we were smarter.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. 

“God, stop it!” There it was, the yelling. Even though she had missed it, she hated it just the same. “Just stop it! Stop fucking apologizing all the time! It is not your fault!”

“Then stop making me feel like it is!”

“I’m not!”

“Yes, you are!”

He choked out a strangled sob at the taste of her salty tears in the dry air. Eliza rubbed her eyes with the sleeves of her - his - shirt. 

“Don’t,” he said.

She threw the box at his feet. “Since you know so much better than me, do it yourself!”

Matt grabbed her bicep and pulled her back into his side. “God. Why do you always have to act like such a fucking child?” 

She had waited for him to say it, eventually. Everyone ended up saying it one way or another. From him though, it hurt much more. He was the first man who had made her feel like she wasn’t just a stubborn child. Turns out, Eliza had been wrong about so many things. 

The second he said it, he regretted it. Her muscles slacked underneath his touch. Even her tears stopped. She simply slipped from his grasp and then she was gone. She didn’t simply disappear; she took the box back, the silent treatment heavy on her lips, and then she turned around and just walked away.

“Eliza!” he shouted after her. “Eliza, please, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean it.”

The steady tap, tap, tap of the cane followed closely behind her - Matt refused to leave her alone, but he also knew if he had gotten up to walk next to her, he wouldn’t have survived it. 

“Can you slow down?” he asked. She pretended not to hear. “Eliza, can you slow down, please? I’m trying to talk to you.”

She sniffed. “Why don’t you call a kindergarten teacher to do it for you?”

“Eliza, I didn’t mean what I said! I don’t think you’re a child.”

“Of course not. That would make you a pedophile!”

“Come on, this is so not fair. I didn’t mean it!”

“Then why did you say it?”

“Because- I was angry, okay? I didn’t think. This isn’t about your age, I promise. I think you’re the most mature woman I’ve ever met and that says a lot. Just please, slow down! I already feel like a dog for yelling at you, don’t make me look like one, too.”

He breathed a sigh of relief when her footsteps finally ceased. She closed her eyes and waited for the tap, tap, tap to catch up to her. The cane nudged her foot slightly, a silent plea for her to turn around. 

“Matt,” she said. 

“Hey,” he answered. He kept poking her until she caved. Her red, swollen eyes fell on his fallen face. He was truly sorry and she could see it, which made being angry at him an impossible task. Hell, he was pouting at her. He had been following her for at least a mile just so she wouldn’t be alone, still hoping for redemption, and now his hair stuck to his forehead with sweat. How could she ever be angry at a sight like that?

She ground her teeth. “What do you want?”

“I’m sorry, sweetheart.”

“Okay. You done?”

“I get that you’re mad and you have every right to be, but let us take a cab back to my place, at least. I’m pretty sure it’s about to rain any minute now.”

“Then that’s fine by me.”

“Eliza.”

Like on command, the sky tore open. Matt looked back down at his feet with a prolonged sigh. They were going to get wet. But if it had to be with her, he was okay with that. 

“Great,” he said more to himself. 

She looked at him and he did his best to stare back. Neither of them seemed to want to budge any time soon. The box in her hand was slowly growing heavier. 

To his surprise, she turned around and kept walking. 

“This is ridiculous. Eliza, you’re gonna get sick.”

“I’m not,” she retorted. 

“Yes, you are.”

“No.”

“Jesus!” He closed his cane and undid his suit jacket at the same time. Fuck the distance, he thought. “Here,” he said, not taking no for an answer as he slipped the jacket over her shoulders. She was already shaking. Summer rain is nice, but it has the tendency to surprise with its fall in temperature. 

He wasn’t sure how long they kept walking in silence until she finally spoke again. “Your shirt is getting wet,” she told him. 

“That’s because it’s raining.”

“You can always call a cab, you know.”

“As long as you won’t get into one, I’m staying. How far is it, twenty more minutes? You know, I could take your box.”

She scoffed. “No.”

“To which one?”

“I can carry my own box,” she said. “And it’s five minutes because we’re not going to your place. I’m going home.”

“S- Eliza, we’ve talked about this!”

“I need clothes.”

Matt realized, “Oh.”

“You can call a cab from my apartment. But until then, I want to enjoy the rain in peace, if you don’t mind.”

He snaked his arm around hers. “I don’t mind the rain,” he said. 

She gave the faintest of smiles. 

“I don’t mind the rain with you.”

Matt said it so nonchalantly, so casually, she almost missed it.

Two broken people hardly ever make a whole. The pieces are too different, the broken edges on opposite sides of the puzzle. No matter how hard you squeeze, they won’t fit; the picture is inherently wrong, misplaced. Eliza didn’t want to be an unfitting puzzle piece. She wanted both of them in the middle of the jigsaw. She just wanted this to stick – for once in her miserable life, she wanted to be happy. But it wasn’t real, she had said it herself. They weren’t meant to be real. 

Deep down she knew they were cursed. She looked at him and she saw all the things wrong with him. Her reflection in his glasses, a broken face staring at a man too good for her. Maybe he was as bad as he was good, but for what it was worth, one thing they had in common: tragedy came easy and they were too blind to see it, no matter how many times they told themselves it was wrong. 

What’s wrong feels right until someone gets hurt, and then the glass shatters to the point of no repair. If there was a god, he sure had a shitty way of showing it.

And as the rain came down on them, Eliza wished nothing more than to take back all the things she said - though she never did because there was one thing she was really good at, and it was the process of ruining things beyond repair, and then she would give up, she always did, because all that she was good for was to destroy. 

#matt murdock #foreigner's god #daredevil #matt murdock x original character #matt murdock x oc #matt murdock x ofc #matt murdock angst #matt murdock fluff #foggy nelson #matt murdock x female!oc #human disaster matt murdock #karen page #matt murdock imagines #marvel #mcu characters #daredevil fic #matt murdock fic #matt murdock smut #charlie cox #reader insert #ofc

[dooptown]

i played through Scanner Sombre today, and it has such a cool central mechanic that it breaks my heart that its existence kind of prevents any other team from doing something similar

the game is completely pitch black, since you're miles underground, and all you have is a device that emits dozens of small lasers per second, painting every surface they touch with a dot that changes color depending on how far you are from it. You directly map out the cave as you explore, making for an extremely unique and immersive experience

under the cut is where i complain a lot

this game did not need a story. i feel like the devs weren't confident enough for the game to speak for itself, even though it's literally the perfect 'show, don't tell' avenue for both gameplay and story. instead we're spoonfed information about the area we're in via text from the player character's thoughts. i couldn't help but think how much cooler it'd be for the player to just make guesses at what on earth the things they were finding could have been, or how they got there

also, the game is just naturally frightening. Maybe it's cuz i just watched The Descent recently, but the combination of the sound design and pitch darkness just makes for creepy atmosphere. Add the fact that you're not even seeing the environment for what it really is, and instead seeing impacts of a laser. Big missed opportunity where there could be something picked up initially, but when you go over to it it's gone (of course the laser in the game doesn't work as it would in real life, objects painted with dots have the dots move with them...somehow)

But instead of leaning into that natural, subdued, subtle horror (which happens enough in the game that i was pleased with it at least), the game throws in some glitchy effects and a ghost plot. I've always preferred my horror to be grounded, so this might just be a me issue, but dramatic music stings and glitchy effect humanoid shapes popping in suddenly had me rolling my eyes

this is where i talk about my ideal version of this game:

first, you begin at the entrance of the cave. There'd actually be some light here, but quickly as you get deeper the light disappears. You'd set up a sort of base camp here before going deeper into the darkness and using the laser scanner to paint your map

the caves would either have to be huge and expansive or randomly generated in some way. Considering nothing would really need to be rendered digitally, it wouldn't be a huge undertaking (that i know of). At certain, arbitrary points you could set up new camps, but you'd be limited to a certain number of how many you could set up. These camps would also have lanterns by them, and would act as your save points

Since i love being totally immersed in stuff, i think that water shouldn't reflect the dots you place. Sure, it's pretty, but it makes no sense. The laser might have enough fidelity to understand when it's hitting water and not render, but water should remain black, and sound queues will tell players when water is nearby (again, like in the actual game)

Rappelling and other climbing mechanics should be integrated, allowing for even deeper traversal, and the deeper you go the more inexplicable discoveries you make (eg: a completely square room among the caves, manmade structures like in the game, a creature that moves constantly so you have to have your laser on it while you try not to make too much noise)

in conclusion, i loved this game purely for the gameplay it provided, but think it got totally kneecapped by the narrative. I hope someone else comes along and picks up this idea and runs with it (if introversion software would let them)

#scanner sombre #spoilers and such under the cut #doop's spontaneous game reviews

[outrunningthedark]

I see the grief as a "Freudian Excuse" more than anything; it explains their bad actions, but does not excuse the bad action themselves because children shouldn't have to compromise for their parents' misery for years, especially when the compromise has a deep lasting impact to the children's development and adult life, especially if the misery is not explained to them until far into adulthood leaving them wondering why their parents are miserable (to them) in all their childhood.

Apologies for projecting, but my aunt was depressed after losing her married daughter after childbirth, but her son-in-law and her siblings living in another city help her walk through it and prevent her grandson from being abandoned even though it takes a long time for her to recover. The lack of extended family involvement and the Buckleys' impression of putting their image in society on front make the grief ineffective in explaining their emotional neglect toward the siblings. Where's their parents? Where's their siblings? Why aren't they involved? Do they even exist and are they alive in present timeline? As powerful as grief is as an explanation, the storytelling narrative isn't strong and complex enough. We see Eddie's parents and extended family discuss what next step Eddie should take after Shannon's death, making him choose to stay. That is what is lacking in The Buckleys' backstory.

I may be remembering some plot points wrong, but I still stand on "this explains, but not excuse" stance on them. If we see an onscreen dedicated scene of them trying to make amends, my opinion on them may change.

(Not @ you, but) I feel like people get my Buckley parents (especially Margaret) posts a little twisted. In no way do I believe their neglect of both of their children is okay. What matters to me is that this is (unfortunately) one realistic portrayal of what happens to a family after a sibling death. Not every parent is able to bounce back mentally and emotionally after the death of a child. Some become dependent on substances to get through each day, don't they? The Buckley's didn't go that route, thankfully, but the fact that the mother was contemplating ending her life tells me 1) she wanted to be with her son, yes, but also 2) when you're considering that big of decision, it's because you think people are better off without you. No insult Margaret's kids can throw at her can be worse than whatever has gone through her head since the early '90s. Her behavior isn't right. But it's understandable. And, I'm sorry, but savior baby story line or not, the resentment towards Buck (and Maddie, let's not forget!) is very much a real thing that can happen. When you're one of multiple kids, and one of you dies, your parents see your sibling in you, so it hurts them to imagine where their child would be if they were still alive. And if you do something that really upsets them? Well. Then the resentment can be mutual, because the child starts to feel that it would have been better if it was them who died in place of the sibling. I know this because I live it, and I've watched others live it, too. The problem with this arc is, as you said, that it's not detailed enough. We did get the semi-reconciliation at the end of Buck Begins, but the show moved away from letting Buck (and his sister) start to heal from their childhood trauma because JLH had to be written out and Buck at peace was not really conducive to the story. His big sister's gone again. How else would he react, right? (My whole issue with that story line is that her coming back did not "fix" anything. If he was only acting like that because he missed his family...he should have been able to tell TayKay to kick rocks after the loft convo. But then L & T wouldn't have met and TayKay wouldn't have been the bad guy all over again. So.) I'm super curious to see whether Oliver was right in saying that Buck's therapy is still a factor off screen (I know that's what he hopes) and we meet a "new" set of Buckley parents - this would be another situation where there was resolution that should have made it onto the show - or we're going to find out that everybody backed out because they still weren't ready. It just depends what kind of story KR & co. think is "best". [Let it be known, though, that a complete erasure of the attempt at healing, brief as it was, is dumb af when we've had no updates on that front since s4. At least throw out a line about "Have you thought about going to therapy again?" or something.]

#people who haven't experienced it will not get it #and you know what? i hope you never have to #anonymous #tina speaks #tv: 911 #tv: 9-1-1 #evan buckley

[arsenicpanda]

When Riverdale gets back to the present in s7, I want Jughead to do more with teaching or something community related (maybe supervising school newspaper from 5x19?), bc his character got so much flatter after they removed his concern for his community from s4 onward. Also, if he's going to be with Tabitha, Riverdale's official guardian angel, and they're going to stay in Riverdale, I think it would be really appropriate to show him have a significant concern for the people of Riverdale as well. And, like, Jughead had such troubles as a teen, a true Troubled Youth with half or more of his episodes having the plot of a Very Special Episode of a sitcom, that I think it works best for him to be invested in kids too, and bonus points for having anything parallel his relationship with Pop but with Jughead in Pop's place, just having him live up to the name of the family he'll marry into. Like, I desperately need the set up for them taking up Pop's mantle and being Ma and Pop Tate/Jones-Tate/Tate-Jones, Riverdale's supportive parents for wayward souls, in the future. He shouldn't step on her toes in this trait, but they should be a team here because it's heartwarming and cute. It also follows up on the way his heaven featured a kid who was similar to Jughead visually thanking him for the stories he wrote and talking about how they helped him.

(Also, I would like Tabitha to have things to do that aren't just helping and taking care of other people, like let her have independent stories and be supported herself (esp by Jughead, please even things out on that front), don't just have her give and give and give endlessly.)

Also, the way they removed FP and Jughead's concern for his family and the way he struggled with his relationship with that legacy and baggage was already such a huge blow to his complexity as a character, so removing his previous concern for his community of top of that was ROUGH for his character; it really flattened him out. I know that FP leaving was out of the writers' control, they probably couldn't have gotten Gina back, and JB's actress couldn't pass for 19/20 post-time skip so they couldn't use her either without awkwardly recasting, but they could have had Jughead talk about them or imply off-screen communication or brought his grandfather in, just something, anything to keep what had previously been such a major part of his character intact. Also, it was super weird to make him a 3rd-generation alcoholic but never bring that up or have it be a point of angst or drama because a.) you'd think that'd be important and b.) it's SUCH a dark thing to write and it's weird to not acknowledge how depressing it is.

Idk, the way that Being A Writer became such a significant part of Jughead's stories starting in s4 when it was previously more of just, like, a thing he did on the side while some mystery/community thing was his main story before really bugs me because it's such a boring development. Characters who are About Writing, especially male characters who are About Writing on tv, are a dime a dozen, and one of the good things about Jughead in s1-3 was that it was an important part of his character but the writers didn't spend much or any time on it because there were better, more interesting things to do, which was a stark contrast to the way a lot of writer characters on tv become tiresome, annoying, self-contradictory circle-jerks. But then his plots started being at least partially About Writing, and it's been tiresome every time. He doesn't even barge into people's offices to argue over some mystery or harm they're doing to the community anymore, it's such a bummer because that was always so incredibly funny. (I need them to bring that back when he's a teen in the 50s again.)

And it doesn't help that every sample of his writing we've gotten has been so, so bad. Like, Riverdale writers, please throw my boy a bone and hire a talented prose writer for some excerpt(s) of his writing so I can believe he's a good writer who's honed his craft over the years, because the alternative isn't so, so sad.

#Riverdale #Jughead Jones #jabitha #I guess? #s2b Jughead who is an annoying activist teen fighting for his community by protesting and investigating #and who is making his family legacy his own and who is also desperately in love #will always be the best Jughead #I miss him SO MUCH #my thoughts on Riverdale let me show you them #tbf pretty much all of the Riverdale characters are flatter than they were in earlier seasons #like Jughead has been hit hard but at least he isn't Archie who is basically just 'I want to be my dad and make him proud' now #Betty is also a big victim here and also had her arc take the world's most boring turn and I'm not sure which of the two is worse off #but my Riverdale brainrot is Jughead-centric so of course I'm thinking about him #I could probably elaborate on this (esp the bullshit and misogynistic turn of Betty's arc like my god) but I'm not gonna do it in the notes

[valleynix]

THATS WHAT IM SAYING and totally agree on the plot armor thing. How are you gonna have this mold man come in with is little hand gun and fuck shit up. Like Miranda was supposed to be so strong that all 4 lords together couldn’t take her out. Heisenberg literally created an army to fight her AND THAT STILL PROBABLY WOULDN’T HAVE WORKED. Like she’s strong as hell. And Ethan just repeatedly shoots her?? Because with that logic Ethan should have been dead ten times over, him being mold and all. I’m pretty sure Mother Miranda is a high percentage of pure mold as well (hence her being around for like ever). The farthest he could have possibly gotten would have been Alcina’s boss fight, but even I think that’s generous. (He shouldn’t have walked out of the castle is what I’m saying)

Now if they did something like Nemesis in Resi 3, where he appears repeatedly throughout the game and you have a mini boss fight each time, it would have been better. Like we weaken Miranda each fight to the point where she has no choice but to mutate at the very end in the final fight. Instead we get her mutating as soon as Ethan shows up. That was so lame, it didn’t show just how powerful she really is. There are phases in a boss fight, especially the big bad fight at the end, and there was none.

I WILL FOREVER BE ANGRY THAT CAPCOM WAS SUPER LAZY WITH VILLAGE >:( you build up these super powerful characters, four of which that have literally been HUNTING HUMANS FOR DECADES, and you're gonna tell me they wouldn't know their own weaknesses??? they would just let this mold man come in with a little pew pew and be dead just like that???

i don't care if it would've been harder. i fully believe Ethan should have just tried to escape from the castle through a fucking window or something when he learned Rose wasn't there. like, imagine a scene where all three daughters are chasing him???? and he has to just find a way to throw them off and get out of dodge??? like maybe he can't kill them but he can break open a window to get them away for a bit idk SOMETHING BETTER THAN WHAT WE GOT BECAUSE THEY'RE LITERAL NEARLY INVINCIBLE SERIAL KILLERS

and imagine how creepy it would've been to have Miranda actually show up in her form and stalk him???? to have less and less villagers appear each time he comes back, be it from lycans or Miranda just straight up killing them???? TO BATTLE HER AFTER EACH LORD OR WHATEVER AND SEE JUST HOW POWERFUL SHE REALLY IS ??????

anyways i could go on about this FOREVER. it annoys me so much and i'm still mad about it. i love the game, but come ON. Ethan shouldn't have survived with the way things went and i fully believe he would've found another way out of those situations that wasn't just "pew pew now you're dead hehe" URGH

#asks #i made like a whole video on this topic #of like what i would do in re8 instead #boy howdy #like GRRRR WHY WAS CAPCOM SO LAZY #WHY NOT STICK WITH THE HORROR GENRE #WHY NOT JUST LET SOME VILLAINS BE UNKILLABLE??? #RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

[khoicesbyk]

The Royal Romance.

Love Everlasting.

A/N: I had a different name and plot for this fic over a year ago. But after being in the RP community for more than a year, I've decided to write the current Royal Life of my favorite OTP.

Rated: Mature (at times can and will be Explicit. I'll be sure to change the rating when and if that happens). | Contains sexual content and strong language. (You know? The usual. Y'all should be used to this from me by now 😁) | Bolded and/or italicized words are conversations and thoughts of the characters. | Main Characters: King Marquise Rys (LI) and Queen Shanelle Miller-Rys (MC) | All Characters and names: (except MC and original characters created by me and/or other authors [their characters have been mentioned and/or used in the story with their permission] ) are property of Pixelberry.

Current Word Count: 9,717 words. (may be slightly more or may be slightly less. Look, I stop counting after editing and re-editing and driving myself insane. 🤷🏾‍♀️)

If you’d like to be added to my tag list. Just reblog or dm me and I will gladly add you! 😁😘

This series is rated Mature and/or Explicit. It is NOT reading material that is safe for those under 18. Reader discretion is STRONGLY advised!

Missing a chapter or want to read a chapter again? I got you covered! Click ——> Here!

Tag List: @txemrn @peonierose @twinkleallnight @shewillreadyou @choicesficwriterscreations

Chapter 8.) Mortal.

It had been a couple of weeks since the disaster of a state dinner with Shanelle's cousin and uncle. She didn't mean to lose her temper but, there was only so much of her sniveling uncle’s snide remarks that she could stand to hear. And when he came for her, Marquise, and her father she’d had enough. 

She didn't feel bad about throwing her water glass at him. He deserved it. What bothered her was the fact he’d gotten under her skin. 

She is the Queen Of Cordonia. There is a standard that she has to maintain. Not just for her, her husband, or the kingdom, but for her daughter. She knows that Khari will one day eventually become the next ruler of Cordonia. And she wants to be able to set an example for her. She never wants Khari to be perceived as someone who doesn't know how to control themselves in the face of an adversary. 

But she was thankful that Marquise didn't hold it against her. He knows how she feels about the former King, and even he knew there was only so much she would've been able to stand before she snapped. She is human after all. Just like anyone else. 

Which is why he had Damien get her out of the dining room as fast as possible. He knew she would've strangled him. But because she's pregnant with their twins he couldn't afford to have her lose her temper.  

Shanelle was staring out at side garden next to her office, so lost in thought that she didn't notice her husband behind her. 

“You look like a woman with a lot on her mind,” he said as he wrapped his arms around her.

“Sorry. I'm just distracted,” she says. 

“Oh? What has you so distracted, my love?” he asks.

“That disastrous dinner. From what I understand, Edward has been claiming for the last two weeks to be the victim of Cordonia’s vindictive queen.” 

Marquise rolled his eyes.

“If anything the palace is the victim. Ever since he stepped foot in it it's felt icky as Khari says.”

Shanelle snickered. 

“I shouldn't have let him get under my skin.”

“It's not your fault. You’re human my love. I'm just happy that you didn't go hopping over the table at his neck.”

“I thought about it. I wanted to.”

She felt him kiss the back of her shoulder.

“Again, I'm glad you didn't. It would've been a tragedy for me to have to sentence Edward to death.”

“A tragedy or charity?” she asked.

“Both,” he replied.

Shanelle made a face.

“Don't worry about Edward. If he becomes a problem I will deal with him.”

“How?” she asked.

“There's a reason why I chose that specific dining room. On the off chance, Edwin would show his ass it's on video with working audio,” he replies.

Shanelle smirked.

“That's why I love you.”

He kissed the side of her head while he rested his right hand on her growing belly.

“How are you, my Queen? How are my little ones treating you?” he asked.

“Ugh! The indigestion is about to be the death of me,” she replied.

“Be sure to bring that up when we go see Dr. Ramirez tomorrow.” 

“I can't believe we'll find out what we’re going to be having tomorrow.”

“I know. It doesn't feel real. But it is.”

“What do you think we'll have?” she asked him.

“With my luck, I'll be stuck with two more girls,” he replies.

“You're not complaining, are you?” she asks.

“Not at all. It's just one of you is bad enough. My blood pressure doesn't need three of you.” he replies.

“I'm not that bad.”

“You're not always that good either.”

“Fair enough. Now I'm hungry. Wanna grab a bite to eat?” she asked him.

“With you? Always. I'll have lunch brought here.” he replied.

“Good. And while we eat you can help me strategize this meeting.”

“Which meeting?” he asks.

“The one I'm gonna have to have with Edwin,” she replied.

“Ahh yes. The budget meeting. Very well I will be glad to be of service to you my Queen.”

“You always are.”

“Indeed. Now let's order lunch and then get down to business.”

“To defeat the Huns?” she asked.

“You watch too many Disney movies,” he replied.

“You know how much your daughter loves her Disney.”

Marquise shook his head with a smile.

After making a quick phone call to the kitchen, lunch was served. The two decided to eat out in the garden. 

“What did you get?” she asked.

“I decided to treat myself and get a Grilled Chicken Taco Salad. What did you get?” he replies.

“Two Croque Monsieurs with extra ham and Gruyere and Espresso Chip Ice Cream,” she replies.

Marquise made a face.

“What?” she asked.

“Those sound like cravings.” he replies. 

“I mean well yeah. Baby A likes Croque Monsieurs with extra ham and Gruyere and Baby B likes Espresso Chip Ice Cream.”

“Translation: you like Croque Monsieurs with extra ham and Gruyere and Espresso Chip Ice Cream and are blaming my children on your cravings.”

“Well, it is their fault that I'm craving them.”

“Terrible.” 

They two dug into their lunch and began to strategize about her meeting.

“So what is this meeting about?” he asked her.

“The Comery Isle Budget. He wants to finally sit down and discuss it,” she replies.

“What's in the package?” he asked.

“So far, an increase in the disaster fund in case of bad storms again, he wants to allocate money to working on infrastructure and the roads, he wants an increase for maternity leave pay, he wants the new Nintendo plant to be built there, and he wants to start having more hospital and clinic inspections,” she replies.

“That's the good part. What's the bad part?” he asked.

“He still wants me to sign off on a severance package for Neville and his family as well as be okay with the exclusion of the tax incentive program,” she replies.

“Okay. So now I want you to explain to me why you want the tax incentive to stay.”

“We created the tax incentive program to help the businesses of the island. Comery Isle was damn near bled dry by the Vancouer family’s greed and embezzlement and Edward’s outrageous tax hikes on the region. The tax incentive program gives business owners relief for when they hire people who aren't native Cordonians to work for them. On top of the fact that the program has helped increase the population and the economic growth of the island has all but tripled in the last 3 years alone. It has literally been vital to the revitalization of Comery Isle and its people. Also, the people voted not to pay the severance package for the Vancouer family. It would look bad on Edwin and it would look even worse on the Monarchy if the people's wishes were not honored.” 

“That's a good argument. You should lead with that.”

“He also submitted names for his and Naya’s advisory panel.”

“Let me guess, his father is one of their top advisors.”

“Yup. The former King has yet to come to terms with the fact that he's no longer in power.”

“And what better way to gain power than to ride his son and future daughter-in-law's coattails?”

“Now you see my dilemma.” 

“Indeed it is. But I know you. I know your resilience. I know you won't let him or Naya push you around or bully you. You are their Queen. Not the other way around.”

“I just have to remember to keep my emotions in check.”

“My love, you are human. Always remember that. No one can blame you for reacting to being provoked. I know that it will be hard to hold your tongue but I know you are stronger than you’re giving yourself credit for.” 

“You have always believed in me.”

“And I always will. I believe in your strength. I believe in your intelligence. I believe in your perseverance. So now that we have a plan for your meeting, straighten your shoulders, hold your head up high, and be the Queen I know you are.” 

He kissed the back of her right hand.

“You're right. I am not just a Queen. I am their Queen. I am Cordonia’s Queen.”

Marquise nodded.

“Exactly. And if you do need me I will be there.”

“I know. I can always count on you.”

“Always and forever as you always say.”

Shanelle smiled at her husband. She knew he was right, she just had to get out of her head. 

“Thank you for this babe. I needed it.”

“Of course my love. I'm always available for pep talks and lunch. And your terrible puns.”

“Whatever. You like my puns.”

“And your buns too.”

Shanelle snickered.

“You're such an ass.”

“Spank me.”

“You're impossible.”

He winked at her.

“On to better things. Like our appointment tomorrow.”

“I'm excited and nervous. I just want everything to go right.”

“It will my love. Then we can really begin to celebrate.”

“I haven't felt like this since we had Khari.”

“I know. I feel the same way.”

Shanelle sighed.

“A small part of me still feels sort of guilty though.”

He kissed the knuckles of her right hand. 

“Don't be. You have nothing to be or feel guilty about.”

“I know. It's just…I miss him.”

He rubbed her knuckles.

“I know you do. I miss him too.”

“I'm not saying that I'm not thankful for Khari or our twins, I just feel like I'm betraying him. I feel like he should be here. He should be just as excited as our daughter.”

Marquise pulled her to her feet and into his arms.

“It's okay my love. I swear to you that he doesn't hate you for being excited. Wherever in heaven he is, I can promise you that he's smiling and is happy for you.”

“Us, Marquise. This pregnancy isn't just about me. It's about you too.”

“True but I’d rather the attention be all on you. You’re the one putting in the work of carrying and nurturing them.”

Shanelle shook her head.

“You always put yourself last.”

“When it comes to our family, I have to. I can't think of myself when I have you, Khari, and now them.”

He held her as close as he could, as he kissed her forehead softly.

“Just think as of tomorrow, we'll be one giant step closer to holding our babies.”

Shanelle snickered.

“They aren't ready yet.”

“No, not yet but they will be.”

He tilted her chin up and ran his thumb over her bottom lip.

“You're an amazing mother. You always have been. You are what keeps our family going, thriving, and growing. Never forget that.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too, my Queen.”

He truly does. There is nothing Marquise wouldn't do for her and especially their daughter. And with their appointment being the next morning, he knew there would be nothing that he wouldn't do for the twins.

They were at her appointment bright and early the next morning. They even took time to speak to and visit the other expectant couples in the office. That's where Shanelle got the idea to host a communal baby shower at the palace. She wants to help those who need assistance with getting the essentials. 

As they waited for Dr. Ramirez, Shanelle’s nerves started to get the best of her. She couldn't stop her hands from shaking.

“Are you alright my love?” Marquise asked.

“No? Yes? Maybe? I don’t know? I feel excited and scared and hopeful and terrified and anxious and antsy and everything else in between.” Shanelle replies.

Marquise gently took her trembling hands in his.

“It's okay to feel my love. I'm just as much of an emotional wreck as you are. But we're here. We're about to find out if these two are girls, boys, or one of each as you put on your Instagram poll.”

Shanelle smiled softly. 

“Thank you, babe. I guess I'm just ready to know.”

“I am too, my love.”

There was a knock at the door. 

“Well…here we go,” Marquise said to her.

“Yeah.”

In walked Dr. Ramirez and her nurse.

“Good morning Your Majesties! How are you this morning?” Dr. Ramirez said as she greeted them both.

“We're doing well Dr. Ramirez. Thank you for asking.” Marquise replies.

The doctor smiled at Marquise before turning to Shanelle.

“And how is mom doing? Any new concerns I should be aware of?” Dr. Ramirez asked Shanelle.

“Well, indigestion, nausea, and heartburn have really been kicking my behind as of late. And then there's my sporadic blood pressure. But other than that I think I'm okay.” Shanelle replied.

“Any pains?” Dr. Ramirez asked.

Shanelle shook her head no.

“Well, your tests came back and so far we're doing well. You’re on track as far as baby weight. As for the complications you've mentioned, I will adjust your medications and we'll see if that helps.”

“Okay.”

“Now in the meantime, are you two ready to know what you’re having?” Dr. Ramirez asked.

“Definitely,” Shanelle replies.

“More than ready,” Marquise added.

Dr. Ramirez nodded.

“Well, my Queen. Time to find out. If you'll just lay back and lift your shirt.”

Shanelle laid back with a small wince.

“Now I know you don't like this part, but it will be worth it in the end.” Dr. Ramirez said as her nurse applied the cold gel to Shanelle’s stomach.

Shanelle let out a breath as the gel hit her stomach.

“Ugh! Cold! Cold! Cold! This should be illegal!”

Marquise snickered.

“I'm sorry, Your Majesty. But it's going to be worth it for you and His Majesty.” Dr. Ramirez assured her.

After applying the gel the ultrasound machine quietly whirred to life, showing them a clear picture of the twins.

“Look at them,” Marquise whispered to his wife. 

“They're beautiful,” Shanelle said with tears in her eyes.

Dr. Ramirez smiled at them both.

“Now, let's see what your two little ones are.”

Dr. Ramirez moved the wand around trying to get a good look but the twins decided to play hide and seek. Or at least that's what she let Shanelle believe.

“What's wrong Doctor?” Shanelle asks.

“The twins have decided to play a round of hide and seek. They don't want to show what they are.” Dr. Ramirez replies.

“Awwww!” Shanelle pouted.

“I'm so sorry, You’re Majesty. I'll tell you what. Why don't we give it a few minutes and we'll look again? How about that?” Dr. Ramirez asked.

“Okay. We can try that.” Shanelle replied.

“Now I'll give you both a few minutes.”

Dr. Ramirez walked out of the room giving them space. 

“I'll be right back. I have to make a call right quick.” Marquise said to Shanelle.

“Okay. Hurry back,” she said to him.

He smiled at her before walking out of the room. Once outside he was pulled aside by Dr. Ramirez. 

“Well. How was that?” Dr. Ramirez asked him.

“Remarkable. To be honest, I almost lost my nerve. I don’t know how you were able to keep a straight face.” Marquise replies.

Dr. Ramirez chuckled.

“Years of practice. Now, are you ready to find out?” she asked him.

“Yes. I'm more than ready,” he replies.

Dr. Ramirez smiled warmly at him.

“Congratulations my King. You’re having twin boys.”

The news hit him like a ton of bricks.

“Boys? You’re serious?!” he asked.

“Yes, Your Majesty. For the first time since you were born, there will be two little Princes running around the palace,” she replies. 

“Oh My God! Oh My God! Oh My God! I can't believe it. We're having two little boys.” he said as if to convince himself.

“Again congratulations to you both. Now I do believe that you have a wife to tell the great news to.” 

“Yes. Yes, of course. I just have to send this text. Thank you again.”

“My pleasure. I'll be back in soon.”

Marquise smiled appreciatively before texting Robin, Shanelle’s best friend the good news. 

After sending that series of texts it was time to tell the Queen about her boys.

“Sorry, that took so long my love,” he said to Shanelle as he stepped back inside.

“It's fine. Is everything okay?” she asks.

“Yes, everything is fine. I have something to tell you,” he replies.

“What? What is it?” she asked.

He sat down next to her and gathered her hands in his.

“I did something that normally would've pissed you off,” he replies.

“What did you do?” she asks.

“I lied to you,” he replied.

“What? What do you mean?” she asks.

“Yesterday I called Dr. Ramirez and I asked her not to tell you what we're having,” he replies.

“What?! Why would you do that?!” she asked.

“Please let me explain. I didn't want her to tell you because I wanted to be the one that told you,” he replies.

“So you know what the twins are?” she asked.

“Yes, I know. She told me when I stepped outside,” he replies.

“Well don't just sit there Marquise! Tell me!”

Marquise closed his eyes and when he opened them, he had tears in them.

“My love…we’re having twin boys.”

“What?!” she asked.

“Our twins will be boys,” he replies.

“You're sure?” she asked.

“Yes. Dr. Ramirez confirmed it. Our son gave us not one but two blessings.”

“Oh My God! They're boys. My twins…our twins…are boys. We get to have…” she trailed off. 

“Yes, my love. Our guardian angel has blessed us abundantly.” 

When Shanelle looked at her husband, she burst into happy tears. She couldn't believe it.

“I thought he would hate me.” she cried.

“Never my love. He could never hate you. He loves you. Even more than I do. You are his mother.” Marquise said as he rubbed her back.

Shanelle dried her eyes and took deep breaths as the reality of the situation hit her.

“Oh. My. God! We have to tell Khari! We have to tell your mom! We have to tell my parents! Oh My God! I have to tell the girls! Quick! Where's my phone?!”

“Whoa! Whoa! Slow down, my love! We will tell everyone. I promise. Don't worry. One thing at a time.” 

Shanelle nodded.

“Okay. It's just I'm…” she trails off.

“Excited? I am too. I can't wait to hold them.”

“We're having boys. Two boys. I can't believe it. But at the same time, I'm so happy.”

“I know you are. And I know he is too. He heard your prayer. He felt your love. He knew that you yearned for him. And now we will have not one but two little boys.” 

Shanelle took a deep breath. 

“This is one of the best days ever.”

“Indeed it is my love.”

She looked at him and smiled warmly.

“Thank you so much, baby.”

He kissed the backs of her hands. 

“Anything for you, my love. You know this.”

Just then there was a small knock on the door and Dr. Ramirez stuck her head in.

“I take it the good news has been delivered?” she asked the couple.

“Yes. Thank you so much, Dr. Ramirez. I don’t know how he got you to do it but you did it.” Shanelle replied.

“As I told His Majesty, years of practice. I do apologize for the subterfuge.” 

Shanelle waved her away.

“It's okay. I know now and I couldn't be happier.”

“Wonderful. Simply wonderful. And now that we're halfway there I have some signs and symptoms that I want you to be aware of. But so far, we're doing great. I'll have my assistant print out some information for you but other than that you both are good to go.” 

“Thank you Dr,” Marquise said to her.

Dr. Ramirez bowed her head.

“My pleasure, Your Majesty.”

Dr. Ramirez closed the door. Once again leaving the happy couple alone.

“How are you feeling my love?” he asked Shanelle as he rubbed her knee.

“I'm so excited. I can't wait to tell Khari. She's gonna be all over the place.” she replied.

“Yeah. Namely climbing all over me.”

The two laughed.

“Are you ready to head home my love?” he asked Shanelle.

“Yup. I'm ready to tell our daughter that she's gonna be a big sister to our boys,” she replies.

Marquise smiled at her as he offered her his arm.

“Milady.”

She took his arm.

“M’lord.”

They smiled at each other before leaving the doctor's office and heading home. After getting home they ran into Margo and gave her the good news.

“Boys? Are you two sure?” Margo asked them both.

“Yes, Margo. You are about to be the grandmother to two boys.” Shanelle replies.

The joy in Margo’s eyes brought tears to Shanelle’s eyes.

“This is amazing news! I can not tell you both how happy I am for you.” 

She hugged Shanelle tightly.

“Thank you, Margo,” Shanelle said as she hugged her.

Margo then turned her warm smile to her adopted son.

“This is everything I could ever want for you, son. I have prayed for this moment for you both. Especially you. I know how much you've wanted a big family. And now you'll have that family.”

Marquise hugged his mom.

“Thank you so much, mom. You've always been here for me. And I can not thank you enough for everything you've ever done for me. I can't thank you enough for loving my family.” 

“Je t'aime mon fils. Je le ferai Toujours.” she said to him.

“Je t'aime Aussi maman,” he replied before kissing her forehead. 

Margo smiled at him.

“Now you two have a little girl to break the news to.”

Shanelle smiled at Margo.

“Thanks, Margo.”

“Of course. Now I'll go get the little one and you two get ready for squeals, giggles, and excited claps.” 

They watched Margo walk down the hall. Once she turned the corner they walked to Khari’s room. They sat down on her bed as reality sank in for them both.

“We're about to tell our daughter that she's gonna be a big sister to our boys,” Shanelle said quietly.

Marquise squeezed her hand gently.

“My love, I know you’re nervous. But she's going to be over the moon.” 

“I just don't want her to feel like we'll be forgetting her when they get here.”

“Never. This is something she wants. Just like us. The only thing we have to worry about is making sure she lets us have time with them. Because you know she will not let anyone hold them but her.”

Shanelle snickered. 

“True. Those two will wind up being her babies. Not ours.”

“Pretty much,” Marquise replied with a smirk.

Just then Khari walked in with Margo.

“Hi, mommy! Hi, daddy!”

“Hello, my love,” Marquise replies.

Khari climbed into her father’s lap.

“I'll leave you to it,” Margo said as she closed the door.

 “How was your appointment?” she asked her parents.

“It was good, Peanut. We have news for you.”

“Did you find out what the twins are?” she asked.

“Yes, my love. We did find out.” Marquise replies.

“What did you find out Daddy?” Khari asked.

“Well…how do you feel about having a brother?” Shanelle asked.

“I'm having a brother?!” Khari asked.

“Two of them, my love,” Marquise replies.

They watched Khari’s eyes light up.

“Two brothers?! I get two brothers?!” Khari asks.

“Yes, Peanut. I'm having two boys.” Shanelle replies. 

“YAYYYYYYYYYY! I GET TO BE A BIG SISTER!” Khari squealed. 

“I'd ask if you’re excited about the news Peanut but…” Shanelle trailed off.

“Very!! I get two brothers! Wait, how many of us will it be?” Khari asked.

“Five of us. Plus Grammy Margo, Grammy Shantel, and Pop Pop, your aunts, uncles, and your cousins.” Shanelle replied.

“Yay! Our family is getting bigger!” Khari squealed.

“Indeed my love,” Marquise said to her.

“With the twins being boys, does that mean they get to be Princesses too?” Khari asked.

Shanelle and Marquise looked at each other before dying of laughter.

“What's so funny?” Khari asked.

“No, my love. They'll officially be named Princes like I was.” Marquise replies.

“Ohh! Will they have a corinmation as I did?” Khari asked. 

“Yes. They'll have a coronation. It won't be as big as yours though.” Marquise replies.

“How come?” Khari asked.

“Because you are the Crown Heir my love. Like uncle Leo and I were.”

“Oh okay. Can we have a parade for them?” Khari asks.

“We’ll think about it,” Shanelle replies.

Khari nodded but something in her eyes troubled the King.

“How do you feel, my love?” Marquise asked Khari.

“I'm happy. But…” she replied.

“But what?” he asked.

“Will you and Mommy still have time for me?” she replied.

“Of course, we will. What makes you think that we won't?” Shanelle asked.

“Because Grammy Margo says babies need a lot of attention, love, and care. And it's more than just me.” Khari replies.

Marquise held Khari close.

“She's right. They do. But that doesn't mean your mother and I will forget about you. You are our brightest star. We would never love you any less because of your brothers. You are the reason we are parents in the first place. The happiest day of my life is and always will be the day you were born. Do you know why?” Marquise said to her. 

“No, why?” Khari asked. 

“Because that was the first time I held you in my arms. You were so tiny. I was scared that I would drop you.” 

Khari smiled at her dad.

“You promise, Daddy?” she asked.

“I swear to you. You will always be my number one girl.” Marquise replied.

“I thought that your number one girl was Mommy.”

“I conceded the title to you when you were born,” Shanelle said to Khari.

Khari thought for a second.

“We can share the title, Mommy.”

“I accept those terms.”

“Shake Mommy?” Khari asks with her hand out.

“Deal!” Shanelle replied, shaking her daughter's hand.

“So what happens now?” Khari asked.

“Well, we do have to decorate their nursery at home,” Shanelle replied.

“Oooh! Let's go!” Khari squealed as she hopped off the bed.

“Wait up!” Marquise said to his daughter as she ran out the door.

“You go after her, I have to go call the girls and tell them,” Shanelle said to her husband. 

“Okay. Let me go catch up with this tiny tornado.” 

Shanelle snickered. 

“Good luck.”

“I'm going to need it.”

Shanelle shook her head with a smile as she watched her husband walk out and chase after their daughter. She couldn't wait to tell her girls the great news. This was about to be the greatest FaceTime call she’d have with them.

“Well do you know?” Nina asked.

“Yup. I know.” Shanelle replied.

“Well…don't just keep us in suspense! Tell us!” Bronwyn exclaimed.

“What she said!” Dee added while holding her daughter AJ.

“So bossy! If you two must know, the twins are boys. You women, get not one but two nephews to love and spoil.” Shanelle announced.

There was a moment of utter silence that scared Shanelle.

“Uh? Y'all gonna say something or do I need to start calling paramedics and spouses?” Shanelle asked.

Shanelle didn't have to worry because the girls broke out into cheers, tears, and excitement.

“Oh My God! We're having nephews!” Bronwyn cheered. 

“Congratulations Nelle!” Dee quipped.

The girls couldn't be happier.

“Our family just got bigger,” Chut added.

“Now I have a reason to visit Cordonia more often,” Nina said. 

“I'm so excited for you and Marquise Shan,” Aly said.

Shanelle wipes tears from her eyes.

“Thank you, girls. Your love and support mean the world to me.”

The only one who hadn't said anything was Robin.

“Alright, Jackie Robinson. Why are you so quiet?” Shanelle asked.

“Because I already knew,” Robin replied quietly.

“WHAT?! He told you before he told me?!” Shanelle asks.

“Yeah. He texted me after he found out. Because guess who's planning your baby shower?” Robin replies.

“Oooh!” 

“Aht! You don't get a say in this!” Nina sniped at Shanelle.

“But it’s MY baby shower!” Shanelle pouted.

“And? What does that have to do with the price of tea in China?” Nina asked.

Shanelle huffed.

“Nina’s right. WE are planning this, not you.” Bronwyn added.

Shanelle sucked her teeth. 

“Don't worry baby. You know we're gonna do right by you.” Robin assured her.

“I know. But y'all know how I feel about surprises unless I'm in on them.”

“We know. But this is one surprise you’re gonna have to sit out.” Dee replied.

“Fineeeee! In other FabBabes news: who's ready to head to the Maldives this weekend?!” Shanelle asked her friends. 

The girls started excitedly talking all at once. This was about to be the girl's trip of a lifetime.

“Aly we're going to miss you on this trip. But we hope you have fun at Comic-Con. And oh! If you just happen to see my future ex-husband Dwayne Johnson…think you can put in a word for me?” Shanelle asked.

Aly snorted. 

“I'll see what I can do,” Aly replied with a wink.

“Love youuuuuu!”

The rest of their video chat was filled with tears, giggles, excitement, and well wishes. Shanelle couldn't have been more blessed to call them her best friends in the world. The next day Shanelle was on a plane to London to pick up Dee before flying to Los Angeles to meet with the rest of the girls then it was off to the Maldives. 

“One of the reasons why it's always good to be friends with a Queen is you get to fly private class like she does,” Bronwyn said as she reclined her seat.

“And she keeps the alcohol cold and flowing,” Dee added.

“Why do y'all always make me sound bougie?” Shanelle asks.

“Because you are bougie…Princess.” Nina replies.

“Fuck you, Keane!” Shanelle hissed.

The girls laughed just as the pilot announced they were about to depart. 

“Next stop! The Maldives!” 

The flight was smooth. The girls were excited to be able to spend time together. And Shanelle was excited to have them be the first guests at her new Rys International resort. 

That entire weekend was a total #FabBabesTakeover. It was nothing but babes, beaches, and bikinis. They had an amazing time. They had sand, surf, sea breezes, and sunshine. Shanelle made sure the staff at her resort pulled out all the stops. Whatever her girls wanted at the resort, they got. It almost seemed unfair to leave but the girls did have families and lives to get back to. But they knew they'd be having a girl's trip again soon. 

When Shanelle got home to Cordonia she had to deal with the cutest saltiest 4 years old in the world. 

“Are you mad at me?” Shanelle asked her daughter who had her arms crossed.

“You went on vacation without me!” Khari replied. 

“Baby I went on a girl's trip.”

“I'm a girl Mommy! I could have gone too!”

Marquise just shook his head while snickering.

“I know. And I'm sorry. I'll tell you what. Next time I go, you can go with me.”

“You promise?” Khari asked.

“Pinky promise.” Shanelle replied as she held out her right pinky. 

Khari nodded.

“Did you have fun Mommy?” Khari asked.

“I did. Your aunties and I had a lot of fun.” Shanelle replied.

“What did you do?” 

“We spent a lot of time at the beach, on the hammocks, going down the slides, we went to the spa, and we ate a lot of food.”

“Did you try anything from the kid's menu?” 

“Yup. I had the Oreo sundae. It was so good!”

“I hope so. The menu is named after me, Mommy.”

“Yup. And I can tell you that the Khari’s Kidz Klub menu will be a resounding success.”

“What else did you do?” Khari asked.

“Well, I took a little time and named your brothers,” Shanelle replies.

“What did you name them?” Khari asked.

“Kylo Jeremiah and Zyon Shomari,” Shanelle replied.

“I like those names. They're pretty.”

“Thank you, baby. How was your weekend? Did Daddy behave while I was gone?” Shanelle asked.

“Barely,” Khari replied.

“Hey!” Marquise piped up.

“That sounds like your Daddy.”

“We went to Regent Lake and rode the boats. Daddy even let me drive.”

“Really?” Shanelle asks.

“Uh-huh! I even saw that they're building something near the lake. Some kind of big building. I don’t know what it is though.” Khari replied.

“Interesting. I'm sure we'll find out soon. In the meantime, I'm hungry. Wanna get something to eat?” Shanelle asks.

“Yup!” Khari replied enthusiastically.

Shanelle smiled as her daughter ran off toward the kitchen. 

“I'm glad you and the girls had a great time,” Marquise said as he wrapped his arms around her. 

“Uh-huh. You’re not off the hook sir.” 

“What did I do?” he asked.

“You told Robin about the boys BEFORE you told me,” she replies.

“I had to. I wanted the girls to plan your baby shower and they needed to know what you were having so they knew how to plan.” 

Shanelle shook her head with a smile.

“You're lucky that you’re handsome, sweet, and devilishly charming, Your Majesty. Otherwise…”

“Otherwise you'd be mad at me.”

“Mmhmm.”

She leaned into his arms. 

“So our boys' names are Kylo and Zyon huh?” he asked.

“Mmhmm. You know how I feel about giving our children names that will stand out.” she replied.

“True.”

He rested a hand on her stomach.

“Can you believe that we're almost there?” he asked.

“No. But at the same time yes,” she replied. 

“This will be an amazing time for our family. Not to mention our people.”

“I know.”

He kisses the side of her forehead.

“Now we have to go catch up with our daughter and make sure she isn't running around the kitchen.”

“Oh boy! Let's go.” 

The two walked down the hall to the kitchen to see what their daughter was up to.

The next day was a big day for Shanelle. She would finally be sitting down with her cousin Prince Edward and his fiancee to discuss the new budget for Comery Isle. As she walked to her office, she was ready for whatever opposition her cousin and Naya had for her. All she had to do was remember to keep her emotions in check. She nodded politely to the doorman outside her office door. When she walked in she was greeted by her cousin.

“Good afternoon, Your Majesty,” Prince Edwin said in greeting.

“Good afternoon, Your Highness,” Shanelle replied to Edwin before greeting his fiancee. “Good afternoon Princess.” 

“Good afternoon,” Naya replied stiffly.

“You're looking well, Your Majesty.” 

Shanelle smiled politely.

“Thank you, Edwin. As are you. How is your mother doing? I heard about her fall.” Shanelle asked.

Edwin smiled appreciatively.

“Thank you for asking. She's recovering quite well. Her fall was frightening but I am thankful for the Monarchy’s concern for her well-being.” Edwin replied. 

“Of course. His Majesty always cares about his people, unlike some people.” Naya quipped.

Shanelle caught the swipe at her but decided to let it go.

“We also want to give our congratulations to you and His Majesty. We heard the great news. Twin boys are amazing. We wish you and your family the absolute best and lots of love.” 

Shanelle placed a hand on her growing belly.

“Thank you, Edwin. We appreciate it. Now let's sit down so we can get started. I don't have the best balance when I'm upright.”

Everyone took their seats around Shanelle’s desk.

“Now we have Business Of State to attend to,” Shanelle said to them both.

“Yes, we do. Naya and I are here to formally submit the names of our advisory board as well as the new budget package.” Edwin replies.

“I got a look at the preliminary list. I noticed your father is one of the names on your advisory board list.”

Edwin sighed. 

“I understand how you feel about my father from both personal experience and his time as King of South Cordonia. But he knows the area. Much better than any of us.”

“I see. And what about you Naya? What do you have to say?” Shanelle asked as she looked at Naya.

“I agree with my fiance. His father’s transgressions are of the past. He's an expert of the region and should be given a chance.” Naya replied.

Shanelle nodded.

“Very well. I will approve the advisory board but only if you swear to keep Edward in line.”

“I can assure you that my father will not be a problem.”

“Besides, it's not like he's you, Shanelle.” Naya quipped.

Shanelle raised an eyebrow.

“I'm not too sure what you mean, Naya.”

“What I mean is, Edward wasn't just blindly handed the keys to a kingdom like you were. He actually worked for his title.” 

“For your information, I wasn't handed anything.”

Naya scoffed. 

“Yes you were. You were literally gift-wrapped a golden package of my former fiance and all of Cordonia.” Naya hissed.

“I'd watch my tone if I were you. Also, you’re forgetting you were already married to Tariq by the time His Majesty married me.”

“Now let's not get off track. We're here to discuss business.” Edwin piped up.

“You're right my dear. I'm sorry for letting something like her distract me.”

“That's Her Majesty. Princess.” Shanelle warned.

“Whatever,” Naya muttered.

“Yes, well, back to the matter at hand. I assume you've had a chance to review the budget package as well.” Edwin said to Shanelle.

“Yes, I have Edwin. There are some great improvements and incentives in the budget.” Shanelle replies.

“Thank you, Your Majesty.” 

“But two key pieces are sticking out to me,” Shanelle said to them both.

“What is sticking out to you?” Edwin asked.

“You're still including the severance package for the Voncouer family, while not including the tax incentive program.”

“Yes, we are,” Naya said emphatically, “despite their shortcomings, former Lord Neville and his family deserve to be compensated for their time and hard work for the people of Comery Isle.”

“And what about what the people voted for Naya? Why you both insist on going against their wishes is beyond me. Giving the Vancouer family a severance package was on the ballot as well as the two of you. The people voted for you two and voted against the severance package. It would look bad, VERY bad on the two of you if you grant this severance package.”

“The people will understand.”

“Understand what? That you would reward the same family that misappropriated funds? The same family that stole from the island’s treasury to finance their lifestyle? Is that the message you want to send them? That yeah sure, they stole from the people, which is bad, but we still think they deserve compensation?” Shanelle asked.

Naya huffed.

“Okay fine, I see your point.” Edwin replies. “It would look bad on us as the leaders if we were to go ahead with the severance package.”

“Exactly. You campaigned as a better leader than the Vancouers. Do you want the people to think that you lied to them?” Shanelle asked.

“Of course not. Because we are better leaders than they were.” Edwin replied. “Very well I will exclude the severance package from the budget.” 

“Good. Now as far as the tax incentive program is concerned.”

Naya waved her off.

“The tax incentive program is a waste of money.”

“Are you really going to be this difficult?” Shanelle asked.

“I'm not being difficult. You are being stubborn. The tax incentive program is obsolete at this point.” Naya replied.

“Let me ask you this, would you say any of that to my husband? Would you have this much of an attitude if he told you not to exclude it from the budget?” Shanelle asked.

Naya kept her mouth shut.

“That's what I thought. The tax incentive program is why and how Comery Isle has been able to come back to life. After years of dealing with the Vancouers and recovering from Edward’s sky-high tax hikes, the island is finally thriving. The population has increased tenfold, within the last two and a half years alone, since the implementation of the program, not to mention how it has bolstered the island’s economy. Businesses are no longer being punished for seeking outside help.”

“Fine whatever,” Naya said dismissively.

Edwin sighed.

“Fine. The tax incentive program will stay. But I want to be able to modify it if and when necessary.” 

“That's fine.”

Naya scoffed. 

“The spoiled brat gets what she wants again,” Naya muttered a little too loudly.

“If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you were jealous, Naya.” 

“Well, it's a good thing you know better. Because I would never be jealous of you.”

“Sure sounds that way.”

“Well, it's not! You have nothing for me to be jealous about anyway.”

“Except the King. We all know how you feel about our marriage.”

Naya rolled her eyes.

“The farce you call a happy marriage will end soon enough.” Naya sneered. 

“And then what? He’ll come running back to you?” Shanelle asked.

Naya just glared daggers at her.

“I mean it's good in theory. There's just one not-so-tiny problem. You'll already be married. Again. Which was your problem the first time.”

Just as Naya got ready to respond there was a knock at the door.

“Yes?” Shanelle answered.

The door opened to reveal the Princess. 

“Hi, mommy!”

“Hi, baby.”

Khari turned to the doorman with a friendly smile.

“Thank you, Otto!” she said to the smiling doorman before giving him a fist bump.

“You are always fist-bumping people, little girl.”

“Well yeah. That's how you say thank you.”

“True. What are you up to little one?” Shanelle asked her daughter.

“Grammy is taking me to my ballet lessons. And she said you were in a meeting but I wanted to show you my new tutu. It's the sparkly unicorn tutu I wanted! See?” Khari replied with a twirl.

“I would hope it's the sparkly one. Your Daddy would be miffed if it wasn't. Come here for a sec.”

Khari walked over to her mother.

“Do you remember Pop Pop telling you he has an older brother?” Shanelle asks Khari.

“Yeah. Daddy said that I wouldn't be able to meet him.” Khari replied.

“This is Pop Pop’s nephew. My cousin, Prince Edwin Miller.” 

“Pop Pop has a nephew?” Khari asks.

“Yes. Can you say hi?” Shanelle asked Khari.

“Hi!” Khari greeted Naya and Edwin.

“Hello, Princess. It's good to finally meet you.” Edwin said to Khari.

“It's good to meet you too,” Khari replied with a smile. 

“And this is Naya. Prince Edwin’s fianceé. And just like you, she's a Princess too.” Shanelle said to her daughter.

“Really?!” Khari asked.

“Mmmhmm,” Shanelle replies.

“Whoa! Cool! Hi Princess Naya.” 

Naya smiled stiffly. 

“Hello, Princess. My my, you are a very pretty little girl. You must get your looks from your father.” 

“Uh-huh. And my mommy. She's pretty too.”

“Oh really? And here I always thought your mother looked common.”

Khari shook her no.

“Mommy has always looked pretty.”

“Oh? Gee, I hadn't noticed. Thank you for clarifying.”

Shanelle took a deep breath and held her composure.

“You're welcome, Princess.”

“My! You know your titles, don't you?” Naya asked Khari.

“Uh-huh. Mommy and Daddy help me to remember.” Khari replied 

“I knew your dad would help you. He is the King after all. But I'm surprised your mom would help you as well. I'm learning so much about her. Thank you, dear.”

“Well yeah, my mommy always helps. She is the Queen after all. A Queen always knows the stations and titles. Or something like that.”

“I guess I've always seen her as a commoner. But thanks to you Princess, I'm finally seeing her as Queen.”

Shanelle could feel her blood start to boil. She was thankful when Margo walked in.

“There you are, little one! Are you ready to go?” Margo asked Khari.

“Uh-huh! I just have to show my tutu to Daddy. Mommy was just letting me say hi to her guests. Did you know Mommy has a cousin who's a Prince just like the twins will be?” Khari replies.

“Yes, I did my dear,” Margo replies.

“Hello, Margo,” Naya said to her.

“Hello, Princess. It's been a long time since we've last seen one another.” Margo replies.

“You're looking well, Margo.” 

Margo smiled politely at Naya. 

“As are you, Your Highness.”

Margo turned her attention back to Khari.

“Come along now, dear. We have just enough time to show your Daddy your tutu before we leave.” 

“Okay, Grammy.” 

Khari hugged her mother. 

“Bye, mommy! I'll see you later.”

“Bye, baby. I'll see you when you get back.”

“Can we have a snack when I get back?” Khari asked.

“Sure. We'll go to your favorite bakery for cinnamon rolls.” Shanelle replies.

“Yay! Thank you, mommy!”

“You're welcome, baby. Off with you now.” 

Khari gave her mom one last hug before following Margo out the door.

“What a beautiful little girl she is! She's absolutely adorable. It's such a shame that you’re her mother though.” Naya sneered. 

Shanelle steeples her fingers together. 

“Bitch…I am about two seconds away from stabbing yo ass with a letter opener!” Shanelle hissed. 

“Are you threatening her?” Edwin asked.

“Your fianceé just showed her whole ass in front of my daughter, Edwin. So excuse me if I don’t care that you're offended.” Shanelle replied.

“How very unbecoming of a Queen to threaten an unarmed woman.” 

“Considering how your father had a man beheaded because he didn't like his taste in decor, not that I blame him, you have no room to talk.”

Down the hall, in his office, His Majesty was just ending a conference call when his little spitfire came bursting through the door.

“Whoa! Hah! Stuck the landing!” Khari said triumphantly although she was a little wobbly standing up.

Marquise chuckled.

“Very good, my love.”

Khari ran over to her daddy and climbed into his lap.

“Oof! How are you, my love?” Marquise asked Khari.

“I'm good. I'm going to my ballet lessons with Grammy but I wanted to show you and Mommy my new tutu. It's the sparkly unicorn one I wanted. Thank you for getting it for me Daddy. I love it so much.” Khari replies. 

Marquise smiled at her.

“You are most welcome, my beautiful one. I'm so glad you love it,” he said before kissing her forehead. 

Margo appeared in the doorway. 

“You two would be absolutely sickening if I didn't love your relationship so much.” 

Marquise smiled before walking over and hugging her.

“How are you mom?” he asks Margo.

“I'm doing good, son,” Margo replies.

“How was your doctor's appointment this morning?” he asked.

“It was good. I'm fine. No need to worry about me.” she replied.

“I'll always worry about you, mom. You know this.” 

Margo wrapped him in a motherly hug.

“You're such a good boy.”

“And a good daddy too,” Khari added.

Marquise chuckled.

“Thank you both. You two are just the ego boost I needed.” Marquise said to both before turning his attention to Margo. “Now I understand Shanelle is in a meeting.” 

Margo nodded.

“Yes. With Prince Edwin and Princess Naya.”

Marquise nodded.

“How bad had it gotten, mom?” Marquise asks Margo. 

“It didn't seem too bad but I know your wife. And I know how Naya likes to push Shanelle’s buttons.” Margo replied.

“They were nice to me, Daddy,” Khari added.

“Good. I'm glad they were nice to you my love. Now did it look like Naya was behaving herself?” Marquise asked Margo.

“It seemed that way but you of all people know how she feels about your wife.”

“Daddy you know Princess Naya?” Khari asked.

“Yes, mon amour. Princess Naya and I have been friends since we were kids.” Marquise replied.

“Like me and Xavier?” Khari asks.

Margo snickered when Marquise winced at the name.

“Yes, my love. Like that.”

“I'd say it was a little more than that son.” Margo teased.

“Anyway…Shanelle is meeting with them today to discuss the new budget for Comery Isle.”

Margo nodded.

“That's right. Her cousin won the election to become the new Head Of State for the people there.” 

“Yes and today they're meeting to establish the new advisory board and set the budget for this fiscal year.”

“I'm so happy the people there will never have to deal with the terrible family that was there before. They were snobby, inconsiderate, rude, and always thought way too damn highly of themselves.”

“That’s the Vancoeur family for you.”

Margo scoffed. 

“I never did like that family.”

Marquise snorted.

“Ahh yes. Who can forget your utter disdain for Lady Beatrice, mom? Not to mention how much you couldn't stand Neville’s older brother Luther. And don't get me started on that one time where, if I wasn't standing in between the two of you, you would've whacked his father Gorman in the head.”

“Grammy you almost did what?” Khari asked.

Margo shrugged.

“He earned it! He insulted me and your Grandpa George.” Margo replied.

Marquise shook his head.

“And no one ever does that without paying the price.” Marquise teased. 

“Exactly! I give respect because I expect respect to be given back. The Vancoeurs were never respectful of anyone they considered lesser than them.”

“But you're not lesser than anybody Grammy. You’re the best!”

Margo shook her head with a smile. 

“Thank you my little love bug,” Margo said to Khari before checking her watch, “now it's time to go meet Jenna and Callie so we can get you two off to your ballet lessons.”

“Okay. Just one more thing.”

Khari wrapped her dad in the biggest hug she could muster.

“Bye Daddy! I'll see you later.”

He returned her hug.

“I'll see you later my love.”

“Mommy said we can go for cinnamon rolls after my lessons. Is that okay?” Khari asked him.

“Sure. As long as I get a Chocolate Croissant out of the deal. Because you remember what happened the last time,” he replied.

Khari giggled.

“Okay. I will make sure Mommy doesn't forget your chocolate croissant.”

“That's my girl.” he said to his daughter before giving her a kiss on her forehead, “Now go on. You don't want to be late.”

Marquise gave Margo a quick hug and kiss on the cheek.

“I'll see you later mom.”

“I'll see you later, son.”

Marquise watched them disappear around the corner before catching the sound of raised voices coming from the direction of Shanelle’s office. He knew that it couldn't be good. He decided to go investigate what all the ruckus was about. The closer he got to his wife’s office the louder the voices got. With a quick nod to her doorman, Marquise walked in on a very heated shouting match between Shanelle, Naya, and Edwin.

“What is the meaning of this?” Marquise asked as he walked in.

“Good afternoon Your Majesty. I'm glad you asked. This is another prime example of your wife throwing a temper tantrum.” Edwin replied.

“And threatening me!” Naya added.

“Excuse me?!” Shanelle exclaimed.

“I see. So this was all unprovoked on Her Majesty’s part?” Marquise asked.

Edwin and Naya went quiet.

“Uh-huh. That's what I thought.” Marquise said before turning to Shanelle. “What happened?”

“Everything was going good until your ex’s jealousy reared its ugly head and she started taking shots at me.” 

Naya scoffed.

“If you can't take a few criticisms every here and again, then maybe you shouldn't hold the title of Queen. You’re way too overly emotional anyway.” Naya sneered.

“For the record, if Shanelle shouldn't be allowed to hold the title of Queen because she's way too emotional, neither should you, Naya. A drunken Queen is way more unbecoming and disastrous than an overly emotional one.” Marquise shot back at his ex.

“Now see here! You may be King but you will not disrespect my fianceé!” Edwin snapped at Marquise.

“Edwin. You may be the new leader of Comery Isle but don't you EVER forget that I have the power to override the people’s vote and have you both removed.” Marquise warned. 

“And then there's the part where the Princess here thought it would be cute to show her ass in front of our daughter.”

Marquise looked at Naya expectantly.

“What is she talking about Naya?” Marquise asked his ex.

Naya rolled her eyes.

“Did you just roll your eyes at me?” Marquise asked Naya.

“No,” Naya replies.

“Then what is my wife talking about?” he asked.

“I made a few jokes about her being common. It was nothing serious.” Naya replied.

“First of all, you made those jokes, as you call them, in front of my daughter. The same daughter who is the Heir to the Throne. Secondly, you disrespected your Queen by calling her common. Disrespecting her is the same as disrespecting me.”

“She's fine Marquise-” Edwin tried to say before Marquise cut him off. “It's Your Majesty!”

“Fine. Your Majesty, your wife is fine.”

That's when Marquise had heard enough and was ready to lay down the law.

“Edwin, I understand you don't like Shanelle as your cousin. That's fine. That's your prerogative. But you will respect Her Majesty and especially her authority as your Queen. Do I make myself clear?” Marquise asked.

Edwin swallowed hard.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” he replied.

Marquise looked over Edwin’s shoulder at Naya.

“Princess.”

Naya looked at him.

“Come here.”

“Be reasonable Your Majesty-” Edwin tried to say before Marquise held up a hand to silence him.

“Now!” Marquise commanded.

Naya walked over to Marquise with her head down. When she got to him, he tilted her chin up so she was looking him directly in the eye.

“Everyone in this room knows that you and I have a very complicated history. But no history between us, complicated or not, gives you the right to disrespect my wife in any way, shape, or form. Especially when you, yourself are already on VERY thin ice with me as it stands! And the more disrespectful that you are, the more that ice cracks underneath your feet.” 

“But!” Naya tried to protest.

“Naya. Don't you ever forget that you walk free, because of the deal I made with your now-deceased husband, to keep you out of a well-deserved dungeon after the stunt you pulled!” Marquise growled causing Naya to flinch slightly.

“I haven't forgotten,” Naya replied quietly.

“Good. See that you don't.”

Marquise took a deep breath before turning his attention to Shanelle.

“Have you come to a decision, Your Majesty?” Marquise asked Shanelle.

“I have. There are a few adjustments to be made to the budget before I sign off on it,” Shanelle replied.

“Very well,” Marquise said to her before turning his attention back to Naya and Edwin. “Now I believe the people of Comery Isle have waited long enough for their new Head of State, so you both are to have the newly revised budget on Her Majesty’s desk, ready to sign within the next 72 hours. Is that understood?”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Edwin replied.

Marquise looked at Naya expectantly.

“Yes, My King,” Naya replied softly.

“Good,” Marquise said before knocking on the door to have it opened. “I trust you two can see yourselves out.” 

Naya walked out of Shanelle’s office without looking back and was followed by Edwin. Leaving the couple alone.

“Are you alright my love?” Marquise asks.

“I'm fine. Are you alright?” Shanelle replied.

“I'll live,” Marquise said with an exasperated sigh.

“I know that was hard.” 

“Yes, it was. But it was absolutely necessary. I can live with that.”

Shanelle sighed. 

“She will never get over us being married.”

“I know. But be that as it may, it doesn't give her the right to be disrespectful to you. The more erratic she acts the more she confirms my suspicions about her.”

“What suspicions?” Shanelle asked.

Marquise made sure to lock Shanelle’s office door before he walked over to her desk.

“It's still a hunch but I have long suspected that Tariq’s death wasn't due to natural causes,” he replied.

“What do you mean?” she asks.

“I think she might've killed him,” he replies. 

“Wait! You actually think she killed him?” Shanelle asks.

“I'm not 100% sure. And I won't know for certain until his body is exhumed and an autopsy is done.” Marquise replied.

“You can do that without her permission? How?” Shanelle asked.

“King!” he replied.

“True. What makes you think he was killed?” she asked.

“Tariq was a lot of things. Most of those things were good. And he was good to her. But I know for a fact that she never loved him.” he replied.

“I mean she did try to kidnap me. But that's a far cry from murder.”

“I know. But I can't shake the feeling. Tariq was relatively healthy.”

“I mean to be fair, heart attacks can happen to anyone. Healthy or not.”

“True. But something about his death is bothering me.”

“So what are you going to do?” she asked. 

“His body will be exhumed and an autopsy will be done. And that'll either confirm or deny my suspicions,” he replied.

“I never thought you of all people would suspect her like that.” 

“I never thought she’d try to kidnap you but here we are.” 

“True. So when are you gonna have his body exhumed?” she asked.

“Within the next 72 hours,” he replied.

“Well played, Your Majesty.” 

“I have a few good tricks up my sleeve.”

“So let's say hypothetically speaking, your suspicions are correct. What then?” she asks.

“She will be stripped of her title and charged with murder,” he replies.

“Are you ready for that?” she asks.

“I have to be. Justice will have to be served and well…”

“You have to be the one to serve it.”

“Bingo.”

“I don't envy you.”

“I know. But it has to be done.”

“Good luck,” Shanelle said to her husband as he walks out the door.

“Thanks. I'll need it,” he replies.

Shanelle hoped that he was wrong. But if he was right, he knew heads were gonna roll. 

#khoicesbyk #choices #choices stories you play #pixelberry #fanfic #choices fanfiction #king of cordonia #king marquise #queen of cordonia #queen shanelle #king and queen of cordonia #love everlasting #the royal romance #black couple #black love #black marriage #otp #my otp forever #choices fic writers creations #fics of the week

[blackgirlsuperherorants]

There's a tweet going around about how someone couldn't understand Doctor Strange 2 because they didn't watch Spider-Man NWH and WandaVision, and like ... yeah.

First let me say that I don't think you need No Way Home. It might give you some multiverse insight, but it's not instrumental to the plot of Multiverse of Madness. But otherwise, yeah. You needed to watch WandaVision. You need to watch previous MCU movies. If you don't, you're not going to understand everything. (I also think some people that didn't watch WV think that the new characters were introduced there or that the multiverse happened and we all understood it. But nah, just Wanda's sons and the fact that she became the Scarlet Witch.)

But why are people upset at the MCU for being a connected universe? This isn't a new development, and it would be bad if it all of a sudden wasn't a connected universe. Y'all not reading books 3 and 4 before reading book 5 is your own fault, not the movie's fault.

I have said this before and people get mad because they think I'm saying it's a direct copy, but the MCU works like comics. What I mean by that is, the story is continuous and ongoing. If you read comics, you should know what I mean. You can sometimes pick up a book and follow everything, but sometimes you didn't read the latest run of Spider-Man and you don't know why Peter Parker is depressed about his divorce from MJ and his Spidey sense is off because of his broken heart, even though you're reading a Captain Marvel comic and Spider-Man only shows up in some panels when they're fighting together for some reason, and his Spidey sense throws off their mission. Sure, it can be confusing, but that's just how reading comics is and it's okay.

Watching MCU movies is the same way. Sometimes, you don't know why Wanda is depressed about losing kids you didn't know she had and why she plans to jump universes to find said kids. But the difference is that it's far easier to watch everything the MCU puts out than to read every comic that Marvel publishes. It's been like 15 years. If you don't know by now that you need to watch every movie or TV show to understand everything, or just reconcile that you will not understand plot points from the things you missed, that's your fault. This line everyone keeps repeating "A good movie shouldn't need you to watch anything else" is simply not true, and nobody would say it if it wasn't about the MCU, which is the big film punchingbag right now. Nobody would watch the 5th Harry Potter movie and complain that they didn't understand even though they didn't watch the 2, 3, and 4. If they did, everyone would call them an idiot, because they skipped movies. Nobody would watch Rise of Skywalker and complain that they didn't know who anyone was even though they didn't watch The Force Awakens or The Last Jedi.

You can't skip movies in a franchise and be mad at them for having continuity. Everyone else watched the other stuff and wants the continuity. You dropped the ball, not the other way around.

But also, I think most people just are assuming we meet America Chavez and the Illuminati before in WandaVision or No Way Home. Because the only WandaVision detail that matters is that she lost her sons, who she created through magic, and that she wants them back. And again, nothing from No Way Home really matters much, except that Strange mentions it in passing to America. If you couldn't follow Multiverse of Madness because of two little boys and Wanda's power, then yeah, maybe it is time for you to sit the MCU out.

#mcu #Marvel #marvel cinematic universe #doctor strange #doctor strange in the multiverse of madness #multiverse of madness #light spoilers