#(they sort of have that with the gloves but she's not the only agent not to wear them so it doesn't really go all the way)

[youraveragecatastrophe]

We’ve talked in the past about Julia’s red shirt (in her season 1/season 4 outfit) showing her sympathy towards Carmen. What about other parts of her outfits?

First, to contrast with the red shirt peeking through her dark pantsuit, we have Julia’s ACME suit.

[ID : two cropped screenshots from the 2019 show Carmen Sandiego. The first one shows Julia Argent on the train in India, in her dark suit with red shirt outfit. The second one shows Julia in Rio de Janeiro, in her ACME suit. End ID]

The ACME suits, being uniforms, are all the same (the biggest difference being skirts for the women vs pants for the men), the same way the agents are asked for uniformity, conformity and following orders.

The suits have no color apart from a navy so dark it’s close to black - in fact, depending on the lighting they look almost black and white. Quite like their way of thinking.

[ID : a screenshot from the 2019 show Carmen Sandiego. Agent Zari and Random White Agent stand on either side of a door. They are in the shadows and their uniforms look dark and desaturated. End ID]

As I noted on a previous post, at the same time Julia receives her suit and as such lets go of her red shirt, she is asked to renounce her feelings that Carmen is innocent. Season 2, where she almost exclusively wears the ACME uniform, is the one where Julia briefly doubts Carmen and struggles to reconcile following her superior’s orders with her convictions. Ultimately, when she does not manage it, she resigns (season 3) and as such goes back to her red shirt outfit. It is in that outfit that she teams up with Carmen in a substantial way in season 4.

Other agents (and, notably, agent Zari, the most featured ACME agent apart from Julia and Chase) tend to wear black gloves. In line with their behavior, this suggests keeping a distance with their environment, refusing to feel things too deeply. Julia doesn’t wear gloves, however, not even in Stockholm where the weather would definitely justify it. Despite Chief's insistance, Julia keeps paying attention to her feelings.

Then, Julia’s glasses. Her glasses in seasons 2-3 are ACME regulation eyewear : once again, they’re part of the uniform, so the same model as the other ACME agents. Big, bulky, they’re almost rectangle in shape, all sharp angles : this suggests rigidity and an absence of flexibility in ACME’s mentality. Also note the dark lenses : they symbolically obscure the vision.

[ID : a screenshot from the 2019 show Carmen Sandiego. In Indonesia, Zari and Random White Agent stand against the sky. Their glasses' lenses are noticeably very dark. End ID]

And what about Julia’s original glasses, the ones she wears before joining ACME and those she returns to as she leaves ? They are the exact opposite of the ACME glasses : round and clear, what you need to look at the world as it is.

[ID : a cropped screenshot from the 2019 show Carmen Sandiego. In San Francisco, Julia wears her red shirt outfit with her round glasses. End ID]

#carmen sandiego 2019 #julia argent #if you think i'm reading too much into this. yeah. i'm me. reading too far into tiny details is what i do #(though tbh i keep going from 'this is reaching right?' to 'this is so obvious i'm breaking down an open door' so...) #and let me tell you i'm having the time of my life #you wouldn't imagine the glee i felt thinking about this #mentally i'm lying oin my bed giggling and kicking my feet as i type this #that post wasn't lying. the most fun a girl can have is analyzing making connections seeing patterns etc #anyway with all that (see: post) in mind if i had been in charge of the show i would a. have put julia in a uniform with pants #oh my god that skirt is the ugliest thing i've seen in my life. #also i want julia to be butcher #b. maybe more importantly i would have made julia wear her uniform sliiiightly wrong #like sometimes her tie isn't well fastened. or her vest is partially unbuttoned #or like that moment in rio where she says she still believes in carmen's innocence and her glasses are low and she has to recenter them #(they sort of have that with the gloves but she's not the only agent not to wear them so it doesn't really go all the way) #idk. like she tries to fit it tries to just put her head down and work tries to get into that mold acme wants her to be in #and she's. not terrible at it. she's used to being discrete and working well #with only a quick look you think she's perfectly in line with the other agents. a closer look however tells you otherwise #and shows you how she's not quite at ease with what's asked of her and it makes her miserable #which leads to her leaving acme later #do you see my vision

[buckrecs]

HELLO so i was wondering if you have some winter soldier x reader fics?? ive been trying to find some but theyre all so short (still amazing stories tho) tysm, i really appreciate you making recs

Winter Soldier!Bucky

masterlist | req masterlist

ONESHOT

Into Cursed Pixie Dust by @buckets-and-trees

“He's credited over two dozen assassinations in the last fifty years…” but you don’t know that. You run into him once, then again, again, again. Destiny draws you together, and neither of you can deny the pull. And yet though he never ages, you do.

Stalker by @you-are-my-sanctuary

In which Bucky has a crush on the new PR manager and is being an adorable stalker.

sleepwalking by @lanadelreyscokewhor3

when your boyfriend bucky wakes up with the winter soldier mindest, you do the only thing you know how to do- comfort him. he does the only thing he knows how to thank you- possessive sex. 

Colors in the Dark by @buckychrist

The world is without color, and that’s never bothered the Winter Soldier. The Fist of HYDRA didn’t have time for love and soulmates. At almost a century old, what are the odds that his soulmate was even still living?

ephemeral by @earlgreydream

the winter soldier shows up wounded at your door during a storm.

Purgatory by @wkemeup

While on a mission, Bucky becomes dissociated into the Winter Soldier. But instead of becoming a threat, his instinct is to protect.

a soldier gone rouge by @kinanabinks

the winter soldier has been sent to kill you. why, then, are you so wet?

Reverse Psychology by @waiting4inspiration

Bucky’s Winter Soldier mode is triggered. But you have something up your sleeves that will bring him back.

Comply by @gogolucky13

With Hydra, everyone is a prisoner.

Don’t Fear the Reaper by @gogolucky13

One night, the Winter Soldier appears at your place of work to eliminate a target. He leaves you alive, only to return a few months later.

Fatal Mistake by @rookthorne

A rogue agent amidst their ranks, it was the perfect plan, a perfect escape. It was their fatal mistake. 

Wolf, Partner, Gloves… by @revengingbarnes

HYDRA’s words make Bucky go into Winter Soldier mode. Then he meets you, and you make for him words that will bring him back to normal.

the dragon and her shadow by @kashimos-hajime

You fall in love with the Winter Soldier, and they punish you for it. Sentiment is weakness, but what can they do? After all, they cannot kill the Fist of H.Y.D.R.A. and mortal men cannot even begin to comprehend slaying a dragon.

take it easy, romeo by @sunmoonandeddie

The Soldat remembers one person through it all.

You Found Me by @samthemarvelfan

Bucky Barnes always came home to you. What happens when he doesn't? Worse than that...what happens when he forgets you existed?

Gone Again by @tokoyamisstuff

The Winter Soldier is lost and confused, unable to remember a single thing - except for the place where he’d find the woman that had become his safe space.

I’ll Come Back for You by @milliedazzledust

something where he is in winter soldier mode and protecting the scientist (y/n) where she is the only one who can sort of calm him down after a mission.

Void by @theeleggymeggy

Working as a nurse at HYDRA, you find yourself intervening when you catch Alexander Pierce striking The Asset. You don’t even know this man, but you can’t just stand and watch him be beat down.

Sweet Memory by @

SERIES

One’s Promised by @invisibleanonymousmonsters

Living a double life was not a choice when one was the daughter of Alexander Pierce. Y/N was the youngest agents of SHIELD and one of the most respected threats within Hydra’s empire. No matter her allegiance, she was feared by both. Y/N Pierce would’ve tried to escape it all… if it hadn’t been for The Winter Soldier.

Soldat by @the-fallen-nightmare

Captain America and Reader have worked together at SHIELD for over a year. What happens when they have a run in with The Winter Solider and Steve finds out the secret Reader had been hiding from him all this time? And what happens when reader is captured by Hydra and The Winter Soldier, again. Can she make Soldat remember her or is her life with Steve just a slow fading memory now?

 

Breach by @darkmasterlistyouneveraskedfor (dark)

The reader finds herself in the Winter Soldier’s cross hairs during a lock down.

Reset by @lunarbuck

The government has fallen, Hydra has taken over. You were an agent of SHIELD long before the reign of terror began, and became a member of the resistance when they needed you most. Everything changes when the Winter Soldier captures you from your safe house.

Devil’s Backbone by @trashmenofmarvel

With your team dead and your mission failed, you’ve been taken by the assassin to an unknown location and are at the mercy of your cruel tormentors.

Krasavchik by @after-avenging-hours

While under orders from Karpov to test the Soldat’s loyalties to Hydra, you find yourself questioning your own loyalties.

Welcome Home… Soldat? by @winterarmyy

Y/N had make a habit of greeting Bucky a warm 'welcome home' everytime he came back from his missions, but there was one particular day when she unknowingly greeted someone else.

#bucky barnes fic rec #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x y/n #bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes x f!reader #bucky barnes smut #winter soldier x reader #bucky barnes series #winter soldier!bucky #winter soldier!bucky x reader #bucky barnes angst #bucky barnes fluff #bucky barnes x agent!reader #bucky barnes x avenger!reader #bucky barnes x hydra!reader #winter soldier smut #dark!bucky barnes x reader #dark!winter soldier #sex pollen

[weskie]

Relief (Albert Wesker x gn!Reader)

900 words | hurt/comfort themes | Fic Directory

His first injection did not go smoothly. 

Albert Wesker is a man of many strengths, but even God is not always immune to the trials and tribulations of laboratory science. Especially not when said science is meant to enhance what makes him so special. 

Yet here you were, one of his chosen. But you knew better than to think of yourself so highly; chances are you're simply a pawn. You know cunning and deceit when you see it, and he stinks to high heaven of such dark qualities. 

Excella gives him the first dose of the supressant, a concoction designed to give him perfect control over the virus in his body.  It is measured precisely based on her own studies and calculations. However, pride kept her from allowing anyone else to analyze her work. There's no immediate response, and she smiles happily. 

And yet you know better, because you had seen her work. Compared to your own, she was way off– as you tried to tell her. She’d been careless with her decimals, a simple mistake with grave consequences. But you are lower on the totem pole. Your word doesn't matter until hers proves to be no good. 

She probably regrets ignoring you when his face twitches, teeth clenching as he grips the edge of his chair, howling the first of many exclamations of harrowing pain. 

“Albert! I–”

But his hand goes around her throat in a mere flash, silencing her, halting any attempt to touch him. 

“You– gah!” He snarls, eyes flaring a deep, fiery red around his cat-like pupils. He drops her and, in turn, falls to the floor himself. Wesker hunches over on his knees, wails of agony leaving him as he clenches his chest and head. 

The virus coursing through his body is being assaulted by an overdose of the suppressant, turning it more volatile and painful by the minute. Balance was key, and he had been thrown far from it. 

There is no counter agent, no painkiller, no balm to soothe his agony– for what could ever help a god?  Both you and Excella watch him writhe, but her fear keeps her from doing like you. 

You're not even sure why you did it. 

You sit behind him, legs splayed, and you pull him back to lean against you. His animalistic growls and pained, gasping breaths fill your ears, but all you do is hold him tight like some sort of human restraint. 

Excella stares at you as if you'd lost your mind. 

Perhaps you have. 

A gloved hand grips your forearm with a force so punishing that it makes you yelp. He could break you with one finger, but he's clearly holding back. He could tear you limb from limb even now for invading his space like this. 

But he doesn't. 

“Breathe, Mister Wesker,” you say. You have his honorific wrong– it's doctor– but surely nobody in the room cares to notice. “It will pass, but you must breathe.” 

A growl and seemingly involuntary jerk of his body disrupts your words, but you hold tight nonetheless. 

You do so for nearly an hour.  Against every tremor, against every wave of pain the likes of which you could never imagine. The only noises to be heard are his tight breaths and the hum of fluorescent laboratory lights. 

Sometime in the middle of things, Excella scurried off to fix her mistake. She begged for forgiveness, but he shot her a look that made her go as white as a ghost. 

The sleeves of your lab coat are shredded, arms bruised, and Wesker himself looks no better. It's as if all the fight had been torn out of him and he was no stronger than any mere mortal. The grip on your forearm is leagues lighter. 

He's probably going to kill you for touching him like this. For reducing him to some helpless infant in need of comfort and support. 

His breaths have steadied. 

Somehow you'd brought your free hand up to thumb at his cheekbone. Some odd, inappropriate manner of soothing his pains. 

“Mister Wesker, I–”

“Save it.” He says, cutting you off. Even his voice sounds weak. That fancy edge to it is gone almost entirely. 

He's clearly awake and aware. Why isn't he moving away? Hell, why aren't you moving away? 

“It was in your best interest to assist me.” 

He's posturing, repositioning his authority despite what had just happened.  Your thumb stops moving and that hand around your forearm grips tighter. When you resume, it slackens. 

“Bold of you to have done this,” he hums. “And all this time I thought you lacked a spine.” 

You're not sure what to say to such a statement. You're not sure what he's getting at either. A punishment? A reward? You can practically hear a smirk in his words despite the fact it was nowhere in sight. 

“I can feel you shaking.” 

Shit. 

“Hm…” Wesker releases a sigh, something you've never heard from him before. “Tell you what, pet.” 

Pet? Pet? 

“Continue your little ministrations until I am on my feet, and I will consider your crimes forgiven.”

What? He wants you to keep this up? 

“Does that sound satisfactory?” He asks. “Answer me, pet.” 

With wide eyes and shaking hands, you nod. 

“Y-Yes, Mister Wesker!”

“Good, good... Now, what punishment has Miss Gionne earned for herself, hm?” 

#albert wesker #albert wesker x reader #albert wesker x you #albert wesker fanfiction

[rhoorl]

Delta Landscaping: Chapter 15 Lucky Strike

Series Masterlist | Chapter 15 A03 Link

Word Count: 4.4k

Previously on As the Mule Falls: The neighbors met at David and Ty’s house for a Fourth of July party. Despite the guys having a lot of anxiety about it, they ended up having a pretty fun time thanks to all of their new friends. We ticked a few boxes off of our bingo card and laughed as David finally let the intrusive thoughts out. We also got a shy, nervous Benny and some meddling from Will and our favorite FBI agent.

In this Episode: We’re heavy on the Benny in this episode with little sprinkles of Frankie and a flashback of sorts for Santiago. Also, I’m trying to get to fight night so there are some jumps in time. In case you missed it, here is the moodboard for this chapter.

Chapter Warnings: A shoe goes flying at Santiago’s head. There’s some fluff and rom-com vibes and we finish with a little bit of angst with Frankie as he reaches one year of sobriety.

*Cue the theme music and roll opening credits*

Four weeks to fight night

“Good, Ben,” Frankie panted backing away and leaning against the ropes of the boxing ring, “we can take a break.” 

“C’mon old man, don’t slow down on me now!” Benny flashed a lopsided grin as he worked the boxing gloves off of his hands. 

“It’s not that I’m slowing down…you just seem more…focused.” He eyed Benny with a smirk.

It’s true. Benny had an extra pep in his step today. He got to the gym well before Frankie, claiming he needed to “burn off some energy.” When Frankie arrived, he found Benny in the corner of the gym jumping rope, his shirt discarded nearby on the floor. During today’s sparring session, Benny was on a different level. Every punch connected and he anticipated everything Frankie threw at him, causing Frankie to wince at a few well-placed jabs to the ribs. With the fight only weeks away, Benny was well in ring shape and nearing his peak, which made Frankie breathe a sigh of relief.

Tossing the boxing gloves to the side, Benny reached down to grab his baseball cap, eager to get the hair out of his eyes. “Just feeling good…yesterday was a lot better of a day than I thought it’d be.”

“I’m sure it was,” Frankie crossed his arms in front of his chest, watching as Benny grabbed a towel. “Any word on your date?” 

“Thinkin’ Saturday…since we were planning on taking Sunday off anyway, figured I could be out late and it wouldn’t be a problem…” Benny’s eyes didn’t quite meet Frankie’s.

“Ben, we can take whatever day you want off,” Frankie chuckled before furrowing his brow at the sight of Benny chewing on the inside of his cheek. “What? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing I just…I didn’t want you to think I wasn’t taking this seriously and getting distracted or anything…so I was just waiting I guess until a day I already was free.”

“Hermano, do I think Vanessa is a distraction? Yes, but in the best possible way,” he clasped a hand to Benny’s shoulder. “The past week you’ve been a nervous wreck, timid, and not yourself in here. But today? Today man…you’ll whoop anyone’s ass who steps up to you,” he laughed, seeing the corners of Benny’s mouth curl up. “So she’s distracting you from the bullshit in your head and I think that’s great. She seems like a really sweet girl, Ben.”

“Yeah…I…I really like her Fish,” he rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t wanna fuck this up, you know?”

Frankie tilted his head up and laughed, “Trust me, I get it.”

“Oh shit, sorry man. Ah…how’re things with you?”

With a deep breath through his nose, Frankie took off his hat and ran his fingers through his curls, before putting it back on again. “Well, I was actually wanting to see if I could take next weekend off. Had a thought to surprise her and fly up there.”

“Hey isn’t next week….” Benny trailed off seeing Frankie gaze down to his feet. Making the realization, a huge smile came across Benny’s face, “I think that’s a perfect way to celebrate Fish! I’m proud of you man.”

“So, you have a good night last night? You left the party pretty early with Katie,” Santiago’s eyebrows waggled at Will as they loaded up a wheelbarrow with soil. They’d come up with an agreement with Frankie and Benny to work on Melissa’s backyard, executing their design and giving Benny the chance to concentrate on training. 

“We’re just friends Pope…and yes we had a good night, did you?” Will looked over as he set down the shovel.

“Just friends? Wow, you know I kinda saw that comin’ not gonna lie,” he shrugged.

“Fuck off, don’t you have a shoe to dodge or something?” Will snapped as he walked into Melissa’s backyard.

“I guess I deserved that,” Santiago muttered to himself, realizing that Frankie must have spilled to Will that Amaryllis was back in the picture.

To say Santiago and Amaryllis had a dramatic situationship would be putting it mildly. They grew up together in New York as family friends. Neither made a move, although they heavily flirted with each other by the time they got to high school. Santiago had to endure her shitty boyfriends who never treated her well and she had to see him run through every girl in their grade and the ones above it too. She’d finally mustered enough courage to tell him she had feelings for him but it ended up being the same night he told her he was enlisting. 

They exchanged letters for a few years, but those eventually stopped. He lost track of her, hearing that she’d gone off to Los Angeles to try her hand at acting or modeling. She landed a couple of small roles here and there. A falling out with a boyfriend caused her to move back to the East Coast, where she reconnected with a couple of Santiago’s cousins whom she was close to growing up. They shared that he was back in town and invited her out. It had been years since they'd seen each other, but her heart raced a bit at the thought of seeing him again.

When she walked into the bar, his eyes immediately met hers and he felt like he’d been run over by a train. She was confident, commanding the attention of everyone as she walked over to him. He longed for some comfort and she did too. The two found themselves locked away in her apartment for the next few days getting reacquainted.

Still, they were both too stubborn and headstrong to admit their feelings. What came next was a tumultuous and dramatic series of back and forths, neither one wanting to make that next step, that commitment. Instead, they found it easier to get underneath someone else rather than face their feelings head-on. They did try to have more, but it failed miserably each time with one of them retreating like a scared dog, unsure who to trust. 

The pull to Colombia made for a clean break, at least that’s what Santiago thought. When he came back, he went home for a short while to see his mother and couldn’t help but pass by Amaryllis’ apartment. He sat on the stoop for what felt like hours, debating whether to knock on the door or just send a text. A sudden slam of the door made the decision for him.

“Hijo de puta, how fucking dare you show up here. After three fucking years?” She yelled as he got up and backed away from her. He tried to say something but he couldn’t get any sound out. Next thing he knew he was dodging a well-thrown sandal to the head as she continued to call him every name in the book both in English and Spanish. It was the last time he saw her. 

But a couple of weeks ago, he noticed a Facebook message. She made the decision to move down to Florida and wanted to see if he was still there. He debated opening up the message or just deleting it but opted to read it and then go to her profile. She seemed happy, really happy. And noticeably single. So one thing led to another and she made the drive over to Tampa so they could meet for coffee and talk. He knew the guys had their opinions so he opted to keep a low profile about it for as long as he could.

“This is good practice Vandy, I get to do the whole dad spiel about being home before midnight and all of tha- ow!” Marcus ducked as Victoria threw a dish rag at him. 

“Leave her alone, mi amor. Come back whenever you want Nessa, or don’t,” Victoria winked as her sister rolled her eyes. “So, what did you guys decide on?”

“I suggested Splitsville. Figured we could bowl and maybe eat, I dunno seemed like a good choice. He was excited about it.”

“C’mon admit it, you also picked it because it’s ‘Insta-worthy’!” Marcus chuckled as he made air quotes with his fingers.

“Oh my god, you’re such a dad,” Vanessa groaned. “Please don’t ever say Insta-worthy again, Buck.”

“Ooo, are you starting up your foodie blog again?” Victoria rubbed her hands together. “You always find the best places.”

“Excuse me?” Marcus brought a hand to his chest, “she’s not the only foodie in this family.”

“Of course, mi amor,” she kissed Marcus on the cheek as he plated the kid’s dinner. “Between the two of you, we always have the coolest spots to check out.”

“Are you sure this looks ok Vic? Not too casual?” Vanessa did a little twirl as Mariella clapped in her high chair. 

Figuring out what to wear was always a chore for Vanessa, especially in recent years when she didn’t really care to shop for clothes…or look in the mirror for that matter. She’d changed outfits about 15 times, completely ransacking her closet. The final winner was a pair of dark wash jeans and a well-worn Tampa Bay Rays t-shirt, topped with a flannel. Victoria thought it was a bit unnecessary to wear a flannel in the middle of summer, but knew it was a security blanket for her sister. 

“I think you look great, Vandy,” Marcus winked with a soft smile. 

Will sat on the couch playing a video game, trying to hide his smile as Benny paced around the living room. “You excited?”

Benny stopped and looked over as he finished buttoning up his sleeve. “Yeah. J called a little bit ago…thought he was going to give me shit…” Benny trailed off rubbing the back of his neck.

“We’re excited to see you out there again Bean,” Will paused his game, putting the controller down to walk over and assess his brother’s outfit. “You look like….me…why’re wearing this?” Will grabbed at the front of Benny’s button-down shirt. 

“I dunno…I wanted to look nice,” Benny pouted looking down at his outfit. 

“Wear what makes you comfortable Ben. C’mon,” with a reassuring pat on his brother’s shoulder, he led him back to the bedroom. He sat on the edge of the bed as Benny went through his hangers. 

Without saying a word, Benny changed out of his long-sleeve button-down shirt and slipped on a fresh white crewneck t-shirt and black jean jacket. He switched out his boots, put on some sneakers, and grabbed a baseball cap. 

“There’s my Bean,” Will smiled. “Feeling better?” Benny nodded as the corners of his mouth turned up. 

“Tia Nessa? I wanna see Bunny!” Mariella waddled over to the couch where Vanessa sat. 

“Si mi vida, Bunny is coming over soon,” she moved over so Mariella could work her way onto the couch next to her. It was so cute how quickly her little niece had taken to Benny. The past couple of days she’d managed to get home from picking up the kids around the same time Benny was finishing up his run. Mariella would squeal when she saw him and he’d do something silly to make her laugh.

Nico sat quietly coloring with Victoria as they all heard the doorbell ring. Vanessa went to stand up but Marcus intercepted since he was already up. Opening the door, he found Benny shifting from foot to foot with his hands in his pockets. 

“Hey there Benny, good to see you, come on in,” he held the door open for Benny to pass through.

“Bunny!!” Mariella quickly got herself off the couch and rushed over to Benny, nearly tripping over her unsteady legs in the process.

“Hey baby girl,” Benny smiled, whisking the little girl off of her feet as she giggled. 

She started to babble and Benny looked around the room in the hopes someone could translate toddler. 

“She asked if you’re taking Vanessa ‘bye bye’ in the car,” Victoria’s heart melted seeing Mariella bond so quickly with Benny.

“Ohh ah yeah, I guess. Yeah, we’re going to go ‘bye bye’ in the car. But I’ll bring her back, I promise,” Benny winked.

“You, ah, ready to go?” Vanessa got up, grabbing her crossbody from the counter.

Seeing her about took his breath away. She looked effortlessly beautiful, and he suddenly felt less self-conscious about his casual attire. 

“Yeah. I…um…can I put you down so I can take your um…Tia…out?” Benny raised his eyebrows waiting for a response. With an enthusiastic nod, he set Mariella down and she ran to Marcus and hugged his leg. “Ah, after you,” Benny put his arm out, gesturing for Vanessa to pass, while wishing the Pikes a good night. He could feel Marcus’ eyes on him so he tried his best to not let his eyes wander as she walked by him.

“Don’t keep her out too late now,” Marcus winked as Vanessa groaned, grabbing Benny’s hand to quickly lead him out of the house before Marcus had another chance to embarrass her. 

“Sorry about him,” Vanessa quickly dropped Benny’s hand once he closed the front door. “Buck looks for any chance to give me shit.” She furrowed her brows as Benny followed her to the passenger side of his car.

“It’s alright, hell I’ve done worse to Will,” he chuckled, opening the door for her. 

She quickly got in and sat a bit dumbfounded as he sprinted around to his side of the car. It’s not that she hadn’t ever had a man open a door for her, her sister was married to Marcus “Mr. Romance” Pike after all, but it still gave her butterflies and made her even more excited for the night to come.

“So, I have a confession to make,” Frankie said as he sprawled out on his bed, propping the phone against a pillow.

“Ooo mysterious. Tell me more Morales,” Jo quipped. She was nestled underneath a fluffy blanket on her couch for what had become her favorite part of the day - her nightly FaceTime chat with Frankie.

“So, what would you say if I ah,” he ruffled his hair and took a deep breath, “what if I came up there next weekend? I know you’re busy with work and stuff, but I’ll be out of your hair by Monday. You can drop me off at the airport before you go to work, or I’ll take an Uber.” He waited for what felt like an eternity for her to respond, wondering if his Wi-Fi crapped out because she was stuck looking at him. “What do you say mi cielo? I, I don’t have to, if you already have plans-”

“No! I mean yes….I mean, no I don’t already have plans and yes I would love for you to come up here. Are you sure? Doing this so last minute?” She couldn’t help the huge smile that stretched across her face. Being away from Frankie for the past week was torture and the idea of getting to spend a couple of days with him, being wrapped in his arms and hearing his laugh ring in her ears made her downright giddy.

“I’ve been thinking about doing it since you left, so it’s not as last-minute as you think babe,” he winked. 

“Well, I am clearing my entire schedule. We can play tourist for a day and then maybe hang out…be lazy, order some takeout, cuddle, ooo and we can watch movies in person rather than one of us being on a delay,” her eyes twinkled as she started to race through various ideas.

Frankie chuckled, he loved it when she got excited and started to ramble. “Whatever we do, I’ll be happy because I’ll be with you.”

“I’m so excited! This next week is going to go by even slower now that I have something to look forward to,” she beamed.

“Are you serious?” Vanessa shook her head, dumbfounded that Benny casually threw a perfect game. Trick shot after trick shot, it didn’t matter, he always got a strike.

Benny didn’t even watch his last shot. He had his eyes on Vanessa as he put his back to the lane and released the ball behind him. Hearing the pins knocked down, he sauntered back over, flashing a boyish grin.

“Ooo yay, the food is here,” he rubbed his hands together, looking at the spread. All of his training had made him build up quite the appetite these days, so he wasn’t shy about ordering his fair share.

“Wait wait!” Vanessa put her hands up to stop him from taking a mozzarella stick. “Sorry, I um…one sec,” She bit her bottom lip, pulling out her phone and then rearranging the plates. Benny looked on confused but also amused, admiring how her brows furrowed as she concentrated on getting everything to look just right.

Pleased with her setup, she started snapping photos. “Sorry…I am one of those people, annoying I know, but I figured tonight was a good excuse to start up my account again,” she didn’t look up from her phone as she took a couple of videos too. “Phone eats first,” she winked before motioning that the coast was clear.

“What kind of account you have?”

“Oh, it’s just on Instagram…I started it a few years back…it’s a fun way to explore the food scene and…sorry this is all boring I’ll stop,” she laughed to herself as she grabbed a few nachos.

“No, no, it’s not boring, I like it. I like food, clearly,” he motioned to the four plates in front of him and she snorted. “Lemme see, I wanna follow.” He motioned toward her phone with his chin.

She reluctantly handed him the phone and watched as he scrolled her account. After a few moments, she saw his forehead scrunch.

“What? I know, I don’t always have the best lighting, I’ve been meaning to buy myself a little light thing and  - “

“No, hey,” he put his hand on her forearm, which sent an electric pulse up her body. She suddenly felt like it was way too warm for her flannel. “No this is great, these photos are beautiful…I just was wondering where you were.”

“What?”

“I don’t see you in any of these photos. Maybe your hands every once in a while, but how come you’re not in these?” He shook the phone as he turned it back to her.

“Oh…I…um…I dunno I guess I’d rather have the focus be on the food,” she looked down, playing with the straw of her water. The truth of the matter was she was tired of dealing with the random trolls who would end up making a comment about her body or how much she went out to eat. She deleted everything off of her account that had her face in it, opting to showcase the food instead.

“Hmm…” Benny nodded, handing back her phone. He pulled his out and started typing as she looked on with inquiring eyes. “There, you have a new follower,” he winked.

She looked at the notification, trying to steady her breath at how hot he looked in his profile picture. “Holy shit, are you like an influencer or something?!”

Benny looked a bit sheepish, “I started the account when I got into fighting…a way to promote them…and then I just kept posting gym stuff and it grew from there.”

“Well, you have a lot of very loyal fans it seems,” Vanessa smirked as she scrolled through some particularly thirsty comments on his account. Normally something like this would be a complete red flag, especially given her ex’s history, but there was something about Benny’s shy smile that put her mind a little more at ease. 

“Pope used to date a girl who did social media stuff for her job so she set it up for me. I don’t post a ton, but it’s there. I’m mostly on there to help keep an eye on my niece, lord knows her dad is a lost cause when it comes to anything on his phone that’s more than making a call,” he chuckled to himself. “But now I’m excited to see your food stuff on my feed,” he smiled.

“Well thanks…I started the account when I lived in Charlotte…gave me an excuse to get around and explore,” she gave a tight smile as she bit into a slider.

“Maybe we can explore some stuff…together?” Benny’s hopeful eyes found hers as she slowed her chewing.

“Um…ok, yeah sure, that’d be fun,” she smiled back. “Although you may regret what you’re signing yourself up for,” she winked.

He regarded her with a lopsided grin. “Oh, I don’t think I’m gonna regret it at all, boss lady.” 

Three weeks to fight night

Things around Mule Fall Court settled into an easy routine the following week. Benny and Frankie kept a consistent schedule at the gym. Sometimes Connor would tag along too, although he was trying to soak up the last bits of summer before he and Aria had to head back to school. Meanwhile, Will and Santiago were nearly done with Melissa’s backyard and already looking for their next project. One day as they were cleaning up, Victoria stopped over and they talked about her lawn. They all agreed that it would be a good project to tackle once Benny’s fight was done.

Will found himself hanging out with Katie a few nights so they could finish up the last season of The Mandalorian. He had to admit, he actually really enjoyed it as much as the company he had while watching it. Ever since they established their boundaries as friends, it felt like a weight was lifted off. They were able to just relax and found themselves opening up in ways they hadn’t with another person in years, or ever. Will also decided to treat himself a bit and got a motorcycle. He found riding around, feeling the wind in his face, to be calming.

Katie and Megan made a vow to restart their weekly wine night, adding the usual suspects to the mix. New to the group was Katie’s coworker, Miranda. Like Megan, she was a single mother and rarely took time to do anything for herself. It had taken a few weeks of coaxing but Katie finally convinced her to take Aria up on the babysitting offer and come over for a night of laughs and girl talk – yes, David included himself in that.

Benny and Vanessa hung out a few more times. Thanks to some good-intentioned meddling from Marcus, he recruited Benny to come over and keep Vanessa company while he and Victoria enjoyed a night out to celebrate their anniversary. They played with the kids all night and ordered pizza. Vanessa was thankful to have Benny there since he was able to run around and tire the kids out. 

Mariella was adamant that Benny tucked her into her crib and Benny and Vanessa stayed in her room for a while until she went to sleep. Vanessa learned that Benny had a beautiful voice. He sang a lullaby to Mariella to finally get her to close her eyes and drift off to sleep. Settling back on the couch, Benny dutifully listened as Vanessa showed him a few restaurants that recently caught her eye online.  

He was still nervous about pushing things too far, but couldn't help but flirt with her. What made him even more nervous was he felt like she was flirting back. He so badly wanted to kiss her, trying his hardest to keep his eyes from drifting to her lips. She moved closer to him, crossing a leg on the couch to face him, laughing at a joke he made. When the laughter died down, she looked at him, trying to steady her breathing. He licked his bottom lip and her eyes betrayed her, looking down as she sucked a breath in. At the same time, they both leaned forward, he brought his hand up to cup her cheek. His lips were near to hers when they heard the garage door, pulling them both away from each other like two teenagers who had gotten caught almost making out by their parents.

With a deep breath, Frankie looked at the calendar hanging on his fridge by a single magnet. This date was one he’d been equally dreading and looking forward to – a year since he flushed the last bit of his stash down the toilet and decided to start the journey of putting all of the broken pieces back together again. It hadn’t been an easy year by any stretch of the imagination, but quietly and steadily he made it to milestone after milestone. 

Valeria was the first person to text him this morning. She knew her brother shied away from attention, so she acknowledged the day with a simple I’m proud of you Paco. Love you. She followed that up with a picture of his niece and nephew smiling at the camera, Antonio proudly showing off the gap from the tooth he lost this week.

Jo texted him this morning none the wiser about the significance of this day other than the fact that it meant she was going to see Frankie. It had only been two weeks since their shared flight down to Tampa. Lucille and Valeria had both separately referred to it as the “flight that changed your life” but Frankie hadn't fully embraced that moniker. It had been so long since he’d opened up his heart in this way. He battled with a constant inner struggle between wanting to guard his heart and wanting to jump head-first into this. 

This weekend’s trip felt momentous for several reasons, but the biggest was that Frankie planned to tell Jo everything about his past. Although it was under different circumstances, opening up to Lucille and having her embrace him with love and compassion did wonders for him. For so long he’d been in a spiral of self-loathing, thinking that everyone was disappointed by him and that he was a failure. But Lucille cracked the door open and shined some light and he was hopeful that Jo would kick it wide open. The idea of sharing the darkest parts of himself and his past terrified him more than crash-landing a helicopter, but it was something he had to do. He wanted more with Jo and if he had any chance at it, he had to be honest with her.

Next Time on As the Mule Falls: We get closer and closer to fight night. The neighbors host a party to welcome the Pikes to the neighborhood. A little bit of pining and angst. More Cousin Joel phone calls. 

A/N: Hi! First, I hope you are still enjoying this series. We have SO many storylines in play with several more to come, I do have a plan for all of this I promise. And all of those eagerly awaiting Cousin Joel (me included), he’s on his way soon. That’s part of the reason why we had some time jumps in this episode. With that being said, I’m going to try something new and do some extras in addition to the episodes. Consider it your extended or deleted scenes if we were watching the box set of DVDs of the season (dating myself with that reference). I’m already planning an extra to show more of Benny and Vanessa’s bowling date along with a one-shot of Frankie’s trip to Atlanta. 

Thank you as always for reading, sharing, or sending me a message about this story!

Taglist: @goodwithcheese / @gemmahale / @trulybetty / @noxturnalpascal / @periodtsparadox / @ramblers-lets-get-ramblin / @maggiemayhemnj / @mysterious-moonstruck-musings / @avastrasposts / @meveispunk / @chaoticfestninja / @beboldbebravethings / @casa-boiardi / @katw474 / @linzels-blog / @laughing-in-th3-purple-rain / @pimosworld / @lynnchun / @anoverwhelmingdin /@lilmizmoz / @pedrit0-pascalit0 / @titlee78 / @noisynightmarepoetry / @inept-the-magnificent / @perennialdoll247 / @for-a-longlongtime / @readingiskeepingmegoing / @harriedandharassed / @musings-of-a-rose / @anavatazes / @sherala007 / @midnightraain / @partyofone3414 / @inthedarkestnight / @millennial-teenybopper / @csarab615 / @darkheartgatita / @southernbe / @weho2kcmo / @itspdameronthings / @mclibs23

#triple frontier fic #triple frontier fanfiction #triple frontier #benny miller #frankie morales #will miller #santiago pope garcia

[specialagentlokitty]

Booth x reader - the pain of the past still hurts

TW: mentions of depression and suicidal thoughts

Walking into Angela’s office, you held out a paper box to her a little bit, grinning slightly.

“Bribery? What do you want?” Angela chuckled.

She took the cookie box from you, sitting down so she could have one and you sat next to her.

“I know you need time to work but I really need a facial reconstruction on this victim Ange.”

“You’re in luck, I actually just finished.”

Angela set the box down, getting up to go to the big screen and you walked over to follow her so you could see what she had come up with.

“Your victim would’ve looked something like this, I haven’t got the skull for the second person yet, but I’ll let you know when I do.”

You looked at her rendition of the victim and nodded your head.

“Perfect, I’ll tell Booth, thanks Angela you’re the absolute best!”

You jogged out of the room and up to the platform where Booth was coming down.

“Got you a face, here.”

You handed him your phone and he took it so he could look at it.

“Send me this I’ll run it by the DMV.”

You gave him a mock salute and he chuckled, handing your phone back to you.

“Yes sir.”

“Don’t call me sir.”

“Yes sir!”

Booth glared at you a little but when he saw your little grin he just smiled slightly.

“You’ve got work to do squint.”

“Yeah but I also have lunch to take so see ya.”

You spun around, heading out of the building so you could go find something good for lunch.

You were gone a while, and when you got back you were called up to look at the bodies so you headed up, pulling the gloves on.

“What’s up?”

“What do you see?” Brennan asked.

You looked at the first one belonging to the victim you identified.

“Well, he was struck in the ribs with something hard, judging by the fracture pattern I’d say maybe something metal like a pip or a bat.”

“And this one?”

You walked over to the other skeleton and you slowly walked around the table.

You did that a few times, and Brennan just quietly watched you.

“There’s no obvious signs of foul play, no recent fractures or breaks, there’s no sign of trauma to the bones aside from the healed breaks. But these bones seem older.”

Brennan nodded her head.

“Exactly, so what does that tell you?”

You stopped pacing and you looked at her.

“Either this is an older victim who was killed in a different way, maybe through some sort of drug, or, this isn’t a victim and this was somebody who was already buried there.”

“Yes, I believe this body is not related to the murder and was already buried years before.”

You nodded in agreement.

“So what do we do?” You asked.

“We identify the bones and return them to the family.”

You nodded and you turned to the victim.

“I’m going focus on him, maybe I’ll find something, I’ll let you know when Angela gets something with that one.”

“Thank you, I’m going to find Booth he’s said he has a lead.”

You watched as she left and you pulled out your CD player from your overall jacket and put your headphones in focusing on your work.

You knew that Brennan wasn’t one for music while working but you found it helped you focus because it blocked out all the noise.

The only downside was that because you were blocking out the noise you didn’t hear the sound of your phone ringing, or people calling your name, ir somebody walking over to you.

You felt somebody pull the headphones down and you turned around, smiling at Booth.

“Hey, what can I do you for?” You asked.

“We need to talk.”

You titled your head down so he could take the headphones and CD player and you pulled your gloves off.

“We’ll go to my office.”

You took the agent through to your office and he closed the door.

Walking over, he took a bit of paper from his pocket and set it down in front of you a you took it, looking at him in confusion.

“What is it?”

“Read it.”

You furrowed your brows a little, turning back to the paper.

“It’s a land deed?” You asked confused.

“It says you own it, is that correct?”

“Yeah, I own a small patch of land, it’s a small hill that overlooks the ocean.”

“You didn’t think to bring this up?”

Setting the paper down you sat on your desk.

“Booth what’s this about? Last time I checked it isn’t illegal to own a bit of land. I used my savings and inheritance to buy it why do you think I’m broke?”

“It is illegal to have two bodies buried on your land, Hodgins traced the dirt particles back to that exact patch of land, our murder victim along with that other body were buried on your land, now because it’s privet property we need your permission to remove the tree so we can see if it has anything useful.”

You stared at him in shock, and you looked down at your hands.

“What else did you find…?”

“Are you confessing to something?” Booth asked.

You looked up, reaching into the pocket of your jacket you pulled something out and walked over holding your hand out.

Booth held his hand out and you dropped the object in his hand.

“Did you find something like this?”

“Yes, it was on the remains yet to be identified.”

You nodded and you looked out to the platform.

“You don’t need to identify him… his name is Jason Morris. He died just over 10 years ago. You can’t remove that tree, and if you do I will take lawful action.”

You took the necklace from him and made you way to the platform, heading over to the table holding Jason, you pulled up a chair in and sat in front of it.

You just stared at the skull, and you clenched your jaw, fighting back the tears that were forming.

You rested your forehead on your hands and closed your eyes.

“(Y/N)?” Cam asked.

You took a deep breath, looking up at your boss.

“Can these remains be released?” You asked quietly.

“Not yet, booth won’t sign off on the paperwork and we still need to find the family.”

“Jason he uh.. he doesn’t have any. Dad passed when he was a kid, his mom passed a few months ago…”

Cam walked over to you, sitting down on a chair next to you.

“You’re aware this makes you a suspect, you can’t work this case anymore.”

“I know.”

“It means you can’t be here.”

You nodded slightly.

“Can you move his bones to a different room so I can sit with him…? I’ll leave if you guys need access…”

“Of course.”

You smiled a little and got up, heading back to your office.

The moment the bones were moved you headed into the room and that’s where you sat at just stared at your friend.

There was a knock on the door, and Hodgins walked in.

“I’m sorry I’ll give you the room.”

“No, I actually came to give you something.”

He walked over, setting an evidence bag next to Jason.

“I can’t release it yet, but I think it should be here with him.”

“Thank you…”

“I know you won’t let me cut down the tree, but if I could have permission to just collect some samples.”

You cleared your throat and nodded.

“Yeah, you can take samples just… just don’t damage it…”

“I won’t I promise.”

Hodgins looked at you and he looked at the door before pulling up a seat to sit next to you.

“I’m here if you want to talk, we all are.”

He didn’t say anything else he just sat there with you, and then he left and not long later booth came back in.

“Who else knows about that site?”

“It’s privet property, but people trespass.”

“I need to know where you were two months ago, on the 14th between 12am and 6am.”

You looked at him.

“You can’t be serious…”

“It’s your land, there’s a body on it. Where were you?”

“Booth I didn’t even know the victim!”

“And yet he was buried in your land!”

You stared at him for a moment.

“I was in the hospital, okay?”

“Why?”

You pushed yourself up.

“Get a warrant, and if you want to talk to me again get a warrant for that too.”

You barged past him, and you made your way to your boss’ office.

“Can those remains be released?”

“The paper work will be done in an hour, the DA and a judge has decided it’s not related to the case.”

“Can you take Jason back to the tree, I’ll deal with everything from there.”

“Of course, are you alright?”

You didn’t reply and you left the room, heading to your office to pack everything you needed away.

“Oh, (Y/N) have you seen booth?”

“No.”

Sweets stepped inside.

“Are you okay? Because you seem upset.”

“I’m fine. Just uh.. just tell everybody I’m sorry.”

You walked past him and made your way over to your land which was a few hours out.

You began to get everything ready, and you hung the lanterns from the smallish tree, and you watched as the Jeffersonian truck pulled up.

They pulled out a casket and walked over, placing it in the ground of you.

“Thank you.”

You waited for them to leave and buried your friend again, then you sat down next to his headstone, leaning your back on the tree.

You took a deep breath and closed your eyes.

“You were my best friend Jason… I guess the only friend I ever had…”

You opened your eyes and opened your bag, reaching in you looked at the the items and you stood up, slowly pacing back and forth.

Your phone was ringing and you ignored it.

“It all changed when you left… and I blame myself…”

Tears ran down your face.

“I can’t do this anymore… I.. I lost you.. your mom.. everybody thinks I’m a killer… it’s.. it’s all gone to shit…”

You looked at the lanterns, and you walked over, sitting on your knees you looked at the alcohol and pills.

Opening both, you drank a quarter of the bottle before setting it down, shaky hands fumbling for the other bottle.

You looked at the name on the stone.

“I never told you how sorry I am…”

You finally got the bottle open and you poured some into your hand.

You titled your head back, closing your eyes but before you could do anything you felt somebody grab your hand and you opened your eyes.

Booth was knelt behind you.

“Let go.” He said.

You shook your head.

“I.. I have to do this…”

Booth took a shaky breath.

“(Y/N) let go…”

“I can’t…”

Booth tried to open your hand and he was shocked to find when you put your mind to something you had a deathlike grip.

“I’m begging you just drop them, don’t do this, please, don’t do it…”

Booth sat behind you, wrapping an arm around you, his hand still tightly around yours.

“I know what you did, why you were in the hospital. I’m not letting you do that again, I will sit here all night if I have too.”

You sat there for a few moments quietly with him.

“I… I can’t do this anymore…”

“But you can, you can okay? I know it’s hard, but I know you, and you don’t give up, you never, ever give up.”

Your grip loosened a little bit and he used that to his advantage, he opened your hand, throwing the pills, and he tossed the bottle out of your reach as well.

Booth wrapped his other arm around you.

“Please let me help you…” he whispered.

“You can’t…”

“I can damn well try, don’t give me this crap about not being able to help because I can. I’m not letting you throw away your life despite how many times you’ve tried.”

You stayed quiet.

“Jason and I were on this cliff diving into the water…”

“Yeah?”

You nodded.

“We were also drinking.. he.. he slipped… hit the rocks…”

“That’s why you buried him here? Why you blame yourself?”

You nodded again.

“It wasn’t your fault your (Y/N), accidents happen, okay? You can’t blame yourself.”

Booth cleared his throat, looking up to the sky to clear the tears from his eyes.

He had nearly arrived too late, and he blamed himself for what you were about to do, with the thought maybe if he was more understanding you wouldn’t have spiralled.

He stayed there with you, and neither of you said anything you just sat in silence because right now that’s what you needed

#bones #bones x reader #bones x you #bones imagine #seeley booth #seeley booth x reader #seeley booth x you #seeley booth imagine

[2dmanlover]

Hii! A little fanfic request, could I have an Omen x fem!reader (or gn if you prefer) where she treats him very gently? Per example, she runs her hands on the side of his hood and praises him, kisses his hands and tells him how proud she is of him, very cutesy and wholesome! Unless... a certain wisp gets off on the praise and has to excuse himself whenever those moments happen to jerk off secretly, remembering every praise and every touch.

of course ! i love this req so much. sorry for taking so long to write it! i normally like to write longer stuff and i’ve been pretty busy lately. currently working on some other reqs too ! <3

Linger

Omen x GN!Reader nsfw

a/n~ so in his lore it says that he might kinda feed on the energy from the kills he gets so i incorporated that idea into this. also— so it made sense i gave him a sort of human form? i guess. he has a face and a dick i’ll say that. also this is not proofread so excuse any mistakes

~1.4k words

cw// violence, some angst, masturbation, lowk perv!omen

Omen has been acting different and looking a bit sick lately. You are concerned for him and feel you might be the only one who actually cares about him. After a mission, you bring it up during the debrief.

Another kill. Omen was on a streak of 3 now, dropping agents fast and ruthless. He’d been acting differently as of late— quieter, the fact he could be any more silent is already concerning. More withdrawn, one could say. Despite being as weird as it seemed to you, nobody else seemed to notice. You would assume others would at least be a little concerned, especially as the past few missions he was barely making it out alive. Now though– it was shocking to see how proficient he was. No huff in mockery, no laughter, just… cold.

Physically and of his personality. Normally the man would laugh and glow a bright blue with each kill, but now, he was peakéd– as peakéd as a phantom could be. His whisps were dull and thin and he seemed a little winded. As the dots began to connect in your brain, you couldn’t help the look of concern on your face. You leaned against the wall while processing your epiphany.

“Focus, agent.” Omen rasped, elbowing you. You snapped out of the fabricated catastrophe building in your head. It wasn’t until you looked up at him with glossy eyes, the seams of composure nearly bursting, that he’d shift his gaze away from your face.

“Omen, get down!” you yelled, pulling him down to a crouch with one hand, the other pressing on the trigger of your vandal. He pulled out his side arm and finished off the penultimate agent still shooting at you. You pressed your back against his, easily putting a lethal hole in the head of the final agent.

Letting out a shaky sigh of relief, you slumped against him, finally putting this 48 hour mission to rest. It was shocking that he’d let your head fall into his lap, considering the disgust he’d voice towards the other agents when they’d do so much as reach for a handshake.

You fell asleep waiting for the dropship, only to be woken up a couple hours later by the rhythmic whirring of its engines and cold gloves running through your hair. Stretching from your nap, you looked up to the sky, seeing it turned deep black speckled with stars. Just out of the frame is Omen’s chin and the blue wisps emanating from his hood, as he looks off toward the dropship.

“There’s our ride” he said looking down at your sleepy face. Heat flooded to your cheeks looking into his seemingly emotionless facade.

You rolled off and stretched as he stood up. He reached a hand out to help you up, almost as if he pitied you fearing for his health.

“Thanks,” you let out under a small breath.

It wasn’t for another couple of hours the two of you would debrief at the headquarters, taking the time to nap and freshen up. You leaned against the wall opposite from Omen in the hall your quarters were in.

“You alright, Omen?” you almost tripped over your words. There was something so intimidating about him. “You seem… ill, I guess.” You stood up straight off the wall. His silence made you begin to regret your decision to say anything.

In your head, you told yourself to stop being so shaky, making a few small steps towards him. His eyes seemed to follow your own; it was a strange sight— seeing the dark eyes and pale skin that were rarely revealed from under the mask. You reached up to feel the spindling fog that leaked from his hood.

“I don’t know… I just noticed that— you know— on missions recently you haven’t been so alert. I guess I just wanted to say you did really well out there. I’m proud of you.” You mulled around your words, looking down.

Tracing his arms with a feather light touch, you shyly lifted your eyes to meet his own.

The pseudo-touch he felt through his clothes and the words that dripped with worship coming out of your mouth sent a shock of energy down his spine. It was all so stimulating to him. He burned brighter blue smoke. Normally he feeds off the paranoia— the fear. But this… this was different. You had a soft look of concern on your face that he found so perversely sweet.

A tear rolled down your cheek as you hastily wrapped your arms around him and hid your face into his chest. For a moment, he was stiff with his arms floating by his sides so as not to touch you— but as soon as a moment passed, he softened into your embrace and let his arms rest around your frame.

You lifted your face from his chest to look up at his face. He opened his eyes to look down at you, cheeks wet and red with tears. As another droplet fell from your eye, he cupped your face and wiped it with his thumb. You gave a quivering smile.

Running your hands down his cold hood, you rested your forehead on his.

“I’m okay, angel,” he whispered, breath grazing your lips.

You let your eyes drift shut, and delicately ran your hands down his hood, arms, and then stopping to intertwine your fingers with his. With a hand still cupping your cheek, you felt light prodding at your lips. An almost numb, fluid sensation of his lips against your own. You let one of your hands roam his torso as his lips every so lightly locked with yours.

You pulled back with a deep breath, but barely lifting your forehead off of his. A small step back let you see the fullness of his form again— it was much livelier than it had been. You smiled softly and brought his hands up to your lips, kissing the knuckles. He felt far warmer than before; knowing he healed somehow satisfied you.

“I’m going to bed,” you told him. “Goodnight, Omen.” He didn’t let how dumbfounded he was creep through his features until he heard the door of your quarters shut. A gloved hand rubbed his knuckles, processing your ever-so-fulfilling touch. It seemed to linger on his hands.

Slowly, he walked into his room and sat down on his bed. For a moment he looked at the door, imagining the emotions on your face he’d never seen before. A sort of shock slowly crawled down his spine as he mindlessly began palming his growing bulge through his pants. A thought of shame crossed his mind, but would soon be drowned out by your touch replaying so vividly in his head. He slowly unbuttoned his trousers and took off his shirt before laying down on top of the covers. Mixed into the recent memory’s encore was the image of you running your hand down his bare torso, dipping beneath the waistband of his boxers. The feather light touch of your uncertain hands tracing his hard cock and spreading his precum over his tip. He mimicked the movements you made in his head, stroking his tip and letting him catch your lip between his teeth.

Recreating the fleeting grazes you’d make on his arms onto his shaft, he got lost in the daydream. It felt very real to him, yet it was not good enough.

“Fuck.” he groaned under his breath as eagerly worshipped him, curling your fingers around his shaft, finally pumping him.

“You make me feel so good.” he whispered to himself. He pined for your touch to break the numb barrier between himself and the rest of the world.

His strokes became sloppy, cock twitching underneath his palm and fingers. His thoughts became more lewd and lascivious; perhaps you’d let him invade your warm mouth, maybe even let him bury himself inside you.

Completely lost in the dream, he came at the sound of your soft voice saying his name. It hit his ears, feeling so incredibly clear— realistic. He groaned your name in response, spilling hot ropes of his seed onto his stomach.

Pumping himself lazily and coming down from the peak of his orgasm, he opened his eyes and looked up at the ceiling. He could barely keep them open, feeling spent after replenishing himself with the libido of his session.

His breaths were getting lighter as he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head, seeing your frame standing at the doorway as you closed it behind you.

“Omen?” you breathlessly inquired. He couldn’t feel what he expected. Fear, disgust, anger. Just… curiosity, arousal, lingering in the air.

#omen valorant #omen x reader #omen valorant x reader #valorant x reader #omen valorant smut #omen smut #valorant smut

[disco-orange]

Semi-explaining my OCs for the Odd Squad thing I'm writing GO

Orianne

She's quiet, not super expressive, found out in her many years at Odd Squad she likes building mechanical things. She does math very fast in her head but only when it's written out in front of her. She has a hard time remembering equations and methods for doing math. She wears a flower headband.

Investigation department. She's been working at Odd squad for 13 years. At the time my story takes place she turns 18 tomorrow. Do not worry about the creative liberties I'm taking I swear they work.

Onin

Orianne's partner. I'd say he's the Otto of the duo but he's more like Todd. He *really* likes math but only when he can see it as a game. He can Not do mental math with any number that has an absolute value bigger than 4. He's probably gonna end up with a skull pin on his tie.

Investigation department. He's been working at Odd Squad for 9 years. He's also turning 18 in one day. Yes they were born on the same day, don't question me I need it for the plot.

Oseon

They're very good at disappearing and reappearing when no one's watching. Oseon is a lot like Oscar. When I've read their dialog I can read it in Oscar's voice. I haven't actually written that much for them so this is all I have. They wear goggles on their forehead or around their neck. They/them as in no gender.

Science department. No one knows how long they've been working here or how old they are. They have some sort of college degree, but no one knows how they got one.

Olan

Oseon's assistant. If you think they've done something, no they didn't. You're just going to have to trust them on this. They enjoy making things without really knowing what they do, which sometimes results in problems when an agent decides to take a gadget from their pile of unknown ones. If a gadget has a number in the tenths place, it was most likely made by Olan. They wear gloves a lot of the time. They/them as in every gender. Your gender? No. Theirs now.

Science department. They joined the squad around 2 years ago, and no one is really sure how old they are either.

#i feel bad for oseon im sorry i dont have much for you #i love them #my guys #<3 #odd squad #odd squad pbs kids #odd squad oc #pbs kids

[7grandmel]

Todays rip: 05/01/2024

Plastic Love of the Stars

Season 4 Episode 2 No Album Release (Read More) Game Over (JP Version) - Kirby's Dream Land 3

Ripped by Pinci

I feel like its hard to overstate just how much people fell in love with Mariya Takeuchi in 2019. Her introduction to the King for Another Day Tournament to me initially left me scratching my head, because it seemed to be referencing a part of YouTube's algorithm of recommended videos that I had personally never encountered. Nevertheless, I saw a lot of people happy with her inclusion, and just sort of shrugged and kept watching the SiIva Direct in which she was unveiled. That complete apathy toward her inclusion persisted for me, and likely many others, until we got a tease of her full powers in the final SiIva Direct, held on the 21st of September leading up to the Tournament's premiere (hey, September! Remember that?). Aside from that one arrangement, we'd be teased with the introduction of character mash-up rips through one with Mariya herself in it - The Whims of Plastic Love. The rip positively exploded when it was uploaded on its own two months later, and it to me marked the point when Mariya Takeuchi's popularity in the tournament truly spiked.

The year therafter, the tournament had long since concluded, and we were all waiting for DJ Professor K's takeover event to begin. We all knew the results, and at least personally I'd finally accepted that the tournament would only have one winner. Yet we all still loved all the contestants - their impact hadn't gone away just from not reaching first place. And so, it didn't take long for rips like Plastic Love of the Stars to become appearing - rips that reminded us that these contestants were now forever part of SiIva's legacy, even if they wouldn't get a day to themselves.

Keep in mind, this was long before 11 Minutes of City Pop, and long before the DJ Professor K takeover itself would remind of us just how much the team also loved all of the tournament's contestants, with rips like Agent H (HOBaRT the Funny Mixer Theme). So really, it was stuff like Plastic Love of the Stars that sort of stealth-started the celebrations that were to come later in the year, bringing everyone together after all those months of excitement in the year that had just passed.

It helps, of course, that Plastic Love of the Stars is a fucking banger of an arrangement! It follows suit with rips like Aquadial or Beyond the Floating Isles, where it truly is just as simple as the ripper wanting to explore the unique soundscapes that Kirby games feature by arranging another song in it, and like those two the picks suit the Kirby game in question damn near perfectly. Kirby's Dream Land 3 in particular, much like Kirby 64, sounds completely unlike anything else out there, and is probably my personal favorite Kirby soundtrack out there? It's the equivalent of listening to pastel colors, and that relaxing cheerfulness paired with the enchantingly deep bassline suits Plastic Love like a glove. It came as no surprise to learn that Pinci is a guest contributor who otherwise has a career in making remixes and rearrangements with the SNES sound in particular - the guy's work is absolutely incredible, and his range of coverage for Kirby in particular is fantastic. Please check this rip out, and when you're done, check out his YouTube channel - his arrangement of Door into Summer from Knuckles' Chaotix has been stuck in my head all day.

#todays siivagunner #season 4 episode 2 #siivagunner #siiva #tentative rip name #Pinci #Youtube #mariya takeuchi #city pop #jpop #kirby #snes music #snes #kirby's dream land 3 #kirby games #hoshi no kirby #hoshi no kaabii #plastic love #telephone number (1984)

[ratgirlcopia]

so: the call me little sunshine mv. i think most people have probably 1) only watched that mv once, if at all, and 2) consider it to be a bit of a dud compared to some other ghost mvs. which is valid. i had only seen it once, maybe nine months ago, before i decided to watch it several more times today.

i'll level with you, i cannot tell who is playing the devil, because whoever it is is not credited on imdb. i can't even tell if it's tf or not. it might be. it might not be. i don't think it matters, but i do think it's an interesting choice to have him not be a preexisting character (or like. copia).

if you don't feel like watching it, the basic premise is that a victorian-looking woman is sitting in a train car dissociating and occasionally taking a hit off a pipe with a devil head on the end. she's high off her ass. lighting up in the middle of the day, if you will. there are some trippy sequences of a devil singing. the devil diverts the path of her train car, which then rolls onto a boat. the boat docks somewhere in a jungle, and she steps onto the dock where the devil's silhouette and a bunch of shadowy figures are waiting for her.

theme-wise, the video is definitely tied closer to the impera album theme than the song is by itself. it feels like it's touching on british imperialism and colonialism. there's a close shot of a globe in her train car that zooms in on africa. when she steps onto the dock in the jungle, she's holding that globe, and it's glowing. there's one shot of her in the window of the train car, and the glowing globe is in front of her like a sacred heart. personally, i think she's personifying british imperialism.

notably, she's not very active in the video. she moves through it looking dissociated and high, for the most part. she's distressed when the devil diverts the train car's path, leading to her final destination, but then she just lights up again and spends the rest of the video in a trance. she does not seem to be choosing where she's going or what she's doing.

so, we've got this woman who's a weirdly dissociated agent of imperialism aided by the devil. moving on.

i enjoy ruby modine's look in this video (you may know her from her iconic role as the roommate with the poison cupcake in happy death day). the top hat she's got in the train car is fun. the dress is, you know, it's giving a little bit of that party city haute couture vibe, but it's serviceable.

her color palette is interesting. a red outer layer over a black inner layer, with black gloves, socks, and shoes. what a random, meaningless assortment of clothing colors.

call me little sunshine was uploaded on january 20, 2022, preceding chapter ten: home coming and special guests, which was uploaded on march 15, 2022. chapter 10 is, of course, the debut of copia's casual look.

it's a very interesting order for these things to come out in, and it feels intentional. we have this woman traveling in a train car with a handbag beside her, then copia returns to the ministry in the first chapter video after this, wearing the same color palette, also with a handbag. both of them are agents of imperialism, both of them are being compelled onto that path by someone or something else.

i don't think it's far off to say that the call me little sunshine video could be a reflection of copia's situation and mental space in general. especially when you watch chapter ten right after it, the travel and arrival to the destination parallels feel sort of obvious.

at the very least, it's a fun connection that i never noticed before.

at the very...most, i guess, it now means that between this and the spillways dancer with the white eye, there are two impera-era videos in which a woman is paralleling copia. how about that!

#copiaposting #theory tag

[malurged]

it is a beautiful day — and even if it weren’t, it would be beautiful here. within the acreage of this sprawling, upper city estate, the weather is always clear. the sun, when it sets, always does so with painterly grace. 

the goddess plays black. she thinks it only fair. her habitual mask — ivory, edged in gold, of the sort one might wear to a ball — joins his beside the board. they need nothing so literal here; they never have.

“tell me,” she says, warm like iron from the forge. (her index finger hovers over her cyric. she often likes to make a show of her indecision.) “how fares my chosen? i feel as though i haven't seen you in years.”

he sits sideways in the chair. an arm drapes over the arched back, leaving his chest half open. his other arm rests easy on the table, between the lanceboard and the settled masks.

“ years? your sense of time is getting loose, vic. ” he hums quietly, twirling a pawn between his gloved fingers. it rolls over his knuckles, from his index to his pinkie and then back. he doesn't look up at her; eyes fixed on the board. without the cover of the mask, his cloudy left eye stands out. especially now ... when the color of his face is warmer, fuller, making the white look more pronounced in contrast. his cheekbones are sharp still, as is the bridge of his nose. but they cut across his face more like definition and not so much fracture.

“ ... seven months, twenty-two days, and thirteen hours. to be precise. ” he waits for her, with the same idle patience as the steam slowly rising from their teacups. “ things are looking good across faerûn. you should see the new temple in neverwinter. never quite liked that city myself. too humid. and they still can't figure out the situation with the orc invasions. then there's the thayan agents -- ” an euphemism for the ashmadai that are deeply embedded in neverwinter's politics.

he sets down the pawn.

“ but i must admit, their smiths do some of the finest metalwork in the north. not just gilding, mind you -- it takes real skill and taste to make the gold not garish, and they have the skill. our fiends in blacklake must be happy with our counsel. ”

#victo1re

[science-slapfight]

ROUND 1 POLL 11

16. Anton (He/Him) @poicyss

Sooo... Kicks my feet... Anton is a little different :)

You see, he IS the study! Sort of. Anton is a shadow creature (named A Shadow of Doubt by researchers before he named himself) whose whole deal is to shapeshift to fit into other groups for survival, usually preying on them and their resources. He was captured by the agents of a certain Lobotomy Corporation to be in locked into containment. However, he took a liking to the agents who observed him, and quickly developed his own human body to help them do their jobs and contain and observe other monsters. Because he's all about fitting in he's really good at gathering information through attachment type work, and since his body isn't real if he is harmed in any way he'll appear the next day under the shadows of the rising sun like brand new. It's very neat! But nobody likes him because he's scary! Even if at this point, he's basically just a normal guy... He's been playing human for so long, the only thing really separating him from one is his appearance. He's very eager to help and no longer wants to destroy, but to learn and make friends :) He's nice he promises! Just look at that big ol grin.

Relevant Links: https://toyhou.se/12298764.anton

30. Lyssa Breach (She/Her) @slcknasty

A scientist, and also a wizard! A wizard scientist! Also, a truly horrible woman whose only real passion is for her research.

She's a Vampire the Masquerade OC and a member of the Tremere clan, who are known for being strictly hierarchical, vigorously defending the secrecy of their sorcery, and partaking in some very unethical experiments that have all been swept under the rug. Lyssa is a perfect representation of her clan, with both natural talent in her study of Thaumaturgy and a scientist's passion to push the boundaries. As "pushing the boundaries" of blood magic involves a lot of experimentation with people's blood, which is generally hard to get hold of consensually, this makes her not entirely popular with those outside her clan.

Her personality does not help with this reputation. Lyssa walks a fine line between the professional scientist and the vengeful wizard - though she tries to keep a veneer of precise and emotionless efficiency, her temper is incredibly brittle, and she responds to any slights towards herself or her work with absolute fury. Anyone who crosses her is likely to find themselves on the wrong end of her latest experiment, or at least dogged by a petty grudge that will surface at the worst possible moment.

As well as her experiments with blood magic, Lyssa has also ~definitely not~ been dipping her toe into even more unethical magical studies - though it would get her and her entire clan into considerable trouble if it was revealed, she has been attempting to recreate Gargoyles - uncanny creatures made by combining the blood of other vampires. Only one person has discovered what she's working on so far, and she has plans to deal with him...

Fun fact: her hands are permanently stained blood-red as a consequence of all the fucking around with blood magic she's done. She wears gloves all the time to hide this.

Relevant Links: her tag on my vtm blog: https://gehenna-calling.tumblr.com/tagged/tremyssa (may contain mentions of blood etc)

(Image credits: @spellboundcities and @slcknasty, respectively)

#round 1 #polls #16. Anton #30. Lyssa Breach #Blood #medical abuse mention #(kind of? I think?)

[johaerys-writes]

A World With You | Dorian Pavus/ Trevelyan | E | Ch. 57: Secret Memories

Read on AO3 | Read from the beginning

Whatever was going on in the Royal Wing was very, very wrong.

Tristan could tell the moment the key clicked in the lock and he set foot in the dimly lit hallway. His skin prickled, and a deep unease settled within him. There was an eerie sort of silence that permeated the space, yet the deeper they ventured into the dark halls, he thought he could catch faint whispers, just at the edge of hearing.

“The Veil… is thin here,” Tristan murmured. The Mark buzzed restlessly beneath his glove.

“Oh, goody,” Sera said with a roll of her eyes. “Where the heck is it not?”

“I’d be surprised if it wasn’t, frankly,” Dorian said. “There are so many horrors around here, both in and out of the Fade— and I can’t quite decide who’s better dressed.”

“Somebody, help me!”

The cry that pierced the unnatural and whisper-filled silence made Tristan jump, his blood running cold. They all sprinted towards where the cry came from, the door at the far end of the corridor. Tristan kicked open the door, only to see an elf crouched on the ground in an effort to avoid the assassin that was viciously attacking her.

“Please,” the girl cried, “save me!”

Tristan’s knives were out of their scabbards before the elf had finished her sentence. He slashed at the assassin’s wrist, rendering her grip on her dagger useless; then, he kicked her hard in the stomach, sending her plummeting out of the window.

“Are you alright?” He offered the girl his hand, who took it and gratefully let him haul her upright.

“I… I don’t think I’m hurt,” she panted, shaking all over. “Thank you. She would surely have killed me had you not shown up.”

“What happened to wanting to keep one of the assassins alive for questioning?” Dorian asked, hinging his staff over his back.

“Oh. That.” Tristan bit his lip. In his haste to save the girl, he hadn’t spared any thought to that. Not that it would have made much of a difference; he didn’t doubt this assassin would rather poison herself rather than speak to him, like her predecessor had.

But he did have one of Briala’s agents.

A few moments of questioning the elven girl didn’t yield much fruit. She didn’t know anything about why she was there, or what she had been sent there to do. One of Briala’s coded messages had led her to this place, but for what purpose, she could not say.

“I shouldn’t have trusted Briala,” she said, and by the way her voice trembled as she spat the words, it was plain to see that her leader’s betrayal weighed heavily on her. “I should never have come here.”

“How did you even get in here?” Tristan asked. “This wing is sealed.”

“There are secret passageways beneath the palace… many of them only known to Briala, and some members of the Royal family. Briala’s been watching the Grand Duke all night; no doubt she wanted me to search his sister’s room.”

Tristan and Dorian exchanged a meaningful glance. Perhaps Briala had reason to suspect Florianne as well— if it was truly Briala that had issued the order.

“I should have known this was a setup. The message said nothing of what I was supposed to find here, or that there might be assassins I’d need to look out for. She sent me here to die.” She took a deep, shaky breath, colour returning slowly to her cheeks. “I knew Briala. Before. When she was just Celene’s pet. Now she wants to play revolution— but I remember. Many of us do. She was sleeping with the Empress who burned our alienage.” She glanced timidly up at Tristan, hugging herself tightly. “If… if the Inquisition will protect me, I’ll tell you everything I know about our ��Ambassador’. Everything.”

“Most Orlesians would think this is Celene’s scandal,” Cassandra murmured, crossing her arms before her chest. “Not Briala’s. I don’t see who a confession like this would benefit.”

Tristan pondered this a moment. He wasn’t convinced of Briala’s guilt just yet, from what the girl had said, but it never hurt to have options.

“Go to the ballroom,” he told her. “Find Commander Cullen. He’ll keep you safe.”

The elf nodded, relief evident on her features, then quietly padded away from them and out of the room. Tristan glanced around him after she was gone, at the room that had belonged to Grand Duchess Florianne since she was a child.

What could Briala be looking for here?

Celene’s former lover had nothing to gain from having one of her agents killed, by a Venatori no less. Unless she was working with them… but no. It didn’t make sense.  Why would they have killed a third of her people if she was one of theirs? That couldn’t be it. There was something else at play. There had to be.

“Perhaps Briala is suspicious of Florianne, and is looking for whatever she can use as leverage against her by searching her room,” Vivienne offered, when Tristan explained his thoughts to the team. “Or—and this is where things get interesting—Briala didn’t send the girl at all. Someone else did, someone who wanted to incriminate Briala and get her out of the picture. Briala’s coded messages aren’t as sophisticated as she’d like to think—a child could put two and two together and decrypt them.”

“Gaspard springs to mind. Or Celene. Or Florianne herself. Or— ugh, this is getting way too complicated. Find me one person in this whole damn palace that isn’t trying to kill or incriminate someone else.” Tristan turned around, striding out of the room. “We won’t find any answers standing here, that’s for sure. Let’s keep looking.”

Read the rest on Ao3!

#dorian pavus #dorian pavus x trevelyan #dorian pavus x inquisitor #pavelyan #dragon age #dragon age fanfic #dorian x trevelyan #dorian x inquisitor #inquisitor trevelyan #tristan trevelyan #a world with you #johaerys writes

[itsdappleagain]

Here we go- on time, for once- with The French Connections Caper! As I mentioned, this is one of my favorite episodes from season one, because I am a little angst whore.

Alrighty- as always, notes are under the cut!

Who in the world reference. GET IT

The rotating pack of mints is so funny. Did acme have that on file?? Did she hack into his bank account??

The picture of julia just looking exhausted with chase is so funny

SIX MONTHS AGO?? THIS SEASON HAPPENED IN SIX MONTHS???

Chase is literally That Stupid

Man can you imagine the episode if PAPER STAR had kidnapped chase???? She would have just killed him

The standing up and saying “I will go” is theater kid level blocking i love that

I’m going to be yammering on about the lens of shadowsan’s double betrayal thing for probably the whole episode but goddd its so good. Severus snape and harry potter’s terf ass wish they had what shadowsan and carmen have

Shadowsan’s motif <333

YOU JOINING A KPOP BAND

Julia in her suit <3333333 YES YES YES part of the reason I love this episode is because its the first time julia sort of gets to stand on her own a little bit…sets up for next season, when she SLAYS

Also, ever notice that in this “virtual tailor” chase has gloves, but in s3 when he finally gets his suit he doesn’t have them? Interesting that some agents get them and some don’t

Chase getting so pissed off about julia saying she didn’t do it alone is SO FUNNY because he’s RIGHT she is NOT talking about him

Your SILENT partner yessir

I LOVE WHEN SHE GETS MAD AND YELLS AT HIM GO JULIA GET HIS ASS

DEFEND YOUR WIFE 💪

Chase’s ego is so large that it blinds him- jackie made a post on it already so I’ll just reference that, but its brilliant characterization

You can make yourself look like a law enforcement imbecile jusst fine

I love the way julia storms off. She cn’t take very large steps so its just very angry and quick heel clatters

She WANTS to be planning something nefarious but unfortunately she must be on the beach

Poor baby she looks so uncomfortable dsghfjda. Also another instance of a stellar outfit that we never get to see again </3

Ivy is actually weirdly talented at making gigantic detailed sand castles. That wave was so poorly timed her poor vile central

Also. wicked wicked

IVY YELLING AT ZACK IN THE BACKGROUND WHILE CARMEN JUST DOES NOT ACKNOWLEDGE ANYTHING

Yeahhh well you say you’re never going back to vile island. And technically you are right

FIELD TRIP!

THE SHOCK WHEN BRUNT SAYS THAT DJHDSFD

PLS SHE BUMPED BELLUM ON THE WAY UP WHY DID SHE DO THAT

I love the role reversal that shadowsan and brunt do here. Shadowsan is expected to be The Worst and Brunt is carmen’s closest thing to a mother. But in actuality….brunt is a murderous spiteful little bitch and shadwsan is evolving into dadowsan

Jsdfads the look on shadowsan’s face. He knows that everything just got a looot more complicated for him

At least he’s kind of self aware right

Chase only being nice to her because he knows she’s smarter than he is is so funny. He drinks the most vaguely mysoginistic respect women juice on the planet

You have no idea how much the line “wow, foamy” has impacted my daily life. I literally say it every single time i brush my teeth. I can’t stop

NOT THE VILE BRAND LOGO ON THE TOOTHPASTE AND EVERYTHING 

Chase lying on the floor looking like he just died of rabies is the funniest fucking thing

American outlets in france 👍

Carmen did a whole costume change between noon and sunset

Mesmerized by the way that top tuft of hair she has blows in the wind. Wow. could watch that all day

I love how the message goes “SURRENDER WE HAVE CHASE DEVINEAUX” and carmen is just like. Wait. partner??? Travel partner??? 😌😌😌

She’s kind of chill about mentioning that vile is definetely going to kill devineaux and then capture her in this little plan of theirs

“Which is why I’ll need to be careful” she says, walking into a closed off basement with no preparation at all

Why the hell would they put where they were keeping him in the Evil Email they sent her wouldn’t that just set her up to try a rescue mission

Props to raf for making the most diverse array of clueless grunting noises I have ever heard in my life

I cANT HELP BUT LAUGH WHEN BRUNT SAYS “BONJOUR” LIKE THAT. SHES TRYING SO HARD TO BE SINISTER BUT SHE’S JUST TEXAN

Wheeze acme set the expectation for him to be kidnapped for employment reasons

ASK YOU WHAT he’s so stupid i love him

“I’ve seen your keycard” said with the exact same tone as. Someting. I don’t know i love how she says that she’s just like Yeah. I’ve seen it. Hah

Shadowsan and that damn sword for intimidation tactics

Oogh that twisted little smile when brunt goes to get the brain scrambler 

Alternate episode where chase gets the hard way and carmen just walks in to a sad sack of broken bones on the floor

I love the almost impressed look on shadowsan’s face when he tells her that he’s singing the french national anthem. Like. of course he is

Interesting little detail that chase leans over and spits out the gag while carmen and company are just kind of making quips about him being tortured

I love he some good drunk but not drunk character tropes in cartoons. Drunk adora. Laughing gassed up anne. Sick luz. We didn’t get drunk carmen but we did get drunk chase and you know what I’m fine with that

THE WAY HIS EYES FLICK TO THEM WHEN HE SAYS BILE IS ALWAYS SO FUNNY TO ME

Love how shadowsan doesn’t care at all what happens to chase. He cares about carmen, but he’s still a VILE operative. She’s pretty much the only one he cares about until he’s spent a little while with TR

Mmm the music is so good in this ep as well

Thinking abt how if ivy was controlling red drone and carmen was sneaking off to rescue chase…that was zack in carmen cosplay who was dramatically standing ontop of the roof

The weird little petnames brunt uses for chase are also so funny

I have wanted to edit that shot of shadowsan running and jumping over chimneys onto the dinosaur game for SO LONG

Its cool how different the body types of the carmen decoys are. Its pretty easy to tell who’s who even with their faces not showing

IVYYYY

You can rock red, zack. I mean. You pick a devil costume out by yourself in s3 so clearly you know it too

I am shocked that she didn’t check the dumpster because. THATS WHERE I WOULD HAVE LOOKED. I guess she knows carmen’s style well enough- in s3 when they’re talking about catching carmen sandiego 101 zuko and luz mention that part of it was knowing that she always takes the high ground, anakin. And while this is zack the two of them are pretty well trained on carmen’s movements, clearly. They jump across the rooftops and everything just like she does to be convincing

JSHDGDS HE JUST GETS SLAMMED

BAIT N SWITCH…alright here we go

I like the little setup she has there. She brought the electrocuter thing because she had to get the cuffs off, but she uses it in the fight later too

Another little detail in the animation of chase’s sweat dripping to the floor when he falls

That little interaction between the two of them is so cool. Carmen doesn’t know what to expect, or how she can see or anything. OR that she knows exactly who she is

Pls its 4:30 in the morning the carmen team really do have a messed up sleep schedule

Sleepy julia in pajamas <3333

Me watching a france based murder mystery show: haha. Gendairme. I know how to pronounce that

It is a little inconsistent how carmen has so much difficulty dragging him out here…when these three meet again in mexico carmen just shoves him off the wrestling ring and into a chair with very little effort, although that may be evidence of her training and getting stronger over time.

Anyway, I’m exTREMELY excited for this fight. It is SO BRUTAL 

THE BENDNG THE METAL IS. GOD

She’s so. Like. hulking??? Its so creepy how she moves, especially when she uses all these little petnames at the same time as she’s cracking her neck 

THE CATCH OF HER FOOT IS SO GOOD GOD. brunt KNOWS her and even if she didn’t maybe expect her to have a gun she can catch her move pretty easily. This entire fight is full of brunt catching what carmen is going to do as she does it- except for the time with the taser

GOD the crashing into the chair augh that must have hurt so bad wheeze

Brunt is terrifying. She doesn’t slink around or do any acrobatics. She’s just like a final video game boss that has a tracker on your location and does not stop coming

GOD YEAH SEE. SHE CATCHES CARMEN’S KICK AND THEN JUST S L A M S HER INTO THAT SHELF

Carmen is again so used to the athletic, fast-moving operatives who usually match her in everything but cleverness, or use long distance weapons like paper star does. But brunt….it doesnt matter how smart carmen is when brunt can overpower her and fling her into the concrete like a bug

Goddd you can see carmen thinking about what the hell she can do. She knows strength isn’t going to work, so she has to find something else to distract brunt while she gets her baby taser

It makes sense actually now that the taser doesnt knock brunt out like a crackle rod would. Its meant for disabling hadcuff electronics, not seizing up the muscles of full grown woman

THE DESPERATION ON CARMEN’S FACE AS SHE ELECTROCUTES BRUNT IS SO GOOD. she knows this is not a good situation. She does. This is not her usual fighting style, obviously. She just wants to get out

The SMOKE when carmen gets electrocuted fuck

UNGH i love how different this fight is. Carmen stumbles on the run to the door and THAT is how you know she’s really in trouble. She’s just yanking on it trying to get out at this point. Its more instinct than battle- she’s just clawing at ANYTHING that could help her 

And then her coat gets ripped. Every time her coat is off in this show she is not in a good spot. Becauseeee COLOR THEORY!! That red is her sign she’s got a chance, but when it comes off and gets destroyed everything. Is. green. Same thing happens in hot rocks of rio, so look out for that next week. It’s really interesting to notice once you find the patterns

MMGH WHEN SHE CLUTCHES HER SIDE AND THEN HER HAND GETS CRUSHED AND HER EYES WIDEN AND SHE JUST KNOWS

That gasp when she’s down on thr ground will be the death of me. And then the rattling on the grate just. Trying to get away and do ANYTHING to save herself from this person she once called a mother figure its SO angsty god i love it

There were NO breaks in that fight scene until carmen was on the ground with absolutely no choices left. It keeps the emotion UP and TENSE and it is FANTASTIC. We get a break once we cut back to shadowsan and the gang…player telling carmen she just needs to make it a little longer, because the cops are better than being dead

Also. zack just waking up with the banana peel on his head.

Why does player have the individual tracking locations of all the cops in the city

Seaosn one and season two were written and made pretty much at the same time, which was SUCH a strong choice. THIS FINALE sets up ALL OF SEASON TWO and SEASON TWO’S FINALE. AUGH. it is such a fantastic end to the season

I love that carmen gets to learn that it wasn’t this woman who rescued her from “the side of the road” here. She doesn’t have to live with that idea in her head….that she could be saved by the same woman who was trying to kill her

Instead she’s saved again by the one who really cared all along- since the moment he saved her from the fire

Please carmen looks so small on the ground there its so scary to watch

God that returning to vile island is for carmen a fate worse than death is so. Its so

Ive always been frustrated with carmen for not. I dont know. Lying?? Saying ok sure ill go back fine to buy herself some time, so that the cops could come in and help her. But i get it. Yknow?? Carmen isn’t that person. But boy would that have prevented a lot of the rib breakage that is about to go down 

God. how limp carmen is in that moment. She flinched away when brunt goes to touch her face, but she just looks. Kind of regretful. She doesn’t really, i think, expect what is about to happen. She just thinks brunt is going to bat her around some more..

Also. how limp carmen is when brunt pulls her into the “hug” is also so scary. GOD i don’t know if its because she’s trying to prepare herself or if she’s in so much pain or if its because some part of her still trusts brunt

That tragic look almost into the camera when she realizes what brunt is doing is HAUNTING i love that sm

This is so dark btw. The foreshadowing way back in episode two for this when brunt hugs her so hard that she feels something crack to now, when that motherly role has twisted into. This

That last gasping breath carmen takes is another one thats just so. Augh. she is really and truly about to die

God the knowledge that at some point carmen just closed her eyes and let it happen because there was nothing else she could do is. What the fuck. Or maybe she just couldn’t breathe enough anymore to keep them open

SHADOWSAN!!

THE WAY SHE SCRAMBLES BACK AS SOON AS BRUNT GOES LIMP IS. god i love that shot. She’s so. Worn down at that point she’s more like a wild animal than anything ig. Just trying to get away get away get away

And then the way she, still gasping for breath and her voice choked with pain, insults shadowsan because her voice is the only defense she has against him right now

Pls i love shadowsan he doesn’t know how to not be intimidating. Running at her with a sword. “I did not come here to take you back.” this moment scared me SO BAD when i was 13 watching this for the first time. I expected it to cut back to her lying on the floor with some grevious injury, maybe to be narrowly saved by her team but frantically rushed to the hospital or something. 

The shadowsan twist is one of the best I think I’ve seen. Its set up and foreshadowed, enough that you could maybe see it coming on first and have all those little “ohh” moments on later watches. When you really step back and say, “what is the consequence of shadowsan doing all of this?” its carmen being able to escape and not becoming a vile operative. Its. yeah. I dont know. Its so good

AUGH the fear on her face. He steps over coach’s pretty much lifeless body, draws his sword. All she has is a fucking wrench

Player gripping his monitor and screaming her name is SO,, UNGH HE THINKS SHE’S DEAD

And the way they cut back with just the limp bodies around them, as shadowsan sheathes his blade. They knew what they were doing obviously

MM AND THEN THE LITTLE CHIME OF CARMEN’S MOTIF WHEN WE SEE THAT SHE’S ALIVE AND SAFE

THAT IS A QUESTION pls i’ve made fun of shadowsan here before because like. Yes. please do follow me into the dark hole no questions asked. I Will Not Stab You once we are at a more convenient and private location that you have moved yourself to. Or transport you back to VILE. just trust me okay carmen follow me right now

LOCK US UP,,, YEAH. REACH US. i love that little…its so small. The us and the little admission of how VILE works (hey- also sets up season THREE’s finale. wild). Yes yes yes. 

I love how shadowsan doesn’t want to admit it. But they have been in it together

GOD YEAH AND THEN. SHE DROPS THE WRENCH and THATS how you know she trusts him, and understands. Thats her last line of defense gone

“It was you….you were the one who found me.”

“YOU ARE IN NO CONDITION TO LEAVE HERE ON YOUR OWN” i love how shouty he is in this season he doesn’t have a gentle voice. He doesnt really. Know how to be vulnerable

But he tries. He tries so hard. He just. He says please and reaches out to her

DOOGY

Girlie im sorry but opening that grate wider would not have made brunt fit any better

That mass of flashing lights in the city is such a good way to show how far they went. Also. why did shadowsan make carmen walk like three miles with her fucked up ribs wheeze. He made her climb some stairs and everything

But he’s soooo gentle with her when they’re walking its so sweet. He lets her lean on him and helps her down to the ground so she can rest…makes sure she is safe before he says anything else and tries to get her medical attention. He is the dadowsan

Ungh gina. Gina gina please. Please put any kind of emotion into “argentina tell me everything now” like thats KIND of an emotional line..,, urgh. The problem i have with gina i think is that she is a fine ACTOR but being a VOICE ACTOR is a LOT DIFFERENT THAN THAT. she doesnt have all her little nice facial expressions and stuff she has carmen who is already inexpressive as is. So when she says that line it just sounds so flat 

He’s only lying about it a little bit, really honestly

Shadowsan: a jerk

“You knew what they’d do to me when I said no” is such an underrated line i love that one

THE COAT WAS EMPTY!! 

Carmen sounds so much like black sheep when she says “i knew it” and I love that so much. I don’t know if that was a directing choice given to gina but it was a good one. Also carmen forgetting her ribs are fucked up lmaoo

FIRST SHADOWSAN SMILE WHEN HE SAYS HE KNWS CARMEN WOULD ENJOY PROVING THAT TO HERRR that is the moment i think when he really becomes human :)))

She got my posture fr

That shot of shadowsan walking away from her as the police lights flash between them and the architecture frames everything is soo pretty

I guess i scare easy when i see a drawn sword is such a good line its so funny. i would too! Maybe he didnt have to extend the ruse all the way until he was a mile away from the school and no one was in sight except carmen herself but alright

IT WAS HIMMM WITH THE HELICOPTER I LOVE THAT REVEAL

NO WAY!!!! I love that its kind of a black sheepism

Shadowsan is like yeah i was happy you escaped but GIRLIE I DIDNT THINK YOU WOULD START FIGHTING CRIME LMAO???

The lug jsdfhds

Julia’s like not chief. Not chief with the random carmen accusations too

Used it to bait him?? How would she have done that?? She’s like in the cheese and breath mints store and she goes over the intercom like “chase devineaux please report to the shadowy death basement! We have your keycard <3”

AND LEFT WITH AN EVIL VILE MASTERMIND KSHGDFJGDS player is so right for that

That shot of her sitting and talking to player as the sun rises behind her is also beautiful i love that shot

Ahhh the way she gets up so carefully because of her injuries its so good

“A present” okay its okay you can tell him carmen

I HAVE A FEELING WE’RE GOING TO HAVE MORE CAPERS TO PLOT WOOHOO SEASON TWO BABYYYYY

ONCE MORE the shot of her standing there and the camera zooming way out is ALSO gorgeous its my blog header actually

YEAHH AND THEN THE CREDITS MUSICCC

God i cant believe we’re already done with season one!! I am SO EXCITED for season two- its my favorite out of all of the seasons and its where things REALLY get juicy. We’ve got the setup and standard formula out and we can start playing around with dynamics, backstories, history, new cast, lore, character development…yes yes yes yes yes i am so excited!!!

Love this episode, solid and fantastic end to a seaosn, which cs finales usually are. Alright- with the feeling that I’m going to have more capers to react to, this is me signing off of season 1 for cs weekly!!

#csweekly #cs weekly #carmen sandiego #sorry about the spelling errors i am on a roadtrip posting this from a rest stop #so. not great wifi or anything lmaooo

[r6-unifiedlands]

Just A Quick Mission

[Polaris "Ursa Minor" Harmonics & Aarre "Switchblade" Kärkkäinen]

Summary: Ursa Minor's first duet mission, but she's being paired with one of Nighthaven's wildcard agents.

A/N: ANOTHER FRIEND'S OC OH MY GOOOOOODDD I dragged @corvidcrows to my R6S brainrot hole

Polaris had a habit of prioritizing other people rather than herself. Kali said it’s a bad habit, but she didn’t have any plan to change it. It was the only thing that marked her parents’ influence on the remnants of this family. She treated her quirk as a family heirloom or some sort.

So when she got hired by Nighthaven to go on a single mission with one of their agents named Switch for the first time, let’s just say that she almost lost her mind.

It was normal at first. A quick sweep through a small abandoned building, weapons in hand. She tried her best not to breathe out loud; her gas mask would hiss loud enough to be detected by hostiles. Switch’s steps were quiet, yet his movements were trained like soldiers would.

So far, no hostiles…

“I’m bored.” The first actual voice came from the taller man as he turned his head towards her direction, mischief gleamed in his baby blue eyes. “Let’s blow up this building.”

“It’s not in our order, Switch.” She responded back.

“Aww, you’re no fun, Ursa.” He looked back to the front. “Are all EMTs like you? Not having fun as part of the training?”

Polaris sighed, her gloved hand fixing her mask’s position. “ It’s not like that—”

“Do you ever have fun, Ursa? All I see in you is all training and more training.”

She sped up her steps and purposefully bump her shoulder against his arm. “What do you think I am? Robot?”

“If you ask me, then yes.” Switch glanced at her; half of his face was covered in a mask, making it harder for her to read his emotion. “You move according to orders from the man upstairs, and it makes you boring. I don’t even think an impulsive thought of just destroying a wall ever passing through your head.”

“What’s that supposed to mean—”

Bullets suddenly flew near her and almost nicked her ear, and Polaris could feel her hand getting yanked by the taller agent to hide behind the nearest pillar. Her breath hitched. She could smell the burnt smell of metal and gunpowder.

Rapid fire from the distance. Must’ve been near the stairs.

She took a deep breath, gripped her firearms tightly, and squeezed her eyes shut. No matter how much she did this job, she felt like she couldn’t get used to the chaos of the battlefield.

“Finally, I was getting bored.” Polaris’ eyes widened, and she quickly tilted her head up to see Switch’s face. She swore she could hear a wide grin in his voice.

He casually trotted out of the pillar, his marksman rifle in hand.

“Watch and learn, medic.”

She watched as the other calmly aimed at his target while bullets went past him. And with several bangs from the agent’s rifle, the rain of bullets stopped completely, and the building went quiet once again.

It was quick—less than thirty seconds.

Lives were lost in under a minute.

[“Sometimes, to protect a life, you need to take another.”]

Right. No time to think about morality in this situation. They were in danger, and it’s technically a self-defence act.

“Ursa! C’mere!” The sound of the other agent snapped her from her deep thoughts. Switch had already left his previous position and was now examining the hostiles’ bodies. His bloody footsteps stained the grey floor, and his loud, cheery voice filled the concrete halls.

Polaris walked towards the taller other, her hands on her hips. “What’re you doing now?”

“No more hostiles in this building. All their radio devices are inactive.” The agent fumbled through a former hostile’s walkie-talkie and his mobile computer. “I think I can safely say that we finished our mission here. Although I’m kinda disappointed that they’re all untrained goons who can’t even aim properly.”

A sigh of relief escaped from her lips, producing a loud hiss from her mask. 

She didn’t need to shoot someone for now.

“Phew, finally…” It was like the feeling of cold water washing down her back in a good way. Her muscles loosened up, and tension left the SAR member. No unnecessary injuries nor casualties from their side.

Switch stood back up again, now turning back his head towards the shorter agent, a grin plastered on his face, his mask pulled down. “Then, can I blow up this place?”

Blinks. “You still want to?? How would you do that???”

“I have my way.”

Polaris felt like she would gain forbidden knowledge that she shouldn’t know if she asked him further, especially seeing his grin grow wider and the glimmers of excitement in his eyes behind the glasses.

In the end, it was just a quick mission, after all.

#r6s #r6s oc #operation northern skies #operation owl's daybreak

[atths--twice]

Chapter Five

Fox takes Dana to a bookshop that he loves, to show her something he finds endearing.

“I liked this one,” Dana said at the end of her shift the next day, returning a book he had let her borrow. “It was interesting. Buuuuut…” She made a face as she sat opposite him in the booth, her gloves held in her hands. 

“But what?” he asked with a smile, fingering the tear on the bottom of the dust jacket. 

“I don’t know,” she shrugged. 

“What?” 

“The main female character…” she said, rolling her eyes.

“What about her?” 

“She just… is it… do you really think someone could fall in love that quickly? That their eyes could meet and you just know?” She sighed and shrugged again. “Seems a bit like a fairy tale.” He laughed and nodded, knowing he had felt the same when he read it. “My eyes nearly rolled out of my head when I read that, but I genuinely liked the rest. And I did grow to love her, and even cried when she was separated from him, but it was slow going. I want that noted.” 

“Did you write it in the margins?” he teased and she shook her head with a frown. 

“I wouldn’t do that to your books. I… I know I do it to mine, but… I wouldn’t do it to yours.” 

“I wouldn’t mind if you did. I actually like that you do. Shows a book’s been read in depth and has been enjoyed.” 

“You mean that, don’t you?” she asked, searching his face. 

“I do,” he assured her, nodding with a smile. 

“But you’re a writer. I always thought you’d like books to stay in good condition. I was hesitant to share mine with you at first, thinking you’d judge me for the way I treat them.” 

“No, I wouldn’t,” he said softly, looking down at his book, fiddling with the dust jacket again. Lifting his eyes, he smiled at her. “Can I take you somewhere?” 

“Now?” she asked, her eyebrows raised. 

“Your shift is over, right?” 

“Yeah, but… aren’t you busy?” She gestured to his laptop and he shook his head. 

“I can do it later,” he said, closing the laptop and packing up. “One of the perks about being a writer is that I’m my own boss. Well, sort of. My agent might say otherwise.” 

“I don’t want to stop you from working.” 

“Not at all,” he said, shaking his head and then stopping his clearing up. “Oh, maybe you have plans? I should have waited for your answer.” 

“No. I don’t have any plans.” 

“So… yes? You’ll come with me?” 

“Yes. I will,” she said with a smile. 

“Fantastic,” he smiled, packing up the remaining items and leaving cash on the table for Lucy. “Let’s get going.” 

_____________

“Thanks,” Fox said, paying the cab driver and getting out, holding the door for Dana. 

“I don’t think I’ve been down here before,” she said, looking around. 

“I don’t come down here often, but…” He turned to the right, walking on the outside of the sidewalk while she walked on the inside. “There is a great bookshop just up ahead.” 

“A bookshop?” 

“Yeah,” he said, smiling at her. “When I moved here, well actually before I did, I checked the area for bookstores. There are the chain ones of course, and some small used bookshops, buuuuut, only a couple that I really like to visit. This is the best one.” 

“Hmm… you’re living rather dangerously.” 

“How’s that?” he asked, stopping at the steps leading down to the shop. 

“Bookshops are rather my weakness,” she said and he chuckled with a nod. “That and bakeries. I mean, how am I supposed to decide on a pastry when they all look so delicious? Cream horns, Napoleon’s, croissants, petit fours… it’s impossible to choose.” 

“So you usually get one of each?” he teased, starting down the stairs. 

“Except for the petit fours. I have to get a few of those as they’re so small. And they also make me feel like Alice when she was in Wonderland, eating the cake to make her grow. That was my favorite story as a child. I like the movies too, both the cartoon and the live action one.” 

He smiled at her as they reached the door of Lantern Books and she smiled back shyly, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear. 

“I like this store because of the character it holds. I think you’ll like it too.” 

“I’m sure I will. Probably too much. I’m not buying anything. Not buying anything…” she said quietly and he laughed as he turned the knob and opened the door, a bell tinkling overhead. “Oh no, I’m in trouble.” 

The bookshop was not overly large, but it was packed with books on many shelves. Comfortable overstuffed chairs sat sporadically around the room, encouraging people to sit and enjoy the books. 

It was dark inside, being at the basement level and having a lack of windows. The shop was instead lit by golden light from well placed sconces, adding to the ambience of the shop. It was as if a person had traveled to a different time, the world outside awaiting their return. 

“I love it. God, doesn’t it smell so good?” she whispered as she took a deep breath. “The scent of books, especially old books… it’s intoxicating.” 

“Could not agree more,” he said, smiling as he gently cupped her elbow and led her to the back, to the collection of books he particularly wanted her to see. 

“I’ve spent a lot of time here,” he said, bending his head close to her ear. “When I first moved to the city, I would come in here and look around, missing my old shops back home and finding comfort in the books. I discovered this section back here and when you shared your first book with me, it made me think of them.” 

“Why?” she asked as they stopped in front of a wide bookcase painted purple, and trimmed in gold. He smiled as he took an old blue hardcover book from the shelf and handed it to her. 

“The shopkeeper calls these books “hallowed royalty,” hence the painting of the bookcase to signify it. Open it. You’ll see why.” He smiled again as she opened the book and exhaled a breath, looking up at him with a smile. 

Inside the front cover was the previous owner's name, Ella Willows, written in beautiful cursive, and a drawing of a person in a chair, reading the same story Dana was holding. She closed the book and looked at the cover, the title written in gold with embellishments surrounding it. Opening it again, she smiled as she touched the drawing. 

“Keep going,” he said, watching her as she turned the pages, knowing what she would find as he had looked at that particular book many times. 

Inside the pages, there were drawings on the margins, smiley faces, exclamation marks at the end of passages, underlined and boxed sections, and questions and comments at the ends of chapters. The printing was small, concise, and incredibly neat. 

There were some notes written to someone named Zee, and Fox often wondered if Ella and they had shared the book. There were no corresponding comments, so his imagination ran wild as to who it could have been and if they had ever seen the notes. 

“This is…” Dana said as she turned the pages, stopping to read some comments and tracing the doodles on the pages. “I’ve never seen anything like it. I… when I read, I find I have to make notes in the book because it helps me absorb it better. Like I said, I was almost embarrassed to share mine with you because I don’t know many people who draw or write in their books. Seeing this, I kinda feel a kinship to Ella. She’s got a lot to say and she obviously loved this book very much. Oh…” She laughed softly as she turned to the back cover. “It’s a detailed description of what she loved best. Wow…” 

Fox watched her as she read, her lips moving slightly and she did, before curving into a smile. Her eyebrows raised and she laughed quietly, her thumb rubbing the cover in soft circles. She looked up at him, tears shining in her eyes. 

“Oh. Are you okay?” he asked, frowning as he reached out to touch her arm. 

“I am. I don’t know what the story is about, but I need to buy this book.” 

“So much for your mantra before we walked inside,” he said with a small chuckle. 

“It’s too beautiful,” she said, shaking her head and smiling as she wiped at her eyes. “It might be expensive though, I’ll have to see, but I’m gonna hold onto it.” She sniffled as she put the book in the crook of her arm and looked at the shelf, picking out another book. 

He smiled as he watched her thumbing through the pages, her eyes lighting up as she looked at what others had written. 

“You finding everything okay? Oh, Fox, hello,” a voice said and they both turned at the sound. 

An older woman stood there, smiling happily at them. Her short white hair was styled impeccably and green eyes shined behind a pair of glasses, her face soft and round. She wore a dark green sweater with the outline of golden bells upon it and black pants. Small golden bells hung from her ears and a bell necklace laid upon her sweater. 

“Mary, hello,” he said as they embraced. “Happy Holidays to you.” 

“And to you,” she said, patting his back as they separated. “Haven’t seen you in awhile. Your writing been keeping you busy?” 

“Uhhh… yes and no,” he said with a laugh and she smiled with a nod. “I’ve got it written here and there, but… it’s still percolating.” 

“Best way to write, in my opinion,” she stated and he nodded, turning toward Dana. 

“Mary, I’d like to introduce you to my friend, Dana. Dana, this is Mary. She owns this shop.” 

“Nice to meet you,” they each said, shaking hands. 

“Oh… I see you’ve discovered one of Ella’s books.” 

“One of them?” Dana asked with a look of surprise. 

“Oh yes,” Mary answered, nodding with a smile. “There are… four, I believe.” She stepped closer to the shelf and hummed as she searched, pulling one out and handing it to Dana. 

“Oh!” Dana said, smiling with a small laugh. “It’s Alice in Wonderland! I… can you hold this one?” She handed the book she had just taken down to Fox and walked to the nearest chair.

Taking off her puffy coat, she laid it on the back of the chair and sat down. Placing Ella’s first book beside her, she opened Alice in Wonderland with a sigh and a small smile. 

Fox smiled as he held the book and watched her as she gently touched the front cover. Looking back, he found Mary holding out another book. He reached for it, but when she did not let go immediately, he met her eyes with his eyebrows raised. 

She cut her eyes to Dana and looked back at him. No words were voiced, but he heard the question in her expression loud and clear. 

“Just a friend,” he said quietly, for only her to hear. 

“Mmhmm,” she hummed, letting go of the book and taking the other one from him to reshelve it, her eyebrows raised. 

“She is.” 

“Mmhmm,” Mary hummed again, though the tone of it was different. He smiled and shook his head as her attention returned to the shelf, looking for Ella’s last book. 

Finding it, she added it to the one he was holding. Glancing back at Dana, she nodded knowingly at him, squeezed his arm and walked away. 

Shaking his head, he looked down at the books and he knew they would be leaving with all of them, regardless of the price. He would pay for them and anything else she wanted, if it meant he saw her as happy as she was right now. 

Walking over to her, he set the books down on the arm of the chair and smiled at her. She looked up in surprise and he laughed. 

“Were you somewhere in Wonderland?” he teased and she nodded with a smile, looking back down at the book. 

“It feels like I’m sharing a book with a friend, as crazy as that may sound. Especially considering I’ve never even met Ella.” 

“I don’t think it’s crazy at all. That’s why I’ve enjoyed reading your books. It’s like I’m getting a look inside your head, how you were feeling when you read it.” She lifted her head and he smiled. “You take your time here, I’m gonna have a look around.” He tapped the other books and nodded as he stepped past the chair and went to look around the rest of the shop. 

He had seen it all many times, but Mary was forever getting new and old books in to fill the shelves. Not having a particular need, he simply walked around, seeing what was new or what caught his eye. 

Turning to the right twice, he was in the children's section. Large floor pillows in rainbow colors sat on a black area rug with stars, clouds, rainbows, and happy faces. 

Two little girls were lying on their bellies, the older of the two reading a joke book out loud, both of them giggling hysterically. He smiled as he passed their mom, sitting in a rocking chair and smiling as she took a video of them. 

He was not sure what drew him to the shelf, but the first book he saw was a story about pandas. Smiling, he took it from the shelf and leafed through it. It was cute, but he put it back, the story not exactly what he was looking for. 

“Oh…” he said quietly, noticing a shiny pink glittery book. Pulling it out, and looking at it, he nodded. 

It was a book and journal combination with writing on only a few pages. On one side of each page was a short story and a blank page opposite where a picture could be drawn or the story could be continued. Thinking of the drawing Ivy had made for him, he wanted to buy the book for her, if Dana approved, to encourage her to draw more illustrations. 

He continued walking around, hearing the girls laughing as he browsed the shelves, giving Dana time to look at Ella’s books. He  found a few for himself and added them to the one he had chosen for Ivy, when Dana walked up to him with a smile. 

“You found some then?” she asked, nodding to his books. 

“I did. I actually found this as well and wanted to ask if it was okay for me to buy it for Ivy.” He handed her the book and she held it, Ella’s books held in the crook of her left arm. 

“You want to buy this for her?” she asked, turning the pages and smiling softly. 

“Yeah. If it’s okay. I don’t want to overstep,” he said, watching her face. 

She sighed as she touched the pages, closing the book and handing it back to him. 

“You bought us a tree and the trimmings-”

“It’s different,” he interrupted, still watching her. “I don’t want to… imply anything or have her… I just…” He stopped talking, not exactly sure of how to word what he was feeling. She smiled as she touched his arm, nodding slightly. 

“I understand. I do,” she said softly. “My friend, Fox…” She sighed again as she held his gaze. “… I think she would love that book.” 

It felt as though they were the only people in the bookshop. In the city. The world. Time seemed to slow as he heard what she was and was not saying and he understood the trust she was placing in him. 

“Thank you,” he whispered and she squeezed his arm slightly in response as she nodded. 

“Are you ready to go?” 

“Yes,” he said with a nod, swallowing down the sudden lump in his throat. 

They walked to the register and Mary smiled at them. 

“Oh, I’m so glad you enjoy the treasures,” she said, reaching for Dana’s books. “I have always enjoyed reading Ella’s in particular.” 

“I actually need to know the price before I buy them. I realize they are written in, but that only increases their value, in my opinion anyway. But I don’t know if I can afford all of them. Can you tell me how much they cost first?” She bit her lip and Fox wanted to tell her that he was buying all of them, but a warning glance from her silenced him. 

“Well, as you said, they are written in, but they are also old editions and, aside from the writing, they are in rather good condition,” Mary said and Dana’s face fell even as she nodded in understanding. “Each of them is forty dollars.” 

“Oh…” Dana said, sighing deeply and nodding again. “I’ll just take the Alice in Wonderland one then. I can’t… that’s all. I’ll put the other ones back.” She smiled tightly and took the other three, turning around and walking to put them back on the shelf. 

He sighed as he watched her, looking back at Mary with pleading eyes. 

“I’ll get them later,” she said and he thanked her with a nod. “You buying all of the remaining ones?” She pointed to the ones in his hands and to Dana’s. 

“No. Just mine here. I’ll wait for her to pay first.” Mary smiled and glanced back at Dana as she joined them again, still smiling rather tightly. 

“This is my favorite of the four,” Mary said, ringing up the book. Wrapping it in tissue before placing it into a small brown bag, she handed it to Dana. “You’ll have fun reading it.” 

“I’ve enjoyed what I saw so far,” Dana said with a smile, a real one this time. “It was my favorite book as a child, I feel like I’m reading it for the first time, but sharing it with a friend.” 

“Oh,” Mary said, beaming at Dana. “ I can’t tell you how happy that makes me. I know exactly what you mean.” 

“We should stop and get some petit fours for your reading adventure,” Fox said as he handed Mary his books. 

“Oh, that’s the only way to read it,” Mary agreed, taking Dana’s money and Fox’s books. “The prettier the better.” Dana laughed and nodded, hooking the bag over her arm. 

They said goodbye as Mary handed Fox his bag. He raised his eyebrows at her and she nodded with a smile, waving to them as they walked out the door. 

Catching a cab, they stopped at the bakery Dana liked where she purchased half a dozen petit fours, smiling happily as she watched them being placed in a pink box. 

They were quiet as they walked to her apartment and he wondered what she was thinking. He did not want her to feel bad about leaving the other books behind, so he hoped she was not hung up on it. 

At the door to her building, she turned to him with a smile. 

“Thank you for this afternoon or… evening. And for sharing that shop with me. It was so beautiful and cozy and… exactly what a bookshop should be,” she said, looking down at the bags on her arm. “I’m going to enjoy my evening greatly. I’ll call Ivy and then settle in with my treats and a glass of wine.” 

“Glad to hear it,” he said with a grin. “I’m happy you enjoyed it. I’ll wait until she’s back to give this journal to Ivy, if that’s okay.” She nodded and smiled. 

“More than okay.” 

“Good,” he said with a relieved sigh. “Well, enjoy your evening and I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

“Tomorrow,” she said with a smile. “Thank you again.” 

“You’re welcome,” he said quietly, clearing his throat and stepping back. “Night.” 

“Goodnight.” She turned and walked through the glass door, waving to him and he waved back with a smile. 

Walking a couple of blocks, he flagged down a cab, and rode back to Mary’s shop. 

The bell tingled as he walked in and she was standing just across the threshold as though she had been waiting for him. She nodded and he followed her to the register where Ella’s other books sat ready to be picked up. 

He paid for them, taking the receipt and the bag of books. They were each wrapped in different colors of tissue paper and tied with brown twine, the lantern decal bearing the shop's name hanging from it. 

“Thank you, Mary,” he said softly and she nodded. 

“Just a friend, huh?” she asked, a knowing smile on her face. 

“Yes,” he assured her and she nodded. 

“Mmhmm,” she hummed with another nod. He smiled and stepped away from the register, waving goodbye once again as he walked out the door. 

Who exactly are you trying to convince? he thought as he walked up the steps, smiling as he shook his head, not quite sure of the answer.  

#alternate universe #modern setting #msr #diners #bookshops #date... light #the x files #xf fanfic #happiness #spending time together #getting to know more about each other #sharing the love of reading #new friendship #developing friendships

[youvebeenlivingfictional]

Stress Relief Part Four

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Pairing: Marcus Pike x Reader

Rating: Explicit - 18+ Only. Chapters will have explicit content further down the line.

Notes: The first few chapters aren’t explicit, so I’ll add the necessary labels when they’re needed. Chapters are also going to be shorter just in general. I’ve been sitting on this one for a w h i l e.

Not beta-read

Warnings: Me pretending to know anything about art crime, art forgery, or the FBI, or Ptolemaic art. Don’t get me wrong, I did some research but uhhh. Ya know.

Summary: You knew that Pike was pissed with you. You could see it as your fellow agents had begun handcuffing suspects, before you ducked into the back of the van to look around. 

You got a tip—a good tip. It was a good tip that led to a raid, but that raid was...Just a little less than standard.

You did manage to snag one of Denise Moquin’s associates.

Denise Moquin is one of the top associates in Les Gens Sans Noms—the daughter of the kingpin in the 70s. When her father died, there had been a brief power vacuum before she had installed herself as the head of the gang. How Denise Moquin and Luce Guilin operate are two completely different animals. You now have no doubt in your mind that Gaulin couldn’t have been involved in the heist.

Gaulin has had no trouble roughing up guards, assaulting people in the past in the pursuit of his crimes. When you go after Moquin, when you storm the warehouse, you can hear her men ordering, “Tirez à leurs pieds!”—Fire at their feet! It’s consistent with the action at the airport. Pike issued an order to keep back, you heard it—vaguely, you heard it—but you charged ahead anyway. You heard Pike calling after you, too, but it didn’t stopped you from running into the line of fire and shooting out the back tires of their van.

You knew that Pike was pissed with you. You could see it as your fellow agents had begun handcuffing suspects, before you ducked into the back of the van to look around.

“I told you to hold—”

“Did you?” You muttered, “Kinda hard to hear over—you know, the gunfire and stuff.”

You looked around, tugging your gloves down around your wrist to ensure they were on securely before you reached down, popping the lid on a crate. You peered inside, spotting a few guns.

“That’s odd, because everyone else heard me.” His irritation was only growing sharper. You didn’t bother glancing back at Pike. You knew from his tone that he didn’t believe you; you knew that you were in a tight spot.

“Weird how that happens,” You commented, reaching into your pocket and tugging out your infrared flashlight. You heard Pike huff impatiently behind you, but you clicked on the flashlight nonetheless, shining it through the crate before shining it along the floor of the van. There were a few splatters along the floor, but nothing that looked substantial.

“This isn’t something that you can take lightly,” Pike began to lecture, even as you shone the light over the side of the van and froze, “That sort of recklessness can get you……Get you killed...What is that?”

You climbed into the back of the van, crouching down and leaning in, narrowing your eyes.

“If I had to guess? A few specks of lapis lazuli. A primary component in Egyptian blue,” You turn to look at Marcus, “Highly transferable, and present on the relief that’s gone missing. We need to get forensics in here.”

“...Alright,” Marcus nodded, stepping back to let you down before he added, “Hey.”

You turned back to look at him, brows raised.

“We’re not done,” He warned, face set sternly. You felt your stomach twist with worry and annoyance, but you nodded, turning away. You’d take a fucking slap on the wrist as long as it meant a solid lead.

Tag list: @missredherring​ ; @fantasticcopeaglepasta​ ;  @paintballkid711​ ; @massivecolorspygiant​ ; @blueeyesatnight​; @recklessworry​ ; @amneris21​ ; @ew-erin​ ; @youngkenobilove​ ; @carbonated-beverage​​​​ ; @lorecraft​ ; @moonlightburned​ ; @milf-trinity​ ; @nolanell​ ; @millllenniawrites​ ; @chattychell​; @dihra-vesa​​ ; @videogamesandpoorlifechoices​​ ; @missswriter​ ; @thembosapphicclown​ ; @brandyllyn​ ; @wildmoonflower​ ; @buckybarneshairpullingkink​ ; @mad-girl-without-a-box​ ; @winchestershiresauce​ ; @writefightandflightclub​ ; @elen-aranel​

#Marcus Pike x Reader #Marcus Pike x You #Marcus Pike/Reader #Marcus Pike/You #Marcus Pike fic #Marcus Pike imagine #Stress Relief