#Now I'm looking at some of the future chapters like... man... got my work cut out for me... damn screentones....

[solradguy]

JP manuscript done for chapters 06 and 07 of the GGCA. Forgot this chapter has two mangaka notes/sketch pages but neither of them have Japanese text on them lol Small victory

#textpost #Chapter 08 is hilarious. Pretty sure it was done by a BL/yaoi mangaka. It's long too; 10 pages #Chapter 09 is heavy as shit. Gonna need some content warnings when I post that one. Millia and Zato lore #Excited to get to 10. It's got a bunch of cats. Johnny holding a cat. Two chapters after's got Sol holding a cat #I didn't really think about how hard some of these pages would be to fully scanlate back when I was scanning them- #-because I didn't plan on actually translating them all lol #Now I'm looking at some of the future chapters like... man... got my work cut out for me... damn screentones.... #I'm more excited to work on the really edgy chapters than I am the comedic ones to be honest #Goofy GG is great but I'm a sucker for a good seinen manga haha

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Blurred Lines 1

No tag lists. Do not send asks or DMs about updates. Review my pinned post for guidelines, masterlist, etc.

Warnings: this fic will include dark content such as noncon/dubcon, power imbalance, and possible untagged elements. My warnings are not exhaustive, enter at your own risk.

This is a dark!fic and explicit. 18+ only. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Summary: Your relationship with your boss takes an unpredictable turn.

Characters: Nick Fowler

Note: double chapter day! Thank you to @alicedopey for the ask! I see you girl.

As per usual, I humbly request your thoughts! Reblogs are always appreciated and welcomed, not only do I see them easier but it lets other people see my work. I will do my best to answer all I can. I’m trying to get better at keeping up so thanks everyone for staying with me.

Your feedback will help in this and future works (and WiPs, I haven’t forgotten those!) Please do not just put ‘more’. I will block you.

I love you all immensely. Take care. 💖

Cotton drags over tinted skin, flecks it red catching along with the new blood trickling from the split. A hiss passes through clenched teeth despite your gentleness. The act reminds you of when your daughter was only six, crying over a scraped knee as you covered it with a Spongebob bandaid. You don't have any of the yellow strips now, just the roll of gauze and medical tape.

"Ah," Nick clenches his jaw again.

"Sorry," you murmur, "it needs pressure."

You push your thumb against the cotton and he winces, forcing a smile as he crackles out a chuckle.

"I can handle it, honey," he assures you as you hold the cotton above his brow, his other brilliant eye looking up at you. "Just like you handle me so well."

You don't respond. Your boss is a mercurial man. One moment, charming, the next rigid and ignitable. You've learned it's better to just go along with whatever mood he's chosen.

"Other guy looks worse," he remarks as you lift the cotton.

You nod, "I'm sure, sir."

He laughs again, closing his eyes with a sigh. He sits reclined in one of the leather armchair, his head tilted as you tend to him. It's after midnight. You're supposed to be at home sleeping. Your daughter's coming back from college for the weekend, you planned on brunch.

You sift out the box of slender steri-strips and bend over him, carefully sealing the gash above his brow. He's a handsome man. Objectively, you must admit it. Dangerous, too, but you don't wonder about the cuts and bruises. He has a shining badge that tells you more than enough.

"Hands of a goddess," he purrs as he opens his other eye again.

You stand and gather up the waste, packing away the medkit. You thank him plainly and fight the urge to look at the clock. You wad up the used gauze in your fist.

"Sir, is there anything else tonight?"

He lifts his head, both eyes on you now. He considers you as he sits straight and grips his knees. He stands and shrugs, spinning on his heel and striding to the mirror hung on the wall, just above the low table decorated with brass and oak.

"Did I interrupt you?" He asks as he checks his reflection. His left cheekbone is purpled and scraped.

"No, I was only sleeping," you say. You try not to let on that it doesn't come easy or often for you. It's not his concern.

"Mmm," he squints at himself and winces as it tugs at his wound. "Well, you can find an extra room here, drive back in the morning."

"That's kind, sir, but I'm okay," you back up, "I'll clean this up and go if there's nothing else."

"You'll just be back tomorrow," he turns and crosses his arms.

"Um, it's my day off, sir."

He clicks his tongue and nods, "forgot."

You force a small smile. No big deal.

"Got big plans then?"

You hesitate. He doesn't usually ask. You shake your head. You don't think he really cares.

"Would you like some scotch before I go then?"

He inhales, chest rising deeply before falling again. He drops his arms and slips his hands into his pockets. One tail of his shirt is untucked and his jacket is splotched with dark stains. He is sauvely unkempt.

"Sure," he grumbles as he paces before the artificial fireplace.

You dip your chin and leave him. You toss away the garbage and tuck away the kit. You wash your hands before you return to the den and take the thick-bodied decanter from the cabinet. He stands with one hand on the mantle as he stares at the floor.

You pour him a glass and bring it to him. He accepts it without looking up. You ask him if he wants the rest left out for him. He says it doesn't matter.

You bid him good night as he resumes his pensive trance. The adrenaline slakes away and now he's coming down. He'll be in for a good sleep, a lot better than your own. You'll be lucky to get a few hours before you're due to meet Josephine.

🥃

You smile across at your daughter. Every time you see her, she seems more grown up than the last. She has a pretty flower pin in her hair and her lips are glossed the perfect shade of rose. She reminds you of your age, both in a good way and a bad way.

You don't fail to notice the other looks in Josephine's direction. Joey, she corrected you when you picked her up. The changes in her make you feel stagnant. You suppose that comes with age too. You're done blossoming, you only have the wilting ahead of you.

"So, exciting," you say as you pinch the stem of your glass, a pair of mimosas between you as you await your entrees, "you got an internship."

"Um, yeah, it's not bad," she pushes her shoulders up, "my boss is okay, I guess."

"That's good, most bosses don't earn much more than 'eh' as a rating," you kid, "sorry, kiddo."

"Mom," she warns.

"I know, sorry," you correct yourself, "I'll try not to do it again."

You remember being her age. Caught in between adulthood and childhood, not wanting to be reminded of the latter.

"It's fine," she sighs, "I just... I'm trying to be a grown-up, you know?"

"Oh, you've got lots of time for that, Miss Lawyer," you trill, "you are very grown up. You know that, don't you? I'm so proud of you."

"Still got a far way to go," she sips from her own glass. You couldn't have ever imagined your daughter with prosecco sparkling in her hand, but there she is. You almost can't believe she's yours. "Let's talk about you. That's a lot less stressful."

"Ha, but boring," you roll your eyes. "You know, same old."

"Oh, trust, I could tell by the dark circles."

"Oof, you did not," you cackle, "Josephine-- Joey."

"You should try some vitamin C cream--"

"Don't," you warn her with a point across the table.

She giggles and her eyes flit around. There's something else. Something she's not telling you. But she wants to.

"What's going on?" you prompt.

"This is such a nice place," she looks at the table and fidgets, "thanks for breakfast, mom..."

"But..." you add on.

"I... hate to ask but..."

"You need money," you utter, "that's okay. We can make it work. What's it for?"

"Books," she says, "I kinda ran out before I could buy them all, so..."

"That's okay. I'll see if I can't get a few extra hours at work then."

As if he could hear the very allusion to his existence, your phone flashes with a private caller. It's Nick. It's only ever him. You flip the phone down to hid the call.

"Take it," your daughter insists, "it's fine."

"No, it isn't. It's my day off. It's our day," you say, "it can wait."

She smiles. She's so pretty. You can't help but feel inadequate next to her; your own daughter. She's young and vibrant and you're wearing a blouse you bought a decade ago that squeezes your middle a bit too tight.

"Like I said, I'm boring," you sit forward, "tell me about the good stuff. The juicy stuff. Any boys-- or, men?"

"Mom," she snipes.

"What? I gotta live vicariously through you."

She rolls her eyes, "no."

You laugh. You always loved teasing her. She's hard-nosed and too focused to worry about the piddly troubles caused by boys. Or...

"Any girls?"

She looks at you with fire in her eyes. Ah, that's it.

"What's her name?" You goad.

"No, it's nothing. We're not even-- I mean, there's no one," she takes another gulp of her mimosa.

"Sureeee," you drag out the word teasingly, "how many more of those to spill?"

"Enough," she warns, "what about you, huh? You seeing anyone besides your soap operas?"

Now it's your turn to frown, "no," you answer evenly, "I... don't think that's in the cards for me, honey."

"Mom, it's okay," she softens her voice, "dad wouldn't... he would want you to be happy."

"Mm, he would, but he was my happy," you bat your lashes against the singeing heat. "I'm okay, really."

"You deserve someone," she says. "You don't have to be alone."

"I am alone, doesn't mean I'm lonely," you deflect. "Anyway, let's enjoy this. I don't get enough of you."

"Alright, twist my arm, I'll settle for free mimosas and a breakfast bowl," she gives a snarky grin.

You smile. She's the hope you have left. You hope that she never goes through the same pain again. One loss is enough for both of you.

🥃

Joey orders and Uber and you sidle in next to her. You clutch your phone over your purse as the haze of the mimosas fogs in your vision. You may have indulged a bit much.

Your phone shines and you look down. 'Private'.

"I see what you mean about bosses," Joey chides.

"It's not-- not a big deal," you dismiss the call.

"Mom, maybe it's an emergency," she sniffs, "he's been calling a lot."

"He's an adult, I just sweep up his crumbs," you wave her off.

Your phone lights up once more. You're starting to get paranoid. Still, you have to maintain boundaries. Today is your day off.

You exhale and sit back. You watch the city smear by and yawn. The restless night tingles on your eyelids.

Finally, you get to your apartment and slump out of the Uber. You stop as Joey helps you tip the driver with the app and you carry on into the lobby of your building. The feeling of the world passing you by lingers beyond the car ride.

Upstairs, you get Joey settled into the room you haven't changed since she left. She puts her bag on the bed and hangs out in the living room as you put on a pot of coffee. It's too early to be this tipsy. You yawn and your phone once more comes to life.

You swipe it up and tell Joey to help herself to the coffee as you sweep out of the room. You head down the hall and step into your bedroom as you answer, "Mr. Fowler."

"You're busy?" Nick asks.

"It's my day off," you say firmly.

"Yes, we talked about that."

You're quiet. Confused. You try to recall the last time he bothered you outside of work. When you're not being paid for it, you never really hear from him.

"Is something going--" you stop and suppress a hiccup. It's more dehydration than the alcohol. "On?"

"I have guests coming," he says, "thought you might like some overtime."

"Oh, sir, I'm sorry, but--"

"Clearly you're disposed," he says tersely. Is he mad?

"I wasn't expecting--"

"It's fine. It was an offer. I can manage on my own."

"Of course, sir, I wouldn't--"

You flinch as the line cuts and the call goes dead with a bloop. You pull the phone away from your face and furrow your brow. Really? He hung up on you.

You toss your phone on the bed. Whatever. Forget him. Even if you weren't three glasses deep, you wouldn't leave Joey just to kowtow to his pretentious friends.

#nick fowler #dark nick fowler #dark!nick fowler #nick fowler x reader #the 355 #fic #dark fic #dark!fic #series #blurred lines

[chroniclesofbts]

Call Me Home Part 3

Idol hybrid BTS x hybrid foreigner reader

Warnings: implied sexual themes, smut, angst, fluff, polyamorous relationship

If you’re not 18+ please, do not interact.

As always, my works do not represent BTS in any way, this is purely a work of fiction.

*short chapter, I cut this part in half because it was so long*

Y/N's POV

Coming to, I can hear voices around me and an annoying beeping. Listening intently I hear the words, "not heat", "too risky", "trauma", and "management". The monitor attached to my heart gave away that I was waking up, the beeping increasing. My eyes flutter open, the light blinding me initially.

"Hey, welcome back. You really scared me there" Jin said softly, sitting on the edge of the hospital bed. "I thought my face was just too handsome for you" he joked to lighten the mood.

"How are you feeling Miss... ?" A woman in scrubs asked

"Fine, head is a little heavy, I'm a little sore too. What happened?" I questioned

"You passed out in the shower with Jin. You didn't hit your head or anything, he managed to hold you up and call Jungkook for help." I flushed at the thought of Jungkook seeing me naked. "Can I ask you some personal questions?" The doctor asked gently, "Your pack can stay here or leave if you feel uncomfortable at any time"

"Um, s-sure" I stuttered

"Do you have any nightmares?"

"Oh, uh yeah, most people do though" I joke

"How many a week?" She says writing things down on a clipboard.

"Uh it depends, maybe like 5?" Jin's hand finds mine, and holds it in a comforting manor.

"Do you ever feel numb?" She continues

"Yeah, I guess if I get too overwhelmed I do." I answer honestly

"Do you feel like you startle easily? Have trouble concentrating?"

"Sometimes" I answer, starting to close in on myself.

"Last question, where do you see yourself in the future?"

"I mean, how far out? I see myself with the pack, for as long as I have left" I answer, feeling Jimin lean his head on my shoulder from the right side where he was sitting.

"I see, thank you for answering my questions, I will talk to your packs leader and you should be able to go back to their dorms in the next few hours." She smiled, motioning to Namjoon to follow her.

"How long was I asleep?" I ask Jimin

"3 days, you must have been tired and your body was recovering from the shock to your system with the pills you took." Jimin explained.

"Why was she asking all of those questions?" I ask him nervously, "Did I do something wrong, are you going to replace me?" I whimper

"No! No, baby, never" Jin said, squeezing my hand. "We just want to make sure we can help you, make sure we can be enough for you"

"Oh, why?" I mumble confused as I feel myself blush.

"Because you deserve the perfect pack" Jimin said, pushing his nose further into my scent gland.

"Wait, I thought I was in heat" I look at Jin, who looks away bashfully.

"Your body has never had a heat, it wasn't ready for a heat, your body was fighting the medicine, it caused you to get sick. Right before you passed out I could smell the shift in your hormones, I just didn't figure it out until you passed out. I, o-overwhelmed your b-body. I c-caused it, I am so sorry" He cried, "we don't deserve to be your pack, we couldn't even take care of you as soon as we got you"

"Jin, I don't blame you. It's not your fault, how could anyone have known? You caught me, right? I didn't get a concussion. It's okay"

Before he could respond, Namjoon came in the door followed by a man I had never met before.

"This is Sejin, one of our managers. After talking with the medical staff, we think it's best to start you on a month of medicine to encourage a natural heat cycle. This will also give your body time to adjust to being in a pack, as well as let your mind work through everything that has happened recently. With the rush of moving and education, now this, your body and mind are overwhelmed. We want to make sure you're completely healthy and ready." Namjoon explained as the nurses started to detach me from all of the medical equipment.

"Take it easy for the first week, bed rest for the first 5 days at least. Your body is recovering and we don't want anything to delay the process." The nurse explained.

"Here, we brought you some clothes, its ours, but we will get you your own soon" Jungkook said, handing me some clothes that smell like all of them. He helped me up with a blush and led me to the connected bathroom to change. I quickly changed into the sweatpants and shirt, pulling the drawstrings so they fit move comfortably. I opened the door and found him waiting outside, eyes widening, pupils dilating, at me in their clothes. He extended his hand to me and started to walk me over the the wheelchair.

"I don't need that" I said, trying to pull out of his grip.

"Okay" Jungkook smirked, sweeping me off my feet, "but you can't walk, doctors orders. I prefer this way too" he winked.

"W-wait, actually, the chair l-looks fine" I stuttered through my embarrassment.

"Sorry, cutie, I like this way" He smiled, staring at me with a fondness I haven't seen yet. He carries me through the lobby and outside to the waiting car. Jimin's mouth dropped open as he whined about how unfair it was that he got to carry me, causing a few others to grumble too. He hands me to Namjoon, who pulls me close in his lap, shoving his face into my neck and relaxing. The drive was filled with lots of joking and flirting, I swear my face was always flushed. Jin steals me away from Namjoon to carry me inside and up the stairs to their room. It has a large bed where they obviously sleep all together, lots of pillows and blankets resembling a den. Jin gently lowered me into their den, showing through actions that he could care for me. I immediately relaxed, realizing that even being surrounded by predators, I was safe. I let my eyes flutter closed, my body pulling me under with exhaustion. The last thing I register is a body laying down gently next to me, in their animal form, their purring lulling me deeper into dreamland.

Taglist open (please let me know if I missed you): @dachshunddame @minjianhyung @minhanbyeol

#bts ot7 #jeon jungkook #jung hoseok #kim namjoon #kim seokjin #kim taehyung #min yoongi #park jimin #bts

[iamamythologicalcreature]

Sentences or Sketches or Something... Sunday

Hello strangers! It's been a long time since I last did a progress post of any kind - thank you everyone who's continued to tag me so I don't get left behind! And thanks to @noblecorgi, @alexalexinii, @you-remind-me-of-the-babe, @blackberrysummerblog, @thewholelemon, @mooncello, @monbons, @prettygoododds, @shrekgogurt, and @youarenevertooold for tagging me, today. (I feel so loved! <3) I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone's up to.

It's still Sunday in my neck of the woods, though just barely. And yes, I've used my "sentences" banner, but... It's a bit more chaotic than that. Honestly, I wasn't sure about doing a post today because I'm a bit all over the place, but then I figured... eh, why not? I am all over the place LOL.

So here's your snippet from the collective efforts of Jo's creativity, lately, under the cut. (Because I ramble...)

On the Haunting of Simon Snow... I haven't forgotten about it! Nor is it abandoned. As I keep telling anyone who will listen, I have a rough draft, which basically amounts to an outline, meaning I have way too much figured out to just let the story fade away. XD I attempted to work on Chapter 2 earlier this month, and ran into some roadblocks - of the architectural variety.

So I've started to research manor houses and English estates like mad. I'm going to do the thing. I'm going to figure out Pitch Manor. Why? Because my brain won't let me gloss over paltry details such as the location of Simon in the grand scheme of the house, or how and where the roof attaches and where that tree is going to be. It's annoying, but I figure... This is a fun puzzle, too. One I hope to be able to share with the fandom at large once it's complete.

This little snippet is from an early design I've since scrapped (but you never know what might come around, again.)

"That's great, Jo, but how about some sentences?"

Okay. Ahem. Here's... some Simon sentences... that have just been scribbled out. *cough*

I sit there and listen to the man on the other side as he blathers on about extra fees associated with estate deliveries due to distance and blah blah bloody fucking blah. I wish he’d just say it. Just say 'this is the Pitch Manor tax.' No one ever does. But everyone charges it.

I HAVE WRITTEN SEE THERE'S PROOF.

Okay, moving on...

The other thing I'm working on is illustrations for @mooncello's beautiful fanfic, "Lost Boys." I just posted art from Chapter 1 here, and I'm working on art for Chapter 2, now. The story is stuffed to the gills with absolutely gorgeous imagery, so choosing what to illustrate is a challenge. Hopefully it all works out, and in the meantime, here are a couple doodles.

(I was telling Heath last night... this morning...? about how all illustrations start out as baby sketches XD These are the little babes in the creative nursery, basically. Also I have never posted baby sketches before and I'm kinda nervous about it. But. Well. >.> )

THERE YOU HAVE IT. A couple of my reasons for being so entirely absent from all other aspects of the fandom. (Also I got hit with the flu super hard, but doing better now!)

Tags for future wipsdays/hello's! @leithillustration, @artsyunderstudy (thank you for listening to me ramble about Pitch Manor), @erzbethluna, @nightimedreamersworld, @cutestkilla (thank you for also listening to me ramble about Pitch Manor sorry I'm reworking it again XD), @angelsfalling16, @fatalfangirl, @hushed-chorus (thank you for being my secret-garden-enabler XD), @rimeswithpurple, @best--dress, @whatevertheweather, @ileadacharmedlife, @scribble-tier, @imagineacoolusername, @brilla-brilla-estrellita, @alleycat0306, @ivelovedhimthroughworse, @tender-ministrations, @katmiscellanious, @anxious-m3ss, @bubble-gumhead, @ebbpettier, @facewithoutheart, @bazzybelle, @theimpossibledemon, @aristocratic-otter, @ic3-que3n, @palimpsessed, @raenestee

#six sentence sunday #sketch sunday #snowbaz #snowbaz fanfic #snowbaz fanart #back from the dead #no really it kind of feels like that #I like being busy can you tell? #but also this fandom is just so cool there are always about a million things I want to be working on at any given time #And I have COBB waiting in the wings too >.> #Am I insane? #Don't answer that #the point is #I actually don't know what my point is #I'll just have to... #CARRY ON #(any way the wind blows) #Me writing “blah blah bloody fucking blah” is probably a bit too on the nose for how I feel about my writing right now #CARRY ON SIMON #okay i'm done

[uzumaki-rebellion]

Sinner & Saint: Creed III Chapter 9

Need to catch up? Of course you do. Masterlist HERE.

"Woke up this morning Found my peace of mind Finally, I can say to you That I, feel good this morning No, I can't deny So finally I can lay with you And feel, feel the pleasure Finally do what lovers do, with you, babe Ride for two Don't you know, oh So we (so we) can roll how we want to, yeah

Set fire to the fucking pavement They bound to drown so they can't relate And just do what I say, do what I say, no My baby got her own fuckin' ways now Tellin' y'all she ain't fuckin' playin', ay Ain't need no problems from her man I know she ain't worried (she ain't worried)"

Terrace Martin – "This Morning (feat. Arin Ray and Smino)"

She moved through the crowd like a silent wind through chimes that tinkled once she blew past. Her steps were assured, eyes laser sharp on who she needed to speak to on his behalf.

Damian watched in awe as Athena worked the packed penthouse filled with stars, sports influencers, executives, groupies, agents, managers, lawyers, and riff raff. He drank a few shots, gobbled up some hors d'oeuvres, and kept near his new boss. A few women checked him out and tried making conversation with him. He acted polite, answered very few questions about his connection to Athena and rested in the cut letting her lead everything. Feeling out of place once more, his brooding appearance seemed to attract even more women as the party continued through the night. Bianca excused herself and he realized that the penthouse they partied in was not the one Donnie and his family stayed in. Smart.

"Damian, this is Karl Gaston and Alessandro Beyna. Karl is a regional wealth advisor in the Cayman Islands and Alessandro handles investments there," Athena said.

Damian shook their hands and tried to look friendly. Athena tossed back her hair and placed a hand on his arm.

"Damian will soon be signing with my brother's company and I'll be working out some portfolio plans for him. He's going to need people that can take care of his money for future investments," Athena said.

The two white men nearly salivated listening to her. Athena had his pockets lined up with imaginary money. The two men would laugh him out of the hotel if they knew the total amount of cash he had in his paltry bank account at that moment. He rolled with her flow, keeping stoic in their presence. Business cards were exchanged with him and not Athena. She directed all the power to him turning into his conduit for all transactions in the place. Women were bolder, grabbing his attention with flirty banter and hungry stares. Nothing was subtle. He spent a moment alone with Athena in the back of the main room, until Donnie caught up with them. They took pictures together with hired photographers documenting the party for Donnie. It didn't take long for the champ to shoehorn his way between himself and Athena. She allowed it, a sly grin on her face as she joined a group of women.

"She's in her zone," Donnie said, glancing at his sister.

"Half the shit she says to the people goes over my head," Damian said.

"Wheeling and dealing."

"She's good. Knows a ton of people here."

"She'll keep the sharks away. For now, enjoy the anonymity," Donnie said.

Damian looked Donnie in the eye.

"You two a thing?" Donnie asked.

"Business partners."

Damian walked away before Donnie could flap his gums about anything else. Athena was a grown ass woman. Her baby brother wasn't about to lecture him on hooking up with her. She reached for Damian's hand and pulled him toward a young Black man with hooded eyes and a garish haircut to his permed blonde hair.

"Dame this is Raven X, stylist to the stars. I'm setting up an appointment for you two to get together back in L.A."

Raven X raked his eyes up and down Damian's physique.

"What are you looking for, Bad Boy tease or elegant showman?" Raven X said.

Athena tilted her head and squinted at Damian.

"I'm thinking future champion. I want his fits so crisp that they cut people in the eyes just by looking at him," she said.

Raven X nodded and stared at the top of Damian's head.

"Great head of hair. Formidable face. I'll give you a sexy fucking gladiator," Raven X said.

"I like it. Talk soon," Athena said.

She led Damian to the door.

"We're leaving?" he asked.

"Yep. Never be the last to leave the room. Smells of desperation."

"Where you two goin'?"

Donnie's blaring voice stopped their escape. Athena leveled her gaze at her brother.

"Damian's had a long night. He needs rest. We have meetings back in L.A. the moment we touch down," Athena said.

"When can I be looped in?"

Donnie's eyes flicked back and forth between them.

"We'll be in touch," Athena said.

She touched Damian's arm and he moved past her.

"Congratulations on everything tonight," Damian threw over his shoulder.

Donnie's expression appeared bewildered as they left the suite.

"Don't worry, I'll have terms and conditions lined up for you before we meet with my brother. You and I have to decide what trajectory you want for your career the next eighteen months."

"I just need some good fights lined up."

"You need more than that. We have to cultivate an image, create buzz with a catchy name—"

"Diamond Dame"

"What?"

"Diamond Dame is what I went by before I was in the pen."

They slipped into a private elevator and went up two floors. Athena eyed him from head to toe. She touched the collar of his shirt.

"Hmmm, Diamond Dame. With Raven's capable hands, you just might live up to that name. I like it. Classy. Rolls off the tongue."

"Yeah?" he said, moving in closer to her.

The elevator doors opened and Athena jumped back from him like water hitting hot grease. Mary Anne Creed stood in front of the opening dressed in a linen two-piece suit.

"Ma," Athena squeaked out. "Where are you going?"

"Well, Amara is fast asleep and Bianca is back in their suite. I'm free to go do a little gambling on the house. Where are you two headed?"

"We just came from Donnie's party."

Mary Anne checked her vintage diamond Cartier watch.

"It's not even midnight. Still early for his celebration to end," Mary Anne said with a lifted eyebrow.

"Damian and I have some business to discuss. I'm his new manager."

"Manager…?"

Athena gripped Damian's arm and pulled him out of the lift and away from her mother.

"Yes. Enjoy throwing money away," Athena called over her shoulder.

Damian glanced back at Donnie's adoptive mother. Mary Anne's sharp eyes cut into him despite the feigned pleasant look she tried to maintain.

Athena dug into her clutch and pulled out a keycard and tapped it against her suite. She led him to a busy-looking work station set up on the room's mahogany desk. Pushing back the executive chair, she plopped down and pointed to a side chair for him to pull up next to her. A laptop came to life from the touch of her hand and onscreen she had a detailed prospective typed up with his name all over it. She scrolled through several pages and stopped at one particular page.

"You whipped this all up today before the fight?" he asked.

"I'm always prepared to snatch up talent. This is just a mock up to give you an idea of what I can do. You don't have to sign anything now."

She tapped the enter key and a printer behind the laptop hummed to life and began printing up several sheets of paper. When the printer spit out the last page, Athena compiled them all and stapled two separate stacks. She handed him a copy and he listened to her go over every detail on ten full pages. His brain grew foggy with all the terminology, but he listened intently, trusting her completely. After forty minutes, she poured them both fresh glasses of water from the mini-bar and paced in front of him.

"Boxing needs excitement again, and they love an underdog story. The key is, they grow tired of that scenario after a few years. I think we should play up your background, but involve you back in your community. Do some volunteer work and talks at juvie facilities. See Donnie was able to coast on being our father's lost child, but he's been pampered and trained by a legend. Rocky isn't around anymore and now that my brother is retiring—"

"He's quitting?"

Athena gave a dismissive wave of her hand.

"Donnie is old news. His era is over. His mistake was calling himself Hollywood. The connotations made him seem elitist after awhile. Even when he won the championship, people still saw him as a privileged athlete, a nepo baby lucky enough to have my daddy's genes and access to the best that no one else did. With you—"

"I call myself Diamond, that's not elitist?"

"Not with your narrative. You were the lost jagged rock in the cold, cruel mine that became a diamond in the rough. A long prison bid and a hard-luck come-back story outshines a rich, spoiled pretty boy tale any day."

"Donnie didn't have it so easy before he was adopted by your mom."

"Is that what he told you?"

"He stayed in a group home, was in and out of foster care…"

The look on Athena's face made him clam up tight. She rested a soft hand on his shoulder.

"One of these days, I'm going to tell you about your little friend," she said.

"Tell me now. I have all night."

"No. Tonight, you will read over this contract, my mission statement for you, and you'll look for a contract lawyer on your own to go over my paperwork before you sign with me."

Damian rolled his eyes and pushed out of his seat realizing he wasn't getting any nookie.

"Don't pout. Business first, pleasure later," she said, pointing to the door.

He ambled out of her suite with his lips in a pout. She crossed her arms.

"I've got an amazing view of the strip. Champagne on ice…"

His words didn't move her.

"Goodnight Diamond Dame."

She closed the door in his face.

"I can't believe she gave me homework," he said, shuffling off to the elevator clutching onto precious papers that would elevate his life.

Back in his suite he placed the preliminary contract on the end of his bed and stripped out of his clothes. He showered, brushed and flossed his teeth before slipping into black satin sleep shorts. He grabbed a fresh bottle of chilled champagne from the suite's mini fridge and popped it open. A knock at his door surprised him. He put the champagne on the low table near the couch and padded over to the door, peeking through the keyhole. He grinned.

Opening the door he gave Athena a wide smile. She wore a thin purple overcoat and opened it for him. Underneath was a red sheer teddy that displayed everything that his mind imagined from the moment he met her.

"Hello," she purred.

She touched his chest with her index finger and pushed him back inside his suite, shutting the door behind her.

"I thought I was supposed to read over my paperwork," he teased.

"Oh you are…let's just say I'm your paperwork and I want you to enter into this contract," she said.

She dropped the coat on the floor and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"You're full of surprises," he said.

"Get used to it Diamond Dame."

He lifted Athena up in his arms and kissed her while he carried her toward his sleeping area. He kicked away the contract papers and placed her on the bed. Getting on his knees he wedged himself between her open thighs and cradled her face with his hands.

"I can't believe you're real sometimes," he said.

Her eyes flicked away as her dazzling smile blessed him once more, but he held her chin forcing her to look directly at him.

"You're the best thing to happen to me in my life, Athena. That means a lot to a man like me in the situation I'm in. I don't know what you see in me to make you give me so much."

"I see a champion who deserves a second chance at the title."

"Is it just that? Or is it about besting Donnie too?"

She touched his hand and pulled it away from her face.

"Me and Donnie are a complicated pair…and yeah, spoiling his plans for you is a part of it."

"Plans for me?"

"Controlling your narrative to protect his. By keeping you from being under his thumb I can take you to the heights that no other boxer has been. I see a documentary, a tv series, fashion, and more for your future. A fallen hero returning to his roots and taking over more than just the boxing world. My father's life was cut short from reaching his full potential. I plan on taking you far Damian Anderson."

"What's in it for you?"

"Everything."

She kissed him. Her warm, wet mouth overwhelmed him into submission on his knees. Athena stole his heart as she kissed him, their tongues soft and gentle together.

He stood up when the carpet became too scratchy for his knees. His erection comically saluted her forehead. Athena laughed and hooked her fingers into his satin shorts, pulling them off and freeing his heavy dick. Dropping to her knees, she licked the tip like it was a sweet chocolate lollipop and he nearly blew his load all over his face. Goddamn she was like a gorgeous Black Barbie doll. The dreamy pin-up girl guys beat their meat to in a fantasy world they would never see become reality. Athena was a nasty girl too, spitting and slurping all over the wide head. She licked below his frenulum and the sensitive skin there had him groaning her name.

"Athena…Athena…"

She offered her tongue and Damian squeezed pre-cum there in thick rivulets. He tilted his neck and stroked under the thick ridge of his dick, watching her pucker and kiss his slit where more clear fluid spilled onto her glossy red lips. She began throating his erection with gusto, keeping her eyes on him. He wanted to nut on her face so bad, but thought it would be too rude and aggressive for their first time together. His dick became a hot and heavy saber in his hand and he was desperate to chop down the beauty before him.

"Such a pretty face," he murmured, touching her cheek.

"You want to cum on it, don't you?"

Athena's words were so seductive and her tone was so full of lust and desire that he couldn't hold back.

"Fuck…!"

They both watched his big dick throb in his hand and spurt thick creamy semen all across the bridge of her nose and all over her lips. Athena snapped her eyes shut and slanted her head back so more of his cum could drench the side of her face. Before he could apologize for nutting unexpectedly, she wrapped her lips around his meat and sucked another nut right out. His mouth became a tight line as he held her head and helped her gobble up his dick with spectacular deep throating. He had to tap out when she fondled his balls trying to milk him for more.

She swallowed and smacked her lips.

"You have a lot of cum," she said with wet sticky lips.

She stared at his dick. It was still erect and pointing at her messy face. She took off her cute teddy and waltzed to his bathroom. Two minutes later she returned with a fresh face without cum all over it. He stayed mesmerized by the bounce of her breasts and admired her amazing figure.

"My turn," she said, pushing him down on the bed.

She climbed over his body and planted her sopping wet pussy on his lips. Every lick he gave her, he stopped to look at her slippery labia and the soft pink of her pussy. He sucked on her clit like it was a delicate berry and her keening sighs let him know he was doing the job she wanted. He gripped her thighs and held her down tight, smothering his mouth against her entire vulva.

"Yes, baby, eat my pussy…oh Damian, you're eating it so good," she panted, grinding down on his fleshy lips.

She reached behind and fisted his dick while he feasted on the sweetest pussy he ever tasted in his life. The scent between her thighs was heavenly and he inserted his tongue inside of her sweet pink walls. Athena bounced on his tongue and cursed him for how good he was. He flipped her over and nestled his face between her legs, pinning them down to control her movement. She whimpered and gazed at his wide tongue slathering her vulva. He switched up and flicked the tip of his tongue against her clit and she threw an arm over her eyes, unable to watch his entire mouth do a praise dance all over her sensitive nerve endings. His tongue spelled out his name all over her labia and clit, claiming her for himself.

"Ohmigod…Damian…I'm cumming baby! You're making me cum all in your mouth…oh God!"

Her thighs snapped around his head and he hung on, keeping his thick lips pressed against her clit giving it small circles. His head and neck rocked and rolled with all of her flailing limbs on the bed. She was strong so he had to put some muscle on her to keep her from flying across the room with her orgasm. He pinched the tips of her nipples and she cursed him yet again with her thighs shaking uncontrollably.

It took a few minutes for her body to simmer back down and he made note that she was multi-orgasmic. He felt like a lucky sonofabitch.

"I was not expecting that," she huffed out. "You can go for a long time. Jesus!'

Damian raised his body up to be closer to her on the bed. She was covered in sweat and strands of her hair clung to her cheeks in damp ringlets. Brushing back her hair, Athena rolled over to lay her head against his chest. They cuddled quietly, watching the lights of the strip twinkling their seductive call to gamble and dance. When her breathing settled, they kissed and he fondled her breasts. Her eyes became glassy and her gently fingered her pussy, watching her expression to learn what she liked for research purposes. He liked nice plump titties and a tight pussy. She had both. His calloused fingers created the perfect friction she needed and he pleasured her vulva and slick walls until her pussy clenched around his two curled fingers.

"That's my good girl," he said, gazing at her beautiful face as her mouth dropped open from the intense release. "My dick will feel even better once you let me put it in this pretty pussy."

He looked at the bald shiny vulva of her Brazilian wax and his mouth watered. He'd never had a hairless pussy before. It didn't even feel real and he was captivated by the smooth slickness.

"Will you let me nut all over this pussy?"

Athena's mouth still gaped open and his words had her pussy throbbing all over his fingers.

"I'll take that as a yes," he said. "So tight and wet. Can I make a big ole mess inside of here too?"

"Oh!"

Athena almost collapsed on herself riding out her wave of pleasure.

"I know this pussy will squeeze my big dick so good."

He moved his fingers a little to extend her release and pressed his thumb into her clit hard.

"I'll smack these big nuts against that ass too…make you cum all over my balls."

She was like putty in his hands. He pulled out his fingers and licked them. God she tasted even better than before. How was that possible? He allowed her to rest while he kissed and licked her all over, sucking on her toes while he played with his dick for her. Her eyes traced every part of his body and the lust she had for it was quite evident. He felt the same way about hers. They were built for each other.

After caressing her curves and valleys, he pulled her on top of him to feel skin on skin warmth. Her hair fanned out all across his neck and he sniffed the fragrant hair oil she coated her tresses with. Jasmine and maybe rose oil mixed in.

They both fell asleep until the morning sun rose up, the light falling across their naked bodies like a cozy yellow blanket.

Athena slid down his chest and engulfed the head of his penis in wet warmth, bobbing her head while he touched her hair. He said nothing when she climbed on top of him and slid her pussy down his length unsheathed. Her eyes didn't have desire or lust in them anymore…no, something else more powerful watched him as she went up and down on him so slow that his toes curled. His dick had her pussy stretched and talking. She had his shaft shiny and bewitched and once she started gyrating around and kissing his neck, he was mentally gone. God had to be looking out for him to bring her into his life.

Damian sat up and held Athena close. They rocked together on the bed face to face, staring into each other's eyes within a protective fortress of lovemaking. The world outside had vanished and there was only bliss for them inside. He would do anything this woman asked him to do for the rest of his days on earth.

"Fuck…Athena…"

Her ass cheeks felt slippery and wet from their natural lubrication flowing so freely on his lap. He was on the verge of ejaculating.

"'Bout to cum…"

She held the nape of his neck and pressed her forehead against his.

"Cum in my pussy," she whispered into his mouth.

"You sure?"

"Please. I want to feel you cumming inside me."

He groaned and thrust up into her faster, simply luxuriating in the snug hold she had on his dick. He lifted her by her hips and spread his legs more to get deeper inside.

"Don't ever leave me, Damian," she whispered.

He bucked into her hard and clasped her back with anchoring arms as a powerful flow surged from his balls and through his dick.

"I'd never leave you, Athena…you're my woman…"

She cried out and he shouted with her as his orgasm raced after hers.

"Oh my fucking God!" he hollered into her neck as hard throbs pushed hot cum into her pussy.

His body jerked several times and she trembled in his arms. Gasping together in a tangle of arms and legs and loving words, Damian and Athena shocked their own senses with the passion of their sex. She pulled away from him and sat back on her rump. He looked at her vulva. Her inner labia were plump and spread wide. Her pink opening still had the round gaping cavern of where his dick stretched her. Some of his creamy white semen spilled out in a gush. She played with it, smearing it all over her labia and clit.

He stroked her thigh.

"You can consider all that my signature for our contract," he said.

She laughed and held her labia open for him to see the continuous running trail of cum he put in her.

"It's so warm in my pussy," she said.

He snuggled up to her and they kissed for a long time before his stomach grumbled. Damian ordered room service for them and he had everything set up after Athena showered and walked out wearing one of his clean t-shirts. A full Creole-styled breakfast with champagne and cranberry juice was eaten on the bed. There was no rush to be anywhere. Athena's family was busy doing their own thing inside their suites. They ate their fill and snuggled under the covers together, letting the air-conditioner run giving them an excuse to spoon in body heat.

By noon Damian had his dick back inside of her raw under the covers, hitting it from his side with her back pressed into him. He whispered the filthiest things in her ear and fucked her like he missed her, like she had been waiting for him to get out of prison. Athena took that dick and choked it with her pussy. He fucked her within an inch of her life like he had something to prove. Damian put it down so good that she started sobbing and begged him to fuck her harder. He had vacillated between gentle and hard lovemaking, and Athena seemed to enjoy both ways, but her tears ushered in a pistoning of his hips to give her what she wanted.

Shoving her face down on top of the covers, he kept his hand on her neck and slammed into her perky ass. His back shots kept her cheeks clapping and his balls slapping. He glanced across the room at the mirrored closet doors and locked eyes with Athena. She watched him power drill into her with the happiest expression on her face. He slapped her ass hard several times and those round brown cheeks bounced in his palm like jello.

Damian wondered if she was one of those types that liked the idea of fucking a nigga fresh out the pen. She liked the way he talked dirty to her, his aggression exciting her with those tight pussy clenches she gave him. Didn't they say good girls always liked fucking with bad boys until they married a good boy later in life once they got all that illicitness out of their system?

Nah. Athena wasn't the good boy type. She knew how to talk greasy to people using fancy big words. He witnessed that at Donnie's celebration party. Beneath her perfect society princess façade was a gangster at heart. She had a cunning ruthlessness hidden under the calm, calculated exterior. Watching her face as he clapped her cheeks he recognized what she needed in a man. Someone who could control her in bed. Make her submit. Those tears weren't just from pleasure: she cried because she found the one man who could dominate her soul.

She arched her back and he pressed his hands lower on her spine. He circled his waist and she bit the covers and clawed the sheets. He spanked her with enough force to make her head jolt forward.

"Look at me," he demanded.

She turned her head and her dewy eyes stared back at him.

"Throw my pussy on this dick."

Her eyes widened at him claiming her pussy as his. A sparkle of joy glinted off her dark irises. He smacked her left ass cheek when she didn't move fast enough. Halting his thrusts, Damian looked down at her ass.

"That wasn't a suggestion," he said.

He didn't need to raise his voice, just shifted the tone the way he did when he was in prison and another inmate wanted to bother him out in the yard just to test him. They always found out that his soft controlled timbre could be backed up with brutal force. Athena picked up on that and jiggled her backside, sliding off his dick to position herself better before sliding back on his stiffness.

"Like that?" she asked.

Damn she fucked good. How many lames had she wasted prime pussy on before him? She chewed on her bottom lip until she had the best rhythm going for him and he grunted each time her cheeks slapped against his hard body.

"Is that good for you?" she cooed.

He didn't answer and that encouraged her to show out for him to get a reaction. His balls ached to cum.

"Fuck that shit Athena…"

She wiggled and he closed his eyes.

"Bitch, I said fuck this dick."

He pushed her face down again, had her body all the way on her stomach and started pounding her in that position until she screamed into the pillow her final orgasm of the day with him. The tight rings of her pussy tugging on his dick gave him permission to flood her with another eruption of semen. He dropped onto her back gulping all the air he could to help him tumble over next to her in a weakened heap.

Athena rolled against him again and clutched onto his chest, her fingernails softly circling the hairs around his left nipple.

"We gotta take a break," he said, "I know your pussy is sore because I was wearing that thang out."

She chuckled.

"I haven't been fucked this well in a long time," she said.

"Just well?"

"We have to go a few more times to see if this was just first time luckiness, or if my back will forever be blown out by you."

"Forever?" he said, looking down at her face.

"Is this a one and done, Damian?"

The hesitation in her voice proved to him that she had met her match and didn't want it to slip through her fingers.

"No one will ever take your place, Athena. Hear me? You're my angel."

Her eyes welled up, and she cried.

"Hey…hey…baby…," he said cuddling her closer.

"You're the one thing I have in my life right now that's just all mine," she said. "I don't want to lose that."

"I ain't going nowhere. Hey…look at me…I'm here for the long haul. You're the head that turns this body. When I get into the ring again, I'm going to bring you boxing heads on a platter until I prove all of your faith in me. You're the only person who stepped out on my behalf to help me without question. From day one. I have to repay you for that."

"What happens after you become champion?"

"Whatever we want."

He held her tight until she fell asleep in his arms, assuring her that they were a united team.

"It's you and me against the world, Athena," he whispered into her ear as she slumbered.

Chapter 10 HERE.

Tag List:

@unfriendlyblkhotti3   

@cherrellek  

@yomiloo

@goddessofthundathighs​

@eyeknowmywrites

@melaninpov

@movie-enthusiast22

@themakingsofdion

@prettyisasprettydoes1306

@capswife

@nessa41890

@smoove4jazz

@blackerthings

@sk1121-blog1

#creed 3 #adonis creed fanfiction #damian anderson fanfiction #creed #shannon thorton #michael b. jordan #johnathan majors #Uzumaki Rebellion #Uzumaki Rebellion Writes #tessa thompson #Youtube

[gimme-a-man-after-midnight]

my royal roomie (part 2) *sneak peek*

Fandom: Aquaman

Pairing: Orm Marius x Reader

part 1:

https://www.tumblr.com/gimme-a-man-after-midnight/693273500438429696/my-royal-roomie-pt-1?source=share

Summary: After a few days of living under your roof, Orm gets to know the little surface dweller he's been stuck with. With time, a stormy night, and a bottle of wine, the prince learns that he has more in common with you than he may think.

Warnings: female reader, slow burn, cursing, mentions of past emotional abuse, divorced parents!reader, dead parent, comic lore inaccuracies

Author's Note:

Hi y'all! I know I'm just about 1.5 years late in making this part 2...but I really do appreciate the support being shown for this fic! I want to make note now that my writing style has changed a bit in the time I've been away, but I hope the story is still to your liking! I'm already drafting up ideas for part 3 and hopefully more parts in the future once I watch the second movie. Look forward to more work in the future, but for now here's a first look at the next chapter!

Arthur was done - so done.

The newly crowned Atlantean king had so much on his plate already, what with his upcoming engagement underway and him having an entire kingdom to look after. While he did appreciate his little brother feeling comfortable enough to call him at such an ungodly hour, the words the blond uttered made him want to pull his hair out. 

“I think I broke her - your human.”

“Bro, what?”

It was too fucking early for this. 

“Don’t call me - agh, nevermind - something’s wrong with your human and I’m not sure how to approach the situation. Is this really an environment you believe me to find enrichment from? My host is clearly on the brink of some sort of breakdown and I-”

“Wow, I never took you for someone that was so easily shaken, brother.”

Arthur’s poorly timed quip makes Orm stare back at the projection call with a blank face.

“First off, she’s not my human, she’s her own person. Second, what did you even do? She’s not one to just collapse on her own - although she is a serial overthinker and could definitely talk herself to an early grave...”

Orm, frustrated with his half-brother’s lack of support, rolls his eyes over the call.

“Okay, okay, but seriously. Something must’ve set her off or triggered her to react in a way. You sure you didn’t do anything?” 

“All I did was answer the door when she knocked. When she saw me at the entrance, she saw the sweater I was wearing and was overcome with emotion. That’s hardly my fault.”

Orm can see Arthur’s brows furrow in thought at the information, almost as if he’s assessing whether he’s been given the whole story or not.

“Well…where’d you get the sweater?”

“I hardly think that matters-”

“Just answer the question, bro-”

An exasperated grunt leaves Orm as he grips at the sheets beneath him in an attempt to contain himself. A part of him regretted bringing up the matter at all, communication with his half-brother being much too awkward to bear. 

“I got it from the wooden wardrobe inside of my chambers! It was much more practical to wear than the flimsy garb-”

“Shit,” Arthur cuts him off, the hologram shifting as the man rubs at his eyes. “The wooden wardrobe with vines on the sides?”

It was Orm’s turn to be taken aback, unsure of how he knew the detail from off the top of his head.

“Yes, that’s the one.”

A muffled sigh comes from Arthur’s end, the image changing again as the king shuffles out of bed quietly to not disturb a sleeping Mera.

“Listen, dude. It’s not my place to speak on her business like this, but all I can say is that the wardrobe - that room - holds a lot of memories that are painful for her. I know you didn’t mean to bring them up, but that wardrobe is off limits. Just try and apologize for now, but don’t pry.”

“But why should I-”

“Orm, seriously! I get it, you don’t like being there - that you’ve spent every day in your room ever since I dropped you off, but she’s been trying. She’s been doing everything she can to get you out of your shell and you’re not giving back anything. There has to be some give here, and that can start with you saying sorry.” 

Orm was surprised by the fact that Arthur knew of his daily whereabouts already, undoubtedly asking you for updates in him. However, what surprised him the most was that even though you have seemingly complained to his half brother, you never once suggested kicking him out - never demanded he leave your house and have Atlantis deal with him. You truly were a peculiar little thing. 

“...fine. But don’t expect me to continue such niceties with her.”

A belly laugh could be heard from the over the call, surely out of amusement for the prince's unwavering coldness.

“Good. Now hang up, you disrupted my beauty sleep.”

With a scoff, Orm presses on the green gem of his wristlet and heads off to the direction of your bedroom.

#orm marius x reader #aquaman #aquaman imagine #orm marius x you #orm marius #arthur curry #arthur curry x reader #dceu

[noxsoulmate]

💞 Of Lizards, Love & Laundry 💞

🦎 now complete 🦎

Ship: Tarlos | Fandom: 911 Lone Star Author: noxsoulmate | Artist: paxdracona Read on ao3 | View art on ao3

Chapters: 7-9/9 | Word Count: 4049 | Complete Word Count: 13826 | Rating: Mature | Warnings/Tags: canon compliant, Lou II is the Houdini of Lizards, how Lou II makes his Papa love him, a story told in 7+2 parts, Carlos is so done, but TK knows how to condition his man, sex and spicy food, bribery, fluff, domestic fluff, fluff and smut, fluff and humor, Carlos loves TK, so he puts up with the reptile in their loft, until he starts to love the little monster as well

Inspired by the amazing art of @paxdracona

Created for the @911reversebang

Summary:

“TK, your lizard got out. Again.”

Lou II might just be the Houdini of lizards, an escape artist par excellence – but he’s also TK’s emotional support lizard, so how could Carlos not start to like the little monster? It certainly has nothing to do with TK’s ways of bribery or attempts at conditioning him, and more with the fact that Lou II is just… growing on him. Even if that means loads and loads of extra laundry.

OR: Carlos Reyes and the Journey of Becoming a Lizard Papa, told in 7+2 parts

🦎 Read chapters 7 to 9 on ao3 🦎

🦎 or start at the beginning 🦎

💞 and please leave lots of love on the wonderful art on ao3 💞

💞 🦎 This fic is now complete 🦎💞

Once more I have to say the biggest thanks to @paxdracona 🥰 working with you was such a joy and I hope there are more projects in our future.

And of course, all my love to my wonderful readers - thank you so much for all your love, for all the kudos and your lovely comments, as well as all the reblogs here on tumblr. I'm so thrilled you loved this fic and the amazing art 😘

Sneak peek and more art under the cut:

seven

Household chores are always a tiring thing to handle but Carlos actually likes some of them. He’s weird like that, yes, but he knows it has to do with it being mostly mindless tasks that don’t require much thinking, and still you can see the result in the end. Plus, doing them together with TK always makes it that much better. They love to share kisses whenever they’re close, they brush each other when one passes the other, just smiling, exchanging wordless communication. It’s nice, it’s domestic, and Carlos knows he won’t mind doing any chores for the rest of his life as long as he can share it with TK.

It also helps that they both have their preferred chores and switch up those neither of them likes or both of them do. Laundry, for example, is part of the last category. Before moving together, Carlos would’ve never thought TK would like doing laundry as much as he does. But they both see it as a rather meditative task, one that can be done while sitting on the couch.

And yes, Carlos still uses the couch to sort all the dry laundry, even after the little Lou II incident the other week.

Besides, he has to admit he has definitely warmed up to the little rascal. He isn’t even surprised anymore to sometimes find him outside of the terrarium. TK offered to set up a camera so they could see how the trickster does it – but Carlos brushed it off. By now, he might even be okay with letting him run around the loft sometime. He found these little cat hammocks online after watching a video where a bearded dragon used it to chill in it…

Not that he’s ready to tell TK just yet. His fiancé is excited enough as is, seeing how their wedding is only a few days away. No, he will keep that revelational new status in Lou II and his relationship for a day where TK needs another pick-me-up…

Carlos is pulled from his thoughts when TK drops down on the couch next to him, looking at him with that look. The look that tells Carlos right away that TK did something he thinks he’ll get in trouble for unless his puppy eyes will get him out of it.

“Oh no,” Carlos murmurs, staring at his fiancé. “What did you do?”

“So… remember a few weeks ago when Lou II got free while I cleaned his terrarium?”

Carlos looks past him and sees it right away, the open glass case and the cleaning supplies. All he does is sigh and look back at TK, who truly looks sheepish now.

“Remember how I promised I would tell you right away if it happened again? Well…”

💞🦎 Continue on ao3 🦎💞

Noxy’s Tagging List:

@detective-giggles, @sgirl18, @firstprince-history-huh, @beautifulhigh, @rangergurlgleek1211, @shadesofdeviant, @actuallysara, @carlos-in-glasses, @cold-blooded-jelly-doughnut, @welcometololaland, @wtfuckevenknows, @lightningboltreader, @meditating-honey-badger, @just-inside-her, @alidravana, @morganaspendragonss, @bonheur-cafe, @heartstringsduet, @ravens-words, @lire-casander, @otter-love-asl, @ramblingdisaster73, @first-kanaphan, @xtltokio, @buckybarnesalways, @mangacat201, @catanisspicy, @lemonlyman-dotcom, @a-kinkajou, @juuls

#tarlos #tarlos fanfic #911 lone star #noxy writes #7+2 fic #carlos reyes #tk strand #Lou II #lou the second #canon compliant #with amazing art #amazing art included in the fic #now complete

[k8epot8e]

Train in Vain: Chapter 8 Into the Fire

Summary:

Infiltrating the Donquixote family meeting was one thing but now that you got what you came for, how are you going to escape?

Notes:

Life is rough, friends! Sorry for the delay, but we're back on the tracks here. Here is Chapter 8, and I anticipate publishing Chapter 9 in the next couple of days. After that, I'm planning on returning to one a week as I've got big plans for Y/N and the boys to come.

TWs: Drug mentions, drug dealing mentions, cursing, alcohol mentions, drinking, sexual innuendo, anxiety, intimidation.

Trebol gestured you towards one of the open chairs on the left side of the room. All eyes were on you as you maneuvered into your seat, attempting to retain in your posture whatever confidence you could still scrape together. Trebol drooped his wide body into the last available chair just to your right. You sat like a princess with your legs pressed tightly together, discouraging any accidental contact that you could have with the man whose long legs were already slipping out from his chair in either direction.

“Why, she’s so demure. Like a little doormouse.” The woman with the gaudy necklace said, smiling over her shoulder devilishly.

“Not all of us can be as flamboyant as you, Giolla,” the man with the crew cut answered.

“You really should convince the precinct to let you wear better clothes, Vergo, the aesthetic of the entire police force leaves a lot to be desired.” Giolla huffed.

“I don’t think the pigs care about aesthetics,” the bicep-man laughed.

“Well, they ought to!” Giolla chuckled.

“Behehe” Trebol joined in.

“Alright everyone, cool it,” Joker said and the room snapped immediately into silence. “You all know there is no judgment on appearances in this family. I am a kind man. Everyone gets a fair shot as long as they’re loyal and get results.”

He paused. You could unfortunately sense that he hadn’t taken his eyes off of you since you’d entered the room. The chilling grin he flashed in your direction seemed to be a permanent facial feature.

“You’re Monet.” He said, more a statement than a question. Your head reeled. The blood rushing through your veins screamed DANGER to every neuron it could find but none would listen. Your animal instinct was trying its best to save your sorry ass but your brain won the battle, knowing it was far too late.

You nodded at the man behind the desk, trying to not feel faint as you looked at him directly. The intensity of his attention was making you woozy. You started to regret having Sanji’s cosmo earlier.

“Go along to the party. We’re starting business.” Joker said to the beautiful woman in his lap. She giggled and floated out of the room.

“Because of the” Joker paused, “delicate nature of our collective situation. Monet has spent her time with us undercover. Like you, Vergo.”

The man with the crew cut nodded.

“We are happy that both of you could join us tonight. Welcome.” Joker extended his long hands out in an inviting gesture.

You managed to give a soft smile in return despite the distracting rhythm of your pulse throbbing in your ears.

Joker continued, “I’ve asked you all here tonight as a little status report. Also, to highlight some new product you’ll be supplying in the near future. After we conduct business, we’ll all join the party in the parlor. Take tonight as a show of faith for all of your hard work.”

“Let’s start with introductions. Monet, since you were the last to arrive, I’ll direct these to you. You already know Trebol. He is my, shall we say, Chief of Staff.”

You looked to Trebol who matched your gaze with a sweaty grin.

“In front of him is Bellamy, he is my distributor for West Brooklyn.”

Bellamy, the bicep-man, shot you a wink over his left shoulder.

“Next to him is Vergo, my distributor for East Brooklyn.”

Vergo nodded at you.

“And last but not least is Giolla who is my distributor for North Brooklyn.”

“Charmed,” Giolla said to you with a cheshire grin.

“Nice to finally meet you all,” you said returning your gaze to Joker. You switched tactics from biting the side of your tongue to stabbing your palm with one of your fingernails. The sharpness of your nail piercing the warm flesh of your palm gave you enough focus to speak and to keep your breathing regular.

“And I, of course, am Joker. Here, there is no need for secrets. Tonight, you can call me Doflamingo.” The man behind the desk said, a long tongue snaking out of his mouth to lap at his upper lip.

You tried your best not to react when you saw his tongue but your eyes must’ve widened in surprise as you watched his smirk grow sharper in amusement.

“So, now that we’re all acquainted, has anyone run into any issues on their turf?” Doflamingo asked, leaning his head to rest against the chair’s high back.

Bellamy spoke up first.

“I found out a couple of weeks ago that some small-timers were operating out of a club over in Fort Hamilton. They were moving similar product to ours so I shut it down. Haven’t heard anything since.” Bellamy said confidently.

“Everything is going swimmingly in North Brooklyn. The Williamsburg art shows are as hot as the product I’m moving through them!” Giolla laughed.

“Captain Smoker has been a pain in my ass down at the station but my guys on the force have been moving product smoothly, no hiccups,” Vergo said.

Everyone turned to look at you.

“South is going fine. Coney Island has been slower because of the time of year but that’s normal.” You said. You weren’t sure where this lie came from or how you said it so nonchalantly but it was something you thought, you hoped, made enough sense.

Doflamingo paused. “Good. Seems like no one is having any real issues. Now, let me show you our new product.”

The man opened up a drawer on the right-hand side of the desk. His long fingers gently placed what looked like a piece of hard candy down in front of him. The candy was white and red swirled, like the pinwheel colors of a mint. It was wrapped in clear plastic and twisted into bowties on either side.

“This is the Doc’s new creation. It’s more addictive than our other products and more potent. Despite this, I got him to ease the come-down to make it better for club usage. I also got him to make it cuter looking to sell better to young people.” Doflamingo explained. He went on at length about the drug, its chemical composition, and its effects. You tried your best to concentrate, but your anxiety was making it difficult.

“This will be included in the product package you each pick up on your designated days next week. Market it to young people in your regions, primarily young women who go clubbing. Once it’s used in certain areas by your better customers, word will spread and increase the market.”

“Young Master, it’s adorable!” Giolla giggled.

“It’s some of Doc’s finer work, I will say, fufufu” Doflamingo laughed. “Now that we’ve chatted, let’s join the party, shall we?”

Everyone waited for him to rise from their chairs. He hoisted his enormous body from his throne and pocketed the drug into his pink silk suit pants as he sauntered out of the room.

The five of you remaining in the office began to follow him out into the parlor.

You couldn’t believe you’d survived. You rose to your feet, feeling somewhat lightheaded from your heightened pulse. As overjoyed as you were that you’d made it this far, you quickly started to realize that you didn’t know how you were going to leave.

You almost flinched when you felt a hand rest on your left arm and an arm wrap around your shoulders. Giolla had slid you into an embrace on her right side.

“It’s not ALL serious work, dear. Let’s have some fun.” Giolla giggled as she led you through the doorway.

--

You, Giolla, Vergo, and Bellamy had entered the parlor to find Doflamingo across the room, already chatting with various guests at a blackjack table. Vergo was walking away from our group when Bellamy called him out.

“You’re not going home yet, are you Vergo?” Bellamy asked judgementally.

Vergo paused. “I’m going to the buffet table and then I’m leaving. Some of us have other jobs in addition to our work for the family, Bellamy. Monet understands.”

He turned and made a beeline for the buffet.

“Old man.” Bellamy scoffed and headed towards the bar.

Giolla pivoted you in the direction of the bar after him and Trebol followed.

A new sense of panic began to take hold of you as you were steered towards the bar. You may have gotten the recording you needed but how were you supposed to escape? Also, Smoker had said not to get too talkative but now you were expected to drink and chat with people at the party. You swallowed hard.

Bellamy leaned one of his long arms on the edge of the bar. “Jack and coke for me, what do you want Giolla?” He asked.

“A sidecar, dear.” Giolla laughed. “She’ll have one too.”

You turned to see that Trebol had disappeared. You couldn’t see him from across the room and wondered where he had gone. While you were curious, you were happy that there were fewer people around you. You had to make your way to the other end of the room so you could slip out, unnoticed. One down, two to go.

The bartender handed the three of you your drinks. You took one of the sidecars and Giolla held hers up in a toast.

“To the Young Master!” She said.

“Hear, hear!” Bellamy said, raising his glass.

You raised your coupe glass and clinked with the two people next to you. You took a swig from the sidecar, it was refreshing to have something to drink after all this time.

“Giolla! Darling!” You heard from behind you. You turned to see that an older man with a mustache was calling out to Giolla with his arms aloft.

“You bad man!” Giolla squealed and immediately ran to join her well-dressed acquaintance leaving you and Bellamy standing together at the bar. Glad to be rid of her, you breathed a little more deeply.

Bellamy was leaning on the bar, looking lasciviously around the room. He eyed the ass of a woman in a red cocktail dress peering over a roulette table. Getting rid of him was going to be too easy.

“You like what you see?” You asked him slyly.

“Hmm?” Bellamy grunted, obviously not listening.

“I said, do you want to fuck her?” You asked nonchalantly.

This statement made the man snap out of his lusty gaze. He looked down at you in surprise before busting into a laugh.

“Yeah, I do. Hah. I like you, Monet. You don’t talk too much, but when you do it’s cause you’ve got something to say.” He laughed.

You weren’t sure if that was a compliment but you’d take it.

“You should go talk to her.” You goaded him, eager to get him gone.

“You think so?” He asked, raising his eyebrows at you.

“Yeah. You’re with Doflamingo and you’ve got great arms. I’m sure she’ll take a liking to you.” You said, taking another sip of your sidecar.

“You’ve got a point. Well, thanks for the encouragement. Hope you get some, yourself.” He said, kicking off the bar and winking at you as he stalked away.

Cheers erupted in your brain. You’d played this so well. Maybe you should be a professional sting-person, you thought to yourself. You kicked off the bar and started walking along the side of the room towards the exit. You knocked back the rest of the sidecar as you moseyed around the people milling about. Home free, you thought just as you’d reached the other side of the room.

While crossing in front of the fireplace a long arm bolted in front of you to rest on the mantle, blocking your path. You stopped abruptly as you turned to your right to see the enormous figure of Doflamingo leaning over you. His glasses stared into your eyes.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

#one piece x reader #eustass kid x killer x reader #eustass kid x reader #killer x reader #one piece fanfic

[cirilla-fiona-riannon]

Ikemen Sengoku (JP)

Kicho's Main Story Chapter 2 Premium

Mai: "Actually, there's something I've been hiding from you."

Mai: "I don't know if you'll believe me, but can you hear me out?"

Kicho: "Yeah. What is it?"

Mai: "I came from five hundred years in the future."

Kicho: "............"

Kicho looked surprised for a moment after hearing my words but quickly returned to his usual unreadable expression.

Kicho: "Future?"

Mai: "I was on vacation when a wormhole suddenly appeared and sent me back here in the Sengoku period."

Mai: "That was about three months ago. Someone took me in after that."

Kicho: "That's why you said you came from a village in the countryside?"

Mai: "Yes. But with no way to get home, I couldn't just let them take care of me all the time, so I looked for a place to work and found out about this place."

Kicho: "It makes sense. But I don't trust you."

Kicho: "What you’re saying is nothing but just a bunch of nonsense."

Kicho: "If you really are from the future, show me some evidence to convince me."

(I have a handkerchief as proof, but it would just look like any other hand towel.)

(Damn it, I should've brought my bag.)

(I have my camera and pen case in there.)

Mai: "Oh."

------------Flashback------------

Mai: "If only there was a brush that never ran out of ink, it would be useful in this situation."

Kicho: "You're right. If I had a ballpoint pen right now, I'd lend it to you."

---------Flashback Ends---------

(I thought I was imagining it, but maybe一)

Kicho: "What's wrong? Got nothing?"

Mai: "Yeah. I wish I had something from the future to give you, but I almost brought nothing."

Mai: "Though, I know about it too. The ballpoint pen."

Kicho: "That's一"

Mai: "You mentioned it before. That thing allows you to write without having to put anything on it and doesn't exist at this period."

Mai: "You know about the future, don’t you?"

(He used to be in the Oda army, and Mitsuhide had known him since he was a kid, so he's not originally from the future.)

Mai: "I got curious, so I snuck into this room to see if I could find any clues about you."

Mai: "I'm really sorry for doing that."

I bowed my head, my heart pounding as I waited for his response.

Kicho: "To answer your question, yes, I know the future."

Mai: "I knew it!"

I looked up and saw him giving me a pitiful look.

(Huh? That's not the reaction I was expecting.)

Kicho: "I see. You were born and raised in that miserable world."

Mai: "M-Miserable?"

Kicho: "I'm not from the future, but I traveled through a wormhole once."

Mai: "But you came back."

Kicho: "Yes. For a purpose."

Kicho lazily crossed his legs and sighed deeply.

Kicho: "I will use any means to achieve my goal."

Mai: "So, weapons?"

Kicho: "Yes. You know that Japan in the future is free of conflict."

Kicho: "Creating that hellish world is not the way to save everyone. That's why I'm going to continue this turbulent world."

Mai: "But..."

(How did he come to that conclusion after seeing a future without war?)

(From what I've seen, he really values life, yet his purpose contradicts it.)

Every time I talk to this inconsistent man, I feel like I'm wandering through a deep, foggy forest.

(This guy is an enemy of the Oda army and mine.)

(But I'd like to know a little bit more.)

Not only about the number of guns and his schemes but also about himself.

If I could do that, maybe I could put the missing pieces together.

Mai: "Um, can I still stay here?"

Kicho: "Well, you have nowhere else to go."

Mai: "Yes."

Kicho: "Then you can stay. But believing that you're from the future is different from trusting you."

Kicho: "I only have one condition."

Kicho cut off his words there, stood up, and walked to his desk.

He then took something out of the top drawer and showed it to me.

(Key?)

Kicho: "To keep an eye on you, starting tomorrow, you'll be working with me."

Kicho: "In other words, you will be my secretary."

Kicho: "That's the condition of staying here."

Mai: "What?"

Kicho: "Unsatisfied? Then you have no choice but to leave."

Kicho: "I'm determined to eliminate anyone who stands in my way or may stand in my way."

(I guess there's nothing I can do. I'm already lucky that he let me off the hook after he found out that I snuck in here.)

(I'll just try to be as normal as possible if he's going to monitor me.)

Mai: "Okay. I'll be happy to help!"

Kicho: "Then this conversation is over."

After confirming that I agreed, he opened the bottom drawer, took out a wooden box, and approached me.

Mai: "What's that?"

Kicho: "Some things I’ll use to patch you up."

Kicho: "Put your hand over here. You burn your fingers earlier with the tea."

(I completely forgot about it.)

I held out my hand as I was told, and his long, slender fingers took it, surprising me with his gentle touch.

Kicho: "It's a little reddish. I'll put some ointment on it just in case."

Mai: "I’m fine. It's not that painful, and it'll heal eventually."

Kicho: "I'm going to apply it now."

Kicho took my hand and applied a bit of it to the affected area.

Even though I knew he was only treating me, I couldn't help but blush as he gently stroked my hand.

(This is kind of embarrassing.)

Kicho: "That should do it. The redness should go away in a few days."

Mai: "T-Thank you, that helped."

Kicho: "If you get hurt again, let me know."

Kicho: "Don't be insensitive to pain. That's the same as neglecting yourself."

(Kicho...)

His tone of voice was as gentle as his hands, and I nodded my head, a little surprised.

Previous Chapter╏Masterlist╏Next Chapter

#ikemen sengoku #ikesen kicho #ikesen kichou #ikesen jp #ikesen #ikesen spoilers #ikesen translations #cybird #kicho

[dijeh]

I got tagged in a fandom meme! I haven't done one of these in a lot of years, so thanks @endless-season

I'm putting my disappointing answers under the cut, so you can enjoy this photo of a snail instead and scroll along.

3 ships you like: I'm... not the type to talk about that... They exist.

first ship ever: Oh man, no idea. Something from Greek mythology maybe? Or from one of those compulsory readings in middle school? Maybe earlier?

last song you heard: This. Also in French. It's apparently based on an actual love curse song and I can't stop listening to it.

favourite childhood book: Either a two-volume book on Greek mythology or the Mary Poppins series. I received the Greek mythology book when I was about 6 and it was the first "serious" book I managed to read all by myself (I'd only read some Bamse beforehand). I used to like the first volume, the one on gods, better than the second one which focused on the heroes, which I found sort of boring. I wanted to read about cool powers and the like, not guys doing things. I lent the books to a friend a few years ago and haven't seen them since, but I recently leafed through the volumes at another friend's house (every kid has them), and noticed my tastes have sort of reversed now.

As for Mary Poppins... I still remember that frustrating Midsummer Eve volume which created more mysteries instead of answering longstanding questions. Immortal Mary? ??? Also that Halloween chapter where I would mentally replace the park and lane with the park across the street and my own street. My mental image of the MP world was half whatever I read, half my own home. (I only watched the Disney movie much, much later and found it rather disappointing.)

currently reading: - A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. I had forgotten how verbose he is! I appreciate the irony/dry humour but there are so many unneeded passages. It's also quite quotable, in fact it contains my favourite quote ever that I learnt of before knowing the book.

Alamut by Vladimir Bartol. It's ok so far, I'm only ~70 pages in, so I can't draw a conclusion, but I can't say I'm awed or anything. I'd be tempted to blame the translation, but it might also be my expectations (cool assassin action yeah!) vs reality (newcomer learns about stuff in painstaking detail).

The House on the Borderland by W. H. Hodgson. Literally just started it, I'm looking forward to being spooked. I've only read two other things by Hodgson, The Voice in the Night, which I can't remember for the life of me, and The Night Land, which I read the only time I worked in an office and I still can't tell whether reading that book or working in an office was worse. I Very Much Dislike working in an office if you couldn't tell.

currently watching: The Last Kingdom. I quite like it, despite the biker vikings and the ridiculous premise that everything in (future) England worked thanks to 1 (one) guy™ and some REALLY unneeded character changes (historical power couple turned into lil bitch husband vs long suffering wife who fucks the protag of course). Can't talk yet about the writing quality after Netflix took over (started season 4), but I do appreciate the better costumes and accessories. People finally wear rings, necklaces, brooches, armbands etc! Wew. I do not appreciate the Middle Ages filter even though some colour does manage to make its way on screen from time to time. I also miss the battle tactics, but well, as long as the character interactions are nice...

currently consuming: Coffee in a coffee appropriate cup I randomly found in the kitchen. Where do all these cups even come from?

currently craving: Infinite time to read what I want to read and enough money and warm sunny weather to travel. I miss Naples! My love 🥺

#me #text

[howthekriffdidigethere]

Wish Come True.

Chapter Eleven: No One Needs to Know.

(Should I be up right now? No. Should I be posting this now? Probably not. Am I going to anyway? Yes hehe)

(TW: training, sparing, fighting, mightve made Saw a little OOC but it's good for the sake of the story, but yeah, he's a whole warning in himself. Small mention of blood, and mentions of a bad past, but I think that's it, let me know if I missed anything!)

A few days had passed on Onderon and the sun had begun to fall behind the horizon for the night, marking the end of training for now.

The Onderon Rebels had been working nonstop, learning new tricks and assessing their personal skills.

I mostly just sat and watched, talking to Rex and occasionally Ahsoka, only every once in a while would I join in with the training, usually when it was about hand to hand combat, or even just used as an example to the Rebels about what not to do.

It worked out well, since I would then be helping them, but also training myself for the future. I was learning just as much as they were.

Saw Gerreras distrust in me only seemed to grow as the days went on. Especially when Rex had me spar him, since he seemed oh, so, confident, and I ended up beating him.

It was by no means easy, and honestly I think I won just cause I wanted to prove a point. But he still got quite a few good moves on me.

Saw ended up storming off, claiming he had to take care of the animals, though that wasn't his job.

Ever since that incident, I can't get even five feet near him without getting shoulder checked or shoved away and told off unless Rex or one of the Jedi were around.

Part of me found it amusing, honestly. I made a grown man hate me in less than a week!

That should not make me feel proud, but here we are anyway.

My thoughts were cut off as a bowl of soup was suddenly placed a few inches from my face as I sat on a log near the edge of camp.

"I saw you didn't grab some, so I figured I'd bring it to you before they gave it to the animals." Lux Bonteri explained, flashing his charming smile.

He was about Ahsokas age I think, and they seemed...close. I found it rather suspicious, but kept my mouth shut, especially when he acted the same way with Steela that he did with Ahsoka.

From what I had found out, he was an Ex-Senators son. Only Ex because she was killed by the Separatists.

He then joined this group called the Death Watch, but Ahsoka got him away. Besides that, however, all I know is he's here to honor his mother.

Sweet, I suppose, but there was something odd with him in my opinion.

"Oh, uh, thanks." I grabbed the bowl, being polite. "I didn't even realize they started serving it yet."

"You seemed very distant." His eyebrows knitted together as he stared down at me.

"I've got a lot to think about." I answered plainly, stirring the soup some and not looking at him.

"Saw doesn't like you. Steelas pretty cautious of you too." He stated, sitting down beside me, though I didn't invite him to.

"Jeez, I haven't noticed." I rolled my eyes, scooting away. "You gonna tell me why or do you not have a clue either?"

Lux turned his head to look at me, "I'm afraid I don't have a reason. But Steela is always cautious, and Saw is... Saw." He scoffed, "That man acts like he knows everything when he doesn't know half of what's going on. He needed to be put in his place, so good job on the spar. He deserves it."

"I didn't do it because of that." I argued, narrowing eyes. "I cause enough trouble and he already dislikes me as it is. I don't need to feed into that hate."

Lux chuckled, "Why else would you do it then?"

"Because I was told to fight, so I did." I answered, setting the bowl aside. "Rex gave me an order, I wasn't going to disobey. And I also wouldn't fight just because he has a petty feud with me, for whatever reason."

"Don't you technically rank above the Clone Captain?" He tilted his head, raising a brow.

I huffed, "He's not just a Clone Captain, he's a person. But he's experienced, a hell of a lot more than me. I'm learning too, and that was a lesson for me, as well as for Saw."

He chuckled. "You're a jedi, what could you learn here?"

I sighed and looked ahead. "Anyone can learn something anywhere. Besides, I'm only a padawan, and a new one at that."

"Why are you here then?" Lux asked, and I felt his eyes on me. "If you're new?"

I hesitated and looked at the ground. "The...Jedi Council thought I could be useful."

"Useful in what way?" He continued to press. "Its dangerous to just have a kid in a war zone."

I shrugged, "Its their choice, not mine. And besides, with how Gerrara is acting, he's probably plotting my murder as we speak, so the war doesn't even matter."

We both chuckled slightly at that, the one thing we having in common was Saws hate for the each of us.

"If anyone in this camp is murdered by me, you won't be the first one on my kill list." Speak of the devil...

My eyes widened and I quickly turned around to look at none other than Saw Gerrara, who was standing a few feet away.

"And who would be at the top?" Lux challenged, standing to confront Saw, and crossing his arms to appear tough.

I quickly glanced around, looking for someone, but no one was near enough to help, and I had no comm to call them.

I muttered a curse and turned back to two infront of me, standing tense.

"Who do you think, Bonteri?" Saw straightened his back to seem taller.

"Okay, okay, so how about we don't actually kill each other right now and just go back to the others?" I stepped in between them, hoping to stop the conversation from escalating.

"Stay out of this, brat." Saw glared at me, voice near a growl.

"Eh, lay off the kid. She beat you in a fight, thats all she's ever done to you." Lux defended me, stepping closer.

"I wasn't even trying." Saw stuck his nose in the air, "Like you said, she's a kid. I wasn't going to fight her full strength."

"She would still beat you, I guarantee it." Bonteri declared with a firm nod.

"Oh yeah? Using little girls to fight your battles now, boy?" Saw scoffed, "I knew you were weak."

"I am not weak!" Lux debated, "You're just scared to loose to her!"

"Alright, I get it, you both hate each other, moving on now!" I objected, pushing them both back with my hands.

"What? Afraid of a little fight, brat?" Saw dared, "Have you ever been in an actual fight? Even seen blood?"

"Yes, actually. More than you know. Now, stand. Down." I argued, quickly getting irritated.

  "Why should I?" Saws tall frame towered over me. "You don't belong here. I don't know who you are or why the jedi brought you here, but I think you'd be doing us all a great favor if you left."

"This is your last warning. Stand. Down. Now." I glared, trying to stay calm.

Lux stepped up again, "Yeah, back off, Saw! And you should take your own advice, no one wants you as a leader."

I rolled my eyes and looked at him, "I didn't ask for your assistance, you need to back off too."

Saw laughed mockingly. "The both of you wouldn't be able to hurt me at all."

Lux smirked, "Right, of course. You better hope you're right, it'd be awfully embarrassing for our leader to loose to a kid."

"Shut up, Bonteri." Saw growled nostrils flaring.

Lux matched his glare and hissed. "And what if I don't?"

"Enough–!!" I screamed and pushed my hands out, but they never collided with their chests.

It collided with air, but it felt hard. Like a wall almost.

Time seemed to slow as I watched Saw and Lux fly back away from each other, as if being being yanked by some invisible chord.

They hit the ground with a hard thud and I blinked as I stared at my hands in shock, breathing hard.

I...Just used the force.

That's never happened before. Obi-Wan hadn't even begun teaching me how to actually use it yet.

How the hell did I just do that?

I didn't even hear them get up before I was being shoved, thrown onto my back.

Saw loomed over me, "You gonna say something, brat?"

He didn't even seemed affected by what happened. He probably thought I did it on purpose.

I swallowed and forced myself to act normal, making my face stern, "Maybe. Maybe not."

I didn't think it was possible, but Saws glare hardened, "Listen here, you hold no power, no authority, here. So don't walk around acting like you own the place. Got it?"

"Last time I checked, you don't own the place either. You're not even the leader technically." I rolled my eyes, standing up slowly and cautiously.

  Saw growled, "You have no idea what I did to get here."

"And you have no idea what I've been through to get here." I jabbed back.

He scoffed, "What kind of problems could a little girl like you have?"

"Things you could never get through." I swore, clenching my fists.

"Oh yeah?" He scoffed, "And what's that?"

"Why should I tell you?" I sneered. "You don't deserve to know."

"And you don't deserve to be here." He told me bitterly. "I don't know who raised you, but they obviously didn't do a good job–"

His words were cut off by my fist coming in contact with his nose.

Saw stumbled backwards from the shock of the hit, groaning as blood started to drip.

"I raised myself." I stated, voice eerily calm as I watched him hold his face in pain.

"Oh, yeah?" Saw straightened his back and rubbed his jaw, fixing his hard gaze back on me, "Well, I don't blame whoever left you. Any sane person would have done the same."

  "Thats quite enough." Obi-Wans voice broke our argument apart, hurrying into the scene, followed by Ahsoka and Lux. He must've gone to get help without me noticing.

I blinked and stepped back, looking down. "Master, I–"

"Not now." He cut me off, sounding angry for the first time since I met him. "Go wait in your tent, I will speak to you in a moment."

I swallowed and nodded, starting to walk off, glancing at Saw one last time.

He was fuming still, I could feel it, but he seemed perfectly calm, just staring at me with a bloody nose.

I sighed and hurried away, practically running to my tent that I shared with Ahsoka, hands shaking as I thought over what happened.

I paced around the small space for who knows how long, until eventually Obi-Wan showed up.

"I used the force." I blurted before I could stop myself.

He blinked and sighed. "Yes, I heard..."

"I-I didn't mean to, I didn't even know I even could!" I stressed, eyes wide.

Obi-Wan shook his head and put his hands on my shoulders, pushing me to sit down. "We will discuss that later."

My brows furrowed, "But...I-It's important..."

Obi-Wan nodded. "It is, but we have other things to discuss. Like you starting a fight."

I shook my head. "I-I didn't start a fight, Saw did. Lux and I were talking, and I guess he was eavesdropping, but he started to mess with us, Lux got mad, and I was trying to separate them. That's when I accidentally used the force...my part in the argument didn't really start till after that..."

Obi-Wan sat beside me, "And what exactly happened?"

I glanced to the floor, "Gerrara was... angry. I didn't mean to use the force, i-it just happened and it shoved him and Bonteri back, I was just trying to get them away from each other so they wouldn't attack one another."

Obi-Wan sighed, and I could feel the disappointment radiating off of him in waves. "And yet, you're the one who threw the punch..."

I swallowed, "I...I did...B-But he just– he was wanting me to make a move, and he was saying things that he knew nothing about–"

"Things that have to do with your family?" Obi-Wan raised a brow, having heard part of the argument.

I looked at him, "Y-You don't understand... I know I'm supposed to be living a different life, and I'm trying to... b-but he has no idea what I've done to still be alive..."

"That doesn't mean you start a fight." Kenobi chided. "There is darkness clouding you when it comes to this topic, Fae. You need to be careful. Hiding it will not work forever...The truth will come out somehow."

I stared at him then shook my head, "N-No...It can't. Please, Master, I– I can have a life without that..."

Obi-Wan looked at me sadly, "You can... but you need to actually accept whatever happened and move on...not just hide it."

I glanced away, "No one will look at me the same...W-Why can't we just... leave it be?"

Kenobi sighed and put a hand on my shoulder, "There are things in my life that I wish would not come to light, but...It will happen one day, or another. And I would rather have it be me telling the story, not someone else."

I bit my lip, "No one knows it here...It'd be impossible for them to tell."

I felt him shrug, "Sometimes there are other methods to finding out the truth. As I said before, there is darkness surrounding you, if an enemy senses this, that will be their target."

I hesitated, knowing that he wanted me to explain things now, but...I couldn't.

There was only one person ever who I'd told, and she spilled it to the whole town.

"I need more time..." I whispered after a moment, looking down. "I'm sorry, Master. For...For this, and for starting the fight."

It was silent for a moment before Obi-Wan stood up, "I know, dear...I will make sure everything is dealt with. For now, you should rest. It's been a long day for you."

I nodded slowly, not moving an inch, my mind on all his words.

Obi-Wan walked to the door and paused, "It will be alright...Just stay close to us tomorrow..."

He left a moment later, knowing that I wouldn't answer him.

I sighed heavily, slowly moving to lay down.

I did feel exhausted, he was right about that, but fear held onto me as I thought about what their reactions would be to what happened.

I bit my lip and screwed my eyes shut. I couldn't let them find out...They would never look at me the same...

I have a chance at a new life here, a good life, if I survive this mission. I won't screw it up with my past.

I pushed away the fear as best as I could, telling myself it was ridiculous to feel that way.

It's been four years, and I've only ever told one person out of trust. That was a mistake...One that I won't make again.

No one needs to know.

#star wars #clone wars #the clones #writing #wish come true

[popculturebuffet]

Evil Dead Rise: Mommy's with the Maggots Now (Comission for WeirdKev27)

Hail to the king baby! It's halloween, it's this blog and that mean's it's time for me to pull out my volume of the Necronimcon Demento and review another chapter of the evil dead.

So for those new here

I'm Jake, I review stuff and things, and two years ago I did an evil dead retrospective, covering all 4 films. From that stupid bitch scotty to ash laughing madly, to the film of a thousand catchphrases to that one that had Jane Levy, some good gore and little else, it was a fun ride.

So naturally with a new evil dead film out, it's only natural that I returned to review the latest film in the franchise: Evil Dead Rise. It's also a special review as it's my belated reviewversry with friend of the blog and over time of the me, WeirdKev27.

Kevin was my first client and the one who made me able to make a living doing this, and while he has zero interest in ever seeing Evil Dead Rise, he's more an horror-action and horror-comedy kind of guy, this gives him a chance to see what it has. Plus really after covering the last 4 even if he didn't agree to sponsor it, I'd be doing this anyway as I both love this film and hate not having the complete set. It's thanks to kev I have all I do now, so thanks man.

Evil Dead Rise is the franchises second attempt at a soft reboot after Evil Dead 2013. The plan after that one was to do two sequels: Evil Dead 2, which would follow Mia, Jane Levy's final girl from the requel and the only character who wasn't huffing paint thinner the whole film, and Army of Darkness 2. This ended up falling through, with Alvarez moving on to other projects and AOD2 being retooled into Ash Vs the Evil Dead, a three season tv series on stars that sadly got cancelled but from all accounts fucking rocked and I definitely want to cover at some point.

From there Ash's story was seemingly done on screen. While Dynamite will likely publish army of darkness comics till the end of time, Bruce Campbell had decided he was aging out of the part and wanted to pass the chainsaw on. That said while Campbell was seemingly done playing Ashy Slashy, he wasn't done with the franchise, staying on as a producer alongside Sam Rami and Robert Tapert. Rami and Campbell were done MAKING the films, but still wanted the franchise to live on.

So in 2019 a new film got the greenlight, with Rami handpicking rookie director Lee Cronin for the part, having impressed rami while working on the short lived quibi series 50 States of Fright. Cronin easily took to the cast and once filming COULD kick off in 2021, he hit the ground running. The result is a fresh take on the franchise that was so well done that WBD decided it was too good to just pop on streaming and much like Blue Beetle, bumped it up to theaters. The result was a 19 million dollar film.. scoring nearly 150 million in the box office, a huge success that , unlike most films only GREW it's audience as the weeks went on, always a great sign.

As a result the franchise's future seems secure, with Cronin not only already having 4 ideas for a sequel, which i'll get to later, but the results were so Groovy Bruce decided he wasn't finished yet, meaning an ash film is also in the cards.

So the question is how groovy is this film and how does the franchise fair without it's iconic cabin setting or iconic catchphrase spewing chainsaw man? The answers to all of this is under the cut. So turn the page, wash your hands, and prepare for 1717 Gallons of Bloodshed as I look at Evil Dead Rise.

Evil Dead Rise starts off a day after the main plot, with three 20 somethings having gone to a cabin in the woods woooooooooooooo not realizing what franchise their in. They are Jessica, Teresa, Jessica's cousin and Caleb, Jessica's douchey boyfriend. Caleb annoys Teresa with a drone, nearly clipping her with it and mansplaning after she says it nearly clipped her head off that it would've ground her face up instead.

Teresa proves to be just as obnoxious as Caleb, berating Jessica for leaving her alone with him, fair.. but then also being mad at her for being sick, laid up in bed and thus unable to give her the keys.

Thankfully this is an evil dead movie so Jessica quickly ends our suffering as she wants to swallow souls, taking off Teressa's scalp in a gory, horrifying and awesome practical effect before putting the drone to her own face and jumping into the lake. Caleb proves he's both not a COMPLETE asshole but still a complete idiot by diving in after her and we get the films awesome opening shot: Jessica rising from the lake, drenched in water and blood as the title rises behind her.

While I do like that TITLE CARRRD and scalping, overall i'm not a big fan of this opening. While it's well shot like the rest of the film, it's too short to really make me care and feels like it was thrown in there because the main plot ran a tad short and was too tightly paced to add to. It's a how we got here sort of thing that dosen't really work and feels like i'ts just there so we can have a sequel.. depsite the film having MULTIPLE other valuable sequel hooks dangling around. It's unnecessary in a film that otherwise really dosen't DO unnecessary. It also feels tonally off, feeling like a 2000's era "Kill the douchebags" sort of film than the tightly paced well characterized film we get after.

Thankfully we soon meet our actual protagnist, Beth. Beth, played by Australian Actor Alyssa Sulivan, gets a great introduction that does a lot of nice exposition without actually saying any: we quickly find out from her being sick in a stall and having some douche she works with who can't do his job himself and just let her go to the bathroom for five minutes knock on it that sh'es a roadie, her hiding it tells us she's pregnant and doesn't want anyone else to know, and Suilivan's awesome facial acting tells us she has no idea how to process this.

We soon cut to LA in a high rise, a setting change I utterly love. Before this most evil dead works were in a rural setting: a cabin in the woods for the first, second and fourth films, artuhrian times for the third, and some small towns for ash vs the evil dead. We haven't seen the deadites in an urban setting before this and LA was a great set.

The choice of setting within is also great: an old crumbling high rise in the middle of a busy city no one would give two shits about or really investigate in the middle of the night. It keeps the isolation of the cabin but puts a new spin on it that allows for new set pieces.

The main one of these is Ellie's Apartment. Ellie is played by the stunning and talented Alyssa Sutherland, previously known for Vikings, which I haven't seen. Sutherland is the easy breakout of the film, the center of most of it's marketing and the most terrifying part about it... eventually.

Part of that terror is we see her first as a fun, responsible mom and tattoo artist dealing with three children, all creatives themselves in some way: Bridget (Gabrille Echoles) is an activist, her brother Danny (Morgan Davies) is a dj and their young sister Cassie cuts up her dolls to create staves to body check her sister with.

This family, which doesn't have a last name, is the core of the film and the first 20 minutes are really just setting them up as people: Beth is a tad snarky but clearly loves her kids and is tough but fair with them, Bridget is sarcastic to just about everyone but her aunt, Danny is a bit of a reckless fuckwit but has a good heart, more on the former later, and Cassie is a sweetie pie. Their not super deep characterizations, but the talented actors give them a lot of character simply by action, and one of the films best asset is how great these people are at facial acting.

Beth flies in and after scaring the shit out of Ellie. The two actresses have great chemistry and you can feel the tension as the two clearly haven't talked.. and Beth missed a lot as Ellie's ex husband abandoned the family and this high rise is condemned, with the family only having a month. So naturally Ellie isn't that excited to see Beth, both for Beth dodging her calls, despite getting her messages, and showing up at the worst possible time.

That said the film also does a really good job with the sibling dynamic: like me with my own brother Ellie may be annoyed with Beth.. but she's there for her, getting this visit wasn't just out of the blue and her sister really needs her and waits till the kids have left to pick up pizza to ask, but does so gently yet firmly. These characters feel like family and building up this empathy and character is key to everything being as horrifying as it is. It's something many horror films, including this very film in it's opening and the previous film fail to grasp: just because

Dosen't mean we should WANT them too. It's fine to throw in a few assholes to kill so not EVERY death is a downer, depending on the film, but when you can't empathize with most of your cast it makes the wait for the bloodshed tedious. It's why the previous film REALLY didn't work for me: outside of mia NONE of these idiots were likeable and as such having to spend a film with them being stupid and waiting for them to die while the only likeable one was turned into a deadite wasn't fun. Here by making everyone we encounter likeable, grounded, and interesting.. it makes the horrifying slaughter we're about to witness that much more tragic. It makes us WANT these characters not to be dead by dawn.

Anyways we're soon reminded this is LA as we get an EARTHQUAKKKEEEE, with the bathroom set our sisters are in having been rigged to shake really well. The kids thankfulyl weren't driving at the time and instead are trying to take the pizza back up when it hits. They drop it, but do live.

Sadly for them and everyone else on their floor Danny suffers from a terminal case of dumbass and upon seeing a giant crack in the ground leading to a mysterious old bank vault just HAS to investigate in the dark. He finds some old records, which.. fair enough, it's some neat historical stuff, could be fun to paly with soundwise and could help them fincally. Him taking stuff romt he hole is mildly stupid.. but I get it and I probably would. What I wouldn't do is upon finding a room guarded by a bunch of hanging crucafixes and seeing a book with teeth and bound in human flesh, take it with me. And I mean teeth as this Necronomicon has a nasty but awesome set of chompers. I praise the set design here on this, it's iconic as the original, still recognizable as being it's sibling, but the teeth give it it's own flair.

Anyways the kids get back to the apartment and Danny decides the best thing he can do during a dark night with quakes a poppin.. is to pry open his new book. Which granted is what i'd do, but my recent book is about a trans woman's first year post transition and is damn good...

Highly recommend it and it's sequel, which I got first. Also guarnateed not to summon the evil dead.. which I understand is a dealbreaker for some of you. Good news i'm pretty sure that manga about Joker raising a baby batman does, so have at it if that's what your after.

Sadly Danny is not taking my book recommendations and opens the things finding a bunch of spooky pictures and... being genuinely horrified. He's a LITTLE fascinated but it's clear his reaction is "shit this thing isn't good is it. Not hleped is that when he pricks his finger on the books mighty jaws, it drinks some blood Audrey II styles. Bridget sees this and has the right reaction.

Or rather chuck it back down the hole they got it from. Danny can't because their mom won't let them out of the apartment after the quake which is fair.. what's less fair is that he dosen't wrap the book in something or hide it. Keep it from trying to nible on some face. You have 4 other people in the house Dan be considerate!

That said Dan still takes the darwin award winning step of playing the wax records he got. NOw on paper Danny being this dumb shoudln't work.. but in practice Rise does an excellent job showing why Danny would be like this: we've seen he's an audophile, that he's reckless as he went down a crevice in an earthquake, and that he's curious to a fault, willing to take the book in a first place. So he's being stupid.. but it's in a way where it's a character flaw and not just bad writing.

It also helps that while playing the records is risky.. you can kinda see why. He found a creepy vampiric book in the basement. He probably gets he might not be able to just chuck it in a hole and have it not come back or have already infected them or something. it didn't, but he can't know that. So knowing what the FUCK this thing is might be a good idea.

As it turns out we get some exposition from a preist long ago: he found the book and proposed to his fellow preists to explore it. His Fellow preists didn't want to die today and loudly decired it as blasphemous.

So he decided to take it and study it because that's never gone horribly wrong and lead to about a dozen deaths in this franchise, along with cameo Bruce Campbell and some other guy. He also decides to read it and to Danny's credit, he tries to stop the record there... only for it to keep playing. The Evil Dead have come baby.

Before we move on I need to talk about the danny thing a bit more, mostly because not only was this whole inciting incident well done, being rooted in character stupidity instead of just bad writing.. but it also feels like a direct response to the last film. For those who either haven't seen it, you blessed people you, or need a refresher, in Evil Dead 2013 the Necronomicon was found in a basement full of rotting corpses and next to a shot gun. it was packed in a garbage back, covered with barb wire, and had bright red writing implicitly from ash telling you NOT TO FUCKING READ IT OUTLOUD.

So enter Eric, full time teacher part time fuckwit who hears about the corpses, sees all of this and not only cuts the barbed wire but READS THE BOOK.

So it's nice the followup decided to use the same plot device.. but actually use it instead of making a character brain dead.

So with that the evil dead has risen and the nightmare time has arrived. And the first victim of the Evil Dead is Ellie, whose experincing some ELEVATED horror while taking the elevated when some cables grab her.

The sequence is quick horrifying and also has her trying in vain to fight off the possesion before the evil dead kills her, and she returns as a deadite.. and as the real breakout of the piece. While Beth is the lead and Lily Sullivan does greath, it's Sutherland whose the main attraction.. and not just because a good half of the audience's reactoin to Deadite Ellie was

Which isn't me, but I entirely get. It's also intresting to have a horror film where the deadite is the real hammy star instead of our hero. Sutherland is iconic in this roll, from the creepy smiles to how unsettling she plays possesed elly: the pitched down voice HELPS.. but it's the unceasing smile, creepy grins and offputting behavior that make Deadite Elly so awesome and so electric to watch. There's good reason her possesion was spoiled int he marketing: She's the center of this film's horror. She's not the only deadite, we'll get a few more, but she's the main threat, the main focus and the main thing fucking with our heroes heads, starting with the brilliant egg sequence where Cronin and Sutherland make simply making eggs fucking unerving.

She's also the main source of black comedy in the film, from calling her children titty sucking parasites, to her game of eeny meeny miney you, to later making her daughter repeat the eyeball gag from 2, her haminess is well played: enough to keep the film from getting TOO bleak but not so overplayed it takes you out of how horrifying thigns are.

Deadite ellie is the biggest symbol of the films tone: Cronin keeps it pitch black like the requel, but unlike that film Cronin realizes that too MUCH bleakness overrides everything else. But giving us characters to root for and want to live through the night and some dark humor, it helps contrast the utterly bleak situation. It gives us something to go what the fuck at with the humor and something to cling on to. I hate that I keep making this review "Whyt his one works and why the remake didn't" as Fede Alvarez seems like a genuinely nice person. This film is good on it's own, not just because I like it more than the other... but it's also impossible to not bring up the two as they tried to do the same thing: bring back the franchise without ash, without contiuing the original story. I don't WANT to keep using the 2013 film as a punching bag... but it's hard not to when this feels like the better version of it, making an evil dead that's closer to straight horror.. but still gets what the franchise is. It keeps the frantic pacing of 2, it just makes it less of an over the top comedy and more an over the top nightmare our heroes can't escape. it's frantic out of urgency rather than out of throwing weird, hilaroius or horrifying shit at y ou constantly. Well except the last part.

Anyways at first everyone just assumes Deadite elly is sick, and they turn to their neighbors, Gabriel (Jayden Daniels) and his father Mr. Fonda (Mick Michelson). Gabe is a kind man implied to have a thing for elly while his father is very mildly crotchety but a kind cat owner , both helping: Gabe tries to treat Elly while his pop pop tries to figure out HOW to get her to help. As it did with the bridge, the Evil has taken out the stairs and already trashed the elvator, leaving a fire escape through a conedemed apartment as thier only escape.

So while gabe and his dad plan to run through, everyone else is left with Elly. We also get a really nice use of modren tech: in most films they usually have to do the "cellphones out" dance, which I understand but got old. Here... what we know about the evil dead from other films provides a nice way... they get no signal.. because it can control that because it can control anything in it's radius. If it can posses a moose head working the wifi shoudln't be that hard.And it thus has Ellie, trapped inside her deadite counterprat clal her sister for help before convulsing.... and whne put inj a tub crawwling out of it

Mayhem ensues as the family has to ward off Deadite Ellie, and we get a lot of nice iconic bits of violence: Ellie's now iconic line of "mommy's with the maggots now", going "eeneie meanie miney you" and using a CHEESE GRATER on her daughter while attacking her in the kitchen. Which while Cronin overhyped it before release, it's a nasty wound but in a film caked in blood, it's still a very creative gore moment in a film packed with them. The gallons of blood I listed before the cut were how many it actually took to make this film. It's another way the film works: it keeps the over the top nature of the series, it just emphasises the horror more, a way to keep the series fredsh but not ignore what made it good.

Our heroes are barely able to lock Ellie out and we get one of the best sequence sin the film: our heroes look in the peep hole.. and we see bits and pieces as Ellie masacres Mr. Fonda, gabriel and two local teens I didn't mention because they literally just hit on Bridget once and then die horribly here. Even Mr. F having a boomstick dosne't save him. And it's stuff like this that works: the high rise on paper is safter, less isolated... but in practice our heroes are nwo trapped in a cramped space, no way out with a bloodthirsty monster wearing their loved one's face. It's a brilliant take.

Naturally as is Evil Dead tradition, the group falls apart a bit: Danny is in tears taking the blame for this and it's again why I like him: he may be stupid.. but while eric just kinda hid we see the toll casuing this put on Danny. Bridget rips him apart for it and normally you'd think one would go outside and die.. but in a nice twist on the old formula Beth stops them: Danny MAY of caused this but they CANNOT turn on each other. It's what's out there that they need to fight.

Speaking of which Deadite Ellie prays on her youngest, gaslighting cassie by pretending to be "all better now"

Though i'll give them points for style. This force Beth and Danny to save her.. and thus leaving them open for Bridget as in a horrifying sequence we see the dead slowly flow thorugh her before she startsb leading black blood out her nose... and becomes the dead.

Another horrifying scuffle insues with her targeting danny and barfing blood on him and nearly killing him before cassie FUCKING IMPALES HER. God damn kid.

They tie bridget up in a sack and Beth finally gets Danny to spill about the book and comes up with a plan: since playing the record got them into this, playing the record will get them out of this.

It's a desperation move.. but like Danny's earlier shenanigans that lead to this blood party.. it makes some sense: they can't read the book, and frankly trying to may just make MORE deadites, and if the guy actually survived long enough to make a third album, it means they MIGHT have a way out. We also get a nice ash style montage of her getting the DJ equipment to work as at this point the power is out. It also nicely makes her music career into a hell of a chekovs gun.

Tragically.. they don't. HIs album simply outlines the horrors idiot priest man faced, what he's lost and how only complete and total dismemberment works. Granted we knew from the intro they probably wouldn't' make it but by this point, the film's got us too invested to care. I still dont' LIKE the intro making it clear this doesn't work from the get go, but at least the films well paced enough to compensate.

Things then get somehow worse as Bridget rises and stabs danny to death, coughing up blood and everything. It's brutal as it is amazingly designed. He does manage to fire her out of the impartment... with fire, while Ellie sneaks in through the vents, something set up by the old man's lost cast earlier.

Ellie attacks Beth and in a VERY unerving moment detects she has a baby inside her, mocks her as deadites do then tries to rip it out.

But before she can get that fetus, kill that feetus and before I can go to hell for that joke, Bridget saves her. And props to Gabrille Echoles for her excellent child acting, an alex vincent level performance.

With our party down to 2 1/3, our heroes ventur eotuside and now EVERYONE'S a deadite. Highlights include Mr Fonda grabbing Ellie's leg as she grabs his boomstick

And my favorite bit.. the two deadite children hovering over a seemingly prone deadite ellie, seemingly crying for thie rmom.. before it turns into dark.. piercing laughter. It's one of the most effective scares in the film and all the deaddites joining in is just chilling. It's a scaled back but effective version of the entire cabin laughing from evil Dead 2

The final girls hide in the elevator as what's left of their family fuses into The Marauder, our final deadite for the evening and a grotesque combination of their family, a grim reminder of what's happened and just a gross thing to look at. As is standard for this film, it's awesome and I love it.

SPeaking of awesome and I love it we then get another destined to be iconic bit: the elevator fills with BLOOD. What's more impressive is they got the scene in one: had they failed they would've had to clean up and start again, which given this scene involves a GIANT pool of pracitcal blood and leaves both characters drenched in it for the rest of the film, is a LOT to as and is a LOT of moving parts to nail on your first try. But they did and the result is a horrifying sequence as the elevator fills, our heroines barely survive..a nd then get tosse dinto the parking garage drenched.

The good news: now they can escape. The bad news is Deadites love final boss fights, so The Marauder is there to oand stalking them. The final fight is a tense sequence as Elly ducks it but thankfully noticces some landscaping equipment. You know what that means... CHAINSAW BLOOD MOTHERFUCKERS

So Elly takeas a fucking chainsaw to it, which gives her an edge, and later uses her fucking boom stick and tells it to "come get some". I like these little nods, obvious enough to notice btu not distracting enough if you haven't seen the other films.

What finally does it in is fucking aawesome though: a goddamn woodchipper. look is a woodchipper being here convient? yes. is the fact the deadites only sent one convient? yes. is Ellie putting a deadite through a goodamn woodchipper with her niece and now adopted daughter turning it on fucking glorious and goryious?

It's a great finale and with that Ellie, her unborn child and her niece head off into the sunset.. while our opening deadite comes into being.

Evil Dead Rise is a glorious new chapter in the franchise: still very much evil dead, but with a darker and somehow even bloodier spin on things. It's a worhty sucessor and very worthy of being the highest grossing film in the franchise, and with that acolade a sequel is hopefully inevitble.

LIke I said Cronin had four ideas, all of them brillian 1. Returning to the Cabin: While admitely I dont' care about those characters, a new cabin in the woods would be neat. This is my least faviorite as the NEXT one.. but I woudln't mind it eventually. 2. Focusing on Ellie: Seeing where she goes next, which I badly want. 3. A prequeL: focusing on the preist. another solid idea. And my faviorite 4. The cleanup crew: returning to the high rise to ask "how the hell would people react to the leftovers of the carnage we just saw".

their all great and with Bruce wanting to return now after this entry, the future is bright and this will likely not be the last time we read from the book of the dead. But it was a great return of it and I can't wait to read the next chapter. Until then hail to the king baby.. and thanks for reading

#evil dead #evil dead rise #lee cronin #halloween #alyssa sutherland #ellie #blood #deadites #hbo max #films #horror

[kafkaoftherubble]

237不止没有改进236，还他妈的直接... //CH237 did not improve CH236. In fact, it fucking—

Spoilers for Jujutsu Kaisen CH237.

Damn. This chapter blows as a belated Gojo fan. Also blows as a character-work fan. Or a "surprise me with an interesting and creative maneuver after the last chapter" fan. I should be glad I didn't inhale dangerous amounts of copium last week beyond small doses and hope.

You know what feels like the point of JJK as of this writing? "Be an asshole, or lose." Megumi ain't an asshole, is he? So there you go. He kept getting punished. Bruh had been an L magnet for a while now for sure, but at CH237 you can reasonably believe he's in that same afterlife airport in yet another offscreen death. At this rate JJK is gonna feel like a fundamentalist/millennialist Christian talking point: "This life on Earth is shit. You can only hope for salvation in the afterlife. No point trying to fight suffering while living; no point dreaming about improvement. True happiness only exists after you die... In God's Kingdom Gojo's airport, mai furrendo. Until Sukuna Reality-cut through even the afterlife, that is."

Megumi had a lot of characterization early on, man. He's got an interesting psychology, legitimate mental growth, a self-ish goal revolving around Tsumiki, a selfless goal revolving around his definition of being a jujutsu sorcerer, a dynamic of interesting potentials between himself and Yuji + himself and Satoru + himself and Tsumiki + himself and the Zenin clan (or whatever's left of it), and a canonically busted technique. We would have been so stoked to see what Megumi himself could do with Ten Shadows, especially when it's said to rival the Gojo clan's Limitless.

Instead, when the 10 Shadow vs. Limitless fight happened, it was Sukuna who demonstrated how good it was, not the young hero we're rooting to master it. And now comes CH237 and Sukuna's like, "Yea, this technique was just an Anti-Gojo move so I can forget this now that he's 2.5jo. Bye Megumi's L Magnet body! Bye Megumi's soul; thanks for tanking Unlimited Void that one time! MAGICAL GIRL TRANSFORMATION SEQUENCE! BELIEVIX, SO MAGICAL!"

Was the whole point of Megumi's existence just to erase Satoru? Were all those previous hints to Megumi's character development and psychology just haphazard salad dressings?

And man. Because I'm, indeed, a Gojo fan, what really bummed me out is this growing realization: Satoru seemingly still dead right now really lends substance to people who said he's the single-most stupidest loser in this story ever. He has never made any right choice, has he? Even his insistence on not executing Yuji, which was framed to be a move for a noble cause back then (I'll die on this hill; I really can't see it as a self-motivating cause no matter how some people might like to paint it), is now seen as a stupid choice that doomed the future because of how much the villains are winning right now (while the strongest guy on the good guys' side is chilling with "no regrets" in an afterlife airport).

You'd at least hope that Satoru managed to introduce some permanent damage to Sukuna for the rest of the camp. Lose the battle, win the war. But apparently, from the looks of it, that didn't last. Sukuna magical-girled into his Second Stage Boss form. It's reasonable that his brain just got renewed from this, which means Malevolent Shrine may be back on the table already. And any (meager) damage Satoru had left on him from their fight is just wiped clean. Bruh even has his dumbbell-looking weapon (it's actually a legit weapon in Hindu myth if I recall correctly, though what exactly is the name slipped my mind this time) now.

Hell, that simp Uraume is still alive and kicking. Satoru didn't even offscreen that annoying twerp with his 200% Hollow Purple at the beginning of the fight. Now Uraume is presumably acting out those Gamble God(赌神) Chinese New Year Hong Kong movies with Hakari up there in the sky.

Honestly Gojo Satoru, are you sure you were the strongest at all? Or have you just been subjected to that old Chuck Norris meme, where tales of Chuck Norris being "the strongest" in the most ridiculous ways possible spread among people—except in your case, everyone including yourself believed it? 'Cause man, the story disrespects you so hard now.

Oh, and don't bother looking for Satoru's body among the rubble. Nor bother with the cast's emotional reaction. No Yuji, no Yuta, no nobody except Kashimo and Hakari. Some said this might allude to a background event—maybe Satoru is being patched up in the background as we speak, ya know?

But I don't know. It's just... better not to expect anything at this point. Better not to cook unless the intention is to write fanfics and what-ifs for yourself or your community. I do neither of those things, so I don't wanna try cooking at all. "Nekkhamma", man. Non-attachment is the better frame of mind by this point.

Still gonna stick with JJK though because hey, I still wanna evaluate things when it's all said and done. I'm not gonna try persuading my best friend into seeing it with me when Season 3 comes, though. Her fav is Nanami and she's only interested in Satoru because of me. By this metric, there's no point in having her stick around past her personal interests. She's not even one who likes pointless tragedies nor is she wanting of shows to watch, aye, Fionn?

Sukuna fans can rejoice, though. He reclaims the form Sukuna fans wanted to see for years! And he's more powerful than ever and is indisputably the King of Curses very likely riding into a non-airport style victory (unless Kenjaku screws him). In addition to being the strongest and poetic (that's the character depth non-Sukuna fans like myself missed at our peril, I suppose), he's—by his admission—an unwanted child with a hint of him "working to become the strongest" (this has been a pretty persistent fanon for a while now. Just need a confirmation.). He also doesn't know "love." And thinks everyone else is trash. There are some genuinely interesting possibilities to speculate about his background based on the breadcrumbs provided CH237 though. I wonder if the conjoined twin theory is true!

Hey, Gege? If you're transitioning Jujutsu Kaisen to Sukuna Kaisen, might as well start throwing the most meaningful bones to Sukuna fans, okay? No more being coy. Just tell them his backstory. Hell, I'll stick around out of curiosity alone... even if I hate an asshole who never gets punished.

Thank you for reading my ramble.

#I actually don't like to broadcast my reaction to weekly chapters or episodes because I don't think my reactions warrant any attention #I rarely feel like expressing these sorts of thoughts and massively prefer churning out long thought-out rambles... #...on an expansive melange of ideas. For example I never feel the need to broadcast weekly reactions to To Your Eternity manga... #...no matter how much I adore that story. Just talking about it with fellow fans for some hours will do already. #But this? I need an outlet that doesn't burden non-anime-watching real-life people around me #And talking to myselves can only go this far! #jujutsu kaisen #jjk #jjk spoilers #jjk gojo #jjk megumi #jjk 237 #jjk manga #jjk leaks

[stars-and-cows]

Danganronpa OCs dump!!!

(mostly for me cuz I need to get these designs all in one place)

These four are from my fanganronpa story ("Danganronpa : In the spotlight!"). I'm working on the other character sheets too

Ine Kobayashi; Ultimate Seller; Protagonist

(Her name is literally rice. Mostly because it's funny but also to show how simple minded she is. As someone who grew up having nothing, she really doesn't need anything more than just some rice to be happy.)

She's easygoing and open for new possibilities. She tends to trust people first without thinking. Anyone who shows her even a snippet of compassion will be remembered as an angel by her

She was adopted by a rich pair due to her seller abilities. She was made to go around the world and be a pitch seller for various items her parents were currently investing in. She was later enlisted in the "Ultimate Future program" due to her amazing persuasion.

"Ultimate Future program" is a program that takes extremely talented teenagers ages 16-18, gives them money to develop their talents and makes them into public figures. Basically you get a scholarship for being a celebrity.

Kazue Kobayashi; Ultimate Watchmaker

(Her name is written with kanji for "One" and "Benefit" to kind of contrast how she thought as a child she would be her parents favourite. So she was named to be the first child that gets all the benefits and then, only after Ine git adopted into her family, did Kazue fade into the background.)

Biological daughter of a very rich couple and sister of Ine. She grew up thinking she had everything guaranteed but once Ine became her parents favourite she realized in a family like hers, even her parents love isn't unconditional.

She hates her name as it serves as a constant reminder of how everything was perfect until One appeared. She was the first, the favourite, the best, but now it was taken away and she is stuck with a name that is just a dark joke.

After she realized her parents were after Ine's talent she desperately looked for a talent she could call her own to make her parents love her. That's why she became an Ultimate Watchmaker. She hates her talent and never mentions it first. She thinks it's stupid and weird but at least she got into the "Ultimate Future program"

Haruko Kai; Ultimate Carpenter

(Her name means spring child because she was born in spring. Very usual name. But also, she loves to watch people and things bloom and in chapter 3 she basically "blooms" too. So her being a spring child is also metaphorical for how she views the world)

She's as shy as a mouse. During all the trials she's just in the background, trying not to get wrapped into the whole mess.

She's also dating (in secret) one other student from the "Ultimate Future program". Ultimate Gardener, Kenshin, flew across the world (from Mexico to France) just to tell her to stop "Disrespecting the planet by making fully functional plants for her fancy furniture"

She's very passionate when it comes to her work. She believes that she's honouring the dead trees by making beautiful furniture out of them. She will never cut down a tree or ask for it. Everything she does or she owns is either full eco, reusable or made by herself.

So after she told him that, he was more than embarrassed. They ended up spending a lot of time together nerding about plants and ecology. They eventually exchanged numbers and later started dating long-distance. (And I'm definitely not going to use this relationship for some good emotional trauma for one of them hehe)

Kenshin Harada; Ultimate Gardener;

(His name is basically trust and humbleness. Because he's none of that. I think his parents wanted a nice young man who would hold the doors open for women but they got a moody teenager with an unhealthy twitter addiction who says "I won't hold the door for women, it's like I'm saying they are not capable enough! That's sexist!")

He's very much what you would call a "chronically online sjw". He's vegan and loves plants. He knows every species on top of his head. If not for the management of "Ultimate Future program" he would definitely fight you about oil companies on twitter.

He's definitely one of the hardest to manage when it comes to public image. He would often take interviews with dirty and torn clothes.

And then he started dating Haruko and he started "corrupting" her. Or at least that's what he heard.

He stands for justice, only justice and nothing but the justice. But he's very open and annoying about it.

He's basically going "are you suuuureeee?" to Ine at every trial and constantly bashing every idea she comes up with. Just because he likes to know everything.

His fav series is def Ace Attorney and he is constantly screaming at the phone to the characters cuz he "already figured it out".

I think he might be my favourite besides my Ultimate Hairstylist lol

Anyway I have the whole story figured out. With who dies when and who kills who. I'm going to redo the same chart for the 7th time and post it soon.

Like I said, It's mostly so I can show it to my friends when they ask me about my danganronpa ocs or so I won't forget

#danganronpa oc #danganronpa original character #Danganronpa: In the spotlight #starry art #art #ocs #oc

[fireemblems24]

Prologue & Ch 1

Everything with spoilers will go below the cut. Really curious to see what happens here. I more or less either like the whole cast or find them interesting with a few exceptions.

Should I be concerned the first thing I get is an update? Lamo.

FYI, I've literally never played a Warriors game before. I'm probably picking easy mode.

Ok, but it says that Normal is for beginners. I think I'll just go with Normal. There's a Classic Mode!!! I didn't know they'd include that. Do other Warriors games? I think I may go with Casual, though, because I really have no idea what I'm doing. Going with Slow and Steady too, obviously.

Rhea!! Oh, who's using Amyr? Or was that Hilda's axe?

Flayn, my baby. She's got light hair now. And GOD Seteth is hot. But no dragon forms for them :(

So was that basically the same fight as the first cut-scene in Three Houses?

Ok, so SB I'll do Byleth and Shez as males, for GW I'll do both of them as women, and for AG I'll do F!Shez and M!Byleth, and I know in the future I'll do them the opposites to get cut scenes. And I'm just sticking with Shez and Byleth for the names too.

He talks! He sounds like Claude.

And ohhh we're going up against Byleth? I heard a bit about Byleth being a villain here. Which would be pretty neat, ngl.

The mercenary captain's a woman! I love it when a character's a woman even though she doesn't have to be in a story instead of everything defaulting to male.

So Jeralt was originally from the Kingdom, right? And Shez's co is from Leicester. So next remake we need the next group to come from the Empire lamo.

I like how this dialogue works. You pick a sentiment, makes me feel like I have more characterization control.

BATTLE

OMG, this screen is chaotic. I have no idea how on earth I'm going to remember all this stuff about criticals and combos and locking onto enemies.

LAMO, everyone died and I wasn't even there. I wonder if that's supposed to happen?

Ok, someone share how to lock onto enemies. It said something about R, but like that's not working. I'll have my brother show me next time I'm over there.

Ashen Demon Byleth time. It's so cool seeing Byleth be an actual badass.

Byleth kicked my ass omg.

I don't think I'll ever like Shez's purple hair. I'm betting that mystery voice is that white and red character.

OMG. I have no idea what I'm doing. I just keep hitting buttons lol, and Shez keeps doing stuff. Esp after he "woke up."

Ah, Jeralt is pulling out. So that's how they both live.

OMG BYLETH IS TALKING

Oh, man, this floating place looks like the stuff in Shambala.

Ok, so I get it. Shez was supposed to die, but Arval didn't let it happen in this version - for some reason. So that will change whatever comes next.

I like how Shez acts like a mercenary, not too broken up by the deaths. It'll be sweet if he gets attached to the Fodlan co, or interesting if he doesn't.

I like Arval's voice.

STORY

Jeralt is still the narrator! He's got the right voice for it.

"These three powers exist in relative harmony." Hunh, someone hasn't talked to Edelgard lately.

Ohhhhh, so Shez is in Remire this time?

Lamo, Shez got saved 22 times by Arval. He's kinda a dumbass isn't he? Jumped off a cliff to get stronger 😂 this is peak shonen hero dumbassery

AHH, Dimitri! And Claude and Edelgard! And Claude's running ahead again. Except this time into Shez. It's weird knowing Byleth and Jeralt are only a few feet away and wondering how that changes things lol.

I love how Edelgard wants a chit-chat, but the two with real battle experience (Shez and Dimitri) are like - uh, not right now.

BATTLE

OMG there's too much going on. Now there's unique abilities and I don't even know how to lock onto an enemy yet 😭 low-key glad I'm doing this easy chapters 3 times.

Kostas! Ah, I miss his mutton face. It's so weird doing all of this repeat but with Shez instead.

OMG I didn't even realize I was playing as Edelgard. I'm glad they told me how to switch. How many units do people recommend to level up?

Alois! But no puns :(

Woot, killed Kostas. Did he actually die? Like in story?

I got S-Rank. Does everyone for round 1, or did my random button smashing actually get that? Because, like, I had 0 clue what I was doing lamo.

Shez has gotten 2 good level ups. Though, I'm guessing he's a good unit because he's the MC?

Shez MVP. Figures. I used him basically the whole time.

STORY

These three really have a knack for running into OP mercenaries.

Yes, Arval, I wonder why the bandits were after them too. /s

Edelgard and panting after the self-insert. Name a more iconic duo -_-

FINALLY A PUN. I love you, Alois.

I'm having Shez run around and just be a giant dick to everyone. It's great. I'll pick the nice ones the next time lamo. And then the 3rd time, I'll only be nice to characters I like.

Claude liked it when I doubted Alois lol. And Marianne, my beloved.

Lame, with Hubert I only get one option. But it's super funny that Bernie refused to come.

I love how Edelgard goes from - ahem, I am a princess, thank you! Right to - must be so nice to not have your life chosen for you. . She never really recognizes that contradiction lol.

Aww, Dimitri looked for Remire to help Shez out. 😊

Lamo, Dimitri and Claude say literally nothing about themselves.

"I'm proud to call him my . . . vassal." Yeah, what was he originally going to say?

I love how the tradition of Dimitri praising all of the Blue Lions is still in-tact. It's one of the first things I honestly noticed about him, so I'm soooo happy that stayed the same.

Ok, makes sense. Shez will get to the monastery because of payment. And low-key threats lol.

Dimitri's being a sweetie again. Worrying about Shez having an actual choice. Claude also apologized later. Meanwhile Edelgard is like - on the bright side, you'll get to talk to muah! 👀

Lamo, Shez only says nice things about the lords unlike Byleth who only had negative things lamo. 😂 Arval called me out too.

Man, it's so cool seeing the Monastery again and everything.

Dragon daddy is back!

Oh! I'm a student this time! That's a cool switch-up. I bet that'll make things more chill and casual between them.

Arval doesn't like Rhea lol.

So I guess I'm picking a house after this convo? After that, I'll be doing one of these per route.

Not me over here wanting to pick the Blue Lions all three times. Though, I'm also really excited to see the other two storylines. It's just, one has the special little place.

It JERITZA the third teacher??? Oh, God, that makes even less sense than Byleth. Who would put him in charge of children?

NOOOO, I don't want Jeritza. Fuck that guy and his weird-ass voice. I want Manuela, and if not her, then Hanneman.

Ugh, Jeritza's probably the only playable character I legitimately dislike.

NOTES FROM 2ND AND 3RD PLAYTHROUGH

F!Shez sounds nice too. Her outfit is still clearly more fanservice than her male counterpart, but it's not as bad as Byleth's.

It is hard to take Ashen Demon Byleth seriously in those lacy tights and midriff armor. 😂😅

Claude like either answer lol.

I'm actually starting to get the hang of some of this gameplay. There's still a lot that I forget, but I can lock onto an enemy know at least lol.

LAMO, Sylvain has different dialogue for F!Shez. I'd be disappointed if he didn't.

God, I love how Shez says specifically that Dimitri will be a good king. Dimitri didn't get nearly enough positive stuff said about him from others, especially compared to the other lords.

Third time is a charm doing this. I actually remembered to use combat arts this time!

If I was Shez for real, I'd be torn between Golden Deer or Blue Lions. GD would seem chill and more relaxed, but Dimitri's the one who was always worried about me and trying to help. Edelgard's blatant attempts at recruiting and being like "well, you be getting forced into this, but you'll get to talk to me at least' would've been a major turn off.

#three hopes #three hopes spoilers #prologue spoilers #fire emblem #fire emblem three hopes

[uzumaki-rebellion]

"Sinner & Saint: Creed III Chapter 9"Preview

Need to catch up? Masterlist HERE.

“Woke up this mornin' Found my peace of mind And finally I can say to you That I, feel good this mornin' No, I can't deny So finally, I can lay with you And feel, feel the pleasure Finally do what lovers do, with you, babe Ride for two Don't you know, oh So we, can roam all we want to, yeah

Set fire to the fuckin' pavement They bound to drown, so the game we play (aye) Just do what I say, do what I say, no (say) My baby got her own fuckin' ways now I'm tellin' y'all she ain't fuckin' playin', aye And ain't no problems from her man No, no, she ain't worried (she ain't worried)”

Terrace Martin – “This Morning (feat. Arin Ray and Smino)”

She moved through the crowd like a silent wind through chimes that tinkled once she blew past. Her steps were assured, eyes laser sharp on who she needed to speak to on his behalf.

Damian watched in awe as Athena worked the packed penthouse filled with stars, sports influencers, executives, groupies, agents, managers, lawyers, and riff raff. He drank a few shots, gobbled up some hors d'oeuvres, and kept near his new boss. A few women checked him out and tried making conversation with him. He acted polite, answered very few questions about his connection to Athena and rested in the cut letting her lead everything. Feeling out of place once more, his brooding appearance seemed to attract even more women as the party continued through the night. Bianca excused herself and he realized that the penthouse they partied in was not the one Donnie and his family stayed in. Smart.

“Damian, this is Karl Gaston and Alessandro Beyna. Karl is a regional wealth advisor in the Cayman Islands and Alessandro handles investments there,” Athena said.

Damian shook their hands and tried to look friendly. Athena tossed back her hair and placed a hand on  his arm.

“Damian will soon be signing with my brother’s company and I’ll be working out some  portfolio plans for him. He’s going to need people that can take care of his money for future investments,” Athena said.

The two white men nearly salivated listening to her. Athena had his pockets lined up with imaginary money. The two men would laugh him out of the hotel if they knew the total amount of cash he had in his paltry bank account at that moment. He rolled with her flow, keeping stoic in their presence. Business cards were exchanged with him and not Athena. She directed all the power to him turning into his conduit for all transactions in the place. Women were bolder, grabbing his attention with flirty banter and hungry stares. Nothing was subtle. He spent a moment alone with Athena in the back of the main room, until Donnie caught up with them. They took pictures together with hired photographers documenting the party for Donnie. It didn’t take long for the champ to shoehorn his way between himself and Athena. She allowed it, a sly grin on her face as she joined a group of women.

“She’s in her zone,” Donnie said, glancing at his sister.

“Half the shit she says to the people goes over my head,” Damian said.

“Wheeling and dealing.”

“She’s good. Knows a ton of people here.”

“She’ll keep the sharks away. For now, enjoy the anonymity,” Donnie said.

Damian looked Donnie in the eye.

“You two a thing?” Donnie asked.

“Business partners.”

Damian walked away before Donnie could flap his gums about anything else. Athena was a grown ass woman. Her baby brother wasn’t about to lecture him on hooking up with her. She reached for Damian’s hand and pulled him toward a young Black man with hooded eyes and a garish haircut to his permed blonde hair.

“Dame this is Raven X, stylist to the stars. I’m setting up an appointment for you two to get together back in L.A.”

Raven X raked his eyes up and down Damian’s physique.

“What are you looking for, Bad Boy tease or elegant showman?” Raven X said.

Athena tilted her head and squinted at Damian.

“I’m thinking future champion. I want his fits so crisp that they cut people in the eyes just by looking at him,” she said.

Raven X nodded and stared at the top of Damian’s head.

“Great head of hair. Formidable face. I’ll give you a sexy fucking gladiator,” Raven X said.

“I like it. Talk soon,” Athena said.

She led Damian to the door.

“We’re leaving?” he asked.

“Yep. Never be the last to leave the room. Smells of desperation.”

“Where you two goin’?”

Donnie’s blaring voice stopped their escape. Athena leveled her gaze at her brother.

“Damian’s had a long night. He needs rest. We have meetings back in L.A. the moment we touch down,” Athena said.

“When can I be looped in?”

Donnie’s eyes flicked back and forth between them.

“We’ll be in touch,” Athena said.

She touched Damian’s arm and he moved past her.

“Congratulations on everything tonight,” Damian threw over his shoulder.

Donnie’s expression appeared bewildered as they left the suite.

“Don’t worry, I’ll have terms and conditions lined up for you before we meet with my brother. You and I have to decide what trajectory you want for your career the next eighteen months.”

“I just need some good fights lined up.”

“You need more than that. We have to cultivate an image, create buzz with a catchy name—“

“Diamond Dame”

“What?”

“Diamond Dame is what I went by before I was in the pen.”

They slipped into a private elevator and went up two floors. Athena eyed him from head to toe. She touched the collar of his shirt.

“Hmmm, Diamond Dame. With Raven’s capable hands, you just might live up to that name. I like it. Classy. Rolls off the tongue.”

“Yeah?” he said, moving in closer to her.

The elevator doors opened and Athena jumped back from him like water hitting hot grease. Mary Anne Creed stood in front of the opening dressed in a linen two-piece suit.

“Ma,” Athen squeaked out. “Where are you going?”

“Well, Amara is fast asleep and Bianca is back in their suite. I’m free to go do a little gambling on the house. Where are you two headed?”

“We just came from Donnie’s party.”

Mary Anne checked her vintage diamond Cartier watch.

“It’s not even midnight. Still early for his celebration to end,” Mary Anne said with a lifted eyebrow.

“Damian and I have some business to discuss. I’m his new manager.”

“Manager…?”

Athena gripped Damian’s arm and pulled him out of the lift and away from her mother.

“Yes. Enjoy throwing money away,” Athena called over her shoulder.

Damian glanced back at Donnie’s adoptive mother. Mary Anne’s sharp eyes cut into him despite the feigned pleasant look she tried to maintain.

Athena dug into her clutch and pulled out a keycard and tapped it against her suite. She led him to a busy-looking work station set up on the room’s mahogany desk. Pushing back the executive chair, she plopped down and pointed to a side chair for him to pull up next to her. A laptop came to life from the touch of her hand and onscreen she had a detailed prospective typed up with his name all over it. She scrolled through several pages and stopped at one particular page.

“You whipped this all up today before the fight?” he asked.

“I’m always prepared to snatch up talent. This is just a mock up to give you an idea of what I can do. You don’t have to sign anything now.”

She tapped the enter key and a printer behind the laptop hummed to life and began printing up several sheets of paper. When the printer spit out the last page, Athena compiled them all and stapled two separate stacks. She handed him a copy and he listened to her go over every detail on ten full pages. His brain grew foggy with all the terminology, but he listened intently, trusting her completely. After forty minutes, she poured them both fresh glasses of water from the mini-bar and paced in front of him.

“Boxing needs excitement again, and they love an underdog story. The key is, they grow tired of that scenario after a few years. I think we should play up your background, but involve you back in your community. Do some volunteer work and talks at juvie facilities. See Donnie was able to coast on being our father’s lost child, but he’s been pampered and trained by a legend. Rocky isn’t around anymore and now that my brother is retiring—”

“He’s quitting?”

Athena gave a dismissive wave of her hand.

“Donnie is old news. His era is over. His mistake was calling himself Hollywood. The connotations made him seem elitist after awhile. Even when he won the championship, people still saw him as a privileged athlete, a nepo baby lucky enough to have my daddy’s genes and access to the best that no one else did. With you—“

“I call myself Diamond, that’s not elitist?”

“Not with your narrative. You were the lost jagged rock in the cold, cruel mine that became a diamond in the rough. A long prison bid and a hard-luck come-back story outshines a rich, spoiled pretty boy tale any day.”

“Donnie didn’t have it so easy before he was adopted by your mom.”

“Is that what he told you?”

“He stayed in a group home, was in and out of foster care…”

The look on Athena’s face made him clam up tight. She rested a soft hand on his shoulder.

“One of these days, I’m going to tell you about your little friend,” she said.

“Tell me now. I have all night.”

“No. Tonight, you will read over this contract, my mission statement for you, and you’ll look for a contract lawyer on your own to go over my paperwork before you sign with me.”

Damian rolled his eyes and pushed out of his seat realizing he wasn’t getting any nookie.

“Don’t pout. Business first, pleasure later,” she said, pointing to the door.

He ambled out of her suite with his lips in a pout. She crossed her arms.

“I’ve got an amazing view of the strip. Champagne on ice…”

His words didn’t move her.

“Goodnight Diamond Dame.”

She closed the door in his face.

“I can’t believe she gave me homework,” he said, shuffling off to the elevator clutching onto precious papers that would elevate his life.

A.N.:

I'll have the complete chapter up next week, wanted to share a little teaser preview! Enjoy!

Tag List:

@rkil98

@unfriendlyblkhotti3    

@cherrellek​  

@yomiloo

@goddessofthundathighs​

@eyeknowmywrites

#creed 3 #adonis creed fanfiction #damian anderson #adonis creed #uzumaki rebellion #uzumaki rebellion writes #michael b. jordan #johnathan majors #Youtube