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alfheimr · 7 days

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My Favorite Cheap Art Trick: Gradient Maps and Blending Modes

i get questions on occasion regarding my coloring process, so i thought i would do a bit of a write up on my "secret technique." i don't think it really is that much of a secret, but i hope it can be helpful to someone. to that end:

this is one of my favorite tags ive ever gotten on my art. i think of it often. the pieces in question are all monochrome - sort of.

the left version is the final version, the right version is technically the original. in the final version, to me, the blues are pretty stark, while the greens and magentas are less so. there is some color theory thing going on here that i dont have a good cerebral understanding of and i wont pretend otherwise. i think i watched a youtube video on it once but it went in one ear and out the other. i just pick whatever colors look nicest based on whatever vibe im going for.

this one is more subtle, i think. can you tell the difference? there's nothing wrong with 100% greyscale art, but i like the depth that adding just a hint of color can bring.

i'll note that the examples i'll be using in this post all began as purely greyscale, but this is a process i use for just about every piece of art i make, including the full color ones. i'll use the recent mithrun art i made to demonstrate. additionally, i use clip studio paint, but the general concept should be transferable to other art programs.

for fun let's just start with Making The Picture. i've been thinking of making this writeup for a while and had it in mind while drawing this piece. beyond that, i didn't really have much of a plan for this outside of "mithrun looks down and hair goes woosh." i also really like all of the vertical lines in the canary uniform so i wanted to include those too but like. gone a little hog wild. that is the extent of my "concept." i do not remember why i had the thought of integrating a shattered mirror type of theme. i think i wanted to distract a bit from the awkward pose and cover it up some LOL but anyway. this lack of planning or thought will come into play later.

note 1: the textured marker brush i specifically use is the "bordered light marker" from daub. it is one of my favorite brushes in the history of forever and the daub mega brush pack is one of the best purchases ive ever made. highly recommend!!!

note 2: "what do you mean by exclusion and difference?" they are layer blending modes and not important to the overall lesson of this post but for transparency i wanted to say how i got these "effects." anyway!

with the background figured out, this is the point at which i generally merge all of my layers, duplicate said merged layer, and Then i begin experimenting with gradient maps. what are gradient maps?

the basic gist is that gradient maps replace the colors of an image based on their value.

so, with this particular gradient map, black will be replaced with that orangey red tone, white will be replaced with the seafoamy green tone, etc. this particular gradient map i'm using as an example is very bright and saturated, but the colors can be literally anything.

these two sets are the ones i use most. they can be downloaded for free here and here if you have csp. there are many gradient map sets out there. and you can make your own!

you can apply a gradient map directly onto a specific layer in csp by going to edit>tonal correction>gradient map. to apply one indirectly, you can use a correction layer through layer>new correction layer>gradient map. honestly, correction layers are probably the better way to go, because you can adjust your gradient map whenever you want after creating the layer, whereas if you directly apply a gradient map to a layer thats like. it. it's done. if you want to make changes to the applied gradient map, you have to undo it and then reapply it. i don't use correction layers because i am old and stuck in my ways, but it's good to know what your options are.

this is what a correction layer looks like. it sits on top and applies the gradient map to the layers underneath it, so you can also change the layers beneath however and whenever you want. you can adjust the gradient map by double clicking the layer. there are also correction layers for tone curves, brightness/contrast, etc. many such useful things in this program.

let's see how mithrun looks when we apply that first gradient map we looked at.

gadzooks. apologies for eyestrain. we have turned mithrun into a neon hellscape, which might work for some pieces, but not this one. we can fix that by changing the layer blending mode, aka this laundry list of words:

some of them are self explanatory, like darken and lighten, while some of them i genuinely don't understand how they are meant to work and couldn't explain them to you, even if i do use them. i'm sure someone out there has written out an explanation for each and every one of them, but i've learned primarily by clicking on them to see what they do.

for the topic of this post, the blending mode of interest is soft light. so let's take hotline miamithrun and change the layer blending mode to soft light.

here it is at 100% opacity. this is the point at which i'd like to explain why i like using textured brushes so much - it makes it very easy to get subtle color variation when i use this Secret Technique. look at the striation in the upper right background! so tasty. however, to me, these colors are still a bit "much." so let's lower the opacity.

i think thats a lot nicer to look at, personally, but i dont really like these colors together. how about we try some other ones?

i like both of these a lot more. the palettes give the piece different vibes, at which point i have to ask myself: What Are The Vibes, Actually? well, to be honest i didn't really have a great answer because again, i didn't plan this out very much at all. however. i knew in my heart that there was too much color contrast going on and it was detracting from the two other contrasts in here: the light and dark values and the sharp and soft shapes. i wanted mithrun's head to be the main focal point. for a different illustration, colors like this might work great, but this is not that hypothetical illustration, so let's bring the opacity down again.

yippee!! that's getting closer to what my heart wants. for fun, let's see what this looks like if we change the blending mode to color.

i do like how these look but in the end they do not align with my heart. oh well. fun to experiment with though! good to keep in mind for a different piece, maybe! i often change blending modes just to see what happens, and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. i very much cannot stress enough that much of my artistic process is clicking buttons i only sort of understand. for fun.

i ended up choosing the gradient map on the right because i liked that it was close to the actual canary uniform colors (sorta). it's at an even lower opacity though because there was Still too much color for my dear heart.

the actual process for this looks like me setting my merged layer to soft light at around 20% opacity and then clicking every single gradient map in my collection and seeing which one Works. sometimes i will do this multiple times and have multiple soft light and/or color layers combined.

typically at this point i merge everything again and do minor contrast adjustments using tone curves, which is another tool i find very fun to play around with. then for this piece in particular i did some finishing touches and decided that the white border was distracting so i cropped it. and then it's done!!! yay!!!!!

this process is a very simple and "fast" way to add more depth and visual interest to a piece without being overbearing. well, it's fast if you aren't indecisive like me, or if you are better at planning.

let's do another comparison. personally i feel that the hint of color on the left version makes mithrun look just a bit more unwell (this is a positive thing) and it makes the contrast on his arm a lot more pleasing to look at. someone who understands color theory better than i do might have more to say on the specifics, but that's honestly all i got.

just dont look at my layers too hard. ok?

#process #art tutorial #unsure what else to tag this as. if this does not post properly i will cry.

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training4theapocalypse · 11 months

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And they call me crazy (Adrian Chase x fem!reader)

Rating: Explicit - 18+ only

Word Count: 5.8k

Warnings: SMUT, Rough sex, Non-con elements - reader is drunk and a (very eager to fuck) hostage, Light bondage, Oral, P in V, Unprotected sex, Edging, Canon typical mentions of murder and violence

Summary: You're a new intern at Senator Goff's office. It's going great... that is until Vigilante abducts you after you've been out drinking, celebrating the end of your first week. (Based on this ask from anon.)

A/N: I'm fucking impatient as usual and I couldn't wait until Sunday to post this. I've added non-con to the warnings but honestly, reader is so desperate to fuck him she DOESN'T GIVE AF if it's morally questionable that she's a hostage.

Masterlist

Join my tag list: @likeficsinthewnd, @she-wolf09231982, @pretendfan, @lolitstiana, @chiaraanatra

Chapter text:

Your gasp is stifled when a black glove covers your mouth and an arm wraps tight around your body. You stumble on the sidewalk, teetering back in your high heels into your assailant’s body but he holds you firmly upright.

“Don’t scream,” says a man’s muffled whisper in your ear.

Your whole body freezes up. God, you wish you were more sober. Why did you insist on walking home after those celebratory drinks? This is not the perfect ending to the first week of your internship that you’d envisioned. Is this why Senator Goff didn’t turn up for work today? They said he was sick.

“I’m not gonna hurt you if you keep quiet and get in the car.”

It’s a man’s voice. Not one you recognise. But you can barely hear it anyway over how loudly your heart is beating in your chest. Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck, it seems to say, battering frantically against your rib cage.

“Nod if you understand me.”

You jerk your head forward - his tight grip doesn’t make the movement easy.

God, why didn’t you listen to your Mom? She told you earlier to get a cab home and stay safe, you’d just dismissed her advice as usual because you knew best.

He removes his hand and pushes you into the open passenger door of a beat-up old Chrysler Sebring. It all happens so fast that you don’t even think to check out the license plate.

Shit.

The man shuts the passenger door after you and hops into the driver’s seat on the other side.

It’s him.

You’ve seen his masked face on the news, wanted for carrying out his own brand of retributive justice on criminals across Evergreen. You heard people talking about his latest crimes at work today. Hell, you’ve even made stupid memes about having a crush on him in your girlfriend’s group chat.

It’s Vigilante.

You were ready to beg for your life a second ago. But now all you can do is stare. At the forefront of your admittedly inebriated mind is the fact that you’ve fantasised about the masked Vigilante of Evergreen before. But in your fantasies, you’d always been someone that he’d saved from a robbery gone wrong or some other sticky situation. Not his abductee.

And this is no fantasy. He’s here - he’s real. So intimidatingly tangible and human. You can hear his breathing through his mask, see his eyes darting around your dark surroundings checking for passersby, and you can even smell the sharp, fresh scent of his cologne when he gets close to you, reaching behind you to grab a length of rope from the back seat.

“Put your hands out.” You swallow thickly, looking at his masked face. There’s no point in arguing. “If you make any indication to anyone we pass that you’re you’re here against your will, I will kill you.”

“Listen, I don’t know what you think I’ve done but I-”

“Hey - don’t make me gag you and put you in the trunk,” he says, finishing the knot around your wrists as your stomach does a little flip. Not out of fear. Something else. He turns his keys and starts the ignition. “Oooh, seatbelt! Sorry.”

You breathe in as he reaches across you to grab your seatbelt and clip you in. Your hands sit uncomfortably on your lap as the car drives out of the dark street and onto the main road.

He pulls out his cell phone as he drives to wherever you’re going and you hear the other end of the phone ringing in the silent car.

“What is it?” You strain your ears, listening as a woman answers aggressively.

“I’ve got Goff’s assistant. I’m on my way to the video store.”

Goff’s assistant? That’s a stretch. You’re an intern. And not even Goff’s intern. You’re his assistant’s intern.

“I’m not-” you start but he cuts you off.

“Quiet!”

“What?!” says the woman on the phone.

“Sorry, Harcourt. Not you.”

“No, I mean you did what?! Vigilante, you need to run this shit by me. You can’t bring her here.”

“I did you a favour! We’re way ahead of schedule now.”

You hear the unidentified woman grumble. “We’ve got Judomaster here, dumbass. Take her someplace else.”

Goff’s funny little bodyguard. Now you know that Vigilante and the woman on the phone are responsible for Goff’s absence. Shit, what’s he going to do when he realises you know nothing?

“Where am I supposed to take her?”

“That’s what happens when you go rogue, idiot. We’ll talk about this tomorrow. She’s your problem tonight.”

You hear the line beeping as the woman hangs up.

“Fuck!” says Vigilante and he does a U-turn. “Hey, close your eyes.”

“Why?”

“I’m gonna have to take you to my place. I said close your eyes or-”

“Yeah, you’ll kill me. I got it,” you say resignedly. You close your eyes feeling the car turn left, straight for a while, right, left… you lose track. You have no idea where you are or how long it takes you to get there when finally you arrive at your destination.

You hear him get out of the car and still not daring to open your eyes, you feel the cool night air when the passenger door opens.

“Can I open my eyes?”

“Nope.”

You feel him reach over you to unclip your seatbelt and he hoists you out of the car by your upper arm. He roughly steers you across what you guess is a parking lot by the way your high heels click on the asphalt.

His vice-like grip on your arm still doesn’t relent, even when you reach the stairs.

“Not so fast - I can’t see!” And you’re still kind of drunk.

“Shh! Not here,” he whispers urgently. But his hold on you becomes more gentle as he helps you up the stairs, more slowly now. A sliver of empathy.

The sound of keys jingle as he unlocks a door and guides you inside. You hear him locking and bolting the door behind you. Great.

“Can I-”

“Yeah, you can open ‘em.”

You open your eyes. The small apartment is sparsely furnished, obviously decorated by a single man. No artwork on his walls, a small dining table, a clean but worn leather couch without even so much as a throw pillow.

The screech of wood on laminate makes your arm hair stand up as he pulls over a hard wooden chair into the middle of the living room.

“Sit.”

You do as you’re told. He pulls another chair over and sits down opposite you, leaning back, with his arm resting on the back of the chair. Vigilante’s intimidating form relaxes casually in front of you.

“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” he tells you.

“I - do what the easy way?” You shift in your seat, squeezing your thighs together. What wouldn’t you want Vigilante to do you right now? Stop it, you scold yourself.

“You’ve got information and I need it.”

“I really don’t have any sort of information.”

He edges his seat closer to you, close enough that you can smell his cologne again. Fuck. “Hey, I get it. I was tortured for intel a few days ago and I didn’t crack either-”

“Torture?!” You panic now. “Look, I’m not lying - I’m not Goff’s assistant! If I knew anything I’d tell you.”

His eyes narrow behind the mask. He pulls out his phone, looking through it for something. “Shit.” Vigilante looks from his phone to you. “This isn’t you.” He holds up the screen and shows you a blurry picture of your boss walking out of the office. Sure you look alike - you have the same hair colour and both wear suits to work but she’s significantly older.

You shake your head.

“What were you doing coming out of the senator’s office?” He accuses, as if it’s your fault he’s kidnapped you.

“I’m an intern. It’s my first week.”

“So you work there? Right?” he asks desperately.

“I just get coffee and take notes, dude.”

He tilts his head back, staring at the ceiling. “Oh man, Harcourt’s gonna freak out when I tell her I fucked up again. I can’t believe I picked up the wrong hostage.”

You sit, wrists still tied together in your lap staring at him. Now what? Maybe he’ll just drop you off outside the bar where the grabbed you.

“Look, we all make mistakes. It happens to the best of us. No harm done so-”

“Stop.” He looks up at you. “You know I can’t let you go.”

You take a deep breath and look at him silently for a few seconds. “So now what? Are you gonna kill me?”

“I-”

‘I’m a Barbie girl, in the Barbie world. Life in plastic, it’s fantastic’

Vigilante looks at his phone, apparently confused that it isn’t the source of the music.

“It’s mine,” you sigh, embarrassed by your choice of ringtone. You try to pick your phone out of your suit pocket with tied wrists.

“Your ringtone is Barbie Girl?”

You nod.

He pauses, giving you an unreadable look from behind his mask before reaching into your suit pocket. “I can’t let you have this.” He declines the call. Your phone pings as a message arrives. “Someone called Melanie says ‘Your boyfriend is on the news again’,” he reads.

Fuck. Your best friend Melanie knows all about your stupid crush on the man sitting in front of you right now.

“Hey- don’t read my messages!”

“I need to know if your boyfriend is gonna come looking for you.”

“I don’t have a boyfriend, I swear. She’s just making a stupid joke.”

Your phone pings again. “She’s sent you a picture - what’s your passcode?”

“I said don’t read my messages. I’m not telling you my passcode.”

Vigilante sighs and turns your phone around to face you and your Face ID unlocks it. He freezes when he opens the image.

Oh, god.

He turns the phone back towards you again and you groan. Melanie has taken a picture of the news on her TV. Vigilante is on the screen. Shit.

“I told you, it was just a stupid joke,” you mumble, feeling your face turning scarlet.

“I didn’t realise you were a fan,” he says, and you can tell from the tone of his voice that he has a stupid grin under his mask.

“Well, I’m definitely not a fan right now.” You hold up your wrists.

“She can see you’ve opened it. What should I say back?”

“Hmm... say LOL…” He starts typing. “Call the police. I’m being held hostage.”

He deletes what he just typed and gives you a stern look. “Fine, I’ll just go through your messages and see what you said before.”

“No, wait! I was kidding!” You try to snatch the phone from his hands but his reflexes are too quick for your tied hands. He doesn’t have to scroll very far back through your messages to find what he’s looking for.

Vigilante laughs and starts reading aloud. “OMG, he is so fine… I’m just gonna say that again.” He sends the message and you hear the notification of Melanie responding almost immediately. He reads it aloud. “She says ‘Knew you’d appreciate it - wink emoji’.”

“Can you just kill me already?” you ask sarcastically.

He puts your phone in his pocket. “I’m not gonna kill you.”

“So what am I doing here then?”

“Waiting. For now.” You stare at each other for a few seconds. It’s hard not to feel like you’re in immediate danger. “Do you want a beer?”

Perhaps your life isn’t in danger.

You blink at him incredulously. He walks over to the refrigerator and returns with two beers. He opens yours and hands it to you.

“Can you untie me so I can drink it?” You ask, testing the waters.

“Are you gonna try and attack me and escape?”

You’ve never been in a fight in your entire life. There’s no way you’d be able to win in a physical altercation with him, not with his reputation for massacring criminal gangs.

“No.”

Vigilante looks you over, and you stare up at him, waiting for his assessment. “I could take you, anyway,” he says casually and puts down his beer on the coffee table so he can untie your wrists.

You feel yourself blushing again at his words. Vigilante could take you. He means in a fight. But your mind immediately thinks of him taking you in another way.

When he unties you, you rub your wrists, feeling the sweet relief of having them free again. Vigilante kicks back on the couch and gestures to the seat next to him. You move over and perch uncertainly on the cool leather. He lifts the bottle of beer, and then realising he’d need to remove his mask to drink it, puts it back down.

“You can take it off if you want,” you suggest.

“And let you see my face? No way. I have a secret identity.”

“Well, I bet you’re handsome under there.”

What are you doing?

The sensible voice at the back of your mind supposes that flirting with him might convince him to free you. Another slightly louder, drunker voice in your head suggests that flirting with him might convince him to fuck you.

He looks away, flustered. “I dunno about that...”

“That’s why you wear that mask, right? You’re probably so good-looking you’d be easy to spot in a line-up.”

He lifts the edge of his mask - you think for a second he’s about to reveal who he is but instead, he takes a long drink of beer. You watch his sharp jaw and exposed neck as he swallows and get a brief glance at his wet lips before he pulls the fabric back down over his face again.

“That mask doesn’t do you any favours, hiding a jawline like that.”

“Stop it, okay. I know what you’re doing.” You raise your eyebrows. “You think because you’re pretty, you can seduce me into letting you go. It’s not gonna work.”

Pretty.

You try not to smile, to keep your expression blank. You wish you could text Melanie - she’d lose her shit right now. But you’ve laid it on a bit too thick. Even though it is true - he does have a ridiculously nice lower half of his face.

“I’m just passing the time. Believe it or not, I’ve never been abducted before.” You shrug. “So what’s the plan? Stay here until your boss on the phone tells you to kill me in the morning?”

“She’s not my boss.”

“Sounds like she is.”

“I work alone. Mostly. Or with Peacemaker.”

“So let me go then. I won’t tell a soul. I promise.”

“It’s not that simple. I can’t just release a hostage.”

You think. Hard. “What if I could get you the information you need? Then I’m an accomplice. Not a hostage.”

“I thought you just got the coffee?”

“I know where my boss keeps her laptop. And her password.”

“What kind of boss tells a brand new intern her password?”

You purse your lips, wondering how much you can safely reveal to him. “She trusts me.”

“The way you want me to trust you?”

“It’s different… I just don’t want her to get kidnapped too.”

He tilts his head. “That could work.” He hesitates. “But I’ll need to double-check with Harcourt in the morning.” He spins his bottle of beer in his hands.

“I’ll give you the laptop’s location and password if you let me see your face.”

“Uh, no. You’re giving me the location and password in exchange for letting you go.”

“This is a hostage negotiation, right?” You give him a coy smile. “Let the hostage do some negotiating.”

“No way.” He lifts the bottom of his mask up again to take another drink.

“What if I suck your dick, will you show me your face?”

Vigilante chokes on his beer.

“Jeez! I’ve already told you that you can stop coming onto me. I’ve agreed to ask Harcourt to let you go.”

“I know. I’m just shooting my shot,” you smile, resting the beer bottle on your bottom lip. “Can’t blame a girl for trying.”

“Yeah, right.” He says though you can’t help but notice the way his visor-covered eyes linger on your lips.

“Dude, you saw my messages. I’ve always wanted to bump into Vigilante. Under different circumstances, obviously.”

This intrigues him. He turns in his seat, resting on the arm of the couch to face you. “Uh, what kind of circumstances?”

“Well, if you really want to know - they’re in my texts with Melanie.”

He looks at your phone again, opens your messages and starts scrolling up. His eyes widen as he pauses, reading. “Damn…”

“Which one are you reading?”

“There’s more than one?!” His voice is higher pitched this time and you grin. “Uh… ‘I wish we’d bumped into Vigilante when those guys were harassing us leaving the club last night. He would have kicked their asses and I would have-’... Holy shit.”

He adjusts himself in his seat and you can tell he’s hard just from reading your text exchange. You tilt your beer towards him encouragingly. “You can say it.”

“...‘I would have sucked the fucking soul from his body.’ Girls say this kind of shit to each other?”

You sip your drink and say nothing.

Vigilante looks at you like you’re a piece of cake he really, really shouldn’t be thinking about eating. “It would be morally wrong for me to sleep with a hostage.” He looks into your eyes.

You edge closer to him on the couch. “Accomplice, remember? I’m not a hostage if I work with you, right?”

“Listen, you are so hot. And if I met you in real life… fuck. It would be a different story.”

“This is real life.”

“You know what I mean.”

You get on your knees and crawl over to him between his legs. He shrinks back into the corner of the couch cushions. “C’mon. I won’t tell your boss.”

He swallows nervously. “You’re making it really hard for me to say no right now.”

You run your fingers over his belt. “Say you don’t want me to and I’ll stop.” Vigilante groans. You crawl forward again and press your forehead against his masked one, looking into his visor. “Tell me you don’t want me to suck your dick,” you whisper.

“Fuck…” He breathes. “And they call me crazy.”

“Maybe you should be more careful who you let in your car.”

His gloved hand grabs your wrist and for a second you think he’s going to make you stop but instead, he guides your hand onto the bulge through the fabric of his pants. Vigilante leans his head back, exposing a tiny glimpse of his neck between his mask and his suit. Your tongue finds the skin there, sliding across it and you feel him shiver underneath you.

It’s like he’s at your mercy now as you slowly, agonisingly slowly, undo his belt revealing the v-shape of his lower abdominal muscles covered in a smattering of brown hair. You slide your body down between his legs and kiss the trail of hair below his belly button while your hands work, unzipping his pants and pulling his boxers down.

Vigilante’s cock slaps his stomach when you release it from his boxers. Shit, you have a lot to work with. You’re already wet between your legs just from your conversation but the sight of him sprawled out in front of you - his entire body concealed with the exception of his hard cock - sends blood rushing to your pussy.

You lick your lips and the moment your tongue slides across his head, you feel his whole body tremble.

“Holy shit,” Vigilante whispers raggedly from behind his mask. He lifts his head to watch as his length disappears into your mouth, and you look up at him with wide eyes and hollow cheeks, sucking and running your tongue along the underside of his cock.

He grunts as you pull back to run your tongue slowly around his head again. His reaction makes your pussy ache with longing, thinking about how he’d sound with his mask off, moaning like that in your ear.

“Fuck, that’s it. Thaat’s it,” he says through gritted teeth as you find a rhythm, bobbing your head up and down. He threads his gloved hands through your hair - you think he’s going to start fucking your throat but you’re surprised when he doesn’t apply any force, letting you maintain your pace. Vigilante watches you on all fours, your ass in the air behind you as your mouth makes the wettest, sloppiest sucking sounds he’s ever heard.

Then he sees it. A glimpse of your hand under your tailored work skirt, confirming to him again that this isn’t just a ploy for early release. You’re really fucking turned on by being here, sucking his cock.

“Wait…” he whines, tugging gently at the base of your scalp. You pull back, replacing your mouth with your other hand so you can look at him. “Can I fuck you?”

You pull away and bite your lip, still pumping your hand up and down the length of his cock.

“You said you’d show me your face.” Time for your one last bargaining chip.

“I…” He hesitates, propping himself up on his elbows. “I can’t,” he pleads.

“You’ll have to cum here on your stomach then,” you grin, your wet fist picking up pace as he tenses his thighs and tries to stop his hips from jerking up into you. “If you show me your face I’ll let you cum inside me.”

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” he groans. You stop jerking him off and watch him as he pulls his mask off, tossing it aside on the coffee table. He takes a pair of glasses out of his pocket and puts them on.

You stare at him in shock. You were mostly just teasing him earlier- you hadn’t actually expected him to be this good-looking. Sure, you knew from him drinking his beer earlier that he had a nice jawline. But even in your fantasies, he was faceless - he never had gorgeous green eyes and tousled curly hair.

“You’re hot?” You blurt out before you can stop yourself. “What the fuck!?”

He smiles. And you can see it this time. It’s beautiful. He has dimples.

The intimidation you felt before when you first saw the masked killer in front of you is nothing compared to how you feel now. You practically melt, turning into putty. Feeling lightheaded you realise you’ve been holding your breath and begin making a conscious effort to breathe again. Seconds ago you were convinced he was at your mercy but now…

“Do whatever you want to me,” you say abruptly. Your underwear is flooded thinking that this man, this ridiculously beautiful killer wants to fuck you.

“Oh… I’m gonna.” He raises his eyebrows and lunges forward, pinning you to the couch and kissing your neck. His rough exterior armour digs into your chest. Your hands wander along his shoulders, trying to find the mechanism to unclip it. He feels your movements and pushes himself off of you so he can undo them himself.

You lie back, watching him remove his suit, revealing a host of white scars and purplish-yellow welts across his toned chest and abdomen. You undo the top two buttons of your blouse.

“Nuh-uh,” he says, tossing his under armour onto the floor. You let out a yelp of surprise when he grabs the opening of your shirt and rips it open, sending buttons scattering across his floor. He pushes your bra up, not bothering to take it off to suck on your tits.

You run your fingers through his curly hair, feeling him sloppily run his tongue over your nipple. His teeth clamp down on your breast - hard - and you squeal and yank his hair.

“Ow! Not so rough!”

He just gives you a mischievous smirk and you release your grip when he sucks the spot gently, in a sort of silent apology. It’s definitely going to leave a bruise tomorrow - a secret souvenir of your night with the masked man from the news all your friends know you have a crush on.

But Christ, what have you let yourself in for?

Vigilante moves down your body, kissing your stomach and pulling off your skirt and underwear in a single movement, throwing them haphazardly on the floor. You gasp when his mouth returns to your body and a soft, wet heat envelopes your pussy. He drags his tongue slowly, carefully along your slit.

“Oh fuck…” you whine, arching your back. “Vigilante, I- wait, fuck, what do I call you?”

“Vigilante,” he says between achingly slow licks. Every nerve ending seems to light up, sending blissful signals to your brain.

“No, I - I mean what’s your name?”

“Vigilante.”

God damn.

You look down and lock eyes with him, his pupils blown so wide his green eyes almost look black as he stares up at you, swirling his tongue in wide circles against your swollen clit. The entire lower half of your body tightens up and the walls of your pussy clench, desperate for something to squeeze around. His fingers, his cock - anything.

You reach down to find his large, gloved hand and tug at the fabric, trying to pull it off him.

He pulls his mouth back and removes his glove with his teeth.

“Is this what you want, baby?” He asks, running a single finger through your slick, wet folds and over your clit.

You nod.

“Beg for it.”

“Please, Vigilante.”

He sinks two fingers deep in your cunt.

“Is this what you fantasise about?” His questioning makes you tighten around his fingers as he draws them in and out of you. Your breathing quickens in time with his fingers pressing against that sweet spot deep inside your pelvis.

He stops abruptly and the whine that escapes you is pathetic.

“Answer me.”

“Y-yes,” you moan. “Every night.” You wriggle, trying to fuck yourself on his stationary fingers.

“Finger fucking yourself like this?” He curls his fingers up into you again.

“Mhmm.”

“Use your words.”

“Yes, fuck, just like… like this.” You bring your hand to your clit and start rubbing yourself in an obscene demonstration for him as he watches from his kneeling position, one hand between your thighs.

You’re close now, you can feel your orgasm burning up inside you as your cunt starts pulsing more consistently around his digits and your breathing gets heavier. Just as your release is about to crash over you, he withdraws his hand and grabs your wrist, moving your hand away from your clit.

“Wha-?” You pant dazedly. “I was just about to-”

“I know,” he smirks. “Not yet.”

Fuck. He’s fucking edging you.

His lips meet yours for the first time and you moan softly into his mouth. His tongue rolls against yours and you can still taste your sweet and salty juices on him.

Then, without warning, he flips you over and you gasp wordlessly face down on the leather couch in stunned silence. He pulls your hips back and up towards him.

“Fuck, Vigilante,” you choke, lifting your head up and arching your back, your brain working hard to regain awareness of its surroundings.

The weight of his body presses down on top of you as he leans down to whisper in your ear.

“I’m gonna fuck you so hard, you’re gonna forget my face in a line-up.”

Fuck.

He takes his cock and drags it over your soaking wet entrance, flushed and swollen for him and the broken sob that escapes you is desperate.

“Please,” you beg again. “Just let me cum.”

Vigilante sinks into you with a forceful jerk of his hips and your pussy seizes up tight around him as your face is forced onto the cold leather again. You try and push yourself up onto all fours.

“Nuh-uh, I like seeing you like this,” he says with another forceful thrust, knocking you off balance. “Hands behind your back.” You huff and do what he says, his still-gloved hand pinning your wrists behind you. “I shoulda just kept you tied up, huh?”

You can’t answer, you can’t move, you can’t do anything except just take him. Sparks of electricity reignite inside you, the deepest you’ve ever felt it as he pounds into you, hitting just that right spot again. You turn your head to look at him over your shoulder and when you see Vigilante biting his lip in concentration your walls start pulsing and squeezing around his cock.

“Not… yet.” He grunts. “Not ‘til I say.”

He pushes down on your wrists and it feels like all the air is being knocked from your lungs with every roll of his hips.

“Fuck, you’re such a… pretty… little… hostage,” he groans through gritted teeth, each thrust punctuated by his praise.

“Yes…” you whine because it’s all you can manage to say. It’s all you can think. That one singular confirmation repeating over and over again in your head - it’s all you want to be for him. Fuck, you’d happily spend the rest of your life locked in his apartment, letting him use you like this every time he came home after a night of murdering criminals.

Your eyes roll back in your head, fireworks rocketing and exploding into a million bright pieces. If there’s a heaven, it would look like this - a beaten-up leather couch in a shitty apartment in downtown Evergreen.

His other hand that’s free of his glove and not pinning you down reaches round and starts working your clit with rough, calloused fingertips. You squeeze your eyes shut, not realising they’ve been watering. Real tears leak from the corners, leaving your face a wet mess on the leather seat. You choke out a sob, not sure how much longer you can fight against your orgasm.

“Shh, shhh… it’s okay, baby. You can cum. Let it all out for me.”

And you do.

Everything goes dark and you’re lost in the pleasure that takes over your body, your climax wiping your mind blank of all thoughts except Vigilante. Your pussy clamps down hard like a vice around his cock as you squirm on his fingers. It’s only when you feel him shudder and collapse on top of you that you realise he’s come undone too.

You both lie there for a second, feeling the warmth of your combined mess leaking out and the sound of him panting, exhausted.

“Vigilante…” you say in a strained voice, breaking the silence.

“Yeah?” he exhales and takes another gulp of air.

“You’re crushing me.”

“Oh.” He hoists himself off of you. “Let me get you a towel.”

With difficulty, you sit back upright to wipe your eyes and fix your hair. Vigilante returns with a towel and you sit on it, grateful for the barrier between you and the wet, sticky couch cushion.

He throws himself back down beside you. “Whoo, I’m beat!” he says cheerfully. “What do you wanna do now?”

You look at him uncertainly and glance at your watch. “It’s one in the morning.”

“Right, cool. Do you wanna sleep on the couch or-”

‘I’m a Barbie girl, in the Barbie world. Life in plastic, it’s fantastic’

Who’s phoning you this late?

He picks up both of your phones from the coffee table. “It’s mine,” he says and accepts the call. “Hello?”

Wait - his ringtone is Barbie Girl too?

“It’s me,” says the same voice of the woman who called him earlier. “Have you dealt with the hostage yet?”

Vigilante looks at you and hesitates. He swallows. “Yeah. It’s done.”

“So she accepted the bribe? You’ve got the laptop?”

His eyes widen. “The bribe? Oh! Yeah, sure! The bribe...”

“Vij, you didn’t kill her, did you?”

“What?” He lets out a maniacal laugh. “You’re crazy, Harcourt, of course I didn’t kill her. What’s the, uh, budget again?” He winks at you and makes an ‘ok’ sign with his thumb and forefinger. He’s insane, you think.

“I dunno, like five grand?”

“Phew! Then yes, it is all dealt with. Done and dusted. I will get that laptop.”

“You don’t have the laptop yet!? Vigilante, you need to get the laptop before you hand over the money, idiot.”

“Copy that,” he grins.

“Vigilante, what the f-”

He hangs up, cutting her off and tosses his phone aside.

“Good news. I can let you go once you give me the laptop.”

“And the five grand?” You raise your eyebrows.

“Wait, you heard that?!”

“Uh, yeah?”

“Well not until you give me the laptop.”

“I can get it tonight if you need it? We just need to swing by my boss’s house before you drop me off.”

He frowns. “Oh. Right. Yeah, of course. I need to… need to take you home.”

You tilt your head to one side and look at him fondly. You fix his messy curls and he closes his eyes at your touch. “Or… I could stay here tonight? Pick up the laptop tomorrow morning once you’ve fixed me some breakfast?”

He perks up. “I could do that! …You’re one hundred per cent sure you can get it though, right?”

You sigh and extend your hand. “Give me my phone.” He does and watches you go through your contacts.

The line rings and a familiar but slightly croaky voice answers.

“Honey, it’s one in the morning. Is everything alright? Did you get home okay?”

“Hey Mom, I’m fine. Listen, I think I forgot to send an email before I left the office and I can’t sleep worrying about it. Can I pick up your laptop first thing tomorrow?”

She yawns. “Sure thing. Don’t get stressed about it. Just go get some sleep.”

“Thanks, boss. I love you.”

“Goodnight sweetie. I love you too.”

You grin as Vigilante gapes at you.

“Goff’s assistant… she’s your-?”

“Yup. Now c’mon, show me where your bedroom is.” You stand up and reach your hands out, waiting for him to guide you. You step on one of your shirt buttons as he leads you towards the hallway. “You owe me a new shirt, by the way.”

“I just made you five grand. Use that to buy a new shirt,” he says, opening the bedroom door.

“Hey, what happened to the hostage negotiation? These are the terms of my release.”

“Oh, you’re not going anywhere,” he smirks, shutting the door behind you.

#vigilante x reader #vigilante #adrian chase x reader #vigilante peacemaker #adrian chase #vigilante x you #freddie stroma #fanfic #peacemaker #vigilante x female reader #adrian chase x female reader #adrian chase x you #adrian chase imagines #adrian chase x y/n

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httpknjoon · 1 year

Text

proof, they say | ksj

plot | Every proof that random people took just to prove your relationship.

words | 2.2k+

genres | humor/crack, fluff, actors!au

pairing | actor!jin x famous!reader

note | usernames used in the fic are all fictional. this "thread" is briefly mentioned in lie detector test. I was second-guessing if I should post this for a while. now, I am posting it before the finale! I have more proofs but I chose not to put it here anymore! if you want to read more proofs, send me an ask and I'll gladly reply with it. enjoy reading!

main masterlist | drabble series

Sometime in 2021, Twitter user @/bluemoon04 posted a thread of tweets, which later became one of the most essential posts in the YN-JIN fandom. It was published just weeks later after Jin’s Lie Detector Test video from Vanity Fair and it gets an update every time someone gets more proof of The A-Listers’ real relationship.

As of December 2022, the thread has almost eighty-nine thousand likes and thirty thousand and four hundred plus retweets and requotes. The proofs posted can be hit or miss. But user bluemoon04 shares it anyway and lets the others share their thoughts about it. Others can also submit their own proofs to the account through direct message.

Proof no. 1: [THAT TUMBLR POST IN JANUARY 2019]

behind the scenes...

A twenty-second video was posted on Tumblr sometime in the last quarter of 2019 by a newly-made account. The post only had three tags: #YN, #JIN, and #YNJIN. The algorithm worked and published the video in everyone’s feed. It received a thousand notes by the twenty-four-hour mark. It also reached other social media sites. Mostly, Twitter.

Fans— even the local audience is in awe after watching the video. What’s in it? You might wonder.

It’s just you and Jin sitting on a bench under a light post on a dark night in a lakeside park. It was seemingly taken during the production of Maybe Yes, Maybe No. It was a crowded place with the crew and staff members walking around to do their job while the actors wait on the side. Amidst the busy background, you and Jin can be seen enjoying ice cream on cones as you chat, inaudibly.

It looked like you two were busy in your own world while the crew members carry stuff around the set. Jin said something that made you laugh hard.

“God! That was terrible!” you told him before laughing at whatever Jin said.

“You loved it!” he replied.

Those were the only audible dialogue from the clip. You two continued talking as you eat the cold treat. And based on everyone who saw the video, Jin can melt– not just the ice cream– but also you with how he stared at you intently while you tell your story. You then paused when you felt the weight of his stare, your eyebrows raised. He chuckled, shaking his head, before wiping the ice cream on the corner of your lips with his thumb. The video ended when a crew member walked up to you two.

Proof no. 2: [JIN SIGHTINGS IN LESS LIKELY PLACES pt. 1]

@/multifan0303: OH MY GOD OH MY GOD MY MOM JUST SENT ME THIS

The tweet was originally posted in January 2020. The first picture was Jin’s signature on a piece of paper. For the second and last one, there’s a picture of the original poster’s mom with the actor. It’s not new for Jin to take pictures with fans he is out in public. But what made the whole fandom crazy about it is it was taken in a pet store and he was holding a basket full of cat food and supplies.

replying to @/multifan0303

- @/multifan0303: my mom doesn’t know who he is. but she saw her other customer that time asking for a picture with him so she asked for a picture and autograph too HDJSKLJFKDSLGKLJFDS

– @/greenpr4da: look at that basket

— @/v3rsaceyn: and you’re telling me jin hates cats????

—- @/franchiecat: he doesn’t even have a cat 😭

Proof no. 3 [LIVING TOGETHER ALLEGATIONS PT. 1]

During the first lockdown during the pandemic in 2020, everyone began suspecting about you and Jin living together in a house in Connecticut. With a lot of free time, the media managed to find a real estate posted online located in the said state that apparently looked like the house you were rumored to be living together in.

con mi hija 🌸

You captioned it in one of your Instagram posts in 2020. It was a selfie of you with Francheskat in your backyard. The picture was focused on your pet and only half of your face can be seen. A wall from your house can also be seen, showing that your home does have a stone exterior. Since you are more active on social media than Jin, your eagle-eyed fans also spotted in a different picture that you also have the identical Victorian lamp that the actor had behind him during a virtual interview.

“Just tell us are you and Y/N living together?!” Donny asked jokingly during an online fundraiser event with you, Jin, and other friends.

Jin shakes his head, laughing, “We’re not.”

“We do!” you huffed dramatically. “No one told me this man doesn’t know how to wash his laundry!”

Other participants laughed at your exaggerated and sarcastic tone. That was the first time you two acknowledged the gossip publicly and it was definitely not the last. You acknowledged it again when you greeted him on his birthday.

Proof no. 4: [BUB]

Both supporters and the press caught on Jin slipping his endearment for you during events with you back in 2021. Fans made video compilations and listed down the times your co-actor called you ‘bub’ on numerous occasions. Sometimes it was hushed, sometimes it felt like it just slipped from his lips. Jin finally addressed it when W Magazine brought up the topic during a magazine cover with you.

“Yeah, why do you call me that?” you turned your head to him, still in your look for the editorial shoot you two did.

Jin’s lips broke into a smile as he looked at you. He rested his chin on his palm when he answered, “It’s nothing really… It just slips out, bub”

As far as everyone witnessed from his whole career in Hollywood, you were the only co-worker Jin sometimes calls by a nickname. He never explained where it came from and was only questioned about it once.

Proof no.5: [THE TALE OF FRANCHESKAT]

“Yeah, that’s my lovely daughter, Francheskat.” you shared when Stephen Colbert brought up the picture of your pet.

“I heard she’s from an animal shelter in London. Is that right?” the host asked and you nodded from your seat.

“Yes! I visited a few shelters there during the production of my new film there and I was in awe when I first met her!”

“Oh, so you adopted her right away from that moment?”

“I didn’t…” you shook your head. “I was too busy and I was only in London for less than two weeks. My schedule was jampacked, and I never got to drop by the shelter again.”

“But I have a friend who saw how much I want to have this beautiful cat and surprised me like a month later after I got back in LA. It was so unexpected, I cried.” you laughed.

That interview was in 2017, months before the release of your first movie with Jin. Francheskat was the main reason why you made an Instagram account again after deactivating your old account back in 2016. Based on your fans’ calculations, you recently just finished filming Cornelia Street when you began posting about your cat. And Jin was seen in London around the same time you shot your own scenes there.

These facts strengthen your fans’ belief that Jin was the friend you were talking about. Especially with how close your co-star is to your cat, even though he claims he isn’t a big fan of felines.

Proof no. 6 [Y/N SPOTTED IN LESS LIKELY EVENTS PT.1]

“I don’t really celebrate any holidays.” you shared during an interview back in 2014. “I just spend those days like my other rest days except I send gifts to my friends.”

You have been living alone ever since you were emancipated from your father’s control. You usually sleep or work through Christmas and New Year’s eve or any other commonly big holiday, treating it as a normal day. You always find it exhausting to prepare for such events when you live alone. The only special event you celebrate is your mom’s or close friends’ birthdays. Your fans are aware of this fact and made sure to send you sweet greetings during holidays as you post pictures from your home. You were never spotted outside either by the press during these events.

@/DonnyNextDoor: happy thanksgiving from us!!

In the celebration of Thanksgiving Day back in 2021, Donny posted a photo of your circle of friends. You stood next to Bella Hadid, who was Donny’s girlfriend at the time. Next to you were Jin and your three other mutual friends.

@/daisiesandroses: omg yn holiday contents

Fans were happy to see you with friends during that time. They expected that you will post something for Christmas and New Year’s too. However, you only posted an Instagram story each, greeting everyone. Someone claimed they spotted you in New York for Times Square Ball but no pictures floated online.

Proof no. 7: [VERSACE ON THE FLOOR]

It has been known to everyone that you have always been a massive admirer of the luxury fashion brand, Versace. Donatella has been a great friend of yours ever since you became a brand ambassador for the said brand when you were 22. And even though you had contracts with other brands in the following years, you maintained a good relationship with her. You’ve also been invited to fashion week events and you always try to go if your tight schedule can accommodate it. You were even featured in Bruno Mars’ music video for his hit song, Versace On The Floor.

@/SE0KJINM00N: SOMEONE SEND ME THAT PHOTO HE DELETED IT!!

@/hellobubba: was that versace on that fucking floor or am i seeing things

@/peopleoncrnlstrt: LMAO he deleted the ig story

But sometime in 2019, Jin posted a picture in his Instagram Stories which he deleted less than two minutes later. The photo is simple. It was a picture of the latest book he read. He was holding it down, seemingly an innocent one. But if you travel your eyes to the upper corner of the image, even though the background’s a little blurry, a black piece of clothing can be seen. It was immediately recognizable due to the fact that it has the word Versace printed all over it.

And since you were the closest person to him that everyone knows, the fans assumed it was yours. You were once seen a couple of years ago sporting a bikini top with the same design, just different colors. People searched online and found that there is, indeed, a Versace one-piece swimsuit with the exact design.

Although the photo was never talked about in public, that Versace mystery became an inside joke in the fandom.

Proof no. 8: [LIVING TOGETHER ALLEGATIONS PT. 2]

urfavecatlady started a live video. Watch it before it ends!

August 2020. You had a five-minute live on your Instagram account, simply just to chat with your fans while you were waiting for your cookies in the oven. It was short yet chaotic.

“Oh, I tried baking today! I saw an easy recipe online. I’ll share the link on Twitter later.” you answered a fan as you put down your phone. You sported a now-messy apron. The apron? It was a gift from Timmy. He learned I love ba–”“

“Ouch!”

Someone exclaimed in the background, followed by the noises of something falling on the ground. You paused and looked at whatever was behind your phone. Your eyes widened. But you tried to compose yourself as you look back at the camera.

“Francheskat jumped on some– on my stuff. Gotta go! I’ll update y’all with the cookies later. Bye!” your voice trailed off as you end the Instagram Live.

@/amymarchdefender: i think i heard someone during yn’s live

@/princessbubblegum: is she quarantining with someone???!?

Some fans claimed it was not Francheskat, but Jin. Although the mystery voice was not that audible, they claimed it was him. Others believed that maybe you are really going through lockdowns with someone who is not Jin. There are few people who believe that you really have a longtime secret partner, someone who is not in the same industry as you. Nonetheless, everyone never knew who it was.

The thread still receives updates from time to time even though you took a break and Jin is not really that active on social media. The owner of the tweet still gets submissions from various fans.

Now, October 2023. Jin hasn’t had any public appearances since his series premiere on HBO. He is still in for Waller-Bridge’s movie. You, on the other hand, were getting gossip that you will be having a cameo with Greta Gerwig’s Barbie. Some believed that you will be retiring or will take years to come back. Both of you two were not active on social media. Your last post in your Instagram feed was in August. And Jin’s was May.

But one of Hollywood's biggest celebrity gossip sources is the Instagram account, Deuxmoi, posted something that made a noise in your fandom.

Sent via form submission from Deuxmoi

Pseudonyms, Please: Cookie Monster

Email: [email protected]

Subject: Everyone’s Fave Cat Lady

Message: A friend of mine works in one of the longest-running live television shows. They said that a prominent A-lister actress is returning in front of the cameras after taking a sudden break for more than a year. Her comeback will be announced next week! Watch out!

taglist rules

THE A-LISTERS TAGLIST

@jub-jub @yoontaethings @kissme-ornot @sleepy-daydreams @veronawrites @cuteipat @ratherbefangirling @babystarcandy-gcf @akirawhore @alpacaparkaseok @rjsmochii @lovesickbangtan @rapmonie2047 @btsiguess-kpop @angelarin @walkinganxiety0 @bloopkook @yoooonie @amara-mars @firesighgirl @zwiehe @hiii-priestess @lojocas @juju-227592 @singukieee @eshtravagent @canarystwin @petalsofink

PERMANENT TAGLIST

@dunixxd @cixrosie @jksjx @embrace-themagic @buttvi @starbtslove @missseoulite @vanntaesworld @kenqki @pixybear @miyukihoshi @stopeatread @seolaquotes @greyrain23

#jin x reader #jin fluff #bts jin #jin fic #jin au #seokjin x reader #seokjin fanfiction #bts social media au #seokjin fluff #bts fluff #bts angst #bts x reader #bts imagine #bts series #bts au #bts fanfic #the a listers ksj

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deepspacedukat · 4 months

Text

The Baker's Baker - Part One

So, this is the fic I made the poll about. 75% of you said you were at least open to other David Birney characters depending on the character, so here it is. I honestly have no excuse. David Birney played a hot character in "Murder, She Wrote" and I have caught the brainrot. Spoilers for S10E3 "The Legacy of Borbey House." I know I changed part of the story, but it doesn't stray too far from the original, hence the spoiler warning. I'm not tagging anyone for this fic, because, even though some Letant Enjoyers might like this, I don't think anyone came to my blog for MSW fanfiction lol. To those who choose to give this little brainworm a read, I hope you enjoy.

Cross-posted to AO3 here.

~*~

Lawrence Baker (MSW) x Reader

[A/N: Future chapters will contain smut/smut adjacent content, so 18+ ONLY, MINORS DNI!!!]

Warnings: Mild rudeness, flirtation, mention of a missing person per the episode plot, vampire rumors, utilizing cupcakes for flirtation, readers owns and works in a bakery, reader has history with Borbey House but that'll be expounded upon in a later chapter.

~*~

Cabot Cove was rife with rumors surrounding the property across the street from my front door. Borbey House had stood empty for a year and a half - some residents wondered if anyone would ever buy the place until a couple of weeks ago. I only caught a glimpse of my new neighbor as I was getting home one night. Dark hair, a darker suit, and the jaunty strut of a man who was utterly confident in himself - whoever he was, the new owner of the Borbey Estate was much flashier than the usual Cabot Cove crowd.

I only saw him once, though, along with a couple of curtain twitches from one of the upper windows. Any other time a person emerged from the house, it was without fail a harsh looking man with a square jaw. He and his employer both seemed rather ominous to anyone who believed in superstition, and the Borbey legacy was rife with those. All those mysterious deaths years ago...it was a wonder that anyone was interested in buying the place when it went on the market.

Legend had it that the original owner, William Borbey, had been a vampire, and given the new owner's tendency to avoid going out in the daylight coupled with how quickly gossip of any sort traveled through Cabot Cove, rumors about his condition spread rather quickly. I couldn't really blame the man for not wanting to immerse himself in the insanity that was a small town like this. I had hoped I'd catch another glimpse of him eventually, but after that first sighting, all I saw was his - was the man with a square jaw a butler or a chauffeur? Both, perhaps?

This morning, however, my luck changed - for better or worse, I couldn't definitively say. It wasn't often that our postman switched mail around, but today I'd opened my mailbox to find a letter addressed to one 'Mr. Lawrence Baker.' Glancing at the address confirmed my suspicions: this belonged across the street.

With barely a moment's thought, I hurried back into my house and dropped off my own mail, scooping up a box of assorted cookies I'd packaged in advance for the bakery in the process. There were plenty more where that came from, so I figured it couldn't hurt to give Cabot Cove's newest resident a warm welcome.

Straightening myself up a bit, I grabbed the misdelivered letter and the box of cookies and walked across the street. Before I even got the chance to knock on the door, however, it was practically flung open. Mr. Baker's butler scowled silently, expectantly down at me with cold, hard eyes.

"Uh, hi! I–"

"Do you have an appointment?" His question was clipped and rough. Was that a German accent? Interesting.

"No, but–"

"Then begone." With that, the door was slammed in my face.

Oh, hell no. Tall and scary that man might be, but I wasn't about to just let someone treat me like that.

I was secretly quite proud of the firm, confident sound of my knuckles rapping on the aged wooden door. Once more, it was thrown open, but before Mr. Scary got the chance to do something more drastic than slamming the door in my face, I held up the letter so he could see the typeface on the envelope.

"This was delivered to me by mistake this morning. I was just coming over here to give it to its proper owner." After a tense moment of silence, the letter was snatched from my hand. "And these are from me. I run the bakery on Main Street and I wanted to officially welcome Mr. Baker to the neighborhood."

Shoving the box into the stunned butler's grasp, I turned on my heel and started back to my house, standing as straight as possible to cling to my remaining dignity. Well, that had been slightly more humiliating than I'd expected. So much for being neighborly–

"Excuse me, miss?" A smooth, sophisticated voice called out from behind me before I was more than a few feet down the front walkway. Looking back, I saw a familiar dark-haired figure stepping around the gruff-mannered butler to stand in the doorway. Red-lensed sunglasses rested atop the bridge of his nose, but it was still undeniably the same man I'd seen that first night. Lawrence Baker, in the flesh. Up close, he looked...well, extremely handsome. "I'm sorry for the rough reception. Peter is used to dealing with less pleasant visitors. I'm afraid most people don't like an outsider invading your peaceful community."

Taking a few small steps toward the door, I gave my elusive new neighbor a tentative smile and attempted to ignore the way his pale blue button-down shirt clung to his figure so perfectly.

"It's alright, but I promise not all of us are quite so prickly. I'm sorry if you've been on the receiving end of any sort of intolerance," I said, and he leaned jauntily on the door frame as a grin stretched his lips. The lines on either side of his mouth spoke of the many smiles he'd worn over the years. "Anyway, I should really let you get back to your day. I just wanted to officially welcome you to the neighborhood. If you need anything, I live just across the street."

"I'll be sure and keep that in mind, Miss...?"

I introduced myself, keeping a respectable distance between myself and the front door. The longer I looked at Mr. Baker, the more I wanted to do something ridiculous, like take up sketching just so I could capture the shape of his lips when he smiled.

"I couldn't help but hear what you said a moment ago. You run the local bakery?"

"Yes, I do. If there's something you'd like that I don't normally offer, I take custom orders." My brain went somewhere it definitely shouldn't have, and I fought to keep myself from blushing.

Instead, though, I had some restraint. Excusing myself, I retreated quickly back to my own home. I took a seat in the kitchen and glanced at the timer I'd set for the cake in the oven. There was still a while until I needed to check it.

I had no idea how long I'd been sitting at my kitchen table lost in thought when a knock sounded at the door, jolting me back to reality. A brief flash of fear zipped through me at the prospect of Mr. Baker or his butler - somehow the name 'Peter' didn't full encompass that man's personality - coming to throw my cookies back in my face and threaten legal action if I ever set foot on their side of the street again.

"Why, you look as pale as a ghost, child!" Seth exclaimed when I opened the door. I'd almost forgotten that he and Jessica were coming over for lunch today. Inviting them in gratefully, I stole a quick glance across the street and was just in time to see a curtain twitch in one of the upper windows of the Borbey House.

There was nothing I could do but close the door as if to block out the storm that was my neighbor's red-tinted gaze.

"Are you alright?" Jessica's hand rested gently on my shoulder, and I gave her a grateful smile.

"Oh, yes! I'm fine. I just had a very odd encounter with the new owner of the Borbey place," I told her as we all made our way into the kitchen. A couple of hours passed, and with lunch consumed and my new cake recipe freshly sampled by the three of us, I'd heard several bits of gossip about Mr. Baker and his butler.

"You say he had red lenses in his glasses?" Seth asked as he cut himself another slice of cake. When I nodded my head, he hummed thoughtfully. "Those have a few uses medicinally, dependin' on the shade. He could be sensitive to light. Until he comes into my office, though, I'm afraid that's all I can say."

With a wry smile, Mrs. Fletcher leaned back in her seat.

"I doubt that will do anything to dispel those ridiculous vampire stories that have been making the rounds, lately." She was right, of course. "Be careful, dear, you might find him knocking on your door one night in search of something more than just cookies."

A laugh bubbled out of me, and I felt suddenly better than I had all morning. Trust Jessica and Seth to know how to lift my spirits.

"I'll be sure to wear a garlic necklace and keep a stake handy," I joked. Allowing my smile to fall in favor of something more serious, I switched topics. "Any news about...?"

Jessica and Seth glanced at each other and shook their heads.

"You'd be one of the first to know. The last tip-off the Sheriff had was a dud. Lady was in her fifties. Definitely not Laurel Perrin," Seth murmured setting his fork down. Had he already eaten his second piece of cake? Mentally, I marked that recipe down as a success. I'd have to make one or two for the bakery this week to see how people reacted to it. "I...I know you were her friend, and I don't mean to sound disheartenin', but the chances of Laurel turnin' up after all this time..."

The doctor laid his hand over mine where it rested on the table, and I looked pointedly down at the wood grain beside my fingers.

"I know, Doc. I just...I can't give up hope. Neither can Dave or Charlie. Not until we know for sure, one way or the other. You can understand that, right?"

"Of course, we can. Closure is a somewhat universal longing, especially for those closely involved in situations like this," Jessica murmured wrapping her arm around my shoulders in a reassuring hug. "Now, why don't you tell us how the new space for the bakery is working out?"

Never had I been more grateful for a change of subject.

Six days later, I was in the middle of serving who I thought would be my last customer of the night when the bell over the bakery door jingled.

"I'll be with you in just a moment," I called over my shoulder as I boxed up a dozen brownies.

"No problem, take your time." I blinked a couple of times as I finished up. I knew that voice. Forcing myself to stay focused on my current task, I served my regular customer and handed him his change.

"Thanks, Jim. Have a safe drive home, okay?"

"'Course, ma'am, and I'll be sure and tell the wife you asked after her," he said tipping his hat as he turned to leave. My heart thudded rapidly in my chest as I turned to the new arrival.

"How can I help you tonight, Mr. Baker?" The man in question was clad in a crisp, black suit that was probably worth more than my entire inventory, but the smile on his face softened his visage into something more personable.

And his eyes! I hadn't been able to see them properly when they were hidden behind his tinted glasses, but they were the clearest blue I'd ever seen.

"Would you prefer the socially acceptable answer, or the truth?"

Oh, color me intrigued! Clasping my hands and resting them on the counter, I narrowed my eyes at him playfully.

"Hm. Let's have the truth first, then the respectable excuse," I murmured, and he stepped up to the counter, tracing his fingertips over the refrigerated cases as he moved closer.

"Alright. I was fascinated by you the moment I saw you walking up the drive. The way you handled Peter's abrupt dismissal made me realize I'd made a mistake in avoiding contact with my neighbors," he said leaning one forearm on counter. "I wanted a chance to see you again...to talk to you longer than just a few seconds, and this seemed like my best bet. In my defense, I had no idea that I'd have such a gorgeous neighbor."

I forced the muscles in my face to remain neutral. No smiling, not yet. I had to be casual. If I let myself smile now, I might explode.

"And the respectable excuse?"

"Ah, that. Well, I heard about the special you were having on cupcake orders and thought I'd come take advantage of the discount," Mr. Baker said with a smile, and I bit my lower lip to stifle a laugh. "What?"

Crooking my finger at him, I coaxed him into leaning close enough to whisper in his ear, trying to add to his anticipation.

"The special is on brownies today, not cupcakes."

A warm, velvety laugh spilled from his lips as leaned back again.

"Oh, damn, there goes my airtight alibi," he mused when his eyes met mine once more. "I guess that blows my chances of you accepting my invitation to dinner..."

I couldn't hide my surprise.

"Dinner?"

"Yes, but I doubt you'd be interested in socializing with a man who can't even get his excuses in order beforehand," he teased. Giving me a shrug and turning to a cloche-covered tray of brightly-iced cupcakes, he pretended to study them as I forced my brain into gear.

"...What day did you have in mind?"

The wide grin he gave me lit up the whole shop.

"How about tomorrow night? From what I understand, your shop is closed on Sundays, isn't it?"

"That's right. Sure, why not? Tomorrow sounds great," I answered lifting the cloche off the cupcake tray. "In the meantime, if we're going to sell that poorly-constructed cupcake excuse, you can't leave here empty-handed."

"Ah, thank you. We wouldn't want the rest of the town to think you were in danger from a reclusive vampire," he muttered with a gleam in his eye as I boxed up an assorted half dozen cupcakes. "How much do I owe you?"

"Nothing at all. These are on the house."

His eyes went wide, and he placed one of his large hands gently on my arm.

"I didn't come here to swindle you out of your merchandise. I don't want you to think I can't afford a few baked goods."

"This has nothing to do with your ability to pay, Mr. Baker. Haven't you ever had someone do something nice for you before, just because they could?"

Something like comprehension flickered across his face.

"Not...in a very long time, no," he said just above a whisper, looking at me as though I'd transformed right before his eyes. Placing one of my hands over his where it still rested on my arm, I spoke just as quietly.

"Then it's about time someone did." A moment's weighted silence passed between us before I got back to the cupcakes, closing the box and sealing it with one of my labels. "There you are. And if you really want to do something to repay me, tell me this: what's your favorite dessert?"

He was silent for a moment while he considered his answer, but ultimately he shook his head.

"I'll have to think that over. It's serious business deciding something like this," Lawrence said with a faux stern expression plastered on his face.

"Oh, naturally. You can tell me over dinner, assuming you've selected by then," I said with an equally stern expression, but when a bright smile broke across Mr. Baker's lips, I cracked and let out a quick laugh.

"I look forward to your charming company tomorrow night, my dear," he said, and without a moment's hesitation, he caught one of my hands in his grasp and brought it to his lips. My heart fluttered in my chest, the traitorous bastard, and before I knew it, Mr. Baker had taken his box of cupcakes and left.

Resisting the urge to squeal or smile so hard that my face broke, I went to the door and flipped the sign from 'Open' to 'Closed.'

When I got home that night and exited my car, I glanced across the street. Instead of the usual twitching curtain, I was just in time to see both Peter and Mr. Baker in the latter's sitting room, nibbling on what were unmistakably a pair of my cupcakes.

If I'd been any happier, I might have floated away like a balloon.

"You're having dinner with the man? But neither you nor anyone else in town knows him very well," Doc Hazlitt protested the next morning as I chatted with him over the phone. He'd called to ask what day that new cake would be added to the bakery's menu so he could give me some extra patronage. Once I assured him it would be a Tuesday addition, he moved on to a rumor he'd heard about Lawrence Baker kissing my hand during business hours and leaving my shop with a box of desserts. I hadn't disabused him of the notion, hence his current state of agitation.

"Doc, I am perfectly capable of handling a simple dinner. I'm not a little girl anymore," I said, and a sigh crackled down the line.

"I know, I know, but I don't want you to get hurt. I was the doc in the ward when you were born, and I've known you all your life. Is it any wonder that I feel a little nervous about you gettin' involved with a man who's only been in Cabot Cove for a handful of weeks?"

"Y'know, that's another thing, Seth," I started as I cradled the phone to my shoulder and slipped a tray of scones into the oven. "People around here act as though every new arrival or outsider is here to pillage the town. Why can't someone move in and be given the benefit of the doubt for once? Mr. Baker is perfectly friendly–"

"–And rich, to boot, meanin' he is used to gettin' exactly what he wants–"

"That's enough, Doctor. You haven't even met the man. You have no right to judge him until you've at least tried to get to know him." I didn't even try to keep the reproachful edge out of my voice. "Please, at least try to be open minded. If not for his sake, then for mine."

"I'd still be grateful if you gave me a call tomorrow morning so that I know you survived the ordeal," he requested, and after a quick agreement, he finally let me go.

Seth was right to an extent. I barely knew him, and Borbey house, despite my personal history, was still surrounded by gruesome stories and the ghosts of its past. It wouldn't hurt to be a little cautious.

Although, a benefit of spending time across the street was that I'd have a chance to change that surly butler's opinion of me. That was something I definitely needed to do, especially if I was going to be acquainted with his employer. Maybe with the right dessert, I could lower his defenses enough to show him I wasn't just a pest to swept out onto the street.

~*~*~

#deepspacedukat fic #Lawrence Baker x Reader #did i catch brainrot for another side character? yes #do I regret it? no #is anyone but me gonna read this? probably not #I was hoping to have all 4 chapters finished before I posted this but writer's block said no

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polizwrites · 6 months

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Cutting the Strings

This is a fill for today's @fictober-event prompt: "No, you won't understand, ever." (tweaked slightly), along with my @bingowinteriron Unreliable Narrator and @buckybarnesbingo Never the Fall that Kills You squares.

Fanfic - Fandom: MCU/Marvel Rating: General Pairing: Steve & Bucky, Tony & Bucky Tags/Warning: Post CA:WS canon divergence, Avengers Tower unreliable narrator, psychological manipulation Thanks to @rebelmeg, @somesortofitalianroast and Meg in the BBB Discord server for the brainstorming help!

Tony knew what manipulation looked like – after all, it had been happening to him all his life. First Howard, who couldn’t stand the idea of having a son more brilliant and talented than him and had therefore picked apart every effort of Tony’s, magnifying any flaw and dismissing any creative effort.

Next came Obadiah, who had groomed his best friend’s son to be selfish and shallow, caring only about himself – and damn it if he didn’t nearly succeed. Natasha came along later - pretending to be his assistant and confidante, only to stab him in the neck.

Fury wasn’t any better, of course - even if he was skilled at staying one step removed from the day to day, hands on work. Some days Tony wondered about the film clip from the trunk Old One Eye had handed over; whether it had somehow been edited or manipulated and in reality, Howard was talking about something - or someone - completely different.

This all meant that when he saw how Steve alternated between treating Barnes like glass and going into interrogation mode – peppering him with reminders of the way things used to be between them – well, it got under Tony’s skin.

“Barnes, how about you come down to the workshop with me?” Tony broke in, tired of hearing Steve say “Don’t you remember, Buck?” for at least the third time that evening.

“Why?” Steve asked with a frown.

Tony resisted the impulse to roll his eyes; “I want to take a look at that shiny, shiny arm of his.” It wasn’t a lie; Tony had been fascinated by Barnes’ prosthesis since Steve brought him back to the Tower three months after the shitshow in DC.

Steve’s frown deepened, “Tony, I warned you –” he said sternly.

“I don’t mind,” Barnes interrupted. “In fact, it hasn’t been working quite right since … well … you know.”

“Aw, Bucky,” Steve replied, voice tinged with guilt, “why didn’t you say something?”

Because you don’t let him get a word in edgewise, Tony ached to reply, but wisely bit the words back. He watched instead as Bucky shrugged, then winced. “Dunno. Guess I’m not used to speaking up.”

Tony bit back a grin at Barnes’ reply; given Steve’s hangdog expression, it would have only made things worse. Instead, he made a gesture towards the elevator. “After you, sunshine.”

Barnes raised an eyebrow at the moniker, but stood up, saying “See you in a bit, Steve.”

They entered the elevator together, and as soon as the doors closed, Tony said, “He’s not going to understand what you’ve been through. Not ever, I don’t think.”

Barnes’ lips twisted wryly. “And you do?”

“Not to the same extent,” Tony answered, “I mean, I didn’t have someone sending 1.21 gigawatts of electricity through my brain when I started asking questions about my mission, or shoving me into a freezer when they were done with me, but I do know a little bit about being shaped and wielded for other people’s purposes.”

Tony grinned at Barnes’ snort of surprised laughter. “That was pretty damned blunt, Stark.”

Tony spread his hands in mock-surrender. “Figured you were tired of all the tiptoeing.” The doors to the elevator opened, and they both stepped out into Tony’s sanctuary.

“Steve means well,” Barnes sighed, “and from what I do remember, he’s always been like this.”

“I haven’t known him as long as you,” Tony replied, “but I gotta agree. And it’s probably none of my business, but it feels sometimes like he’s trying to mold you into the buddy he remembers from way back when - whether that’s who you want to be or not.”

Barnes looked away for a moment. “I guess it’s like they say, ‘it’s never the fall that kills you, it’s the sudden stop at the end’.”

“That sounds like some sort of Russian proverb to me.”

“Probably.” Barnes huffed in frustration. “ I’m still not sure how much of what’s up here,” he tapped his temple, “is really mine. And there’s plenty I don’t really want to remember, for that matter.”

“A team at SI is working on something that might help with cutting those strings,” Tony replied. “Binarily Augmented Retro-Framing - basically taking a traumatic memory and replaying it in real time so you can make it come out a little different.”

Barnes gave him a small smile. “Sounds like something out of a sci-fi pulp magazine.”

Tony gestured around, “Welcome to the future, my friend.”

#shameless self promo #fanficlet #fictober23 #day 23 #Tony Stark #Bucky Barnes #Steve Rogers #writing stuff

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rongzhi · 1 year

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Are street interviews more like… respectful in China? Because I know in America street interviews are usually just like a guy harassing random people on the street without permission but is it different on douyin? Because you’ve posted a couple street interviews and people seem way less awkward and uncomfortable in them

Idk I don't really watch American street interviews. The purpose of douyin street interviews is generally to be funny or ask pop culture questions, not to create gotcha moments or offend people, plus Chinese netizens would tear someone to pieces if they made those awkward off-putting interviews (the ones I think you're talking about? Like from tiktok? With the fuckboy or reddit types doing the interviewing?).

Funny street interviews have been a trend this year (or last year, 2022) although some people still find them rude to be honest.

Since the douyins are supposed to be funny and are probably clipped to just include the best moments and the people who provide the most accommodating reactions anyway. Some of the interviews are slightly scripted as well—usually the interviewer + interviewee agreeing on a question & responses ahead of time, or the interviewer interviewing someone they actually know. Some viewers still find the interviews offensive, but I've yet to see any interviews that are actually mean-spirited (imo)

🍵 relevant douyin drama time (no, i am not above this 🍉👀) (finally, an outlet for my gossip)

This guy I've posted a couple times got in trouble in November (iirc) because he interviewed some girl and she got offended and it turned out she was also a douyin user with a moderate following (i don't remember her username but it was Princess soemthing or other) and she sent all her followers to his channel to attack him 😵‍💫. He had asked her if she was a Calabash baby because she was wearing a tiara crown headband thing that sort of looked triangular like what they wear:

she was evidentally insulted and made a whole video bashing his conduct . Mostly I'd say he got some rightful criticism because it turned out he hadn't had her sign a release or didn't get a verbal agreement filmed although he apologised under her video and then posted an apology on his channel as well, also promising he would always get a release agreement in the future and basically saying he didn't realise in the moment she was so deeply insulted the way she described in her video because her friends that were with her were laughing (💀) so he thought it was fine to post. (she shit talked him in the comment of his video which was a notes app slideshow LOL and accused him of continued bad behavior (basically didn't read his apology ); sort of a childish follow up but maybe being asked if she was a calabash baby was really that violating. I try not to make light of such things but she was a grown woman so I have to 🙄 a little. i mean the calabash brothers kick ass, first of all?? also I did see that video before it got deleted and her clip just seemed like whatever. i remember that originally the interviewer went up to her friend to ask a question and then she said something so he turned the mic to her and asked the infamous calabash question. and then she sort of gave him the stink eye over her shoulder while her two friends laughed and pulled her along.

side note tea was that in the douyin lady's follow up video about the drama some of her followers tagged this guy i have also posted before and said his were the only non-offensive street interviews because his were scripted (for the record I seriously doubt all of his interviews are scripted) and that all street interviews should be scripted otherwise they were taking advantage of people. and enough people tagged him that he showed up in the comment section and said something (sort of greasy imo) about how what the first guy did was wrong and he would never offend mei-nvs like that which was really rich coming from him imo LOL.

anyway all of this stuff has been deleted. the first guy privated a lot of videos for a while bc the comment sections were just that lady's followers attacking him for being a horrible person and finding issue with other interview clips where he asked women questions (even ones where the interviewee was laughing and not giving him an instant stink eye like the one girl). he went back to posting stuff after a week and hasn't had any other issues.

#text #answered ask

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mirabai0821 · 5 months

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WIP: Blood and Honey CH...3?

Pairings: F!Tav / Halsin Tags: N/A unless you count a bear popping a boner Word Count: 422 Summary: Scratch is missing. Halsin uses his bear to find him. Utter fucking shenanigans ensue. A/N: BAAHAHAAHAAHAHAAAHA Here's more of Blood and Honey from somewhere around chapter three. With Tav upon his back, the pair wandered away from the party and deeper into the forest.

“Scratch! Here boy!”

Halsin growled, the rumble of it vibrating her bones. “Best to not,” He cautioned. “We do not know what hunts tonight. I will sniff him out.”

“Don’t you need a lock of his hair or a favorite toy or something?”

“Normally yes,” He answered. “But I don’t think I need to. This creature must be special to you for you to be so saturated with his scent. Did you raise him from a pup?”

“I…no. I just met him a week or so ago.”

Halsin the Bear still had most of the faculties of Halsin the Elf. He could think and reason and plot and scheme. But the bear parsed the elf’s complex mortal emotions through a bear’s simpler lens. Therefore the admiration he felt at Tav’s devotion to her companion didn’t translate fully and came through as only the bear could make sense of it.

Hunger.

And not the belly-filling kind.

On his back, Tav shifted and Halsin was made keenly aware she was sitting astride him.

Oak Father preserve me…

Halsin sniffed the air and did his damndest to filter Tav out. The bear noted, rather nonchalantly, that her scent told him she was young, healthy, and very fertile.

Halsin snorted, hoping the action would expel that particular smell from his nose.

“Everything okay? I must smell terrible covered in all this mud, huh?”

“It’s not great,” he lied, realizing belatedly he just told a beautiful woman that she stank if only to avoid admitting to said beautiful woman that he could smell her ovulating and that it was driving him to distraction.

Halsin, if you don’t locate this dog right now!

“Sorry,” Tav muttered sheepishly. “I feel foolish even asking for your help. You’re an archdruid, it’s kinda beneath you to go looking for lost dogs.”

“It is precisely because I am an archdruid that I am duty-bound to assist. Finding lost dogs, especially ones so loved, are well within my charge.”

“Thank you,” Absent-mindedly, Tav reached forward and scratched behind his ears like did for Scratch and Kanid before him. The pleasurable sensation nearly dropped Halsin to his knees.

“Please, do not do that again!” He growled.

Tav snatched away. “I’m sorry!”

Tav wiggled, trying to get down from his back, rubbing her crotch against him, stirring up more of her pheromones as she blubbered apologies. “I’m so sorry! I totally forgot someone was in there!”

“Don’t move, do not…stop…Tav please…”

Suddenly, the bear scented blood replacing the hunger that made his loins ache with a new emotion.

Rage.

A/N: Now that I've better fleshed out a thornier section later in the fic, I have a feeling more snippets from earlier parts of the story will come at a decent clip. Will I ever be done with this story? Perhaps. Good lord willing and the creek don't rise, I hope to have it posting worthy before the end of the year. More Blood and Honey snippets:

Chapter 1 The Old Bear's Still Got It Confession? Go See A Priest Halsin x Tav x Astarion Headcanons: Part 1 Part 2 Tav x Halsin standalone drabbles: Gray Hair Movement

Hmm...Guess I need to balance it out with some Tav x Astarion drabbles. Keep on the lookout.

#tav x halsin #daddy halsin #bear halsin #i am a menace #take this laptop from me before i commit more crimes #cooking with fucking GAS i'm telling you

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lambjock · 6 months

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your thoughts on the cut jackienat scene are everything and it's really nice to see someone else get it. the discourse from the scene has been draining enough because people don't think it was cut for being out of character when that seems to be the case

also, happy belated!

i'm glad to hear that you ( and others ) agree! honestly, i was quite nervous to post my thoughts on the matter in the main tag, considering how crazy fandom spaces can get nowadays, but i felt so strongly about this in particular that i couldn't help it. my main issue with the discussion surrounding this deleted scene is the fact that it feels extremely pointed. for the last few months, jackienat as a romantic relationship and as a platonic pairing has been gaining steady traction ; they've become a staple to most fics as an essential dynamic and something that heavily matters to both characters. besides shaunajackie it's easily the second most popular ship for jackie, and in a way i think that's the problem. ever since gaining more popularity, there's been very odd comments thrown it's way? people taking every given opportunity to claim they don't see the 'jackienat romantic vision' on edits, saying it would never be a thing because of jackie's one slut shaming comment about natalie, etc etc. before this deleted scene dropped there clearly were handfuls of people who would do anything to tear this dynamic down and then they finally got the biggest chance to do so ... and they did! i've seen people call jackienat's whole dynamic 'completely fanon', people saying this was a satisfying scene to them because of jackienat shippers disliking shaunajackie, and excuses after excuses as to why this scene is, in fact, canon and why it works. overall it was just saddening to see? just feels like a good majority of yellowjackets fans see jackie as shauna's property rather than a fictional character people can do whatever with, so the idea of her having a relationship with natalie quickly became this threat that they had to belittle and claim as ooc at every given opportunity. which is weird! considering shauna has so many other ships that don't include jackie at all. it's also a little amusing since a good chunk of these people happen to ship shaunanat, most of them quickly rallying behind the 'nat pointing a gun at a pregnant shauna' scene as shipping fodder. don't think i've seen anyone saying 'oh shaunanats lost with this one' despite the heap of comments saying this for jackienat.

point is : i find the intent behind people's talk for this scene to be rather weird more than i find the scene itself to be sad or despairing. simply because it is just not canon. when scenes are cut for time, they've usually been filmed first -- considering that said scenes made it into the final, 100% solid script. this is true for the shauna and adam bdsm scene because we've seen clips of that in the actual show, meaning they filmed it and just cut it for time. same thing with a lot of s2's cut for time scenes! lots of the actresses and actors said these moments had been filmed but just didn't make the final cut. to me this signifies a time issue to some degree, especially given how long some of these scenes would've been! but the jackienat thing would've been a couple seconds tops? it was nothing more than jackie sitting outside and then the two of them passing her all while nat gives her a scathing, hateful look. considering we see shots of jackie sitting by herself with the cabin's front door in view, this would've been fairly easy to accomplish! i don't think people get that, per se. which to me signifies it was cut from the script before they started filming, or that by the time they got to the finale they saw this as ooc. idk. it just doesn't make sense for this to be cut for 'time issues' like the way some people are trying to argue. and even if this was the case, it proves that the writers deemed this moment as something unimportant enough to not include.

also, i don't see why this is the be all end all of jackienat either. is it bad to say this scene would've made me like them more? picturing this scene as canon and then having to watch natalie's anguish in s2 ep3 makes her guilt all the more agonizing to me, honestly. it was already such a hard hitting scene : seeing nat treat jackie's remains with respect, to see her shed her walls and be vulnerable with someone she didn't know well but cared for, and to get a peek into the fact she feels so guilty because, naturally, natalie sees this as her fault. they ate jackie because she couldn't find food fast enough. they killed her because she hadn't been there. these are things nat doesn't need to feel guilt and shame over, because jackie wasn't her responsibility or her friend, but she feels them anyway and she feels them intensely. now imagining this scene in a world where the deleted part was canon? awful! those emotions would've been way more heightened, all those personal blames would've had a fraction of truth to them, and natalie would be forced to acknowledge that when someone needed her help, she had just left them behind in the cold. something which would also intensify the pain of her watching javi drown in freezing water all while crying out to her ... a moment which she'd be wearing jackie's necklace. also, i'd find it kind of interesting that it'd be implied natalie has all these complexities and personal hatred over letting jackie taylor die just like shauna. they'd be the two who take her passing the hardest, the ones who blame themselves more than anyone else. to me that's just gayer than what we got canonically lol. but in turn, i think this could've been another reason why it was cut? this guilt and shame and hate was something reserved for shauna alone, because it's so pivotal to her character and growth, to the point that the writers couldn't let anyone really share that same feeling. it would've taken away from shaunajackie, i think, and what makes them special. if natalie genuinely had walked past jackie out of hate only for her to die the next morning, i believe we would've seen this guilt permanently etched into her character from the beginning. people forget just how quickly nat is to blame herself for things! and be very obvious about that blame! just feels like we would've known if natalie had left jackie out there on purpose, which isn't something we know at all in regards to the actual show.

anyway! i've rambled on quite enough. to me, this scene isn't that bad at all, and i don't think this takes away from the potential of jackienat whatsoever. there's really no evidence that it does! even in the worst case scenario of this scene being canon, it just makes the dynamic much more tragic, which fans eat up on this show. and at the end of the day i wouldn't give the discussions much attention, considering most peoples reasons for wanting this scene to be canon are very petty.

#my posts.#asks.#yellowjackets #at this point a lot of people have talked about how this is ooc for the show's nat so i didn't talk about that much!#but like i definitely agree. just didn't feel like i had more to bring to the table with that so i talked about other things on my mind #like in general i think the idea that nat would parallel shauna when it comes to jackie taylor is INSANE #and feels more like a win to jackienats then it feels like a loss #is it ooc for our nat? yes. would it have been heart wrenching to see nat's reaction after? also yes.#just because i think she would've brought jackie in doesn't mean i don't like the idea of this scene. even if just a little bit #but due to how ooc it feels and how some people are acting about this scene i just. am not fucking with it super hard #it just feels like some people need everyone to hate jackie besides shauna? like this is something they need to be canon #which rubs me the wrong way and makes me more of a jackienat defender than i initially was #at the end of the day : if natalie forgave and loved the girls after doomcoming? she would've done the same with jackie but faster #these girls loved each other and it was awful and that's kinda it #jackie wasn't some special exception where everyone hated her 24/7 and hated her pre-crash and just always hated her #for one its so unrealistic and for two this goes against the themes of intense female friendships and how shaky they can be #jackie wasn't always hated but they turned on her quick for silly ridiculous things #its just how teenagers are #and idk jackienat's whole thing of 'oh we could've been best friends in a kinder world during a better time' devestates me #out of all the girls there the one who would've understood jackie best would've been nat #just like how the same is true the other way around! they really could've understood each other #could've been there for each other and provided and loved but they didn't. and now they wont ever get the chance to #anyway!!! i hope this makes sense im tired but yeah <3 thanks sm for the birthday wishes and for this ask!!!#it was fun to revisit this so soon haha so thanks sm have an amazing day!

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detailtilted · 4 months

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Sample of Upcoming "Enhanced Edition" CHICON 2007 Solo Jensen Panel

This sample was removed when I updated the full video with drastically improved video quality. I did not recreate the sample, but you can find the full video here.

Original post:

This is just a small, 1+ minute segment of a larger video that I’ll probably post next week. Thanks so much to the people who watched, reblogged, and/or liked the CHICON 2007 Enhanced Edition Breakfast video! It made me super happy to see some interest, and I know that was mostly thanks to those of you who managed to stumble across my obscure post and reblog it so people would actually see it.

I’ve started working on the main panels involving Jared and/or Jensen from the same convention. Jensen’s solo panel is next sequentially, so that’s what this sample is from. This clip was one of my favorite parts from his panel. I’m including Jared and J2 in the tags because Jensen talks about working with Jared here.

If you don’t have any particular interest in the subtitles, you can skip the wall of text below.

On this sample, I used a much lighter color of blue for Jensen’s subtitles. The more I looked at the shade I'd been using, the more I thought it was too dark to be read easily. It became more apparent to me while working on his solo panel because there’s so much more of it. I’d be happy to get opinions, good or bad. I was really attached to the idea of using blue for Jensen and red for Jared because of their marker tape colors, and I’m pretty sure the previous shade of blue was more accurate in that regard, but it’s far more important to me that the subtitles be readable than that they be symbolic!

If people like this color better, I’ll go back and update the subtitles for the Breakfast video to use the same color for Jensen. Subtitles are a separate file from the video, so it’s not too difficult to make changes and switch the subtitle file out without affecting the video itself.

Speaking of which, feel free to let me know if you catch any errors with the subtitles and I’ll fix them. Also, if there’s a subtitle that I marked as [inaudible] and you’re confident that you know what they said, let me know. There were parts I marked as [inaudible] even though I felt sure I could guess what they’d said based on the context, but I couldn’t hear any sounds or see any mouth movements to clearly confirm it. I tried not to put words in their mouths that they might not have said, and I didn’t want to force my own interpretation on anyone. Sometimes though, there were places where I felt like I should have been able to figure out what they were saying but I just couldn’t get the sounds to make sense to my ears, so someone else might be able to hear those. Other times, I would hear something for the umpteenth time, often when I was focusing on some other aspect of the video and not thinking about the subtitles at all, and suddenly it would seem blatantly obvious to me what they were saying.

As far as issues with the videos themselves, I can’t easily change them after I publish them because it would create a new video link on YouTube and I'd rather not create a confusion of links. However, please do still feel free to let me know if you catch any errors in my added content. I’ll keep a list of errata for my own notes in case I ever do have a reason to update the video. If it’s particularly egregious, I can at least put a note in the video description. (And since this is a sample, if you catch any issues, I can fix it for the full version.)

#jensen ackles #jared padalecki #j2 #chicon 2007 #enhanced edition con video #Youtube

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quibbs126 · 1 year

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So I talked about making a Theobromine Cookie a bit back, and I decided “eh why not” and just drew him out

For those without context, I mentioned him in my “things about Dark Cacao that point to him having weird origins” post, specifically in the tags, saying that I sort of went into a spiral that led me to make that post

So my first gut instinct with making Theobromine, at least after reading a bit about it, was to make him a chill guy who also doesn’t entirely understand what’s going on, or at least he seems that way, but in reality he’s even stronger than Dark Cacao without really trying and is far more competent than he seems. He just doesn’t really care most of the time. Sort of like what I’ve seen of Ao Lie in Monkie Kid (I haven’t watched Season 4 yet, but I have seen clips with him)

Eventually that sort of devolved into making him a more serious character, but I decided to keep part of that, specifically the more idiot part, and change it to him being an amnesiac, meaning that he can be a chill dude, despite the fact that he wasn’t originally and was more of a badass

I realize I haven’t actually explained much about Theobromine, other than original ideas for him. So basically, Theobromine here is actually the father of Dark Cacao, hence Dark Cacao’s shocked reaction to him in one of the pictures. However, due to him having amnesia, Theobromine doesn’t know that, and while Dark Cacao does, he wants to wait a bit before telling him, since telling this guy he’s the father of the current ruler of this kingdom that also looks older than him is gonna be a bit too much for him to handle. He’s planning on waiting until Theobromine has a better grasp on himself and the world around him before telling him of the past.

Also he’s a Super Epic, like I stated in those tags. Just thought I’d put that in now

As for what happened to him and how he’s still alive, so Theobromine isn’t immortal (at least not anymore), thousands of years ago, when Dark Cacao was still young (but only like a little bit before he met the other Ancients), Theobromine was subjected to some curse that caused him to go into a magically induced coma, and/or be sealed in a block of ice? I dunno, I haven’t worked out a lot of the details with him. But anyways, Dark Cacao didn’t know how to reverse it, and thought the curse was unbreakable, so he ended up leaving him to rest, assuming that he’d eventually crumble of old age in his sleep. In current day, someone (I think some Watchers) ended up finding where he was, and due to some mishap, he ended up actually awakening from his slumber, and so they took him back to the Citadel to recover. Dark Cacao is informed and meets the stranger, only to be shocked with who it is, though he’s vague about what their connection is. Eventually Dark Cacao realizes that Theobromine has amnesia and decides it’d be best to just let him try and figure out himself on his own, before overwhelming him with his past, though he is tempted to just tell him

So I’m sure you noticed the white hair one, and probably also the fact I said he isn’t immortal anymore. Well I thought with his name basically meaning “food of the gods” (which made more sense for a cookie the more I thought about it), as well as me pointing out the things about Dark Cacao that are a bit odd, and the fact that I was going to make him a Super Epic, I thought, “hey why not have him be like a supernatural Cookie?” So I’ll be honest, I don’t have all the details down, but basically Theobromine’s where Dark Cacao gets the slit eyes and abnormal strength, because Theobromine used to be a Legendary Cookie, or something equating to that. I haven’t exactly figured out what he was, just that he had immense power and is where Dark Cacao gets his abnormalities. But I know his hair used to be white back then. And it glowed. But eventually, he did something that angered other higher beings (I just refer to them in my head as “the gods” bc of the name, but I’m not sure whether they’re other Legendaries or witches or other humans or something), and as punishment, he was stripped of his power and forced to live as a normal Cookie, with one of the things being his hair turning black. He still retained some of his power, so he didn’t really listen at first, but he eventually went through a character arc that made him recognize his mortality and come to appreciate the mortal life. Which I realized after making that originally is just he plot of the first Thor movie, but whatever. And later on, he eventually had his own mortal child, Dark Cacao, who inherited streaks of his original white hair, as well as some of his abilities

I said he kept some of his abilities, and he learned to tap into some of his original power, with his hair turning white like it used to, but he can only use it for a certain amount of time, as it puts massive strain on his body the longer he uses it. In current times, he isn’t aware he has those powers, though as shown his hair does occasionally flash white when he’s surprised, though nobody really knows why

Okay, if it isn’t clear, I have not fleshed out a lot of the ideas here, they’re just here. I haven’t really had the time to flesh him out, nor am I even sure I’m gonna stick with him

So as for his design, I’m aware it’s pretty basic, but that was how I originally envisioned him, so I just kept it for his amnesiac state. I gave him silver eyes because theobromine is apparently a white powder, so it was to incorporate that. Originally I was also going to make his hair have more white streaks, but then I made it so his hair was originally white to keep with that. Also you may notice in the lower corner another picture of him, that was just me trying to figure out what his past design looked like. I wanted to give him Dark Cacao’s beta shoulder pads as a reference to him, but I’m not sure I like it.

Oh yeah, another thing I forgot to mention, he’s not supposed to be that skinny. In reality he’s like the same size as Dark Cacao, maybe even slightly taller than him. I just don’t think I got that across

So I’m not sure if I’m keeping him, since he kind of directly contradicts Ruby Cacao. Ruby Cacao was made with the basis that Dark Cacao didn’t know the dragons and that he grew up in poverty. Also she was made with the idea that they don’t have parents. Having Theobromine and them living with him contradicts that, and it greatly diminishes her importance in his life, and could even mean that she never died in the first place, since I doubt Theobromine would let that happen to his kid. Plus, I feel like giving Dark Cacao a dad and a sister is overdoing it, one or the other is fine but not both. And I like Ruby Cacao, so I’m just not sure what to do. He was just a “what if” character that now I’ve grown attached to

But yeah, that’s Theobromine. Hope you like him, or what little I have of him

#cookie run #cookie run kingdom #cookie run oc #theobromine cookie #dark cacao cookie #my ocs #my art #I’m also debating an au where Theobromine doesn’t go comatose and meets the other Ancients #and he basically becomes their babysitter bc they’re his son’s friends #like he goes on adventures with them but ends up having to be the voice of reason and adult #also I’m not sure what his and Dark Cacao’s relationship was like #since I don’t imagine Dark Cacao to have had a good life before meeting the Ancients #but I’m not sure I want to make Theobromine a bad dad #I mean maybe conflict arises between the two since Theo was baked essentially a god and DC was baked mortal #and Theo just doesn’t understand what that difference entails

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mrs-monaghan · 1 year

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Jkk probably feel the need to defend V's behavior lately, because if they don't then they're left questioning his loyalty to Jm regarding Jk. The day V tells Jk he likes him the most or that he likes him to his face, then what? When V did that in front of Jk and said all of that to Jm, even causing Jm to tell him to stop when he kept telling him he liked him, it was written off as soulmates, besties, even with people trying to defend Jk, saying it was wrong if he's dating Jm. If V was willing to tell Jm he likes him and not be joking and later on say he likes Jm the most right in front of Jk, then what would stop V from flipping the script and doing it to Jk now, since they seem closer lately?

I don't think V would do that tho, because it is Jm he likes the most, not Jk & Jk wouldn't ever let V do something like to that Jm, but if Mr. Unpredictable ever did tho, I'm betting it wouldn't be written off as besties/soulmates, like it was with Vmin. We had Jk saying from a friend & Jm's actual panic waiting for what V was gonna say to him, then Jm looking at Jk after V said that to him & Jin's side eye & Suga yelling to break the tension. They all knew & braced for impact lol. He's not a horrible person, he loves Jikook, but he's unpredictable & enjoys trolling & kinda does before he thinks. Example, Going live from Jk's house without asking permission. If Jikook are dating, I imagine that didn't sit right with Jm & calling out people for saying it was wrong, cause they don't want to admit they themselves know its wrong, isn't okay. You may think its right, doesn't mean someone else does & no one has a right to say you can't feel its wrong. Jm is very patient with V cause he loves him & V just told Jm he loves him openly on IG just 4 mons ago, so I think Vmin are fine, but there are limits & patience can wear thin, even when it comes to besties.

what would stop V from flipping the script and doing it to JK now, since they seem closer lately?

Who's side are u on anon?

I love this video sm!! God Bless the person on twitter who made it 😂😂😂

No, but really, anon you have to watch how u say things. We live in a world where Tkkrs sent death threats to V pretending to be Jkkrs so they can make us look bad. We have them using Jimin as their PPs so they can lure people into the cult. So I am very cautious, alright? Let's be careful about how we word things so I don't side eye u 🤭🤭

Just because we don't see Jikook out and about like we used to, don't mean Tkk are now closer than Jkk. U know what, I wanna talk about this. The vermin can yell till the cows come home but we only have 2 legit instances of them being spotted together. 2. TWO instances. Bowling

And the musical

The end.

Every other instance has been made up and doesn't exist. The snowboarding which later turned into ice skating??? The way that story kept changing? And the fact that JK who hates the cold was ice skating without gloves and that's how a fan spotted him? 🤡🤡🤡🤡

Then we have the TT ontop of that one hotel. Where they supposedly spent the night together

Never mind that other members were present too and a certain girl group was also staying there. ☕

Speaking of the TT (that was for work) I have never seen anyone bring this up so I will. When this TT got posted I was trying so hard to figure out what or who I was looking at.

It was hard. Alright? Go to the comment section and see Trashkookers complain how they wish the video was clearer. The fact that I needed to check the tags to know who was dancing 🤭🤭 And so when this happened my Jikook brain couldn't help but wonder; editor - JK did he do this on purpose? Would he have edited the TT the same way if he had done it with Jimin? With Hobi? Was this him denying the cult content? We know he don't like them. 🤷🏽‍♀️ Food for thought. 🤔

Moving on swiftly....

Back to your ask my darling anon. I'm sorry your one sentence sent me into a tangent. 🙏🏽 I pretty much agree with everything u said. I will clip Jimin looking at JK during that Vmin moment so we can all enjoy it together.

Notice how Jimin didn't say "I like you the most too?" Is it because there's another person at that table that he likes the most? 👀 But the kicker is when Jimin looks at JK immediately after saying that. Immediately. Gee, I wonder why. 🤭

You know what this moment reminds me of? Bon voyage season 4 episode 6.

Jimin says he wants to sleep in the tent WHILE LOOKING AT JK. JK tells him to go ahead. No one else, just JK

Jimin repeats again *while still looking at JK* that him and Suga were gonna sleep in the tent. And JK nods.

👁👃🏽👁

This reads to me like Jimin was asking for permission here. He gets it the first time but once again feels the need to reiterate; babe, I will be in the tent with Suga. 🤭🤭

But like i said before. We don't talk about Yoonmin 🤫🤫🤫

#the power the Jungkonda holds y'all #its no joke #jimin had to check with his man #before sleeping with suga #but #we don't talk about yoonmin #he he hee!#bts ask #ask shaz #jimin and jungkook #park jimin #jeon jungkook #jimin #jungkook #bts #the vermin #jikook analysis #bon voyage jikook #jikook bothered

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jaybigheaddt · 1 year

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On January 17th, 2023, the professional wrestling world lost one half of one of the best tag teams. If anything, indie wrestling lost one of its finest pioneers. If you are a fan of tag team wrestling, hell even AEW, I can safely say Jay Briscoe was an influence on modern tag team wrestling, AEW, and indie wrestling today.

As someone who grew up watching indie wrestling clips or just trying to find any indie wrestling matches online. I would see names like Bryan Danielson, Trent Acid, Chris Hero, Nigel McGuinness, Homicide, and today’s post, Mark and Jay Briscoe, The Briscoe Brothers. There’s something magical about the 2000s indie scene, it was something you had to experience back then to believe it. If you were tired of mainstream WWE or even TNA, ROH and the indies might have been a scene you loved. And fuck did the Briscoe Brothers set the bar on tag team wrestling. To call Briscoe’s style of wrestling as “hard hitting” would not do it justice. Here’s how I can describe it, think of the toughest person you know, they hit hard, they know they can hit hard, but they also want to be the absolute best, not the toughest, or just the most badass, but the absolute best. The Briscoes were hungry, the hit hard, they flew, the grappled, they set the fucking bar of tag team wrestling. Whether it was FTR, The American Wolves, or Generation Next, The Briscoes could work with any team. CZW, ROH, PWG, GCW, NJPW, or NOAH, The Briscoes won gold.

While I love me some Briscoes, Jay Briscoe was a completely different animal. I love Mark Briscoe dearly, but there’s a reason why ROH made Jay Briscoe a world champion. There was fire in Jay Briscoe that can not be matched. A passion, a rage, a beast that was ready to unleash. All you need to do is watch a Jay Briscoe promo, and look into his eyes, and there’s a magnetic force behind it, something trying to draw you in, yet want you to know, “DO NOT FUCK WITH JAY BRISCOE!” While The Briscoes made tag team wrestling a violent art, Jay Briscoe matches is a violent passion. The man made you believe he was in the fight of his life in every single match. While people were hesitant on him winning the ROH title, he showed the wrestling world he deserved it.

Another thing about Jay Briscoe that made me admire him more. If he fucked up, he knew he did, and he made every attempt to rectify that wrong. You can’t talk about Jay Briscoe, without talking about the abhorrent thing he said about gay marriage. I bring this up, not to slander Jay, but to show how he matured and changed his views. When word of his passing broke, multiple prominent LGBTQA+ wrestling personalities all spoke highly of Jay, as wrestler and as a man and if you know how LGBTQA+ wrestling personalities are nowadays, there are not afraid to hold their tongue. I like to think Cary Silkin, former owner of ROH, and a openly gay man himself, spoke to Jay when all that happened. All I heard was how much he changed, how opening he was to gay wrestlers, how much he wanted to be leader for all, helping them when ever he can, no matter who, that me showed, Jay Briscoe truly changed, and Jay Briscoe is a wonderful man.

At the end of the day, Jay Briscoe, is an icon in wrestling, an icon in indie wrestling, an icon in tag team wrestling, a wonderful family man, a wonderful brother, and just a wonderful man in general. My thoughts and prayers to his brother Mark, his wife, his family, friends, but especially his daughters, who as of this writing is still in the hospital. I truly hope time can heal this painful wound. Thank you Jay, and remember guys, Terry Funk ain’t wear no mouth piece, AND REACH FOR THE SKY BOY!

#roh #ring of honor #jay briscoe #mark briscoe #briscoe brothers #wrestling #aew #gcw

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twopoppies · 1 year

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Hey Gina! Pls ignore this if you have already answered it. I saw a few clips and videos saying louis was at Harry's shows in 2021? Some went on to say harry even pointed at him in the upper rows? I was not in the fandom around that time so im not aware of it. But is it true?

I haven't seen anything that made me feel certain he was there. But you can look through my 2021 LARRY MOMENTS or 2021 LARRY RECEIPTS tags to see if there's anything you notice. I just think fans are trying too hard to make those VIP booth sightings happen because they happened in 2018.

IIRC, there was a report from someone whose mom worked at one of the venues who said she saw them both. And there were a couple of posts from fans who spoke with security guards who supposedly said Harry was at the first AFHF the day before (during set up) and one who said H was at the set for the KMM music video the day before. But obviously, there's no proof.

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felicitysmoaksx · 2 years

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Hi everyone! Another Rheese married fic? From me? Shocking right? But this one should be a little different because of how the universe is being sculpted. I've been working on this idea since late December? So I'm really excited to finally share a piece of this with you!

And this will be a series of one-shots or mini multi-chapters. But originally it was going to be a fairly long multi-chapter. However, I realized my strength is a big story in small increments. So some of these may end fairly abruptly.

Thanks so much for reading! And I hope you enjoy!!

Summary: Connor didn’t know how to respond to this, so he didn’t. Instead, he asked, “How much am I going to have to rebuild with her?” “All of it. You’re going to have to rebuild your whole relationship with her because she woke up thinking she’s two weeks into her ED rotation as a med student.”.

Word Count: 4.0k

Warnings: Vague depictions of a car accident and probably inaccurate depictions of amnesia (even though I’ve done my research!) . Along with probably many more inaccurate medical procedures.

Read On AO3 | Fic Playlist | Want to be tagged when I post a Rheese story?

Rare as the Glimmer of a Comet

Bright lights loomed over her. Then there was the beeping, measured and steady. Sarah blinked. Was she in the hospital? No sooner than the question came to her, the pain settled over her like a weight, pulling her down.

“Ow,” she winced softly. Her head throbbed in tandem with the ache in her body. But what happened? What had put her here? Sarah tried to remember, but the harder she thought about it, the more her headache worsened.

“Sarah,” a new voice said and she glanced up to see Dr. Choi standing there in the doorway. A smile, that could only be categorized as gentle (a word she never thought she’d use when she described him) on his lips.

“It’s good to see you awake. You gave us quite a scare.” He said, coming up on the right side of her bed. “I’m just going to check your vitals, okay?”

He pulled a penlight from his pocket and was checking her eyes when she asked if he knew what happened to her.

“You were in a car accident.” He explained in a soft tone. He moved on to check her reflexes and breathing. “Another driver fell asleep at the wheel and ran a red light. Hit you from the left.”

Okay, that made sense-why her body and head ached, if someone had clipped her while she was walking down the street.

“Your car was totaled.” Dr. Choi continued as he moved to take her blood pressure. But now that didn’t make sense. She didn’t even have her license. When she told him that though, Dr. Choi just smiled that same gentle smile from before as he pushed some hair out of her eyes. “Get some sleep, Sarah. I’ll be back before the end of my shift, okay?”

She nodded, blinking at him owlishly. Dr. Choi was acting so familiar with her and he was calling her Sarah instead of Reese. Which -her eyes drooped heavily. Whatever medication she was on was working its way to pull her back under- was so weird because she didn’t know him that well. She yawned, her eyes falling closed once more. After all, she hadn’t been at Med all that long.

Sarah jerked awake, looking around she saw Dr. Choi was back, this time with a backpack.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to be that loud,” he said when he saw her awake. She opened her mouth to ask what he was doing there when a sudden coughing fit interrupted what she was going to say. Dr. Choi moved quickly. He grabbed the pitcher of water and poured some into a cup before he pushed the cup into her hand. Then he was helping her sit up so she could drink it.

“Better?” He asked when she had downed the cup. She nodded. “Good.”

“What are you doing here?” She asked again as he helped lay back down on the bed.

“I told you I’d be back and neither Will or I liked the idea of you up here by yourself. Not with Connor getting in so late. He said the earliest flight he could get was three in the morning. So he’ll be here later tonight. Will too. He’ll be here much sooner though. He just went to get you something more vegetarian friendly than what Med has to offer.”

Will? Connor? The only people she knew were named that were... “You mean Dr. Halstead and Dr. Rhodes? Why would they be coming to visit me?”

Dr. Choi merely chuckled, “That’s a good one.”

But Sarah wasn’t trying to be funny. She told him as much. Trying to make him understand. “It’s you who’s not making sense, Dr. Choi. You say my car was totaled, but that’s impossible because I don’t even know how to drive, let alone have a car. I take the bus to and from work every day. You say Dr. Rhodes and Halstead are both on their way. But I barely know them or you for that matter, I’m only two weeks into my ED rotation, and…what?”

A critical yet somber look had taken over Dr. Choi’s face, replacing the smile he had before. “Sarah…what year is it?“

The question caught her off guard, but it was his tone that made her answer. Albeit with a little hesitation, “2015?”

He didn’t have to say that it was the wrong answer. Sarah knew by the way his whole face seemed to darken.

“Dr. Choi, what-” her question was cut off by a knock on the door. Then Dr. Halstead was there, poking his head in. He smiled when he saw her awake.

“Hey, there’s the ED’s favorite patient.” He said, walking in with a plastic container. Then he noticed Dr. Choi’s expression. The smile he wore faltered. “What’s wrong?”

“Reese, why don’t you eat your dinner while Will and I talk in the hallway?”

“Dr. Choi,” she started, in a slightly panicking voice, even to her own ears. The doctor rested his hand on her shoulder, squeezing it slightly, “We’ll figure this out, Sarah. I promise.”

Then he stood and moved across the room. He took the food from Dr. Halstead and placed it on Sarah’s rollaway table.

“Eat. We’re not sure when you did last,” he told her. When he didn’t see her move, he spoke again. “It’s okay Reese. It’ll be fine. Will and I just need to talk and then we will possibly need a consult.”

But nothing felt fine. Her body ached and her head throbbed from a car accident where she had been behind the wheel instead of beside it and apparently, it wasn’t 2015.

“What’s going on? What’s wrong?” Dr. Halstead demanded, eyes darting from Dr. Choi to Sarah.

“In the hall Will,” Dr. Choi bit out before Sarah could say anything. Then, before she could even blink, Dr. Choi was dragging Dr. Halstead out by his arm. The sliding door closed behind them. The click of it echoed in Sarah’s head.

“What is going on? Why does Sarah look like she wants to throw up? Is she nauseous? Does she have a concussion? Or one of her migraines? Connor says those are really bad for her.” Will asked as soon as they were out in the hallway. Ethan shook his head slowly before he grimly explained the conversation he had with Sarah just before Will got there.

“We need to get Dr. Abrams down here,” Will said and Choi nodded in agreement.

“Do you want to tell Connor or should I?” He asked, but the red-headed doctor was already shaking his head at the suggestion.

“No, we’re not telling him anything right now. He’s already worried about her. We’ve told him about the accident. That’s enough for now because there is nothing he can do from L.A. or the plane. But I can tell him when he gets here. I’m his best friend. I feel like I should tell him.”

“I’ll page Abrams then.”

They came back fifteen minutes later with Dr. Abrams in tow. And that confirmed to Sarah that it was as bad as she thought. The neurosurgeon, who always slightly terrified her, asked her a lot of questions. What year she thought it was, the last thing she remembered, where she lived as a kid, what her mother did for a living, who the doctors behind him were…questions of that variety (For the record: 2015 even though she knew from Dr. Choi’s face earlier that wasn’t right. Helping Dr. Rhodes and Dr. Zanetti with Dr. Rhodes’ friend that came in with an entire chandelier inside of him, New York, litigation attorney, and Dr. Choi and Dr. Halstead.)

“Okay, Dr. Reese. Well, I want to run some other tests just to be sure and to try to determine what kind, but I’m afraid you do have amnesia just from the way you answered these questions.” He wasn’t unkind like Sarah thought he would be, but he was very clinical and to the point.

“Is it permanent?”

Dr. Abrams shrugged, “Typically, no. But each case is different. It could be weeks, months, even years in some cases before you regain your memories.”

“Years?” Sarah squeaked, what little food she had managed to eat, flipped in her stomach. For all his bedside manner was lacking, Dr. Abrams patted her hand and said, “That's a worst-case scenario though. I do want to do a head CT as soon as possible. To make sure your brain isn’t swelling. Then if all is clear, we’ll do the other tests later. Give your body a chance to rest.”

He stood up when she nodded and looked at the other two doctors, “I assume you’ll be wheeling her up there?”

Both Dr. Choi and Halstead nodded.

He made to walk out of the room but Sarah’s voice made him stop.

“Wait. If it’s not 2015, then what year is it?”

The doctors all shared a look. Then it was Dr. Choi who faced her. That same gentle look on his face from before. He sighed, “2019.”

Sarah felt her head spin and her stomach swoop as her medicated brain processed the number slowly. “Four years… I’ve lost four years? ”

She faced the neurosurgeon, “How is that possible? For me to just lose four years of my life?”

“It’s not unheard of but it’s not fairly common either. The brain, although we know more than we did ten years ago, is an organ that we know frighteningly little about.” He said this with a logical voice. “So I’m sorry to say, I’m not sure how you lost four years. But I can assure you I’ll figure out why.”

Then he took his leave, after nodding to the other doctors in the room, which left Sarah to stare at Dr. Choi and Dr. Halstead.

Connor couldn’t help his hurried steps as he made his way into the hospital. He swiped his ID badge, before all but running into the hospital. (He had never been more grateful to have worked in this hospital in his life because by the time he arrived, he knew visiting hours would be over, and was it a little sneaky to use his privileges as a doctor here? Probably. But Connor was past caring at the moment. Not until he saw with his eyes that Sarah was alright.)

“Connor! Hey Connor, wait!” He heard Will call out as he made a beeline for the elevators. There were footsteps and then a hand dropped to his shoulder.

“I need to tell you something before you see Sarah,” Will explained. But Connor shook his head. Nothing was more important than seeing Sarah right now. “It can wait.”

“No. No, it can't Connor, because it’s about her condition.” Now that made the former trauma surgeon look up as the elevator arrived with a ding. Will sighed, running a hand through his red locks of hair and hoping his best friend didn’t shoot the messenger. “Come on, I’ll tell you on the way up.”

His hand placed on Connor’s back propelled the double-certified surgeon forward into the elevator. The door had just begun to shut when Will said, “Sarah was unconscious when she was brought in. Didn’t wake up till just earlier this evening. We did an initial head scan when she came in and she didn’t seem to have any injuries there. So we let it go and focused on her other injuries. But when she woke up, Ethan said she seemed confused. But he thought it was just a side effect of the medication. It wasn’t until she woke up a second time that he knew something was wrong.”

Connor released a breath he had been holding since he got the call informing him of the accident when he saw his wife lying in the bed. His feet carried him forward as he reached out and moved a lock of her hair out of her face. Then his hand drifted down to hers covered in bandages.

“Jay and Kim saw the accident happen,” Will told him, sounding uncertain. “They said she’s lucky to be alive with how the car looked. It’s totaled by the way but…”

“Will, I don’t care about the car,” Connor told him shortly. Sure, it was a Porsche, but he could always buy another car. Besides he had more important things to worry about. Like Sarah’s recovery. He sighed, glancing over at his shoulder at his best friend. “I’m sorry. It’s been a long night.”

“I know. You don’t need to apologize.”

“Yes, I do. You and Choi stayed with her till I got here. You worked her case, even when it wasn’t your shift.”

“Technicalities and Ava helped work her intake too,” Will said to him, “But we did that because you and Sarah are family. Don’t you get that by now?”

Connor didn’t know how to respond to this, so he didn’t. Instead, he asked, “How much am I going to have to rebuild with her?”

Silence.

The surgeon turned, looking at his friend once more. His friend looked like he wanted to be anywhere else than where he was. Will looked like he didn’t want to give him any more bad news. Connor fisted his hand, knuckles turning white.

“Will,” he started. He didn’t sound angry but he also didn’t sound happy either. But it did sound like he was at the end of his rope.

“All of it. You’re going to have to rebuild your whole relationship with her because she woke up thinking she’s two weeks into her ED rotation as a med student.”

White-hot anger flared in Connor’s body. Will winced as his best friend hit a water bottle on the rollaway table pushed off to the side. It fell with a dull thud. The red-headed doctor wanted to say something. Words of reassurance, but he knew they would not be well received right now. So instead, Will said, “Dr. Abrams left for the night. But he’ll be by tomorrow morning to fill you in on next steps.”

“Yeah okay. Thanks, Will.” Connor set his bag down as he fell into the seat by Sarah’s bedside. “I know I don’t seem like it right now. But I really do appreciate what you and everyone else have done for Sarah.”

“‘Course,” Will patted his friend’s shoulder, yawning. “I think I’m also headed home for the night now that you’re here. I have an eight am morning shift. But I’ll have my phone on in case you need anything.”

“Thanks, Will,”

When Sarah woke up again, the sun was just starting to rise. She still felt foggy. Like the world was still spinning just a little slower than when she first woke up. But still, spinning all the same because who lost four years of their life?? She pushed herself up so she was sitting up more. That’s when she noticed the two people standing just outside her door. Dr. Abrams was back and was speaking with… Dr. Rhodes, Sarah realized with a start. If she hadn’t believed Dr. Choi or Halstead when they said four years had passed, then the sight of Connor Rhodes would’ve made her believe it. While all three of the doctors had looked more or less the same, Dr. Rhodes looked older.

He wasn’t old by any means of the word. But from where Sarah was sitting, she could see three wrinkles lined his forehead that hadn’t been there the last time she remembered seeing him. And his scruff, his scuff was gone and in its place, there was a full beard. He had a grim expression on his face, his arms were folded, and was nodding to whatever Dr. Abrams was saying. At least until he noticed she was awake. His mouth moved. The other doctor turned, looking up. Then they were both moving towards the room.

“Dr. Reese,” Dr. Abrams addressed her. It felt so surreal to be addressed that way when she didn’t even remember graduating from medical school. But then she must’ve or they wouldn’t be addressing her like that.

“Dr. Reese? Sarah?”

Sarah shook her head, looking up at Dr. Abrams. “Sorry. I was…I was thinking.”

“I asked how you were feeling.”

“Oh,” she looked down at her hands. Finding them fisted in her hospital blanket. She dropped the fabric. Then her eyes flitted back up at the doctor. “My body still feels floaty and achy all at once. But you probably don’t need to know that. You want to know about my head. That’s a little more than achy too. I’m prone to migraines. Like severe debilitating migraines. I have medication prescribed to me because of how severe they are. And my head feels like it always does when one is about to end. A very deep dull throb.”

The older doctor nodded, pulling out a tablet and typing on it for a moment.

“If I can find her glasses and get her medication for her migraines, would that help? I have some of it in my locker. ” Dr. Rhodes spoke up and Sarah’s eyes found his as they widened in surprise. He knew where her glasses were and he kept her migraine medication in his locker?

“It might. But you know our general rule here with medication.” Abrams told him. Connor nodded. Abrams faced her again, “As I was telling Dr. Rhodes outside. Your head CT was clear, which is a fairly good thing. No brain injuries. Unfortunately, that leads us no closer to figuring out why you have amnesia. So I say we let your body rest for a day or two. And then we run a few more tests.”

“So you still have no idea why I just lost four years -” her voice broke and she stuttered over her words for a moment while panic swelled up in her, “-of my life?”

“Sarah,” Dr. Rhodes interrupted softly. She jolted at the sound of her first name falling from his lips, but it was more than that. It was the way he said her name. Like she was someone he cared about. Like he adored her. Like her name was a careful caress of his lips. He moved forward. Then he was sitting on her bed as he reached out to hold her hand. The one that wasn’t covered in bandages.

His palm was callused but soft and a warm weight in hers. He squeezed her hand tightly. She looked down at their joined hands then up at him. His blue eyes, which she was so close to now she saw were a deep steely blue were soft as they stared into hers. “It’s going to be okay. I promise. But Sam is right. We need to give your body a chance to rest.”

She had always trusted Dr. Rhodes. Even from her first disaster day down in the ED, that to her was just two weeks ago. Sure he was a little gruff when it came to a patient and their care. But he was a good teacher when it mattered and he always seemed to be on her side. So for that reason alone, Sarah fell silent and nodded.

Dr. Abrams left soon after, but Dr. Rhodes didn’t. He moved to the chair by her bedside. Which Sarah found odd until she remembered something Dr. Choi had said. Connor had been on his way here to be with her. But the earliest flight he could get had been three in the morning.

“Can I ask you something, Dr. Rhodes?” She asked timidly. Not sure of what she was going to say, especially when he nodded.

“How do you know where my glasses are?” Not that question. Sarah Reese, you are such a coward. She had wanted to ask him what he was doing here or why he was sticking around. She opened her mouth again, but still, the wrong question came out. “And why do you keep my migraine medication in your locker?”

Coward. She thought to herself as Dr. Rhodes yawned, scrubbing a hand down his face.

“Besides knowing that you’ve lost four years, did anyone tell you anything about those four years?” He asked.

Sarah shook her head once. “They were going to-Dr. Choi and Halstead-after my head CT last night. But I fell back asleep before they could.”

“Probably for the best. They probably thought some things would be better coming from me anyway.” Dr. Rhodes told her before sighing, “And I don’t know exactly where your glasses are. But I can probably find them if you want. They’re probably back at the apartment. As for your medication, I keep some in my locker because you’re a menace about carrying it and I’m always worried a migraine will develop when you’re on shift. But somehow I don’t think that’s the question you want to ask.”

He said the apartment. The apartment. Not her apartment. It was as if …she sucked in a breath. “Do we… live together?”

“We do. People tend to do that when they’re married.” Connor explained gently. Sarah blinked at him. Once. Twice. Three times, before she managed to croak. “Married?”

“Yes.”

“As in me and you?”

“Yes,” now he sounded amused.

“Together?”

“Yup.”

“Oh,” Sarah glanced down. He shifted forward and when he did, she caught sight of a silver ring on his left hand. On the ring finger.

“Is that so hard to believe?” Connor asked gently. Yes. Yes, it was because he was Connor Rhodes: trauma surgeon. One of the best trauma surgeons in Chicago and I’m- Sarah licked her lips, “Sort of? Dr. Rhodes-”

“Connor,” he interrupted her.

“Huh?”

“Connor,” he said again, “You haven’t called me Dr. Rhodes in over two years when we’re not on shift, and even when we’re on shift the only time you call me Dr. Rhodes is when you need a consult on a patient or you’re introducing me to them.”

“Connor-the last thing I remember is helping you and Dr. Zanetti with your friend. The one who had the chandelier stuck inside of him? So seeing how we got from A to B is a little hard right now.”

“I know. So you can ask me any questions you need or want to and not just about us. About anything, Sarah.” Connor said in that tone again. The one he used earlier to calm her down. The gentle cress of his lips. He grabbed her hand and squeezed it again. A foreign contact to her, but something he probably did every day without thinking about it.

“You have a ring. Do I have one?” Again that wasn’t the question she wanted to ask. Why couldn’t she just ask him the questions she wanted to? Maybe because I’m scared I’m not ready for those answers. If I ever will be.

“You do. It’s around your neck.” He explained with a slight smile. Now that Connor (it was still so weird to call him that) had said something, she could suddenly feel the metal of a chain. Sarah reached up with her uninjured hand, fingering the chain until she felt a small circular band. “You’re afraid you’ll lose it at work, so you wear it around your neck when you're on shift.”

“Here I can…I can help.” Connor offered as she struggled to get the chain off of her neck before he stepped more into her personal space than he had ever been. His hands were warm as they lifted the chain off her neck. Then the thin metal chain was dropped into her hand. She stared wide-eyed at it. Here was…not hard proof like a marriage certificate would be. But tangible poof. Proof she could hold.

“Holy shit,” she murmured the words in amazement as she stared at the delicate ring she would’ve picked out for herself.

Connor’s chuckle brought her back to where she was as he leaned down and kissed her forehead without thinking about it. “I’m going to go get your migraine medication and track Ethan or Will down to see if you can have it with your pain meds. I’ll also get some breakfast to put on your stomach just in case. I’ll be back.”

Then with that promise, he was out the door and leaving his amnesiac wife to stare after him in alarm. Connor wouldn’t realize until later what he had done or the anxiety he may have caused Sarah.

#Rheese #Sarah Reese #Connor Rhodes #Chicago Med #One Chicago #Chicago Med Fanfiction #one chicago fanfiction #My writing #Long Story Short Fic Series

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