#truly don’t want your time on this site disturbed but how do you think black fanfic writers on here feel

[dejwrld]

and to all the white mutuals who blocked me & soft blocked me because of me being vocal about anti blackness in fandom spaces in the name of “clearing your dash of discourse” i hope your fics flop and your favorite character dies in whatever manga/anime you’re currently obsessing over.

#truly don’t want your time on this site disturbed but how do you think black fanfic writers on here feel #as they’re getting slurs thrown at them for writing about nanami sticking his dick in black reader ??? #how do you think black fanfic writers feel as their fics ideas are getting stolen by their white fanfic writer peers #how do you think you black writers feel creating a space for themselves in still have racists invade that space #on my soul a lot of you non black people on here so damn performative! #but the ones who are aware of what their black mutuals go through and spread awareness #hope your fav eat your ass!

[mystery-star]

Ladies and Gentlemen – Ben Wade (Part 1 / 4)

Pairing: Ben Wade x fem!reader

Warnings: strict parents, death, canon typical violence, attempted sexual assault

Words: 3050

Series Navigation:  Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

A/N: Whoops this one turned out longer than I wanted. (As usual)

Please do not repost my work on other sites or platforms!

-

“Don’t smile” your mother said “That will give you lines on the face that never disappear”

“Yes, mother” you replied, getting your face muscles under control and stopped watching the wild horses in distance of the coach you were driving in. You had never seen so many of them and wondered how they survived in the wild, without humans taking care of them.

“And get away from the window or you might get sunburnt in your face” you leant back and were almost disappointed when your mother pulled the curtains close that it was almost dark inside the carriage. Now you couldn’t even read anymore. So you decided a nap was all you could do, unless you wanted to be bored again.

A shot woke you and you woke with a start.

“What is going on?” your mother didn’t answer and just stared straight ahead. After a jerk, the carriage came to a halt but was now slightly aslant. You heard hooves and voices and your mother folded her hands in a prayer.

“What d’you mean the ‘wrong one’?” you heard from outside, then a shot followed by a groan.

“Well, can’t hurt to have a look anyways” steps came closer and then the door to your right was opened. A man was grinning at you and you just had to let out a scream. “Even better than money” he said and tried to climb inside. You grabbed your handbag and slammed it in his face.

“Filthy bitch” he growled and made a grab for your leg

“Enough” a voice from outside roared and the man hesitated, gave you a grin then let go of you and dismounted. Letting out a relieved breath you carefully leant forward then slammed the door shut. Now what? Just wait until these men left? Or should you leave by yourself? Someone, you guessed the man who was inside the carriage, reported what he had found inside, two women. To your dismay, the door opened again but at least this time no one entered “Ladies” the man spoke, tipping the brim of his hat. Your mother’s lips twitched. That was not how you greeted a lady. So you too decided not to acknowledge him. If he truly was a gentleman (which you doubted however) he would get the hint and leave you alone. “I’m sorry for the disturbance and shock we caused you. If you want we can bring you to the next town or your destination” for a while it just was silent. Why would they do that after all? If they left you could just continue your way. “Well” the man finally said “Think ‘bout it. Let me know when you’ve made up your mind, yeah?” he closed the door and you moved over to your mother

“What now? Will we wait until they leave?”

“Yes” she replied, making you nod.

“Or maybe we could talk to the driver, telling him we wish to continue. I do not trust these men” this time your mother nodded and got up, opening the door

“I would like to talk to the driver”

“Ah look, pretty thing hasn’t lost her tongue” someone commented.

“Driver’s dead, Ma’am. And a wheel’s broken. ’m sorry. That’s why I offered… ” she closed the door and sat back down. Well that changed your situation to the worse.

“We will walk” your mother decided and got back up, taking her bag and parasol and you did the same. Probably knowing you were about to step out, the man in black opened the door and offered you his hand to get out before doing the same for your mother. You start wondering how it could be so much hotter outside than in the carriage.

“Alright. Can you ride?” still paying no attention to the man your mother opened the parasol and started walking in the direction the carriage had come from.

“We are walking” you clarified before following her.

“Walking? You gotta be kidding” he was running after you and blocked your mother’s way, making her walk past him. “You ain’t gonna make it anywhere. Come nightfall, both of you’re dead”

“I’d rather die in the wild than being in the company of you and your… savages, Mister” that made you stop. She had a point but you didn’t want to die. “Come, (Y/N)”

“Could we wait with the carriage until someone comes and finds us?” you asked “Our provisions are there”

“Find you?” the man asked

“Yes. My fiancé will come looking for us if we don’t arrive” you said. Luckily, your mother stopped and turned back to you.

“Fine. We shall stay” she shot the man in front of you a glare and poked his chest with her closed fan “But you and your people leave. Do you hear me?”

“I heard you, Ma’am. But I don’t think that’s a good idea. What if other outlaws find you first?”

“O-other outlaws?” were you actually in the hands of those kind of men? You swallowed and felt as if it suddenly got hotter than before. White dots appeared in front of your eyes, growing and growing until you saw nothing more but white. At the same time also your legs grew weaker and suddenly, you felt someone grabbing you and pulling you down.

“Easy” the man who had been talking to you earlier said.

“Take your hands off my daughter!”

“She needs help. Hey, can you hear me, Miss?”

“Uh yes” you replied, surprised your voice still was working. And you were ashamed for your qualm.

“We gotta get her into the shade. Get me some water” When he picked you up and carried you, you let out a shriek and after he sat you down on the ground again, still holding you, something wet and slightly cold was pressed against your forehead.

“(Y/N)” your mother said loudly “Are you alright?”

“Hm, guess so”

“Oh for Heaven’s sake, don’t mumble like that” you weren’t offended but just glad that you could finally see a little more.

“Your daughter almost fainted, Ma’am. You should be happy she’s still responding” your mother gasped

“It is your fault this happened!”

“I’m alright” you assured her but when you tried to sit up, you felt dizzy again, so the outlaw gently pulled you back against his chest.

“Easy. Just focus on your breath. Here, drink something” he handed you a flagon and carefully took a sip, then a few more. Finally, your whole vision was back and you started to slowly feel better.

“Thank you” you muttered and tried to get back up

“You better stay seated a short while” he advised you but at least let go of you and leant you against the wheel of the carriage. After the outlaw got up, he addressed the other woman again. “Anyways, as I was saying, it’s better if we wait with you or get you to a town”

“I will not be in your company longer than necessary! I demand that you leave”

“If you wait with us, you would be arrested when my fiancé comes” you said

“Well, if someone is coming, we can leave” he said with a chuckle “Aren’t you concerned ‘bout your own safety?”

“Of course I am” you said “And for my mother’s. But what options do we have?”

“Death” one of the other men replied with a dirty smirk. Your mother let out a sound of shock and fanned herself harder.

“We could ride one of the horses from the carriage?” you suggested, making some of the men laugh

“Them horses aren’t used to being ridden. You’d have to really know what you’re doing. I suppose neither of you’s sat on a horse before?”

“Of course not” your mother said

“Then you can’t even bring us to town.” you said “Because we are unable to ride”

“Well, how ‘bout you wait here for your fiancé and we’ll stay ‘til they’ve arrived to make sure you’re safe?”

“I think the one we should be saved from is you!”

“I understand you’re not happy ‘bout your situation but like it or not, you do need me”

“We could just stay inside the coach…” you started “We don’t go out, they don’t come in. What can happen?” of course you knew it was risky. But oddly, you trusted that man. At least that he was serious about keeping you safe. You weren’t too sure about the others “What if only two of you stay?” the man in the black clothes, you strongly suggested he was something like their leader, turned to his men.

“You heard the lady. Charlie, take the men down to Nogales. Watts, you stay with me to protect the women. We’ll join you later”

“You sure, boss?” a blond man asked “What if we just kill ‘em?” your heartbeat was so fast it almost hurt and your mother let out a sound of disgust. The feeling of faintness was back and you leant back against the wheel

“No. They won’t be harmed”

“Okay” the other man agreed after a short while and as he went to their horses, the other men followed him. Except for the one you supposed was Watts. Your mother let out a breath of relief and then stepped closer to the carriage.

“Come, (Y/N), let’s go inside” giving a nod, you slowly got up, trying to shake of the outlaw who was helping you

“I’m fine” you said, handing back the water canteen

“Keep it”

-

Although you had first thought it wasn’t that bad to be stuck here, you soon saw that you weren’t quite right. It was when you realized that you had to relieve yourself. At first you tried to endure it but you knew that you couldn’t hold it for a day or more, depending on how long it took until you were rescued. And you definitely preferred to do it as long as it still was bright outside. Your mother wasn’t pleased at all but she finally let you go.

“Something wrong?” the leader asked as you opened the carriage door and he got up to help you out.

“I need to use the bathroom”

“Bathroom” he chuckled “Sorry, Miss, there ain’t nothing like that out here” you felt hot again

“I know” you said “But what else can I do?” he helped you down and looked around, his hand still on your waist, so you removed it.

“There” he said, pointing at a boulder a couple of feet away. “Behind that stone”

“You mean on the ground?”

“Well” he flicked his tongue “you got an empty canteen or bucket or something alike?”

“No” you said “But uh… do you have something I can use to clean up?” if the talk before wasn’t embarrassing enough it was now. Finally, he let go of you, picked up a handful of grass and handed it to you

“That’ll do?”

“I suppose” you said

“If it ain’t enough” he made a sweeping arm motion “help yourself” you couldn’t help but smile and as you walked to the rock, you glanced back at the man, thanking him.

-

While it had been hot throughout the day it got a lot colder after it was dark. And it wasn’t even comfortable to sleep in the carriage. Falling asleep when sitting didn’t work, the floor was too uncomfortable and the seats too small to lie on. You considered going out and asking if you could borrow a blanket or something to at least feel warmer and more comfortable because you probably were going to sleep on the floor of the carriage. After considering it for a while, you got up, and throwing a checking glance to your sleeping mother, you carefully opened the door of the carriage again. As the last time, the outlaw was back to help you out and you had to admit you were surprised he always did that, just like a real gentleman would.

“What’s wrong now?” he asked

“I was thinking I could use a blanket”

“Sorry, don’t have any. Except for a saddlecloth”

“Oh”

“Well, you can sleep near the fire if you’re cold”

“Ah” you didn’t want to sleep out here with the two men

“‘t’s your call. Hungry?” you had eaten some dried fruit with your mother a few hours earlier but it wasn’t much because you kept the food rationed. The men had offered you food earlier but your mother had refused and forbidden you to agree to the offer.

“A little” you admitted. To your surprise, he pulled you to the fire where a pot was on the floor, filled with what looked like porridge. “I don’t know” you said quietly “My mother said I should not eat it”

“Is she always that strict?”

“Yes” he smiled and moved his jaw slightly forward

“Well, it’s up to you now; she doesn’t need to know” you too had to smile

“I actually would like some” you felt remorse for disobeying but you really were hungry.

“I’ll heat it up again for you”

“That’s not necessary” you insisted, not wanting to put him out. “Cold food is better than no food, after all”

“As the lady wishes” he bowed and scooped some of the food into a bowl and handed it to you with a spoon.

“Thank you” you said and sat down near the fire. Somehow you were surprised it tasted better than expected and after you were finished, you started to feel more tired.

“Want some?” Watts asked and held out a small flask. You took a sip and spat it back out

“What is that?” the question was unnecessary; of course you knew that was alcohol “That is disgusting!” the two men exchanged a small grin and you scrambled to your legs “You are trying to make me drunk and then…” you hurried back to the carriage

“Wait” the leader called and got up too, taking off his jacket “Take this. Instead of a blanket” dumbfounded, you took the piece of clothing.

“Thank you” you said, turned around and climbed into the carriage on your own.

-

Since your mother woke before you, you couldn’t hide the jacket from her and she didn’t believe that you just asked them for a blanket and instead were given the clothing. She took it, went back outside and started complaining to the outlaw about it before demanding to use the bathroom she wasn’t pleased to hear how she would need to relieve herself. Instead of doing so, she returned into the carriage.

“It’s not that bad” you said

“What?”

“To relieve yourself out here. It’s a bit strange at first but…” you shrugged “it works”

“How can you say such things? How could you even do it?”

“I needed to. It is natural” you got up, realizing that you actually had to do so now.

“Where are you going?”

“Doing what we just talked about”

“No. I forbid it”

“Ma’am you can’t forbid her something like that”

“You will be quiet, Mister. We can and will withhold it. Yes, we shall just not drink again”

“Not a good idea out here. Unless you wanna faint worse than your daughter did” you considered the words. Would it be wise to listen to your mother to avoid having to pee out here?

“Sit down, (Y/N)” somehow you didn’t know why you listened but just half an hour later you regretted it because the urge was getting worse to suppress. This time you just got up, ignored your mother, jumped out the carriage yourself and hurried behind the stone, picking a handful of grass underway.

“There she goes” Watts commented with a chuckle. After you were done you approached the leader of the outlaws again

“Do you have something that I could wash myself?” he handed you a large flagon and you figured you could make do with that. To have some privacy, you went to the other side of the carriage and washed your face and hands.

“Prettying up, are ya?” you winced when Watts approached you. Not wanting to dignify his comment with an answer you remained silent. “Tell you what, I think you’re already pretty” he came closer “Too pretty” before you could tell him to get away from you, his arm snaked around your waist. In an instant, he also pressed a hand over your mouth. He moved closer, pressing his body against yours. Although you wanted to scream and break free, you were like paralyzed and dizzy. “Hm you smell good” he pulled out a little knife and cut the laces at the front of your dress. You struggled in his arms and a sound of frustration left your mouth. With another flick of his knife, also the laces holding your skirt up where cut, making the outer skirt fall to the soil.

“No” you tried to protest but it came out muffled. Watts struggled to get you out of your bodice but finally succeeded, trying to rid you of your corset as well. Then, you heard him opening his belt and started to feel sick

“You know, I always thought a lady would dress more complicated but it ain’t much more than a whore wears. Just a bit more uptight” he pressed you against the side of the carriage and you felt tears in your eyes. Once again you tried to fight him but to no avail. Maybe if you just knocked against the carriage, your mother would come to your help you thought before doing exactly that. Watts noticed and yanked you away from the vehicle, throwing you on the ground instead.

“Let her go” in disbelief you stared up at the other outlaw and also Watts was eying his superior

“You gonna forbid me to have some fun? Or want her first?” he pulled you back up and pushed you in the direction of the other man. You felt your legs giving in and with a big step, the man in black was with you, steadying you with one hand, pulling you behind him while with the other, he shot his friend. Inside the coach your mother let out a short scream but you were too distraught to do anything and with your trembling limbs it was difficult enough to not fall over.

#3:10 to yuma #ben wade #ben wade x reader #ben wade imagine #ben wade x you

[feralnumberfive]

The Rewatch Academy: Episode 2 of Season 1

“Run Boy Run”

I am in no way a good analyst so my little analysis and speculations probably sound a bit goofy or pretty wild and probably mean nothing at all. Everything I put into this post about each episode is purely what I noticed or thought, whether it's funny or serious. I will be making jokes, so please just leave it at that (in no way am I trying to make fun of an actor and or character!) I am also in no way saying I noticed this stuff first. This is just what I noticed while rewatching these episodes

☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂

1x01 | 1x02 | 1x03 | 1x04

☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂

☂ Ben is a tired boy leaning on his chair

☂ Luther and Allison please stop making googly eyes at each other 

☂ Five really woke up and chose violence that day huh

☂ Diego already knows shit is about to go down and it’s so funny

☂ I love that Reginald doesn’t even scold Five for stabbing the table

☂ Five: “I have a question.” blah blah blah Veggie is talking Five: “I want to time travel.” That’s not a question, Five

☂ It’s interesting to see young Five blinking/jumping compared to older Five. Even at this age, 13, he says that he’s still practicing his spatial jumps. Young Five needs to clench his fists and almost squeeze his eyes shut just to concentrate. Older Five simply just teleports without effort and is able to casually blink even as he’s just walking. Five probably practiced teleporting a lot in the apocalypse 

☂ Someone else pointed this out, but all of the other Umbrellas are frozen for a for a second as Five teleports next to Reginald. While that freeze is just editing, and possibly a small error, this is another example of how Five’s spatial teleporting doesn’t make a noise. Luther, Diego, and Allison only look at Five when he begins talking to Reginald. Grace notices Five right away because he is in her line of sight while Luther and Diego were looking at where Five was sitting and Allison had her head down eating

☂ “The effects it might have on your body, even your mind, are far too unpredictable.” Harsh foreshadowing 

☂ The “Run Boy Run” scene is one of the best musical moments in all of the show. It gave me chills when I first heard it, and the fact that all of the lyrics that play during that part match so perfectly with it make it even better. Tomorrow is another day being sung as Five travels into 2019 is just too good 

☂ Imagine how scared you have to be to call out to your p.o.s father

☂ The instant regret immediately falls onto his face and he kneels in front of the Academy

☂ I love how in the first few episodes Five’s hair is styled exactly as it was when he was an old man and when he was actually 13. Over the rest of the season and the second season it just gets more disheveled and floppier 

☂ “You think I didn’t try everything to get back to my family?” Ahhhh there we go, one of my favorite Five lines. This here is probably when I truly fell in love with his character. He spent 45 years just trying to survive and attempting to get back to his family. He would have spent more too if the Handler hadn’t taken him in

☂ Vanya is genuinely trying to understand what happened and Five was being a little asshole. C’mon, bud, she’s just confused and hasn’t seen you in forever

☂ This Five and Vanya scene melts my heart (simply as a sibling relationship!!) She doesn’t care anymore if she understands, she just wants him to stay because she hasn’t seen him in a while. Even Five understands that as his demeanor quickly changes from being frustrated to gently telling her “Night.” He watches her as she leaves, also partially realizing that he hasn’t seen her in a while too

☂ Why didn’t Five just teleport outside of Vanya’s apartment?? That would have been the stealthiest thing

☂ “All quick and efficient skills.” A little note on Five’s level of skill of slaughtering the Commission agents in Griddy’s

☂ Diego said he bought his police badge on Ebay, so computers do exist in the UA universe

☂ “By the way, this thing might look like a botched robbery, but my gut’s telling me something else is going on here.”  Yeah, and that something else is your brother

☂ I want Claire to meet her uncles and aunt so bad

☂ So Ben has a ghostly puzzle book and pen he can use? Because if they were real Pogo would have been able to see them just floating in the air. What other ghostly items can Ben summon? (I believe this is more so just an error but it’s fun to think about)

☂  “I-I found it at a playground, actually. Must have just *click* popped out.” An underrated Five line

☂ Five immediately becomes aggressive at the thought of losing the eye, something he found clutched in the hand of his dead brother and was a clue to what caused the death of his siblings and the end of the world

☂ Just now noticed that you can see Diego up on the second floor being led down to where Patch is in the police station

☂ I really like that they added in the little tidbit about a cold case Five created 81 years ago

☂ I miss Patch. She deserved better and more screen time

☂ Hey, Diego might have been thrown out of the Police Academy but at least he’s still in The Umbrella Academy!

☂ Hearing Patch talk to Diego really made me realize that the Umbrellas weren’t even necessary for helping with crime. It was just Reginald’s way of training them

☂ Love the shot of Luther looking at Diego’s cross-stitch and the camera lining it up so it’s like he’s wearing the mask

☂ Five lying just to keep Vanya away and to continue on with his goal hurts. His goal is saving the world and his family, but I don’t think he actually took in what Vanya was saying to him or maybe he recognized the offer but shoved all of his feelings down. She was reaching out to actually get him some help and he lied to her to avoid that. Maybe he doesn’t care and is just blinded by his ultimate goal. Save the world and family first, then process your feelings and genuinely communicate with your siblings 

☂ Don’t worry Klaus, I would have let you wear that outfit

☂ When Cha-Cha questions “Five” aka the poor tow truck guy, she asks him about “The London job in ‘66.” I believe she is referring to the Shepherd’s Bush murders where three policemen were murdered

☂ Hazel replying “Not from what I’ve heard.” when Cha-Cha asks if he thinks Five is a whimperer shows that Five definitely had a reputation in the Commission for probably being a cold and stoic guy

☂ Vanya is just trying to help, chill Allison 😭. You haven’t seen her in years, what do you know about her?

☂ Klaus would really slap his brother in the face to get drug money

☂ Another example of Five not making noise when he teleports is when he blinks into the taxi and Klaus didn’t notice that he had left until he turned to look where Five was. On the other hand though the taxi driver does jump as Five suddenly appears in the car. However, I believe that might be from the driver noticing Five in a mirror in the car

☂ I wonder what languages the Hargreeves siblings know. Vanya didn’t understand Leonard’s German. You think Reginald would have taught them multiple languages or maybe she forgot it if she was taught it

☂ I don’t know why but Luther just siting there and reading a book and almost getting hit by the knife is really funny to me

☂ Yeah Diego doesn’t have to prove his innocence, but it would have saved a lot of trouble

☂ Rewatching the scene with Leonard talking to Vanya about his father is just disturbing when you already know what happened to him and how he’s lying just to try to be more relatable

☂ I heard a rumor that smoking is bad for you ❌

☂ Vanya calling to make sure Allison is okay even though she hurt her makes me sad. She’s so nice and thoughtful

☂ The old man can’t even reunite with his wife before he gets hunted down

☂ The shot of Hazel and Cha-Cha putting on their masks in the dark with the music is 👌👌

☂ Again, Cha-Cha isn’t able to hear Five as he teleports next to her and slices her arm. She might not have noticed him though because he was very quick to attack her

☂ Five really went through all of that just to bring his wife home

☂ I think it’s an easily blocked out part because we already know what Allison has to say and it’s exciting, but Luther is apologizing about accusing Diego and causing issues amongst his siblings

☂ Five is just so defeated and emotionally tired that he doesn’t allow Luther to touch him. In fact, he very quickly and aggressively grabs Luther’s wrist. You can tell Five is a little out of it and I believe it was more so his subconscious stopping Luther. Five doesn’t want help, he’s going to carry the burden of figuring out who ended the world and killed his family as far as he can by himself

☂ “There’s nothing you can do. There’s nothing any of you can do.” Are such heavy lines. Five is so emotionally and mentally tired at the end of the day and he sounds like he’s about to breakdown. He’s replaying the moment he found his siblings’ corpses. They weren’t able to stop the person who ended the world. Luther is offering his help, but Five is denying it. Luther couldn’t stop the person who ended the world. None of his siblings were able to stop that person. He’s telling himself that they can’t help and he’s telling Luther and Allison that too. Five wants to be alone to figure out who this person is. His siblings can’t help him

☂ Five coming across the corpses of his siblings is just heartbreaking. He first stumbles across three adults lying in the rubble. One of them is holding an eye. He goes to shake the man in all black, having a tiny bit hope that miraculously he is still alive. He stumbles across another body only to back away with tears in his eyes as he spots the tattoo on the man’s arm and realizes who these people are

☂☂☂☂☂☂☂

Feel free to comment or reblog with things you have noticed too!

#the rewatch academy #tra #tua #the umbrella academy #umbrella academy #1x02 #run boy run #luther hargreeves #diego hargreeves #allison hargreeves #klaus hargreeves #number five #five hargreeves #ben hargreeves #vanya hargreeves #hargreeves siblings #leonard peabody

[1eos]

literally wtf lnx's bs behavior has been public information for years almost since lil nas debuted, lmfao that he was like that is precisely why he had to sort of acknowledge it in a vague tweet, and half baked apology and like if he's getting dragged still for it is precisely because very few people seem to understand that it wasn't enough for the people that he hurt and that's it, it's what always matters the people he hurt like people hear this shit and rush to try and save his face like for what??? lil nas x just got to number one and more than half the people that consume media nowadays barely do it out of being part of trend so many people won't ever hear about his behavior online, why do they care so much that people are aware of it when what can help him since celebrity culture is not going anywhere is that people keep him on check, why is it that when popular art meets the public suddenly its untouchable because of the status of the artist, let us criticize the pov that birthed it too cause artists exist with other people and they know it and they can learn but when if we keep coddling those bitches making art just because they got to a certain point in their careers, i am so sorry people keep plaguing you about shit that doesn't even make you lose sleep but you're the only person that makes sense in this site so ty for your time even if you never publish this rant

normally i can’t read anons over 3 sentences long but cosigned. its some real shit u said here. like i hope i don’t come off like i think ppl should know every celeb nd how they fucked up bc i truly don’t think anyone should be wasting their time on famous ppl. nd its unhealthy to focus on how xy and z fucked up. but idk something bothers me abt ppl treating celeb fuck ups in such a black and white manner nd pretending they care abt marginalized ppl while never actually listening to them? like it always feels like with tumblr in particular they’re like ‘oh i didn't care this person was being offensive until they appealed to my demographic!’ nd what’s worse is that ppl are being defensive nd trying to accept an apology when they're not muslim. while also brushing past lnx’s, imo kinda disturbing misogynoir (i say this all the time but why would u attack a CHILD. blue ivy is a fucking BABY) like gay men’s misogyny hasn’t historically been excused nd left unchecked. doing allllllllllllll this when cancel culture isnt real!!!!!!!! he’s still thriving!!!!!!!! most ppl think he’s changed nd the ppl who don’t accept his apologies at most just want him off their dash like the only ppl who want lnx’s career dead fr fr are like homophobes who are also probably islamophobic nd hate black women on some level so? why are u so defensive nd trying to say ‘he was a kid’? ok and? there are millions of 15 yr olds who are not being hateful online. just bc we all have implicit biases that don’t mean we’ve all been like openly offensive but as usual ppl just want to feel good abt stanning some random celeb without having to use their brains which is why ppl get in a tizzy when theyre just forced to acknowledge someone fucked up. u don’t have to scrub them from your blog literally. just. do. not. excuse. what. they. did.  

#idk it just feels weird that nonblacks esp will 'discover' someone is problematic #when it suits them #when the person in question has already been called out #like now ure so outraged by the shit he did but only now that u want to consume his content? #does that make sense? like ppl heard of lnx nd bumped to old town road #but didnt give a damn that he was hating on black women UNTIL he became some gay icon they could stan for clout #like the islamophobia nd misogynoir never registers to a lot of ppl i can tell #theyre just like oop this is a person i cant stan #thats what bothers me its literally all abt 'who i can nd cant stan' #not the groups of ppl he hurt u know? #long post #Anonymous

[artificialqueens]

Galactica, Chapter 42 (Group Fic) - TheDane/Veronica

A/N: Hello darlings! The saga continues… Click here if you’re looking for previous chapters (or here if you’d rather read on AO3). 💫

Last Chapter: Pearl’s eye started to wander and Violet set out on a quest to truly prove herself.

This Chapter: Aiden struggles with envy, Adore learns something extremely disturbing about her girlfriend, and Violet makes a friend in the park.

***

“Oof!” Katya held the sweater she was knitting in front of her face, blocking the view of the TV. “Oh god, that scene gets me every time.”

“I can see why this is one of your favorites.” Violet smiled, her pencil paused on her sketchpad as she watched Nancy’s powertrip, The Craft a surprisingly good film.

They were sitting on the couch in Trixie, Katya and Pearl’s apartment, Katya sending Violet a text if she wanted to come down and watch a movie.

Violet had learned early on that Katya despised people who were on their phones while watching movies, but that crafts were allowed, which was probably also why Katya had asked her specifically since Max was out of town. Pearl, Kim and Shangela were all on the no movies list, while Trixie was apparently walking on ‘thin fucking ice’ as Katya herself had said.

“I was a witch once.” Katya smiled, going back to the pink sweater with purple clouds she was knitting, the size of it making it clear that it was for Trixie. “Who doesn’t like a side of blood magic?”

Violet smiled, shaking her head as she turned her attention halfway back to her sketch, her hand doodling flowers along the lapel of the jacket she was working on.

***

“Kiara?”

Aiden was having a perfectly good day until she came over.

It was a little after lunch, the cafeteria serving the chicken he liked. He’d been working on some sketches, fairly satisfied with his progress so far, the days going by so fast.

He was on track to have almost 10 different looks finished by the end of the day when they had to turn them in, and so he was certain that he’d be getting into the Spring collection.

He had been perfecting a sleeve, when his pleasant thoughts had been rudely interrupted by Violet’s voice, as she approached their station to talk to Kiara.

“Hi,” Violet was holding a black portfolio in her hands, her pink nails tapping on the black vinyl. She was wearing a pair of black high waisted pants, a belt cinching in her waist and a long sleeved silk top. “I was wondering if I could see what you were working on for the Spring prêt-à-porter collection?”

“Sure? Kiara looked surprised, but she still grabbed her own stack of sketches, Kiara one of the few designers that still preferred to do everything by hand. “Why?

“I heard that you’re doing a jacket,” Violet put her portfolio down, “and I’m thinking of doing a jacket, so I just want to make sure we’re not submitting the same thing.”

Of course Violet was thinking of submitting a jacket.

“Scared of the competition Chachki?” Aiden was about to reach for his own sketch, his centerpiece for his spring submissions a jacket as well.

“No?” Violet looked at Aiden, her big brown eyes unblinking. “Why would I be?”

Aiden was about to open his mouth to respond when he realized that there was no point, his hand falling down.

That girl was just so incredibly condescending, and he hated her for it.

“Here we go.” Kiara said, gesturing to her sketches, tapping on the 3 versions of the jacket that she was going to submit.

“Hmm.” Violet peered at them, nodding. “Good. We’re not doing the same at all.”

“I showed you mine. Are you gonna show me yours?” Kiara asked, and Violet giggled, pulling out her own sketches.

“Deal,” she said, flipping open the portfolio.

As curious as he was, Aiden decided not to look, burying his head in his own work, now more determined than ever to get that jacket spot.

***

“Babyyy, pay attention to meeee,” Adore whined, tugging on Pearl’s top, attempting to nuzzle into her neck as they were on the bed. Pearl had invited her over for dinner, but the second they’d finished Katya’s famous twice-baked potatoes and garlic chicken (and several bottles of wine), she’d pulled out her laptop and begun working on content for Galactica’s new website.

Adore had never seen Pearl work after hours before. She was slightly shocked to see her do any real work, to be honest, imagining her position at Galactica to be purely schmoozing with brand reps and taking high-profile selfies at fancy events.

“Sorry, I have to finish this shit tonight.” Pearl finished the last of her wine and pressed a quick kiss to Adore’s forehead before going back to her computer, her fingers flying over the keyboard, Pearl actually typing at a surprisingly impressive speed.

“But…” Adore knew she was being a brat, but really, what was Pearl’s rush to finish something this late anyway? Would anyone even be ready to receive it? “Please-”

“Dore,” Pearl sighed, actually looking down at her. “I need to turn it into the site designers before midnight tonight. I thought I’d have time at work, but there was an influencer emergency and you know how those bitches get.”

Adore didn’t, in fact, know how influencers got, the realization that she knew absolutely nothing about Pearl’s work slowly creeping over her.

“I tried asking for extra time, but Fame said no.” Pearl pressed space, her short nails clacking against the black keys of her Macbook. “And unfortunately, eating her pussy right now for a favor is out of the question.” Pearl huffed. “Believe me. I tried.”

“What?” Adore’s hand froze on Pearl’s waist. “You tried what?”

“Eating her pussy?”

Adore sat up, rocking the bed. “Pearl!”

“What? You know that me and Fame used to hook up. We’ve done it for years.” Pearl turned to her with a curious expression. “They didn’t tell you?” Pearl raised a brow. “Huh.” She bit her lip, going back to her laptop. “I thought for sure they would when they were all freaked out about us getting together.”

“They?” Adore asked, trying to keep her voice from getting shrill.  “Who is they?”

“Fame mostly” Pearl shrugged, “but I thought Bianca would have had something to say.”

“Wait, so...sorry.” Adore squeezed her eyes shut, trying to clear her mind before asking, “You and Fame used to hook up, and Bianca knew about it?”

“I assumed? I don’t know for sure, but why else would your sister hate me?” Pearl paused typing, a cheshire grin on her face. “I’m delightful.”

Adore could feel her heart pounding in her throat.

“And you… You were gonna...you were gonna cheat on me with her?”

“Cheat? Wha - No!” Pearl closed her laptop, putting it to the side before she turned to Adore, shaking her head. “I’m not cheating.”

“It sure as shit sounds like it.”

“We never talked about being exclusive? So I just figured…” Pearl shrugged, and Adore wanted to hit her. “You’re a really cool girl, and I thought you didn’t care about stuff like that.”

“Well…” Adore’s mind raced. She’d been so ready to get angry, throw an absolute fit, but Pearl calling her cool was having the effect of pouring aloe onto inflamed skin. “I mean...I guess that’s true, we never talked about it.”

“It’s 2014. Everyone who’s not an absolute square is open these days,” Pearl continued.

“Is that… I mean, so…” Adore swallowed hard. “So you want an open relationship?”

“I’m not running around town fucking everyone I meet, if that’s what you’re thinking. I just think like… We know how we feel about each other? So why worry about oppressive hetero-normative rules?” Pearl punctuated her question with a charming smile, and Adore could feel herself melting.

“Yeah, that...makes sense.”

“See, this is why you’re the fucking best.” Pearl closed her laptop and kissed Adore gently, cradling her head, and every last ounce of anger dissipated into thin air.

Well...anger at Pearl, anyway. She’d deal with Miss Goddamn Fame and her traitorous sister tomorrow.

“Don’t you need to work?” Adore asked, pressing into Pearl’s embrace.

“I’ll go in early tomorrow,” Pearl said, moving her lips to Adore’s neck.

Adore sighed happily, lavishing the attention, sure that being with Pearl was worth it.

***

Courtney had gotten to the office before 6 am to prepare for the Friday design meeting--organizing the nearly 400 sketches into categories, making scans and copies and mounting the originals on card stock, each one numbered for easy reference. In the end, she had a tabbed binder for each of the attendees with high-quality copies, just barely finishing by the time Miss Fame strolled in at 9:30.

They’d been at it for awhile now, and what had begun as an orderly review with everyone on the same page had devolved into chaos, tension high as people defended their opinions. She stood in the corner of the conference room, feet already aching in her 4-inch heels, trying to follow the rapid-fire conversation, Raja and Trixie bickering about pant length and Pearl tearing out the pages she didn’t like, tossing them to the floor.

“This skirt on 42 is nice, but it looks complicated. How much would it cost to manufacture it?” Pearl passed a sketch to Bendela, who was the head of the tailoring department.

Bendela examined it closely, before proclaiming, “At least $700.”

Pearl pulled it out of her hands, dropping it on the floor with the other rejects. “Bye!”

“Well, hey now…” Alyssa flipped to the same sketch in her own binder. “Maybe it wouldn’t work for the stores, but it’s still good. Could we save it for a potential runway look?”

Pearl rolled her eyes. “Sure, but that’s not what we’re doing today.”

“Why don’t we put it aside and give Jovan some notes for runway?” Trixie suggested.

“That’s literally what I just said,” Alyssa snapped.

“I know, I’m agreeing with you!” Trixie exclaimed, handing her a fresh Red Bull. “Here, have some more gogo juice.”

“I really like this top on 27, but it would have to be a bit shorter to work with the other separates,” Alaska drawled, and Raja nodded, jotting down a note on the corresponding page of her binder.

“Yes, it’s pretty. What do you think, Fame?” asked Raja.

“It would be pretty, if it wasn’t in this disgusting color,” Fame said.

“Non-disgusting color coming right up!” Trixie said cheerfully, scribbling a note on the page.

“Trixie, I do not appreciate your tone.”

“Sorry Miss. You want to see something great? Check out Maxwell’s suit options. Starting on 104. He really outdid himself this year.” Trixie let out a loud chef’s kiss.

“Awww, thanks coach!” Maxwell said.

Courtney shifted, stretching a little, and noticed that Miss Fame had finished her coffee. Relieved for an excuse to move, she slipped from the meeting, grabbing her coat on the way to the elevators. She got Fame’s usual order as quickly as possible, along with her preferred apple cinnamon muffin to have on stand-by in case her blood sugar was having its usual pre-lunch dip, and returned to the 25th floor, shocked at the face that greeted her in the lobby when the elevator doors opened.

“Adore?”

“Courtney! Thank god. This bitch wouldn’t let me into Fame’s office-” Adore gestured towards Roxy, irritated, who gave her an equally dirty look in return, “And I need to talk to her.”

“Well…” Courtney beeped her access card, shooting Roxy an apologetic smile and saying, “Thanks, I got it.”

Once inside, she tossed her coat over her chair and turned back to Adore, who was rattling the doorknob of Fame’s office like a crazy person, pounding on the door.

“Fame? Fame, open up!”

“Adore…” Courtney touched her lightly on the shoulder. “She’s not in there. She’s in a meeting, with like, the whole senior design and marketing teams right now, and-”

“Well, I need to talk to her, right away.” Adore was clearly agitated.

“Are you okay? Can I-”

“No! I’m obviously not okay! I need to talk to her, now-”

“Okay. You wanna wait here until they break for lunch?” Courtney asked. “I can’t really ask her to leave without-”

“No, I want to talk to her. If you don’t want to interrupt, I will. I don’t give a shit about her meeting.” Adore charged forward, and Courtney caught her by the shoulders.

“Wait! Okay, I’ll tell her you’re here and that it’s urgent. Please, just…”

Adore seemed to begrudgingly accept this plan, crossing her arms and sitting on the edge of Courtney’s desk. “Two minutes and then I’m coming in.”

Courtney took a deep breath and made her way towards the conference room, trying not to wring her hands on the way. She was worried for whatever was making Adore so upset, but she also couldn’t help but roll her eyes a little at her demanding attitude. It wasn’t something that reared its head terribly often, but when it did...hoo boy. Spoiled brat Adore was by far the worst version of Adore--petulant, entitled, unyielding. Courtney prayed that she would get through this tantrum without a scene.  

Courtney re-entered the conference room, handing Miss Fame her coffee and then turning to a fresh page in her notebook and scribbling out a note, trying to be as concise as possible.

Adore Delano here. Very upset. Needs to talk. Says it’s urgent.

She underlined “urgent” before showing it to her boss, hoping that she wouldn’t get scolded for her friend’s behavior.

Fame glanced at the note and then stood up, clearing her throat.

“I have to go attend to a family matter,” she announced, “but I’ll be back shortly.” She gestured vaguely to the empty chair beside her seat, indicating that Courtney should stay and take notes.

Courtney quickly sat down, pulling over Miss Fame’s binder.

***

When Miss Fame entered her office suite, Adore was there, pacing around. She looked physically fine, which was a relief, but Fame was still concerned, knowing that Adore wouldn’t come to her, not in the middle of the day like this, unless something terrible had happened.

“Hello darling, what on earth is going on-”

“Don’t fucking darling me!” Adore snapped, catching her off guard, and Fame took a deep breath, opening her door to her office and ushering Adore inside before firmly shutting it. For one thing, it would give them some privacy. And for another, it would make sure that no one passing by saw Adore’s messy hair and booty shorts.

“Is anybody hurt?”

“Fuck you!”

Fame sighed, locking the door. If she was going to screech like a maniac, they may as well have as much soundproofing as possible.

“Now, Adore-” Fame began, but Adore immediately interrupted.

“What the fuck do I have to do for y’all to stop treating me like a fucking child?!” Adore burst out, and Fame couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.

“A child? Since I was at your 15th birthday, I don’t think that’s very fair-”

“Don’t change the subject!” Adore shouted, looking genuinely upset, her hand shaking.

“What is the subject, dearheart?” Fame took a step forward, but Adore stepped back. Fame could feel her panic rising, wondering if something was actually wrong with Bianca, if anyone had gotten hurt. “I think we missed a step here-”

“Pearl! Pearl, is the fucking subject!” Adore jabbed a finger against her chest, Fame looking down.

“Adore!” No one had done that to Fame since she was a child, the action incredibly upsetting and weird.

“Specifically,” Adore poked her, “you,” poke “fucking her.” Adore looked up, her eyes filled with anger. “Is that clear enough?”

“Oh.” Fame’s heart sank, the secret apparently out. The last thing she ever wanted was for Adore to get hurt, but here they were. “How did you…” Fame looked over her shoulder, making sure the door was locked, hoping that Courtney was still in the conference room.

“Look at me!”

“How did you find out about this-”

“Pearl told me!”

Fuck.

“She apparently thought that you’d told me already.”

“Good god.” Fame closed her eyes briefly, cursing herself for not being more explicit with Pearl back in September. “She really shouldn’t have done that.”

“She?!” Adore yelled. “Why didn’t you? Why do you all fucking tiptoe around, protect me like I’m a goddamn infant?!”

“Adore-”

“I’m 24 fucking years old! Half of your employees are younger than me, and I know for a fact that you don’t treat them like delicate little babies-”

“Please. Calm down, I don’t-” Fame held up her hands. “Please.”

“I’m not a child.”

“You want the truth? The grown-up truth?”

“Yes!”

“Me not telling you about my…” Fame made a vague gesture, “history with Pearl. That wasn’t to protect you. That was to protect myself.”

“What…” Adore looked momentarily thrown by this, her anger replaced with confusion, and Fame pulled her onto the sofa, taking the opportunity to grasp one of her hands.

“She’s my employee, Adore.” Fame rubbed her thumb over Adore’s hand, gently caressing it. “We may have had an understanding between us, but…” Fame sighed. “Nobody else would--could understand.”

“You mean like your husband?” Adore shot back, face twisting once more into anger. “I can’t believe you would cheat on him, that you would-”

“I would never ‘cheat’ on Patrick. He knows everything. You don’t need to worry about my marriage. But I mean that if my...Interests came out publicly, it would be very damaging to my professional reputation. That’s what I feared.”

“And you didn’t trust me?”

“I don’t trust anybody with things like this, Adore. So instead of telling you, I just...broke things off with her, and made sure she knew how much I love you. That I would be very angry if she mistreated you.”

Adore bit her lip, taking in what Fame had said, her blue eyes misty. “You went behind my back and told my girlfriend to be nice, or she’d be in trouble? Don’t you see how fucked up that is?”

“I’m sorry. It was a bad decision, but it wasn’t because I was trying to baby you. It was...it doesn’t matter. I can see now that I should have told you instead.”

“Yes. But…” Adore sighed. “I guess I understand why you didn’t.”

“I’m glad,” Fame said. “Thank you for that.”

She pulled Adore close, hugging her tightly, trying to show how sorry she was. When Bianca had taken custody of Adore nearly ten years earlier, Fame felt like she shared the responsibility to look out for her.

She knew, of course, that sometimes that meant that she was overprotective, and maybe even patronizing, but she couldn’t help it: Adore would always be a sweet baby to her, someone who had been through hell far too young, who deserved to be a bit spoiled and sheltered.

“There’s one more thing I need to know,” Adore said, still chewing on her lip.

“What is it?”

“Does my sister know?”

Fame took a deep breath, tucking a lock of Adore’s fading purple hair behind her ear. “She does. But she’s the only one. Besides Patrick. And now you. And she promised me, swore on her life, that she’d never tell.”

“Hmm.”

***

“We’ll get the results tomorrow, and it isn’t that I’m like, nervous nervous, I just hope I have done a good enough job-”

Sutan smiled as he listened to Violet chat, the fact that she was actually sharing her honest feelings about Galactica’s prêt-à-porter collection feeling like a big deal.

Sutan had asked Violet out for lunch since he was already in midtown for a meeting, the two of them now walking hand in hand around Central Park, Sutan drinking coffee while Violet was sipping on tea. The air was crisp, Autumn leaves covering the ground, the people of New York taking in the beautiful day.

“Sutan!” Sutan felt a pull on his hand, Violet stopping dead in her tracks. “Sutan, look!”

He turned his head, not even registering what was happening before Violet had shoved her tea and bag into his arms, letting go of him to make a beeline towards a couple that were walking a small dog.

“Excuse me-” Violet cleared her throat, catching the couple’s attention. “Can I pet your dog? Please?”

“Of course!”

The couple smiled, and Sutan watched as Violet crouched down on the ground, quickly taking off her gloves and handing them to Sutan so the pug could sniff her fingers.

“Hey there, hello gorgeous, hi,” Violet smiled, her hand soon running over the puppy’s head, scratching it behind the ears. “That’s it, that’s a good boy.”

Sutan tilted his head. He had never seen Violet interact with a pet before, and somehow, he had assumed that she would be either a pet hater or a cat person, but she looked genuinely happy, and completely in love with the dog.

“What’s his name?”

“Dough. It’s his first trip to Central Park, he’s been looking forward to it all week.”

“Really?” Violet looked up, her smile never wavering as she chatted with the couple about the dog. “Oh Sutan, look how cute he is.”

“He’s very-”

“Who’s a good boy?” Violet grinned, cutting off Sutan as she scratched the pug’s chin. “Who’s a good boy?”

Sutan took a sip of his coffee, hiding a grin as Violet’s bag dug into the crock of his elbow. He had never seen Violet so willingly talk to strangers, had never seen her be so overly excited about anything that wasn’t related to fashion. He took another sip, pocketing Violet’s gloves as he watched her play with the dog, a sense of calm washing over him as Violet made Dough chase his own tail.

#rpdr fanfiction #thedane #veronica #galactica #adore x pearl #vitan #katya zamolodchikova #violet chachki #aiden zhane #adore delano #pearl liaison #courtney act #miss fame #raja gemini #lesbian au #m/f au #fashion au

[the-voltage-diaries]

Pulcherrima Rosa Me - Taki Kozaki

‘Pulcherrima rosa me’: Latin for ‘My beautiful rose’.

Disclaimer: Office AU, Hanahaki AU. Now, since it’s Hanahaki, of course it will be angsty. So, time to fasten those seat belts and sit tight.

Word Count: 2225

Author’s note: My first open-ended fic, lmao. Originally was supposed to have smut, but things changed here and there, so you see.

P.S.: Special thanks to @akaiiro-yume​​​ for being my proofreader and amazing fangirl buddy

14 years.

That’s how long they had known each other.

To be precise, that’s the number of years they had been the closest of friends.

Never more, never less. 

Just two individuals who over time had, step by step, closed in on the gap separating them, narrowing it so much that barely any space remained. They became so used to being around each other that the thought of sharing the tales of their daily life, no matter how embarrassing, bitching and moaning about work and clients, laughing together without bothering to care about how weird they looked seemed like the definition of normal. But that’s the thing ; no matter how closely their paths collided, an invisible line always kept their journeys divided. Most people called that line “friendship”. Taki and (Y/N) had never been anything more than friends.

They never knew how to be anything BUT friends.

So then why was she the only person on Taki’s mind while his eyes shut to bear the pain of throwing up while he hunched over the sink, coughing up a handful of what looked redder than blood, albeit was anything but?

“I want this done by the morning,” Taki told the finance head, handing him the proposal for the project they were planning to bid for. “And when I say morning, I mean I’d like to see it on my table by the time I walk in. Is that alright?”

“Yes, sir,” the man responded, picking up the papers and giving him a quick bow before making his way out, muttering a quiet ‘good night,’ to which the CEO gave him a nod of his own.

Taki then turned in his chair and peeked through the thick glass wall of his cabin in search of his secretary. Once his eyes landed on the familiar raven up-do, his lips, though very quietly and only for a moment, lined up in a hint of a small smile.

There she sat on her table, her eyes focused on her laptop screen while her fingers typed away at the keyboard, not noticing the gaze a pair of dark brown eyes fixated on her.

Instead of calling her immediately to discuss the day’s schedule with her, Taki took a moment to admire the woman who had been at his side for the last two years, professionally speaking. For, beyond the walls of the office, he had known her for more than half of his life.

His eyes made their way across her form; slowly drinking in the way she every so often took a moment to stretch her back, roll her shoulders and her neck before getting back to the task at hand, how one of her delicate fingers came up to push a strand of hair behind the perfect curve of her ear, how she bit her lip in concentration every time she worked against time. God, was she beautifu-

The clang of a pen rolling across the table and falling to the floor startled him back to reality, and he shook his head, rolling his eyes at his carelessness before bending down to pick up the pen.

“(Y/N)!” He called, turning back to his laptop and opening up his schedule. He heard the familiar click-clack of her heels and soon enough, the door opened with a low creak. Taki didn’t even need to look up from the screen to know she was here. “Do we have anything else on the agenda for the day?”

“Yes, actually.”

‘We do?’ Taki thought to himself, his eyes giving his schedule a once-over. He didn’t see anything else on it that needed to be done today, so what was (Y/N) talking abo-

“You have a meeting with the board at 9 AM, then a site visit scheduled at 10 AM, a business call with the head of the Ichinomiya Group at 12 PM regarding the construction of their new hotel in Auckland, another site visit for at a different location at 1 PM, and th-”

“Wait a second, why don’t I see all of this anywhere on my schedule?”

“Because you’re viewing the schedule for 3rd November.”

“Yes, and as far as I remember, today IS 3rd November.”

“No, sir,” (Y/N) said, and it was then that Taki looked up to see the smirk on her face, “I’m pretty sure it’s the 4th today.”

He took a quick glance at his watch and saw that the smaller of the two hands had passed the 12 o’ clock mark, and it was, in fact, 12:30 AM. Which meant that it was, in fact, 4th November.

It also meant that they had worked beyond the designated office hours for the fourth straight day in a row.

“I’m sorry for making you work over time again,” Taki muttered, pursing his lips.

“Nah, that’s okay,” (Y/N) shrugged, sending him a playful wink, “Apart from that cute little pout, you’re paying me for it. Rather handsomely, too, so I’m chill.”

“Firstly, I’m NOT pouting,” Taki muttered, rolling his eyes when he heard his secretary whisper the word ‘denial’, “And secondly, Ms. (L/N), is that how you’ll be talking to your boss now?” He smirked. He would be straight up lying if he said he didn’t enjoy this amused change in the atmosphere. In fact, he welcomed it after the long day he’d had.

“Mr. Boss,” she immediately responded, stretching out the word ‘boss’, to which Taki couldn’t help but scoff, “The office hours are over. I’m under no obligation to kiss your ass anymore.”

And oh, he tried.

He tried so hard to stop that laugh from escaping when (Y/N) made a kissy face at him, but alas, he lost and let it erupt with a low rumble from deep within his chest when she lifted two tiny finger hearts to go along with the flying kisses.

And you know what they say, laughter is contagious. Soon enough, (Y/N) too joined Taki in his wonderland of chuckles, and it wasn’t long before they both laughed so much that their stomachs hurt because each time they’d try to stop, all it’d take is one glance at each other’s faces to lose their shit again.

“Pfft,” (Y/N) scoffed, trying to come down from the rush of euphoria she’d just had, “You should be thanking your lucky stars for having the privilege to get as fun a secretary as me. You have NO idea how lucky you are, I tell you.”

‘I agree,’ Taki thought as he took a moment to calm down, letting a rush of air fill his lungs as he took a deep breath in. He relaxed into his chair and glanced back at the magnificent woman standing before him, truly thankful to have her close by. But as soon as he adoringly grabbed on to the memory of the laugh they’d just shared, another sensation latched on to him, stopping him from thinking any deeper by dragging his attention to the ache building up deep within his chest.

Taki paused, shifting uncomfortably at the unfamiliar sensation. All remnants of humor left him at the way something seemingly gripped at the base of his lungs, squeezing hard. He felt like he couldn’t breathe for a moment, and his discomfort only grew with each passing second as a painful cough arose in his throat, blocking off any passage for air.

“Argh,” he groaned, his fingers pressing at the space between his collarbones, trying to massage the area into creating some sort of a path through the dark fog building up in his throat, so unforgiving that he almost saw black for a moment.

“Taki?” (Y/N) called his name, all her remaining laughter immediately dying down the moment her gaze washed over him. “A-are you okay?”

And just like that, as quickly had the discomfort come, it died down. 

It vanished into a thin breeze, leaving Taki gasping for some much needed mouthfuls of air.

“Y-yeah,” Taki responded, still in a daze. He had no idea what just happened, and it seemed so surreal that he almost brushed it off as a hallucination, but the concern in (Y/N)’s eyes told him whatever transpired wasn’t just a figment of his imagination. He took a moment to compose himself, before following up with a much more self-assured “Yes, I’m fine.”

“You don’t look fine.”

“But I feel fine.”

“... Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.”

“Are you like, sure sure?”

“No, actually.” He looked up at her, an amused grin floating on his face. “I’m not sure sure that I’m fine.”

“See? I KNEW you weren’t okay. Should I call for a doc-”

“You’ve got it all wrong,” he interrupted, stopping her halfway on her mini-panic spree, “I’m sure-sure sure I’m fine.”

“… You’re a jerk, you know that?” (Y/N) huffed, sending a scowl in Taki’s direction. “One of these days I’m gonna stab you with- with…” her eyes quickly scanned the room, looking for an appropriate object to finish her statement with while Taki tried to control his smirk from spreading any wider, “… with a sticky note.”

“A what?”

… well, it was too late to go back on words. So, grumbling under her breath, (Y/N) repeated, “With a… sticky note.”

“Pfft.”

“Mr. Kozaki.” (Y/N) narrowed her eyes at the man, giving him her least scary glare, “did you just ‘pfft’ me?”

“Yes,” he replied confidently, placing his forearms on the table top, “Yes I did.”

“Watch your back. I really will throw the sticky note at this rate.” (Y/N) turned around, her fingers grasping the doorknob, “… and soon.”

Taki watched her step out of his cabin, an amused twinkle in her eye. “Gee, I’m so scared,” he muttered, mostly to himself, before shaking his head at their childishness and turning back to the work at hand.

But even as his eyes swam across the screen, processing the words and formulating appropriate responses, the back of his mind couldn’t let go of the strange inquisitiveness that poked at it, seeking answers to just one question.

What was that fleeting, deadly little coughing fit all about?

He got so focused on his work that he didn’t notice the diligent finance head step into his cabin again only 30 minutes later, quietly keeping the finished proposal on the glass table before walking out just as quietly, so as not to disturb his concentration. He didn’t notice the same guy stopping by (Y/N)’s table, offering her a steaming mug of coffee and giving her the gentlest of smiles while offering to help if needed. He didn’t notice any of it until he heard the pleasant sound of her laugh, passing through the gaps in the glass walls before bouncing off of them on the inside, creating the most melodious of echos.

His eyes left the screen for a quick second to focus on the scene outside, and what he saw made a strange anxiety rise up within him like tiniest of dew vaporizing and stretching its fingers to reaching out to the sky - slowly rising up from the depths of his stomach, travelling up to his chest and finally solidifying just beneath his lips.

Right in front of him stood (Y/N), her fingers clutching an arm that didn’t belong to Taki, her lips turning up into the brightest of curves, shining so bright one would almost go blind, as she laughed along with the damned finance head about something or the other.

And that’s when Taki felt like the (Y/N) who had been standing just within an arm’s reach this whole time was about to slip away from his very fingers, and the feeling that he wouldn’t be able to do anything to stop it pricked at him, rendering him in a state of confused speechlessness.

‘Wait. Shouldn’t I feel happy for her, considering she’s finally seeing a guy?’ he thought, taking a deep breath. ‘Yeah. It’s a good thing. But then… what is this insecurity I’m feeling right now?’

The answer to that question seemed only a heartbeat away, and the moment he reached out to grasp it, his body jerked backwards, falling onto his chair while his breathing quickened. The somewhat familiar feeling of his throat being clawed at came back to him - much stronger this time. It all happened quick; his brow furrowed into a deeper crease as moisture pricked at the back of his eyes, his world going back for a moment. Taki’s mouth leaped to suck in a croaked breath - which sounded more like a painful gasp at this point - while his fingers gripped at the collar of his shirt, looking for any way to free him of the sudden pain growling in his chest. He felt a powerful cough coming, preceded by short, painful ones.

“Ah,” he let out a breathy moan, the tears finally making their way to the front of his eyes, followed by a few more. With him standing on the thin line separating sanity from delirium, his body lurched forward, finally finding solace in the way his throat forced out tiny balls of red while the moisture building behind his eyelids finally broke apart to slide down his cheek in one, straight line. The second his gullet felt free again, his body shook with need as he gulped in mouthfuls of air.

Once the dark haze clouding his mind finally started to part, he turned his eyes to look at the red chunk his trachea had shoved out. His eyes widened when his fingertips came in contact with the soft, silky skin of the petals - redder than the darkest of rubies.

The petals of the one flower which finally made him piece together his feelings for the woman standing beyond the see-through walls of his cabin.

… Remember how he wanted to know what his coughing fit was all about?

A rose.

Well… guess it’s about time he found out.

#my little crumbcake~ #Taki Kozaki #Kings of Paradise #KoP #Voltage Inc #Otome Romance #Love 365 #Love 365: Find Your Story #Kings of Paradise Taki #KoP taki #Kings of paradise fanfic #kop fanfic #taki kozaki fanfic

[redrascal1]

Why being permabanned from the JCF was one of the best things that could have happened to me

Ever since TFA I’ve been contributing to SW forums, because it’s interesting to see other’s opinions and also a source of information. Naturally not everyone agrees with you, so I’ve often crossed verbal swords. I quit one forum after being ‘warned’ for defending myself against a Kylo hater rather than reporting him; largely because I’ve never liked the idea of reporting anyone...it just isn’t me. I’d rather stand up to them instead.

Everyone is entitled to like or dislike a fictional character or ship, and entitled to argue the point. But I do not think I have ever come across such toxic hatred for a fictional character and those who like him as I have on the Jedi Council Forums.

I have been accused of ‘sexism’ for saying I didn’t like the way TROS ended with Rey as a perennial virgin( ironically I personally am, and likely to stay that way as I’m asexual...) because I found it unnatural (including myself in that) as Rey had shown a deep desire for family and children. By having her embrace the tired old ‘space monk’ code of the Jedi she is forever denying herself that. I have had the weary old ‘promoting the sexual abuse of women’ rubbish aimed at me because I was a reylo - until they destroyed Rey and reimagined her as a horrible judgemental prig. All this I’ve experienced before so I’m used to it...but what I really find disturbing is the attitude of Finn fans. And two Finn fans in particular.

I’ll call them A & J. Both are women. One confirmed white, not confirmed by the other. And their behaviour towards anyone who likes Kylo - even those who aren’t reylos - is nothing short of bullying.

A is a huge Leia fan. If you have the audacity to point out that the character was a neglectful mother, which Carrie herself confirmed (’ I never should have sent him away’; Leia’s own words) then immediately A accuses you of rampant sexism, and ‘how DARE you ‘demonise’ Leia like that!’

You are then attacked for saying a mother should not have a career (I never said that) and that Kylo was an ‘overprivileged brat’ who deserved ‘everything he got’ for the way he treated his ‘wonderful, heroic parents.’

A has chosen to ignore the fact that during the promotion for TFA, the cast actually stated that Han and Leia were less than stellar parents. Heroes, unfortunately, often are. Leia was focusing on the rebuilding of the Republic and Han was uncomfortable around his son because he was FS. Neither Harrison or Carrie, both parents themselves, were unhappy with this. It’s stated in several ‘canon’ sources. Which A has chosen to ignore, insisting that Bloodline pointed out Kylo as a ‘happy, normal’ child when that was what Leia believed him to be, despite not being around enough to know what he actually felt.

And not one mention of how it was TROS who truly demonised Leia. Whereas both the previous films showed her failures as well meaning mistakes, TROS showed her as a woman who chose not to train her own son when she was capable of doing it herself. It assassinated her character beyond repair and I often wonder if Carrie would have agreed with Leia being portrayed like that if she was still with us.

What worries me is that A is married and a teacher by profession - and also a mother, in real life. And she made one of the most disturbing comments I’ve read, that it’s a ‘good thing’ for women to put their careers before their children as it shows them ‘they are not the centre of your universe’.

We are entitled to like/dislike fictional characters.....but I’m really spooked because this comment by A has nothing to do with SW but is her personal view on real life. And I don’t think any parent, male or female,should put their careers before their families.

And ..then there is J, a dedicated Finn and JB fan. Again, her own choice. But does she really have the right to accuse anyone who doesn’t like either of being a card carrying, knuckle dragging white supremacist?

She accused me as ‘putting the white character before JB’s role as ‘black male lead’ because I simply said the ST ‘should have been Ben’s story’ in a Finn thread. Later, I was permabanned for mentioning Kylo in the same Finn thread - despite other posters often mentioning Kylo, Rey and Finn in threads devoted to other characters. But it isn’t just me. Anyone - anyone - who says the slightest negative thing about JB, such as calling him out on his horrible SM posts after TROS, is accused of racism. Anyone who criticises the Finn character is seen as racist. And although yes, I agree Finn was poorly handled in TROS, I can’t help but get angry when they accuse Rian Johnson of ‘destroying’ the character’ in TLJ when he gave him his own story arc and love interest and did a damn sight more with him than Abrams, who saw him as a lovesick groupie whose role was to follow Rey around shrieking her name every five minutes. 

Most of all, I am heartily sick and tired of them accusing AD and Kylo of ‘taking Finn’s rightful role off him’

Excuse me? Kylo had nothing to do with it, he was established as the villain and it certainly wasn’t AD’s fault. He simply played the part. Finn was on the ‘other side’. If his character was reduced it’s down to the survival of the Poe character (some fans, to their credit, have also said this) who was slated to be killed off but wasn’t. But if anyone ‘stole’ anyone’s thunder it’s Rey - she was meant to be the main protagonist of the ST, not Finn. Kylo was the ‘villain’. Finn had more screen time than Kylo did in all three of the films. 

Boyega is simply mad that he wasn’t Rey’s romantic love interest, despite DR herself stating the characters were meant to be ‘just friends’. He wasn’t interested in the fact that Finn had  two beautiful ladies interested in him, he wanted to ‘lay the pipe’ with Rey. And this lies at the heart of his dissatisfaction with his character’s direction. but is has nothing to do with AD or the Kylo character. Finn fans refuse to accept that as the blood descendant of the OT characters of course Kylo/Ben had to have a major role in the ST. Finn was never conceived as a ‘lead’ character, and it is both spiteful and unfair for JB and his fans to assume it’s because of his ethnicity.

I’m not the only one who has been targeted by J...she has driven three posters to my knowledge off the JCF, one who isn’t even a Kylo fan, with her endless spurious accusations. Yet she gets away with it....because A is a major supporter. And A is a moderator.

As for me, I tend to have a stubborn streak and although I repeatedly told myself engaging with the toxic fantatics permeating the JCF isn’t good for me, I just couldn’t stop. I just had to repeatedly defend Kylo and AD from the increasingly nasty comments, despite it doing nothing for my mental health and personal happiness. So, when I was finally permabanned for once again mentioning Kylo in a ‘some other character’ thread, I’m actually relieved, because I’m now ‘off’ the site. I still read it just to see how the other posters are getting on, and I’ve noticed most of those who like Kylo and even AD are disappearing. 

A and J are bit by bit destroying anyone who doesn’t share their opinions and driving them away, reducing the forum to a tedious one character love fest. In short, anyone who doesn’t agree with them isn’t welcome. So much for freedom of speech.

[austennerdita2533]

Hey! Hope all is well!! First of all, thank you for all the links to save money on books. I checked them out and plan to use some with buying books!! And don’t worry I have other self-restraint issues-mine come more from the fact that I get bored easily so I have about 4-5 books going at the same time. That way I can switch up genres when I need it (for instance I always have a fantasy, a romance, and a dark romance all available to me at the same time because those are my favorites) but sometimes more than one of the genres too. I also am terrible at following a tbr for instance I have been wanting to read Ugly Love for months now but then as I get closer to finishing a book a different book grabs my attention and must be read asap. But to prevent money spending I just browse through kindle and download a free sample of books I want to try instead of buying them right away. Plus I have a rule with myself that I have to read the first 10% of the book that the free sample gives me before I buy anything because at that point I can tell if I like the writing style, the potential story, etc. Just because I don’t want to buy a book and not finish it so I don’t want to waste my money and time. It has worked well so far! I mean there really has only been one book (well series) that I did not buy because I could not even get through a chapter (unfortunately that was the from blood and ash series which I know is a big hit but personally the writing style just was not for me)but it still saved me money!!

I heard about the Book of Night by Holly Black I am really looking forward to it!! I have other friends who adore Jurdan so we are all pumped to see her take on an adult romance and the summary sounded really cool!!

I will have to check out Anxious People for sure!!

But anyway I finally finished The Atlas Six!! Honestly I would have finished it sooner but I got into a romance mood so I went and read both Birthday Girl, Punk 57, and Credence by Penelope Douglas. Definitely recommend Birthday Girl if you like age gap relationships-it is a big one though so if those are not for you I do not recommend it. Punk 57 was okay, I was expecting a little more out of it than I got and I only read it since they were pen pals and I love letter writing but there was not a whole lot of that. And Credence well Credence is what it is LOL it is SUPER taboo and not for everyone and I feel slightly ashamed to say I enjoyed it, but I do not know you well enough on a personal basis to say read it or not read it because well it is wild and it is really a book that I think you love or you epically hate and think people are insane for liking. So look up at your own risk.

But did you end up finishing atlas six?? I do not want to talk about it unless you finished it!! What were your thoughts on the characters/plot/ships?? I am super excited about the future of it!! Olivie confirmed it will be a trilogy recently. I think the next book comes out next year. I also want to start some of her other books like Alone With You in the Ether. I just really enjoyed her writing style and the way she develops characters.

Can’t wait to talk about it with you once you get through it!!

-ACOTAR anon

Hello, hello! I'm embarrassed it's taken me so long to get back to you, I apologize! I haven't had access to WiFi the last week and a half so I haven't been on here much. I went away with two of my closest girlfriends and we were busy laughing, chatting, and goofing the time away--pretty standard with us, tbh. We're a bunch of Chatty Kathy's whenever we're around each other. 😄

But yayyy! I'm so happy you might be able to use some of those money saving book sites. They've been a godsend for me, truly. I mean, I still spend double what I ought on books but at least I can rationalize it because I know I'm saving some money lol. That's smart of you to have established that rule where you read 10% of the sample first before you buy the book. I might have to try that. I hate when I buy a book only to find myself disappointed because I don't enjoy the writing style or the story. I do usually read excerpts, but they're not always long enough for me to tell if I might like something or not.

I'm sorry you didn't care for the From Blood and Ash series. That seems to be hit or miss for a lot people. I believe I have the first two books on my Kindle (which I scored cheaply from Kindle Daily Deals lol) so I will get into it at some point. I'm curious which way I will land.

I don't know how people only read one book at a time. (No hate, just amazed lol.) Like you, I usually have at least 2, sometimes 3 or 4, books in rotation because I want to slip into different genres depending on my mood. And also depending on the time of day. Sometimes I prefer to read fantasies or thrillers during the day because they're exciting. I don't want to stop reading. Now, romances and non-fiction I will read at night, before bed. They're good genres to lull me to sleep with their facts and/or fluffiness.

I'm gonna have to check out Penelope Douglas. I'm not that familiar with her writing, but I'm always looking for new romance authors. You seemed so shy/embarrassed about liking Credence that I HAD to go and look up the summary lolol. You can't say "taboo" and then have me not investigate. My interest is piqued! The polyamory angle sounds fun. I've only read it in fic for the most part so this one's going on the tbr. As is Birthday Girl with the age gap. They both sound deliciously promising!

Something to know about me when it comes to books, to reading: I'm a daredevil. There's literally nothing I won't try at least once. There are times I balk AT MYSELF for the things I pick up knowingly, willingly, but I never regret it. Not even when I read something disturbing enough to give me nightmares. Which has definitely happened. 😂

And yes, I have finished The Atlas Six. I tore through that book so fast! I kept sneaking reading it when I was supposed to be doing other things. I loved that it was a character-driven fantasy because those are my favorite. And the magical system is so cool! It's such a creative blend of science and magic--like, the way she embedded particle physics and the multiverse into everything set my nerd flag flying like you wouldn't believe haha. The characters all have that morally gray Six of Crows vibe to them, too. They're enigmatic. Hard to pin down. They're all thrown together out of necessity not because they like each other, and it was fun to see how attachments did or did not form. I liked Callum the least. However, he's also one of the characters who intrigues me the most because I have no idea wtf he wants. There's no way to parse what his endgame is right now besides self-preservation. Nico is a conceited wise ass, so naturally I love him. Parisa and Reina both terrify me for different reasons. Parisa screams I AM A SIREN so I don't want to tread too close to her. Reina, I think, is going to just, like, detonate the whole planet at some point. She has so much untapped power. Tristan grew on me the most. I didn't care for him much in the beginning because he was an asshole, but then little by little, his layers start to peel back and you see how much he cares. How much he feels. Libby I related to a lot because I've spent most of my life feeling like an outcast like her. And the fact that she's constantly battling inadequacy--oof! That hit me.

As far as ships go, sheesh, I gotta say I'm conflicted! I feel like there are so many different directions the author could go??? It's rare for me not to know where the romance is headed, even this early on in the series, but I really don't.

Parisa and Dalton seem to be the most obvious ship right now. Even so, there's something dark, something dangerous and unknown lurking there so I don't know if that'll work out. Nico and Libby have the enemies-to-lovers type banter and dynamic that I love to gobble up. They're a lot of fun. I enjoy their scenes a lot. It's interesting that they're bound/connected in their powers, too. I can't wait to learn more about that. I'd be totally fine if they went romantic...but then I'm also picking up a vibe between him and his roommate. So I don't know what to think? I could get behind Libby and Tristan as well. Their unresolved tension leaps - literally LEAPS - off the page and I like how their dynamic progressed from dislike (on his end) to respect to something more...well, undefinable as of yet. There's palpable sexual/emotional energy between them, though, for sure. Callum seems to genuinely care about Tristan but he's been so damn manipulative! He'd have to jump through some hoops for me to get on board.

As you can see I babble a LOT when I get excited haha.

Anyway, what about you? Do you have any favorite characters or ships so far? That twist at the end was pretty good, don't you think? It blew the whole story wide open. I'm so looking forward to the rest of the trilogy.

Can't wait to hear your thoughts! xx

#anonyous #darling acotar anon #replies #the loveliest of lovely people #ashlee bree talks books

[kyouxa]

Diabolik lovers Chaos Lineage: Shu Sakamaki (Story 07)

In terms of the gameplay: The black choices lead up to a bad ending, the white choices lead up to a good ending. Please no reposting onto other sites, ask me before translating this into another language too! I’m an amateur translator, but I hope you do enjoy it anyway!♡

Monologue

It seems as if Shu-san’s memories can be regained, but one step still seems to be beyond reach.

While I was scorched by such frustration, the fight for Eve was intensifying.

The tense air had flowed out of each other since the attack on Violet the other day.

Back then we were defeated by surprise.

Place: Scarlet mansion — Living room

Yui: Eh!? I-Is that true?

Yuma: Yea, that’s a piece of information I saw with my own eyes. Ruki and Carla were really fightin’

Yui: Ruki-kun, Carla-san…

(Even though there were rumors that they might join hands, what exactly happened there?)

Kino: Obviously the war also included their brothers. One even had a dying serious injury. I guess it was Azusa from Violet.

Yui: Azusa-kun got seriously injured… ?

Reiji: This surely was unexpected.

I was certainly sure that Carla had reached an agreement with Ruki, but the truth seemed to be different.

Yuma: The winner of this was Ruki, seems as if Carla had no chance against his strategy plans.

But Ruki was hesitatin’ to stab and end it all at the end.

Yui: (Yuma-kun… Ruki-kun still injured Azusa-kun…)

Yuma-kun, when you would hear of their death, would you care about it… ?

Yuma: Hah? There wouldn’t be anythin’ necessary to care about.

Yui: Nn… such…

(Yuma-kun doesn’t remember how much he actually treasures his own brothers)

(He has nobody from the Mukami family who he could be close to right now...)

Reiji: We should be careful about Ruki’s next steps. It is only a matter of time that we are holding Eve in our hands. 

If you will not get any clues on how to become the supreme ruler any time soon…

Yuma and Kino will continue to gather informations and also prepare to fight at any time possible.

And Shu will continue to keep his eyes on Eve.

Shu: I know that without you reminding me.

Yui: (Someday, if this situation continues, Shu-san might also will…)

…Nn

(No… I can’t start crying in front of everyone now…)

Pardon me… I’ll go back to my room for now!

Reiji: Nn… Eve! Please wait!

*Yui runs off*

Reiji: I was in the middle of talking… Shu, you are aware of your escort role, right?

Shu: Haa… guess I’ll go after her again.

*Shu leaves*

Place: Scarlet mansion — Shu’s bedroom

Yui: (If the fighting continues, serious injuries will occur just like on Azusa-kun)

(If Shu-san would pass by his brothers, he wouldn’t hesitate to kill any of them)

(And even if not, there may be a day when Ayato-kun might end up killing him)

*Yui starts crying*

Yui: Do they need Eve? Is it because they want to become the king? Just what is… that for a kind of reason…

No one would get hurt… if they would… just… 

*someone enters*

Shu: Hey, you. Don’t just run away.

Yui: (..... ! Shu-san… I don’t want him… to see me crying)

Shu: I’ll be troubled if you move freely on your own.

Yui: (I want to stop. But the tears won’t stop even if I try to…)

Shu: Can’t you even look at me? Geez, just come here.

*Shu pulls Yui closer*

Shu: ….. !

Shu: You… why are you crying… ?

Yui: I-I’m sorry. It’s nothing…

Shu: Tell me. Why are you crying?

Yui: … I know you won’t believe me even if I told you. But it’s so painful keeping this all for myself…

There is no actual reason for all of this after all. There is just no need for everyone to fight over this…

Someone has been tampering and even locking us in this place, with also confusing our memories... but I can’t do anything against it on my own.

Shu: Hey… just now, what are you saying... ?

Yui: I’m sorry that I couldn’t tell you properly until now... but as things are now…

Everyone gets hurt… Shu-san might also end up being killed by someone...

If someone could stop this nightmare, it is me who is the only one who regained their memories yet…

Shu: …..

Choices

1) Apologize (white) ♡ ♡ ♡

2) Take deep breath (black)

— Apologize ♡

Yui: (Shu-san is probably annoyed by me saying such incoherent things. I have to stop crying…)

Nn… I suddenly ran off to come to your room, I’m sorry. I’m alright now…

I’m always such a burden to you, I’m so sorry for my behavior. 

Shu: …You just stupidly apologized a while ago.

— Take deep breath

Yui: (No… we might get in trouble. Let’s take a deep breath and settle down for now)

… I’m sorry. I was a little surprised and distraught.

I’m alright now.

Shu: Is your complexion really okay? If you’re lying, wait until you calm down.

end Choices

Shu: I don’t exactly know what you’re talking about. It’s serious pain to understand it too.

Yui: Yes, that’s probably right…

Shu: … But there is also something I want to tell you. That’s why you should listen closely now.

I will not die that easily.

Yui: ….. !

Shu: I don’t know how important it is to you that I don’t die. But I'll promise to you that I won’t.

*Shu wips off Yui’s tears*

Shu: Don’t think that I’ll die. If you have time to worry about such silly things, save your delicious blood for me instead.

Yui: Shu-san…

(He whipped away my tears… he acts as if he doesn’t care at all, but he actually does care about me)

(Yes… there is no need to cry. No more focusing on stopping the fight before someone gets hurt)

Um, Shu-san. Please don’t go anywhere for now… could you please stay with me?

Shu: Yes, I won’t leave. That’s why you don’t need to stay away from me either.

Yui: Yes… I know. I’ll never leave.

*Shu pulls Yui closer*

Yui: (Ah… I was attracted. He is probably going to suck my blood…)

Shu: This will be the proof our promise. I’ll let my fangs sink it firmly… Ahh… Nn…

Yui: … Nn… Shu-san…

Shu: Haa… like this, you’ll feel my fangs directly on your skin, don’t you?

This will surely proof that I won’t leave you… Nn…

*Shu kisses Yui*

Yui: (My lips and skin are burning in heat. Everything seems to be fine for now…)

(But I also feel my uneasy and shy feelings fading away at the same time)

Shu: Fufu… where did that crying face from before just go?

Right now you just look so greedy for my fangs to pierce your skin.

Shu: I’ll give you more of my fangs if that’s what you want. Just don’t lose your mind because it might be too good, alright? 

Nn… Nn…

Yui: Nn, Ah... Ahh...

(If I’m allowed, I want to forget about everything and just drown in the pleasure of Shu-san’s fangs)

*strange noise*

Shu: Ngh… !? Nh…

Yui: Shu-san… !? When you drink my blood, do you still gets these headaches… ?

Shu: Ngh… yes, but let’s keep going.

Yui: But… !

Shu: That’s probably just because your blood is so good. I don’t care about the strange sights or headaches now.

Let yourself drown in them.

Yui: Shu-san…

(The eyes which are currently staring at me aren’t those of my lover)

(But even if he currently sees me as Eve, I won’t complain about it)

Shu: You really are begging for it. Why are you so desperate about them…

Yui: … Let’s just stop thinking about this for now, okay?

I don’t know the answer to it… but why don’t we just drown together?

*Shu blushes*

Shu: … Heh… that probably is the best invitation I’ve ever received.

Yui: (There are still lots of things I have to think about and do)

(But for now I just want to forget everything and drown in this pleasure. Just for now, everything’s perfect—)

Monologue

Then a few days passed. 

The Orange family led by Ruki didn’t make any significant movements until then. 

But it’s all about operations now. We know that there may be a storm coming.

Watching the opponent’s movements, while they gradually become impatient themselves.

Supper always performed on time. The storm broke out when everyone came to the living room.

Place: Scarlet mansion — Living room

*glass breaks*

Yui: ….. !? What was that sound!?

Kino: If you hear those flashy destruction sounds, it’s almost perpeption.

Yuma: That bastard Ruki is seriously trying to attack us now.

Yui: Nn, Ruki-kun…

(The Orange family led by Ruki-kun has four members, who are Shin, Ayato and Kanato-kun…)

(And everyone of them is in this mansion… !?)

???: The defense of this mansion seriously sucks. I just came in here while breaking your windows!

Yui: This voice… no way

Ayato: Found you! The legendary Eve!

Yui: Ayato-kun!

Shu: Ngh… !? You are…

*strange noise*

Shu: Nh…

Yui: Nh, what happened!?

Shu: Shit… not… now… 

Yui: (Did looking at Ayato-kun shake his memories? But at such a time… !)

Reiji: This man can seriously not be used in an emergency. Kino! Evacuate Eve to a safe place!

Kino: Understood! This way, Eve!

*Kino grabs Yui*

Yui: But Shu-san… !

Kino: He’ll be alright, hurry!

*they run off*

Ayato: Shit, you can’t escape!

Yuma: Your opponent is me now! Show me what you got.

Ayato: Heh, fine! It will be easy for yours truly to kick some small fish like you.

Place: Scarlet mansion — Corridor

Yui: (This is not the first time Shu-san got these headaches without sucking my blood before)

(But if this happens in such a dangerous time like this, the same thing will happen just like with Laito-kun—)

(What should I do!? If something would happen to Shu-san…)

Kino-kun, we need to go back and save Shu-san!

Kino: Hah? What are you talking about? You should worry about yourself first now.

Yui: But… !

Kanato: I’ve found you.

Yui: Kanato-kun… !

Kanato: If I will be able to capture both of you, I can get the double of treats I usually get. Now please surrender.

*Kanato pulls sword*

Kino: Snacks are a good reward. But I will not hand Eve over so easily.

*Kino pulls sword*

Monologue

Kino-kun was picking up a fight with Kanato-kun who suddenly stood in front of us.

Kino-kun, who first lightly swung his dagger, appears to be somehow annoyed.

The two silver blades which were placed for battles made clear sounds.

The dagger was knocked out of Kino-kun´s hand, and also his sword was now blown away.

Place: Scarlet mansion — Corridor

Kino: Ngh… shit…

Kanato: Why do you need to disturb me? Do you hate me so much? Is that it!?

I’ve got enough of you. I’ll mess you up before I’ll take Eve with me.

Yui: Kino-kun!

Kino: Run to the basement! If you get caught, all of our effort would be useless! Hurry up!!

Yui: Nn…

(Kino-kun’s protecting me. But if I stay here he might get injured—)

Alright, thank you Kino-kun!

(Kino-kun… please stay safe too… !)

Kanato: It is pretty naughty to escape from me without my given permission.

Kino: Fufu… I apologize for that. But don’t you think that just made everything more interesting?

Kanato: Hah? What are you talking about?

Kino: Come on. Let’s start talking about the serious killing part, alright?

*time skipped*

Yui: Haa, Haa, Haa… Haa

Yui: (This was the way to the basement, wasn’t it?)

(Because Kino-kun didn’t show me around properly, I have to guess it somehow… Nh!)

???: Yes, over here.

Yui: ….. !?

(Ruki-kun and Shin-kun… !?)

Shin: It’s ridiculous for them to let Eve run along by herself, right Nii-san?

Ruki: In such an unexpected situation, we made it impossible for you to judge it normally, even if you did have a good defensive.

Yui: (That can’t be... even though we had a defensive, the mansion was completely invaded... ?)

Ruki: Don’t look that surprised. Did you not notice that you were lured here?

Yui: T-Then Ayato-kun was just a deflection for me to escape...

Shin: Everything was already planned through my brothers strategy.

Well, I’m surprised that those nuisances Shu and Kino let you go around alone that easily. 

Yui: (That was all an accordance to Ruki-kun’s tactics… it was probably planned that I‘d be alone by myself too...)

Ruki: Now, Eve. Come with me.

Yui: (What should I do against these two now… !?)

#chaos lineage #diabolik lovers chaos lineage #chaos lineage translation #diabolik lovers chaos lineage translation #diabolik lovers chaos lineage shu sakamaki #Shuu Sakamaki #sakamaki shu #Shu Sakamaki #diabolik lovers shu #shu sakamaki translation #diabolik lovers chaos lineage shuu sakamaki #diabolik lovers chaos lineage shuu sakamaki translation #diabolik lovers chaos lineage shu sakamaki translation #otome game #otome #Diabolik brothers #english otome #Diabolik Lovers #diabolik lovers translation #diabolik #sakamaki #sakamaki reiji #ayato sakamaki #Subaru Sakamaki #Kanato Sakamaki

[goblincas]

Entry Level Angel | Ch 3

On AO3

Saturday, October 10th:

Charlie tapped Cas's shoulder, urging him forward as another breeze stroked past his skin— his still very desensitized skin. He swallowed, unmoving, eyes drilling into the scene ahead. After waiting another moment, Charlie flicked Cas in the bicep. He flinched out of sheer habit.

“Y’know, this is super important,” Charlie reminded him, using her fingertips to soothe the site of assault. “Like, for your own well-being. Hell, for your life, even. Not to be melodramatic or anything, but it’s not like we have any clue of the severity we’re facing, here.”

She was right, of course— Cas needed help, and he needed it more and more desperately, each passing day. He had almost certainly been cursed. Although, that was right about where the reasonable conclusions slipped off into the abyss, never to be heard from again.

However, if Charlie’s plan was to succeed, Cas was going to have to take some initiative, first. There was nothing productive about standing in place, waiting for the asphalt to swallow both his body and his oh-so stubborn will to live.

Christ, how did Charlie convince herself that she was the “melodramatic” one?

The brick wall ahead was tinged by an earthy green plaster, offsetting the tubular neon lights spelling out “Magical Books ‘n’ Goods” across an otherwise cramped windowpane. Damp autumn leaves clung to the chipping windowsill and the base of an oval-capped doorway. Cas could hardly see inside the low-lit shop, aside from the unassuming profile of a retail bookshelf.

Sure, it wasn’t an especially threatening setup, but he wasn’t exactly coming at the situation from the calmest headspace. Thus, there was an almost menacing ambiance filtering through the shop’s walls, clamoring in Cas’s direction. It wasn’t his fault that he’d been rendered motionless by fear, much like a toddler off to their first day of preschool. Nope, no need for personal responsibility or self-initiative, here. Not today.

Again, Charlie nudged him, although with more pressure than earlier. “Dude, I’m serious. I just know that if anyone’s gonna be able to give us a clue, here, it’s gonna be her. Listen; I get the nerves, okay? And, like, I don’t even expect them to go away when you guys meet. She’s great, but she’s still an acquired taste… if it’s not totally insensitive to say that about another person. But this is important, Cas. I care about you too much to be lax, right now. Got it?”

Cas huffed, blinking slowly. Processing. “What a beautiful speech,” he quipped, continuing to gather his thoughts. Charlie flicked him again, this time on his shoulder. “Fine, okay, I understand. I do. I’m going in.”

Eyes lighting up against the muted autumn backdrop, Charlie thrust a celebratory fist into the air. “Great! Let’s get going, then.”

⁂

The inside of the witches’ specialty shop wasn’t too much unlike a run-of-the-mill small town bookstore, down to the effortless quirks of its layout. Mismatched shelves lined much of the back wall, creating a rich smattering of varying hues and grain around the secondhand spines. The air smelt faintly of chemical cinnamon, hardly able to overcome the musk of the place. Still, the witchy touches were anything but hidden; a line of tables ran down the center of the shop, covered in plastic-wrapped bundles of herbs, jars of unidentifiable glowing substances, and trendy rose gold altars. Wait, was that… an eyeball?

For his own sanity, Cas decided not to overthink it.

Before Cas had the opportunity to turn to Charlie for guidance, a voice jetted through the air, originating from god-knows-where. “Ah, hello there, dearie! Charlie, welcome back! And who is this you’ve brought along with you?” The thick, unmistakably Scottish sing-song seemed to reverberate out of the air, itself. Although hazy at the start, the sound was quick to crispen up.

Shifty eyed, Cas began to peer around the shop, only slightly disturbed by the disembodied words. Truly, it wasn’t as if he’d been expecting a day-to-day, streamlined retail experience. This was about in line with his expectations, so, whatever.

Charlie, bless her, managed to respond with near perfect nonchalance; this calmed Cas, yet somehow, also put him just a bit more on-edge. Well, then. “Hey, Ro! Where are you at? The back? I kinda, really need your help with something. Or, at least, my friend here sure does. Oh, Cas, introduce yourself!”

Cas side-eyed his friend, chewing his lip before replying slowly, seemingly to no one in particular, “Hi, I’m Cas. Um. Nice to meet… you? Yeah, sorry, who am I speaking to?” He was a human, for heaven’s sake; he wasn’t used to this, as expected as it might have been. Witches were certainly avant-garde, Cas could give them that.

Seconds later, a door was pushed open toward the back of the shop; it was encased on both sides by thinner, darker shelves, lined with stones and miscellaneous shiny and slimy tchotchkes. Cas swallowed, taking in the emerging figure.

The woman was surprisingly petite, yet carried herself as if she could crush Cas beneath her pinkie finger, alone. Red hair styled in fat curls poured over the shoulders of her simple black gown. Her eyes seemed to be faintly glowing, and Cas wasn’t certain he was comfortable with that fact, all things considered.

Nonetheless, Charlie was beaming in an instant, giving a short yet enthused wave of her hand. “Hey again, Ro. I know you’re probably busy, and I seriously don’t wanna waste any more of your time than I have to, so I’ll get right down to it. Oh, first— Cas, this is Rowena MacLeod, the spell-casting and lore dictionary, herself.”

Rowena let out a low giggle, the gleam in her emerald eyes only intensifying. Honestly, Cas was convinced that that “gleam” was more than simply a trick of the light.

“Yes, of course! Well, it’s very good to meet you, Cas, dearie,” Rowena said, her voice flowing over Cas like compound butter.

Cas gave a curt nod, unsure if he was meant to lead the conversation from there, but praying that he wasn’t.

To his luck, Charlie continued, “Like I said, I’ll get right down to… it. ‘Cause it’s kinda a lot. Unfortunately,” she said, planting her hands on her hips and entering an inadvertent power pose. “Cas here, just like the unlucky bastard that he is, managed to go and get himself mega cursed. And we have, like, no clue what’s goin’ on. So, first off, we’re gonna need a diagnosis, if you can give us one.”

Pursing her red-painted lips, Rowena hummed, squinting in Cas's direction. Cas fidgeted as the witch glided across the room, the floor creaking and whining beneath her leather heels. Moving in Cas's direction, she continued to scope the young man out.

“Hm? Ach, so… Cas, darling. Mind to expand in place of your friend? This is your tragic curse, after all. I’m sure your first-hand assessment will be more useful to me, here.”

Strangely enough, Cas wanted to contend. While Charlie hadn’t been the one experiencing the bizarro symptoms that past week, she was the witch. This was her specialty, her very domain as their backdrop.

Still, with trepidation, he replied. “It’s not anything bad, necessarily. At least, not painful. Just… very strange.” He sighed. Rowena leaned forward, tipping the weight of her body in Cas's direction. “I spilled hot coffee on myself and wasn’t burnt. No pain, either. I can’t sleep. I haven’t tasted food in a week. Oh, I haven’t slept in a week, either, so I definitely should mention that. Also, once, not too long after this all started, my entire abdomen glowed blue, before I was knocked unconscious for… a few hours, I believe?”

Cas held his breath, anticipating the sharp-eyed witch’s professional assessment. She continued to squint upward, claw-like hands finding their way to her hips.

“Well,” she hummed, after a moment of thought. “That’s certainly… concerning, to put things all too simply. Ah, and— you’re a human, correct?”

“Yeah, I am.” Although, frankly, Cas wasn’t so sure anymore. He certainly didn’t feel like a human, at that point. Surely, a “human” would have dropped dead of exhaustion by then, right?

(Although, it was more likely that Dean was going to be the one to kill him for neglecting his health and safety, if he ever found out. Assuming the curse didn’t get creative and take care of that first, of course.)

Rowena gave a delicate nod, loose curls bobbing with the movement. She straightened herself, leaning just slightly away, and Cas felt the concrete seeping from his own limbs. Wait, when had he gotten so tense?

“I see, I see. Hm…” She clucked her tongue, momentarily turning her gaze toward the tiled ceiling. “You are certainly correct, Charlie, dear. This isn’t a common ailment… how fascinating. That is certainly an unusual combination of, what sounds like, quite powerful and life-altering symptoms. Ach, well…” She trailed off, before reaching out a slender hand and attaching it to Cas's forearm. He lurched, but made sure not to pull away. As much as he loathed people touching him without a lick of permission, he reasoned that it was a sacrifice he’d apparently have to make.

God, he felt like a fucking lab rat, though. A genetic freak of a rodent, caged off from the rest of its whiskered brethren.

“I… have a bit of an inkling, certainly,” Rowena said, nails digging deeper into the flesh of Cas’s arm. She gazed directly into his eyes. “Infernal magic of some sort or another seems likely. Demonic in nature, maybe? Of course, draconic spellwork is still very much a consideration.”

Charlie drew in a breath between her teeth, reaching out from beside Cas and laying a hand on his shoulder. “Woah… not good. Why do you think that?”

To Cas's hardly containable irritation, Rowena let out another giggle, sleek as ever. “Well, you see, dearie, it’s really just a simple process of elimination. The more uncommon the spell or the curse, the more likely it’s outsourced from fringe magic. It’s as simple as that, really.” She drew back her hand, joining her palms together atop her heart. “Of course, we’ll have to do some further investigation to understand what, exactly, is the matter. Now, think of it like a fun little puzzle— in that light, your predicament will feel far less harrowing. Hm?”

As Rowena spoke and Charlie shifted her hand to clutch at the meat of Cas’s bicep, the front door to the shop was nudged open. Cas peaked over his shoulder, watching a golden-haired stranger hop on in— and promptly drift toward the corner shelves. There was no hesitation to his movements, his gait full of pep and bordering on enthusiastic. Still, he didn’t reach out to fiddle with any of the items; he simply stood in place, arms crossed over his chest, facing away from Rowena and company.

“Follow me to the back, now,” Rowena sung, re-seizing Cas's attention. “I’ll dash back out if I’m needed, but for now, privacy would be best.”

Charlie nodded. “Totally, I agree. Cas, you okay with heading back? Do you want me to come with? I can, if you want. Or not. Whatever you need, man.”

Throwing a final glance toward the apparent non-customer, Cas turned to Charlie, eyes pleading. Please. Please don’t leave me alone with her.

Thankfully, his friend got the message. Blessed be

#my writing #destiel #deancas #destiel fanfic #A bit of a rougher chapter... but we're gonna work with it! #my post

[bazzaya]

changing stripes - chapter 1

A series about the events after the fall of Tartaros from Sabertooth's eyes. Canon compliant, yet will diverge slightly from established events in canon. Minerva-centric, but still heavily features all of Sabertooth.

Summary:  Much like a leopard cannot change its spots, a tiger cannot change its stripes. It's hard to break free of old habits, old lifestyles, but Fairy Tail has made one thing clear: Sabertooth cannot continue with their old ways. They'll have to do the impossible, and change their stripes.

A/N: yeah the ft game dragged me back into the series that hard, enjoy this multichap fiasco

Word Count: ~3.6k

[Ao3 Link/FFNet Link]

Please like + reblog! Comments on linked sites are appreciated too!

Enjoy!

There were tall, luscious trees as far as Sting could see, and there were just as many that he had already passed behind him. It felt like he had been walking for forever within this forest, and it concerned him to a small degree. It wasn't that he didn't trust his guide, but there was a voice in his head nagging at him, telling him that something might be off with this whole plan.

"Uh," Sting began, letting out a quiet grunt and scratching at the back of his head, "are you sure this doctor friend of yours is as good as you say she is?"

"Yes, I can personally attest to her skill," Erza responded, glancing over her shoulder back at Sting. "Why do you ask?"

Sting cleared his throat. "Well, it's just—we've left Lady Minerva in a place that's apparently in a desolate part of this huge forest, and… I just want to make sure that she's, y'know—alive and hasn't been cooked in a soup in a house of candy."

"Your imagination runs too rampant for someone who doesn't read, Sting," Rogue commented with a sigh.

"It's a reasonable concern! I don't know this doctor lady! She might be hungry!" Sting growled back.

Erza flashed a brief smile, exhaling a soft laugh. "Don't worry, I left Minerva in good and safe hands," she looked off to the side, her smile growing a bit playful. "Besides, Porlyusica is a vegetarian. The only threat Minerva is under is getting a broom to the head if she acts out and misbehaves herself."

"Whew! That's a relief!" Sting let out a pleasant sigh and closed his eyes, but such peace didn't last long, as his eyes shot wide shortly after giving Erza's words a second thought. "Wait! No, it's not! That doctor's probably hit Lady Minerva a thousand times by now!"

"Have a little faith in the lady," Rogue said, crossing his arms. "I'd wager a dozen times at the absolute most."

"That'd be impressive, if it were possible," Erza said. "However, most of Porlyusica's treatments are done while the patient is asleep, so unless Minerva dedicated her few waking breaths to causing a disturbance, she'll be fine."

Sting calmed himself and nodded his head with a deep breath. "You're right, you're right… I guess I'm just…nervous, or somethin'. I'm afraid we're gonna get there and find out Lady Minerva is an entirely different person, nothin' like the one we knew before. That'd scare the hell outta me."

"One doesn't change overnight, Sting," Rogue said pensively. "She may be committed to a new and better life, but that should not change who she is deep inside."

Sting looked away, grunting under his breath again as he folded his arms behind his head. "Yeah, well—my stomach is still in knots. I wish I could just pick her up and take her back home to Sabertooth without worryin' so damn much. I hate feeling like this."

Rogue could understand that, and he closed his eyes and dipped his chin. "If it's of any consolation, I feel the same way. I always wished for her to return to us, but now that it is finally happening, I cannot help but realize I never envisioned what would happen after she has returned. I have no idea how things will be like with her back. I can only hope we all can make amends and move forward…"

"And that's all there is that you can do," Erza said calmly. Her usual serious and confident tone was instead replaced with a gentler one. "It might take awhile for it to feel normal with her around, just as it might take her some time to grow accustomed to the guild again. I can promise you one thing, though. Should you or Minerva ever need it, I am happy to aid you however I can."

"Thanks, Erza," Sting said, grinning a little. "You're a real one."

"The same goes to you, as well," Rogue replied with a smile of his own.

"And thanks for looking out for our lady," Sting said. "We ain't even a part of your guild and you still went so far to snap some sense back into Lady Minerva and get her help after the battle. Means a lot that you'd put your neck on the line for one of our own."

Erza let out a small chuckle, scratching at her cheek. "Please, I think you're taking it a bit too far. Still, think of it as nothing," she glanced over her shoulder at the two of them. "Come now. It's about time she returns to your care, where she belongs."

Sting and Rogue both nodded their heads, determined to see their lady again. "Right!"

Only a few more minutes of walking remained until the three of them finally arrived at Porlyusica's house in the middle of a clearing in the woods. In addition to the dirt path that led to her doorstep, there also seemed to be another section of the land with no grass on it, arranged in a large rectangle, almost like a small battlefield. It must have been a place for Porlyusica's patients to practice magic. In fact, Sting noticed how some of the dirt was blackened and charred, as well as some small divots scattered across the battlefield. Someone has definitely used it for practice in the past.

Within a moment, Sting snapped himself out of his thoughts and jogged ahead of Erza towards the door, staring at it once he was close.

"This is it, right?" Sting asked.

"Yes, this is Porlyusica's house," Erza said.

Sting drew in a deep breath, steeling himself to knock. He raised his fist and brought it closer to the wooden door, ignoring the churning feeling in his stomach. He was mere millimeters away from knocking, but he jumped back at the last moment and turned towards Erza with a guilty, nervous look.

"Maybe it'd be better if your doctor friend saw a familiar face instead of some rando like me!" Sting laughed uneasily before dashing behind Erza and nudging her forward. "Go right ahead!"

Erza quickly regained her footing after the nudge and moved closer, clearing her throat and smoothing the front of her skirt before being the one to knock on the door. Rogue shot Sting a look after that little stunt, though his expression softened in understanding right before the door opened, revealing an older woman with pink hair.

"You sure took your sweet old time, Scarlet," Porlyusica sneered. Sting shivered where he stood, immediately intimidated by this old woman's demeanor. Rogue didn't show it as obviously, but his eyes did widen slightly.

Erza smiled nervously. It seemed even the great Titania was intimidated by Porlyusica as well. "Thank you for waiting for us to arrive. Er—she didn't cause you any trouble, did she…?" she asked with a hint of unease, unsure if Porlyusica's moodiness was brought on by Minerva, or that she was just being herself.

"No worse than the usual riffraff you've dropped off on my doorstep," Porlyusica sighed.

"Don't you worry, Titania," a voice said from somewhere inside Porlyusica's house. Soon Minerva's figure appeared by the doorframe, a hand on her hip. "I've been a good girl."

"Lady Minerva!" Sting bursted out in relief at the sight of her, a huge smile on his face. "You're not soup!"

"Sting!" Rogue admonished, swatting him in the arm. "Don't be ridiculous!"

Minerva raised an eyebrow at Sting before glancing back to Erza. "Did I hear that right?"

"Y-Yes, but don't pay it any heed. He's just happy to see that you've recovered and are well," Erza flashed a smile.

Minerva slowly nodded to that, glancing down at her hands. The black scales and markings that marred her skin as a demon where no longer there, and both her eyes have become visible again. Minerva looked to be her old self again.

"After a lot of work, we did find a way to return to my old appearance," Minerva said, her free hand rising to toy with the necklace she was wearing around her neck absentmindedly. "Your friend here is rather impressive in her knowledge."

Porlyusica didn't respond to that, only standing there with her eyes closed and that usual annoyed look on her face, but otherwise not displeased. That was a small victory, at least.

"You look good as new, Lady Minerva!" Sting said excitedly, balling his fists in front of his chest.

"Like Erza said, we truly are relieved to see you healthy and well again," Rogue said with a small smile.

Again, Minerva nodded her head, remaining rather silent. "You needn't worry any longer on my behalf. I'm just fine."

Amid the silence that crept up on the five of them after that, Rogue was surprisingly the one to break the quiet, clearing his throat and tilting his head. "Is that a new dress, Lady Minerva?"

"Hm, this?" Minerva glanced down at her outfit: a sleeveless black dress with golden flames adorning the sides. "It was a dress from an old patient that Porlyusica allowed me to have. It's not up to my usual standards in attire, but I can make it work—"

To that, Porlyusica hit Minerva over the head with her broom with a growl, causing Minerva to wince and rub the wounded area after.

"Be grateful to your elders!" Porlyusica shouted.

"I am, I am!" Minerva defended herself. "I only mean in reference to my personal aesthetic preferences—the quality is surprisingly of a high caliber and this certainly is no cheap article…!"

Sting, Rogue, and Erza all looked on as Minerva and Porlyusica bickered—or rather, Porlyusica complained and Minerva made excuses to save herself from Porlyusica's wrath. Sting spoke up to break up the banter before it escalated.

"Just askin' out of curiosity, buuut… How many times do ya' think she hit you with that broom, milady?" he asked.

"Have a little tact, will you?!" Rogue said in a hushed, angered whisper.

Minerva pursed her lips and glanced away, displeased. "...Thirteen."

"Fourteen!" Porlyusica dissented.

"No, the time that I switched places with you and hit you instead doesn't count," Minerva said.

Erza's eyes widened out of fear on Minerva's behalf. "Excuse me?"

Minerva sighed and gave Erza a dismissive wave. "Relax, I'm kidding. I didn't hit her after we switched places… I only snapped her broom in half so she wouldn't hit me again," she huffed and placed her hands on her hips, shaking her head. "Never thought she'd have a hidden collection of spares to use on me instead…"

Sting grinned smugly and turned to Rogue. "I win the wageeeer," he teased.

Rogue crossed his arms and turned his head away in a rare display of competitiveness instead of seriousness. "But my estimate was ultimately closer to the actual amount…"

Porlyusica ended this little spat with a loud clearing of her throat. "I believe it's time for my patient to be discharged and return home, away from here. I never thought the day would come where I would treat someone outside of Fairy Tail…"

Minerva took a quick step past the threshold of the doorframe, taking the hint to leave. She stopped before taking another step, turning back to Porlyusica and opening her mouth to speak, but she paused, averting her gaze and tensing up from unease. "You went a great deal out of your way to help me. I appreciate it," she said, her words delivered uncomfortably, yet still with genuine intentions. "I hope I wasn't too much of an inconvenience."

Porlyusica let out a sigh, but it wasn't like her usual ones of agitation. Rather, it was like a sigh of defeat, letting her cold exterior down for one moment after Minerva's words wore away at it. "As I said before, I've had worse people dropped on my doorstep. Mind yourself in the future so I won't have to take care of you again."

Minerva hummed under her breath, nodding her head and accepting what civility she was offered. She walked past Erza and toward Sting and Rogue, joining them so they all could make the trip back to Sabertooth.

Clearing her throat, Minerva shifted her weight to favor one leg, setting a hand on her hip. "Shall I teleport us back to the guild?"

Sting shook his head, smiling slightly. "Nah. Let's take the long way back. We're in no rush."

"In that case, I should probably guide you all out of the forest," Erza said, joining the three of them. "I hope you don't mind me tagging along for a little while longer."

"Not at all," Rogue said with a grateful nod. He then smirked slightly, a twinkle in his eye. "If Sting led us out of here while left to his own devices, I don't doubt he'd lead us straight to that candy cottage and we'd be eaten for dinner."

Sting recoiled to that at first, though he soon grew angry at Rogue's joke. "Hey! I'd smell that candy a mile away and I'd know to avoid it! I ain't a good side dish for soup!"

Minerva looked between the lot of them, confused, but slightly amused at the very least. She took another step forward, hoping they all would join her, but she was stopped by Porlyusica's voice.

"Hey, tiger lady!" Porlyusica yelled to get her attention. When Minerva and the others looked her way, Porlyusica continued with a barely-noticeable grin. "When I last treated Scarlet, she incurred the wrath of the broom twenty times, and she was only in my care for two days. Now, off with you! I want my peace and quiet back!"

Erza froze in disbelief after Porlyusica slammed the door shut, and soon all eyes were on her. Her face was red with embarrassment, and she gulped nervously. It didn't help that Minerva was smirking at her, gloating like her old self.

"Looks like I behaved myself better than you," Minerva teased, laughing under her breath.

"Th-That's debatable," Erza muttered, still embarrassed. "It was never my intention to anger her, but I just—somehow I always did…"

Minerva laughed louder, and Sting and Rogue couldn't hide their own amusement either.

"That's right! Our lady is the best!" Sting snickered, rubbing under his nose.

Erza huffed, walking forward and doing her best to brush off her humiliation. "We're leaving. Keep laughing, and I'll tell the witch in that cottage to cook you medium well."

"I-I'm sorry! It won't happen again!" Sting bowed his head repeatedly, asking for forgiveness.

"Way to have some backbone, Guild Master," Minerva said, but only in a playful tone.

Rogue smiled to himself, feeling a wave of relief to have Minerva among them again, and having her feel like a friend for the first time. "It's good to have you back, Lady Minerva."

Minerva blinked from surprise at the sudden sentimentality, though she flashed a brief smile and nodded in response. "Direct your gratitude toward Erza instead. She was the one who dragged me out of the dark so I could be standing here now."

"I couldn't have done that on my own," Erza argued, though with a lighthearted nature about it. "I can't make someone else open their eyes to the truth. They have to do that themselves."

Minerva dismissed that train of thought with a wave of her hand, ending the conversation there. Other unimportant topics came up, filling the air between the four of them on the rest of the walk until they left the forest, arriving in Magnolia.

"Be safe on the journey back," Erza told the three others. "Take care, and work hard."

"Same goes to you, Erza!" Sting said with a wide grin.

"You've been a great help, Erza. I hope we can meet again soon," Rogue nodded with a smile of his own.

Minerva looked at Erza too, pausing a moment before speaking up. She didn't want to say goodbye just yet—there was still something she needed to address.

"Porlyusica told me about what happened to Fairy Tail. It must be hard," she said, trying to be sympathetic.

"Yeah, talk about a real shame," Sting let out a ragged sigh. "Can't believe it's just gone like that.."

"Fairy Tail will never truly be gone. I still wear the mark on my arm, and my memories of it are still stored within my heart," Erza responded, setting a hand on her chest.

"That may be so, but still, tangibly it is no more," Minerva said, drawing in a breath. "I owe you for everything you've done for me, so at the very least, I have to make the invitation. You're always welcome to join us at Sabertooth."

"You've got what it takes to be a tiger! You'd fit right in with the rest of us!" Sting grinned excitedly.

Rogue let out a slight laugh, folding his arms. "You haven't even returned to the guild, yet you're already recruiting others for us. You waste no time getting reacquainted, milady."

Minerva cleared her throat, glancing back to Erza with an expectant look. Erza flashed an apologetic smile before closing her eyes.

"I appreciate the offer. Truly, it means a great deal coming from you, Minerva—but I'm afraid I have to decline. I don't know if I have the strength to join another guild. Not now, at least. Not yet," Erza said in a solemn tone.

"Aww, man. That's too bad," Sting hung his shoulders. "We would love to have ya'."

Minerva managed to smile for a moment even with the declined offer. "Well, since the guild dormitory will be closed, you're free to stay with me should you need it."

Sting held a hand to the side of his mouth and pointed Minerva's way, lowering his voice to a whisper to speak to Erza. "She has a mansion. It's huuuge."

"And even if you don't want to join the guild, I can always slide you a few job requests under the table," Minerva grinned playfully.

"That's very kind of you," Erza smiled back. "And also very illegal."

"I would focus on the thought behind the words instead of its legality," Rogue said with a nervous, yet amused look.

"I'll let it slide this once, but don't push it," Erza joked.

"Our doors are open anytime for you to drop by, got that? Not as a member, but as a friend," Sting said. "Please come over sometime! We have an indoor pool!"

Minerva raised an eyebrow, turning her head towards Sting. "We do?"

Sting's eyes widened when he realized Minerva hadn't seen the pool yet. "Milady, you have missed so, so much."

"Evidently," Minerva said, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Which is why I shouldn't keep you any longer than I already have," Erza interrupted. "Don't wait too long. The sun will set before you arrive at the guild."

"Right. We'll be on our way," Rogue nodded. "Goodbye for now."

"See ya' soon! Hear that? Soon!" Sting said with a big wave.

Minerva opened her mouth, though she didn't find the words right away. "Wait, Erza."

Erza tilted her head. "What is it?"

Minerva paused to collect herself, lowering her gaze to the ground and swallowing a dry gulp. "Thank you...for everything," she said in a quiet voice, clearly unused to saying such things. "And…And I'm sorry for what I've done in the past. It's inexcusable. Truly, I don't know how or why I deserved your kindness to bring me here… But know that I do appreciate it."

"You needn't thank me nor apologize," Erza shook her head with a slight smile. "It's what friends do. The best way you can remedy your past mistakes is to be a better person from here forward. That's apology enough for me."

Minerva nodded slowly, gradually coming to smile. "Right. I'll do my best. Goodbye, Erza."

"Take care, Minerva," Erza said in return. "Now go. Your family awaits you back home."

Minerva's grin grew a little wider as she turned away, joining up with Sting and Rogue to leave Magnolia, as Erza stayed behind.

"Please visit our guild! And bring a swimsuit! Take a dip in our pool! It's become famous, you know! We got a huge story about it in Sorcerer Magazine!" Sting shouted as they walked away, too excited to stop even if Erza was quite a distance away.

"I don't mean to sound harsh, but I don't believe him in the slightest," Minerva told Rogue. "There's no way in hell he installed a pool inside the guild hall."

"Well…" Rogue trailed off, crossing his arms. "You're in for a big surprise when we arrive, then."

Minerva turned away, clicking her tongue. She looked to Sting in disbelief. "Tell me—if this pool is as big of a deal as you say, does that mean other people from outside the guild have come to use it?"

"I gotta turn away people at the door, the pool gets so busy from people wantin' to see it for themselves!" Sting bragged with a loud laugh.

"Have you at least charged outsiders admission to use it?" Minerva asked.

Sting's cocky demeanor vanished and he froze. "Eh? I can do that?"

Minerva let out a sigh, gripping the bridge of her nose and walking past Sting to take the lead. "I swear, if I were gone for any longer, the guild would fall apart without me…"

Sting and Rogue shared a look after Minerva's snide remark, but they quickly came to smile together, knowing that their Minerva was truly back.

"That's our lady!"

#writing misadventures #fairy tail #sabertooth #minerva orland #sting eucliffe #rogue cheney #ft fanfic #text #long post #guess who's writing again

[elopez7228]

Scenic route 20/47

Read on AO3 : https://archiveofourown.org/works/18268208/chapters/43229774 

Start over : https://elopez7228.tumblr.com/post/620919089893933056/scenic-route-0147

***

The conversation flowed amicably and Rey was quite relaxed by the time the Millenium Falcon reached the parking lot of the tourism office.

Maz left the car with one last affectionate pat for BB8, taking a moment to thank Rey for wishing her safe travels.

Inside the immense air-conditioned mass that was the tourism office, a 4-feet-wide digital clock showed the countdown until the next eruption of the geyser.

With nearly half an hour to spare, Rey took a walk through the gift shop. She briefly admired the keychains and postcards, before pausing in front of an item that left her quite perplexed. Bear spray?  What on earth was that?

The shopkeeper—who was appropriately decked out in green forest ranger attire—informed her that it was used by hikers to ward off bears in the unfortunate event of an encounter. An accessory that would surely save lives, given the population of grizzlies that roamed freely within the park.  

Rey bought one because she knew that only too well. The odds of her being attacked by a bear a second time in so few days were low, but she had learned not to underestimate her natural tendency to conjure bad luck out of nowhere.  

Her phone informed her it was almost show time, so she settled on one of the benches installed in a semi circle at a safe distance from the white crater of the geyser.

***

Syed felt like a punk in a playground. She had ended up in the middle a sea of tourists who were all wearing some hideous combination of sun hats, shorts, Hawaiian shirts, cameras, and—she shuddered—socks with sandals. She stuck out like a sore thumb against the pastel masses with her tall black-clad frame, her numerous piercings, and her menacing brass chains.

She cursed Kylo for sending her to hell, far from her friends, her audience, her guns... and him. She had taken multiple photographs of a very sloppily dressed Rey, who had taken the Millennium Falcon for a joyride. Now she was wondering who to send them to. Kylo? Or Hux? Or maybe Snoke?

Theoretically, she was doing this mission on behalf of Kylo Ren. But he had shown signs of weakness that in his interest, she had the duty to report further up the chain of command...his obsession for this little English brat was beyond comprehension.

He used the hunt for environmental activists as an excuse to justify his meddlesome romantic advances, but Syed was no fool. This girl was just a tourist. She wasn’t a secret agent of the Earth Soldiers. She was frolicking about with sunglasses and a cap glued to her skull, sipping some basic frappuccino, bothering bears, and taking selfies. It was improbable, and even impossible, that she was on a mission for an ecologist association that was making dooms-day preparations. She was too relaxed; obviously a woman on vacation, certainly not an agent on active duty.

Syed meanwhile, was always on the clock. It was a shame really, the amount of time had she wasted stalking that bitch.

She finally sent the photos to Armitage Hux. He was particularly pleased when he received an image of Kylo in the throes of passion with his plaything.  She didn’t know what he would do with it, but she knew from experience that when Kylo needed a guardrail, Armitage Hux was the man of the hour. He would simply do a little sleight of hand and suddenly the unruly punk would fall back in line.  

Everything would be back to normal...like nothing had ever happened.

As for Kylo Ren himself, knowing he needed a bone to chew on, she sent him hourly reports of his little protege, deliberately omitting any mention of the hitchhiker. It was really the only useful information of the day;  and she preferred to keep an ace up her sleeve in case he decided to be difficult.

The hitchhiker was nearing the Millennium Falcon again, and Syed went off to disappear into the crowd.

The little woman circled the car for a while, then sat down on the hood, with spectacular ease. She took off her hiking boots and massaged the soles of her feet. Syed rolled her eyes. For fuck’s sake, this old hag was probably less important an update than she had initially anticipated.

When Rey came back, the woman had come down from her perch and was waiting patiently next to the mirror. Rey frowned. People had to seriously stop their fascination with her car. What was that all about?

All her wonder at the sight of the geyser (the truly magnificent explosion of water and steam as high as a five-storey building), faded to give way to an anxiety that was alas, very familiar.

"You’re still here?” Her reaction was harsher than intended, spurred on by the unexpected intrusion.

"I was waiting for you, I hope you don’t mind," Maz replied innocently.  “I haven’t found another ride, may we continue some of this journey together?”

Rey regretted her initial inclemency. She reacted too intensely, to everything.  She took a breath to force herself to regain her composure. Maz was harmless, but it was easy to see why she was struggling to find a helping hand: the park was teaming with pretentious tourists who were reluctant to change their route or their agenda...and who were suspicious of pickpockets.  She had been one of them, after all.

Rey sighed, her shoulders sagging. “Okay, fine...but I’m warning you, I’m doing a tour of all the geological marvels out here.” She said with a smile.

“Fine with me,” Maz smiled in return. “Thank you very much. I promise you won’t even know I’m here.”

Rey swallowed a remark about Maz’s tiny stature, and gently pushed BB8 over to make space.

“It's funny,” Rey observed. “BB8 doesn’t seem at all disturbed by your presence.  She’s rather aggressive with strangers, usually.”

“What strangers?” Maz laughs, reaching out to stroke the dog.

"Oh, just one stranger in particular," Rey corrected with a wave of her hand. “It was impossible for him to approach, she would try to bite him.”

“Had they met before?”

“No, of course not. He would have told me if...” Rey’s voice caught in her throat.

Did Ben and BB8 have history?  It was unbelievable, and yet...he had immediately shown interest in her, seemingly out of nowhere, when they had joined him in the Jackson Hole Lodge parking. He even outright asked if BB was her dog.

It was a silly question to ask someone walking with a dog on a leash. Why would he need confirmation?

Now that she thought about it, he had asked the same strange question about the Millennium Falcon:

Is this your car?

Obviously, it was hers. It’s not like she was just playing Russian roulette out there, hoping to find a car she could force open in the middle of the parking garage. But it was strange that he tried to make sure.

That said, in his defense, perhaps it was simply because the Millennium Falcon was an infamous bastard of a car. Anyone would have been shocked at seeing a machine like this still in use! Who knows what went on in Ben’s head?

Her face had scrunched up into a worried expression, which did not escape Maz.

"Something bothering you?” She asked in a gentle voice, “maybe I can be of some help?”

"I don’t really know," said Rey, still pensive, as she slowly pulled out of the parking space, "I've experienced some rather unlikely things since I landed in Denver. I wouldn’t even know where to start.”

"Start at the beginning," Maz replied encouragingly. “I've got plenty of time.”

That afternoon, Rey and Maz visited some of the most spectacular geological sites around the volcano: boiling springs that gave way to rainbows, geysers by the dozen, bubbling fumaroles ...they even crossed paths with animals that were once threatened in the wild—but were in total safety within the park’s verdant confines. They came upon placid bison, elk, and bald eagles. Thankfully, they saw neither bears nor wolves. These animals, however numerous, tended not to approach busy trails.

They spoke a lot.

Rey found in Maz an attentive third party, to whom she could open up without fear of judgment, and especially without fear of the rampant sexual tension present in her conversations with Ben. She knew he was attracted to her, he did nothing to hide it. But as a result, she continually wondered if the words he said were sincere, rather than a carefully prepared speech designed to charm her to his bed. He had almost managed to get there, in fact.  

In principle, there was no harm to that, she was a consenting adult. And she had to admit that she had savored every kiss, every touch...But her own ardor worried her. Had she flirted with Ben Solo because she wanted him, or because she needed to be reassured, to be held, after what Finn had done to her?

She had to put her heart back in place, heal her wounds, find her inner peace.  Only then would she consider Ben Solo.

"You do not want to make him your consolation prize," Maz hummed sagely.  “That is rather commendable.”

“I don’t think he cares either way. I mean, we are both consenting adults, but I don’t want to be a trophy...be just another notch in his bedpost.”

"You should talk to him...is it possible you’re mistaken about his intentions towards you?”

Rey narrowed her eyes. “Yes, we need to talk ...” about more than you know.

Maz was from Florida. She was bored of her apartment which sat at one end of the land, and thus decided one morning to go on foot to the other end. She had plenty of time, and improvised her itinerary at random. She had a host of tales to tell about backpacking trips to Central Asia or South America, often far from cities and crowds, and Rey began to wonder how old she really was.

It was impossible to say: her face was both smooth and furrowed, her eyes constantly hidden behind huge triple-focus glasses. Her hands were small but her fingers were long and bony. Despite her diminutive appearance, she seemed to burst with energy, and possessed an exceptional amount of savoir faire.  

Yellowstone?  She knew every corner of the place. Alaska?  She knew which roads to use in which season. London?  She had lived there twice in her youth. The Millenium Falcon? She had once owned a car of the same make and model. BB8?  Canine behavior was no mystery to her.

What a strange old woman, Rey pondered, finally glad to have good company.

Black Sand Basin, Geyser Basin, Great Fountain Geyser, Lower Geyser Basin...The park's attractions were like cat nip to tourists, including Rey and Maz.  It was hard to blame people for coming all the way to Yellowstone form the corners of the globe.

Evening was falling. The day had been exhausting, the traffic was atrocious, and the heat was stifling.

Rey went to the Madison Village campground in the park to reserve a place for the night.

Everything was complete.

Finally able to stop panicking, she was content to sleep in her car in the campground parking. Simple as that.

But what about Maz?

Leaving the campsite's bungalow, she returned to her car. The little woman was standing there, her bag hoisted on her shoulders.

"I’m all done for today," Rey explained, “I'm going to sleep in the car, they told me it was okay as long as I paid parking fees. How about you?”

She gestured awkwardly at the  car. “Do you want the back seat?  BB8 can come sleep with me...?”

Maz smiled to assuage her fears. “Don’t worry, young lady. I'm used to sleeping under the stars.”

"Right here?! With the bears and everything—“ Rey was incredulous.

“Don’t fret. I’ll take care of myself, you take care of yourself and BB8.”

Rey looked away as the sound of tinkling bracelets faded into the distance. Better not think about it, the last thing she need was an extra dose of anxiety. And besides, she was hungry.

The vending machine at the campsite procured a packet of chips, a flavorless coffee, and a Snickers bar. Dejectedly, she looked down at her meal. It was the food pyramid of sadness.

She wanted fresh vegetables and a hot plate...she would have to plan better tomorrow. These snacks were barely what she considered food.

What was Finn doing now?  She couldn’t help but wonder.

He was probably still on the respirator; if there had been any improvement in his condition, Poe would have called her.

What was Ben Solo doing?

That was easy, he was about to give a concert. Rey pulled out her phone. Should she call him or send him a message?  She opted for a message.

Good luck with the concert tonight!  Not too nervous I hope?  

An answer arrived immediately. He wasn’t on stage yet.

Thanks for the good vibes! But I wish you were here in the room.

#reylo #fanfiction #Scenic route #Modern AU

[garloszeczek-blog]

My new review Birds of Prey

You'll see where this is going very quickly. All right. So that movie was about the horror of someone else playing with your toys in a way that you feel they are not supposed to be played with. It's a great site to see the Birds of Prey. It's a very jarring experience, and most of us have been there, but in line with the message of that movie, I think it's important that we all take a step back and recognize that at the end of the day, We're all loving the same characters.

And that's nice right now that said my problems with birds of prey are not simply the significant, significant changes made to DC Canon. That bothers me, but the film has plenty of its of its own problems as well. Uh, and we're gonna discuss them, but I just want to make it clear that I wouldn't say this movie is a bad movie, but I wouldn't say it's a good movie.

Either in fact, I have been struggling since I saw it as to whether or not as a rotten tomatoes critic. I should give it a fresh or a rotten tomato, because to be honest with you, I don't think it deserves either. I feel putting a rotten tomato on it. It's too harsh, but I feel like a fresh tomato is a bit too much of a pass.

What made me see the Birds of Prey

But I got to pick one. Right? So what was the deciding factor? Well, I've been talking to a lot of you, uh, you know, some of you who've been very nice. Uh, I'll be curious to see the box office on this movie. Cause while there's a small contingent, that's very vocal about film. Uh, you know, the tracking has still been very low and I'm curious to see how it all eventually shakes out.

We'll see. But to some people, I think it's undeniable that this movie means a lot to them. Uh, and then also it's viewed as an important staff. And I think this is true in regards to who's in movies and Hollywood and who makes those movies, that con you know, I think that is fair. So for that reason, I think that's enough of a tiebreaker that tip the scales to a fresh tomato, but I'm going to put in the comments that it was a real squeaker between fresh and rotten.

Cause you know, again, that's really the case. So now we're going to talk about the movie, right? No spoilers, but boy, do we have a lot to talk about the spoiler review? Uh, but first I'm going to start with what I like about the movie. There. Isn't a lot of stuff that I like, and then I'm going to talk about what I don't like.

All right. So the good. The acting, I think the acting is quite good in this movie, everyone. Well, I have to say Andrew Kane and rename on tour. Really one toy isn't bad. I just feel totally unnecessary in the movie. I did not like Cassandra Kane at all. Um, But everyone else I thought was excellent. And you know what?

I thought very, very committed to their roles. Nobody is doing a paycheck gig here, and I think that has to be respected. I certainly respect it. All right. So first off, Margot Robbie personally, I prefer the current animated version of the character to me. That's perfect. This Harley does a lot of things by accident.

Happiness at every turn

You know, she's very lucky. Let's say right. She could almost be black cat in terms of luck powers to some degree. And the Marilyn Monroe comparison by the way is actually very apt because Robbie is playing Harley Quinn, like a criminal clown, Maryland Monroe. And I totally understand that choice by the way.

And on that note, she looks absolutely gorgeous here. Not only on the outside, but on the inside. Sure. She does some mean things and she is, you know, a criminal, but she does, you know, she does radiate, um, a fun factor and a kindness factor, which is great, which is, I think one of the things that makes the character so likable.

Along with her cool look and her costume changes. She's fun, right? No wonder Margot Robbie is going on to play Barbie. Uh, and while I don't agree with many of her choices here as to how to play Harley. You can't deny that Robbie's definitely making strong choices and that she really has made the character her own.

Uh, and we're going to talk about this at the end of the review to many people. She's the only Harley Quinn they've ever seen and she's beloved. And I think that's great. You know, you love to see comic book characters succeed beyond the initial medium. Right. And she has one. Undeniably good gag where let's just say she punches Zass in the fun house.

Curiosity is the first step to hell

You'll know it. When you see it, it was the one genuine roaring laughter that came from my audience and it was totally deserved. Uh, you and McGregor, he's having a lot of fun here, right? Speaking of fun with a very camp, but also very disturbed performance, which is. Very important. The disturbed part two black mask, one of the most disturbing characters in DC comics, from what you know, from, from one fire, the joker to the next, right.

I wish that had been commented on more. There's a lot, that's not commented on here. Um, but anyway, you and McGregor's performance is a hundred percent believable. I mean, I really thought he did a great job. I don't like a lot of what's done with his character, but that's not on you and McGregor. And it's undeniable that like with Margot, Robbie, You can't take your eyes off of either of them when they're on screen. For your message, you won't see the movie on Netflix.

I hated the end with this character though. I absolutely hated it. I was like, this is where we part ways, birds of prey. I don't know if I can, I don't think I can get over this. And it's a real travesty of justice. We'll discuss it in the spoiler review. I was like, wow. That was a mistake. I can't believe he did that.

All right. So next up journey smaller much, much, much better than I'd anticipated. Very good. I can see why so many people were singing her praise. Um, you know, in the run up to this film's release, she has the best fight scene in the film fitting since black Canary of course is an iconic character in the comics.

For her fighting skills, the kick to the car door that I heavily criticized and the trailer is still weak, but it's her only weak kick. Every other kick is controlled and powerful and made to look even cooler by the gold pants and matching boots that she's wearing. It's really phenomenal. I was really impressed.

Unlikely personality

I thought that she could definitely kick butt. I loved it. And her look for most of the film I feel is much better. I mean, I know they eventually incorporate the fish nets. You've already seen this look in the trailers, but the leisure suit. It was bad. I was like, what are you wearing? That's really bad.

Like that fabric, you would think it was instant. No, no. The costumes on the other women are so bad. It almost seems intentional. It's it's for hunters. I actually liked Hunter's. We'll talk about her in a minute. In terms of her costume choices. I speaking of unnecessary though, the canal cry, which of course is something else that character is famous for in the comics.

It does make an appearance and it does look great, but it really came across. It's unnecessary because no one else has metal powers in the movie. So you were like, this doesn't really go with the rest of the film because you know, I think black Canary got the Canary. She didn't start out with it. She got that Canary crime.

So she could be in stories with other meta human characters in DC comics. They call them meta-humans. Uh, so that's why she has it, but here there no such character. And then I really didn't like what they did right after she did her Canary cry. Which really bothered me, which we'll talk about in the spoiler review.

Great combat scenes

But in addition to her fighting skills, small, like bell was simply very likable here, really likable. And while she doesn't have a lot of character development for shame, a smaller bell still manages through the sheer force of her acting and personality to come across very much like a real person with a lot of.

You know, dynamic elements. I really liked her a lot. Mary Elizabeth Winstead curious. So funny. She got, she got some good genuine laughs as well. Not as many as the Harley Quinn bed, but she got some laughs. She was good. I mean, Huntress has never been very particularly well-defined in the comics, but to see her go from a mid midriff wearing sex pot.

Too wearing a sweat, sweat sweatsuits, right. With anger issues and poor social skills playing up her New Jersey mafia angle. Well, that was just really clever and a true joy to see too bad. She has hardly any screen time. I mean, that was a real shame. Uh, both black Canary countries are very good. But they're really restricted in what they're allowed to do on screen.

It's unfortunate. I'm thinking HBO, or I'm going to make a video about it. I'm thinking HBO, max show for them just because. The actresses aren't as high profile and their stories seem a little bit smaller, but if the movie does really well, maybe a spinoff movie, but you know, streaming today is a hot, a hot spot.

And I think it would be very happy with the HBO max show. We were really, really explore both of their origins and there's good teases to their origins, but again, you know, kind of just shuffled in there to, for fan service and to give them a look it's a little as backstory as possible. Alright, so now we're on the positive.

Gotham never sleeps

A Christmas scene again, while I do not like it at all, what's done with his character. I did feel that Mussina fully commits here is that, and therefore is very engaging to watch on screen. Uh, also like black mask, he feels truly dangerous. I felt they were actually dangerous characters, which is great.

Especially if you're in an R rated movie. I'd also like to include director Kathy and here again, I don't feel she was the right choice for this movie. I think she makes it feel very small, but I have to hand it to her that she handed in a film that very much feels like a mainstream studio product. And that's incredible for someone who's never made one before.

I mean, you cannot tell that this is someone's first studio picture, so that's impressive. Then finally, in the good section, I would like to also include the police station raid, which is really three delightful sequences. They're not perfect. But they have the best visuals and some of the most clever elements in the movie. Besides, I recommend reading reviews of the movie on Metacritic.

And definitely the best overall action Harley really is good with the baseball bat. There was one where she one instance where she throws it and I thought that was incredible. I loved it. And a smiling Harley Quinn emerging from pink and blue smoke. Mimicking her hair. Holding a shotgun is probably my favorite shot in the film.

What it's like to be an anti-hero

I was like, wow. And I also liked the wanted poster joke. This is very good stuff. Now let's segue over unfortunately to the bat. And I have to say there was something about this police station raid that bothered me, even though I did enjoy it the most out of all the action sequences and that's that Harley is clearly using non-lethal rounds in a misguided thing to make her the antihero.

Right. They're like, yo, she can't shoot the police. The audience will not like her then. And I'm like, You know, either she's a criminal or she's not, I don't like things to try and have it both ways, which I think is a good way to describe this movie is we're going to discuss, but anyway, she's using non-lethal rounds, but yet still, for some reason, the police who have real guns cower in fear, and there are a lot of, Oh, whatever you want just don't hurt us.

I mean like the people of Gotham should be very upset. Okay. I mean, it also, at that point, the whole. Knows. She's no longer under Joker's protection for them. So there's really no reason for that this to be the case. And it just really bothered me. I thought it was sloppy writing to make her be able to pull off this raid.

I'm like, just figure out how she can do it for real, please. I also felt that even though Chad's the housekeeper came in here to help with the action with some reshoots, it just still didn't work out there. Isn't a lot of action. Um, even when there are action sequences, they aren't that great. Right? Uh, the fun house, for instance, it's a cool set, but it makes for a very awkward action sequence.

I mean, for instance, you can literally see the actors and the stunt people struggling to maneuver. In the fun house, their footing is very unsure. They're like, I guess I'm supposed to do this and it's not working. And you're like, it's not working. You should redo the scene. Um, my favorite moment in that sequence, by the way is again, black Canary, uh, needing a hairband to pull her hair back out of her face mid-flight she has to get it from someone else.

Women on top

And I just thought that was very real. I liked it. I thought a woman would really do that, but the fact that's my favorite moment in that fight sequence, I think says a lot about how little fighting is actually going on there. Uh, furthermore, for some reason, the tone dramatically changes in the third act.

And our leading ladies get really silly, like really silly it's on choice, considering that this is the time that they're in the most danger and also teaming up for the first time. I thought that was, I was like, this is a very weird tonal shift. Uh, next, I felt this movie had a lot of the same problems that suicide squad did yet.

For some reason, nobody is saying anything. I suspect that a lot of people in the media felt joker was irresponsible. I didn't like where joker was coming from. And this really is like the exact opposite of joker, um, which is unfortunate. Cause I feel like a really good Harley Quinn story could be as good as Todd Phillips do with joker, but talking about women in abusive relationships anyway.

I do feel that there's something of like, let's push this cause we want to see this more than joker. And I hope that's not how the conversation evolves because it's going to be super annoying. But anyway, um, so yes, a lot like suicide squad, like instead of doing the work and the script, a lot of things are written up on the screen.

A comedy movie

Sometimes it gets laughs, but I do feel it's a little bit sloppy. Um, similarly, the editing is very choppy. The story is told out of order. Um, And a lot, a lot. I don't, I don't know if suicide squad did that too much, but I have to say a lot of what we saw being filmed or was in the trailers, never makes it into the movie.

I know it. And you had it too. I know it had to be reworked, but there's stuff that's not in there that you feel should be in there maybe a little bit. Like for instance, Jared letter's joke or body double, even the body doubles doesn't show up. So it's kind of weird to have joke would be so much a part of what Harley's talking about yet.

You don't see him. I wish that they had managed to maybe. Work something out to Jared Leto could return cause his shadow weighs heavily on the entire film. Um, so yeah, there's a lot missing. There's a lot missing, right? Also many, many times just when the movie hits on a really good idea and you're like, wow, this might be something it stops short and moved on.

Right. A perfect example of this is the diamonds are a girl's best friend musical number. I didn't think it was going to work. But then when it was in the movie, I was like, wow, this is really working. I can't believe I'm good. Oh, it's over. That's what it was like. It was like less than a minute. It felt like there was less footage about dance sequence, that musical number in the movie that has been in the trailers. Before I watch a movie I always try to check the information on this page.

So that was weird. Um, I mean, I'm, I'm like, you must've felt more than this. Why did you not put more of this sin? For instance, also one of my favorite shots from the trailers when she does like the boom would hit somebody with her head. That's not in the movie. I also have a real problem with the hypocrisy of birds of prey.

What I didn't like

I really hate this kind of stuff. It really bothers me, which is maybe one of the reasons that I have a problem with this phone and it's has hypocrisy on a number of points. All right. So number one. It's supposed to represent women, right? Yet Harley Quinn is front and center and the other female characters have very little screen time in development.

Margot, Robbie has famously now said that you wanted to shine a spotlight on lesser known DC characters, which I think is admirable, but she's not doing that. They very much come across a cross as backup dancers, right. Instead of partners. Uh, that kind of works a little bit with where the story goes again.

I don't want to give away any spoilers, but you know, it's unfortunate. Uh, you could easily cut my least favorite characters Ram on toy and Cassandra Kane and give that screen time, which is very badly needed to black, Canary and hundreds. Also considering again, how great Harley Quinn's multiple costumes are.

It seems almost intentional that the other costumes are so bad. I like the joke of Hunter says, you know, sweatsuits, right. Or, you know, I think that's very funny, but black Canary should look much closer to her comic book origins. They don't even give her the leather coat. It's it's it's it's frustrating.

Um, but anyway, the movie is also supposed to support characters of color diversity, but bottom line it's it's hero and villain who have by far, the most screen time are white. And so I don't know why this movie is getting rewarded for doing something it does not do. And also again, I loved smell like bell and that she was great, but you can't ignore her.

Supporting LGBT communities

Hollywood's continued colorism. It's really unfortunate. The movie is also supposed to support LGBT representation. I felt I was worried about this. Some people misconstrued, my comments is not wanting in the movie. That's totally incorrect. I really wanted in the movie, in fact, in a moment, we're going to talk about why, uh, but I was worried that it wouldn't be done well, or it would be more queer baiting, which is exactly what it is.

Right. For instance, you only know that Montoya is a lesbian because Harley says so in voiceover, she never does a single thing on screen. To show that that's the case. Even her interactions with her supposed ex-girlfriend have no subtext to them whatsoever. They could just as well be friends, former friends, to be honest with you, uh, Harley Quinn who's famously by in the comics.

Not here. There is a quick visual gag, which could easily be cut for foreign audiences, uh, about her experimenting in college. And that's it on a side note while we're talking about it now, uh, black mask, uh, is very campy as a character, but some of you have actually written me and told me that foreign dubs take that out of the movie. It is worth noting that the main character was played by the wonderful Margot Robbie.

That's stripped away from the performance. Um, so there's the campy aspect, but the movie just refuses to commit to him being. Even potentially a gay character. It's very cowardly. I think even the moment where he puts his arm around as his shoulder, I don't think that's in the actual movie. I might be mistaken on that to be fair, but I was looking for it and I didn't see it.

Uh Zara's does Fort with black mask, but, uh, Zass flirts with everyone. Right. He just seems like he's just kinda like into everything. Uh, and he gets the most sexual gratification from violence. There's a specific kind of violence, but I don't want to give it away. Uh, then finally, I really don't like how this movie depicts men.

I think, I think it's problematic. I don't like this trend that for one thing to be awesome. Another thing has to be torn down. Why can't I, why can't, you know, again, from the Lego movie, why can't everything be awesome? Right. Harley Quinn can be a great villain without having to put out the idea that she was the one who came up with all of Joker's good ideas.

Joker-related threads

Right. I was like, why do you have to tear down joker to make her like, when a great character? I don't think that. Good at all in the comics and an animation Montoya, it gets along great with Gordon and books. She's part of the inner circle of the GCPD, but here she's ostracized, but every single man in the department bullied by them and her case is stolen by them.

Um, Now it's hard to go into many more specifics without spoilers. So we will definitely revisit this issue in my spoiler review. But I will say here that all the men are depicted as very rapey. And I just didn't see one positive male character in the film. There's one character that you can maybe argue as positive, cause he doesn't want to get killed, but like that's a really horrible excuse for what he ends up doing to a woman. We can read about the history of the Birds of Prey on the wiki.

I'm like, We'll talk about it. I mean, wow. I mean, their men are definitely portrayed as the enemy and at one point Harley even Moes down a male store manager with her shopping cart laughing, and we're supposed to laugh at it. And you're like, that guy is responsible for the paying. You know, he has to take the monetary loss for what you just stole.

Um, you know, joker was a man of the people I'm just saying, and, you know, Harley the selfishness, there's a little bit of a one character flaw for the character. I was also particularly devastated to see that even black mask is portrayed as hating women, like really being misogynistic. Right. And there's one scene in the film, which involves that other guy that is truly appalling and which we will definitely discuss in the spoiler review.

Does it pay to see

I'm not even sure if it should be in the movie. I don't understand exactly why it was put there, except it'd be just like the pinnacle of men hating women. I didn't like it. Um, And it made no sense story-wise either who would ever go to black masks club, but this kind of stuff happens there. Uh, and the, one of the main reasons that I find it disappointing is that gay men and women have historically had a bond.

Right. And I had hoped that that would be played up. And highlighted in this movie and might be a really clever reason or one of the really clever reasons for making black mask, a gay character in the context of this specific film about representation and victimization either. That could be really cool, but instead he's just another woman hater, which, you know, women have no friends who are men and I don't like that at all.

I mean, I think that there's definitely abuse that goes on. Um, and that I have, I have absolutely no problem. I'm being depicted. The Harley Quinn animated series does a great job with that, but I don't think you should vilify all men. I think that's not a good. That's a good path to go down. So yeah, I have a lot of problems with this movie and I'm surprised that so many people are seeing the film as revolutionary, right?

Public expectations

I suspect it's because the number of people have not seen it yet, but some people have and have been very laudatory. And I was thinking about it and it occurred to me that for many, many people, and this is sad, they've never read mad love. They haven't read any of the Harley Quinn comics, which admittedly.

Are really dodgy in terms of quality, but they've also let seeming wonderful new animated series, which is stuck behind a paywall. And unfortunately, very few subscribers to that service. I mean, it's really unfortunate because mad love and the new animated series, not the comics, unfortunately, but mad love.

And the new animated series are both much better than this movie, but have a smaller audience. So I guess at least the story's getting out there, but it's been told better. So that's my non spoiler review of birds of prey. My spoiler review will be coming very soon and again, as I said, we have plenty to discuss, but for now, share your thoughts down below.

#birds of prey #film #netflix #hollywood #dc #cda #movies

[the-silentium]

Wait for me to come home Pt.4

Summary: You got an interview for Eddie at your journal, but it seems like Eddie and your boss already know each other…

Masterlist  Part 3

Pairing: Eddie Brock x Reader, Venom x Reader

Warning: Angst, fluff, swearing, mention of homosexuality

Words: 4680 Words

A/N: Omg this one is very long. Sorry guys, but I still hope you will like it!

Today is going to be a busy day. You talked to Mike, the CEO of Silentium Loquitur, and got an interview for Eddie at 1 pm. You planned to go with him to get him on time to the meeting and because you are getting late on your job schedule. You still have a desk in the building and while Eddie is being interviewed, you could work on your photos.

Eddie managed to monopolize your time during the whole past week. You passed your time getting to know more the ex-journalist and his personal alien. When you weren’t with them, you were running all over the city to gather good shots for the journal, because well, you still need money.

Even if you don’t want to admit it to yourself yet, you are falling hard for the brunette. His whole personality complete yours and each day you pass with him goes by quickly. He makes you laugh without effort, he is a perfect gentleman and his morning texts always put you in a good mood to start your day.

Despite your acceptance of the fact that the guy you are dating has a black symbiote inside him, you can’t help but be apprehensive of your next encounters with Venom. You truly want to be at ease around him, but let’s say it, his timing is the worst you’ve ever seen.

The first time, you were cuddling with Eddie on your couch under a blanket while watching a movie. During the day, you had to take different shots of 4 different sites, all of them in a different part of the city. You passed the day in the traffic, under a very hot sun with broken air conditioning. Now comfortably installed, you slowly started to fall asleep on Eddie’s shoulder. When you reached the particular point between consciousness and the dream world, Venom decided to see for himself what Eddie characterize as “the most beautiful sight in the world” and popped out of the opposite shoulder you were leaning on. Slowly, he got right before your face to admire your sleeping form and started purring. The sound pulled you back to a very sensitive point of consciousness. You opened your eyes to see a toothed grin only two inches from your face. Naturally, you jumped with a squeal, still not used to see him and gripped harder on Eddie’s arm.

Another bad timing has been two days ago. You were at Eddie’s and to thank you for getting him an interview, he cooked you a delicious dinner. Well, it looked delicious, but just before either of you took a bite of the meal, Venom got out and started to argue that he wasn’t in the mood for a simple chicken alfredo pasta. He wanted a burglar or anything of the sort. Sadly for your empty stomach, Eddie couldn’t control the symbiote before he started to describe to you how he liked to eat humans with some juicy details you still don’t want to remember. The image you now had in your head was graphic enough to cut off your appetite, and to say that Eddie was angry toward Venom is a euphemism. He tried to not let it show, but he was boiling. Your soft voice calmed him a little. That night, after explaining why talking about this kind of subject made you uncomfortable, you made Venom promise that he wouldn’t talk about his man-eating habits in front of you again.

You really tried to get used to Venom. You would often talk to him, pet his head when he wanted attention, answer his questions as much as you could and give him some chocolate from your secret stash. Now that you think of it, you really are getting better with both of them. Even if Venom makes your heartbeat crazy sometimes.

A knock at the door disturbs you from your lunch. At the moment you open the door to Eddie, your ringtone reaches your ears and you invite the blue-eyed man to come in. After giving him a quick kiss on the cheek, you make your way to your phone to pick it up.

With a glance, you see the idiotic face of your brother on the screen and you grin, hitting the green button.

“If it’s not the male version of myself !“ you say in a cheery tone.

“Not just the male version, but also a better version.“ He chuckles.

“Now now. Is that a way to talk to your older sister?“

“Hey, I kicked you out. You just don’t remember.“ You laugh.

“Yeah yeah. What can I do for you?“ You smile at the man who takes a seat in front of you.

“Yeah. Um.. you know that next month is the 25th wedding anniversary of mom and dad.“ You confirm it. “Well, I thought that maybe we could go visit them, spoil them and make them remember how lucky they are that we got out of the house.“

“Super idea!“ you reply laughing. “You bring Sarah?“

“Of course. I’ll call you later. Just make sure that you book the whole weekend for this.“

“It’s mom and dad that we are talking about! I definitely reserve my weekend for them. I’ll wait for your call, see ya Aiden.“

“See ya Y/N.“

You end the call and you finally notice of Eddie’s professional look and bite your lip.

“Well, you look ready to conquer.” You smile at him. For a guy who was going to pass an interview, he was calm and composed.

“It’s just to impress. I’m fucking scared.” He laughs. You chuckle and pit a kiss on his cheek.

“You got this Eddie Brock.” Your hands find their way at the back of his neck and his around your waist. “I look forward to work with the most handsome journalist in San Francisco.”

His lips find yours and you can’t stop the moan from getting out. Even if the kiss was quick, you felt the passion and love from Eddie. When he released your mouth, he cradles your cheek in his hand and you both get lost in each other eyes.

After merely a week, you are deeply in love with that man. It should scare you because it happened really fast, but you are not.

Eddie opens his mouth, but your alarm beats him and ruins the moment. “Time to go.” You say sheepishly.

While Eddie puts his leather jacket back on, you finish the last bites of your lunch and quickly put the dishes away to be taken care of later. You grab your own jacket and your camera and follow Eddie out of your apartment to his motorcycle. He puts the extra helmet on your head and leans down for a quick peck on your lips. You proceed to tie it while Eddie put his on and you both get on the bike. You explain the directions to him and 10 minutes later, you are both at the door of your workplace.

The calm and composed Eddie is long gone now. He looks stressed, but you assume it’s because of the interview.

“You will do fine Eddie. You got this.” You smile at him. You kiss his cheek to help him relax, but that doesn’t seem to work. He only gives you a tight smile in return.

You both make your way inside, Eddie following closely behind you. You pass the security and take the elevator to the last level. Eddie was silent all along, but when the door opens, he let out a long sigh. You empathize with him. You passed there too, even if you knew Mike. You passed an interview and felt like dying the moment before the meeting.

You get out of the metal box and lead to Mike’s office. You greeted the secretary and she announced your arrival to your boss.

It didn’t take time for him to open his door and greet you with a big smile.

“Good morning Y/N.” You shake his hand, returning the greeting. “And you must be the secret asset.” He says while glancing over your shoulder. “Oh, good morning Mr. Brock.” The confusion in his voice makes you frown a little.

Eddie gets on his feet quickly and shakes hands like you did a moment before. “Good morning sir.”

Still smiling, Mike turns to you and ask you to come first in his office. He needs to talk about some paperwork apparently. You follow him while Eddie returns to his chair and close the door behind you.

“Did I miss something?” You are lost. They seem to know each other and now you start to regret that you kept the surprise for both of them.

“When you said you found an asset for my journal, I didn’t think that you would bring me Eddie Brock.” He frowns and looks at you with what you think is concern.

“Why would you not think of him as an asset? He was a very good journalist and a very influential at that.” You are confused at this point. He has certainly heard of his career before, didn’t he?

“Yes, I know that. I passed him an interview two weeks ago and he started talking to himself. I think that maybe this job is too much for him now and he has other problems to solve.”

Recognition flashes on your face and you shake your head with a smile. Venom will really have to behave this time. “Yeah, I noticed. He seems to talk to himself when he is stressed. You know, to calm himself down.” You mentally pat yourself on the shoulder for the good lie in a so short time.

He puts a hand on your shoulder and gives you a little smile. He always saw you as his daughter while you saw him as an uncle. “If you really think he can do it, I will give him another chance. I trust your judgment. Now, for that paperwork, I need you to fill this,” he passes you a 20 pages document “and give it to Sam when you are done.”

You send him a smile and open the door. Eddie is sitting on a chair, nervosity written all over his face. You approach him and he jumps on his feet when he notices you.

“Calm down Ed. Everything will be fine.” You put a hand on his arm to try to soothe him and it seems to do the trick. “Just be yourself. You got this.”

He shakes his head. “You don’t understand, I came here already and I screwed up.”

“I know. He told me. He is willing to start from zero again. Now Venom, please, let Eddie do this alone and I promise you some chocolate surprise tonight. How does it sound?”

Eddie sighs and you feel his muscles relax beneath your hand. “He is okay with that.” He glances over your shoulder and you see his composed self coming back. In a matter of second, he is ready to roll.

“I will be on the 15th floor. Meet me there when you are finished.” He nods and you return to the elevator. Just before the door close, you see Eddie’s form entering the office.

You really hope Venom will let Eddie alone during the interview. You know he has all his chances to impress Mike, but if he looks like a schizophrenic patient, there is no way he will get the job.

The doors open on your favorite place in the building; the “workshop”. You immediately spot some of your favorite faces and make your way toward one of them.

“Y/N! You finally came back!” Kayla jumped on her feet and hug you tightly. “Seriously, this place is boring without you girl.”

“Hey, I’m not the only one that can do some mischief around here you know.” You laugh.

Two fingers poke your sides at that damn ticklish spot and you jump, slapping the hands away. The papers almost went flying everywhere, but you managed just in time to grip harder on them. Perfect, now your papers are all creased. Looking up, you see Sam shakes his head, grinning. “It always works!”

“You know that payback is a bitch right?” You glare at him. He is one of your best friends, he knows you like his hand.

“I know, but it’s always worth it.” He faked poking you again just to win a reaction out of you and it worked. As always. “I put your list of topics on your desk and the pictures you send me yesterday were perfect. I’ll wait for those papers and if you could fill them before 4, it would be awesome.” He points to the document in my hand.

“Sure, I’ll do it right away.” He nods and returns to his office. Turning to your friend, you shrug, “Look like I have work to do. I’ll talk to you later.” You grin. She nods and hugs you goodbye.

You have your own not-so-small-but-not-to-big office with a view of the urban landscape. When you had to work late at night, you liked to see the change of scenery. The night lights, the darkness and the stars above were breathtaking.

Taking a seat on your chair, you notice the list of subjects Sam talked about, but don’t read it right away. Taking the first page of the document, you start reading eagerly. It is a renewal of your contract with the journal. They want to keep the exclusivity of your work and keep you with them as long as possible. Not that you ever thought about ending your partnership before.

You know every big line of the contract, but you still read all of it. It’s a contract after all. Half an hour later, you finally sign the last page and relax in your chair. Your eyes are attracted by the little paper on the corner of your desk.

You take a hold of it, curious of what you would chase for the next week, and read the items. Out of the 6 points written on the paper, you know two of them are going to be a pain to do, one doesn’t inspire you much, two others gives you a chill of excitement, but the last one makes you freeze. You read it and reread it again, not believing they would ask you to search for him.

The Demon of San-Francisco

It’s not the idea to take a picture of Venom that trouble you. You know him and he actually asked why you didn’t take pictures of him as you do with Eddie. You don’t want to take a picture of him for someone to find it eventually and link the dots. You wanted to be safe, not sorry.

What is bothering you is that they would like you to track a creature that kills people. If you had received this request last week, you would have freaked a little. No. More like you would have had a panic attack. So now that they ask you to do it, you are 1-pissed that they would ask you to put your life on the line for a picture (not that you would fear for your life now that you know him) and 2-indecisive of which act you are going to put on. Should you act like you would have a week ago? Or go chill about it and say that you could try?

You are still analyzing the pros and cons when frenetic knocks on your door startle you. Your head shot up to Kayla opening your door and getting in. She quickly closes the door and whispers loudly, “Oh my god. You won’t guess who is here!” She gets to your side of the desk and crouches next to you. She looks ecstatic, just like when she met one of her favorite actors in a restaurant and you took a picture of them.

You may have an idea of who she is talking about, but you decided to play dumb. You shake your head and she points without subtlety at the department entrance. As you thought, Eddie is standing there with Kyle, a fellow journalist who you presume is showing him the different department he will have to work with.

“Eddie Brock!” The way she squeals his name make it impossible for you to contain your laugh. “Why do you think he’s here?”

“I may or may not got him an interview with Mike.” You look back at her and you meet her scrutinizing eyes. She analyzes you from head to toe, making you frown. “What?”

“First, you get late on your schedule, which never happened before. Today you look incredibly stunning for a normal day at work, you smell a little like cologne and now you get an interview for someone you didn’t even told me you knew!” Damn. Your idea of keeping it low for a while have been blasted quite quickly. “Admit it, you’re jumping him.”

You choke on your saliva, surprised by her choice of words. Immediately, you feel defensive. “What? No!” It was true. You never did it yet. “I wanted to help a friend to find a job! And I wear what I normally do and I got late on my schedule because I felt lazy this week!”

She grins, telling you that she doesn’t believe a single word. “How is he? I want details.”

You immediately know what she means by that and you feel the heat getting to your face. “I told you, I’m not jumping him!” You whisper loudly.

She pats your back and wink. Two short knocks reach your ears and you both straighten. You two make eye contact and with a nod, you say, “Come in.”

Kyle opens the door and step in the office with Eddie following him. You can’t stop yourself but beam at him, pride filling you.

Kyle is one of your “main journalists list” and one of the cutest guy you’ve ever seen. He is always wearing a suit, always have his fedora hat outside and the most important, he is the biggest gentleman you’ve ever seen. He generally covers subjects that are in your range of interest and you often receive his picture orders. You both became friends in no time and you, more often than not, accompany him to events that he needs to cover and you to photograph.

“Hi Y/N, Kayla. Sorry to interrupt.” His melodic voice makes your heartbeat decrease and you feel your face come back to normal. Kayla and you smile at him and return the greeting. “Let me present you our new colleague Eddie Brock.” You stand up and you follow Kayla on the other side of the desk.

Kayla shakes hand with him, “Hi, I’m Kayla. I look forward to work with you.”

“Likewise. And it’s a pleasure to meet you.” Eddie’s voice is strong and full of confidence. His blue eyes meet yours and you wave at him.

“Welcome to the club, Eddie.” You extend your hand and shake his. His hold is kind of firm, but not enough to hurt. It feels more like a “thank you” handshake and you take it as that. You want to keep your hand in his for the rest of the day, but you can feel Kayla’s eyes on you, analyzing your moves. You retrieve your hand before your friend has some new examples to shoot at you to prove her point.  

“Oh yes, I’ve heard that you are his reference.” Kyle’s voice catches your attention. You nod at him and he continues, “Well Eddie, that will be it for today. Come back tomorrow at 8 and the real thing will begin.” He smiles at the brunette and turns at you. “I wish your day to be as bright as your smile Y/N. Yours as well Kayla.”

You wish him a good day and he returns to his work. “Well, I still have stuff to do, so you two have a nice day!” She winks at you before heading for the door. When she passes Eddie, she turns back and mouthed, “Same cologne.” while pointing between the two of you and grinning.

Once she’s far enough from your office, you close the door. To hell precaution, she knows and nothing you will say will make her change her mind. “So you made it.” You turned to add something, but you are interrupted by lips crashing on yours. Surprised at first, it takes you a second to reciprocate the passionate kiss. You have to push yourself away from him at some point, the heat and need becoming too much. “What was that for?” You ask playfully.

Sheepishly, Eddie scratches his neck, “For me, it was a thank you, but for V it was a eum.. jealous thing?”

You tilt your head on the side, gathering your papers for Sam and putting your list on top of it. “Why is he jealous?”

“It’s the way Kyle looks at you. He hates it.” He only said that Venom hated it, but you can see in his eyes that he hated it too. You chuckle.

“Ed, V, I can promise you,” you say while putting down the documents and putting your hands on his shoulders, “that there is nothing more than a professional relationship between Kyle and me. Want to know why?” You whisper the last part as if it was an enormous secret. Eddie leans closer to you, clearly wanting to know the famous reason. “He is happily married to his husband for 4 years now. Seriously, you are more his type than me.” You grin.

You see the shock at first, then he frowns. “Wait, you are telling me that the guy who could post in a magazine and could be named in the Top 10 Most Handsome Men is gay?” You nod. “Didn’t see that coming.”

You laugh. “You’re not the only one. A lot of women try to hit on him, but he only has eyes for his husband.” You take hold of your contract and goes for the door. “I still have some work to do, you can go and I’ll call a cab when I’m done.”

He seems amused by your proposition. “Or I can go and come get you when you’re done.” You nod.

“That works too.” You both get out of your office, you walking toward Sam’s desk and Eddie toward the elevator. You make eye contact before the metal door closes and you already miss him.

You knock on Sam’s door, enter and give him the papers. “Hey, I was wondering.. Why do I have the Demon of San Francisco on my list?”

He sighs and nods slightly. Apparently, it troubles him as much as you. “Yeah, I forgot to talk to you about that, sorry. The higher ups would like to do an article on the Demon, but there is not a lot of pictures of him we can use. So they asked that all of our photographers have this item on their list, but they don’t force anyone to do it. It’s just if you have the opportunity and the will.” You hum in response. Sam is very not pleased and you could see it. “I don’t want anyone hurt for a picture, so if by any possibility you can do it, but you feel in danger, get the fuck out of there. Understood?”

You nod. At least, they don’t oblige anyone to do it. But on the other side, you will have to warn Eddie. He can’t be seen with half of his face inside Venom or worse when Venom takes control.

After getting back to your office, you concentrate on your photos, take information about the events you need to cover and after a good 2 hours, you are good to go. You call Eddie and wave goodbye to your friends.

You have to wait a little for him to get to you and you don’t mind. The weather is perfect, so you enjoy the sun on your skin for a little while. When a hand grip slightly your shoulder, you immediately think it’s Eddie and turn around, only for your expectations to shatter. Before you is a complete stranger with a seductive smile on his face. “Hello sweetie. I saw you waiting here and I thought I could give you a ride.” His grip on your shoulder tightens a bit and you try to remove his hand, not to avail. He only tightens his grip again.

“The answer is no, now let go of me.” You try to make distance between him and yourself, but his other hand grips your other shoulder. “I said let me go!” You see his grin gets bigger, but when a hand wrap around your waist, you see fear in his eyes.

“I believe the young lady said no.” The calm but angry voice of Kyle calms your nerves. “Remove your filthy hands off of her. Now.” Never before did you hear him talking like that, but you felt safe. He already saved you from situations like this one before and you would always be grateful.

The guy releases you and immediately go off. You didn’t know you were shaking before Kyle hug you to his chest. He traces small patterns on your back to soothe you down and soon, you stop shaking and pull back. Concern is all over his face and he keeps a hand on your upper arm. “Thank you for your help, Kyle.”

“Anytime darling. If you don’t mind, I will wait with you.” You smile at him, thankful. It takes Eddie another minute to appear in your line of vision and you point him to Kyle. He lets go of your arm but stays at your side.

Eddie finally pulls over and get off his bike. At the second he saw you from the road, he knew something was wrong. He takes his helmet off as fast as he could and hugs you for a second. “Are you okay? What’s wrong?” His voice is filled with concern so you nod with a smile to calm him down.

“I’m fine. A guy tried to hit on me and didn’t want no for an answer so Kyle helped me.” You really wanted to forget this moment and go home.

“Thanks for that,” Eddie says to your friend.

“Like I said, anytime. That’s what friends are there for.” He smiles to the both of you, clearly catching on the fact that the two of you are.. a couple? Just dating? You don’t know yourself. “Have a nice ride home.” He nods his head at you, smile at Eddie and walks down the street.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there.” You shake your head and turns to him. You wrap your arms around his neck and peck his lips.

“Don’t be sorry. We never know what can happen. Now, can we go home? I’m drained.” He nods and gives you a helmet. You were so deep in your thoughts that the ride passed in a flash. You recognize Eddie’s neighborhood and you follow him in the building. The delicious smell floating in his apartment immediately make your stomach growl. He laughs and leads you to the table.

The romantic setup makes the butterflies in your belly go wild and you feel your eyes starting to water. Eddie notices it and engulfs you in his arms. You feel Venom’s tentacles wrapping around your waist as well, making you feel even safer.

“I love you.” You whisper. You thought you said it so low that he didn’t hear you, but Eddie heard you loud and clear.

His heartbeat accelerates, his arms tighten a little around you before releasing his grip. He lifts your chin and claims your lips in a kiss full of love. He keeps it sweet and slow. When he pulls back, his forehead is on yours and he whispers back, “I love you too.”

That night, you both take your relationship further, at the expense of the neighbor’s sleep.

Tag list: @slither-in-a-half @a-frozen-bag-of-corn

#venom x reader #venom #eddie brock x reader #fanfic #photograph #i love you #venomxreader #y/n

[wishthefish916]

What Is Anti?

Holy fucking shit, I’ve literally had this saved as a draft on this site for MONTHS and just haven’t posted it out of spite, but if ever there was a call to action this is is. I published this theory a while ago, but I wasn’t completely happy with how I’d written it at the time so I took it down a few minutes later. I’d originally planned on never revisiting this again, but while developing a different theory which will probably be coming out soon, I was forced to revisit this work, so here we are. The science of Antisepticeye. What he is, where he came from and how to stop him. It’s a long one lads, so buckle the fuckle up.

If we’re ever gonna stop Anti, which is kinda the point of all this theorizing anyways, we have to know what exactly he is. To figure that out, we need to look into what effect he has on the world around him. Looking back at the ever expanding collection of Anti moments ((thank the heavens for his wiki and a whole lotta spare time)), the only thing that tied them all together is that the person in the webcam felt a sense of danger, be it from a jump scare or high suspense or even from hearing Anti’s name, the brain of the person who was recording sensed danger, which triggered a hormonal fight-or-flight response in their body in the moment Anti presents himself to us, and it’s usually preceded with a long gap in symptoms surfacing. What else do we know of that lies dormant for a long period of time before something triggers it to wake up which usually leads to chaos for whatever system it’s in? Jack A virus!

So what kind of virus is he? Well, in bigger videos like Say Goodbye and Kill JSE the person on the screen communicated that they felt physical effects of his presence, like nausea, aches, delirium and twitching and in some cases bleeding from the eyes. This tells me that if Anti is a virus he’s a biological one.

However I cannot ignore the biggest telltale sign of Anti showing up which is the game or webcam ((and sometimes the person)) glitching, audio disturbances, and corrupted html text((Zalgo)), which would tell me that he is a computer virus.

So lads, correct me if I’m wrong in saying that if Anti is indeed a virus, he wouldn’t be exclusively biological or the technological, but rather a biomechanical virus((I totally didn’t make up the term shush)).

Being made up of both biological and technological components mean infection could have happened just about anywhere. For the sake of clarity I’ll be breaking it up into biological and technological components as I’m fairly certain the two are symbiotically dependent on each other, considering the physical effects coincide almost completely with the technological ones.

If infection was controlled by the biological aspects, that would mean he was infected by contact with the virus. Either he touched it, breathed it in, ate or drank it, kissed it, or bled on it. For all the other egos who’ve been infected, this makes perfect sense. JJ cutting his finger right before the glitching shows up, Henrik almost never wearing his surgical mask when handling his infected patients, Chase heavily drinking in the moments leading up to Dark Silence, but Jack is a different story. The first time we saw Anti was in FNAF Sister Location, and that video had none of the above in it. That tells me he was infected well before he first showed himself, which makes sense logically. People don’t show flu symptoms as soon as they come into contact with the flu virus. It has to fester for a little bit before showing any symptoms, so why should Anti be any different?

So where did Jack get infected? If he did physically come into contact with the virus, it would have been in a live action video. From a storytelling perspective, it wouldn’t make sense to not showcase an important plot point clearly, and live action is the best medium to do such. That brought me to the 2015 pumpkin carving video, but nothing too suspicious happened. There was no bleeding, he didn’t eat anything, while he did kiss the pumpkin no bodily fluids were exchanged, and breathing it in or touching it seems implausible, because it would mean the virus already existed in his house, which means he would have been infected long before that video.

The only other live action videos he’s done, and correct me if I’m wrong, were the 700,000 subscriber ghost pepper challenge, the ALS Ice bucket challenge, and his regular vlogs. Sean is incredible at blurring the line between normal video and ego video, but these videos all had an underlying sincerity to them, where he was trying to communicate to us his appreciation or with the ALS video trying to get us to donate to charity, and I find it highly improbable for him to try and undermine the meaning behind them with an ego clue.

That leads me to believe that it were the technological aspects of the virus that infected him, and that’s where things get kinda tricky. Now, computer viruses are actually relatively easy to come into contact with, the problem definitely isn’t there. Maybe Jack was sent it in an email, maybe he went to a sketchy website, maybe he downloaded a game that had a little something extra up it’s sleeve. No biggie, it happens. The logic leap is when the computer virus starts affecting his real life person, even when he’s not using the computer, a la Say Goodbye.

I believe immersion is the answer. Immersion in game play is something a large portion of game developers strive for, making the player feel like they were actually inside their game. This is one of the hardest and most important things a story driven game developer can do, and also one of Jack’s key defining features in games he tends to really enjoy.

I think, in the story that Sean has created for us with the egos, when Jack is doing a lets play and he gets really immersed in the game, he actually does exist inside that game. That feeling of total immersion, those moments when his brain is unable to separate the game from reality, they happen because of him actually being inside the game on his computer. If Jack were to download a game that had Anti’s virus on it, and then became immersed in the game play experience long enough to come into contact with said virus, it’s entirely possible that the virus stayed with him when he left the game/no longer was immersed.

Well, if we’re going to find out how to cure the thing, we’ve first got to find the location of patient zero, i.e. the video that started it all. If we know where it came from, we’ll know how it works and that’ll make it immensely easier to stop it. Are there any games out there that Jack played that 1) truly immersed him as a player into it’s world, 2) share a strong resemblance to what we already see in Anti, and 3) was uploaded some time before the release of Sister Location. There are two bigguns that spring to mind.

Undertale is probably the most well known and well liked series on Jack’s entire channel. While he was playing he became heavily invested in each of the characters, even the baddies, and so did we. We grew to care for them all as if they were our closest friends. When they were hurt, we screamed in protest. When they were comforted, we felt all warm and fuzzy. When we reached the true ending, we all cried. I would most certainly consider that immersion, wouldn’t you?

Not only did Undertale immerse the player and viewer, it messed with your actual computer files. If you do a genocide route even once, uninstalling and reinstalling the game won’t wipe it’s memory of the route. You have to dig through your computer to find and delete the file that tells steam what route you chose if you want to play the game brand new again. Not to mention the game frequently closing itself unprompted, which has a well known history for corrupting recording footage. Potential for corruption? Check.

New paragraph for new point because oh my god, there’s a lot. Several people have already pointed out the similarities between Flowey and Anti, but just in case you haven’t seen it yet or wanted a nice recap, here we go.The voice acting Jack chose for Flowey sounds just like a higher pitched Anti voice. This was the first time he ever layered audio files to achieve a more sinister voice effect. The thumbnails following his fight with Flowey all hold trademark characteristics of Anti video thumbnails. Our first ever interaction with him ends with him attempting to murder Jack. Their laughs are one in the same. At certain points in the game, you can find Flowey following you, keeping an eye on things, if you will. His boss fight, oh my g o d. He kills the dude in charge, everything cuts to black, and next thing we know there’s a glitchy face laughing at us through a screen, telling us about how he’s the one in charge and how this is his world and how everything he’s done was all our faults, after which his eyes turn red and green and he starts puppeteering controlling six different souls, using their different skills to his own personal advantage so he can fulfill some unspoken objective. Gee, sound familiar? 

However, despite all of this, Undertale was not patient zero. Why I still listed all the game’s similarities despite this, I promise was not to waste your time, I’m getting to that. There was a game that came just before this one, the first of it’s kind, the actual patient zero. That game, is The Visitor.

Many of you may not remember this game, but The Visitor (and The Visitor Returns) was a little flash game that was posted way back on March 1st, 2015, and you played as an alien creature that came to Earth on a meteorite who’s only objective was to kill any creature it came into contact with to gain it’s powers. It was a video that kind of took the channel by storm, landing it’s place as the fifth most watched video on Jack’s channel even though nobody really knew how. This was patient zero. 

As for the checklist? It was posted March 1st, 2015, a full year and seven months before Sister Location. Jack is certainly immersed in the gameplay, so much so he forgets about the menu screen and accidentally restarts the game in an attempt to do more stuff. Does it show a similarity to what we already see in Anti? More than you’d see at first glance. Yes, his mouse is kind of glitching through the entire video. Yes, his webcam goes dark for a single frame towards the five minute mark. Yes, there’s multiple severe neck wounds throughout the game. But that’s not what sold me on this. It’s the premise of the game itself. 

I was struggling for months trying to figure out which game was patient zero. I jumped between Undertale, Fran Bow, Vee is Calling, and even the other Five Nights At Freddy’s videos more times than I could count, because all of them seemed like plausible answers. Fran Bow was the first series ever to adopt Anti’s traditional thumbnails, with lens flares and glowing eyes and blood everywhere(seriously, I took a good ten minutes and scrolled through every single video on his channel and Fran Bow was where it all started), not to mention a dark shadow creature who feeds on suffering being the main antagonist. Vee is Calling had an actual virus as a main character who actually glitches out and actually takes control of the main character’s in game computer. One of the glitches in SIster Location #1 showed a frame from the first ever FNAF game, and many of the sounds were pulled from the series at different points. I’ve already written paragraphs about Undertale. All of these things show a direct tie to Anti. 

Then remember what The Visitor is all about. It’s an alien who kills things around him to gain it’s powers. It takes aspects from each creature it comes into contact with and uses them for his own personal gain. That seems to be exactly what Anti has done ever since we’ve known him as a physical entity on the channel rather than an idea with a name. 

I mean, look back at May 2k18. Every single skit, either ego themed or not, was pulled directly from whatever the game he played was about. Hell, just look at the egos! I’ve talked about this before, but in every single ego video, there is always a theme of character decay, where the person they were at the start of the video erodes away leaving nothing but a shell of who they were by the end, and this is especially apparent in their debut. JBM, the courageous hero giving into cowardice. Marvin the Magician, throwing away his career. Henrik the wise doctor, killing his patients and forgetting a comedic amount about human nature. Chase the bubbly dad, pulling a gun on himself. JJ the mute actor, cutting his finger and immediately getting possessed. I’d tied them back to Anti before, but I never really knew why. In hindsight, this was clearly Anti’s attempt at stealing their strengths. Each and every one of them had some advantage that Anti wanted, and their slow decay was evidence of Anti trying to take control so he could have it. That’s why each new video showed him getting stronger, going from making them kind of afraid to full on suicide and possession. He was stronger because he’d taken more attributes and was able to use them more effectively with each passing video. For each game that Sean got immersed in that fit his agenda, Anti adopted different aspects for himself. There is no one video where Anti came from because he came from every video.

Okay. Alien biomechanical virus. How do we treat it? Well, that is heavily reliant on it’s sources. Anti adopted both some benefits and some defects from every game he pulled from. He gained both strengths and weaknesses, so if you want to “beat” him, the answer would lie in those games. The Visitor had no happy ending. Fran Bow won by giving up on reality and living with tree people, a demon, and an oversized axolotl. Undertale got a good ending by befriending everyone including the bad guys and hopefully not dying too much in the process. FNAF was finished by getting fired or burning everything to the ground and praying you’re not sent to purgatory. Vee is Calling was saved by focusing on your love life more than your computer files. Maybe it’s one of those answers. Maybe it’s all of them. Maybe it’s none of them. It seems not even Sean knows the answer to that question, but now we have a great place to start looking.

I wasn’t able to attend PAX, which means I didn’t know about the Anti “hint” until just now. When I heard it I wanted to scream, I think I actually might have, because I’ve been sitting on this work for literal months and just not gotten around to posting it. “We still haven’t figured out what Anti is yet.”

So, @therealjacksepticeye, are my answers to your satisfaction? 

#therealjacksepticeye #jacksepticeye #jackieboy man #marvin the magnificent #dr henrik von schneeplestein #Dr Schneeplestein #antisepticeye #anti theory #jse theory #chase brody #jameson jackson #dapper jack #pax east #wish speaks

[bellatrixobsessed1]

Seven-X

Baavira Week Day 1: Online

Summary: Baatar is a police officer tasked with tracking down a trafficking ring on the dark web. He ends up clicking the wrong link.

Warning for minor gore and mentions of sex crime--no descriptions. 

Only a few clicks in and he is already unsettled. He feels that he is justified in being so. He has combed through pages of the most unsavory things. He supposes that the place has earned its name and reputation.

Evidently, in joining the Republic City police force he hadn’t known that they would keep his duties behind a monitor.

He finds himself on a new page; a simple surveillance camera overlooking what seems like an industrial park parking lot. He rubs his chin in frustration. Just how many camera feeds will he happen upon tonight? From personal webcams to phone cameras to security cameras, his gaze has found many things that they weren’t supposed to. The worst of it is that they aren’t even entertaining. He certainly hadn’t been into it when he clicked onto a page that had given him a view of a man and a woman stripping. Deep down he knows that some sick sap is getting excitement from it.    

Somehow, less amusing had been the drug sales. The dark web is teeming with them. Everything in him tells him to trace and track the vendors but his higher ups have already told him not to bother. “There are just so damn many of them fuckin’ things, just let ‘em be.” Baatar takes off his glasses and rubs his forehead. He doesn’t know how much more human filth he can stomach for tonight. God forbid he stumble across one of the infamous cannibal cafes.

Not that he isn’t seeking out something just is vile.

He supposes that it is worth it.

It will all be worth it if he can track down the ring and bring young men and women out of the ring.

He doesn’t fancy the idea of pretending to be a predator. But he will play the role if he can put a stop to the trafficking.  He closes out of the surveillance site and finds himself in a new room, this one features tips on all sorts of manners of disturbing inclinations from how to kill one’s boss to how to do away with oneself. This also isn’t the sort of evil he is looking to eradicate.

Baatar rakes his hand through his hair, growing frustrated at how vast the darkweb truly is. He has combed through more than his fill of wickedness and is getting nowhere. For all of his years of tech-savviness and coding, this place is disorienting and tricky to navigate. Frowning deeply, he clicks upon another random link.

The screen goes momentarily staticy and he cusses. Just what he needs is a computer crash, God forbid he has to go through all of those links again. The screen glitches and distorts further and indistinguishable images flicker in the fuzz.

Baatar squints at the screen.

It flickers again twice.

Still fuzzy.

He leans in closer.

He jolts back when a masked face appears. A humored and heavily warped laugh sounds through his speakers. He doesn’t share in their humor. His stomach lurches. Without a hesitation to make he reaches for the power off switch. His hand doesn’t reach it when the voice speaks.

“Don’t leave so soon officer BeiFong.” The voice that comes through is slick, both masculine and feminine but more robotic than anything else, especially on the words accented by shrill beeps. It sounds like a virus to his ears.  

Everything in his body and soul goes cold. He has masked his VPN, he is using tor. It strikes him unpleasantly, these people...these monsters are probably jarringly more tech savvy than he.

A chat window pops up. “If you’re too shy to speak.” The person pauses. “Or if you didn’t have the sense to disguise your voice.”

A few screen names pop up on the chat window,most are random strings of numbers. A few a simple words--‘TheSlash’, ‘ripper’, ‘wiNd0w’, and ‘T’. Baatar’s own username scrawls itself in the chat, 7xYl9090Gg.

“I do believe it is seven-x’s first time here. Let’s give him a warm welcome.” Responses ranged from sarcastic and mocking to amused to genuinely inviting. “Hmm...mixed reactions. I’m sure that they will take a shine to you eventually.”

He hopes that the masked person will let his name go unspoken. To his relief, they do.

Instead the voice drawls, “welcome, seven-x, to red room three-six-one.” The figure steps back and sweeps its arm out. It wears a hooded cloak of deep green with absurdly long sleeves. He can’t discern the gender beneath the shapeless attire. “Have you been to a red room before?”

He thinks of lying, but some primitive part of him senses that the person behind the monitor will know. His hesitancy to answer, answers for him. ‘He’s a red room virgin!’ Types wiNd0w. ‘cute’ types 1671JNp8R.

“So what brings you here, seven-x?”

This time he doesn’t allow them another opening. ‘Curiosity.’ He types quickly.

A second chat window pops up. A private one on one window.  ‘Clever.’ Is the only word there. He looks for a screen name and finds none. He doesn’t know how to reply. He doesn’t know if he should.

“Alright, seven-x, since this is your first time, I’ll let you do the honors.” There is a loud pop and suddenly the white noise has been cleared.

Responses vary again from outrage and envy to typed out cheers and a ‘choose wisely seven-x’. He cringes, whoever is running this show, they are trying to out him. He doesn’t know what he is supposed to be choosing as he racks his brain to recall what he’d researched about red rooms. The figure takes a few steps back and he sees the man now. His eyes are wet and he is sniffling. He trembles.

“I don’t deserve this.” It is a constant mantra.

The figure motions to a table stocked with grisley looking instruments. It doesn’t have to speak up for Baatar to know what it will say, ‘have your pick.’

His mouth dries.

‘Come on seven-x.’ Types TheSlash.

He shakes all over. With shaky fingers he types, ‘use the knife.’

“Ah, a classic.” The figure speaks with a dramatic flair. It is somehow even more haunting without the white noise. “It would seem that we have a man of simple pleasures here with us tonight.” The person pauses. “And what will I be doing with the knife tonight?”

He swallows, every bit of him wants to tell the figure to slash a smile into its own throat. For his own safety, he curbs his tongue.

“Don’t be shy. You’ll find that I can do exotic things.”

Baatar doesn’t want to know what that means. It prickles his spine without context.

‘I think that this is too hard for him.’ 5TxY00L types.

‘Outsider.’ ripper adds.

Baatar’s stomach turns again. He can’t reply too quickly or that would arouse suspicion. He lets a minute slip before replying, ‘creativity takes time.’

This garners a slew of praise, save for ripper who types, ‘better make it good, leaving us waiting so long.’

He hovers his fingers over the keyboard, trying to decide what to do. ‘Draw me a picture.’ He is sicked by his own request.

He can sense the smile behind the mask. “Creative indeed.” The host allows pause for reaction. After the chat box fills further they speak again, “what should I draw.”

He can’t stop the sarcasm this time, ‘a cat in a sunny meadow.’

“A comedian too.” The host comments, undeterred by his passive-aggressiveness. “I do hope that you come back next week.” A link appears in his private chat window. He has no intention of following it. He writes it down regardless.

“Well then, let’s begin. This over here,” the host motions to its captive, “is Koh Quinn. Big businessman, family lives in Fire Fountain City. 1129, Lava Lake Road, if anyone wants to stop in and say hello to the wife.”

Baatar swallows again. A film of sweat begins to form as the figure nears Koh. He itches to turn his monitor off, but then they’d know that he is out of place. Then they may come for him. He has the sneaking suspicion that his host won’t allow for the screen to turn off even if he did hit the button.

He watches the masked person stalks up to its prey. He sees the knife glint as the first cut is made. He had expected it to be a violent and senseless slash. But it is elegant and meticulous. He wants to say that his host is female, but in his time on the police force, he has seen men leave clean-cut victims and women that may as well have been feral animals with their methods.

Baatar is desperate to pick out anything about this villain. An assailant so bold that they commit murder right before an officer. As the carving continues Koh’s screams grow shriller. More haunting.

He can hear the man’s sniffles grow in volume. Baatar isn’t sure if the wet noises come from his nose or from his opening flesh. He feels sick.

Hollow.

He stares blankly at the screen, trying to conjure up the indifference that has helped him through the most grotesque of his investigations. Koh’s screams swell and just when Baatar believes that his life is going to end, the host steps back to reveal their artwork.

A bloody cat in a bloody field, just as he’d requested.

“Charming, yes?”

‘Cut his hand off and use it to hold the knife and stab him.’ T types.

“We really do have a creative lot tonight.” The host remarks.

It will torment him for nights to come, what he views next. He tries to distract himself by eyeing his keyboard to type faux pleasure at the spectacle before him. But it is not enough. Minutes after the show has come to an end, he can still see Koh’s severed hand stabbing at his own chest. He can still hear the gurgles, they fog his host’s parting speech.

The screen had gone black and then to the tor homepage five minutes ago and he sits rigidly with his hands clasped in front of his mouth. It doesn’t even pester him that he will have to go through all of the links again. He is numb. He doesn’t know where to go from here. His eyes fall upon the link he had written down. He can report that to the squad. But will they be able to trace it on time to save the next victim. God, what if it is Koh’s wife. He gives a drawn exhale.

He hears a soft ping and the hairs on his back rise. Oh fuck, they’ve traced me. The nervous perspiration is beading on his forehead. He doesn’t want to turn around, he doesn’t want to know.

“Hello, officer BeiFong.” The voice is female.

He towards his computer, confirming what he already knows, his webcam is on and by its own accord. Rather the woman’s. He expects to see that chilling metallic bull mask. Instead he faces a woman with vivid green eyes rimmed by square-framed glasses. Beneath her shirt he can tell that she has a fit build.

Any hope that it is a mere coincidence or perhaps a friend of a friend fades when she remarks, “you struck me as the squeamish type, seven-x.”

“Are you ripper or T?” He asks.

She laughs.

“Don’t tell me that you’re window.” He grumbles.

Her lips curve up, “a comedian too.”

Another chill darts along his spine. He shoves that aside realizing that he has the power. “You’d show me your face?”

“Sure.” The woman replies. “You can’t touch me seven-x.”

“I have a name.” He snaps.

And he regrets as she responds, “Baatar Jr. BeiFong. Son of Baatar Sr. and Suyin BeiFong.”

“You can find that on google.” He grumbles.

She looks down for a moment, pushing at her glasses. “You like to sit under an old beech tree to the left of your bedroom window, third floor up, fifth window from the right.”

He swallows and tries to redirect the conversation. “I can have the police force…”

“You can’t touch me.” She repeats. He isn’t sure if she is referring to her unidentified location or a team of killers waiting to pounce at her command. “And you don’t want to, seven-x.”

“You’re a killer he snarls.”

“Yes.” She agrees. “But with good reason.”

“Good reason?” Baatar isn’t sure why he is engaging her.

“Do you know what Koh and his wife do?” She inquires. But she doesn’t leave him time to guess. “They run an orphanage. The kids don’t come out quite the same. Do you follow?”

He believes that he does. “Let me guess, you used to stay at that orphanage?”

“Oh no. No, not that one. The owners of the one I was in, they were the stars of my debut.” She replied nonchalantly. She turns around and lifts her shirt. Her back is an assortment of scars and poorly-healed welts. She turns back to him. “You don’t want to take me off of the streets because I clean the filth on them. The sludge that slips through the cracks.”

He opens his mouth.

“I want to make a deal, seven-x.”

“Go on.”

“Keep me off of the police radar and I’ll help you navigate the darkest corners of the dark web.”

He thinks of his task. Of the women who need liberation. “What is your stance on sex traffickers?”

“They have very special seats in my show.”

He should know better, he should know much better. But those pretty green eyes blink at him and she flashes a charmingly wicked grin. “Why don’t you just join the police force?” He inquires instead.

She cocks her head, “I have a...compulsion to indulge. I find that it’s better to quench it this way than to slaughter an innocent thing like your little sister.” He goes tense. She is bizarrely quick to apologize, “I’m not going to touch your sister. She hasn’t done anything wrong.” She pauses. “Do you accept my offer, seven-x?”

“Depends, are you going to tell me who I’m working with.”

“They call me the uniter.” She doesn’t elaborate. He knows that she won’t. “Do you accept my offer, seven-x.”

He thinks of Opal, of how vacant he would feel if she fell prey to the ring he was tracking. “Yes. I accept your offer, uniter.”

Her smirk goes wider before his webcam clicks off.

He hears a ping.

A new chat box appears on his screen.

#Baaviraauweek2019 #Kuvira #Baatar #Baavira #Legend Of Korra #Fanfiction