#“how janky?” you may ask. well

[skylardoesthings]

I kinda new a new laptop for uni since the one I'm using rn is kinda janky. So I'm opening commissions,

WON'T DO:

NSFW, Furries, mecha, heavy armour

WILL DO:

Fanart, Character turnarounds, Fantasy, OCs, Kemonomimi

WORKFLOW

After agreeing to do your commission, you will send me 50% of the agreed price. only after that will i start to draw, when im finished i will send you A SCREENSHOT of the finished product, if you like how it ends up, send the other 50% of the agreed price. Only then will i send you the file.

When explaining the art you want, please send a detailed and clear explanation of what you want, preferably with references,

Prices may vary depending on;

Amount of details

Character complexity

Payment will be in PayPal for international, and for Indonesia via Gopay or bank transfer.

If you're interested, dm me !

[speedierthanasubmarine]

Finished heaven official’s blessing and I really enjoyed writing an analysis on helluva boss I want to make this a regular thing because it’s fun so here’s my thoughts on

Heaven Official’s Blessing

Spoilers (duh)

I think it’s incredibly impressive when someone can make an overarching narrative in which different seemingly disjointed events are significant without A) putting a giant exclamation mark on top saying “REMEMBER THIS IT WILL BE IMPORTANT LATER” and B) Significantly over or under emphasizing the importance of the scene in the moment. Each event stood on its own and I liked that.

There were several janky sentences and word choices but that’s a translation issue, this writer clearly knows what she’s doing.

Characters were a lot of fun and distinct, my favorites were Feng Xin, Pei Ming, Qi Ying, and Ling Wen whenever they were on the page I was like Ah yes, these pages are gonna be enjoyable and I was right, they’re all delightful (cept the brocade immortal stuff, but like I don’t care, Google assistant is fun) Xie Lian and San Lang are delightful, love them, and San Lang is so effed in the head it’s enjoyable to try and imagine what unhinged thing he’ll do next

Tbh there isn’t much plot breakdown I want to do with this series because it knows what it is, it’s a fanfic ass book with good times, trauma, gay fluff, and fights. Need I say more? That’s not a detractor, it’s a strength. Be what you are and own it because a house with a house’s foundation is a great house but slap a building on that house’s foundation and it fails in both regards.

The only aspect I’m going to analyze is the narrative voice the books are written in because holy crap is it super impressive. Xie Lian is a super mature (or ditzy, depending on your point of view) character, he doesn’t dwell on things, doesn’t hold grudges, doesn’t really care that much about people’s histories or even their present, doesn’t focus much on externals and it comes through in the way the book is written. I noticed this when throughout the books San Lang would do fucked up stuff like make it rain blood and kill a pit’s worth of people and Xie Lian kinda didn’t really seem to care and at first it pissed me off, why isn’t the author letting consequences occur because of these peoples’ actions, but then as it held consistently throughout the book and other people kept being super concerned about stuff, like Pei Constantly asking after Shi Qingxuan (I don’t know how to spell their name, it’s so hard to keep track I’m so sorry) or people bringing up Banue, I realized this is just Xie Lian, other people in the book are regular people like me, this one guy is just experiencing things, going “Well, ain’t that something” and then just moving on. Honestly iconic, but also I was halfway through book six when I realized. Especially since whenever they do flashbacks Xie Lian does all normal stuff. He describes settings he’s in, he mentions events that happened a few pages ago, he tells the reader how he feels, it’s after he experiences all his shit he goes through that this all kinda slips away. In “present” scenes he’ll reference things as they come up but like in the flashback after Mu Qing leaves they talk about it a few times and I find that aspect of acknowledgment to be noticeably absent in the “present” scenes. After the black water arc there is a complete lack of discussion about the frankly trauma inducing event that just transpired but sure Cie Lian, you and San Lang have to not hold hands for the billionth time. At first I thought is this author high but then I realized what shes doing is characterizing through prose which is IMPRESSIVE AS HELL. This may be a point I noticed and am now misremembering the entire series just to bolster my take and if that’s the case then I shall sheepishly shrug and say I’m sorry. I’m not rereading 8 books to write a tumblr review. Maybe if I ever start a YouTube channel

I don’t know, I just find it to be an incredible feat of actually good writing when a story is being told through the lens of the main character and you can characterize that character by simply reading the story and seeing how it’s written, not even through dialogue and action. It’s kinda like the Great Gatsby or a Separate Peace, and it’s super cool that a book like this can accomplish the same thing that makes those classics great. There isn’t as much symbolism or analytical potential but those books wouldn’t be nearly as impactful as they were without great execution, which this book pulled off in spades.

[lenniexprime]

Brother Figure! Optimus Helps Teen! Reader Through a Break Up.

TFA!

Optimus Prime

not many warnings, it’s kinda angsty. May include mentions of depression and anxiety! afab! Reader. She/her pronouns.

fluffy and definitely comforting. sfw. kinda long sorry! It’s not edited either so it may seem a little janky. I may come back and edit it but for now…

enjoyyy! <3

———————————-

* He’s had his a fair share of losing friends and people that he loved, hence Elita… years later, his crew and yourself come into his life. He had healed. You were like a little sister to Optimus. Someone to keep outta trouble. Though, lately, when you come to hang out at the base, you barely even hang out. He and the others notice at how much you were on your phone.

* You were almost attached to it. It wasn’t the good kind of attach either, but rather sighing and walking out of the building to have phone calls.

* The leader took it amongst himself to figure out what the problem was. Prowl advised him to be cautious. Knowing you were a human, let alone a human female, it was wise to take heed.

* he was going to talk to you the next day, but unfortunately, Sari said that you weren’t going to be visiting. What a pity.

* Optimus was really trying to figure out what was wrong with you. It was summer, you had no summer school, and you just hung out here when you were bored.

* Sari did mention you had a significant other, but you only hung out with them before, after, or even during school.

* Optimus thought about it really well, all night. He couldn’t recharge as much. He was worried about you. You were like his little sibling. It was hard seeing you non verbal and upset.

* A whole week had passed and the leader was still on the edge of his seat.

* you came back about a week later, smiling away as you did before. Optimus looked at your every move, every detail. He noticed your shaking breathes even though you had a smile on your face.

* It was a great time for Optimus to question you a little bit, because it was his turn for patrol, and you usually go with him. He just wanted to ask first hoping you’d agree, not knowing how much of an act you were putting on. If you were putting on an act all.

* “Y/N, would you like to go on patrol with me?” You agree with him and get in his little vehicle.

* It wasn’t until you guys were on the highway, he started to ask questions, not forgetting what prowl had told him.

* “Y/N, you know I care about you a lot, right? You can tell me anything,” Optimus starts, watching Y/N look out the window with furrowed eyebrows. “Yeah..”

* Y/N then looks at the front, looking at the cars pass.

* Optimus can obviously see the discomfort in your eyes and expression. “Y/N…” the human girl began to sigh, shaking a little in her seat.

* Water started to form in the human girl’s eyes. She took a deep breath. she couldn’t even see the car lights in front of her clearly. The car lights passing by looking shiny to her watery eyes.

* Optimus saw this and didn’t know what to say. “Y/N, are you okay?”

* “Optimus, they left me. I haven’t been the same since.”

* Well there you go. He should’ve put the dots together at first. When sari brought up a significant other when you were being distant, he should’ve took the hint, or even suspicion.

* “Sure, I made a mistake, but I didn’t expect this to happen.” Your lips trembled. It hurt. Everything hurt. Your hands had this uncomfortable sensation to them, your eyes hurt, red from crying. You couldn’t stop shaking. It’s like you were in this endless cycle of thinking of them.

* Optimus tried to find the words. “Y/N, things happen for a reason. I know this for a fact. Trust me it all happens for the better, or even for something or someone else to come in your life.” Optimus felt this way before. He made a mistake, causing someone in his life he cared about to leave, even change. It changed the way people viewed him. But he still lives his life. Happy he could move on from that. He wanted Y/N to understand that too.

* “It’s like they moved on and they just leave me on read even though they said we’d still be friends. It’s not fair. They don’t care.” Y/N couldn’t stop. They were angry.

* Optimus sighs, trying to understand. It took him awhile to try and figure out what to say to the girl. “Sometimes it takes awhile for someone to get back to you. It’s not just you that’s grieving.” He said, trying to make the girl understand. “I’m sure they care just as much as you do,”

* Y/N grips on Optimus’ handles on the car door. She was almost hyperventilating, breathing over and over, angry. She was angry. She didn’t know why. She still loved them, but knowing what had gone down, she wasn’t so sure they didn’t. At least not as much as they did before. It was probably the platonic type of love. The friendship one.

* “Calm down, Y/N, it’ll be okay. I’ve been there. You’re going to get out of this instant feeling of guilt and anger. Trust me.”

* The girl began wiping her tears with her hoodie sleeves.

* Optimus was driving back to base.

* “What if I don’t want to forget them and what if I still love them.”

* “Well, you’re definitely not going to forget them. You’re going to move on too. And that’s normal for you to still love them. It’s not easy to let a person go. Grief is strange, Y/N. You’ll get through it though.”

* “Sari’s sleeping over, you want to join her at base? You can call your mother.”

* Y/N smiled a little.

* Optimus could see that the break up really took a toll on her. He was right. Grief was really strange. He just hopes she isn’t going to reminisce about it much longer. Sure, they were important, but she needs to live her life.

* a couple of hours later, Y/N is on the couch thinking about them again. She was just fine an hour ago, playing video games and laughing and smiling, not a worry in the world. She goes outside. the noise of a couple cars and beeps and the wind were the only ones filling the night.

* she sniffles. She’s in the space again. Breathing a little more harder, shaking from the anxiety and coldness of the air.

* Optimus goes outside to see the girl, in her pjs while her arms were crossed, shaking. “Y/N, what are you doing out here?”

* “Just thinking about it again.”

* “You gotta stop, Y/N. Don’t let some person ruin your whole week. I know it’s hard but you gotta distract yourself. Please. You wanna go for a drive?”

* Y/N sighed. She looks up at the bot.

* Optimus puts his seat warmers on.

* “Y/N, seriously,” he was about to speak more until he heard Y/N.

* Y/N, now barely awake, only responds in a mumble. “It’s just draining, Optimus, I’m sorry.”

* “I understand. I know you can push through it though.”

* y/ns eyes were barely open, she laid back into his seat.

* “Was it your first?”

* Y/N nodded. “Not my first grieving over someone I loved or cared about though.”

* “It’ll be alright, you’ll get through it. Sooner or later you’re gonna be telling me or bumblebee at how funny it is that you were crying and stuff because of this person. It happens though.”

* Y/N laughs a little. She appreciated the wise words from her autobot big brother. You were healing already and it showed. It may take time, but your big brother will always be there.

MY FIRST WRITING WOAHHHH. UHH YEAH THANKS FOR READING BAIII <3

[strawburry01]

Strawberry Wine

Summary: Continuation of Northern Attitudes fic, but can be read on its own (extra backstory in We're Going to Be Friends and Enjoy the Silence). Once I figure out how to link shit I will lmao. Hotch has to leave to go home, but neither of them is making it easy.

AN: Sorry I disappeared. I graduated lol! I don't think anyone really noticed but I'll be back for a while now that it's summer :) Sorry if this makes you cry I think I got into some weird cathartic state writing this.

Word Count: 3k

Sure enough, the case was linked to a newly forming underground cult. Luckily you and the BAU team were able to infiltrate a meeting before the next human sacrifice took place, but it wasn’t without weeks of planning every move down to the second. Spencer and you worked well together when it came to preparing every Plan A, B, C, D, all the way to Plan X, and figuring out the best ways to get everyone in and out safely. Spare a few bruises and potential religious affiliated trauma- the team got off pretty uninjured which you did pat yourself on the back on knowing that this poor group didn’t need any more problems to deal with. Not too shabby for a small town bureau like yourself. 

But that’s where the trouble emerged. If the case was closed and the right people arrested, the job was done. The job was done here. They were going to have to go back to Quantico for the next mission, the next case, the next task. 

And you were going to be here. Waiting for the next drunk teen to run a red light. 

All you could think about was the ever-growing elephant in the room of Aaron leaving again. He’d just stumbled back into your life after all these years apart, and god- it felt good to have him back in it. After shifts you would always commiserate over the recent years in your respective forces at the local coffee shop (to the point where the baristas learned his order), and you both just instinctively knew each other on a level the BAU just wouldn’t know. You knew how his eyebrows furrowed when he was thinking, and you knew the line his mouth formed when he heard bad news, you knew how his thumb fit into his balled up fist at his side if he absolutely despised whoever he was talking to, which was usually the moment you’d step in to try and diffuse whatever the situation may be. But also he knew yours. He knew what you needed based on your headache throughout the day, as it unfortunately hadn’t changed much. If it was before 10 am you needed more sleep and he’d make you nap in his car for 20 minutes, if it was between 10 and 2 he knew it was coffee and he’d always magically appear with your order, if it was after 2 pm he’d make you actually eat lunch, and if it was after 8 pm he knew to be dragging you out of the bar. Which unfortunately was the case the last night the team was in town. To celebrate the successful case, as well as saying goodbye, as the two teams had gotten fairly close, everyone went out to the local dive bar in town.

“Where are you?” you furtively texted Aaron on your phone. A shiver running down your spine as you brought a cigarette to your lips trying to focus on the warmth. Aaron hadn’t shown up yet. Sure the party had officially started only half an hour ago, but it was still unlike him to be late. The door of the bar swung out, the janky country music from inside spilling out into the night. 

“What’re you doing out here?” Spencer asked as he stepped outside in line with you. You tap your cigarette, and ash falls into a puddle.

“Just having a smoke,” you say, but the ping from your phone exposes you. Spencer raised an eyebrow and you tried to keep the urge to answer your phone immediately. You mumble a few curse words under your breath as you pulled out your phone.

“Sorry, got a call from Quantico.”, Aaron texted back. You chewed the inside of your cheek. Not the right answer.

“But now you’re on the way…RIGHT?”, you quickly sent back before shoving the phone back in your pocket. You look up to make eye contact with Spencer who can’t help but break into a smirk.

“Hotch not coming?”, he quipped.

“Kid-”, you said, flicking your cigarette out into the ashtray, and placing a hand on Spencer’s bony shoulder, “ you’ve got to keep some of those thoughts inside okay?”, with a reassuring squeeze. He laughed.

“Why do people keep telling me that?”. 

“Because you’re the smartest guy in the FBI who can’t keep his mouth shut,” you replied, just as your phone pinged again. 

“Parking”, he texted back, and you couldn’t help but quickly smile before remembering Spencer was analyzing your every move. He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, Aaron strode out from the rows of cars. You couldn’t help it, but him in a black t-shirt and slacks nearly had you melting on the spot. He’d been wearing stuffy suits this whole time, and seeing him back in more… peopley clothes, drove you up a wall. 

“Evening you two,” he said with a nod.

“Evening Hotch, how was your call with Garcia?”, Spencer asked as he pushed open the door for his boss. You caught Aaron’s eyes after he not so subtly looked you up and down. Perhaps you were purposeful in choosing your crop top and jeans for the night.

“Mmm, fine,” he answered curtly, his thoughts long having left that conversation. You smile up at Aaron and you briefly catch his mouth waver upwards before turning back to Spencer and stepping into the bar. 

Inside the bar, the two teams had chased anyone else out with their rambunctiousness. 

“You got some catching up to do Aaron,” you said, elbowing his side as the two of you went to the bar. 

“Seems like you do too,” he retorted back, with an eyebrow raised.

“Can I say I was just waiting for you?” you said, which garnered a sharp laugh out of him before he ordered a beer for himself. 

“2 vodka shots for us, and whatever cider you have,” you said once the bartender turned to you.

“You’re trying to kill me,” Aaron said as the bartender set out two shot glasses in front of both of you.

“Do you even hear yourself? Come on Aaron the world is going to be okay if you let loose a little tonight,” you said as you scooted closer to him at the bar, your elbows touching now. Instead of pulling away Aaron stayed in place as he watched the vodka get poured.

“If you insist,” he sighed as he picked up the shotglass in time with you.

“Cheers, to a successful case,” you said. 

“Cheers Y/N”. The two of you downed the alcohol and you couldn’t help but cringe at the way it tore up your throat as it went down. “What happened-you were so confident?” Aaron chuckled as he stacked the glasses.

“I don’t think I’ve done that since college truth be told,” you said as you quickly tried to wash down the aftertaste with the cider.

“Holy shit Hotch did you just take a shot??” Derek shouted from behind you two, a little tipsy already based on his volume, “I didn’t even think you’d come!”. Aaron shrugged as he slowly sipped his beer trying to hold back another laugh.

“Guys you’re making me feel like I’m not fun,” he said, which all the BAU team side-eyed each other at. 

“Damn they just burned you,” you laughed, watching his team all try to justify their reactions. Aaron scoffed with a smile finally drawing across his face.

“Guess I need to go out more,” he said, only loud enough for you to hear.

“I could’ve told you that,” you said as you leaned closer to him, which he once again did not move away from.

The minutes turned into an hour which turned into hours. After a failed game of pool against JJ you were more than a few celebratory shots and ciders in, but you were still aware of your surroundings. You were right on the level of having far too much confidence for your own good…

Most of the local and BAU team had left by now, leaving a few stragglers at a booth with you and Aaron at a table in the corner, to not make the teams feel too stressed about saying the wrong thing. You washed your hands in the sink of the bathroom catching the time on your watch. 1:16 am. God dammit time really wasn’t stopping for you. You ran a hand through your hair to try and mentally psych yourself up. You were realistically never going to see Aaron again after tonight. The team leaves at 10:00 am tomorrow, well today now technically, and there’d never be a reason he’s out here again.

Shit

You marched back out of the bathroom and ordered one last shot for good measure, which Aaron watched you take from the table with a look of being impressed, and slightly worried, but he was starting to feel the alcohol himself. You sauntered back over to the table with you and Aaron, and stood in front of him in his chair with your arms crossed. 

“What is it?” he asked, looking up at you, “what’s got you upset?”. 

“You leave tomorrow,” you said, not being able to stop it from coming out of your mouth. His eyebrows furrowed and his mouth thinned.

“I know,”. 

“I don’t want you to leave Aaron,” you blurted out before sighing. You looked over at the booth where everyone was still deeply wrapped up in their own conversation. The table was far enough in the corner amongst all the regulars trickling back in they’d never notice. You took a step between Aaron’s legs and his hands as if second nature moved to hold your thighs, keeping you in place. You slid a hand of your own to his cheek as you pursed your mouth into a frustrated corner. “It’s just- what the fuck are the odds even, I just-” you tried to rationalize out loud as your thumb brushed his cheek. He wasn’t that young boy anymore you met in university, but you couldn’t help but always see him just like that. A snapshot of a simpler time for both of you. Aaron moved a hand from steadying your thigh to being placed over your hand.

“I know,”. 

“You don’t think it means anything?”.

Aaron tighten his hand over yours, linking his fingers through yours and bringing it to his lips, gently kissing your hand.

“I don’t know,”. 

“My house is 2 blocks away,” you said. Your voice sounded grave, despite the alcohol still in your system. The reality of your situation slowly falling upon both of you. Aaron silently stood up and left his hand interlocked with yours, silently giving you the okay to take you both back there. JJ only had to kick Derek under the table once to keep him from shouting out at the both of you as you stepped by.

In the parking lot you gestured to Aaron’s car and opened your mouth, but before you could speak-

“I packed all my stuff. I’ll just get it in the morning,” he said. You silently nodded as your grip on his hand tightened. He tightened his own hold in return. 

The walk to yours was silent. What was there to say? What could’ve made this any better? It was a comfortable silence despite it all.

“Are you excited to see Jack?” you finally said breaking the silence, not being able to handle it anymore. You had been pretty surprised when Aaron told you he had a son back home, making you feel all the more selfish for wanting him to stay here.

“Of course. He usually has a lot of fun with his aunt though,” Aaron said with a small smile, thinking of his son.

“Maybe I’ll meet him someday,” you mused. 

“I’m sure he’d love you,” Aaron nodded into the night, brushing his thumb over the corner of your hand. You couldn’t help but softly smile at this.

This could be every night. Simple, quiet, nice. He admitted himself he was less stressed out here. He could bring Jack out here. There were some nice schools in the district. You and Aaron would be on the same team, both getting off before nightfall and being able to go home to make dinner at a decent time before putting Jack to bed. 

You paused in front of your house, waking yourself up from the fantasy.

“Do you think I’m stupid? Are you just doing this out of pity?” you asked as you turned to look at Aaron, your insecurities starting to spill out as you realized how ridiculous a fantasy you’d crafted in your head. Before you knew what was happening Aaron had grabbed your face and pressed his lips onto yours. He was aggressive, but in a good way. You couldn’t help but lean forward into him as you wrapped your arms around him. You broke away for air as your laid your head on his chest, hearing his heart thumping as he gently traced an arm around your back, with the other hand resting on the back of your head.

“No,” he finally said, which caused you to laugh as you stood up, moving off of him, as you fiddled with your keys to get inside. You finally swung open the door and kicked some spare shoes into a haphazard pile as you stepped inside. 

“Welcome welcome,” you mumbled as you flicked on a few lights, “it’s not much, but it’s home,”. Aaron stood in the entrance as he took in the certainly cozy home. “Do you want tea, water, or anything?” you asked, trying to remember in your waning alcohol haze what home owners offered people. Aaron smiled and shook his head as he kicked off his own shoes. You sighed the breath you didn’t know you were holding out of your nose as you tried to figure out the next move. 

“You’re overthinking Y/N,” Aaron said, recognizing the contortions your face went through when this was happening. He stepped forward and held your face in his hands again, tilting your head up so he could look at you. 

“Perhaps,” you said before yawning, “fuck I’m sorry. I’m not usually up this late,”. 

“I’m not either- believe it or not,” Aaron said with a soft smile, “do you want to just go to bed?”. You nodded, and Aaron dropped his hands, letting you lead the way to your room. Luckily you’d just cleaned it so all the clothes were at least in a drawer. Entering the bedroom you turned, once again having a moment of how surreal it was to be in a bedroom, your bedroom, with Aaron. 

“I don’t- did you want to- like - um-” you stammered as you resorted to gesturing to the bed awkwardly, “fuck?” you gave up and spouted out.

“Do you want to?” Aaron asked as he stepped closer to you. Like a magnet you drew close to him and wrapped your arms around him.

“I don’t think I do…I just want to be with you tonight,” you said quietly, which might as well have echoed throughout the silent house. Aaron ran a hand down your hair and gently pressed a kiss to your forehead.

“I feel the exact same” he hummed.

“Alright alright,” you huffed as you stood back, “but get comfortable at least. I’m going to change you can uh, look if you want I guess,” you said, which got a laugh out of Aaron as he did watch you rummage through your drawers for a shirt to sleep in. He took off his own shirt and pants and left them folded on the nightstand as he slid into your bed. You’d be lying if you said you weren’t blushing. You threw your clothes off as you put on an oversized band shirt, feeling Aaron’s eyes watching you from bed the whole time. 

“I didn’t know you had tattoos,” he said as you moved to the side of the bed. He was referencing the large star constellations you had on each shoulder. 

“Yeah, I got them a few years ago…” you said as you slowly moved in next to him, instantly feeling and appreciating his heat. You hit the light beside you, engulfing the room in total darkness. You felt Aaron’s arm weave under you, and after a little adjusting you were both on your sides facing each other.

“So this is it,” you murmured. It wasn’t some sort of rhetorical question anymore. You knew this was it.

“I have loved every moment getting to be out here with you Y/N, and I’m truly so grateful I got you in my life again, even if it was only a few weeks,” Aaron said slowly tightening his grip on your waist, bringing you closer. You placed a hand on his chest and aimlessly traced along it.

“I have too Aaron,” you sighed, “maybe in another life this wasn’t just some stupid Shakespearan drama,”. He chuckled and you felt his chest move as he did so.

“I really wish I was in that other life,” he softly admitted.

“I do too,” you said. There were a few seconds of silence before you spoke up again, “If you wake me up when you leave- I’ll never let you escape this room I’m afraid,”. He gently kissed your forehead,

“I know,”. 

There were a few more moments of silence as you two readjusted, this time with him holding you close behind you as you were spooned up against him. You shut your eyes and were slowly drifting into sleep before Aaron said the last things he would say to you.

“I love you,”. You shifted and precariously kissed his cheek.

“I love you too,” you whispered back, before falling into sleep. 

It was another cold morning in your room. You rubbed your eyes as a headache began in your head. You spotted a glass of water with 2 Advil on your nightstand, and that was all Aaron left. You sighed, as you swallowed the pills and water, before retreating back under the covers.

[lunaroserites]

The Moon and Stars

Word count: 1439

Requested: No

Pairing: Castiel x fem!reader

Additional character: Dean, Sam and Bobby

Warnings: Marriage, fluff, cuteness. Not beta read, we die like Supernatural Characters.

Plot; Castiel and his fiancé get married.

The stars hung low in the dusk sky as it became just dark enough for them to be visible. They stood with Bobby and the Winchesters on top of a cliff overlooking the ocean. You could hear the waves as they splashed against the rock below, a soft breeze drifted through the pine trees behind them. It was peaceful. 

Sammy had a small portable music player set up with Hozier’s Like Real People Do playing quietly in the background. Bobby held an old, worn, but well loved bible in one hand, wiped a stray tear with the other. The brothers wore button ups rolled to their elbows and nice slacks, a bottle of beer held in their hand. 

The Impala was parked a little away from them, the headlights providing a small amount of extra light in the dusk.

She wore an elegant dress, it was white with lace stars and moons embroidered all over it, it was floor length and pooled at her feet, a slit ran from the bottom of the skirt to mid thigh. She wore a veil adorned with delicate pearls, and embroidered with stars and moons, matching the bodice and skirt of her dress. Her finger lay bare waiting for the ring that she had worn everyday to be placed back during an exchange of heartfelt words. She gazed up at him through the veil, it did little to obstruct her view of him. 

He wore his usual trench coat over a black suit, it was new and well tailored. The Winchesters had taken him to a local shop in town and for the first time he picked out something of his own. A tie pin of a silver moon and star, matching her dress clipped delicately to his tie, he had specially made, with the help of Dean of course, the internet was still lost on him most days. He matched her gaze, she looked utterly magically in her dress, everything picked out and placed in deliberate manner. 

Dean, Sam and himself had arrived at the lookout spot prior to her and Bobby. Bobby insisted that if they were doing this, they were doing it right. If his (adoptive) little girl was getting married he would be damned before she was married in some janky drive thru chapel, wearing greasy jeans and one of Dean’s band tees. Sure this may not be official in the eyes of the government, but in the eyes of heaven it was as official as it could get. 

He was not an emotional man by any standards, usually stoic and hard faced. She had never seen him this emotional before, when she walked out of her room asking him to zip her dress up he couldn’t help but shed a few tears. She was stunning in her dress, it was as if it was crafted for her and her alone. But all he could see was the little girl she once was standing in the center of pooling fabric saying “daddy, zip my dress up please.” Once it was zipped up and she spun around with a bright smile, taking the skirt in her hands and swaying it. “How do I look dad?” He choked a cry back and gave her his best smile. 

“Like an Angel, baby,” he had pulled her into a tight hug, she let a few tears fall into his shoulder. He helped her into his truck making sure her dress was safely tucked into the cab. The drive was quiet, something she was grateful for because it gave her time to calm her nerves. Once at the lookout, Bobby helped her step down from the cab, and walked with her on his arm making sure she wouldn’t trip on the uneven terrain.

Dean nudged Castiel when he noticed Bobby and her approaching, he turned slowly. Once fully facing the two approaching he finally looked at her, the dusk sky making her white dress stand out. She was beautiful, he choked on air looking at her stunning beauty. She made Angel’s grace look dull. Dean let out a low whistle and Sam gasped. The two had never seen her dolled up this before. She grew up alongside the brothers, she was rough and tumble with a side Singer sass, even if she wasn’t one by blood. 

Bobby spoke softly, reading a couple verses from the bible in his hands. His voice was rough, from the unshed tears. She stared into his eyes, listening to the soft chorus of their song as it melded with Bobby’s voice. He spoke so soundly, speaking to her, him and the night. They had prepared a few worlds for each other to exchange before they placed rings on each other and sealed the deal with the all important kiss.  

Castiel started, “In this space right here that we have made for each other, you can say anything and I will not abandon you. Unwrap the worst things you have done. Watch me hold them up to the light and not flinch. Your love is the light by which my soul follows. You are my sun, my moon, and my stars. I may never find words beautiful enough to describe all that you mean to me, but I will spend the rest of our time searching for them. With this ring, I am bound to you, mind, body, and soul.” He slid the ring onto her awaiting finger. It was a three part ring, the center ring was a moon stone with three crescent moons around it and smaller stones filling the space, the second sat underneath it, 7 little stones creating a ‘V’ shape. The third and final piece was two wings wrapped around both of the other rings. Castiel had it made custom for her, he poured all his love into the design. When it arrived 18 months ago he had been on a hunt with the brothers, one she skipped out on because she wasn’t feeling well. When he got back to the bunker and she mentioned a package he feared she knew what it was. His fear was for not as she had just laid the small shipping box on his side of the bed undisturbed. 

“If you came to me with a face I have not seen, with a voice I have never heard, I would still know you. Even if centuries separated us, I would still feel you. Somewhere between the sand and the stardust, through every collapse and creature there is a pulse that echoes of you and I. Till death do us part, they say. I say, I will love you till this life to the next. And if the next life won’t grace me with you, I will still love you till the next one, and the next, the next. Till death finally gives up on us,” her voice wavered slightly, the weight of her words and how she felt crashed like the waves, she loved him so deeply. “With every fiber of my soul I will love, cherish and care for you. For you are the moon, the stars and the sun in my soul.” With trembling fingers she slid the matching white gold ring on his finger, it had an engraving of their names in Enochian on the inside band, and etchings of angel wings with little stars dotted on the outside. A custom piece made by the same person who made her rings. It wasn’t planned that way, but it was a happy coincidence when the seller messaged her asking about the ring she wore. 

Bobby spoke a few more words and announced they were husband and wife, and he may kiss the bride. Castiel’s hands found the tull of her veil and lifted it gently over her head, not to disturb her hair, or damage the veil. He placed it down once her face was fully uncovered and looked down into her eyes, his own eyes pouring every ounce of love into hers. His water line had unshed, happy tears. He cupped her face in his hands and poured his soul into the kiss, her cheeks wetted from his now spilled tears. She wrapped arms around his neck and pressed close to him. 

Sam, Dean and Bobby all clapped their hands hollered. Castiel pulled back from the shared moment and rubbed his nose to hers lovingly. 

“Honey just put your sweet lips on my lips, We should just kiss like real people do,” the song closed on them, it had been playing over and over through the whole ceremony. Castiel put his lips to hers once more. 

[aclowntiny]

Silent War- Wonwoo x Gender Neutral!Reader

Word Count: 2,543 | Fluff, Humor, Slight Rivals to Lovers, Gamers 😎 | Warnings: nothing really, just one minor swear lol | Note: 20,000 won is about 15 bucks USD so yeah hehe

Corny pinball dings and flashes abound as you stroll into your haven, marching confidently to the card loader as if you owned the place. Which, frankly, sometimes you felt like you did.

Ok, that was a bit dramatic, but holding a consistent high score on your favorite arcade game gave you a unique childlike high of smugness that only grew stronger with the familiarity of your spot. You knew where everything was, the best table that didn’t wobble, which pizza was the best, how to load credits onto your card without asking for help, all of it. Visiting the arcade was your way to relax, a healthy way to release all your stress and aggression onto pixelated enemies. Not that you were a physically aggressive person anyway, but still. Take that, aliens.

There was a nice adrenaline rush associated with beating your personal best, something exciting but still relaxing. No need to sweat it up like some people did for their rushes.

Swipe.

Points added. Have fun!

Strike Shot was a janky, cheesy-looking console with some of the side design worn off, but so satisfying to huddle over and press the controls as fast as possible. Which honestly was faster than it looked like the machine could operate. The music was intense, upbeat techno you would have just listened to on its own, and the play was fairly simple: fly your ship, shoot down aliens, don’t run into asteroids, ships, or anything that makes you explode. It required focus and deftness, traits you’d honed for months. It was your corny old game, the star-dotted leaderboard suspended above the screen always topped by your initials.

Except today. Shotzfired, your username for that console, had fallen. It was second place. Second. After months of domination, someone had taken your crown. Some player by the name of Number원.

Oh, no. This would not do. Not at all. Number원 thought they could score 53,850 points, unseating you by a mere 300? Well, the joke was on them.

Stretching your hands, you got to work.

~

It happened again. You strode across the ridiculously dated carpet patterned with squiggles, triangles, and squares in yellow, magenta, and cyan to find Strike Shot again topped with Number원, this time beating you by a less narrow margin. Your eyebrows involuntarily furrowed, gaze narrowing at the display as if it would reveal Number원’s secret.

Had you ever seen this person in the arcade? They certainly didn’t seem to share your schedule considering you, a teenage couple who went by LOVERZ, and one kid innocently named MRCOOL once were just about the only people you’d ever seen playing Strike Shot. It wasn’t nearly as popular as the gambling simulators or basketball hoop matches. Heck, even the whack-a-mole got more traffic.

Number원 was a slippery character.

~

You were barely even surprised by the third time. Fire flew into your eyes, spurring you onward to defend your title. Number원 had to realize that you were not going down without a fight. Suddenly, motions that had become second nature to you felt important again, your energy and focus sharpening.

The rage of battle overtook you, every alien ship becoming a proxy for your newest enemy. Defeating the spacecraft shooting little purple blasts at you, sending them spiraling out of the sky, was your way of dropping Number원 off of your throne. Pew, pew. Take that, aliens. There’s only one ruler of space.

~

It was stakeout time. You’d had it. Number원 being on top was bad enough, but changing the username to Number원 ㅋㅋㅋ? It may have taken two weeks, but now it was personal.

Defeat was a challenge, mockery was all-out warfare. A purple-shirted arcade employee walked by you that day, stating “I’m glad you’ve been enjoying this game so much,” and it took every fiber of your being just to accept it and not explain that what you were doing was an act of silent warfare. You weren’t sure if the employee was enough of a gamer to get it. He was definitely younger than you, that was for sure. Teenagers had a tendency to roll their eyes at adults, right?

So, the day after you beat Number원 ㅋㅋㅋ, you went to the arcade. Day off be darned. Some of the familiarity had melted away, that usual kid replaced by a middle-aged woman you suspected was both the place’s owner and the boy’s mother. They had the same warm smile.

You stationed yourself at the pinball machine adjacent to Strike Shot, getting in a few rounds of a game you hadn’t enjoyed in too long anyway. You were rusty, so you honed your flipper skills while glancing occasionally at your home game, which remained empty.

After several rounds of pinball and even one on the claw machine around the corner (you didn’t win, the thing was totally rigged), it was break time. Couldn’t waste too many of your credits, after all. They didn’t exactly spring up out of the garish 1990’s carpet, after all, and you couldn’t help but chuckle as you wondered what your boss would think if he knew some of your wages were going to this.

A trio of middle school boys ran boisterously past, beelining for the basketball. LOVERZ strolled by hand in hand, the girl giggling at something her boyfriend said as she straightened her shiny black pigtails.

One lonely-looking guy tried his hand at the zombie shooter, gripping the plastic gun like much more of a pro than you would have expected. Usually you saw him at the claw machine. No one touched Strike Shot, you reflected as you crossed the floor over to the pizza parlor, ordering two slices of your favorite.

When you sat down and started tearing into the greasy goodness, you were surprised to see you weren’t the only one there. A guy near your age, give or take a couple years, sat two seats away from you finishing up some pizza of his own. You’d never seen him before; maybe he wasn’t a regular.

For some reason, he intrigued you. Maybe it was the way he casually yet deftly pushed his glasses up or the calm he exuded, but you decided to try your hand at conversation.

“Is this your first time here?”

You saw his posture shift, clearly in surprise at being addressed, before he turned toward you, shaking his head with a small smile. “No, I come here quite often, actually.”

“Me, too,” you replied, brow furrowing, “I’m surprised I’ve never seen you before. I thought I knew everyone!” You added with a chuckle.

“I usually come on tuesdays and thursdays.”

You nod slowly. “Oh, that’s why. I’m usually here on mondays and wednesdays. Took out some overtime this week.” You grinned. “I’m (y/n), by the way.”

“(y/n),” he repeats, “My name is Wonwoo. Hey, while you’re here, would you be interested in being Player 2 for Death Risen? I’ve always wanted to play, but I come here on my own.”

“Sure,” you nod, taking another bite of your pizza, “I’ve never played either, though, so I may not be up to my usual standard.”

Wonwoo cocked an eyebrow at that. “You have high standards, then?”

“Can’t come here this often and not, right?” You joked, eyes sparkling with mischief.

~

“Watch out. Watch out. Watch-” BLAM! Warnings received, you whipped around and took out the ghoul that charged from behind, somehow managing a headshot. “Nice,” Wonwoo commented.

He was really good at games, his calm smile fading into a sharp, focused look the moment he pressed start, but still kept that relaxing presence. You didn’t feel like you had to perform for him, like he didn’t care about pretense at all. His demeanor was a natural damp on nervous energy too, making you feel balanced out. You’d practically forgotten about Strike Shot, your mind devoted to shooting ghosts and demons out of the earthly plane…and maybe trying to switch your work schedule to heavier tuesdays and thursdays. Given you worked from home, that could be manageable if you-

Wait. Had this guy already gotten that far under your skin? You’d played one long round of Death Risen and you were already-

“Look, we got the high score! Great job, (y/n)!” Wonwoo reached over for a high-five, a big smile on his face and joy lighting up his deep brown eyes as the victory screen reflected in the lenses of his glasses.

Yep, you were interested. High-fiving back, you took in the feelings of your hands together for the fleeting moment you were offered. "Wanna play anything else?"

"Sure," Wonwoo nodded, "have you figured out the secret to the claw machine yet?"

Your eyes widened with interest. "That thing? It's so rigged."

He smirked, turning his game card in his hands like a master gambler plays with his poker hand. "Not if you know the trick."

Apparently, the trick was to shake the machine too. "Isn't this cheating?"

"Do you want a rubber duck or not?" Wonwoo shot back, laughing as you palmed the sides of the big rectangular chamber. "I'm sure they only cost this place like ₩20,000 for a lot of a hundred. It's not like we're cheating on the one that wins you a switch."

"Ok, ok," you let go of the machine to put up your hands in surrender, "you sold me. I wouldn't feel good about stealing a switch, either," you clarified.

"You're barely into stealing a rubber duck," Wonwoo teased, bringing warmth to your face.

"Yeah, yeah, let me know when to move it."

"Alright, go ahead. Which one do you want?"

"Hmmm, if you can go for the one with the cowboy hat, I like him."

"Done."

You walked away from the claw machine with Wonwoo at your side and your rubber duck, which you named Ranger, peeking out of your pocket.

"So, do you have a favorite game here?" You asked Wonwoo, peering at his handsome side profile as you broke the comfortable silence.

"Yeah," he nodded, grinning, "but I think only one other person ever plays it. I'm the best, though."

"I'm a regular, remember? Try me."

He tilted his head toward a purple console with faded wrapping on the side, aliens with faces worn away, the menacing effect totally lost as the screen flashed invitingly, enticingly.

"Strike Shot," he tells you with a smirk as if you didn't have every button, every chip of that game memorized, "someone keeps trying to beat my high score, but I beat them every time."

It hit you like a ton of bricks, your eyes falling open. Number원. Wonwoo. This was the guy whose ass you'd been trying to beat for two weeks.

"Number원," you muttered before you could stop yourself, tone a little more intent than the half of you that was attracted to this guy would have wanted.

What were the odds? This guy, this really chill, stupidly handsome guy you were going to try to swap numbers with was the newfound bane of your gamers' pride's existence?

Wonwoo for his part chuckled, smirk widening. "Shotzfired?"

"You're going down. One final match."

"Why, because if I beat you bad enough you won't play anymore?"

"That's it," you stop, crossing your arms and stepping closer to him, only inches separating the two of you. You'd totally forgotten yourself, forgotten Wonwoo and that you two were still relative strangers and that you were just thinking he was hot enough to rearrange your work from home schedule just to see him. In that moment, all you saw was the red of your silent war. "I'll show you. You'll eat those words."

That calm smile broke across his face, somehow much more infuriating than the smirk was. Wonwoo looked completely unbothered by your words, more faintly amused, like you were cute. The part of you that wanted him to find you cute had gone to sleep, though. Mostly. You still felt a little flushed, the realization of the way you two had been standing for just a little too long hitting you. But there was no backing down, not when he said what he said, that peaceful happiness still painting his face.

"Make me, (y/n)."

~

You won. You. Freaking. Won. By only a hundred points, but you topped the leader board with a smirk, crossing your arms once more as you swiveled to face Wonwoo. "Take that."

"That's ok, I'll just beat it next time you're here. You're so happy, I'll leave it for now.”

“That’s ok, maybe next time I’ll be here to stop you.”

“Oh?” Try as you might, you couldn’t read into the ‘oh’ very well. He sounded a bit pleased, but you weren’t sure if it was just the competition talking.

“Or would you rather just show up and see?” You backed off a little, suddenly feeling self-conscious, like maybe you’d taken it too far.

“If I’m being honest? I like having someone here to play with. Ever since we started going back and forth in first place, it’s been more fun, don’t you think?”

You had felt a new fire in you as you played to beat Number원, not just fill your own space. It had filled you with a new anticipation every time you’d entered the arcade, hoping to see someone else standing at Strike Shot for you to challenge. Heck, you’d even gone full stakeout more on your usual errand day just to get a glimpse of the person you were locked in a battle with. It had been the most fun you’d had in a while, a revitalization of a stale routine.

“Yeah,” you smiled, this time softly, gladly, “it has been more fun.”

“Same time next tuesday, then?”

“You’re on.”

Waving to the owner lady, you strode out of the arcade with a smug look, but this time your high score was completely forgotten. After all, Wonwoo had asked you for your phone number.

~

“Get him! Get him!”

“I’m trying! You’re making this difficult, (y/n).”

“What do you mean?” You teased, hands sliding a bit further up Wonwoo’s waist as he tried to hit the right combo of buttons.

“You won’t be laughing when I topple your Strike Shot score again,” he shot back, but he turned to away during the little zombie cutscene to peck your lips.

“Well then, I’ll just beat it again like I always do. Like I have been doing for, let’s see…”. You counted on your fingers innocently. “Five months now?”

He shook his head. “You’re a menace, you know that?”

“Yeah,” you just agreed, blinking at the stars in your boyfriend’s eyes, memories of you guys reading together, watching and reviewing movies, laughing at how silly you looked playing whack-a-mole like a kid, the way Wonwoo’s unique mind opened you up to new details of the places you’d seen countless times and the way you dragged him out to have fun everywhere you went, and of course your first kiss shared at your doorstep all playing through the haze of your mind, “but you know you love me.”

Wonwoo leaned down, resting his head on yours. “That I do.”

[missjanjie]

Better Than Revenge | Chapter 10

Title: Better Than Revenge Summary: Karma Inc.’s business structure is simple - clients hire them when they’ve been grievously wronged and they send one of their revenge mercenaries to right them. As painstaking as their efforts to remain ethical may be, that may be tested when former detective, Rosé, enlists the squad to pick up where she couldn’t on a much higher scale, with potentially greater consequences. Word Count: 2475 (this chapter) | ~26.1k (total) Relationship(s): Rosnali (Rosé/Denali Foxx), Jankie (Jackie Cox/Jan Sport), Halldoll (Nicky Doll/Jaida Essence Hall), Gimone (Gigi Goode/Symone), Gottlux (Gottmik/Olivia Lux) Rating: E Chapter TW: Minor Character Death

Read on AO3 | Ko-Fi

Mirage stood in front of the whiteboard in the meeting room with a black marker in hand. She waited for Jan and Gigi to settle before writing ‘honeypot’ in big letters on the board. “Do any of you guys know what this is? And it’s not what Winnie the Pooh eats out of.” 

“It’s like a decoy, right?” Jan asked. “Like in spy movies, that’s the sexy woman they have to distract guards or minor villains, stuff like that.”

“Basically, yeah,” she nodded, then chuckled softly as Jan perked up at getting the question right. “Jaida and Rosé said you guys would be the best fit to be the designated honeypots of the group, so that’s what we’re gonna work on. ‘Cause it’s more than just being hot and distracting people.” 

While the group had always distributed duties equally, the intensity and levels needed for the new work they’ve taken on required them to divide and conquer, and that meant playing to their strengths. Denali and Symone had the strongest physical prowess, Mik and Nicky were the sharpest shooters, and Jan and Gigi were the most charismatic, though often in different ways. On top of that, they had the strongest aversion to the more gruesome aspects of the job. Fortunately, it hadn’t taken long for Mirage and Anetra to get a clear read, especially with Jaida and Rosé’s opinions taken into consideration.

“First thing’s first,” Mirage cracked her knuckles and began once they got the rest of the formalities out of the way, “You can’t put all your focus on your target like when you’re doing a stakeout or sniping. You must constantly be aware of everything around you, especially whoever you’re covering.” She looked between them and added, “Though, from what I understand, I don’t have to worry about teamwork with you guys,” with a wink.

Jan tilted her head and furrowed her brows. “Because we’re both in relationships with other crew members?”

Gigi rolled her eyes. “No, because we both had Lasik. Obviously, she meant our relationships.”

“Well, you don’t need to be a fucking bitch about it,” she pouted.

Mirage chuckled as she watched the two bicker. “I like you guys.”

———

“So,” Anetra prompted as she wiped the sweat off of her forehead, taking a breather from another round of sparring, “when did you start training? It seems like you’ve been at it for years.”

Denali furrowed her brows to think for a moment. “It must be like… a little over a decade, I think. I picked it up after I stopped competitive ice skating. I needed an outlet for, you know, the immeasurable anger and disappointment of having my dreams ripped away from me due to another person’s malice.” 

The two silently agreed to take a proper break from their workout, moving to sit on a nearby bench. “That’s rough,” she sympathized. “But you got revenge on them, right? Isn’t that how this whole thing started? That’s what Jaida told me, at least.”

She cracked a smile and nodded. “Yeah, that’s what happened. I’ll tell you that story at some point, still proud of it. Thank god for my friend being a witness, though. God knows what I would’ve tried if I had been left to my own devices.”

“You’re much more useful here than in jail,” Anetra chuckled, bumping her shoulder against hers. 

Denali let out a breath of a laugh, nudging her in turn before turning to look at her. “Did you get that scar during active duty?” She asked, drawing a curved line with her finger over her eye, mirroring the scar on the other woman’s face.

She hesitated, chewing on her lip momentarily before deciding to tell the truth. “No, um, that’s from my mom. She… She didn’t handle my coming out well at all. Glasses were thrown,” she sighed. “I’d never been so relieved that my parents were divorced ‘cause my dad was chill. I don’t think she expected Mirage to leave with me, though. She thinks I corrupted her and accused me of some pretty horrible things once she found out we’re both gay.”

Her heart sank at the explanation, wrapping her arm around her shoulders, gingerly rubbing the side of her upper arm. “I’m so sorry. I get it, trust me. I didn’t come out to my parents until after I’d already moved out. Same story – Dad was in my corner, but my Mom and her never-ending devotion to her religion tried to convince me to go to conversion therapy. I almost did, in a moment of weakness. She’s come around now, but I know what a dark headspace that can put you in.”

While normally averse to physical contact from people outside her inner circle, Anetra allowed herself to be comforted, resting her head on her shoulder. “From what Jaida’s told me, it seems like you have a nice, albeit a bit dysfunctional, family found within the crew.”

Denali smiled softly and nodded. “I do, and now you and Mirage are part of it, too.” She gave them both a moment to collect themselves before getting up. “C’mon, I’ll walk you home.”

As they started to walk back to Anetra’s apartment, Denali casually asked, “So, how do you and Mirage like living out here?”

“So far, so good,” she shrugged. “Miri wants to bang our roommate so bad it’s funny, because that girl couldn’t be subtle enough to save her life. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s already made a move.”

She breathed out a laugh. “She fits in here even better than expected, none of us have ever heeded the ‘don’t shit where you eat’ warning.” Admittedly, it was nice to be able to talk to someone who hadn’t seen the roller coaster she and Rosé had been on in real-time. Finding out was inevitable, but at least she had control of the narrative.

Anetra nodded as she recalled the dynamics she’d observed thus far. “Right, I know Jaida and Nicky are together… Gigi and Symone are too, right?”

“Yeah, they’re engaged. They got together before the group was formed. Jan and Jackie are together too.”

“So, where does that leave you?”

Denali pressed her lips into a fine line as she stared out in front of her. Frankly, she had been asking herself the same question to no avail. She sighed and shook her head. “It’s complicated.”

———

Gigi and Symone were on their way home after spending the day deciding on floral arrangements for the wedding. Neither of them had realized just how much planning went into a wedding, and while it was tiring, they loved getting to pour over every minute detail to create their dream event. “God, I never thought a centerpiece could run such a price tag,” Gigi remarked. 

“It’s the marital surcharge,” Symone chuckled dryly as they reached their apartment. She furrowed her brows as she saw a blank, sealed envelope taped to the door. “D’you think this is from the bitter, old bitch in 8K?”

“I wouldn’t put it past her,” she shrugged as they went inside. “Here, gimme.” She used her nail to open the envelope and took out the note inside, then took out the typed letter inside. “You and your friends took one of ours. It’s only fair we return the favor. Hope you can stop your friend from getting on the plane before it’s too late.”

The letter fell from Gigi’s trembling hands, causing something else to fall out of the envelope – a picture of the front of Crystal’s house. But she didn’t notice, the fear and adrenaline both making her want to run in every direction while feeling frozen in place. The moment she broke from her horrified trance, she scrambled to get her phone. Each time she called Crystal’s phone, it went to voicemail. 

It was while she was frantically trying to get in touch with anyone who had immediate access to her friend, Symone’s phone rang – Gigi’s mom. “Please tell me Crystal hasn’t gone home yet.” Her tone was hushed, not wanting to make things worse for her fianceé or give her false hope. Then, her brows rose in shock. “No, no, you can’t put that on me to tell her. You’re her mom, she needs to hear it from you.”

Gigi’s head perked up at ‘mom’ and grabbed the phone from Symone. Whether it was hers or Crystal’s, it didn’t matter as long as it came with the confirmation of Crystal’s safety. “What’s going on? Is she okay?” 

What followed was a moment of  intense silence, followed by an ear-piercing scream that sent all the dogs in the vicinity into a chorus of barking. The next thing they heard was a loud thud and Gigi’s mother calling for her on the phone. Symone picked the phone back up. “Can’t talk now, she just fainted.”

Everything was a blur after that – the ambulance pulling up, the EMTs rushing in, the police arriving to take their statements. People were going in and out, communicating over walkie-talkies while the neighbors had their heads poking out their doors to try to piece together what happened, murmuring to each other to try to fill in the blanks. 

But as quickly as the chaos came, it disappeared, leaving Gigi and Symone alone, sitting on the floor in a tense silence. They remained like that for several minutes, trying to process how such a pleasant day took a staggeringly sharp turn for the worse. 

“I feel like I killed her.”

Gigi’s words hung in the air, the silence in the room now heavy with sadness and guilt. After another few moments, she continued. “I know I didn’t pull the trigger, but these psychos would have no idea she even existed if not for me.”

Symone wrapped Gigi in her arms, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “None of this is your fault. Grief is bad enough, I’m not gonna let you drown in guilt too. I know nothing I say will make this any better, but we gotta get through this one way or another. This ain’t over until every single one of those bastards pay for what they’ve done.” 

———

“Now, I know emotions are high, but I want you guys to hear me out before rushing to judgment,” Rosé addressed the room. While Gigi and Symone decided to stay in Illinois for the next couple of weeks, the rest of the team needed to figure out where to go from there. “There is a silver lining to this – they fucked up by picking an innocent target. Crystal wasn’t involved in any dark-sided shit, she wasn’t a nomad without a family to miss her. She worked in a bowling alley and lived with her sister and her sister’s girlfriend. There’s going to be a big investigation into this. People are going to want answers, this is probably the most interesting thing to happen in Missouri since…” She paused, brows furrowed. “Well, my inability to think of anything proves my point.” 

Jan cleared her throat and raised her hand, waiting until she had the floor to speak. “Not to be pessimistic, but if the cops couldn’t catch these guys before, why would they be able to now just because they’ll get a news story out of it?”

“It’s not so much about catching them, that will come in due time. It’s more about scaring them,” Anetra chimed in, “backing them into a corner, figuring out where they lay low. This was a stupid move on their part, too brazen. If they aren’t already trying to scatter, they will soon. It’ll probably make tracking them harder, but at least it lessens the potential danger.”

“That’s a very good point,” Denali nodded, looking squarely at Anetra as she spoke, then redirected to the rest of the group. “In the short-term, it’s better to let them hide. We can plan better in the interim.”

Rosé pouted, murmuring “I was gonna say that,” under her breath. 

No one seemed to notice the remark, except for Jackie, who prompted the group with, “Let’s put a pin in this for now, I think we all need some time to digest this.” She then turned to Rosé and quietly asked, “you have a minute?”

Still pouting, she nodded and followed her into her office, elbowing the door closed behind her. “Okay, what?”

“Listen,” she made sure to keep her tone gentle, “I know you’re in a mood. But you can’t let your work be affected just because you’re worried that Anetra is going to steal your–”

“She’s not my girl!” Rosé snapped, narrowing her gaze into a pointed glare. “I don’t care if she’s into Anetra, Denali and I don’t have a romantic relationship.”

Jackie blinked in surprise, taking a half- step back at the outburst. “Thunder. Steal your thunder… I thought you were feeling like your leadership role was threatened.” She hesitated, knowing she had to choose her next words carefully, lest she set her off again. “You know, Jan and I were just sleeping together for months before we started dating. Lack of communication was what held us back. I’m not saying you have to talk to her, but you really should consider it.”

Deep down, she knew she was right, she couldn’t just avoid Denali forever and hope her feelings for her went away. But admitting out loud was a whole other story. She didn’t do vulnerability, she’d trained herself to avoid it years ago. “I can’t, not yet. She just… It’s like she’s my weakness, I can’t keep all of my walls up around her, and I can’t let that happen, it’s not safe.” 

“I’m by no means a therapist, but it sounds like you’re stuck in fight or flight. Did something happen in your last relationship that made you so paranoid? Or was it a work-related problem?”

Rosé slumped down into the desk chair. “I wouldn’t even know where to begin,” she sighed. “I gave up on this years ago but… is the therapist you guys are seeing taking new patients?” 

Jackie smiled softly and gave her shoulder a squeeze. “I’ll make sure she can schedule you in this week. I’m proud of you, this is an important first step.”

She was quiet, pensive, letting the choice she’d just made set in. She thought about what it could mean for her both now and in the future. In a soft, almost timid voice, she asked, “Do you think she’d ever give me a chance again? Once I get better?” 

The question caught her off guard, especially given her adamant denial to anyone that would listen. “I can’t predict the future, but I do think anything is possible. There’s a deeper connection between you guys, one that she doesn’t have with Anetra or anyone else.”

Rosé smiled softly, exhaling deeply. “It’s a start, I’ll take it.”

[batfleckgifs]

Host: Um I want to uh as we kind of wrap up here I do want to come back to AI. Jerry you mentioned it but you know Ben how did you know uh-earlier you guys weren't here we did a demonstration my colleague, Andrew Sorkin and I recreated ourselves and our voices how do you see it I mean - is it a benefit or is it a real threat? Is it possible that uh - Netflix could say you know we're going to do our own, excuse me James Bond thing out there with a bunch of actors that are completely recreated for this Market or that market I-?

Ben Affleck: A) that's not possible now. B) will it be possible the future? Highly unlikely. C) Uh-Uh Movies will be one of the last things if everything gets replaced to be replaced by ai. AI can write you excellent imit-imitative verse that sounds Elizabethan, it cannot write you Shakespeare. The function of having two actors or three or four actors in a room and the taste to discern and construct that is something that currently entirely eludes ai's capability and I think will for a meaningful period of time. What AI is going to do, is going to disintermediate the more laborious less creative uh and you know Co-more costly aspects of film making that will allow cost to be brought down, that will be lower the barrier to entry that will allow more voices to be heard, that will make it easier to for the people want to make Goodwill huntings to go out and make it. Look AI is a Craftsman at best Craftsman can learn to you know make stickly furniture by sitting down next to somebody and seeing what their technique is and imitating. That's how large video models large language model models basically work a library of vectors of meaning and Transformers that interpret context right but they're just cross-pollinating things that exist. Nothing new is created or-

Host: Not yet.

Ben Affleck: Not yet. Yeah, not yet. And-and really the - in order to do that - look Craftsman is knowing how to work (and) Art Is knowing when to stop. And I think knowing when to stop is going to be a very difficult thing for AI to learn because it's taste and also lack of consistency.lack of controls. lack of quality. AI for for this world of generative video is going to do key things more me-I wouldn't like to being in the visual effects business,they're in trouble, because what cost a lot of money is now going to cost a lot less. And it's going to hammer that space than it already is, um, and maybe it shouldn't take a thousand people to render something but it's not going to replace human beings making films. It may make your background more convincing, it can change the color of your shirt, it can fix mistakes that you've made, it can make it - you know you might be able to get two seasons of House of the Dragon in a year instead of one and if that happens according to macroeconomics in you know, uh ,cultures where there are basically Oligopolies competing what should happen is with the same demand and the same spend is they they should just make more shows which should you know you should have the same spend and now you can just watch more episodes. And eventually AI will allow you to,uh, ask for your own episode of succession where you can say I'll pay $30 and can you make me a 45 minute episode where like Kendall gets the company and runs off and has an affair with Stewie and it'll do it. And it'll be a little janky and a little bit weird but it'll know their Stats it'll know those actors and it will you know Mix-remix it in effect and it will do that. That's the value, in my view, long term of AI for consumers which is eventually - My Hope for AI is that it's an additional Revenue stream that can replace DVD which took 15 to 20% out of the economy of film making which is and-and there should be negotiated rights and-

Host: And that's the key part of it.

Ben Affleck: And the right to say if you want to - because what do people want to make 5 minute 30C Tik Tok videos where they look like The Avengers well great, you can , you know just like you used to be able to buy your Iron Man costume at the store you're going to buy your Iron Man pack and you and your buddies are going to look like Iron Man and Hawkeye like you know on Twitch that's that's what's going to really happen.

[mokutone]

Ok so like… I sent you an ask a little over a year ago to gush about how you’re one of my all time favorite blogs, and how you pushed me to draw more. Well, it’s a year later and I’ve been doing a ton of art and I’m continuing to study art in college (even though I was previously unsure about my major since I was feeling kind of burnt out). Anyway, I just wanna say thanks a ton for just being generally cool and awesome, and here’s a long overdue quick yam doodle, since I believed in my last ask I promised I’d sketch him for u.

(May be a little janky since I rarely do pencil sketches anymore so I’m a bit rusty)

WAAAHHH!!!!!! thank you!!!!!!!!!! that's so sweet—I'm so glad you took the time to tell me this, and I'm glad that you're feeling up to drawing more!!! mwah mwah i am kissing u on the forehead. i hope that you get what you want out of your studies, and that your relationship to your art flourishes!!!

and thank u so much for this drawing of yamato!!! i love him!!! he's so cute...i love how u drew his nose and eyes especially!!!

[eggs-bene]

So since I want to do more animations (specifically spider-man swinging), I wanted an easier way to do storyboards/layout without drawing perspective cause im lazy. SO i saw some ATSV boards that used google earth screenshots, however i couldnt figure out how he was getting the angle on it that he wanted? like, every time i opened google earth i felt like it was fighting me and i just couldnt figure it out (maybe im mentally an old man)

You may ask, "why not just stretch out the cubes and make the city yourself??" Well. I'm lazy. but eventually i found a slightly different way of doing it, basically by importing 3D google earth data into blender.

and now thats even better than screenshots cause i could animate the camera! and i could have a better understanding of the layout cause im too dumb to keep that in my head! i can just grab a chunk of the earth and plunk it into blender! its ugly, but i could theoretically "trace" it with clean cubes for the close buildings and let the farther ones be as janky as they want.

this also works for pretty much any part of the earth, so if i really wanted to I could pull in the grand canyon or mount everest or anything that has 3D data on it. i pulled a chunk of my neighborhood in which was kind've uncanny. its tempting to post a pic of that too but id rather not doxx myself, even if there would be about 3 polygons defining my house

[shannaraisles]

Worth Fighting For - for @queenofthyme

For the charming @queenofthyme, who requested something flirty and epistolary for a pre-relationship Fem!Shepard x Kelly Chambers, and gave me the opportunity to play in the Mass Effect sandbox for a little bit. Thank you, lovely!

Worth Fighting For

TO: ShepardCommander FROM: ChambersYeoman SUBJECT: Preferences

Commander,

Forgive the informality of the request, but I neglected to ask during our conversation what pronouns you prefer to use, and how you would prefer to be addressed. Your comfort in command is a high priority during these first days of our mission. How would you like to be referred to among the crew?

Kelly Chambers

TO: ChambersYeoman FROM: ShepardCommander SUBJECT: Re:Preferences

Kelly,

Call me nuts, but I prefer my subordinates to be the comfortable ones around me. Commander’s good, doesn’t need to be any more fancy. Shepard once you’ve earned it. She/they, doesn’t much bother me either way. 

Shepard

P.S. See? Doesn’t take much to earn it. And, by the way, you’re much more fun to look at than a janky V.I.

TO: ShepardCommander FROM: ChambersYeoman SUBJECT: Checking in

Commander,

Your visits to the lower decks have gone down very well. Most of the crew seems very reassured that you don’t consider us to be your enemy, despite your experiences with Cerberus. I would like to discuss those past experiences with you, if it would be at all possible. Your past trauma may be something we can soothe through information sharing exercises

Kelly Chambers

P.S. I hear you kicked ass at Skyllian poker last night. Shame the stakes were so tame.

TO: ChambersYeoman FROM: ShepardCommander SUBJECT: Re: Checking in

Tame? Would you have preferred to see him running for the dorms in nothing but his skivvies? It’s very doable, just say the word. 

I have it on good authority that dinner tonight is going to be not only edible but enjoyable. Come join me in the mess, you can finally get that in with Joker and the doctor you’ve been hinting at. Maybe even a conversation with Garrus if he’s done with his calibrations for the day.

Shepard

TO: ShepardCommander FROM: ChambersYeoman SUBJECT: Re: Checking in

That wasn’t an answer to the main question. I am here to facilitate your needs, not only when it comes to the administration of your work, but also to assist with your recovery following the traumas you have already experienced.

Don’t make me schedule an appointment in the diary.

Kelly Chambers

TO: ChambersYeoman FROM: ShepardCommander SUBJECT: Re: Checking in

Don’t threaten me with a good time. Because that will not be a good time. I can handle it, Kelly. I’d much rather enjoy the view from my terminal than avoid it because you’re openly psycho-analyzing me. Call me crazy, I prefer the stealth approach when it comes to me. Just don’t pop up unexpectedly in my shower.

Shepard

TO: ChambersYeoman FROM: ShepardCommander SUBJECT: Aliens vs. humans

Kelly,

You mentioned you don’t see race or gender, just character. Does that only apply to aliens, or can I stop pretending to be a supposedly normal, well-adjusted human being in your presence? I can definitely guarantee I have a whole lot of character.

Shepard

P.S. Grunt has promised not to crowd you in the elevator so long as you promise not to smell so good when you walk past him. That’s his compromise, so I’m going to find you a perfume that turns krogan stomachs. No offense.

TO: ShepardCommander FROM: ChambersYeoman SUBJECT: Re: Aliens vs. humans

Commander, that subject line is very misleading. But thank you for speaking with Grunt, it is very much appreciated. I believe the line of perfumes made by Goddess Essentials are particularly repugnant to krogan, though I would not like to cause him any actual harm. Perhaps I should just take the service ladders instead.

Kelly

TO: ChambersYeoman FROM: ShepardCommander SUBJECT: Re: Aliens vs. humans

Have to give Miranda something to get excited about before disappointing her with the actual subject matter. And yes, I know you’re reading my mail, Miranda. I will find a way to stump you.

As for you, Yeoman Kelly Chambers, was that a note of disapproval I detect in this highly unemotional, non-contextual manner of communication? Perhaps you should reprimand me in person if you don’t want to hurt my feelings.

Shepard

TO: KellyGrrl FROM: JShepReborn SUBJECT: Privacy at last

Well, hello there, KellyGrrl. At last I have tracked down your private comm. (I tracked it down, you did not give it to me. That’s the story and we’re sticking to it, no matter what Mr Illusive might say.)

That said, are you sure you’re doing okay? You seemed very rattled by what happened with the Collector ship trap. Not complaining about the hug - in fact, feel free to hug rather than salute - but you know you’re allowed to have an emotional response to a stressful situation too, right? Hugs go both ways. I have muscular arms that give safe harbour-type hugs, so I’m told. They’re open for you anytime.

Shepard

P.S. Miranda, if anything said in these private communications end up in your reports to The Illusive Man, you will learn exactly why a large number of people in this galaxy are personally afraid of me.

TO: JShepReborn FROM: KellyGrrl SUBJECT: Re: Privacy at last

I’m fine, Shepard. I was more worried for you than for myself. After all, you were the one trapped on a Collector ship we have no way of destroying if it came to it, and you would not have been there had our own organization manipulated the situation. The end does not always justify the means, especially where your life is concerned. A highlight of my day is watching you walk away ... that is quite the physique you have cultivated there.

Goodness, that was very flirty, wasn’t it?

Kelly

TO: KellyGrrl FROM: JShepReborn SUBJECT: Flirty McFlirtersson called ...

... she’d like you to know your butt flirts with me behind your back. Don’t sweat about doing it consciously, you have my attention, honey.

TO: JShepReborn FROM: KellyGrrl SUBJECT: Re: Flirty McFlirtersson called ...

Oh.

Oh, my.

In that case, we definitely need to swing by the Citadel some time soon. I have an order on hold at This One’s that will do wonders for my rear end’s escapades.

TO: KellyGrrl FROM: JShepReborn SUBJECT: Re: Flirty McFlirtersson called ...

Tease.

Citadel, here we come.

*********************************************************

“Commander, you have a new message at your private terminal.”

Commander Jane Shepard raised a brow at the very formal tone in her yeoman’s voice, glancing to where the other woman stood at her own terminal. Kelly was focused on her work, apparently utterly engrossed in what looked like a logistics report. Around them, the command center of the Normandy buzzed with industry, crew members going about their work with warm efficiency. If they were aware of the flirtation between their commander and the yeoman, they gave no sign of it.

The commander activated her terminal, absent-mindedly opening the first message without really registering who it was from.

And stared.

That was ... Yes, that was a very nice picture of Kelly. Possibly not command center appropriate, though.

Clearing her throat, Shepard quickly closed the message, encoding it and sending it through several rounds of encryption back to her own private comm channel before deleting it from this terminal as thoroughly as possible. Acutely aware of her dry throat, she coughed delicately before stepping away.

“I’ll be in my cabin,” she informed the yeoman, biting down on a laugh at the knowing smirk that flickered on Kelly’s face as she acknowledged the information. 

Wicked woman, that one, but so much fun. 

Definitely worth fighting for. 

[arundolyn]

do you mind if i ask how you rip guilty gear animations? ive been wanting to get into ripping however there are very limited resources and few accounts are active that still rip. advice is very appreciated, thank you:)

just realized how stupid long this got right before posting so . cut

the way i do it for strive is, via unverum just for ease of use bc you can flip mod on/off at will before opening the game, get the mods that change the background of ajatar hunting ground to black/green/blue (i think it's by ultima?) and use the color of your choice (usually i use blue because black can screw with the outlines and green can cause weird lighting issues. blue can as well but it seems the least invasive of all of them to me, you can only really notice on stuff like zato bc eddie comes out sorta bluish bc he's translucent. there may be mods to help with that kind of thing but i havent looked)

pick whatever characters you want and go to training mode (unless you need something specific, like win/lose poses, of course. if it has to be during a fight you can just go to local vs with a controller and make the other character your keyboard so you dont actually have to fight) and record with OBS. pick whatever settings you think look best graphically both in strive and on OBS, idk if i can advise with those choices too well bc my hardware is beefy enough to handle max settings for stuff, ymmv

after recording, go to photoshop (doesnt matter what version, mine is ancient and ill gotten gains ive had for years. find your means. use something similar. idk) just drag the video in (no need to import it any special way) and literally just. go frame by frame copying the stuff from the animation you want into a new file and after you have all the frames go and erase it by hand. i usually use the magic eraser thing on around 50 tolerance (may need to be adjusted at times) and with anti aliasing (just cause i like the outlines not to be smooth, that also can make the "sprites" transparent and have an ugly white outline around it in gifs, do whatever you think looks good) and contiguous unchecked (contiguous just so that you dont have to go around clicking every blue/green/black spot individually, as that takes much longer. sometimes this cant be avoided, like if your character has colors too close to the background or an effect you want to keep is too close to the background color youre erasing)

additional mods i use at times are ones that turn certain characters im not focusing on invisible (like chipp or i-no, cant remember who made that one) just so i dont have to worry about cropping around another character if they do an idle animation or something, and theres one that disables lighting effects (like gio's glowies when she has full meter, or certain moves like baiken's dust or tsurane sanzu watashi) so that the gifs look nicer devoid of the like... engine based context. of that makes sense

as for XRD, i used to use a cheat table camera mod for rev that was kinda adapted from the one for sign, but since the rollback update it looks like its broken and i dont think anyone has cared much to fix it, but also havent had the time to mess around with it myself. the sign one might still work? theres a reddit thread with it out there somewhere still i think. be warned re: sign tho bc the models are kinda janky and lower quality, which probably isnt noticeable to most people but its definitely glaring to me when i moved from sign to rev. they did some major improvements on like everyone in rev

last but not least, a word of caution regarding certain things. i'd warn against trying to do any overdrives or anything that has a superflash (when the camera focuses on the character using a move, usually, like jack-o's forever elysion driver) or the strive pre move cutscene things (like baiken's tsurane sanzu watashi) as well as intro/outro cutscenes, since making them transparent not only will be a pain in the ass but probably would look weird due to the camera movement + lack of background. same goes for stuff like bursts or walk/run cycles where the character moves significantly and the camera angle might change, since not only will it be a bitch to line up correctly so it loops properly, but if the character's location or the camera angle changes it might end up looking off because the model is being viewed from a slightly different angle. not sure how obvious that would be to someone who didnt Do it but ive learned that through trial and error. might also just be perfectionism on my part. id usually get around this on xrd with the cheat table bc you could lock the model in place (but it would still move technically, which was nice if you didnt want effects like the little dust clouds when you dash getting in the way) but ive never seen anything similar for strive. from what i know it should be possible for sure, just slightly tricky to some extent and i dont really know how one would go about doing that or have the time to learn. the console for UE is locked in strive and idk if theres a way to unlock it, but that would potentially be a way to freeze models in place quick and dirty if necessary. there ARE a few camera mods out there for strive, but any model freezing aspects are just like.. full game pause, not frozen in place.

hope this is comprehensive enough to help somewhat. have a slayer

[samwpmarleau]

20 questions for fic writers

tagged by @thelettersfromnoone. unless otherwise noted, answers are from ao3 as using ffn would massively skew things

how many works do you have on AO3?

78

what’s your total AO3 word count?

281,849

what fandoms do you write for?

agents of shield, a song of ice and fire, the flash, the hunger games, leverage, miscellaneous mcu, once upon a time, psych, ted lasso

my ffn account contains works from many other properties, most of whose fandoms i’m not in anymore

top five fics by kudos

including prompt collections: the drabbles, when the west wind moves, robb x rhaenys drabbles, elia x arthur drabbles, what will happen when

not including prompt collections, it’s: when the west wind moves, what will happen when, crow on the cradle, tightrope, now my watch begins

do you respond to comments?

yep! sometimes it may take a while if i get distracted, but i try to always respond

what is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

probably ironies of being free. we’re all mad here and say something (i’m giving up on you) all end pretty miserably too

what’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

build-a-date

do you get hate on fics?

i don’t recall getting much on ao3. on ffn i definitely got hate comments

do you write smut?

i’ve tried but it’s just not my forte. i’m a fade to black kind of writer lol

craziest crossover?

i don’t have any crossovers on ao3. i have three on ffn — supernatural/criminal minds is the one with the most disparate fandoms

have you ever had a fic stolen?

not that i know of

have you ever had a fic translated?

yes, actually! a while ago someone asked if they could translate this fic to russian (they did credit, as promised)

have you ever co-written a fic before?

yes, twice, on ffn

all time favorite ship?

all-time? oh man, i don’t know. how about a probable top 5, in no particular order? finnick/annie, robb/rhaenys (idk if that counts though, since it’s an impossible ship and all headcanon), arya/edric, daisy/robbie, tyler/caroline

what’s a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

too many to count 😭

what are your writing strengths?

character studies/introspection and writing things that will never be finished

what are your writing weaknesses?

i’m pretty janky with action scenes

first fandom you wrote in?

on ao3, a song of ice and fire. ever, harry potter

favorite fic you’ve written?

on ao3, probably crow on the cradle. on ffn, i wrote a couple supernatural fics i’m fond of, as well as an alias fic about weiss having to take isabelle on the run.

tagging anyone who wants to do it!

[sweetlikesunflowersandhoney]

8 for any ship you want that has jan in it (in honor of jan’s birthday :D) please <3

The way it didn't cross my mind that if I reblogged a prompt list I would receive prompts... I may be stupid slkjkls

Happy Jan day! This is set in the Jankie parenthood au, after Jaida goes to Paris after Nicky.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Jackie still remembers a time in which her house was a calm and quiet space, where she could read for hours without interruption. These days, however...

“Mail’s here! The mail is here!” comes Jan’s excited yelling, followed by the front door being slammed shut.

Jackie hastens to mark the last page of her book and leaves it on the table just a second before Jan jumps on the couch and crashes heavily into her side.

“Oof,” Jackie complains, though she still opens her arms so Jan can settle between them. It’s automatic at this point. “How bad is the water bill?””

“Bad, probably. Kids! The mail is here!”

Two sets of steps rush down the hallway, and soon enough Gigi and Crystal are jumping around them, chanting mail! Mail! Mail! Mail! 

A much more languid set of steps joins them from the kitchen. Lemon leans over the back of the couch and rests her chin on Jackie’s shoulder to watch her sister toss envelope after envelope on the coffee table. Jackie does not miss the days where Lemon still acted like an angry shelter cat around her, not at all, but between how Jan uses her as a chair, how Priyanka can’t talk to her without grabbing her arm, the general cuddly-ness of the sisters and the way this has all rubbed off on Gigi, Jackie has started to forget what personal space feels like.

And yet, she still has room to miss Jaida’s hugs, and Nicky’s cheek kisses. Jackie is sure that that’s why Lemon is so touchy with her lately, and why she spends so much time at their place. The apartment must be lonely without Jaida.

“Got it!” Jan finally says, holding up a postcard triumphantly.

The postcard has a pretty drawing of the Bois de Boulogne, full of people in vintage clothing and pink flowers. Jan flips it over and finds her sister’s slanted handwriting in red:

Vous nous manquez tous beaucoup!

“Did Jaida write that? Her French is getting better.”

“I would hope so, she’s been there for two weeks,” Jan says, with only the smallest hint of sadness in her voice. Jackie still kisses her head. “She’s been touristing around during Nicky’s work hours and getting lost all over Paris. But now she knows how to say please, thank you, ‘how much’ and ‘where train?’”

“What does that say?” Crystal asks, climbing Jan’s lap to see better.

“It says ‘We miss you all so much’.”

“Aunt Jaida sent it?” Gigi asks from under her mom’s other arm.

“Yes, and Nicky too, probably.”

“They miss us?”

“Yes, baby.”

“They should come back, then.”

Jackie sighs. Gigi has always been a pragmatic kid.

“Well, aunt Nicky’s job is in Paris. That’s why she moved there, remember?”

“But she has a job here.”

“Right, but her job in Paris is better.”

Gigi frowns, takes this information in.

“But we are here.”

Jan rubs Gigi’s back and gives them a sad smile, but lets Jackie handle that one.

“That’s true. And I think that, right now, aunt Nicky is having to think really hard about that. Because we’re very important to her, but the new job is also very important to her.”

They watch Gigi and Crystal process the new concept of wanting mutually exclusive things, which is hard to accept even as an adult. Crystal gets there first, and concludes with a simple smile:

“I wish they would come back.”

“Me too, honey,” Jan tells her as she hugs her closer.

“Gimme that,” Lemon says, sick of the sappiness. She grabs the postcard from Jan’s hand and goes to find a place for it on the fridge.

The kids go back to play after that, and Jan decides to lay her head on Jackie’s lap while she texts Jaida about the postcard. Lemon curls up on the other corner of the couch to scroll her phone, and Jackie is free to go back to her book.

Mostly free. Jan butts Jackie’s hand with her head until she gets her hair played with, and after a while, Lemon leans into them so much that Jackie loses mobility of that arm.

She wouldn’t have it any other way.

[foomoosworld]

Stars Too Far

CHAPTER 15

Spoken Like A True Warrior

Mandalorain X Fem Reader

Summary: The Mandalorian crashes on a deadly and uninhabited planet (or so he thought) when he meets a feral woman. They escape the planet by the skin of their teeth but find themselves hunted by every bounty hunter, thief and pirate in the universe when our reader becomes pregnant with a rare breed of child that may grow up into a menace that destroys the universe. But they still protect him and have faith they can raise him to escape the prison of the prophecies that chase him and put a deadly price on all of their heads.

MINORS DNI. 18 PLUS ONLY!

The house Bo Katan had offered was janky and looked diagonal in most views, at best.  However, you had managed to make a home out of it from the forgotten rags strewn around the space.  You picked wild flowers (and most likely weeds) and put them in broken bottles as vases around the premises.  You had managed to mop up most of the dirt and dust on the grey, splintered wood flooring with a rag on a branch as a makeshift broom and Din walked in to find you exhausted, Shy-Tan in your arms, both asleep on the couch.  His eyes scanned around at the meagre attempts to make the house look like a home and it warmed his heart, yet at the same time reminded him that he had been subject to a silent slap from his own people as he saw broken beer bottles doubled as flower vases for weeds.  You and Shy-Tan deserved better  than this, but in your current predicament, none of you could raise your voice in protest. The three of you had protection, apparently, but were still outcasts.  A maddening cycle that Din struggled to wrap his mind around.

He sat gently on the couch next to you and you moaned tiredly, clutching Shy-Tan slightly closer then slowly cracking your eyes open.

“How long have you been cleaning?”  Din asks softly as he takes Shy-Tan cautiously from your grasp and gets up.

“What time is it?”  You wearily ask, rubbing your eyes and blinking awake.

“8 PM.”  Din answers as he soothes Shy-Tan to stay in his slumber in his large arms.

“Oh, maker…”  You groan, “I’ve been asleep since six.  He’s gotta be hungry-”  You reach up to take Shy-Tan from Din but he raises a palm and motions for you not to worry.

“I’m gonna put him down and feed him.  You relax and I’ll be back in a few minutes.”  He reassures you.  You are too tired to argue and sleepily nod your head as you fall back into the musty couch with a cloud of dust poofing around you and a loud exhale of thankful exhaustion.

Din grabs a bottle of milk and walks into the small walk-in closet you were using as a nursery for Shy-Tan and lays him down, smiling under his helmet as Shy-Tan gurgles in his sleep and reaches his hands up blindly for him.  He points a large gloved finger down at him and Shy-Tan's tiny fingers wrap around it.  

“You could never end the universe.”  Din laughs softly to himself as he repeats the warnings that so many people hissed at him. He pulls his finger gently free and replaces it with the bottle.  Shy-Tan takes it with eyes still closed and suckles hungrily.  

Din stands holding the bottle for him as his visor scans around the closet.

“One day this is going to be a proper home for you." Din whispers to Shy-Tan,  "Your Mom will make a mobile for you.  She’ll probably try and get me to help but I’ll just add things that make it look terrifying cause I’m not as crafty as she is.  But she’ll fix it.  You’ll get your first toy.  Proper clothes that aren’t made out of rags… We’re going to get more than this for you.”  There is an empty suctioning noise as the bottle drains and Din pulls it away from Shy-Tan, surprised how fast he finished it, “Well... you have a warrior’s hunger.”  He pulls him up from the crib and pats Shy-Tan over his shoulder.  “I’m new to this Dad thing but I think you’re supposed to burp now.”

There's a small hiccup then a burp and a sudden shock of lightning that shoots out of Shy-Tan into Din. 

“Aaah!”  He yelps but tries to stifle it as he attempts to not drop Shy-Tan in shock and pain. He suspiciously peers down to Shy-Tan, in his arms, who smiles, gurgles happily, then slowly closes his eyes, tumbling back into sleep.  Din notices that there is a glowing coming from under his rags.  He softly pulls the rag used as his blanket, down to see a glowing blue stripe on his forearm.  He covers it up again and holds him close to his chest as he gently bobs him up and down, trying to ease him further into sleep, staring at the grey splintered wall of the closet with some apprehension,  “We won’t tell your mother about that just yet.”

……………..

Din walks out of the closet and quietly closes the rickety door that refuses to shut completely.  As he turns to address you he suddenly stops himself as he sees that you have fallen asleep and the cover of night has washed across the room.  He sighs, disappointed for not being able to speak with you but also that he missed most of the day to run errands in the city rather than be with his new family.  Striding over to you, he’s surprised, you, who are usually constantly on edge, don’t flutter an eye from your rest as he approaches.

“Tired girl…”  He whispers and shakes his head slowly with a sigh.

His arms wrap warmly around you as he lifts you from the couch and carries you to the bed, lowering you cautiously down onto the mattress so as to not wake you.  He takes an apprehensive step back as you moan and shift slightly, but when you don’t wake he begins to take off his armour and flight suit then slides under the moth-eaten blanket next to you.  Depressurizing his helmet with a soft hiss, he places it on the rickety, wood egg box being used as a side table next to the bed.  You grumble in protest at the motions and noise, yet don’t appear to exit your blanket of sleep and nuzzle your face between Din’s collar and jaw, right into the stubble of his neck.  He breathes in a large gasp of comfort and slowly lets it out as his arm curls around you. 

He moves his lips up to the soft skin of your forehead and pushes a long, warm, soft kiss against it.  When he pulls away he sees you smile slightly in your sleep.

“You like that, tired girl?”  He teasingly asks, not really expecting a response, however, to his surprise, you slowly nod your head and exude a tiny, barely audible groan.

“You want me to take care of you? While you rest?”  Din tilts his head and stares down at you with a slight smile peaking across his stubble lined square jaw.  There’s a moment of silence, then you nod your head again.

He inhales heavily, trying to quell his excitement as his large palm slowly  traces from your neck, down your collar to your breasts that heave slowly with the weight of sleep.  Your nipples perk to attention under your loose, thin t-shirt and his large, callused fingers circle slowly and gently around them.  You thrust your chest towards him in your sleep and he inhales in excitement watching your body primally react to his touch.  Carefully, he pulls up your t-shirt to reveal your milky white breasts slowly rising and falling with restful breaths.  He hungrily, yet gingerly lowers his face to your nipple and takes it in his hot mouth and begins to feather soft sucks against it.

Your hips slowly and rhythmically buck as he teases your nipple until it is harder and harder in his mouth.  A small torpedo of pleasure rocketing up from your soft skin. Suddenly, a small drop of milk leaks into his mouth.  He pulls away shocked, at first, forgetting that you were producing milk, but as your body writhed at the loss of his touch he couldn’t help but savour the flavour and dive in slowly for more.  Milk flowed slowly into his mouth and he suckled hungrily, savouring the warm, thick liquid that flowed down his throat.  You hummed happily in your sleep as pressure was taken out of your breasts, giving you relief as he pleasured you at the same time.

He pulled up, wiping a drop of milk from his chin then straddled you and hungrily attached himself to your other breast, suckling greedily and wanting more.  Your milk flowed into his mouth steadily as his primal urges took over and he began to thrust his hips gently against yours, taking your rock hard nipple into his needy, warm, wet, soft mouth.

Finally, Din pulled away from your nipple with a “pop” and trailed kisses down your  rib cage and silky skin of your stomach until he met, hunched with greed, at your pubic hair.

He looked up and your eyes were still closed and fluttering half way through dreaming and awake.

Slowly he portruded his tongue and licked your already wet pussy.  Circling your clit.

That’s when your eyes opened.  You found yourself in the midst of ecstasy, surprised at first, but falling into the feeling like a rogue animal.  You grabbed Din’s mess of curly brown hair as he traced licks around your clit through his smiling lips.

“Good morning.”  He mumbled into your pussy without looking up.

“You’d better assume the sniper position and be ready to finish me off, my warrior.”  You groaned to him.

Din shifted his legs and arms to a lying position in between your legs, nuzzling his body down into the bed and between your legs like making a nest and paused his actions, looking up at you with his wide, chocolate, piercing eyes.

“Hold on.”  He grunted slyly, then dove into your pussy.

His tongue teased and rung around your clit, never quite touching it, making you buck and beg wildly.  He was savouring every lick, every flavour, every motion of your overheating, sweat dappled body as you bucked with begging and stuttering syllables.  

He pushed two fingers slowly into your opening, just to the first knuckles and could already feel you fluttering and begging for more.  Slick poured out of you that he lapped up like a man addicted. He slowly pushed his fingers further into you and curled them to find your secret spot that sent you reeling and bucking.

Stars exploded in your mind and all words were lost as he brought you higher and higher into space.

He put three fingers into you and slowly started thrusting them back and forth, getting you used to the stretch.

You arched your back and with wide eyes and an open mouth called wordlessly at the ceiling.  He watched from his position between your legs with dark and almost cruel eyes as he teased you and slowly fucked you with his fingers.  You grabbed his hand and tried to thrust it faster into you but he swatted your hand away.

“No.”  He said simply, then licked circles around your clit again.  emerging only to simply state, “I chose your pleasure.”  He demanded.  You arch your eyebrows still huffing and hyperventilating, trying desperately to chase your orgasm.  He merely smiles again, slightly, goes back to teasing your clit with his tongue and slowly thrusting his three fingers into you.  That’s when you feel his thick, strong arm pull you up and flip you over so you’re holding the headboard.  You’re unsure as to what is coming next as you pant with need.

You feel him pull your ass cheeks apart and spit on your asshole, then his three fingers pull out of your pussy and paint your asshole, sopping wet and slick with your juices.

“What are you-”  You ask looking back but he crowds over you and shushes you.  You bite your lip.

His finger slides into your asshole slowly up to the first knuckle, then his other hand returns his three fingers return to your pussy and begin rhythmically rutting into you.  You call out in pleasure as your eyes roll back in your head. Your asshole loosens and he pushes his finger in farther and farther, then finds himself soon jack hammering your pussy and asshole as you writhe against the headboard begging and screaming for relief.

“I want to make you feel perfect.”  He growls in your ear as you scream out,

“Din!  Oh, Yes!”   He feels all of your body clench as if he would never get his fingers back then flutter and you came a river around him.

He grasps you around your waist and chest before you lose the strength to hold yourself up from your massive orgasm and he turns you gently over and lays you down in bed.  

Your eyes are half closed again as he stares into them and gently plants kisses on your cheeks, forehead and neck.

“Tired girl.”  He says again with a slight smile.  You blink with heavy eyelids and a fulfilled smile, “Go to sleep, my love.” he shushes you as he strokes your cheek with his thumb and watches your eyes close again and drift off into unconsciousness.

……………………………….

There was a knock at the front door.

Din rustily crackes his eyes open from a deep sleep to see first daylight streaming through the dusty curtains and with a groan, reached for his helmet and put it on.  He dragged his waking body to the edge of the bed as the loud knock rapped again, anxiously.  He pulled on his flight suit and managed to shabbily get his armour on as he stumbled out to the front door.  When he opened it he saw Bo Katan standing on his doorstep.

“Well… I see fatherhood hasn’t done much for your warrior’s instincts.”  She snarked, looking at his obviously tired and thrown-together appearance.

“Enemies don’t knock.”  Din snapped back then motioned for her to enter.

She stepped into the shabby livingroom and looked slowly around at the dilapidated state of the house.

“I… apologise.  I was unaware the living quarters were this… rustic.”

Din leans against the doorframe of the bedroom where you slept and crossed his arms silently and unamused.  Bo cleared her throat and jutted up her jaw as she continued,

“We've caught word that there are imperial cruisers coming this way.  We can only assume they are for you and your…”  She trailed off and Din couldn’t help but notice her disgusted tone as she continued, “Family.”

“You’re asking us to leave?”  Din questions with an air of anger tinging his response.  There is a long pause as Bo looks around.

“I would like to meet the mother and the child.”  She states simply.  Din hesitates but gives in, understanding her stance.  She can’t protect someone (or “Thing” as she sees it) unless she knows it’s safe.

“She’s sleeping.  Give me a minute to wake her up.  Stay here.”

Bo nods as Din disappears into the bedroom and closes the door behind him to wake you.

As the door closes, Bo’s attention is caught by some sudden gargling and chirping.  She questions where it’s coming from until she follows it to the living room closet and cautiously opens the door.

There, laying in a pile of dirty, ripped rags in a rickety and splintering wood crib is a happy baby reaching up at her.

“Hello there.”  She tilts her head at Shy-Tan.  Shy-Tan gargles a happy noise and continues to reach for her.  She stands over the crib and looks down at him with an exhausted sigh of regret.

“You don’t deserve to live in rags.”  She says as she shakes her head and reaches a hand down, touching his chest, giving him a loving jostle.  His bright blue stripe lights up and he giggles at her.  “You’re cute... for a universe destroyer.”  She states flatly. Shy-Tan openly farts and Bo tries to stifle a laugh.

“What are you doing?”  Your voice rings out from behind Bo Katan.  She whirls around.

“I-I’m sorry.  I heard a noise…”  She stammered.  You push past her and grasp up Shy-Tan to your chest and shove past her into the living room a few feet behind Din, cowering down, clutching him, ready for a fight. “I-I wasn’t trying to hurt him…”

You shoot daggers at her with your eyes.

“I shouldn’t have put you up in this place.”  Bo sorrowfully raises her hands and shakes her head.  “It was wrong of me.”  You clutch Shy-Tan closer as Din holds an arm out to shield you from her and also stop you from attacking her.

“I was scared. For my people... and for myself." Bo admits, sheepishly.

“Yeah…”  You laugh in disbelief, “That makes two of us.”

“Why are you here?”  Din ushers the conversation along.

“I want you to come to the palace and I’ll make an announcement to the Mandalorians.  Introduce you and the child.  Because we have a battle on our hands and currently…”  Bo trails off and looks off to one side, “I don’t know if they will follow my direction to protect you.”

“Fuck them, then.”  You spit.

“We need them.”  Din snaps hushed to you.

“I'm 'poorly socialized' remember? Nothing more than a mongrel to them. That means, I don’t say please, I don’t say thank you, I just do what I want and if you want to work with me then you’d better have what I want.”  You snark at Din, but your eyes shifted coldly at Bo, aiming your comment at her. “And right now, you don’t have what I want.” You growl at her.

“Please.”  Bo says, opening her arms to you.  “We will protect you.  They just need to see you and know you won’t kill anyone.”

You freeze, staring darkly at Bo in rage then flick your eyes up to Din who merely, slowly, nods his helmet.

“I don’t promise I won’t kill anyone.”  You grumble.

Bo Katan nods, “Spoken like a true warrior.”

STARS TOO FAR MASTERLIST

[missjanjie]

Better Than Revenge | Chapter 9

Title: Better Than Revenge Summary: Karma Inc.’s business structure is simple - clients hire them when they’ve been grievously wronged and they send one of their revenge mercenaries to right them. As painstaking as their efforts to remain ethical may be, that may be tested when former detective, Rosé, enlists the squad to pick up where she couldn’t on a much higher scale, with potentially greater consequences. Word Count: ~2.7k (this chapter) | ~23.6k (total) Relationship(s): Rosnali (Rosé/Denali Foxx), Jankie (Jackie Cox/Jan Sport), Halldoll (Nicky Doll/Jaida Essence Hall), Gimone (Gigi Goode/Symone), Gottlux (Gottmik/Olivia Lux) Rating: E

Read on AO3 | Ko-Fi

“Why are you laughing at me?” Gigi crossed her arms and pouted as she watched Symone snicker via her reflection in the tri-panel mirror. 

“Because you’re trying so hard to act like you don’t care about this wedding planning and stuff. You’re picking out the dress you’re gonna walk down the aisle in. You’re allowed to be excited,” she replied, adding, “It’s not embarrassing to have emotions.”

“I’m not acting like I don’t care, it’s the opposite!” She insisted, “The dress has to be perfect, I’m paying excruciating attention to detail, and you should be too. What if our dresses clash?”

Symone blinked. “Now how the fuck does white clash with white?”

“Patterns! Textures! Look at the bigger picture – the pictures!” 

She looked between the two women on either side of her – Crystal on her left and Lala on her right. “Is it me? Am I missing something?” As much as she loves her fiancée, she could never quite figure out how her mind works. 

Crystal shook her head. “No, she’s always been like this. It was nothing short of a miracle that she didn’t want to go to prom, I can only imagine it would’ve been foreshadowing to…” she gestured in Gigi’s direction, “all of that.” 

Gigi had tuned them out at that point, deciding to change into another dress, her sixth, for anyone who was still counting. 

“Didn’t you tell me she was a whole-ass seamstress?” Lala asked her sister. “Why don’t she just make her dress? At this rate, it’ll probably be faster.”

Symone tilted her head. “You might be onto something,” she conceded. When Gigi returned in another dress she was already nitpicking, she suggested, “Why don’t you and your mom make the dress instead?”

She pursed her lips as if she were trying to find an argument, something to justify why they had spent the last two hours here. “I suppose it’s an avenue worth exploring.”

Just as Symone was about to bask in relief and satisfaction, she looked down at her phone to see a text from Jackie. “Well, you’re gonna have to explore it later. We have to get to the office, sounds urgent.”

—

The air in the office was thick with tension. None of the group wanted to be the one to break the silence and ask why a meeting was being called so suddenly. This was out of the ordinary – Jackie was a planner, meetings were found on the calendar a month in advance, complete with an agenda. She wasn’t alone, either – Jaida was on her left and Rosé on her right. They all stood as stone-faced as possible, though Rosé was actively avoiding eye contact with Denali. 

Fortunately, Jaida was able to sense that the other two did not want to be the ones to start the meeting, so she took one for the team. “The case Denali and Rosé went on the road for runs a lot deeper than we thought. More people are involved, more is at stake, and it’s gonna be more dangerous, so I’m gonna get all of y’all into more training.” 

Mik raised his hand. “What do you mean by ‘more dangerous’? We’re already literally killing people.”

“Dangerous as in make sure you have a will written up and a next-of-kin established. Dangerous as in Jan’s ‘alleged’ mob connections might not even be enough to save us,” Rosé replied somberly. “Look, I know this sounds like some Law and Order: SVU shit, but we essentially fell headfirst into uncovering a sex-trafficking ring.”

Nicky let out a groan mixed with frustration and distress, hunching forward and pinching the bridge of her nose. “Ma mère avait raison, j'aurais dû rester en France. Je vais mourir ici.”

“You’re not going back to France,” Jaida replied, as that was the only word she picked out of the phrase. “Listen, we have reason to suspect they’re onto us… Well, they’re onto the fact that someone is onto them. We don’t know what they have on us. But the point is, they know they have to get out of New York and they’re gonna start working fast, so we have to be faster.”

“I think I’m gonna be sick,” Jan mumbled, then promptly got up and ran down the hall with Jackie on her tail. 

This time, the mounting silence was interrupted by Nicky. “Are we going to address the elephant in the zoo, then?”

“Elephant in the room,” Denali corrected, getting up nearly as quickly as Jan did. “And no, we are not,” she added pointedly. “I have to go to physical therapy… then regular therapy… then I’m gonna go home and get super high. No one call me unless I get to shoot something.”

Nobody had a chance to respond before Denali was out of the room, leading all remaining eyes to shift to Rosé.

Rosé felt everyone’s gazes burning into her and she knew she couldn’t feign ignorance. After she and Denali slept together, she all but ghosted her as much as one could while remaining in a professional capacity. It wasn’t intentional – at least, she didn’t think it was. But she felt the judgment from her coworkers despite her stubbornness preventing her from acknowledging any wrongdoing. “So… does anyone have any questions?” She rolled her eyes when everyone’s hands shot up. “Does anyone have any questions about the case?” 

Everyone’s hands immediately dropped.

“Nosy cunts, all of you,” she muttered. “Meeting adjourned, I’m out.”

—

Denali groaned when she heard a knock at the door, taking the last hit off her pipe and setting it down before opening it, then rolled her eyes. “If you’re here to say ‘I told you so’, save it. I don’t wanna deal with your bullshit, too.”

Jaida shook her head as she let herself in. “No bullshit, just here to talk, since I’m the only one that got both sides of the story.” She sat down on the couch and waited for her to join. “Listen, Rosé is in some deep fucking denial right now. We all know that what went down in that hotel room was more than just some heat of the moment release of sexual tension.”

“So, what am I supposed to do?” She asked as she packed a fresh bowl, lighting it and taking a hit before passing it over. “I can’t even get her to look at me. I’m not saying I thought we were gonna ride off into the sunset together, but I was hoping for something, you know?”

“I wish I knew what to tell you,” she sighed, taking a hit and hoping in vain that an answer would come with the exhale. “I’ve done my best to knock some sense into her, but at some point, it turns into arguing with an angry, Scottish wall.”

While the visual elicited a small laugh from Denali, it didn’t make the predicament any easier to bear. “The way she was with me in the hospital… I don’t know, I thought I meant something to her.” 

“You do,” Jaida replied with a certainty that caught Denali by surprise. “That’s why she’s being so damn stupid, she don’t know how to handle her feelings for you, so, she’s pushing you away to make it easier.”

Denali sighed as she took a final hit from the bowl before setting it down. “I guess I can take some sort of solace in that, it not being my fault.” 

“You didn’t think it was your fault, did you?”

“No, but it’s nice to hear it from an outside source,” she admitted, then looked at her, “what should I do now?”

“Have you considered getting laid by…  literally anyone else?”

“I haven’t ruled it out.”

—

“We need to do something about the Rosé and Denali situation,” Mik remarked, “those two are our strongest members and they’ve been totally off their game.”

Olivia nodded the best she could while lying with her head in his lap. “Have you guys considered recruiting? Maybe having another pair or two of hands on deck will make dividing the workload easier,” she suggested.

He tilted his head in thought, aimlessly twirling his fingers through her curls. “That’s not a bad idea,” he mused. “No idea how you go about that though. Dark web? Craigslist? Does anyone even use Craigslist anymore?” 

“Right, we can’t exactly go around posting help wanted ads,” she conceded. “Maybe Jaida knows some people from her army days.” With her phone already in hand, she texted her about the idea. 

Jaida: Listen, I can find people if you need people, but you guys gotta make sure the whole group is on board. Olivia: Mik said he’ll bring it up at the next meeting. Jaida: I’ll see what I can do.

“At least we know it’s doable,” Olivia offered, “Do you think the girls will agree to it?”

“Only one way to find out.”

When the next meeting came around, Mik was fidgeting with anxiety as everyone filed in and took their seats. “Hey, um, before we dive into things, can I have the floor for a minute?” After he received several nods in response, he took out a folder from his bag, set it on the table, and opened it to the page he’d typed out the night before. “So, um, given… everything that’s happened lately, I think it would be beneficial for us as a group to consider adding a few new team members.”

The suggestion received mixed reactions, the women murmuring amongst each other before Symone spoke up, “Are you sure now is the best time to recruit considering how severe the situation is?”

“I’ve been talking to Jaida about it, we’d only be taking whoever she recommends, especially since they’re former military or military-adjacent. And she suggested we start them off with the types of cases we used to do,” Mik explained.

“I think he’s onto something,” Jackie chimed in, “we’ve all taken on emotionally taxing work and spreading ourselves thin, maybe having another person or two to share the load would make things easier.”

“Okay,” he clapped his hands together. “All in favor of recruiting for the squad?” With everyone’s hand going up in response, he sent a text to Jaida, telling her to move ahead with the plan.

—

Rosé sat with her arms crossed as Jaida drove them to the airport. “I still don’t think this is necessary,” she muttered. 

“Yeah, no shit,” Jaida scoffed. “That would require you to not be in denial about your situation with Denali. And so help me god, if you say nothing’s going on again, I will drive this car off the highway.”

“Tempting.” After a few minutes of tense silence, she asked, “So these are both girls you know from the military?” 

She shook her head. “Anetra was on base with me, but her sister, Mirage was on the other side of things. Long story short, she was one of the leaders of a gambling ring in Vegas. They weren’t under suspicion or anything, but she had a gut feeling it wouldn’t end well, so she bailed.”

“Did anyone get caught?”

“Eventually, the other ringleader did and the whole operation crumbled. But to their credit, they didn’t snitch and the case has been closed for almost a year.” 

Rosé pursed her lips and nodded. Despite her resistance to having the recruits, she couldn’t deny that Jaida had picked well. And she had to admit, two sisters with vastly different career paths now fighting for the same cause fascinated her. “I guess it’s worth seeing what they’re about.”  

When they arrived at the airport, Rosé wasn’t any more thrilled, but she had concluded that this was what was best for the team. So, she put on a grin and helped the women load their luggage into the trunk. “Welcome to New York, ladies,” she remarked as they all got back into the car. “Is this your first time?” 

“It is for Anetra, but I traveled a lot for ‘work’ and it brought me here a few times,” Mirage answered for both of them, noting that jetlag was hitting her older sister hard, as she was barely keeping her eyes open. “You said the roommate situation was sorted, right?” she asked Jaida.

She nodded. “Yeah, leave it to Jan to ‘know a guy’ whose niece was looking to move out anyway and struck a good deal on renting the extra rooms of the apartment he bought her.” 

“Buying a three-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn? In this economy? Is he in the mob or something?” Mirage asked, only to notice the way Jaida and Rosé hesitantly looked at each other and blinked in surprise. “You know what? I’m not gonna question it. I don’t wanna wake up with a horse head in my bed.”

“The fewer questions you ask, the better. You know how it goes,” Jaida confirmed. It didn’t take long after that for them to pull into the parking garage of the apartment complex and gather their things to go upstairs, the apartment being on the third floor of a seven-floor building. 

“Xunami!” Rosé called out, “We’re dropping off your roommates, come make nice!”

Xunami scoffed as she emerged from her room. “I’m always nice, how very dare you?” She turned her attention to Anetra and Mirage, though her gaze seemed to linger on the latter. “Pleasure to meet you,” she greeted, extending her hand. 

While Anetra offered a sleepy greeting before excusing herself to her room to unceremoniously pass out, Mirage took her hand and batted her lashes. “Pleasure’s all mine.”

Jaida sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Okay, I’m out. I’ll see y’all at the next training session.” As she left, she muttered under her breath, “I swear to god, the next one better be fucking asexual.”

—

After missing the last couple of meetings, Rosé arrived at the office with Anetra and Mirage in tow. “Gather ‘round, everyone. I’m gonna introduce y’all to our newest recruits – Anetra and Mirage Amuro. For the love of god, please be normal to them.”

“You’re a little late in the game to make unreasonable demands of us,” Gigi chuckled as she and the rest of the group introduced themselves, collectively deciding to take the rest of the morning to let everyone talk and get to know each other.

“You’re a blackbelt?” Denali asked Anetra with wide, bright eyes. “So am I, I haven’t met another woman with one in years.”

Anetra chuckled, tucking her hair behind her ear. “Guess we’re a rare breed, what can I say? I’m glad, though, I didn’t think anyone was gonna be able to keep up with me.” 

She arched her brow with an amused smirk. “Oh, she’s cocky too, huh? Though I guess with your resumé it’s not unfounded.”

Mik was within earshot of them, tilting his head in interest. “Huh,” he remarked, “Looks like we might kill two birds with one stone.” While Symone nodded in agreement, the two turned their heads when they heard disgruntled mumbling behind them and turned to see Rosé pouting with her eyes trained on Anetra. 

“What’s your damage?” Symone asked. “Isn’t this what you wanted? Denali won’t hold what happened over you if she ends up under someone else.” Of course, it didn’t take an expert to see what was causing that reaction. “Did all that just to make yourself jealous, huh?”

“This wasn’t even my idea,” Rosé rolled her eyes. “Whatever or whoever she does is none of my business. I just don’t think it’s a wise thing to pursue, all things considered.”

“One of those things being the torch you’re carrying for her,” Mik chimed in. 

She shook her head as she sipped her coffee. “Even if I was, it wouldn’t be right to act on it. She already got hurt physically on my watch. The best thing I can do is leave her alone.” She knew Mik and Symone weren’t convinced, she was barely convincing herself.