#⬅ little bits in there

[brainyxbat]

(Sanji, Luffy, and Usopp are sitting on the couch together, respectively, with Venus' phone filming)

Sanji: We all in?

Venus: No, move closer together.

Luffy: Hi!

Venus: Move closer together.

Sanji: We're moving.

Luffy: Okay! 😁

Usopp: Is my strap twisted?

Sanji: No.

Venus: Okay, scooch over. Let me in. *sits between Luffy and Usopp*

Usopp: *immediately wraps an arm around her shoulders*

Venus: Alright, we've been training all night, and it is now...

Sanji: Almost 1:30.

Usopp: In the morning.

Luffy: Good morning!

Venus: So, since we're all really, really tired of training, we thought that we'd all...

Luffy: *his chin rests on Sanji's shoulder*

Usopp: Do makeovers?

Venus: No. We're gonna prank call Jimbei!

Sanji: Yes!

Usopp: That's the plan!

Luffy: We're gonna prank call Jimbei!

Venus: *yawns* But first... a special message.

Venus: It's wrong to prank call people.

Sanji: It really is.

Usopp: So wrong.

Luffy: Hiiiii.

Venus: So never ever prank call anyone...

Sanji: ... without your parents' permission.

Venus: And if your parents do give you permission to prank call someone...

Usopp: ... you have really bad parents.

Luffy: Does anyone have meat?

Sanji: Shhhh.

Venus: So, seriously... never prank call anyone.

All: Never.

Sanji: *gets his Transponder Snail* Dialing Jimbei.

Transponder Snail: Petta-petta-petta-petta

Venus: Put it on speaker.

Sanji: I know what to do.

Usopp: Shh-shh-shh!

Transponder Snail: Petta-petta-petta-petta

Jimbei: (scratchy voice) Hello? *clears his throat* Hello?

Venus: Um... *talks with a silly accent* Hello, can I help you?

Jimbei: Who is this?

Venus:

Venus: (smoker voice) It's mustard.

Boys: 🤭🤭🤭

Jimbei: Who? Mother?

Venus: (smoker voice) No, no, I'm Mother. I'm not Mother, I'm mustard, I'm a mother, except I'm... mustard.

Jimbei: Look, it's 1:30 in the morning.

Usopp: Congratulations, you've won a new foot!

Luffy: 🤭

Jimbei: I-I'm sorry, what?

Sanji: (Australian accent) Sorry old boy, allow me to clarify. The phone call began with a message from mustard, but then it seems you've won some sort of contest, where the grand prize is a fresh new foot. So congratulations Ms. Mustard, you're the proud new father of a bouncing, baby kangaroo.

Venus: L'chaim!

All: L'chaim!

Jimbei: I, I think maybe you have the wrong number.

Luffy: (deep voice) We don't have the wrong number, mister. You do.

Jimbei: Who are you?

Luffy: It's Luffy! 😄

Sanji/Venus/Usopp: 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♂️

Luffy: And-and Sanji, and Venus, and Usopp! Yeah!

Sanji/Usopp: *walk away*

Venus: Seriously.

Sanji: Really?

Venus: *walks away*

Luffy: *stays in his spot* They left.

[total-drama-brainrot]

hi idk if this has been said but . pls hear my vision… lindsay and noah platonic duo. brains and the beauty. noahs the brains. lindsays the beauty. noahs like “jeez this girl is dumb i cn manipulate her or smth” but then he starts warming up to her and they like paint eachothers nails and talk about boys or somthing idk please theyre besties trust 🤞

(also noah finally gets a makeover courtesy of lindsay)

I think I might've mentioned this exact duo before, though I may be wrong about that. Regardless, I've had Many A Thought about the potential dynamic between Lindsay "reclaiming bimbo as a term of empowerment" and Noah "could be god's biggest hater but was nerfed with an inability to GAF", to the point where I have a few drafts exploring this exact concept.

Through the lens of my eyes (blurry as it would be, my prescription fairly strong), I don't think Noah would ever consider manipulating Lindsay- at least, not in a similar manner to the likes of Heather or Alejandro. He's shown in canon to be pretty adverse to the idea. Why else would he make those comments about Alejandro in "I See London..."?

Not that he doesn't think about how easy it would be to use her. But his morality wins out over his scheming thoughts pretty quickly- no one wants to be New Heather, after all.

However, he's also shown a capacity to explore sneakier options of deception and trickery; pretending to pass out during the 20k run in The Big Sleep, trying to excuse his comment about Alejandro under the guise of it "being a compliment where he's from", tricking the Sasquatch with his fake ball throwing, getting himself eliminated on purpose in Dodgebrawl. I'm trying to think of other examples In Canon off the top of my head, but I'm coming up short since most of his actual speaking lines in the show are 'zingers' and 'witty one-liners' instead of actual character moments.

And we also know, from the way he treats Owen, that he's a lot more patient and indulgent towards the... 'slower' or 'simpler' contestants. He very rarely gets mad at Owen's mistakes- see how he gently chastises him in "Super Happy Crazy Fun Time Japan" when he's disturbing their set, he'd pretty much gentle parenting him, or how he doesn't even raise his voice against Owen after being blasted by nose-shake in "I See London...". You could argue that Owen just has best friend privileges, but given the way he also talks about his dog I think Noah just has a soft spot for happy-go-lucky, heart-of-gold, kind of stupid people (and blondes). Sound familiar?

Lindsay would fall under this umbrella of 'treat with kindness' because of this, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't try to subtly nudge her in the 'right direction'- out of Heather's and/or Alejandro's influence and into his own. For her own safety, of course.

Not that I think he'd even like Lindsay at first. The two of them are opposite ends of the social spectrum; I'd take a while for Lindsay to break through his snarky exterior, but I think eventually Noah would realise that she isn't the 'two-faced airhead popular girl' he'd assumed her to be and quickly warm up to her (she's airheaded, sure, but there's nothing two-faced or nefarious/mean-spirited about Lindsay). It's a classic case of "extrovert adopts introvert".

Meanwhile, Lindsay would be dead-set on breaking Noah out of his sour little shell. Either because she overhears Owen/Izzy/Eva explaining how Noah struggles to make friends because he's "very shy" and "mixes up his insults and his compliments", thus she assumes that, hey, Noah's made fun of her a few times, maybe that was just him trying to be friendly? So she makes it her mission to reciprocate his efforts and befriend him (much to Noah's initial suspicion, and begrudging appreciation).

Or she gets the concept of a 'gay best friend' stuck in her head (an impressive feat, getting anything stuck in such a vacant space /j) probably from watching too many high school teen dramas, and sees Noah as the ideal candidate since he pretty much embodies most of the stereotypical GBF traits; a sassy twink who's defining characteristic is making snarky comments. If Noah ever caught wind of this, he'd either be mortified by the concept and avoid Lindsay like the plague until she'd eventually hunt him down, or he'd think the whole concept is too funny to pass up and gladly play the part- if only for his own amusement. (Personally I headcanon him as bi, but he's so canonically queer coded that he fits the stereotype anyway.)

Which is all just a long-winded way of me saying I think Lindsay would kindle the friendship without giving Noah much of a choice (again, extrovert adopting introvert) and Noah would just go along with it, being the lazy guy he is, and quickly grow fond/protective over her.

If he and Owen are the golden retriever and black cat dynamic, Noah and Lindsay are an afghan hound and a black cat; Noah has a lot of black cat energy (that's just a given) and you cannot tell me that Lindsay isn't an afghan hound- they're pretty, gentle-natured and renown for their low intelligence.

Plus, Lindsay's capacity for meanness (as unintentional as it may be) would be comedy gold to Noah. He'd encourage her to keep that sharp tongue and steel spine, if not for his own entertainment, then to ensure she doesn't become someone else's doormat again. In return, Lindsay would bring out a softer side of Noah, likely a result of her reminding him of his several older sisters.

She'd absolutely abuse her 'soft Noah' privileges too by roping him in on sleepovers where the two of them gossip and paint each other's nails (Noah's against the idea at first but Lindsay hits him with the puppy eyes and he folds like a lawn chair), eventually leading to Lindsay giving Noah a much needed glow up. He finds himself enjoying the pampering- though he'd never admit it- and Lindsay's just ecstatic that she has someone to use as a dress-up doll (Tyler wouldn't let her give him another makeover after Paris).

[roxasboxas]

Me: hm I think I would like to do a ML AU My already existing KH/ML AU: That's great! Because it's been a while and you haven't really-- Me: No, no. Hear me out.

[aucrowne]

┬┴┤_•) ... What I said about the previous one being the last silly sketch for a bit wasn't a lie... This was done way before the ice cream trick one. I just never posted it

⬅ Windbreaker Silly little sketches ➡

[empresskylo]

beneath the mask ✩ chapter 10 ⬅ch.9

➠𝐌𝐃𝐍𝐈; 𝟏𝟖+ 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐓; 𝐄𝐗𝐏𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐈𝐓 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐓 ➠SIMON "GHOST" RILEY X AFAB!READER ➠CHAPTER TAGS | violence. sexual assault implications. blood. wc 5.4k ➠AUTHOR'S NOTE | hehe enjoy

𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 ✩ 𝐜𝐨𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 ✩ 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭

…uzbekistan…

you woke to arabic voices, your eyes squinting open in discomfort. your head was pounding and your stomach thrummed with a wave of nausea. you quickly remembered you had been hit with the butt of a rifle, right beneath your ribs. you leaned over in the moving vehicle and dry heaved. 

“innahā mustayqiẓatun,” she’s awake .

you sat back up, the realization of what had happened hitting you. you went to wipe your mouth and found your hands were bound together with a rope. you groaned and awkwardly carried out the action with your hands linked. 

laswell . you quickly looked around, not seeing laswell in the the truck with you. you were in the backseat beside a man who was speaking hurriedly to the man in front, driving. you looked out the window, the town rushing by. 

“where’s laswell?” you asked, your voice hoarse. the men ignored you. “my friend. where is she?” you said with a bit more force hoping one of them would answer you. 

they continued to talk as if you weren’t there. you ground your teeth together in annoyance. you rested your head against the window, the cold of the glass helping with the tension throbbing in your skull. 

your body was still pumping with adrenaline and you were finding it hard to sit still. your fingers wound themselves together, your leg bouncing up and down. you hoped laswell was okay. you also hoped she was going to the same place you were… you didn’t want to be alone, as cruel as that might be. you were trapped in this truck with three men—three men who kidnapped you. you had no idea where they were taking you or what they were going to do with you. the panic hit you like a slap in the face.

you tried to breathe slowly, letting out low breaths, trying to steady your nerves. it did little to help. 

would the others be coming to rescue you and laswell? surely they would. shepherd wouldn’t let them give up on you two. at least not laswell, she was far too important. and price wouldn’t stand for it. 

they were coming. you prayed to god they were coming. 

“lieutenant. it’s farah. it’s time.” 

“rog. wheels down in one.” ghost voice was hoarse as he answered farah over the comms. “nik, convoy’s inbound. we’re on.”

“copy that,” nikolai responded. “over the hlz now.”

ghost’s heart rate continued to rise the longer you and laswell were kept hostage. he clenched the gun at his hip and patted himself down, making sure he had all he would need to get the two of you back. he also found it hard to stay still, his body flooded with adrenaline. 

“good. set ‘er down and hold,” ghost said. he walked to the door of the helicopter, looking between gaz and soap. “gaz, you stay in the heli on overwatch. we’ll work our way up the line.”

“roger that. let’s thin the herd, get laswell and iaso back.”

when the helicopter landed only moments later, ghost and soap connected fists with gaz as they hopped out. on the ground, dirt whipping around them from the blades of the helicopter, a woman on a rusted bike sat waiting for the two men. 

“hey, lt., sergeant,” she called out, greeting the men. 

“farah. thanks for the assist,” soap replied when ghost didn’t respond, noticing how he had tensed up.

“we share a common enemy,” farah said, nodding at the men.

“and friends in need,” ghost said a bit harshly. “are you ready?”

“all set. see you down the road!” she slid up her mask and pulled get goggles over her eyes. she looked so self-assured, ready to take down men twice her size. ghost thought about how you would have liked her. 

“all stations… we’re on the move!” ghost called as he and soap jogged up to the beige truck waiting for them. 

the two men jumped in the bed of the truck, ghost slapping the top of the roof to let the driver know they were on board and ready to go. 

the procession of three trucks and multiple motorcycles took off down the dirt road. 

“all stations, we’re up—comms check…” farah’s voice rang in ghost’s ear. 

“good copy,” ghost grunted. 

“check,” gaz responded from 30 feet in the air, his sniper at the ready as he pointed it out the door of the helicopter. 

“loud and clear,” nikolai said. 

“the al-qatala convoy just passed us. we’ll be right behind them,” farah urged. 

“copy. nik, use the ravine for cover. we’ve got one shot to rescue them.”

“roger that,” nik responded to ghost. 

“what vehicle are they in?” gaz asked. 

“al-qatala has iaso in a black suv, laswel in the similar one right in front of hers. near the front of the convoy.” farah’s voice echoed. 

“we hit the escort vehicles first. then we secure laswell and iaso before aq can reach the border.” ghost commanded. “soldiers, move in!” 

gaz began to fire shots at aq that were standing in the back of truck beds. ghost gripped his gun as he aimed the barrel toward the aq vehicles up ahead. he was too far back to get a good shot and growled in irritation. 

ghost leaned over the side of the truck, shouting to the man driving, his window down. “get me up beside one of the aq trucks!”

the driver nodded and stepped on the gas. “what’re ya doin’?” soap asked ghost. 

“gettin’ the girls back,” he said before stepping onto the top of the truck and running down the front onto the hood, immediately jumping and landing on the back of an aq truck. one of the men stood and came at ghost, but gaz was faster, shooting a bullet through his skull before he could reach him. 

“thanks,” ghost said.

“don’t mention it.”

ghost’s fist came slamming down onto the other aq, shoving him off the back of the truck. he sheathed his gun momentarily, maneuvering himself over the edge of the truck, his hand clutching tightly to the metal, his other hand opening the driver’s door. the man shouted something in arabic as ghost grabbed the collar of his shirt and ripped him from the truck. the man went tumbling on the pavement, his hands coming up over his head as the bikes raced around him. 

ghost pushed himself into the driver’s seat with a huff. he yanked the door shut and floored it. 

“jesus, lt.,” soap breathed, watching the events unfold. 

ghost would have chuckled at soap’s astonishment, but all that was on his mind was getting you back unharmed. 

of course ghost cared about laswell. he had worked with her for a while now, and he’d never admit it, but he cared about price too. and price and laswell were close. price had been fuming when he found out what happened on this mission—pissed at himself for not being there, as if he could have done something to stop laswell from getting taken if he hadn’t asked ghost to take his position. 

but laswell wasn’t ghost’s main objective. it was you. you were who he was about to slaughter through walls of men for. it was you his heart pounded in nerves for. he felt so sick when he thought about what they might be doing to you that he almost had to lean over to retch. 

and laswell—while out of practice—was a trained killer. you, on the other hand, had only started to take combat training seriously the past few weeks. the thought made ghost’s chest constrict painfully tight. if they put one hand on you…

he let out a shallow breath, turning the wheel to the truck abruptly, avoiding civilian cars while trying to move up the procession of aq trucks. 

soap had an eye on ghost’s truck and saw the way he was swerving between oncoming cars to get closer to the front. soap almost regretted his conversation with ghost earlier. he was worried it had gotten through to him—that ghost was ready to risk his life, acting far too rashly, to clear his conscience. 

ghost spotted the black suv farah had mentioned earlier up ahead. it was pretty far off in the distance and with aq trucks clogging the road, and oncoming traffic coming from the other direction, ghost slammed his hand on the wheel in frustration. it was going to take too long for him to get up close. 

“throwing molotov!” farah’s voice rang in ghost’s ears, bringing him back to the moment. he saw the truck behind him go up in flames in his side mirror. 

“heh-heh… i missed farah,” nikolai laughed. 

the commotion in his ears faded to a rumble. ghost was focusing on how to get to you before it was too late, everything else was just background noise to him. he heard nikolai and gaz yelling in his ears but nothing was getting through to him. 

an aq truck pulled up beside him and ghost immediately pulled his gun and began shooting. the truck stuttered backward before pulling back up and firing at him again. ghost ducked and swerved the vehicle. he slammed the side of his truck into the other, catching them off guard and using that as an opportunity to shoot back at them. before he could reload, the enemy truck exploded, turning into a ball of flames. 

he heard farah laughing over the comms. jesus, she was intense, and ghost was thankful for it. 

the further he drove, the farther you seemed to get from him. civilian vehicles were only getting in the way, the aq trucks swerving all over the road, preventing ghost and his other men from getting past them. 

a car exploded before ghost, making him grip the wheel tightly, trying to turn out of the way. that wasn’t an aq truck…

“they’re taking down civilian vehicles! blocking the roads!”

shit. 

you heard the explosions going off somewhere in the distance behind you. you turned to look out the back window and saw a large commotion, vehicles going all over the road, a procession of motorcycles with riders shooting men in trucks. 

a feeling of relief swam through you— they came. 

you continued to watch, unable to do anything else. you observed as a car that was rushing in the opposite direction blew up, rotating onto its back and igniting in flames. 

“wait… those are just civillians,” you muttered to yourself. “hey! you’re killing innocent people!” you shouted. you couldn’t believe it. they were taking innocent lives, completely uncaring, their only objective was to block the roads. 

you turned to the man beside you in astonishment, ready to yell again, when his hand came down on your face, slapping you across the cheek. your head flew in the opposite direction, your lips parting in a gasp. 

“no more talking,” he said in a heavy accent. 

you gulped, looking forward. you licked your lips and could taste the blood from your busted lip. the other men laughed as they looked at you in the rearview mirror, muttering something you couldn’t understand in arabic. 

you were going to have to be smarter about this. you sat silently in your seat. you began to worry that your teammates wouldn’t be able to get to you in time. there were a lot of aq vehicles trailing behind you. you weren’t sure how they’d manage to get through them all. 

you heard the engine of a helicopter and you turned, looking out one of the back windows again. your jaw dropped. oh my god, was that gaz? gaz was fucking hanging from a rope attached to the helicopter, upside down, continuing to shoot at enemy soldiers. you gasped when he almost swung right into a truck. your heart raced as you watched him. 

a bend in the road cut off your vision and you faced forward again. you didn’t want anyone risking their life for you. as much as you wanted rescuing, you didn’t want it at the expense of others. the image of gaz swinging wildly in the air was plastered in your mind. these men were going to get themselves killed. and it was going to be your fault. 

ghost felt like he was running out of options as you rapidly approached the border. 

“gaz, nik—my spotters are reporting an aq roadblock ahead.” farah’s voice came in through the comms in a level-headed voice. 

“affirm, i see it,” nikolai responded. “you might have to ram through.”

“crash it. kill as many as you can,” ghost echoed into his mic. 

ghost gripped his steering wheel, stepping on the gas as he approached the roadblock. he spotted gaz coming up right behind him in an aq truck. 

both men tore through the aq men, trudging past the trucks lined up to block them, destroying anything in their wake. ghost felt beyond destructive. he felt lethal.

“nik, i punched through,” gaz said as him and ghost got on the other side of the roadblock. 

“be advised. there is a situation up the road.” nikolai’s voice sent a shiver through ghost. he was just waiting for someone to say your black suv blew up, or crashed, or they lost track of it. 

“aq is deploying mines on the highway!”

“these are civillains, nik,” gaz said in anguish. “aq will burn for this.”

“i’ll bring the matches,” farah chimed in. 

ghost managed to weave between the charred cars, praying he didn’t hit a mine. 

further up the road, ghost swung open his door, timing it just right so when an aq motorcycle rode up right beside him, with great strength, he shoved the man off and hopped on. he watched as the truck ran off the road and crashed into a rocky hill. 

ghost revved the bike’s engine, gaining far more speed than he ever could in the pilfered truck. 

he heard gaz and nik conversing, then soap yelling over the comms for gaz to get on board the truck bed he was in. 

ghost floored it down the road, watching as the procession ahead of him split off in two different directions. 

“shit! they’re splitting them up!” soap called out. 

“who do we follow?” gaz asked as he picked up the grenade launcher.

ghost grit his teeth. “soap, gaz—follow laswell. i’ll follow iaso.” 

“you sure, lt.?”

“we don’t have time to argue about this, soap. just go.”

soap and gaz looked at one another before nodding. the convoy split up. soap and gaz followed laswell and ghost went off the road, following the black suv you were trapped inside. the car was going too fast for the others to keep up. ghost was glad he got on a bike, it was the only way he’d be able to get up to you in time. 

ghost’s own words rang in his head, the ones he had said to you in the bar. the words that hurt you. the words he had regretted ever since they left his tongue. you were going to die thinking he hated you. thinking he used you. 

ghost clenched the handlebars to the bike tighter, narrowing his eyes as he hurried behind you. he was going to get you back even if it killed him.

you knew you were going off the road the second the vehicle began to bump up and down. you tried to clutch onto something to keep from falling off the seat, but it was difficult with your hands tied. 

the men in the suv with you were yelling at one another. then the stout man beside you leaned out his window and began shooting. 

you turned to look out the window. your stomach dropped. the convoy was gone. you only saw one motorcycle trailing behind you. the others must have split off. this was their plan. to split you and laswell up, thus splitting up the convoy of rescuers. 

you tried not to let the fact that only one person was trailing you to hurt your feelings. now was not the time to be sensitive. but you couldn’t help but wonder if laswell had the rest of your team following her. it made sense, though. she was laswell… and you were just…iaso.

you yelped as the vehicle took an abrupt turn, making you slam into the man beside you. he shoved you off and rushed to reload his gun. you looked behind you in horror, realizing it was ghost on the bike, finally able to make out his mask as he edged closer. 

the man beside you went to lean back out the window, ready to send bullets in ghost’s direction. you acted before you could think, using your tied hands to claw at his back. you gripped onto the cotton material of his shirt and yanked him backward. he was so caught off guard from the sudden attack that he stumbled and crashed back on the seat beside you. 

he said something in arabic then hit you across the face again. your head flew back and hit the edge of the door. you groaned in pain. you squeezed your eyes shut, your head throbbing. 

they took a sharp turn and you were jostled back, opening your eyes in response. the man in the passenger’s seat leaned out his window now and began to shoot his pistol. you heard him make a celebratory noise and you almost broke your neck turning around to look for ghost. 

ghost’s bike skidded out from under him, sending him crashing down. the bullet had blown a hole in his tire. 

“no,” you said softly. your lips trembling. he was your last hope. 

you watched full of dread as the truck carried you away. ghost sat up and brushed himself off. he looked out after you, standing in the middle of nowhere, at a loss of what to do. 

tears began to slide down your cheek.

“i lost her,” ghost said over the comms in a newfound sense of defeat. soap had never heard his voice sound quite like that. 

there was a moment of silence before ghost heard ruffling and then soap’s voice. 

“come again, lt.?”

ghost was walking back from where he came, following the tracks in the dirt. “iaso. she got away.”

again there was radio silence. 

“im on my way,” ghost heard farah say. 

“farah—”

she cut ghost off. “i started trailing you as soon as we picked off the remaining aq trucks. we’re almost to you. stay put,” she demanded. 

it wasn’t long before farah was riding up with two other men on bikes. “what happened?” farah asked, her bike skidding to a halt. 

“fuckers blew my tire. they still got iaso.”

farah looked at one of her soldiers and nodded. he hopped off his bike and held it up for ghost. farah laughed as ghost looked confused. “get on. we’re goin’ to get her.”

“laswell?” ghost asked, wanting to know if she had at least made it out okay. 

“soap and gaz got her. she’s safe.”

ghost took in a breath before accepting the bike and getting on. “let's go get her back, lieutenant.”

with a new rush of energy, ghost took off, following the tracks of the suv alongside farah and another soldier. 

“she couldn’t have gotten far!” farah called out. 

when the suv came to a stop, you were quickly escorted out of the vehicle. you stumbled, the men giving you no time to right yourself before they pushed you into a wooden building. the men roughly jostled you through the door, your eyes attempting to adjust to the dark. 

you struggled to make out where you were before the man whose hands were holding your arm shoved you into a small room. you fell to the floor at the sudden force. 

the man spat something at you that you didn’t understand then he slammed the door shut behind him. you were left alone in the room and you tried to sit up. your arm was already bruising from where he held you, and you could feel blood dripping down the side of your face. 

you scooted yourself into the corner and hugged your knees to your chest, your wrists beginning to burn as they constantly rubbed against the binding rope. 

you tried to hold back the wave of tears but you failed. you hoped they made it to kate. you hoped she wasn’t going through the same thing you were right now. though, if she was, she was no doubt coping much better than you. 

you looked around the room, trying to clear your vision from tears by blinking repeatedly. the room was mostly empty except for a chair and a lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. if you didn’t know any better, you’d think this was an interrogation room. 

the notion plummeted inside your stomach, making you bury your face in your knees. you weren’t going to survive this. you were weak. you were suddenly pissed at price for letting you join his team. you weren’t cut out for this shit. you were a medic, not a damn fighter. 

minutes ticked by and your tears finally dried up. the longer you sat, the more fear was instilled inside you. you regretted cursing price out already, knowing it wasn’t his fault any of this happened to you. usually, you were good under extreme pressure, but that was only when it came to medical stuff. not when you were being kidnapped. 

god, your head was killing you. you hoped you didn’t look as bad as you felt. 

the metal door scrapped along the cement floor as it opened. you looked up in horror as a man stepped into the room, shutting the door behind him. he grinned when he looked at you huddled in the corner. 

“you don’t appear to be a soldier,” he said, his accent dripping over every word. 

“i’m a medic,” you said, your voice only slightly wavering. 

the man made a humming sound as he dug around in his pocket. “well, then i’m sorry to have to do this to you, but really, we have no choice.” he gestured around him. the sardonic smile on his face said he didn’t mean any of the words he was saying. he likely couldn’t wait to torture you for information, even when you’d be unable to offer anything useful. he just needed an excuse to hurt someone.

he nudged his head towards the metal chair. “don’t make me have to help you up,” he grunted. 

you quickly got to your feet and sat in the chair, your body shaking with nerves. the man grinned as he dragged the knife he drew from his pocket along your arm. “been awhile since i’ve done this to a woman. i’d be lying if i said i haven’t missed it.”

you swallowed painfully as he trailed the knife up to your neck. “you’re sick,” you spat at him. 

he chuckled. “indeed.”

you knew then that nothing you said was going to help you. this man didn’t care if you knew anything or not. he just wanted to hurt you. you didn’t want to cry, but the tears began to fall again anyway. you tried so hard to keep them in. you didn’t want to give him the satisfaction. 

he licked his lips as he watched the tears glide down your cheeks. “pretty thing like you shouldn’t cry,” he said menacingly. 

he took his knife and traced it back down your arm until it reached your hand. “hmm. now, tell me. which finger do you like the least?”

you strangled a sob. he didn’t even interrogate you yet. he was just jumping right to the torture part “please,” you barely managed to get out. 

“oh, i like the way you beg,” he remarked. 

you grit your teeth and pulled your hands away from him. “nowhere to go,” he mocked, using his knife to gesture around the small confines of the room.

“im curious. where have you been getting your intel on hassan’s location?”

you shook your head, pulling back as far away as you could from him.

he tisked. then his hand grabbed your jaw aggressively, making you whimper. his knife came up and slid down the side of your face, this time he applied pressure and you squeezed your eyes shut. the blood wept out from the trail he left and you could feel it slide down your face and drip onto your clothes. 

the man shoved your face back as he let go, flipping his knife in his hand as he watched you with fire in his eyes. “now, i’m going to give you another chance to answer. and trust me, you won’t like what happens if you don’t tell me what i want to hear.”

you opened your mouth but nothing came out. that type of information was classified, so even if you wanted to tell him—which you wouldn’t—you didn’t know. medics didn’t get the rundown of information like that.  

when he realized you weren’t going to speak, he looked you up and down. “hm. you’re not going to be of much help, huh?” he prowled you like a cat would its prey. “how about i get some use out of you before i bloody you up too much, then?”

you didn’t like the sound of that. his knife hooked under the straps of your tactical vest and in a swift movement, he cut it away. the vest fell from you and he tossed it aside to the floor. then his knife was back along the collar of your shirt. he grinned as he ripped through your longsleeved shirt, straight down the center. you silently cried as you felt the air rush to your now exposed skin. the shirt was split down the middle exposing your tank top. 

“please don't,” you pleaded. 

you felt his fingers along the neckline of your tanktop now, his knife slipping under the fabric. you closed your eyes, waiting for the inevitable. 

just as he was about to slide his knife down your shirt, you heard yelling and the sound of guns going off in the distance. the man stopped all movement and turned around. he clearly wasn’t expecting any sort of interruption. without another word, he exited the room to investigate, leaving you alone again. 

you caught your breath, breathing in and out exceptionally fast. you let out a loose breath and looked up at the ceiling, willing your tears to slow. the loss of his grimy fingers on your skin relieved you momentarily.

you tried to calm yourself as you heard more shouting and the firing of weapons. your legs were shaking as you sat there. you tried to use your hands to pull your shredded shirt back over yourself but it was no use. you swore in exhaustion, sinking back into the chair. 

after several minutes, it was finally silent outside the room. your body set in more unease with the silence. 

the door handle shook and the awful sound of it scraping the ground made you wince as the door opened. your eyes immediately went to the door and you kept them locked on the entrance, feeling them go wide as a large figure took up the space. 

you almost choked on your breathing, a strangled sob leaving you as you locked eyes with ghost. you began to cry in relief. in shock. in horror of what almost happened—you were convinced it was really all over for you. that this was it. 

as your body shook, ghost rushed up to you. his voice was hoarse as he said your name, trying to gain your attention. you looked up at him through hot tears and gave a halfhearted smile, your lips trembling. you had held yourself together as best as you could, but now with ghost in front of you, everything came tumbling down. his mask was covered in blood and he seemed to be out of breath.

he tilted his head to the side as he looked at you, his heart squeezing painfully at the sight. your face was bloody and your shirt had been ripped apart. a newfound sense of anger coursed through ghost. 

he pulled out his knife and you flinched, hitting the back of the chair as you created space between the two of you. he took notice but didn’t stop his movements. maybe in any other scenario, he would have tried to calm you down, letting you know he was only using the knife to free you. but just the fact that you shied away from his knife sent him into a fit of rage. he saw that the cut on your face was a long, straight line. he knew then why you were suddenly acting like his knife was the scariest thing in the world. he wished he hadn’t already killed every fucking bastard in there. he would give anything to string up whoever did this to you and give them a slow death. 

he slid the knife between your hands and cut away the rope, setting your hands free. 

you immediately grasped your wrists which had turned red and rubbed raw from the rope. ghost looked down at you, still unable to say anything. your eyes met his again and you took a moment to take him in before you sprang to your feet and wrapped your arms around him. he didn’t hesitate as he hugged you back. 

he felt you sobbing into his neck and his arms tightened around your waist. “you’re okay,” he cooed softly. “you’re safe now. i’ve got you.” his heart pounded harshly in his chest and you could feel it against you.

one of his hands slid up your back and got lost in your hair as he cradled you to his body, your frontside flesh with his, wanting you as close as he could get you. he shut his eyes for a brief moment, letting reality hit him full force. he got to you in time. you were okay. you were going to be okay. 

he sank to his knees in sharp relief with you still wrapped tightly in his grasp. he let you take what you needed from him, his presence bringing you nothing but a sense of safety. he let out a long breath of relief. 

you pulled back slightly, ashamed to look at him. “i-i’m sorry,” you muttered, your hand loosening around him. 

sensing your doubt, he clung to you tighter. “stop,” he said in a voice so soft you felt your heart pinch. “this isn’t your fault.”

you felt like he was reading your thoughts better than you were. his few words hit you harder than he could ever know. you sank back into him, letting yourself go limp as he held you. 

when you both finally separated, ghost helped you to your feet. he appraised your figure and you saw the anger behind his eyes. he moved too quickly for you to take in what he was doing. he slid his vest off and then removed his longsleeved shirt, leaving him in his black undershirt. you watched in astonishment as he pulled the shirt over your head. you slid your arms in as ghost picked up his vest and put it back on. 

your eyes traced his tattooed arm and his scent immediately filled your nose. his shirt was far too big for you, hanging down over your thighs, but you were thankful. you knew it wasn’t your fault, but you were still embarrassed to have your shirt ripped and exposed like that. you didn’t want everyone else to know what happened to you. you almost felt ashamed.

ghost clenched his fist before reaching up and running a finger over the bruise above your eyebrow. “i’m sorry i couldn't get to you sooner,” he said distractedly. 

you looked up at him through your eyelashes. “ghost, don’t. it’s not your fault either.”

he wished you had called him simon. 

before he could think more on the topic and read into your every word, he scooped you up and held you in his arms bridal style. you squealed but settled into his arms quickly. his hand rubbed soft patterns on your back as he carried you out of the building. your arms hooked around his neck, your body shaking less violently, but still shaking nonetheless. 

ghost held you closer and you felt like everything was going to be okay. you rested your head on his chest and let the tears fade out slowly. 

chapter 11 ➡

[marclef]

How does a Fake Peppino give birth?

why heLLO THERE, thank you for the most terrifying ask to ever receive out of context 👁👁💧

(and if you DO need context, the holy Long Post is right ➡HERE⬅)

(and ALSO a warning: slightly gross!! (but censored!) you've been Warned!)

now then, it's a question with a fairly simple answer at least! just... not the most clean.

you see, the answer lies within the very frog my Fake Peppino takes his DNA from: the Gastric Brooding Frog! a frog that would lay its own eggs before eating them, and then hatching them in their stomach. but Fake Peppino here, though he is very froggy, is a little bit different.

he lays no eggs, the babies simply formed in his stomach as little fleshy blobs, not too different from his own normal Goop. and when they fully formed and were ready to be "born", well... it was a little messy.

there's only one way in or out of this Fake Peppino! and so.... the wretchedness BEAUTY of nature!!

... gross. BUT....

there you go!! 5 sticky, slimy little goopy Fakelings!! what a beautiful, disgusting mess nature can be. ✨✨✨

[cosmicstarlatte]

Levi A-Z Smut HCs (Obey Me!)

⬅Back to Smut HC A-Z Masterlist ◇

18+ only, minors do not interact.

My personal headcanons using this [prompt list]

The goal is to finish the whole list; you are welcome to request a letter so I get to it faster. I will work on it as quick as I can but keep in mind I do have a life & responsibilities lol. ^^

Last Updated: Oct.1.2023 (9 out of 26)

⚠️Notes: I'll tag any sections if needed. If you think a section needs a tag, kindly let me know.

A: Affair (Describe an extra-marital affair)

B: Birthday (Describe birthday sex)

C: Compliments (Mid- and post-sex compliments)

D: Dry Humping (Describe a dry-humping scene)

tags: punishment, humiliation Every once in a while you need to punish him, either he spent way too much on otaku merch or he's been missing classes too much, whatever. You'll usually sit on him & tease him as he tries to play on his PC. He knows what you're doing & he begs to feel you, please he'll 'do better' he says. Unfortunately for him his poor cock won't get that sweet relief exactly. he can beg & whine all he wants & rub desperately against you but he's still gonna have to cum in his pants.

E: Experimenting (Trying something new)

F: Firsts (First time having sex together)

It was clumsy & cute. The poor otaku was so nervous, he couldn't believe he could bag such a baddie. Someway somehow even with the nervousness he still felt calm with you, if that makes any sense. He was more worried about you than him & he just wanted to make you feel good. especially when he came rather quickly before the 1st round. Anyway, the nerd is packin' & those hands & tongue work skillfully. ...You definitely went a few good rounds into the night & left each other a mess before finally taking a sweet bath together. After, you guys cuddled under a warm blanket & watched a lighthearted anime. ♡

G: Gentle (Describe gentle/loving mid-sex gestures)

H: Handsy (When they can’t keep their hands to themselves)

I: Initiator (Who initiates most of the time? How?)

J: Jealous (“Claiming” a partner)

tags: Possessive, Love bites/Marking, Scenting Sweetie, he's the avatar of envy. When it's extreme, there's no hiding it, he gives in. That sweet shy nervous otaku? Gone. He's bringing & giving grand admiral energy, he's giving 'one of the powerful lords of hell.' Sure he could summon Lotan or use something else if he wants to, but all he really needs is to say "Go away" in a icy cold voice & glare that makes thousands of soldiers shiver. You almost feel sorry for any bastard that tries to make him jealous. Even after they leave though, he wants nothing more but to mark you with visible love bites & rub his scent all over you. He made it easily known to his brothers to not touch what's his.

K: Kitchen (Describe a sex scene in the kitchen)

L: Likes (What they like in the bedroom)

M: Morning (Describe morning sex)

It happens frequently hehe. You tend to stay over a lot to watch a marathon or play games. Levi's libido is strong, he's always down to fuck in the morning, it brightens his spirit. Watching you take his cock & filling you up right before school is the perfect way to start the day. It's especially motivating when he knows you walk around the entire day with his cum between your legs, he cant wait to come home & fuck you again. (If he can wait that long)

N: Never (Things they would never try)

O: Orgasm (Describe coming--who comes first? What do they say? How does the other person know it’s approaching?)

P: Playlist (A playlist for getting down and dirty; will probably include a lap dance song, a song for making love, and a song that represents their sex life)

Q: Quiet (Reaction to a quiet partner)

You know what I'm not gonna lie, I think he'd be just a tad disappointed at first. Of course he reminds himself a lot of porn is fake anyway & then he really tunes in to the small delicious sounds you do reveal. The faces you make. The little bits you let him hear are still so very fucking hot & sexy. He's the one making you sound like that either way~

R: Ruttish (Signs that they’re horny)

Ah...Levi is easy. He's not very good at hiding it. A flushed face and a small sheen of sweat to him. He gets a little extra irritable as well. The biggest sign is the tent in his pants when he's around you. Sorry, but he doesn't hide it very well, it's obvious when he looks like he's trying to hide something when he tries to cover up down there. (I wonder if he does it on purpose?)

S: Safe Word (How often is the safe word used? Why?)

T: Teasing (Who’s the tease in the relationship? What do they do? How often?)

U: Undressing (Strip teasing a partner)

V: Videos (Sending NSFW videos to each other)

Do you realize what you've done? The first time you sent him a video, he got instantly hard & couldnt stop cumming to that video. Unfortunately for him he kept getting hard any time he thought about it that week, it was embarrassing walking around with a constant erection. His first few videos in response were a little clumsy, but it turned you on. He was a loud moaner & he loved to whimper. Little whiney pants when he was getting close always did it for you. He made sure to take better video, especially audio when he learned you really loved his moans. ♡

W: Wedding Night (Consummating the marriage)

tags: overstimulation The only thing on his mind is getting you off the entire night until you're crying & begging him to stop. Until you're drained. He knows it's about the two of you celebrating but...you're his life partner now! He's so grateful you chose him out of everyone. Please let him worship you tonight, lay back & let him handle it. He promises he's enjoying this as much as you are. Promise.

X: XXX (What kind of porn does the person watch? How often?)

tags: double dicks, creepy!pervy!levi I'm not going to lie to y'all, Levi's a freak. (Okay we knew this) He watches all kinds of porn, both real & hentai. I'd say it's nearly an every day thing, it's hard taking care of two monster cocks & he needs to empty his balls. His favorite? POV hentai vids. Especially ones that look like you... Perhaps he has a few commissioned hentais where they look like the two of you...

Y: Yawn (How they sleep post-sex)

Z: Zoo (Their animalistic qualities in the bedroom)

[istarveforplatonicptnstuff]

Chameleon, as your psychology professor pt.2

An: Here we go again... 😀 The way that I never anticipated that it would gain so much traction... 😶 I think I wrote this while I was visiting the Floptropica islands...

- A few months have passed, Rebecca had made you her favorite student to talk to 🤨 Your anxiety around her lessened, but it didn't mean that you didn't have it anymore. After the class, she would ask you to stay behind sometimes, making people suspicious between about your relationship with Rebecca... Like wdym stay behind class? 🤨🤨🤨 Are you secretly Rebecca's cousin? Or MAYBE you're her long lost younger sister??? 🤩🤩🤩 Do ya'll even look alike??? 🤔 This people smh... 😶 You and your professor talk about normal stuff, ranging from the how was the class to your anxious state, in which you happily reported to her that you weren't too anxious there days. Girlie is curing you slowly but surely by the power of ✨psychology✨ - Though, you started to suspect something about your professor, making it a little difficult for you to talk to her, because you recently found out about "Suspect R" from the news, and how eerily similar the descriptions were matching between her and the suspect... 😨😨😨 Sis, what is going awnnnn? 😫 Of course, your professor didn't miss the way how your behavior changed, causing her to chat with you one day, pocket watch in hand. Typical hypnotism, of course.. 😐 EXCEPT, it didn't work??? 😯 on YOU??? 🧐🧐🧐 POOKIE was confused, very confused. Like wdym it didn't work??? You're supposed to get hypnotized? 🙄 You unknowingly made things harder for her. 🤐🤐🤐 - After staring 👁👄👁 at the pocket watch just like she asked, you start asking her about how she came to this job. She answered that she knew a friend, and that friend recommended her to this university. You didn't buy it 😃 Sis, you were ON to something 🤫🤫🤫 You have a feeling that things weren't just this simple. In fact, it was TOO simple 🧐 that you decided to investigate like Scooby-doo 🍦🐕‍🦺 Sis didn't anticipate that. Maybe you should've just stayed, curious? 💀 Oh, she definitely COMING to get you, you think? 😔 Count your days pookie... 😰😰😰 After that, there was this... weird tension between the two of you whenever you talked with her. 😟 Pookie... Remember when I said I cannot keep giving ya'll plot armor...? Now is the correct time to rethink your decisions in life pooks 😿😿😿 I FEAR 😨 you are NOT coming out of this ALIVE ☠☠☠ - You decide to research more about "Suspect R", finding out more and more similarities between the two, you start to get more suspicious day by day... Even after two semesters have passed, you COULDN'T just shake the feeling that she was NOT who you thought she was... Meanwhile, Rebecca was STRUGGLING 😰 to get you to STOP from finding out more about her ✨mysterious✨ background like girl... Don't ruin the mystery 😩 You're making it harder for her to keep her job 🥺 Sis, I beg of you to STOP before she gets sniffed 🤧 out by local police force and co. 🛐🛐🛐 Pookie... What you didn't know Rebecca already had anticipated the arrest when she was at her clinic... So, when she disappeared suddenly, you kinda missed her??? 😔😔😔 Like wdym where your favorite professor was??? 😕 The way you searched 🔍🔍🔍 for her endlessly, asking teachers, students left ⬅and right ➡ The title was misleading guys, she ain't your professor no more 😶 - That it was so BAD, that it cured your anxiety ridden state, after initiating conversations yourself 😶 Congrats??? Years passed, and you finally graduated from the course, without signs, from your professor Rebecca... Sis was probably your roman empire... You went on with your life a bit, becoming MBCC's resident psychologist. Surprise, surprise, you're chief's cousin 🤪🤪🤪 so, your cuz personally recommended you to work at the MBCC as their psychologist, making you a menace for both sinners and Nightingale to watch out for 😈😈😈 Like wdym a sinner walked out crying from laughing too much??? Or adjutant Nightingale GIGGLING because of YOU 😔 Pookie, phone down rn... I just want to talk 😊 (Give me your humor rn)

- Chief was talking about an individual who kept going in and out of jail. She was an elusive individual, she sneaky in 5 year old terms 🐱‍👤 Sis had to explain to you like you were 5 since you asked her to translate in Spanish because your 5-month streak in the green bird app 🦉🟢 wasn't all for NOTHING 😇 Chief was NOT having it lmao, she made you TIMEOUT like you were 6 😭😭😭 Girl, don't try to play with Chief because she DON'T play, she's TIRED 😑 24/7. So sis hands you a file and pookie, you were in for a shock. REBECCA?? 👩‍🦰 As in the PROFESSOR REBECCA??? 👱‍♀️👱‍♀️👱‍♀️ Your psychology professor from before??? 😲😲😲 WHAT? 😰 Sis, turns out you WERE right about her. But like still, your psychology professor who disappeared mysteriously for 3 years suddenly showing up and suddenly came back with milk 🥛 on HAND... - Imagine her surprise seeing you walk right in for HER psychological evaluation... Babes was amused to see her student from before, became her psychologist... Like wow, the tables have turned. Okay then, sis she was like show me what you got 💅 Before you went straight down to business you were like "SISTER, where have you been???" Making her flabbergasted 😮 at the 360 personality switch, like was this the same student she was talking to from before??? 🤨🤨🤨 Girlie couldn't believe that you casually sat down and went on to say like "Sooo, this is where you've been 😊 babes where were you??? How'd you even get into prison? Okay like... I know you were doing something illegal and stuff like that but, still? They allow you to SLAY in prison uniforms??? 👠👠👠 Sister, you look SNATCHED with orange 🤩🤩🤩 - Sis was still recovering from the shock on how you basically went on a half-hour rant about how you got into the MBCC, and how you are chief's cousin, and like how you was SEARCHING for her because her favorite professor went missing... Wait. You considered her as your favorite professor? 🥰 Pookie was happy to hear that, but she needs to sit down first because she was too shocked to see the CHANGE in you that she forgor (intentional misspell 😌) to SIT down 🧍‍♀️

She was sitting in this SLAYING pose that you couldn't help but say "GIRL, What's with the..." Fingers snapping "Pose... It's giving... Office siren like yasss slay queen 💅💅💅" Again, your professor didn't expect the personality change like??? What happened when she was gone and what's with the slangs pooks...? 🤭 You had to explain what that meant and she was like "Thanks... Pookie?" Ooh the way we all giggled when miss maam attempted to use the slangs 🤭🤭🤭 Okay, after the interrogation you two became BESTIES 😌 Yes, you heard that right you two, besties.

There would be a couple of times where you guys end up collaborating or it's either you were assigned on a dispatch mission, yes you can also SERVE❗❗❗ The country 😾 You're giving FIERCE while she serves FACE the whole time, we all know that her face card never declinesss so, obviously you would drop a few comments like "Stop serving FACE, I'm getting distracted babes" And she's like "I need to keep SERVING pooks so we can stay alive 🥰🥰🥰" The way that you FOLDED when she was using the language of slaytology when you guys talk, like it's exclusive for YOU 🥺🥺🥺 Pookie... Wdym the Rebecca, talks to you in ✨slay✨ terminology??? 💅💅💅

Anyways, she asked you how you were able to resist her hypnotism before, and you just basically responded, my LASHES were too long from that time, and oh you wore CONTACTS? 🤨 How does that affect her hypnosis??? 😃 Sis, maybe it's genes that ran between you and chief... But you didn't know that.. 😶 An: I ran out of brain juice on how to proceed with the second installment because head empty, thoughts are FULL of air 💨 rn... *Goes mia for now, be back writing for the other stuff* TOODLES!

[bridgetoesoteria]

🥰Timeless Love Reading 💟💗

Heyy back with anotha one! ➡Poll correlates with the piles⬅

Hope it resonates :)

Collective: For everyone I am getting the message that its time to break out of limiting beliefs. It may be time to face some fears or other things you have been avoiding.

I'm using a deck that I very rarely reach for these days. It was my first deck and I loved it! But it reminds me of someone who ended up really hurting me so I avoid it. But today I felt drawn to it for this reading and realized I didn't want to let them taint my life any longer.

I feel that everyone is being called to do that in someway. Take back your power in love and start controlling the narrative more.

Using Sun and Moon Tarot + The Afro Goddess Clear Vision Duo

Pile 1: Summer

4 Card Spread: The Lovers, 3 of Cups, Queen of Wands, and Princess of Pentacles. Bottom of the deck is Ace of Swords.

I'm getting a pretty bright and cheery energy. So either this is where you are or where you are headed. Yay! Love to see it 🥳 I'm bumping some Amy Winehouse right now. It always makes me feel so sultry. That's kinda the same energy I am getting from your reading.

I think you will be going out and having a great time. You will be re-discovering your sexuality. You will truly be "feeling yourself" (no pun intended!). Some of you could be getting frisky and I see the possibility of children, so take precautions if you are not ready for kids. But for others, if that is what you are hoping for this is a good sign. Some of you may be looking to expand your families.

For others, I think you will have a suitor that comes forward and makes you forget about the past. It looks healthy and honest. (This doesn't mean trust blindly. Always maintain your boundaries and trust your intuition!). Its possible they could make a proposal like asking you on a date, asking to make it official, or something else. Seems like there is romance and mutual love ahead ♥

TL;DR: You will definitely be feeling yourself, if you aren't already. Rightfully, so! What's wrong with confidence. You might be feeling a little hot in the pants *wink wink* so take precautions if you are not looking to get pregnant. You might meet someone that is a good match. Still make sure to trust your intuition and maintain proper boundaries. These are important ingredients for any healthy relationship.

Oracle: Sensei + Passion

Hopefully, you can see the images. Look over the messages and take what resonates with you. You will know its for you by the way it makes you feel.

Yeah... I know what I'm talking about when I said I saw some spicy energy in your reading. Luckies! I am also getting a bit of a marriage vibe.

Pile 2: Autumn/Fall

4 Card Spread: King of Cups, 6 of Wands, Ace of Cups, and 2 of Pentacles. Bottom of the deck is The Emperor.

Jamming to Miss Independent by Kelly Clarkson. Go listen! It may have messages or a vibe you resonate with! Omg and now Brokenhearted by Karmin is playing. I remember when I thought this was Cher Lloyd lol... anywayy..

I am getting such good energy for this pile! I love it. You could be romantics at heart. I am getting a free spirited energy. You don't let heartbreak keep you down and jaded. You always find a way to come back out on top and open your heart again. That is seriously impressive! Its not easy or common to be that resilient! (In case you're wondering, my phone is now playing Drama Queen (That Girl) by Lindsay Lohan). Go you! 😊🙌 If you aren't here right now, this is a sign that you can get there! Manifest it!

I do see someone coming in. They give me kind of goofy energy but well-meaning. They might have more serious intentions than you think or they could have a serious side. I do feel like the ball will be in your court in some way. So just know everything can go the way you want it to. I think this can apply to love overall. You're in a very attractive energy.

If you are going through a heartbreak, you will get over it. I don't mean that in a dismissive way. It just feels like you will start to snap out of it almost. The pain may linger but you will find ways and people to distract yourself.

Some of you are wondering if you should reconcile with a certain person. I see them thinking the same thing. You both feel the same way but probably don't show it. This is probably more of a communication problem and difference in love languages. If you do decide to get back together, try to get to know each other in a more light hearted way. Focus on the moment for now, instead of the bigger picture. Maybe get one of those "couple's questions" type of decks from Amazon.

Some of you may be trying for a baby and I see positive signs here. Make sure to really tune into your empress energy. Know that you have abundance interwoven in your energy and DNA.

TL;DR: Some of you may be experiencing some friction with a partner or may be newly single. You will feel like going out and doing you. I see that you and this other person may struggle with communication and understanding each other. Take some time apart to cool off. Don't make any impulsive decisions you will regret later. If you choose to reconcile, focus on getting know each other for who you truly are. Maybe do this in a light hearted way with some couple's quizzes/games.

Oracle: The One of Wonders + Oil and Water

I'm definitely getting some kind of love-hate vibe. Someone you can't live with but you also can't seem to live without. I knew I was getting an LGBT vibe when I started this reading. I think some of you in this pile could belong to the community. Whether you are single, or going through a break with you partner, I see you dusting off the "freakum" dress and wildin out. Maybe you feel like you deserve this. You've earned the right to have some carefree nights.

Hey, I'm not going to stop you. If you like it, I love it! Go ahead and get it out of your system. Just be safe my dearies. Remember you might end up having a veryy honest discussion with a partner/love interest so don't do anything you might not want to share.

Pile 3: Spring

Off the Bat: Before I even began shuffling I was getting a kind of scorned feeling. Some of you may be thirsty for some kind of revenge. That's kind of funny because I have been wanting to do a "Get Your Lick Back" reading 🤣🤣 But I didn't know if that was too messy for the first week of 2024.

4 Card Spread: Queen of Swords, The Chariot, The Magician, and The Devil. Bottom of the deck is 6 of Cups.

I think you will be taking more charge in your love life. Its like you have a fire under you that's driving this energy. You could be experiencing some kind of heartbreak or toxic cycle.

You will probably be hearing from this person or reaching out to them yourself. It will be up to you what you want to do with this situation. You could take them back and have passion but its likely that you will realize you have outgrown this situation. I think you have learned a lot about this person and you are ready to put up better boundaries.

Some of you could be leaving this person. You may not trust that they are going to maintain whatever change they are showing you. If you do know this person to be toxic and hurtful, you are making the right choice.

Regardless of your specific situation, I do think with the Chariot and Magician in the middle of your reading, you have the power to manifest whatever you need. Harness whatever surge of passion or energy you get and use it to go after what you want. Some of you will manifest communication after a fight or about a fight or betrayal.

For others I see your relationship improving. I think more effort will be put in to try and protect your foundation. It feels a bit scattered for some reason. I think your intentions are in the right place. Perhaps you would benefit from couple's counseling or something similar.

TL;DR: You will have the choice to end a toxic relationship or cycle. Some of you may find that you have outgrown a person or situation. You could manifest communication from someone that reveals some kind of truth. For others, there is a commitment to protecting what you have built with each other. If you fall into that group, consider couple's therapy! Ball is in your court no matter where you fall.

Oracle: Oil and Water + The Librarian

Read over the information for each card. I think the messages meant for you will jump out at you.

Lift Me Up by Rihanna and Demons by Imagine Dragons may have some messages you resonate with. Also check what the year of the dragon may mean for you

Pile 4: Winter

Off the Bat: I am getting a lot of air energy! I also turned off all my music and stopped sipping. Some of you could be moving into a pretty serious energy. You have priorities and don't want to waste energy on nonsense.

4 Card Spread: Page of Swords, King of Swords, 10 of Swords, and King of Wands. Bottom of deck is 10 of Cups.

Some of you could be dealing with a break up. If it hasn't gotten to that point, there may be a lot of cold energy between you and your partner or love interest. Perhaps they want to act single and keep you a secret and you just aren't cool with that? Or perhaps they have a secret of their own. I am picking up on some kind of immature and selfish behavior. I almost want to call it ridiculous. So maybe that is how you feel. Others of them may be burying themselves in work to get over some kind of pain. Whatever the case, you are not feeling emotionally fulfilled.

You feel comfortable putting a pin in things. Even though you may feel quite compatible with this person in a lot of ways, there is something missing. I feel like there may be lack of emotional availability from both sides but it could feel like they don't see you at all.

You may find yourself walking away with a heavy heart. I am seeing you represented by some very powerful cards! The Queen of Wands and High Priestess! This person may not have acknowledged your worth but that does not mean it isn't there. You have a lot of inner strength and power. Your mind and intuition are sharp. If you know you can do better, go out there and manifest it!

TL;DR: You may be kicking an unfulfilling person or situation to the side. If you are not being recognized and cherished by your partner, I think you already feel that it is time to go. You definitely have the energy to attract what you deserve. No more settling. You are walking away to get your mind right.

Oracle: Parted Paths + The Dependent

I hope you can see that. Please take read over the messages from each card and take what resonates.

Thank you everyone for stopping by. I hope it resonates. I've never done pick a card style readings before.

~K

[opalsimmer]

(88) It's Been Too Long

Aunt Julia arrived a couple minutes later. Julia: "Helloo? Anyone heere? I was afraid I'd turn to ice walking those few meters across the street."

Julia's eyes narrowed, then widened in disbelief.

Julia: "Wait a second - you're the familiar face? Lucia! Well, look at you! Still as beautiful as ever, I see. Does anyone in this family age or is that just my curse?" Lucia: "Aunt Julia, you haven't changed one bit."

She laughed, Aunt Julia's sharp humor felt so familiar. Her aunt could seem cold and strict, and Lucia had always thought she was angry when she was little. But once you got to know Julia, she was the polar opposite. Lucia had been welcomed with open arms, no trace of anger or resentment in sight. Their joy at seeing her again felt like a warm hug, wrapping her in a comfort she didn't realized she'd missed so much.

⬅/➡

[museofreverie]

Chapter 02 ⋆ Iced Coffees and Anxieties

WAYS OF FREEDOM┊Pairing: Eren Jaeger x Modern Fem!Reader ┊2nd POV

In which a chronically online Gen Z that went through the pandemic goes to the Attack on Titan Universe and tries her very best to change the ending with an "I can fix him" mentality.

⋆ CHAPTER WORD COUNT: 4.2k words

⋆ WARNINGS: manga spoilers, mention of eating habits/restrictions, mommy issues

⬅ prev chapter ┊ next chapter ➡

𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟏.

IT WAS FRIDAY the next day, and you woke up groaning while a throbbing ache filled your head as you clutched it in your hand. It was probably from all that crying last night you thought since you only had a few hours of sleep after having a very bad breakdown. You sniffled and couldn't help but let out a cough as your nose was blocked, making it somehow difficult for air to enter.

          Your hand flew to your neck to wipe the glossy shine that coated your skin as you were sweating profusely, even if the fan in your room was on. The pain soon subsided when you stretched your limbs and yawned before rubbing your eyes which you felt were burning, as you tried to get rid of your sleepiness. But still, there was this sense of dizziness you felt even as you looked around your room, while the light from the sun was already seeping through your window curtains.

          For a while, you stayed in your position—staring into space at first, before glancing at your hands that were placed in your lap while you were slouching as you tried to process the vivid images you just saw in your dream. It flashed in your mind again, and a shiver made its way to your spine as a terrible feeling bubbled in the pit of your stomach the more you tried to think about it. Okay, that was a bit scary.

          You lightly shook your head sideways in hopes of getting rid of the images.

          I'll just think about it later. Wait, do I have school today? I still wanna go back to sleep. Shit, I don't want to be productive today. You groaned, your shoulders slouching at the thought of doing schoolwork again.

          But after a while and having a little internal debate with yourself if you're going to be productive today or not, you let out a groan again after coming to a decision that you'll attend online classes for now and abandon sleep even if it was so tempting to fall asleep again. All of this is just for the sake of getting good grades, even when you know you weren't doing a better performance in this alternative learning mode.

          Grabbing your phone that was placed on the bedside table, you opened it to check the time; only for your eyes to widen in horror and an exaggerated gasp to escape your lips.

          "Shit, I’m late!"

          You stood up as fast as you can, abruptly removing the bedsheets away from your body, and dashed towards your study table in a haste. As you opened your laptop, your fingers moved swiftly as you typed on your keyboard just so you could prepare for the first period of your online class—which started 30 minutes ago.

          Absentmindedly, you bit your lip hard as you could hear the beating of your heart getting louder and louder. Your mind was filled with nothing but curses, as you anxiously checked your section's group chat to know about the password for the Zoom meeting. Your heart was still beating rapidly when you joined, so you tried calming it down when your teacher just announced that the online reporting that was supposed to be presented today, was moved to next week and instead only gave the class another activity that'll be sent to them through their email.

          You sighed in relief; your body relaxing as an invisible weight in your shoulders was lifted because of the good news. Thank God, I wasn't marked as absent, you also thought. You mentally scolded yourself about wasting time earlier.

          In your defense, being marked as late was fine as long as you were attending classes, even if you were barely hanging on these days, as you kept on failing in trying to fix your sleeping schedule because ever since online school started, this sadly became an unhealthy routine for you.

          It's either you woke up late, or attend your morning classes with no sleep at all. This restless cycle of who can keep up with this new normal was taking a toll on your mental health and in the worst possible case.

          Eating snacks or unpredictable meals during Zoom meetings when teachers are kind enough to let the class not open the cameras and mic of the students. It also adds up to the pile of things that kept you anxious these days.

          And as embarrassing as it was, you kinda felt like you developed the attention span of a fish during quarantine; easily getting distracted by surfing the internet, reading fanfictions, watching TikTok videos, or just staring into space until you realize classes are over—and you could say that it greatly affected your well-being as you kept zoning out in your room, feeling overwhelmed even from the smallest things.

          You were just so tired of school and all this new normal stuff. It infuriates you sometimes, but you were also determined to get out of school as soon as possible; only because this alternative learning mode just wasn't working well for you no matter how hard you try.

          And then there's the problem with the wifi connection that sometimes doesn't even cooperate with you whenever you needed it. But even if you tried complaining and ranting about your situation many times in your private accounts on your social media; you knew it wouldn't do you any good, since everyone is just struggling like you. To be able to attend online school when others are struggling to even afford of attending it; you were just grateful you had the privilege to have a great set-up of materials and get access online to answers you didn't want to put the effort into whenever laziness hits you.

          It made your heart squeeze with guilt just thinking about how others are trying to cope with this new normal.

          After an hour had passed, you looked down at your stomach when you felt it growling, begging for food. Glancing at your laptop's screen to see if you already had some free time, you made sure your mic and camera were off before bringing it to your arms whilst also pocketing your phone, and moving to the kitchen to eat some breakfast.

          When you arrived, your dog greeted you enthusiastically, its tail wagging joyously. It made you smile, so you set your belongings on the table before kneeling down to your dog's eye level and caressing them—which in turn, your dog was now pampering you with their affectionate licks.

          You briefly used the restroom to wash the dried tears from your last night's crying off your face. When you were done, you cleaned your face with a fresh cloth. Since you didn't feel like cooking anything elaborate today, you returned to the kitchen to prepare some instant meals. You just didn't care if eating something unhealthy in the morning would negatively affect you; instead, you settled with having instant ramen and your daily cup of coffee since you needed to eat something.

          You grabbed a glass of water as well and drank it, feeling somewhat refreshed because you had been so dehydrated the night before. To get your day started, you pulled out your phone and played some tunes from your hype playlist. In order to avoid waking up your mother, who was likely still asleep because she worked a night shift, you also slightly reduced the volume.

          As you move around the kitchen preparing your food, each passing second made you feel more awake as the flow of the music gave you some energy that you needed in the morning. You hummed and lip-synced to the songs that followed, your head bobbing to the music while your hands absentmindedly did some of the steps.

          At least, this part of your routine was something you tend to look forward to as it helped you survive being in quarantine. Life for you now would be so boring without listening to good music and eating good food. Watching great films and anime series was only a bonus.

          Your eyes fell on your dog who was sitting down on the side of the table, watching your every move. They probably think you're crazy at this point, so you let out a small chuckle and just grinned, petting their heads before making their meal so they could eat.

          From time to time, you kept on glancing at your laptop's screen to see if the Zoom call had already ended. And when it did, you stopped the music on your phone to open the mic on your laptop just to bid your goodbye before pressing the end call button.

          The aroma of the freshly brewed coffee you just made entered your nostrils, making you sigh with relief and contentment. Fortunately, you still had time to eat before your next lesson began, so you expressed your gratitude for the meal and quickly mixed your drink before the ice started to melt and turn it bland. When you took a sip, the explosive flavor of the bitter coffee combined with the creaminess of the milk you had added filled your taste buds and caused you to hum with delight. Ah, tastes like freedom.

          "Speaking of freedom. . ." You said, pondering on the thought that surfaced inside your head after munching on the noodles as you covered your mouth, careful not to eat messily. Wiping your mouth after, you grabbed your phone and typed in your password to surf the internet. You started with Twitter so you could immediately check on what the other fans of Attack on Titan felt about the ending.

          Surely, you weren't the only one who acted like a drama queen and cried over compiled pieces of artwork by one author, right?

          Right?

          Tons of posts regarding the ending of the manga filled your timeline, and you kept scrolling and scrolling, reading as many as you can while your face slowly contorts to a look of sadness, your chest tightening again as almost all of them were all about the tragic romance between two characters: Eren and Mikasa.

          You clicked on one of the posts, zooming on the photos that had the two in, while also emphasizing the detail of the infamous red scarf Eren gave to Mikasa.

          "So they really were canon all this time. . ." You mumbled slowly, your voice laced with sorrow. A huge wave of sympathy washed over you, feeling a little bad towards the two of them that they didn't even get to have a happy ending.

          In the end, even if the two of them chose different paths just to achieve freedom, they both still became free—but at what cost?

          He really did keep his promise of wrapping that scarf around her until the end , you thought sadly. Although, things would've really ended on a good note if only Mikasa gave the boy a different answer when they were undercover in Marley.

          "Only see him as a family? Wrong move right there, Mikasa," you started with a frown, shaking your head. "Man, if that was me, I would immediately straight up tell Eren about my feelings, like c'mon he's the Eren Jaeger? Eren mother fucking hot and attractive Jaeger?"

          You were now having a conversation with yourself, imagining what would it be like if you were in the shoes of Mikasa on that manga panel.

          "I mean, he's a little crazy after all that act to commit mass genocide, but whatever." You tried suppressing a small laugh.

          Although I literally have a long list of anime boys that I like, he can be a great addition to it. Hmm, probably on the villain side? I mean if protagonist turned into a villain bad, then why sexy? You jokingly thought.

          "We could also bond over our trauma from our parents, though. . ."

          You tucked some strands of your dyed hair behind your ear—a mannerism you developed from watching all those TikTok videos, before chuckling afterward as you tried to make the situation lighter by voicing it out. After that, you were a bit embarrassed at yourself for your way of thinking of such nonsense like that.

          You've also encountered a lot of posts about others debating on who Eren, a.k.a the protagonist of the show, should've ended up with and how the ending was lacking something according to some. Nevertheless, you finally found one of the good things about being part of the fandom—the fan arts.

          You couldn't help but save some of it on your phone. Of course, you weren't going to repost them since they weren't yours—you just wanted to admire them in your gallery. They were all beautiful and never failed to leave you in awe, really, but at the back of your mind, it made you think that half of the fandom only cared about shipping the characters, and not the actual plot of the story—it kinda made you cringe whenever you see shippers fight on your timeline.

          You wouldn't blame them for shipping of course, since you also shipped characters whenever you felt a connection between two characters and rooted for them, but that kind of childish behavior of fighting with strangers online about a ship wasn't your cup of tea.

          You let out a heavy sigh. Damn you, Isayama. The fictional world you made is just purely cruel. You really love making us suffer, huh. Your eyes saddened again at the thought and a deep frown etched on your lips.

          "What's with the early sad face."

          You almost dropped your phone after flinching in shock at the sudden voice. Luckily, your grip was hard and it didn't fall. You put a hand on your chest to calm your heart when it was only your mother who entered the kitchen and went across you.

          "Good morning, Mom." You greeted quickly, sighing in relief. "It was just nothing."

         Your mother raised a brow at you, before also greeting a 'good morning'. She made no comment after that and walked towards the kitchen counter to make herself a cup of brewed coffee.

          The smell of the coffee made you inhale the air in delight. Nothing could ever go wrong with coffee. Probably from palpitation, yes , you chuckled internally.

          You forgot that it was her day off today, which explains why she woke up early. Just like you, your mother was also stuck in your home, doing her work in your humble abode because of the pandemic's lockdown since they were also affected by it and were advised to stay at home.

          She looked at you intently, examining your face while she stirred her drink. Her eyes narrowed as she noticed the noticeable blemishes that had begun to show on your face and the large bags beneath your eyes.

          "You look terrible, by the way. Were you crying?" She asked, trying to start a conversation with you before blowing on her mug.

          Shit. What do I say? Do I say that I had a mental breakdown because of the Chapter 139 leaks or lie about it? Shit. Think fast, Y/N.

          Your head shook in disagreement. Instead of eating your food in peace, you were now stuck in having a conversation with her. You shifted uncomfortably in your chair and chuckled dryly.

          “Crying? Er — no, I wasn't. I was just — er — everything's fine, actually. I'm — I'm fine. I just rubbed my eyelids too hard because of the dust, yeah, that's why. So yeah.” You excused, mentally scolding yourself after realizing that you were just rambling.

          God, why is it so hard to talk to a parent? You tried to avoid eye contact and instead glanced between your phone and your laptop as you didn't know what to say.

          As the scenario became more uncomfortable with each passing second, you moved your head away from her. Your fingers then made contact with the drink's glass once more, the sound of the ice clinking against one another as you did so. 

          Your muscles tensed at the motion, and your heartbeat quickened. 

          Why the hell am I getting nervous? I think it's just the coffee. Wait, am I palpitating already? I swear it's the coffee. Yeah, I wanna go back to my room already. As you rant about your current situation in your brain, all you could do was continue to bite your inner cheek.

          Your mother only hummed at your response and brought down her mug. Apparently, for her—she hasn't read the room yet like you as she continued to ask you question after question.

          “Have you eaten already? And wha—” She paused, taking a good look at you again. Her brows deeply furrowed. “—God, Y/N, fix your posture. It's not ladylike.” She scolded in disgust, eyeing the way you sat.

          She sighed in disappointment. “Your posture before was always so graceful. But now. . . you look like a shrimp. Sit straight, will you?”

          You instantly straightened your back, forced out a cough, and then, with your head still turned away, you turned just a little in her direction with the corners of your mouth forming a tight smile. You tried to ignore her nasty comment, not wanting to anger her early in the morning if you dared to talk back at her.

          She wasn't wrong, you knew that. In fact, you were even aware of how awful your posture had gotten since giving up dancing and no longer having the time to stretch since you knew you looked like a dead shrimp.

          This was one of the reasons why you didn't fancy having a chit-chat with your mother even though you live together because you were aware that it'll only end up with venomous words leaving her mouth about your appearance and how you shouldn't act like this and that.

          You felt like a robot.

          Really, you love your mother, but you disliked seeing this side of her.

          You bobbed your head in response to her first question, but since you couldn't find your chopsticks earlier, you had to use your fork to indicate your bowl of food.

          She then gave the bowl a quick glance before scoffing and giving you a glare.

          “ Really? At this early? Seriously, go eat some real food, Y/N. This is not healthy, you know? You're clearly gaining some weight and it shows. But don't forget to eat your food, okay? And take your vitamins too. I don't want you to starve yourself. I think there are some leftovers or food that your dad cooked for you that he left inside the fridge before he went to work. So go eat that or eat something else with rice,” she said, a hint of worriedness and demand in her voice.

          Before turning your head away from her once more, you pursed your lips into a thin line, doing everything in your power to keep her nagging from getting on your nerves. Your ears were constantly filled with her talk, which caused your leg to tremble anxiously beneath the table. You unconsciously hugged your stomach in response to her comments about your body, and a small frown started to form on your lips.

          Enough already, please. I just want to eat.

          So, what if you wanted to eat instant ramen early in the morning? You like it. You also like to eat healthy foods too, but it was somehow making you frustrated that she had to point it out. And after spending time alone inside your room and watching countless coming-of-age films, you come to realize it was already time for you to confront her about her treatment towards you, little by little. You didn't know if it was just you who experienced it, but you were aware that you have a rough relationship with your mother. Especially now in quarantine where you two are supposed to stay under the same roof and not leave the house.

          As you took a slow, deep breath, your eyes briefly closed. Your eyes then fluttered open and made direct contact with her as you finally mustered up the courage to do so.

          You raised your chin. “I think. . . I'm capable of eating what I want, anytime I want now, Mom.” You replied with a small smile, taking a deep breath after. Baby steps, Y/N. Baby steps.

          “This is my own body.”

          You had enough. You felt that it was time to quietly express to her how miserable she makes you feel about your own body. You hoped it was enough to convey to her that you were currently happy with how your body looked like. Initially, of course, it was a challenging process for you. But over time, no matter how grim your past was with food, with the help of the kind people on the internet, you started to learn how to love every part of your body.

          A few seconds passed, and your mother's gaze at you continued as she processed what you said. Your jaw clenched as you realized this was probably the first time you confronted her like this. Your breath hitched, feeling the pulse of your heart getting louder again as you saw how her eyes squinted at you—that familiar look she used to give you that makes your insides twist from the ghost of memories of your old self during competitions.

          In order to avoid dealing with the matter any longer, you broke eye contact. You got out of your chair and went to the counter to wash the bowl and utensils you used, your muscles remained tense as you sensed her stare on your back; the silence in the room was deafening.

          But then you heard her clear her throat.

          “Anyway,” she started again, trying to shift the topic to another one and completely ignoring what just happened.

          You turn your head again sideways just so she can know you were listening.

          “I know your school is online, but you're always on your phone and inside your room. You know, too much radiation is bad for you. And you don't even try to dance nor go outside for a walk anymore, so what do you even do all day except do school stuff, huh?”

          Her eyes were always keen and had constantly observed your actions whenever she saw you, which left her perplexed about why her only daughter decided to lock herself inside her room and not go outside. It was even a rare occasion for her to see you and have a chat like this nowadays. There were even many times she tried going in front of your door just to listen to what you were up to—without you knowing it of course.

          She would hear your voice which was either laughing or shouting echoing outside; like you were talking to someone, even though no one was inside your room but you and your dog sometimes.

          The last time she had a decent encounter with you was when you were begging for her to allow you to bleach your hair and dye it; which she didn't agree to at first. But after a few weeks of seeing you doing house chores and attending a single online dance class, she said yes.

          Sure, the government had advised everyone to stay at home as much as possible and to even practice social distancing—which your mother follows all those safety protocols whenever she leaves the house to do the groceries but you—God, it was just so rare for you to step outside as you never even tried to, whenever she tried bringing up the topic.

          “Don't you dare try to ignore me, young lady.” She pointed a finger at your figure in an attempt to threaten you. “Answer m—”

          “We're still in the middle of a pandemic, Mom.” You said through clenched teeth, balling your fists as you knew where this was going. “There's no need to go out and have fun when people are dying out there.”

          You stood up and gathered your things, deciding it was finally time to go back to your room. Your face was hardened as you moved, glancing up at her, you raised a brow as the corners of your mouth slightly turned up, “Remember. . . ? Social distancing and stuff?”

          Your mom was left speechless at your reply.

          You exhaled at her expression and tilted your head slightly towards your door. “Anyway, I think I need to go back already since. . . classes will start soon again,” you said in a tense voice, opening your phone to check at the time. You bid goodbye to your mother and called your dog to follow you.

          As you left, she sighed in defeat, squeezing her eyes shut and pinching the bridge of her nose in utter silence after she watched you leave and retrieve to your room. She had a feeling deep inside her that this you right now wasn't the daughter she used to raise years ago. You weren't the type of child to talk back or make a say about her actions, and most of all, disobey her. She's your mother, after all.

          She's just having a hard time. She tried telling herself. But it's almost a year after that for her to grieve so long like this.

          No, maybe it was just teenage angst. Are teenagers these days act like this? Surely you were just trying to experience a teenage phase for you to behave like this, right? Her shoulders slumped as another sigh escaped her lips. Why are teenagers so hard to deal with? She raises her head again to gaze at your door. Just what happened to you exactly?

To be continued . . .

⬅ prev chapter ┊ next chapter ➡

[fluffalpenguin]

⬅[Prev] Day 1: Introductions

@ygoc-week Day 2: Family

There's a bit of Day 1 mixed in here because I'm dropping a bunch of context i.e. background for them, yay!!

Everything started because I thought to myself, "haha wouldn't it be funny to have a pair of ARC-V OCs that are Fusion/Xyz Enemies to Lovers where the Fusion guy got (rightfully) beat up so badly he's traumatised and post-canon he ends up working at the same place as the guy that whooped him so badly he stopped being a war criminal and so he spends the next few months hiding behind pillars in the LDS lift lobby to avoid bumping into him?"

Having never known their parents, Fuschia is both older brother and de facto guardian for his two siblings, roles that he carry out with pride and joy. Part of why he worked so hard at carding people during the war was due to a monetary bounty the Professor had offered, hoping to use it for the benefit of his siblings. (He also loves money)

He always makes sure to return to the Fusion Dimension by nightfall, so he can prepare dinner and help the twins with their homework. Basically he's the ultimate malewife <3

"Look at the face on this one!"

Fuschia's big brother levels are too high, so he extends his aura to anyone he meets, including an Obelisk Force member dressed in all-white that insists on working alone that he keeps coming across while wandering in a certain part of the Xyz dimension. The two eventually strike up a bond and sometimes spend their down-time comparing their catch of the day.

Fuschia used to be in Obelisk Blue, but when his siblings came home crying one day after being bullied for being placed into Slifer Red, he swapped jackets the next day. Recognising that his precious little sister and brother could not possibly thrive in the harsh meritocratic system of Academia, Fuschia started to lay plans for emigration to another, more kinder dimension.

He was doing pretty well too, until...

The Vedelle siblings used to be a trio as well, but Viol and Arte only had each other left after the waves stole their youngest sibling (Noelle, belonging to @shshshotsz) in a tragic incident.

The two spend their weekends at the beach after the incident, hunting down the prettiest shell "to give to Noelle when we see her again!" as their younger sibling had been hunting for seashells that fateful day.

Unbeknowst to Arte, Noelle had been looking for a seashell that day after a comment Viol had made about Arte resembling one, and she had wished to present it to her older sister as a birthday gift.

When the sun sets, Viol and Arte toss the shell back into the ocean.

Arte was then carded around the start of the war and spent most of it as a card in Viol's possession, who carried her everywhere even as he hunted down Fusion soldiers that had wandered off by themselves as he demanded for answers on how to turn her back.

Little did he know he was in for an unexpected reunion when he volunteered to find and take down the rumoured Fusion soldier dressed in white that was single-handedly decimating their forces...

Post-canon is hijinks time, because the two end up being the teacher for the other's siblings!

After a series of events and happenstance, the two get reacquainted (highlights include Viol barely even remembering who Fuschia is because Fusion rats are all the same to him and Noelle asking Fuschia to give her driving lessons, etc) and eventually the two families come together and fuse overlay this joke is not working assimilate into one, with the Vedelles frequently going over to the Lents for Fuschia's homecooking.

(To be continued in Day 4: Relationships)

➞[Next] Day 3: Decks

[ink-flavored]

Reworking Justice

BTS Series: ⬅ Table of Contents - Introducing the Antagonists ➡ Also available on Neocities! P&J Taglist (Check out my Google form to get added): @elegant-paper-collection @auroblaze@zeenimf @vacantgodling @foxys-fantasy-tales Banner art by @auroblaze

There can be no evil without good, no Hell without Heaven, and no demon without an angel. Last time, I took you through my process of developing Pride’s new appearance and personality. Today, we’re going to do the same with Justice.

I won’t rehash everything I said in that post, but the long story short is I need to make original-Justice a distinct entity, in both appearance and personality, from fanfiction-Justice in order for the rest of the story to work. I’ll be documenting the process I went through to get from Point A to Point B, taking you through my thought process as a creative and discussing the changes I made.

In hindsight, I don’t think the outfit I chose completely fits his personality. I hadn’t come up with his personal style, so I’ll cut my past self some slack and pretend they’re his church clothes.

The first thing that’s obviously different is that I’ve made this Justice Black instead of Egyptian, which is a choice I made deliberately (I’ll get into it). I gave him long dreadlocks because they require a lot of maintenance and care, which is already a good indicator that he’s neat and dedicates himself. I also wanted to compare and contrast him with Pride as much as possible—they both keep their hair half-up, for example, but Justice has a neat bun and Pride has a messy ponytail. I gave him freckles on a whim, but since Heaven is in the sky, close to the sun and God, it makes for a cool “kissed by the sun/touched by God” symbol. The tiny wings and halo were the only angelic details available, and not at all what I had in mind, but they’re cute, so I included them. The apple was a little bit of wink-nudge for his role in the story—the Forbidden Fruit, disobeying God—since he abandons Heaven to help a demon escape his death sentence.

So, addressing that switch in ethnicity. Pride & Justice is going to take place in America, because I’m American and I know how to write it better, and will include explicit criticism of American Evangelical Christianity, among other things. However, I do want to make sure I’m not childishly positing that all religion is inherently bad, on purpose or on accident. Not all religions are Christianity, and a lot of Christians in America are not Evangelical, and demographically speaking, Black Americans are one of the most devout populations in the country. It would be extremely disingenuous of me not to include them in this conversation I’m having about the ways the (majority white) Evangelicals cause harm, because while their most obvious target these days is queer and trans people, it’s well known that they harm many people of color with their rhetoric too. I knew from the beginning I wanted to address this, and Justice is how I’m going to do that.

I chose him because there aren’t enough Black angels in media, and far, far too many Black demons—the reasons I’m not continuing that trend are, I hope, obvious. Justice deliberately leaves Heaven at the beginning of the story because of the harm it’s causing to innocent people (unjustly, one might say), but he remains devout from start to finish, finding his own path and using his faith to try and make things better. It’s going to be character building for him, and it’s going to be me gesturing to the fact that Evangelicals are choosing to act the way they do, and you can make different choices that don’t harm people. And finally, while a lot of queer people have divested from religion for plenty of very good reasons, not all of them do. There are plenty of religious queer people, and that reality is very often ignored or treated as strange—or worse, a betrayal. It’s not something that should be dismissed, especially because it harms a lot of already vulnerable people, closing them off from a community that’s supposed to be there for them.

Justice won’t be the only character who represents this position, of course. On Earth, he attends a Black church, and there will be multiple side characters in the form of his friends (including an overlap with Pride’s friends), regular church-goers, people he volunteers with, things like that. This means I will be doing a lot of research about historically Black churches, the people who attend them, and the communities they build. And hiring a sensitivity reader, but that won’t happen until I have a manuscript.

Onto some other details! I decided not to go with the traditional floating donut-shaped halo. Instead, a halo is a ring of light always shining behind the angel’s head—no matter which way they turn, it’s like a bright spotlight is hitting them from the other side, eternally glowing. I also love wings, so massive wings are also a required factor. I’ve thrown around the idea of making each angel have different shaped wings based on their role. So, for example, Justice is part of Heaven’s army, defending the Kingdom of God. His wings would be elliptical, the best shape for control and maneuverability, so he can fight in the air.

Like I mentioned in Pride’s post, this body belongs to Justice and Justice alone. Unlike the fanfiction, this version of the story gives them their own bodies that they always look like. It makes more sense for the rest of the story, and saves me the headache of having to come up with a reason why he’d even need to do that in the first place.

Next, his personality. I’m going to come right out and say I don’t think my depiction of fanfiction-Justice was in the best taste. While I was taking inspiration from the canon arc of Atem in Yu-Gi-Oh! where he develops a less vindictive sense of justice and learns compassion, I also recognize that making a Middle Eastern man be angry, violent, and be super ready to kill in the name of God is not a good depiction at all, and I should have been able to recognize that while I was writing it. So that’s totally on me.

Because of that mistake, I’m being extremely conscious about how I characterize Justice in the rework, considering that Black men have similarly dangerous stereotypes regarding violence, anger, and aggression. Not to mention that if I kept him exactly the same, I would be writing a white character explaining to a Black character why he shouldn’t be violent. That definitely falls into White Savior bullshit, as well as a lot of worse racism, so that needed to change right away.

The first thing I considered when making this change was what Justice’s role in Heaven would actually be. He’s the embodiment of God’s justice, the things that God has determined is right and wrong, what people deserve and what they don’t. He’s basically a holy lawyer, knowing all the ins and outs of what is worth forgiving and what isn’t. Justice has a very strong moral code—he was created for it—but is ultimately very kind. Love thy neighbor is one of God’s most absolute laws, after all, so it would only be just to love often and unconditionally. He’s quick to offer aid and forgiveness, above and beyond what’s required of him.

When it comes to the punishment aspect of his job, Justice only moves to enact it if it falls under the rules God has set out. This is also a point of tension for him. Justice seems to be the only angel in all of Heaven who thinks killing Pride would be unreasonably cruel—he’s a demon, but he’s ferrying one of God’s children, one that belongs in Heaven. Despite his protests that smiting Pride would be unjust, even if he’s a demon, nobody else cares.

EDITOR’S NOTE: I know I said that the soul Pride has with him is “supposed” to be in Heaven, but I’m changing it to be a little more ambiguous—with a reason! Justice will defend this soul that may not belong in Heaven, he would defend even the worst of humanity, because the right to a just life doesn’t discriminate on whether you’re a good or bad person. This is another reason he doesn’t get along with a ton of angels, which I’ll get into right now.

In that way, Justice is the odd one out among his angelic brethren. He follows his moral code—God’s moral code, that he was created to serve—almost too well, against the interests of the structure of Heaven as an institution. The other angels are happy to follow along, turn a blind eye to the way they might be hurting innocent people by mistake, but Justice isn’t. A lot of his superiors dislike him for that, and he’s had plenty of arguments with them about his ideas. Fortunately for Justice, he loves a good, healthy debate, and arguing his point in good faith is like a fun puzzle. Ironically, his opponents are hardly ever arguing in good faith.

Because Justice is basically purpose-built to serve God and follow the rules, he’s very paranoid about being perfect. Following God’s commands to the letter is all he knows, and retribution from Heaven is swift if he ever steps out of line. For centuries, he hasn’t been allowed to make a mistake, so when he gets to Earth after breaking a ton of those Heavenly rules… he has a bit of a crisis!

This is where his main character arc comes in. The ingrained dogma Justice was trained under, to follow the word of God to the letter with no exceptions, is at odds with his purpose of deciding what’s right and wrong. Through the course of the story, he develops his own sense of justice, still based on God’s word, but with the caveat that he will do what’s right and just before what’s ”correct.”

My wonderful girlfriend, AuroBlaze, helped me once again to solidify Justice’s final character design. While not shown here, another silly idea got added to his design. I’m taking inspiration from Good Omens for this story (you should read it if you haven’t), and I wanted to give a little nod to Aziraphale’s bookshop by having Justice attend a book club semi-regularly throughout the story. As a joke, I mentioned Justice would probably think humans with reading glasses were so cute that he’d get some for himself—even though his vision is perfect, and he’d have no reason to ever need glasses. I made it canon because not only is it adorable and hilarious, it also demonstrates Justice’s genuine love for humanity. He adores God’s children and wants to do right by them—which is why leaving Heaven was so hard. He thought Heaven was doing right by humanity, and was faced with stunning evidence to the contrary.

[Tumblr version] [Instagram version]

Welcome to the world, Justice! You’re such a sweetheart, I promise that sharing your existence with Pride won’t be exhausting forever.

Here are a few more fun facts I want to mention before the end of this post: Justice, like Pride, can choose to show or hide his wings, but his halo is on forever. It glows by absorbing nearby light, so it’s automatically dim in the dark because there’s no light for it to use. He also has his flaming wheel of fire and eyes form, but he doesn’t use it very often and can’t partially transform like Pride can. What he can do is summon a holy sword whenever he wants, as well as play a really sick harp solo.

Like last time, I won’t leave his queerness merely implied—Justice is bisexual, and it will be stated in-text without room for debate. This time, though, Justice has been kind enough to let me know he’s cis! So I don’t have a second Mystery Gender situation on my hands, though I do consider Justice’s cis-ness to be as important as any other aspect of him. Having a cis Black man be unabashedly gentle and kind, while still giving him the capacity to be angry without making it his entire personality, is something I’m trying to do on purpose in this story. Men of any race have trouble being depicted as soft and sweet, and men of color especially risk any show of negative emotion branding them as dangerous or predatory, and I want to do my best not to perpetuate those harmful ideas here. There are trans Black characters in the story, because I’m definitely not leaving that gaping hole of representation missing, but creating a spectrum is my ultimate goal.

Another huge post for you all! I invite any comments about anything I’m doing here, because it requires a lot of stepping outside my comfort zone, a million hours of research, and fucking up a few dozen times before I get it right.

Thanks for your support, and see you next time for more Behind The Scenes action!

— Annika

[from-nobody-to-nightmare]

Chapter 3: Amongst the Roses

“Most of the successful people I've known are the ones who do more listening than talking." Bernard Barugh

Flat on my back I felt myself regain consciousness. Pawing at the ground below me gave way to the soft crunch and the earthy scent of grass. I opened my eyes to a red-tinted sky with a precariously glowing pentagram hanging in the sky. “Huh, First time I noticed that,” I whispered. Taking a deep breath I noticed an all too familiar afterscent. It wasn’t as bad as before but it reminded me of well water with its eggy potency. “Ugh… Fart Water.” I muttered as I sat up already exhausted from the misadventure before. Whatever I was trying to think of next grew to a halt as I stared down my legs in disbelief. “I have hooves!?”

I exclaimed my eyes wide in shock as I looked at my new feet for the first time. I patted up and down my deep grey legs to feel if they were actually mine. “I don’t remember being so plush.”, as I patted down my thighs. There was a bit more cushion than I remembered. I peeked under the top of my gown to find a jungle of …. Fuzz? Was it hair? Was it fur?.... What was I covered in? I leaned back only to feel a pinch. “Ow.” I stood up quickly twisting around and grabbing whatever was behind me; I yipped, “Ow!” again followed by an after bleat. It was a tail! It was soft and fluffy and as long as my forearm. I facepalmed “Why did I do that again, and when did this happen!?”  A deep sigh of resignation left me as I dusted myself off. 

Turning around I saw a well-kept stone brick path a few steps away from where I was. Glancing in both directions I weighed my options and decided to go right with my bare hooves clicking against the pavement. Honestly, I don’t know how much it would have mattered; but at least it was a lot nicer than the hellscape I left behind, at least I hope it was. It felt too strange to be real. I grew uneasy at that thought and hugged my arms into my chest as my eyes scanned my surroundings. “Roses…” I whispered; They looked so lovely even under the trees, and the trees. Their branches lightly touched forming a tunneling canopy, it was like out of a fairytale It was a while before I saw a lamp post with direction signs and a bench. I looked at the arrow signs quizzically.

Cannibal Town➡ 

⬅ Doomsday District 

“Hmmm…. Such appealing choices.” I muttered to myself in a voice laced with sarcasm.  I huffed in frustration as I sat on the bench to gather my thoughts on what to do. 

I need new clothes, this hospital gown isn’t cutting it. Then the self-questioning came in cascades; but where would I go? Judging by the signs there must be civilization close by, but how would I pay? Well, I could work it off, but how? My mind went in circles as I became increasingly lost in thought. 

“Pardon me, young miss; thee seemeth to be woefully underdressed; are thou perhaps a mistress of the evening? If’t be true thou hath chosen quite a poor location for thy trade?”, a quizzaciously spooky, and reverberating voice spoke from beside me. My rear hopped a little in my seat as I was taken aback by what looked like a tall thin man with a wry smile; all dressed in black with a glowing spider on their chest and a very tall, patchy hat. Still baffled by our first interaction, and trying really, really hard not to think about the spider I looked up and stated the obvious,“ You have a very tall hat.” That smile became a look of bemusement followed by a rather polite chuckle at that response. “Ha, ha; never in all mine years in the underworld I had not expected an answer quite like so; do you not fear me, child?” In my dazed expression, I uttered, “ I’m sorry?; am I supposed to?” He took out a hand from underneath his cloak and placed a long curled finger onto his chin “A more forceful reception is more oft more commonplace, yes.” A sheepish smile took over my face, “ Apologies then; I’m feeling rather overwhelmed at the moment, I think there may be some delay.”

“Quite alright child; though I usually elicit more screams with mine visage; yet here thou art so placid in expression”, he slyly grinned looking down at me as he leaned down. “Tell me, what has thy mind so engrossed that all becomes an afterthought.” Getting  a better view of his face I blurted out, “Wow, you have a lot of eyes.” Then I immediately facepalmed in embarrassment,” Ahh…Jeez.” His chortling continued.  I hung my head low in my hands muffling mournfully, “Keep laughing if you must, it’s not going to change anything. I felt like my worst fears had already come to pass. I had died, and now I am forever disconnected from all I have ever known; now I’m lost in what seems to be a realm of perpetual nightmares.…. Though this area feels nicer than where I woke up last.” 

He paused to catch his breath, “ It may not have been what I initially expected; but thy pained countenance has certainly brought joy to mine soul, young lady.” I peeked my eyes between my fingers dolefully with my mouth still muffled, “ You’re welcome I suppose; it’s not like I could save face anyways.” He gave a relaxed smile to counter my dejected face, “Regardless of our initial introduction….. Might I enquire as to what brought you here?”, He said leaning towards my ear. 

“What brought me where? The park?” I  quickly shrugged as I looked to and fro and then at him again.

“Hmm… Yes and no; perhaps I lacked clarity. What I meant to enquire is; What hath brought you to the realm of eternal damnation, little lamb?

My face twisted in slight annoyance, “Little lamb?” I quickly shrugged off that comment. I gripped the edge of the bench to steady myself as I leaned back and took a deep breath to gather my thoughts. A forlorn sigh left me, as I opened my eyes to look up at a blood-red sky, “ That’s what I’d like to know too….”

“Hmm?” he looked at me rather puzzled as I continued, “ I mean, I know I died in the operating room. I understand that, but I arrived at Heaven’s Gates only to be denied because my name wasn’t in some book. Then they dropped me like a bag of rocks over a waterfall, and I ended up kissing the ground at what felt like Mach 4. The next thing I knew, I woke up at what was ostensibly a nightmare junkyard with a migraine headache, only to be hunted by a pack of marauders. I was still awake when I got away, and then everything went dark after I heard a truck pass. After I came to I found myself in the grass somewhere around here.” 

“My that was quite the misadventure. I have never been so close to the gates of paradise to see them for mine own; care to tell me more?”, he replied.

I huffed sadly turning away from the sky to stare at my now cloven feet. Trying to concentrate again I pinched the bridge of my nose attempting to recall what I saw. “Ehhhh…. Let’s see…. Lots of clouds, a golden path leading up to a gilded podium, and massively ostentatious golden gates behind that. There was also a winged man who in my opinion felt rife with false sincerity. At least that’s how he felt when he couldn’t find my name. If putting everyone else before me out of love could not get me in; why even send me there in the first place? What do they so callously measure souls by? Ugh... just the thought of it all makes me feel so angry….” I furrowed my brow, “....and betrayed.” It was the first time since I arrived in hell that I got a chance to reflect on everything that transpired. I closed my eyes as they began to water trying to fight back the tears.

______________________________________________________________

**Authors note:

Hello everyone Author here. I don't know if I got this right, and I know that this chapter seems to cut off short, but the cut-off is on purpose because I felt that perspective switches work better in their own chapters. So far most of the story has been in first person i.e. inside looking out. The next chapter is supposed to be outside looking in. Again sorry if it feels weird; I've never tried this before.

[saiacross]

Bonus Chapter 5: Surprise! : 1,210 : Series: Reader-Insert

This Work is part of an overarching story that can be read as a one-shot with little overlapping information from other chapters.

⬅ Chapter 25 A Watery Grave💜 Chapter 26: TBD ➡ Master List

Bonus Chapter 5: Surprise! After a case goes sideways the trio finds themselves in what Dean thought was a normal late-night bar. However, when the lights go out and the stage is lit up, Y/N decides to take control of the night's proceedings, and much to her delight she succeeds.

Dean shifted the Impala into the park, and the engine's hum gradually faded into silence. With a weary sigh, Dean leaned back, letting the tension escape his body.

Sam, sitting beside him, observed with an amused yet tired grin and asked, "You good?"

Dean responded with a gruff shake of his head, scratching the back of his head. "Dude, I don't get it. How do we go from hunting down a few vamps to babysitting a bunch of rugrats?"

Sam chuckled, recognizing Dean's knack for handling kids and the unique sparkle in his eyes when he did. Sam finally replied, "We didn't know they were abducting kids, and we couldn't just leave them out there."

Abruptly, Y/N's head popped up from the back seat. She had been lying down, but now she gracefully draped herself over the front seat between the brothers. "Don't act like you didn't enjoy yourself. I've seen the way you whipped those kids into shape; you had fun."

Dean's lips curled into a small smile as he reminisced about the kids – scared, confused, and on the verge of tears. They stared up at the three adults who had just decapitated their abductors. Sam, Dean, and Y/N hadn't initially noticed the group of seven kids huddled in a corner of the old house until it was too late. Stunned and uncertain about what to do next, the trio stood before the kids until Dean crouched down to their level.

Addressing the kids, Dean inquired if they knew who Batman was. All the children nodded in agreement, prompting Dean to spin a quick tale about the bad guys being part of Joker's crew of clowns, and they were sent there by Batman to save them. A brave child spoke up, expressing a preference for Superman. In an effort not to discourage the child, Dean muttered, "Yeah, well, it's okay to be wrong."

Dean then encouraged the kids to leave the house in an orderly line, guiding them through a casual discussion about their favorite superheroes as if he knew each one personally. Meanwhile, Sam and Y/N took charge of calling the police to report the situation and ensure the kids' safety.

Y/N patted Dean's shoulder, rousing him from his thoughts. She declared, "You'll make a good dad one day. But first, food." With that, Y/N exited the Impala, leaving Dean slightly baffled. He turned to Sam, seeking confirmation that he had indeed heard Y/N correctly. Sam just offered a grin, patting Dean on the shoulder before making his way out of the car.

Dean followed suit, and the trio strolled into the bar. The scent of something sweet lingered in the air as they located a high-top table in the dimly lit establishment.

Y/N couldn't help but ask, "Why is it so dark?" Dean, taking his seat, retorted, "Hey, don't complain. This was the only place open this late."

Sam looked around as he took his seat and commented, "Better than nothing, I guess." Just then, the waiter approached, a slight lisp in his speech as he inquired about their drink orders. Dean, engrossed in the menu, barely registered the waiter eyeing him up and down as he simply asked for a round of beers.

The man bit his lip before muttering, "Ay Papi," and walking away.

All three at the table slowly looked up, Sam and Y/N sporting grins as they exchanged glances. Dean, maintaining his tough exterior, pointed at both Sam and Y/N sternly, declaring, "Not. A. Word."

However, Y/N couldn’t contain her giggle, letting out strained laughter as she mimicked the waiter, "Ay Papiii," drawing out the last syllable. This sent Sam into a fit of laughter alongside her.

Amidst their laughter and Dean's exhaustion of the situation Sam, keenly aware of the returning waiter, nudged Y/N to compose herself. Y/N stifled her laughter just in time for the waiter to place their drinks on the table. As the waiter favored Dean once more with a sly comment, "Enjoy the show," and a wink, he sauntered away, leaving Dean to awkwardly nod and smile.

With the waiter out of sight, the ambient lighting in the bar dramatically dimmed to near darkness, music permeated the air from strategically placed speakers, and three spotlights illuminated a stage that had been concealed until now. Dean, Sam, and Y/N turned their attention to the stage.

As the heavy curtains gracefully parted, they revealed five remarkably sculpted men, clad only in loose gray sweatpants. The room was hushed with anticipation as the men took their positions. Then, with a seamless synchronization, the performers began to dance, their movements a fusion of elegance and sensuality. The sweatpants clung to their well-defined physiques, leaving very little to the imagination as they fluidly moved across the stage, casting a spell on the captivated audience.

The atmosphere in the dimly lit bar shifted as the unexpected show unfolded on stage. Dean and Sam, their expressions mirroring a mix of surprise and uncertainty, exchanged a quick glance laden with unspoken questions. Sam's eyes silently inquired why they ended up in such a place, and Dean responded with a shrug and shake of his head, indicating he had no idea about the establishment's unique offerings.

Their attention then turned to Y/N, who seemed entirely unfazed by the situation. Her eyes were fixed on the dancers, an amused smirk playing on her lips. When she noticed the brothers looking at her, she met their gaze with a mischievous shrug, raising her beer in a mock toast.

"Happy Birthday to me," she declared, savoring the unexpected turn of events. Dean rolled his eyes, a subtle shake of his head expressing his bemusement, while Sam couldn't help but chuckle at Y/N's carefree enjoyment. Though the brothers appeared out of their element, they chose to remain, recognizing that Y/N was enjoying the unconventional entertainment.

Y/N observed the two brothers as they sat quietly, one with a tight jaw and clenched fists; Dean, the other shifting uncomfortably in his seat trying his best to occupy himself with his beer; Sam. She could see their growing frustration as they kept it in mind but tried not to look at the men on stage performing for the attention of their date.

With a mischievous glint in her eye, Y/N subtly studied each brother's reaction, knowing exactly what button to push, she already had a plan for tonight and was confident in her ability to make it happen.

Amidst the rhythmic movements of the dancers, Dean's voice cut through the air, his curiosity getting the better of him, "Hey, is today actually your birthday?" Y/N's smirk widened as she leaned back in her seat, taking a deliberate sip of her beer before responding with nothing more than a sly wink. The cryptic acknowledgment lingered in the air, leaving both Sam and Dean exchanging glances once again, engaged in their silent communication.

It wasn't until Sam's lips curved into a half-smile, half-smirk that Y/N knew she had successfully asserted her influence. The unspoken victory played out in the exchanged looks between the brothers, and Y/N couldn't help but relish in the satisfaction of successfully directing the rest of the night's events in her desired favor.

Oh, what a night it would be.

End Chapter.

This is the Female Reader-Insert Version of my Story, please consider taking a look at the Original with my OFC Saia.

Please comment & 💜

[empresskylo]

beneath the mask ✩ chapter 12 ⬅ch.11

➠𝐌𝐃𝐍𝐈; 𝟏𝟖+ 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐓; 𝐄𝐗𝐏𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐈𝐓 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐓 ➠SIMON "GHOST" RILEY X AFAB!READER ➠CHAPTER TAGS | wc 3.5k ➠AUTHOR'S NOTE | i am sooooooooo sorry if this seems ooc for ghost. i wanted to write him acting more empathetic while also maintaining his cold demeanor. i think some people tend to write him one way or the other and so i tried to balance it a bit more to be realistic. but if this felt ooc for ghost im so sorry!! feedback is appreciated so i can improve upcoming chapters! &lt;3

𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 ✩ 𝐜𝐨𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 ✩ 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭

the startling realization that you were sleeping in simon’s room is what woke you up that following morning. you sat up in his bed, the covers falling away from your chest, and you noticed he was gone. it was strange how this was the second time you shared a bed—completely platonically—with him and he was m.i.a. come morning.

you tried not to think too deeply about it, not wanting to get your feelings hurt even more than they already were. you were able to put what had happened between the two of you in the back of your mind yesterday, squishing down his words that hurt you so badly. 

you looked good in your dress. that’s all. m’sorry.

but that was yesterday. that was when he was the first face you saw after thinking you were about to be tortured. the face that rescued you. that was when he carried you back to base, his arms around you like a safety blanket. when he was the sense of security you desperately needed. when you felt like you needed him. 

this morning, your mind was far clearer. you even realized how stupid you were to let simon be that person for you when johnny was right there. 

you scurried from his room, still draped in his shirt, and made it back to your own. you told yourself you would visit the infirmary today, not for work, but to get yourself checked out. you weren’t hurt too badly, nothing that couldn’t heal with a little time. but still, you should really get checked over. and you were sure laswell or price would want to have a word with you about everything that happened. 

before you even managed to shift through your thoughts, johnny was at your door.

“how’re ya feelin’?” 

you grabbed your toiletries bag and spun to face to scot. “i’m okay.”

he gave you a once over. “are you sure?” he said a bit softer.

you gave him a gentle smile. “don’t worry, i’m just going to shower. then straight to the infirmary to get checked out.” you gave him a mock salute. 

johnny shook his head as he followed you out your door and down the hall towards the showers. “no, not that.” you glanced at him. “well, no, of course i wanted to make sure you were gonna be seen by a medic, but i was referring to the… psychological side of things.”

you laughed at his phrasing. “i’ll be okay, johnny. seriously. i mean, i know what happened terrified me and hasn’t left my thoughts since, but i could be a lot worse.” you were trying to make light of the situation. and while johnny understood that all too well, he still wasn’t convinced you were truly back to normal just a day after your kidnapping. 

you were taken a bit back. for once, soap didn’t seem to appreciate your humor. “and with ghost?” 

you almost dropped your bag, stumbling in your steps. “w-what about him?” 

“i saw him carrying you into base. the way ya clung to him. i just want t’make sure you’re okay.” his eyes trailed the shirt you were wearing—'swimming in' was more accurate—knowing it wasn't yours, but ghost's.

you sighed before spinning to face him. you wanted to make this very clear to soap: “he was the first person i saw. he was the one i saw close on my tail when i was trapped in that truck. he was the face who barged into that room after slaughtering men, pulling me out of that hole. i think i was just overwhelmed and felt like i needed him . y’know… a safety thing. but that has passed. i’m fine. fine .” soap raised a brow, not quite believing you. “nothing happened,” you said a bit bashful, noticing the way soap was staring at you like he thought more had gone down last night, and wearing ghost's shirt sure wasn't helping. “he just kept me company so i could fall asleep without thinking about…” your words trailed off. “point is, i appreciate you looking out for me, but i’m okay. i won’t let him…” a beat of silence passed as you looked for the words. “i won’t read things wrong again.” the sentence was a struggle to get out; like ash on your tongue.

you could see the concern on johnny’s face, so before he could protest and pry more, you slipped into the women’s showers so he couldn’t follow.

after showering and visiting the infirmary—-yes, you have been cleared—-you were making your way to price’s office. you assumed laswell would be there as well. 

you adjusted your black shirt as you strolled the halls, careful to not move in any way that would hurt your sore ribs. you walked past the gym, peeking in to see if you could spot gaz, surprised he hadn’t come to see you yet, and you almost choked on your spit.

you spotted simon—- ghost—- across the room in workout gear, addressing a new recruit. you hadn’t recognized her but you knew there were new recruits coming in this week so you assumed her to be one of them. 

you tried to pull your eyes away, but they were latched on to the tall brute and the shorter woman beside him. ghost hunched over slightly as he spoke to her and you saw her smile. her hand reached out and touched his arm softly and you felt your fists clench. 

ghost wasn’t yours . 

he was barely even your friend. he could flirt with whoever he wanted. it shouldn’t matter to you. and you knew you were overreacting. who's to say they were flirting? you hadn’t known ghost to be the best charmer, so why would he all of a sudden be cozying up to a woman he only just met?

soap’s words popped into your head: come to think of it. i don’t think i’ve known ghost to have hooked up with anyone since i’ve met the bastard.

all these rational thoughts and yet you ignored them. all you felt was a pang in your gut as you watched him instruct her, testing her skills, his hand lingering on her hip a bit too long. his eyes locked on hers. 

you didn’t feel any tears welling—so that was an improvement—all you felt was disappointment. ghost was emotionally unavailable. he also explicitly said he didn’t want you. this fantasy you had of him in your head was purely that: a fantasy. 

you had thought maybe he felt differently with the way his eyes traced your curves last night in the light of the bathroom. that maybe him letting you see him with his mask off was him letting you in. that he wanted to form some sort of relationship with you even if it was foreign to him.

but all of those thoughts went out the door. there were so many reasons why it would never work between the two of you. seeing him with that woman wasn’t what made you feel that way. all it did was remind you of the reality of your situation.

you sulked into price’s office, the smell of cigars filling your nose.

price’s warm greeting, his gentle smile, and his all-over fatherly presence set you back at ease. 

when laswell entered, her soothing hand on your shoulder reminded you that you could live so fucking easily without ghost. you had a family here. and while you had hoped to let ghost become one of those people to you, it wasn’t the end of the world by any means if he didn’t.

a week had passed and you had resorted to pretending like anything private that ever happened between you and ghost had never occurred. you weren’t going to sulk over him any longer. you thought he was attractive. that was it. you hooked up once and it didn’t work out. you were an adult, you could move on. 

you laughed animatedly at soap, grabbing his arm in your fit. ghost spotted you across the training room, your laughter floating over into his space, pissing him off.

he expected you to have wanted to talk to him after that night in his room. but you never did. you never sought him out. never came by to let him know everything at the infirmary checked out okay. granted, he never came after you either. 

he got up when he saw you leaving and followed you out the door. 

“iaso,” he called.

you stopped and spun to face him, smiling. “what’s up, lt.?” 

ghost was a bit taken aback by your friendly demeanor. not that you weren’t a friendly person, but you were acting oddly like nothing ever happened. like ghost hadn’t pulled you into his arms a week ago, his chest pounding and his arms shaking as he held you.

“jus’ wanted to see if you were okay,” he said dumbly.

“all good. don’t worry, i’ve been cleared to be back to work.” you smiled then turned and walked away.

ghost had never been left so dumbfounded before. he cracked his knuckles in annoyance.

you seemed to be ignoring him. 

whenever ghost entered a room you were in, you’d leave. he saw you linking arms with soap as you walked the halls, never meeting ghost’s eyes. he knew soap was visiting you in the infirmary on your breaks and he always seemed awkward when it came up between them. you even managed to get out of a poker session where ghost was present. you had stood up the second he walked into that room, calling it a night and tossing your cards in the middle of the table.

“she’s ignoring me,” ghost huffed as he shuffled through the dossiers on his desk. he was acting like he had any claim over you. like he had a right to your friendship.

“who?” soap asked. ghost looked up and glared at his friend. “i think you give yourself too much credit. she’s not ignoring you, lt. she’s just accepted your rejection and moved on with her life.”

“i didn’t reject her.”

soap rolled his eyes. “you really wanna go down that road?” 

ghost mumbled in annoyance as he stared at the words on the paper before him. 

“didn’t think you’d care, if i’m being honest.”

ghost glared at soap, waiting for him to elaborate since he clearly wanted to further this conversation.

“ her opinion of you ,” soap clarified. “you made it pretty clear you wanted nothing from her, so i just assumed that meant you wouldn’t be bothered by her ignoring you n’all.” 

ghost tapped his pen on his desk. “so she is ignoring me, then.”

“i didn’t say that.”

ghost knew he couldn’t fight logistics with soap, with soap being… soap and all. “we have actual shit t’go over. important intel before we depart friday.” 

soap slipped into the chair in front of ghost’s desk. “you started it.” 

“i didn’t—- bloody hell ,” he grumbled rubbing his hand over his face. soap tried to hold back his smirk. 

“y’know she’s coming with us,” soap said, referencing the mission soon to happen in the coming days based on the information the men had acquired from valeria. 

“well aware,” ghost said flatly. 

the idea of you being forced to be in ghost’s proximity tomorrow, knowing you couldn’t avoid it like you had been, made his chest swell slightly. he didn’t want to admit this to himself, but he wanted you to want him. desperately . and hearing soap talk about you, always seeing the two of you together, ghost felt like he was pushing you straight into his friend’s arms. 

he should have been okay with that. whether he found you attractive or not, he shouldn’t have felt jealous when he saw you with soap. he’s found plenty of women attractive, and plenty of them were involved with someone else. that usually didn’t bother ghost at all. he was fine admiring pretty ladies knowing they would never be his. he didn’t want them to be his. so this resentment he was feeling towards soap was new to him. 

he unclenched his fist. 

“jus’ wanna make sure you’re gonna behave yourself,” soap chimed. 

“christ, johnny. i’m not—”

soap cut him off. “i’m serious, lt. i know i don’t have this kind of authority, but she doesn’t deserve whatever it is that's going on inside your twisted head.” soap gestured widely at ghost, implying he was all sorts of messed up. “i’d die protecting her. and if it means i’d have to die in your clutches, then so be it.”

ghost refrained from rolling his eyes and soap’s dramatics. though, he did admire soap’s loyalty. 

shifting the conversation away from you, ghost debriefed soap on prep for the coming mission, letting him know— almost —everything planned. 

it was late when ghost spotted you. you didn’t see him as he stalked you around the bend of the hallway.

finally, you were alone. not linking arms with soap or laughing with gaz. you were alone as you walked through the halls of the barracks. if you had known ghost would have spotted you, you would have likely stayed in your room. but you had no idea the masked man was trailing behind you. 

ghost hadn't been planning on talking to you, irate by the way you’ve been ignoring him, but when he saw you, his feet moved on their own accord. the hall lights flickered, creating an ominous glow. he surmised you were heading back to the infirmary even though he knew your shift was already over. maybe you forgot something?

and then one of ghost’s steps was a tad too loud because you looked over your shoulder and he watched as your eyes widened momentarily. you scrunched up your nose and faced forward, your pace increasing. “are you following me?”

“this is my quarters jus’ as much as it is yours,” he grunted. 

you rolled your eyes. “well… it's plenty big enough. you could always go a different way.”

“still not talkin’ to me, then?”

you could sense him catching up and it made the hackles on your neck rise. “what’re you—”

“i know you’ve been ignoring me. don’t try t’lie your way outta this.”

you turned around and began to walk backward so you could face him when you spoke. “i’m not really in the mood to have this conversation right now.” you crossed your arms over your chest. 

“well, good thing i wasn’t askin’.”

your mouth parted in surprise at his bluntness. you quickly spun on your heels, not wanting the emotions you had been shoving down for the past week to come back up. if you could just avoid him a little longer, you’d be able to move on. if he would only just—

in your nerves, you reached a dead end of one of the many barren halls. you were going to turn and scurry past him, not even wanting to grab your bag you left in the infirmary any longer, you just wanted to get away from him. but before you had the chance, ghost’s arms were on either side of your head, hands flat against the wall, caging you into his chest. your back was to him and your only view was the blank drywall. the corner he had you trapped in was dark and you figured even if you did spin to face the beast behind you, you wouldn’t be able to make much of him out. you hated that a swirl of arousal filled your stomach remembering him being this close to you in that tiny closet he shoved the two of you into all those weeks ago. 

“ghost, i don’t wanna—”

“ simon ,” he said a little aggressively. 

you gulped, his words grazing the edge of your neck as he spoke. you were quiet as you waited for him to say more. “you sure you’re ready to go back out on location?” he asked, referring to the upcoming mission you were going to be a part of. 

“is that it? you’re worried i’m broken or some shit like that?” your words screamed irritation, but your voice sounded more hurt than angry. “that i don’t know my own limits and can’t decide when i’m good to be back? that i’ll slow you down? i told you i was cleared!” you knew you were inferring a lot from his one little sentence, but you wanted to be mad. to be angry at him. 

“i didn’t say that.”

“no. but it’s what you meant.”

you heard ghost sigh and his hands dropped down to his side. you felt the warmth of his chest still behind you so you didn’t dare move to look at him.

“i know what it’s like t’lose everyone you love,” he started. 

“what does that have to do with any—-?”

“would you jus’ shut up for one second n’ listen for once?” 

you swallowed hard and nodded your head. he let out a breath. he knew he had snapped at you, but this was difficult for him. he wanted to get this out before he second-guessed himself and let you walk away forever. 

“i lost my entire family to men a lot more evil than me. did everythin’ in my power to get revenge. so i know what it’s like to love and t’lose.”

“did it help?” you asked softly. “revenge?”

you could hear the tension in ghost’s words as he mumbled them behind you. the only reason he was able to answer this question was due to the fact that you were turned away from him. if you two had been looking into each other’s eyes… he didn’t think he’d have to ability to open up. “depends how ya look at it. that kind’a dedication to death—never stoppin’ till you feel blood on your hands—takes a toll on ya. i think it’s what made me so… unbearable. but the general doesn’t seem t’think so. made me a stronger soldier in shepherd’s eyes.”

you felt your breath waver as you listened. 

“i wouldn’t have jus’ killed for them, i woulda died. it was years ago now that i was captured on duty. was tortured. buried alive. locked up. abused.” simon cleared his throat. “think it made me unwillin’ to let people in , as you would word it. i don’t know if i could survive another loss like that, like when i lost my mother and brother. s’not a feelin’ i ever plan on livin’ through again.”

“simon…”

“and you, ” he said a bit more potently. “you have been messin’ everythin’ up. when you n’ laswell were taken… it felt like when i saw my brother and his wife dead on their living room floor. the only thing i saw was red. i woulda done anything t’get you back. i couldn’t let this happen again. i couldn’t fail the people i cared about again.”

it pained you to know that simon placed all the blame on anything bad happening to those around him on himself. “laswell, too?” you said, but more as a question. you were purposefully trying to avoid the romantic ideation behind his words.

“no,” he said immediately, without a second thought. “course i wanted her back. but it didn’t feel the same as the way i wanted you.”

i wanted you . those words made your chest tighten. 

“why are you telling me all this?” you finally asked after a lull. 

“i jus’ wanted you t’know that i don’t mean t’hurt you. that maybe i needa try harder. and that… i’m sorry.”

you felt a single tear escape and slide down your cheek. you took a moment to steady your breathing, trying to reel in all of simon’s words.

when you spun to face him, unsure of what you’d find in his expression, you gasped. he was gone. you didn’t even hear him as he took off down the hall with your back still to him. 

eventually, walking alone back to your room, you let the tears fall freely. you cried for simon’s past. for his losses. for your own losses. for the strange sense of love you felt radiating off of him as he told you he’d move the world just to get you back safely. for the stupid feelings you had brewing in your chest. for the way you couldn’t decide if you wanted him to wrap his arms around you or if you wanted to hold him as he told you more. 

simon felt like he couldn’t let someone else in. that he wouldn’t survive it. but you wouldn’t leave him if he did. and you needed to tell him that. you needed to show him that he might be a bit broken, lost from his path, but you’d help him find the light again, as cheesy as that sounded. you would show him how beautiful it was to love even after losing so much. that it was possible. he deserved to be loved. he deserved to be happy. he wasn’t some emotionless robot, no matter what the army thought of him. and you wanted to help him realize that. 

chapter 13 ➡