#Author: Matt Fraction

[cellophaine]

Chapter I: En Avant

Masterlist

Pairing: Matt Murdock x F!Reader

Warnings: Fluff.

Word Count: 5.3k

Author's Note: The first chapter is finally here!! I'm very excited to bring this new series to you. It's what I've been thinking about for a few months now. It came to me while I was still working on A Languor Spell, and now I can give it my full attention. Thank you for your patience! I hope you will enjoy the first chapter!

P/S: This is my first time writing in present tense, so if there's any mistake please let me know so I can fix it!

Disclaimer: I'm not a professional ballet dancer. I'm an adult beginner, and I've been taking classes consistently for over a year now. I just want to say that the series isn't written with the experience of a professional ballerina, but with my love for the art and the extensive research that I've done and will continue to do. I don't choose to write the Reader as a ballerina because of the aesthetic, but because I think there are so many things to explore in the original story that I've come up with, with the Reader being in the industry.

GIF Source: @/petertingle-yipyip

There has always been an emptiness residing within the frame of your body. In the absence of your old life, it has grown expeditiously. It carves into your body and makes a home in the forefront of your mind. On worse days, you feel as if anyone can see at first glance, how incomplete of a person you are. On better days, like today, you can hide it well, even from your closest friend. But right now, sitting in a dimly lit bar across from the friend you have known since you moved to this city at 18, you feel the person you're supposed to be has taken your anatomy apart. You're disembodied, scattered, and fractional.

Jo notices your silence and reaches over the table, laying her hand atop yours.

“Have you thought about my offer?”

Jo’s proposal. How can you not think about it? It has never left your mind ever since she mentioned it. Her newly acquired gym could be a place for you to get back to dancing in complete privacy. And you won’t have to pay a dime.

“I spruced up the place a little bit and will be adding more equipment. I can get whatever you need so it can be a proper space for you to practice.”

“I appreciate your concern, but I don’t know if I’m ready.”

Jo casts a sympathetic look at you, her voice careful.

“How’s your foot?”

You flex and point the right foot under the table, recalling the phantom pain that was your consistent companion for the most part of last year.

“It’s not that bad.”

“Are you still seeing Amy?”

“Of course. She’d bite my head off if I missed our appointment.”

You share a knowing chuckle, knowing Amy's personality. You know her through Jo, and they dated briefly in college. The two stayed friends afterward. After leaving Lady Liberty Ballet Theatre, your physical health was left to your own management. Your gaps of knowledge were filled in by Amy, a physical therapist who stepped in and offered her help voluntarily when Jo mentioned your situation. You still meet biweekly at her practice in Harlem, and the three of you hang out from time to time.

“Come to my gym.”

She hastily continues once she sees the decline perches on your pressed lips.

“It’s free.”

“I don’t want to be a bother. You’ll have to get a barre, and the flooring might not be suitable–“

“I don’t care about the cost. I just want to do this for you. Let someone do a nice thing for you every once in a while.”

You meet her eyes, resisting her act of kindness with silence. You know how to pick your battles, and this is the one you have lost from the start, judging by Jo's stern gaze. You sigh.

“I’ll think about it.”

A victory smile graces her lips.

“That’s all I’m asking.”

Jo leans into the table, her hand reaching for yours.

“I want to see you dance on the stage again. You’re a beautiful ballerina, and I know this is not the end for you.”

You know she means well, but her words feel like claws, sinking their sharp ends into your heart. You haven't danced since the injury, and a part of you knows that you might never dance as well as you once did. The best version of you had lived that life to its fullest potential, the life of endless classes and rehearsals, soldout shows, ending many nights and seasons to the deafening cheers from the audience. Your current self is only a shadow, living a partial existence and mourning the past as time passes and your grasp on it weakens.

You want the endless optimism Jo seems to possess. She’s always so assertive in everything she does. From her university days pursuing a bachelor's degree in sports science to her boxing competition days to buying a gym, she has a sense of self-assurance that carries her throughout the years you've known her ever since you became roommates when you first moved to New York. And you admire that about her endlessly. Her goals might vary, but her passion for them never wavers. Her faith in you seems to share the same sentiment.

You swallow the lump in your throat and nod, hoping your face doesn't betray your true thoughts. Jo squeezes your hand and lets go. She checks her wristwatch, and with a silent glance, you understand that she has to leave. Jo meets you as you stand up from your side of the booth, drawing you into a crushing hug.

“Will you be okay here?”

She pulls back. You smile and pat her shoulder.

“I’ll be fine. Just want to finish my drink.”

She takes a step backward as she waves.

“Good luck tomorrow!”

You raise your hand in response and watch her tall and brawny frame vanish through the door. You drop your arm, but you don't sit down. Taking a discreet glance at the bar, your heart rate spikes ever so slightly at the sight of the stranger you noticed earlier when you bought the drinks.

As you waited for your drinks, he came in and settled for a spot at the bar. The lady whose name you learned earlier, Josie, greeted him, asking where his friends were, so you assumed he was a regular. He was good-looking, you admitted before finding yourself staring at him. You averted your gaze, but couldn't help taking in other details. The folded cane rested on the bar top as Josie slid a glass of amber liquid in front of him. The scarred knuckles as he brought it to his lush lips. The suit was pristine for the most part except for the minimal wrinkles from the day's wear and the loosened tie. The red-tinted glasses perched on his pronounced nose, under the tousled sweep of dark hair. The soft smile brightened his handsome face as the other bartender told him something, which you had to tear your eyes away from when Josie placed the drinks in front of you. You thanked her and headed back to your table, feeling a touch of disappointment in your throat.

There is no denying that you want to approach him. But your nerves intervene with all the questions. What if he rejected you? What if he thought you were a creep for approaching him? What if he just wanted to be left alone? He has been sitting by the bar by himself ever since he came in, you notice. You'd ask if you could join him, and possibly buy him a drink if he was up for it. If he said no, that'd be fine. You would respect his wish and leave him alone. You have a feeling you'd regret it if you didn't at least try.

You gulp down your drink for a little liquid courage and make your way over to the bar. Your heart rate accelerates the closer you get to him, but you are determined to get over the little hurdle. You stop within a conversational distance and use your best composed voice.

“Hi, may I join you?”

He turns in his seat and gives you a friendly smile.

“Of course not. Please do.”

The high chair is a comfortable and respectful distance away from his, but still close enough for a private conversation. The stranger has angled his body toward you, and his openness eases the knot in your stomach. At this distance, you can see that he is even more handsome up close. Heat seeps into your cheeks at the full comprehension of his handsomeness up close. The neon signs around help shape the shadows and highlights that are already there in his features. The strong jawline and defined nose blend in harmony with the soft hair and luscious lips. You find yourself unable to tear your eyes away from his moving lips, and only a brief moment later you realize he has asked for your name.

You tell him and laugh nervously, blaming the lively ambience around you. He humours you with a chuckle of his own and reciprocates.

"Matt. Nice to meet you."

“Nice to meet you.”

He reaches out with a hand, and you grab it. Your heart beats a little faster at the feel of his hand, warm and a little rough. You pull away first, conscious of the coldness of your hand. You eye his almost empty glass.

“Would you like another drink?”

“If that makes you stay with me for the rest of the evening, I’d love one.”

Charming. You allow an amused and breathy chuckle to escape, and order another fill of your drinks. When Josie turns away to make them, Matt asks.

“What are we celebrating tonight?”

You think about it for a moment.

“This is not really a celebration since I haven’t gotten the job yet.”

“When is the interview?”

“It's … tomorrow.”

His brows raise above the glasses.

“Are you nervous?”

“A little bit. It’s been a while since my last normal job.”

“What were you doing before?”

Josie puts down the drinks in front of you.

“I’m a– I was a ballerina.”

“Was?”

You run a finger over the cool and smooth edge of the glass, taking a moment to tell a stranger about one of your worst shame.

“I haven’t danced professionally in over a year."

“May I ask why?"

The edge of his lips settles into a neutral line. No pity, just a willingness to listen. It is exactly what you need.

“Yes, but it's just … complicated.”

“How so?”

The old life that you once lived feels so out of your grasp now. Besides the occasional flareups, most mornings, you get up with minimal or no degree of soreness or pain, and you fear that signals the end of your life as a ballerina.

Retirement in your late twenties wasn't something you thought of when you were 18, fresh out of high school with an offer letter from Lady Liberty Ballet Theatre. Moving from a small, sylvan town to a big, lively city like New York was a dream come true. You got to live out the life your younger self used to dream about. How wonderful it was. Dancing on the big stage before the bright stage lights in front of the audience. The early classes, late stage calls, costume fittings, and demanding rehearsals leading up to the shows were all worth it. Because when you got to dance, it was just you and the music. Your body knew the techniques, learned the steps and how to master them. You bent music with your carefully crafted movements and turned the piece into your own interpretation. You worked hard on your craft and artistic abilities, and you thought that it paid off with your promotion from corps de ballet to the first soloist assembly after six years.

But for Matt's sake, you don't go into any of that.

“Well … being a principal dancer in my old company is a great honour since we're– they're much smaller than the American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, etc … There were, and still are, only two dancers in that role. They were Christine and Guilherme. Christine'd been with the company since the early days. Many people came to the shows to see her dance. She and Guilherme brought in so many loyal audiences and sponsors over the years. So you can imagine what a big deal it was when Christine decided to retire."

He nods, his understanding and inclination to follow the story are apparent.

"Roger, the artistic director, wanted to appoint a first soloist, which is just a step below principal, to take over in her place. I was a soloist, and I was Christine's understudy for a few years until her retirement. I performed when she couldn't, when she needed to reserve her strength for important shows, on top of the roles I had to prepare and perform in those productions. So I thought it was my opportunity to get that promotion, you know? I always brought my best to work, and I pushed myself even harder that season to prove that I have what it takes to be a principal dancer. I was in and out of classes, rehearsals, and performances every day for over three months. On the days we had two shows a day, oftentimes I'd have to perform in both so Christine could have a break."

Matt listens intently, following your words with an attentiveness that you find endearing.

“In the final week of Sleeping Beauty, I had this pain along my heel. But I ignored it and pushed through out of fear that they would dismiss me. At that point, they already had a favourite. One of the directors even told me that I should quit while I was ahead and that I should be happy staying as a soloist."

You swallow the lump in your throat and go on.

"I couldn't take my bow that night, because as soon as my part was done and I went behind the stage, I passed out. It turned out I got an Achilles rupture.

“I had the surgery and was in a boot for a while. I was so desperate to show them my dedication and how good I was by going back to the studio just the day after they allowed me to go without the boot. And I made the injury worse. I was admitted for a partial rupture a week later.”

You thought you could do it. Bearing and hiding the pain so you would stand out as the best selection for the new principal dancer. Yet, all of that hard work didn’t matter in the end. It never mattered the moment Claudia Mavis signed a contract with Lady Liberty.

“In the hospital, Roger told me that he decided to promote Claudia, even though by that point she had been with the company for only one season. Then, I found out that Claudia left her previous company because they wouldn’t promote her. But here's the funniest part. After class one day, Claudia told me that they offered her a new contract two weeks before my accident. So I never had the chance in the first place."

You chuckle bitterly, remembering the tightness of your chest when you found out.

"They announced Christine's replacement at the last show of the season. Roger expected me to continue my duties as a soloist and an understudy for Claudia. But I just … couldn't do it. So I quit.”

“I’m sure when you come back to it, you will still be amazing.”

You don't even try to hide the disbelieving and playful scoff that escapes.

“You're just flattering me.”

There's not a trace of that cocky confidence of a man who thinks he just scores big with a woman because of a throwaway, vague statement he thinks will please her.

“I mean it. I enjoy music and dance performances in a way most can’t. When I really pay attention, I can hear … movements. The rhythm of someone’s feet striking the ground in time with the music when done right is beautiful. The way you talk about ballet shows me how much you truly care for the art. Like you live and breathe it.”

You tug on your bottom lip with your teeth in quiet contemplation before answering him.

“I did. It was a big part of my life.”

“It still can be.”

You let out a noncommittal hum.

"We'll see."

You took sips of your respective drinks, allowing the moment to reset itself. But Matt isn't quite done with the questions. You give him the go-ahead.

"Why ballet?"

“I just love the duality of it. We're supposed to look graceful and effortless while our blisters have blisters, our toes are bleeding, our legs are cramping. We have to dance through all of that and much worse. I like the pain sometimes. It means that I’m doing it right.”

“I didn’t peg you for a masochist.”

The quip takes you by surprise, but you quickly recover.

"Huh. I usually don't reveal that information to anyone until I'm ready to sleep with them."

Matt's tongue licks at his bottom lip, amused by your response.

"Maybe we are just that compatible."

Maybe it is the alcohol that makes you a little lightheaded, but the conversation has taken on a flirty turn, and you lean into each other's space, sharing a bashful, quiet laugh.

The person who took the seat next to yours when you were in the middle of your story bumps into you from behind, pushing you further into Matt's space. They apologize, and you tell them it's fine. The bar top has grown a little more crowded with new visitors. You think about what you could do to make some space when Matt reaches out and pulls your chair closer, so close that your knees touch. The contact is minimal, yet insistent, and you can't help the heat that races to your skin and the wild rhythms of your heart. Even your internal self admits that was the hottest thing Matt has done so far.

You clear your thoughts, focusing on the man sitting so much closer to you now.

“I'm so sorry. I feel like I've been talking about myself for the past hour.”

“No, don't stop. I like it. You have a beautiful voice.”

If he kept this going, you would need to check yourself for a fever. You clear your throat.

“So, what do you do?”

“I’m a lawyer. My partners and I have our own practice here in Hell's Kitchen.”

“Wow, that's amazing. What do you specialize in?”

“A little bit of everything. We started out representing people who can’t afford the legal service. Pro bono work basically. We still do that, but we have been getting more clients who can pay for our services.”

“Hm. It makes perfect sense. I can see that about you. The good guy.”

“Care to elaborate?”

“You know the right questions to ask. You got me talking about myself for … way too long. And your face …”

You trail off. Almost two drinks have worked their magic on your unabashed honesty.

“My face?”

His plush lips lift in a curious smile.

“Yeah, your face. You made me feel … safe and welcome so I could tell my story. Your face stayed neutral when I went on and on about it. No pity or judgment. You looked like you really cared about me, or my case.”

“I do care about you. And for the record, I appreciate every detail you gave me.”

You know that he might say this just to please you, but his earnestness says otherwise.

“Thank you. I needed that. Not many people care about me, especially after my fallout with the company.”

“It wasn’t your fault. It never was.”

Matt puts a hand on yours on the bar top. You stared at his scarred knuckles, your heart beating along the seam of your body with a slight increase in rhythm. Your hand itched to weave itself into his, to lay flat against the warmth of his palm. As if your body has thrown caution to the wind and wants to do just exactly what it wants to, your pointer finger moves involuntarily. He pulls his hand back, an apology on his lips.

“I’m sorry–“

“No, don’t.”

You reach out with the other hand and keep Matt there. You run your thumb over his knuckles as if to soothe him, to tell him that this is okay. You want this. The additional contact exhilarates you, as you haven't felt another’s touch that isn't from Jo or Amy in a long time. Dating has always been the last thing on your mind, especially in the past year. But right here, right now, being with Matt is easy. There is no pressure. No hindrance. Even though you've met only for two hours, Matt has listened to you. He takes a soft and shaky breath, and your eyes follow the way his chest slightly expands.

Your pointer finger traces the raised edges of his scars, and he lets you. The air seems to thin as your pulse drums a frantic beat under your skin.

“Do you beat people up in your client’s honour?”

“Only those who deserve it.”

You chuckle, and you lean into him as if you can't help yourself. The world has gone quiet around you, and the only thing left on your mind is to have his lips on yours. Your voice is only a breath above a whisper, and you're afraid Matt might miss it entirely amongst the loud voices of others.

“Can I kiss you?’’

He releases a sharp exhale as if he has been waiting for you to utter those words all evening.

“Please.”

You lean in, carefully, slowly. His lips slightly part in an open invitation, and you meet in the middle. The touch is gentle, soft tissues overlap in slow, indulgent caresses. Simple, yet it invokes a craving in you. The need for him to be even closer, the yearning to find out the taste of him. Matt touches your jaw, and draws you in closer, deepening the kiss, and you let yourself go. Eager, perching on the territory of desperation as the pressure on your lips grows more insistently. You're entangled in an exhilarating chase, circling around each other like you simply can't resist the pull that's been there since the moment you sat down. Matt silently asks for entry at the seam of your lips, and you respond in kind. His tongue strokes yours and suddenly, there is a new kind of invisible vapour that you're breathing in. It's overwhelming, yet not enough at the same time. You can taste the bitterness of the whisky that makes you wince on normal occasions, but on Matt's tongue, it's addictive and inexplicably irresistible. His air runs wild in your lungs, warming your body from the inside, awakening your nerves.

You break away at the sound of a teasing whistle clearly directed at you, reminding you of where you are. Matt’s face is flushed red, and you want to see how far down the colour goes under the suit and tie he's wearing. His hand is still on your jaw, gently caressing the line like he doesn't want to let go. And you don't want to let him go either.

“Can we go back to your place?”

The question rolls off your tongue, and he nods immediately, a little breathlessly. You stand up from your chairs at the same time. Matt reaches for his coat that is on the back of the chair. You shrug your own on and avert your gaze when Matt subtly adjusts his slacks. You put the bills down for your drinks, shutting Matt down when he objects to the idea. His hand find yours when you offer it to him, and you walk into the brisk air together.

The walk back didn't take too long. Matt held your hand the whole time, and the small gesture made your insides flutter. He lets you go when you reach his apartment. The unit number 6A has almost faded into the dark door. He unlocks the door and tells you where the light switch is. You turn it on, and place your coat in his awaiting palm. You follow him further into the apartment and take in the space.

“Who did you kill to get this place?”

Matt chuckles, discarding his tie with one hand.

“No killing involved. The neon sign out there is enough to chase people away.”

Your gaze falls on the giant, blinking advertisement outside the window.

“Nothing a few blackout curtains won't fix.”

He drapes the black tie on the back of the couch as you turn to the other side of the apartment.

“Do those stairs lead to the rooftop?”

“Yes, they do.”

You keep your back to him.

"Do you go up there often?"

"From time to time."

"This is … wow."

You're not sure why you're stalling. You pretend to look around as you try to brush off a nagging feeling that has settled in the pit of your stomach. Just the nerves, you think. You're out of practice, that's all.

So you clear your throat and say.

“Is your bedroom behind that bigger sliding door?”

He nods. You feel a little out of place, so you gravitate towards him, a familiar presence in a strange space. Matt lets you come to him, giving you all the control. You lean in and attach your lips to his, allowing it to follow the natural progression as it did back at Josie's. Your legs tangle and stumble towards the bedroom, your lips never too far away from one another. You think you might hit the closed door, but before that can happen, Matt pulls you flush against his body with one hand and uses the other to slide the door open in one smooth, practiced move. You pull away when you need to catch your breath.

“May I …”

You touch the side of his glasses. After a quiet moment, he gives you permission to take them, and you do. Slowly, and with the utmost care you can manage, you set them on the bedside table. His eyes are closed when you straighten. You caress his cheek, feeling the way his features form together. Your touch is soothing, and you hope he can feel the patience you offer to him. There is no rush, no pressure. After a long moment, Matt opens his eyes, and you take them in. You can see how he tries to meet your eyes in his own way. The shade of hazel is shrouded by the low light and the occasional shutter of his eyelids.

“Your eyes are beautiful.”

You raise slightly on your tiptoes and kiss his eyelids, feeling his lashes fluttering softly. He waits for you to return to him, and seeks out your lips in a delicate manner.

You fall onto the bed together. Matt braces himself on his forearms so he doesn't crush you. You pull his head down to yours, kissing and nibbling on the stretch of stubble along his jaw. His soft groans of approval encourage the other hand to travel downward, pulling on the white dress shirt. Once it's free from the slacks, you weave your hand inside and run your palm along the expanse of his torso. The dips and raises of his well-defined abs are warm under your palm, and the sensation stokes the molten liquid that's nestling deep inside you. You feel the feverish need edging over that part of you that you want to ignore.

The gradual pullback doesn't feel like a rejection at first, but merely an invitation to follow. So you do, your hands work to unbutton his shirt. But Matt slows you down to a stop, holding your hands to his lips and placing kisses on your palms. You blink, still snarled in the haze.

“What’s wrong?”

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

Confronted. The only word that can describe accurately how you're feeling.

“What makes you say that?”

“Your heart …”

His hand trails from your collarbone to your chest where your heart resides within in a way that feels strangely intimate and not at all invasive. You hadn’t realized how fast your heart was beating. It's pounding. You are more nervous about this than you thought.

“… is beating quite fast. Are you nervous?”

You're safe. It's an innate feeling, and while you can't explain it, you know lying to Matt serves no purpose here. He seems to have a way to read you without using his sight.

“Yes, a little bit. I haven’t done this before. Sleeping with a stranger, I mean.”

“I see. We don’t have to do this.”

You raise yourself on your elbows.

“No, I wanted to go back here, with you. I want this.”

“But it doesn’t mean you owe me anything. If you change your mind for whatever reason, I'm okay with that as well."

Matt presses a kiss to your forehead.

"We can always try this again at another time.”

Guilt claws at you, urging you to do anything to please him.

“I’m sorry. I gave you the wrong signal.”

“Don’t. You have nothing to apologize for.”

He tries to find your hand, and you offer it to him. He gives you a reassuring squeeze.

“I had a good time with a beautiful woman, then I got to kiss her, all in one night, and that's enough.”

You guffaw, throwing your head back at the blatant flirt.

“You don’t even know how I look like.”

“No, I don’t. But I have my own way to tell. You sound beautiful.”

An idea materializes in your mind, and you give in to it. You bring his hand to your face, trailing along the side of your face. He gets the hint and begins his own exploration of your features. The way he takes his time, following the slopes of your face, his touch gentle, ghosting over your skin. He stops at your lips and soothes his thumb over the kiss-swollen flesh. You sigh softly. He gives you one last kiss, his tenderness makes your heart soar.

“Would you like something comfortable to sleep in?”

“I'm fine with anything you have.”

Matt finds his closet and pulls out a grey sweatshirt. He tells you where the bathroom is, and you take the folded shirt with you. You clean yourself up with water before stripping down to your underwear. You put the soft material over your body. It smells like him, and soft, just like him. You come out of the washroom and see his bare back for a split second before he pulls the shirt down. He has changed into a pair of grey sweatpants and a black shirt that hugs his chest and biceps beautifully.

You stand by his bed, not sure where you can come in despite the two of you ruffling the sheets not even ten minutes ago. Matt chooses for you, settling on the space facing the window, leaving you the side which is closer to the sliding door. His sheets are silky soft, and you feel yourself sinking right into them. You turn to face Matt, touching his shoulder. He faces you fully, his eyes settling on a point on the lower part of your face.

“Thank you.”

You whisper.

“Thank me by staying for breakfast.”

“Why breakfast?”

“I can't send you off to your interview on an empty stomach, can I? It's the least I can do.”

A rueful smile graces your lips.

“I can’t wait.”

You fell asleep with ease. At one point during the night, you could feel Matt detach himself from you, and out of a vague desperation that you couldn't process, you held tighter onto him involuntarily. At that, he stopped moving, and you felt a soothing pattern trailing over your head, luring you back to sleep again. His warmth carried you through the few hours that you slept.

It's a little past 4 AM when you wake, and find Matt still sleeping peacefully. Torn, but you come to accept that leaving is for the best. You get out of bed gently, thankful that the wooden floor didn't make a noise. You take his sweatshirt off and fold it, putting it on top of the pillow that you slept on. After putting on the clothes from the night before, you leave with much regret in your heart.

Likes, reblogs, and comments are greatly appreciated! I'd love to read your thoughts on the story!

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[magpiepills]

Into The Deep End

Rating: EXPLICIT! 18+ MDNI

Pairing: Joel Miller: Hole Filler x AFAB reader

Word count: 2.7k

Summary: you and your friend are invited to swim at the home of her boyfriend’s friend.

Warnings: PIV, dirty talk, little size kink, age gap, swimming, girls kissing girls, multiple orgasms, creampie, drug and alcohol use. no use of y/n, no outbreak, no Sarah, plus perhaps others.

A word for the author: this is a repost! well this isn’t the DBF I had planned. He wasn’t cooperating, so instead you get Best Friend’s Boyfriend’s Buddy Joel and his big dick. The important thing is that we have Joel and we have him in a timely manner!

Kim hadn’t shut up about her boyfriends neighbor all week. “He’s sooo good looking. If it wasn’t for Matt, I’d be all over him. Maybe I’ll be all over him anyway, Matt likes it when I flirt!”

“Isn’t he like, fifty though?” You frown, not looking up from your magazine.

“Nah, he’s forty, tops. Does it matter though? He’s gorgeous. Wait until you see him.”

You were skeptical. It seemed weird for an older guy to invite some college kids to hang out and swim in his pool. You needed some excitement and distraction in your life, though. College had been rough. Classes were grueling and your own boyfriend had unceremoniously dumped you right before finals. It was a killer blow.

“Whats his name? Josh? Jared? Is he really ok with us using his pool?”

“It’s Joel. And he said we can come over any time. He lives alone and he’s always been like a big brother to Matt. Plus he’s so chill. He always has weed, he’s not creepy, he’s fun. You’ll love him. I told him all about you and he seemed really interested in meeting you.”

“Kim!” You admonished and swatted her with your magazine. “Do not try anything with this guy. I don’t need to be set up with an old guy!”

“Just wait until you see him. You’ll thank me.”

And she was right. On Saturday afternoon you and Kim met Matt at Joel’s house. The guys were already in the back yard, music playing, cooler full of beer by the back door, floats in the pool. Kim ran to Matt, and he lifted her into a hug, one hand squeezing her ass in a wide grip. You sat down the bag holding your towel, sunscreen, and tshirt, and said hello to the astoundingly attractive man sitting at the patio table.

“You must be Joel. Thanks for letting us use your pool.”

“Don’t mention it. Matt told me you girls are home for the summer, so feel free to come by any time and swim. Beer?” He gestured at the cooler.

“Please!” You accepted his offer gratefully and watched him press the cap into his big palm and twist it off. Kim was right, he’s gorgeous. Tall and tan, with silver just beginning to thread through his dark, messy hair and dark brown eyes. He had a broad chest and shoulders. You took the beer and sipped, and eyed him as he pulled his shirt over his head, revealing a slightly soft belly and a trail of dark hair leading under his light blue trunks. Dear god you thought, a giddy feeling welling up inside you with an urge to run your hands over his skin. You felt like such a creep. You imagined touching him and smelling him, laying your head on his chest, biting his shoulder.

“Come in with me!” Kim’s call snapped you out of your thoughts, and you grabbed your towel, spreading it on the concrete. The water was warm, and it felt good to float and splash around a while. A game of chicken was suggested and abandoned, in favor of a round of shots, and you felt a little disappointed that you wouldn’t get to sit on Joel’s shoulders. You’d have to find another way to get your legs around him.

You got out of the pool, toweled off, and rummaged through our bag until you found your sunscreen. Perched on the patio chair, you slathered your arms and shoulders with Hawaiian tropic, and glanced up at Joel, catching his gaze for a fraction of a second before his eyes darted away. He could pretend he wasn’t watching you rub sunscreen on your chest all he wanted.

Kim swam near you and put her arms about your waist, leaning close to whisper in your ear “He’s hot, right? Are you sorry you doubted me?” “So sorry, Kim, I’m going to fuck him, I swear to god.” You said it with a laugh, but you kind of meant it.

After a few more drinks you were feeling bold, you and Kim were getting handsy with each other, a familiar intimacy shared by best friends, but something the two of you’d wielded more than once to draw the gaze of the boys you wanted to tease. Matt was happy to watch, and Joel couldn’t take his eyes off you and Kim, squeezing each other's hips and casually tugging at each other's bikini tops, dragging fingertips along the edge of the triangles over your breasts, whispering and giggling and all but kissing. “Here we go!” You could hear Matt whoop, finally noticing what you and Kim were doing. You saw Joel shifting down in his seat, adjusting his trunks as inconspicuously as he could, but you knew what he was doing. Your eyes met his and you gave him the smallest smile before turning back to Kim and whispering to her again. The beers you’d drank and the raw attraction you felt for Joel were mixing together low in your stomach and your inhibition was quickly dissolving.

Matt had had enough and jumped into the water, wrapping his arms around you and Kim and making lewd jokes about threesomes that had you giggling and blushing. He had seen enough of you and Kim’s shenanigans to know that it wasn’t going to happen and he eventually pulled your bestie away to the shallow end to make out, leaving you alone. You didn’t know what to do with yourself, and as you tried to decide what to do next, you felt a splash on your shoulder. Joel had came and sat on the edge of the pool, looking down at you and smiling his open, warm smile before slipping in beside you.

“Are you and her and him a thing?” He asked, sounding awestruck that such a thing could happen in his own pool.

“No, just friends. I’ve known Kim for ages, we like to goof around.”

“I never goofed around with my friends like that. What’s your boyfriend think?” There it was.

“No boyfriend. Just all by my lonesome. What about you? Is your girlfriend out with her girlfriend?”

“Damn. I wish. But no, no girlfriend to speak of.”

With that you let him watch as you slowly looked him over, nibbling flirtatiously at your lip, not knowing how you wanted him to respond. He smiled and in better light you might be able to see him blush.

“‘Nother beer?”

“Why not?”

You followed him out of the pool, he got out first, then turned to offer you a hand to pull yourself up. A big, wide, strong, warm hand. Back at the table you sat closer to him, sipping your beer and twisting lazily in the comfy spinning chair.

You chatted for a while, about movies you’d seen, music you liked, books you’ve read, finding you had a lot of things in common. The longer you talked, the closer together you got until your legs were across his lap and he was gently stroking your calves.

Kim and Matt were asleep on a lounge chair, and you really should have woken them up to go home, them in his bed, you on the couch, but instead, you and Joel just looked at them for a moment, and he asked if you wanted to watch a movie.

“It’s not that late, they’ll probably get up soon and want to leave.” He reasoned and you didn’t have an argument.

You just followed him through the sliding patio door, past a sparse but clean kitchen, and onto an ugly sofa that was more comfortable than your own bed.

You groaned when you sank into it, tucking your legs under you. You had slipped on your tshirt, but your now dry bikini was still underneath. Joel’s house was dark and cool inside, the only light coming from the light over the stove in the kitchen and the tv.

Joel put on Night of the Living Dead and came back to the couch with a blanket, tossing it over you. You noticed he had changed into soft looking plaid pajama pants and a gray shirt, smelling like a mix of fabric softener and chlorine. He propped his feet on the coffee table and started the movie.

“It’s ok if you get scared. I won’t tell anybody if you hide your eyes.” He teased.

You told him how you loved scary movies, even though they terrified you.

When the first vaguely gruesome scene came on you pulled the blanket over your face. Joel pulled you against his side with a sigh.

“I’ll tell you when it’s over.” His arm stayed around you though, and you lifted the blanket so he could get under too.

It wasn’t long before your legs were back in his lap and he watched you while you watched the movie.

“This isn’t even that scary. They’re too slow.”

Maybe you were just lulled into comfort by Joel’s presence and warmth, and the way he stroked his thumb up and down your shin, squeezed your ankle gently, massaged your calf…

“Slow’s good.”

His voice was a little deeper, and he was a little closer and you didn’t move away. You turned your head and looked at him, gazing down at you, messy hair and soft eyes.

“Yeah. Maybe slow’s not bad.”

He hummed and brushed his nose against yours.

Your lips met slowly, sliding to fit together like a jigsaw puzzle, warm and soft, and his hand on your shin moved up to your knee, up to your thigh, to your hip, where he found the little bow of your bikini bottom and you could feel him smile against your lips .

“Been wanting to do this all day. Ever since I saw you walk in.”

You were surely blushing now. “You should have. All I heard about all day was how good looking you are.”

Joel sat up a little straighter and lifted his eyebrows at that. “Oh yeah? Did I disappoint ya?” He asked while you leaned forward so he could tug your t-shirt over your head.

“When we were in the pool I told Kim I was going to fuck you.”

Your admission stopped him in his tracks, stunned and mouth agape.

“Jesus, you’ve got a mouth on you.”

And you couldn’t stop yourself then. “Mhm. I can show you my mouth.”

Not your sexiest line, but it had the intended effect. Joel was looking at you like he wasn’t sure you were real.

“Come here.” He pulled you onto his lap so you were straddling him, only your bikini and his pajama pants separating you now, you could feel him, hard and huge.

You circled your hips, making him groan as he kissed you deeply, tongues meeting and swirling gently before he kissed a path down your neck, across your collarbone, and down between your breasts before l pressing a kiss to each one. He slid his hands up your sides as he kissed, and toyed with the thin material of your top before dipping two thick fingers under the fabric and pulling it to the side. He kissed the swell of your breast before licking the firm peak, and sucking it into his warm mouth. Everything about Joel was so soft and warm and comfortable.

“Let me take this off.” He said with his fingers already pulling at the strings tied at the back of your neck. It wasn’t a request, really. He was needy. You quickly untied the strings at your back and flung the whole thing over your shoulder.

He sat back, mesmerized by your tits. He stared, wide-eyed for a moment before cupping both breasts, lifting and squeezing them, kissing and licking your pebbles nipples as he tilted his hips to grind his cock against your covered pussy.

You ran your fingers through his hair, met each movement, surely leaving a wet spot between you, and when you couldn’t take it any more, you reached down and pulled the string on either side of your hips.

“Fuck. Are you going to let me do this?”

You bit your bottom lip, looked at him through your eyelashes and nodded. “You want to fuck me Joel?”

He moved fast, grabbing the fabric out from under you and slinging it away and wrapping one arm around your waist to pull you against his chest while he used his other hand to cover your pussy, the heat of his palm radiating up through your core, sliding his fingers forward and back to gather your slick and spread it through your folds and over your clit.

“You’re so wet. You get wet for me? Like feeling this big cock? This what you need to fill you up?” He lifted his hips to press his cock against your mound, making you moan into his neck.

“Yes. Yes Joel, please.”

Neither of you were going to be able to hold out much longer. You wanted to tease each other, but you needed him inside you.

He lifted his hips again, shimmying down his pants and boxers as quickly as he could. Finally freed, he arranged you on his lap, his cock resting on the curve of your ass, so close to where you needed him.

“You on the pill or somethin’?” He asked as he ran his fingers over your folds again, making you tilt your hips to chase his touch, then stroking his cock with your arousal.

“Yeah. I’m good, got an iud.”

“Good, cause I’m not pullin’ out.” He said, as he positioned his thick head at your entrance and pulled you downward to meet his thrust.

The pinch was extraordinary, but melted out into a warmth that made him feel destined to be inside you. The two of you set a rhythm, you grinding down and him thrusting up, slow and deep, and wet, letting your clit roll against him. Your orgasm crept up, hot and tight in your belly, and he could feel you on the edge of release.

“Want to feel you come on my cock. Squeezin me so tight, feel you soaking me.” He babbled at you and took your nipple back into his mouth, grunting lewdly as he sucked.

It was so much. So many sensations, his mouth, his cock, his hands, his heat, his voice, they crashed over you like a tidal wave.

Joel watched, rapt as you rode it out on his lap, loving how you used his body for your own pleasure, loving how you responded to him, how you took him.

You came back to him with a kiss, blissed out, feeling floaty.

“Fuck, that was good.” You purred to him, no plan to ever leave his lap.

“Gotta fuck you, sweetheart. Y’feel too good.” He throbbed inside you, setting off a small aftershock.

Leaning back, bracing yourself on his knees, you rode him slowly, swiveling your hips, tits on display for him, giving him a good look at where he entered you, and of the thick white ring around the base of his turgid member.

The room spun when Joel flipped you onto the couch. He knelt between your knees, jerking himself at the sight of your swollen pussy, your flushed chest, your kiss-reddened lips.

In a final sprint toward his own finish, Joel pulled your hips up against his, buried himself deep and complete in your wet pussy, and set an unrelenting pace. No words were left except his chanting Fuck, fuck, oh fuck. Oh shit baby. Fuck! Accompanied by your whining, your begging for his cum. You didn’t need to wait long for your reward, although you think you gladly spend the rest of your life stretched around his cock.

He broke with three final thrusts, lips falling open, stilling inside you to spill deep.

Spent and disoriented, Joel dropped his weight onto you while he caught his breath. He kissed your chest, rubbed your side, and lay in comfortable quiet until you tapped his shoulder, reluctantly parting to clean yourselves up.

Joel found your swimsuit for you, and gave you a tshirt to put on. He tried to find the words to ask you to stay, to spend the weekend, the week, the month with him. To keep fucking him and talking to him and eating and watching movies. He wanted to take you out, play your songs, see your apartment, everything that would keep

You in arms reach. But the back door slid open, and there were Kim and Matt bursting your bubble of possibility with their impeccable timing to take you away.

Before he could stop you, your flip flops were on, your keys were in your hand, and you were kissing his cheek goodbye.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Matt Gertz at MMFA:

President Donald Trump is wasting no time in carrying out his goal of throttling the free press. Over the first two weeks of Trump’s presidency, his appointees have wielded federal regulatory authority to punish outlets the president dislikes — and American media moguls are responding with submission. Trump has turned standard conservative attacks on journalists into one of the hallmarks of his political agenda.  He takes as his model Hungary’s autocrat Viktor Orbán, who has “effectively dismantled the news media in his country” as “a central pillar of Orbán’s broader project to remake his country as an ‘illiberal democracy,’” as New York Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger noted in an extraordinary warning last year.  During his first term in office, Trump repeatedly tried to leverage state power against his despised “fake news,” and together with his Project 2025 allies has developed a playbook to attack, defund, and delegitimize news outlets in his second.  Major media companies began signaling before Trump took office that they were willing to play ball with his administration in order to preserve their business interests. But since Inauguration Day, as Trump’s appointees have begun showing their intentions, executives at several news outlets have gone into full retreat.

LA Times’ biotech industry owner goes all-in for RFK Jr.

Billionaire doctor Patrick Soon-Shiong once drew plaudits for using a small fraction of the vast fortune he made in the biotech industry to purchase and sustain his hometown newspaper, the Los Angeles Times.  But Soon-Shiong’s involvement in the paper’s operations has become more heavy-handed since the final months of the presidential campaign, with the owner repeatedly weighing in on Trump’s behalf. Over the past few weeks, Soon-Shiong, whose medical patents are subject to federal oversight, has begun cheerleading for the confirmation of the anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of health and human services. 

CNN tries to move on

Journalists at CNN regularly drew vicious attacks from Trump and his supporters during the president’s first term. During a tone-setting press conference shortly before he took office, Trump lashed out at then-White House correspondent Jim Acosta as “fake news” and “terrible.” And Trump’s salvos at the network went beyond just words — his Justice Department tried to block a merger involving CNN’s then-parent company..  [...]

Trump’s FCC targets ABC, CBS, NBC, NPR, and PBS

The tip of the president’s anti-press spear is Brendan Carr, a Republican member of the Federal Communications Commission whom Trump elevated to chair. Carr authored Project 2025’s chapter on the FCC and has notably refused to reject Trump’s repeated calls for the commission to yank the licenses of broadcast networks whose reporting he dislikes. Following his promotion, Carr sent a letter to Bob Iger, the CEO of ABC parent company Disney, in which he denounced the network for having “contributed” to the “erosion in public trust” and pointedly referenced the FCC’s regulatory power. 

[...]

Defense Department retaliates against news outlets

The Pentagon announced Friday night that the defense correspondents at NBC News, The New York Times, Politico, and National Public Radio are all required to vacate their dedicated workspaces. Their spots will instead go to the right-wing One America News Network, New York Post, and Breitbart — and theoretically to the progressive HuffPost, which does not have a Pentagon reporter and did not request space.

The Matt Gertz piece in Media Matters For America on how many media moguls, such as Jeff Bezos and Patrick Soon-Shiong, are enabling Donald Trump’s war on the free press is a must-read.

[nihyunluvskookie]

You shouldn’t have been here

 Seungcheol one shot

Pairing: Seungcheol x Fem reader

Genre: angst

Word count: 4.6K

Warnings: mention of guns, bullets, firing, losing of parents at a young age, implied death

Author’s Note: Firstly, Merry Christmas!! and here's a fic, I've been wanting to write, I finally got some time to write and completed it, this is definitely not the ideal fic to post on Christmas TT but here it is, and ofc it's mafia fic. Hope you like this~

Happy reading ~

“I’ll be back tomorrow, I love you” and she kissed him. He looked happy and so was she, “I’ll wait for you, too bad I don’t have a night shift tonight and you’re leaving. Bed would be cold without you” Seungcheol was caging her and he didn’t want her to leave. There was a hidden sadness in her face, but she looked at him with eyes full of love. “I’ll be back tomorrow Cheol, I promise I’ll be back tomorrow morning before you leave for work” and she smiled at him.

“text me or call me once you reach, okay?” he was always protective of her, but why wouldn’t he be, after all she was his wife. “I will now get some sleep” She kissed him and left.

She was driving her car and she was thinking about Seungcheol, she looked at the time, it was 08:08 pm exactly, Seungcheol’s birthday date. There was a faint smile on her face but she focused on the road.

“Would you like an upgradation from my girlfriend to my wife?” the way Seungcheol was looking at her while giving the bouquet, no words could describe how he was feeling. She was overwhelmed, but she wanted to be herself and be with him. Seungcheol was her home, her home when there was no one for her.

The moment Seungcheol knelt down, and showed her the ring, “I want you to be my wife, I want to spend my whole life with you, will you marry me?” marriage for Sihyun was something she always dreamed of but marrying the person she loves the most and actually wants to spend her whole life was something she just dreamt of or maybe something like a fever dream but happening infront of her, she was unable to say a single word, tears were threatening to fall, “Ye-Yes” it was her broken voice, Seungcheol heard her voice, and smiled at her, once he took her hand and made her wear the ring, he got up and cupped her face. “I love you so much Sihyun, I love you so much, I can’t live without you”

“I love you too Seungcheol” and he kissed her softly; he would always kiss her softly, for him, she is someone who deserves all the happiness and everything and of course him.

He suddenly lifted her up and twirled her around, “I am so happy Sihyun” he could only hear her laughs and for her, he was her whole world.

She parked the car, and took out her bag and went towards the apartment. Once she was inside, she went towards the lift and pressed the top floor button, she looked at her watch, and in a fraction of a second she was at the top floor.

She went towards the door and pressed the doorbell. “You’re here” Sihyun smiled at Hanuel, “Come inside”

Sihyun stepped inside, and took off her heels then went straight towards the living room. “Want to eat something?” Sihyun shook her head, she was in a conflict in her mind, and in deep thoughts about Seungcheol, “No, I already had dinner with Seungcheol”

“I see, how is he doing?”

“He is good.” Haneul sat facing her, “Is something bothering you?”

Sihyun wasn’t a big opener about her problems, the only person she trusted a lot was Seungcheol, beside that sharing her problems with anyone else felt like a burden to her at times but then she could always use the company of Hanuel and Seungmin. “I don’t know” and she sighed, Hanuel looked at her, Sihyun was always lost in deep thoughts nowadays, it’s been months but she wasn’t opening up, maybe Seungmin knew about it.

“Sihyun if you don’t say what’s the matt-”

“I think Seungcheol was doubting me somewhere but why would he?”

“He’s doubting you?” Sihyun nodded, “Did he drop any hints?” Sihyun nodded. “And these things are making me doubt him, I wonder what is he doing and what not, I never felt like this all these eight years, everything was going smoothly but why now? when everything is going so smoothly. Seungcheol was that person in my life, who taught me how to trust but now? if one single thing happens and falls apart, it’s all over.”

“Don’t worry too much, he won’t know and you’ve a reason Sihyun. You’re not hurting him or something, it’s you. You love him, you can never wish for his downfall.”

“But Hanuel if what I am thinking is true then why would he lie to me, I need to know him, his intentions, I can’t take any betrayal after all these years I spent with him”

“You’re overthinking Sihyun, Seungcheol is not that kind of guy, who would lie to you for so long.”

“But Seungmin? He can never be wrong, and he always tells me the things he found out, if what me and Seungmin are thinking are true then I would be making myself a fool infront of my whole team and family.”

“Don’t overthink too much, Sihyun. Be the way you are.” Sihyun sighed and looked at the time, today it took her almost two hours to come here. “I need to change and then we will leave. Inform Seungmin to come here, and I will go in his car, I can’t risk taking my car this time not after Seungcheol’s car passed through the same place and we were almost about to cross eachother’s path that night”

“Okay” saying that Sihyun took her bag and went to Hanuel’s bedroom to change her clothes.

Once she was inside, she started changing her clothes, a black dress, a black leather jacket, black boots, and a small pendent. She did her makeup lightly and looked at the mirror. “Sihyun, what are you doing?” “This is all for the people who left you alone”

The look was giving her an intimidating vibe; which was enough to let people know this is how a leader should behave. Once she was done with her hair, tying it up in a low ponytail, she came out of the room only to see Seungmin sitting on the couch.

“Are you ready for tonight?” Seungmin asked and she nodded, “Always have to be ready. Is everyone ready?” he nodded, “Everything’s ready and everyone is on their way. And everything is inside my car.”

“Perfect. We need to get this either way.”

“Don’t worry, everything will go your way, and I don’t think they will find us today as well, we’ve been eluding them till now without any problem and today’s a big day for us.”

“Seungmin, we can’t overlook the fact that Seungcheol’s car passed through the same place that night, and last time, it was barely three minutes difference and I cannot risk it again.”

“But you said he is staying home, right?” Seungmin looked serious, Seungcheol was one reason everyone was stressed, “Yes”

“So, don’t worry Sihyun, nothing will go wrong and it’s our day today.” Sihyun was stressed but she couldn’t show it infront of Haneul. She smiled at her, “Yes, let’s get going. We need to reach by midnight and since it will take time, let’s go now.”

They were ready and went down to the basement, Sihyun got inside Seungmin’s car and Hanuel took hers. “Can I drive Seungmin?”

“Do you want to blow off some steam tonight?” Sihyun smiled, Seungmin being her right-handed man, always knew, how driving was her way to release stress and it’s rare for them to go hit the racing circuit after she got married, most of the time spending time with Seungcheol would take away her stress or at times it would be Seungcheol who would make love and Sihyun could never deny him because he always gave her the best cuddles after that and the sleep would be the best one.

“Once we are done with the deal, I’ll let you drive” and Seungmin started the car, “since you’re going back to your husband’s arms tomorrow morning. I know you, can’t even stay away from him Sihyun; you love him so much and it shows it on your face.”

“But sometimes I feel this is wrong, carrying out the whole gang and then going back to his arms as if nothing happened. Sometimes I feel like I will pay the price for being the leader and being happy.”

“You’re doing this for your people Sihyun, never blame yourself and you have every right to be happy. You chose Seungcheol because you love him but you didn’t abandon us so doesn’t matter. You are happy.”

“You know, yesterday we went to meet Jeonghan and his wife, and when I saw Seungcheol holding their little angel in his arms, I realized how badly I want Seungcheol to be the father of our child.” Seungmin stopped the car in the traffic and looked at Sihyun, Sihyun looked like she was somewhere in her own world. The love for Seungcheol was something that always made her weak whenever it came to work, her work was dangerous, and her life was dangerous but living with Seungcheol she was always afraid, of leaving him and what’s coming for her next. She can’t risk everything but she is risking everything because of him after all.

They entered their house and Seungcheol locked the door, “Seungcheol” Sihyun’s voice was barely audible, she was about to go upstairs to their bedroom but she stopped but still didn’t face Seungcheol, she was hesitating, she never felt like this. Till date she always felt having kids is something she can never think about, being a mother and the thoughts of parenting always haunted her and specially after thinking how she saw her family getting killed infront of her eyes, when she was barely nine years. She was reminded of what is her work and whatever is she going to say had the power to flip her whole world upside down. Because one mistake from her side and it’s all over.

She felt Seungcheol’s steps approaching her, soon he wrapped his arms around her waist, “What happened my love?” Sihyun was deep in her thoughts, how would Seungcheol react and what if the past that happened with her repeats? Seungcheol knew she lost her family when she was nine years old but he doesn’t know why. Seungcheol knew her but at the same time he didn’t. “Sihyun” his voice was low, and he rested his head on her head, Sihyun turned around to look at him, “Cheol”

“Yes my love?” and that was it. ‘my love’

“A thought crossed my mind today when you were holding Jeonghan and Luna’s lil angel Mirae, I wondered how would you look holding a lil angel who looked like you, your eyes, your dimples, your smile” a smile spread on Sihyun’s face, “Even I want our little angel to look like you.” Sihyun’s eyes widened in the realization of what he had said, “What do you-” Before she could say anything, he kissed her. Seungcheol always wanted Sihyun’s approval in this matter, he always dreamt of holding their baby that’s why he waited till Sihyun said it. He had faith in Sihyun she would be a good mother and they would make nice parents.

“Looks like my baby is finally ready to take the next step” he looked at her and said, Sihyun was unable to say anything, “I was waiting for you to say” Sihyun realized how much Seungcheol respected her. “I love you so much” and she kissed him, and pulled herself back. Seungcheol held Sihyun shoulder and his other hand was holding her cheeks; he leaned closer and Sihyun could see what he was going to do next. He kissed her and her hands traveled from his shoulder to his neck, Seungcheol pulled her closer and she parted, “I love you too” and kissed her again. Seungcheol parted after they were out of breath and he picked her up in his arms “Let’s make you feel how much I love you” Sihyun smiled at him and buried her head in his embrace

“What did he say?” She looked at Seungmin, who was looking at her, “Even I want our little angel to look like you”

“Isn’t that good?” Seungmin’s voice was low, “You know what happened with my family and why, I am scared Seungmin, I am scared of what’s coming, and having a baby, I can, I want to with Seungcheol, I want to have our own small little family but the fear is still there. And I don’t want my baby anywhere near my work. I don’t want my baby to find out who I am which is impossible Seungmin and then there are chances of everyone getting targeted.” Sihyun sighed

“Don’t stress too much about it Sihyun” Sihyun smiled at Seungmin.

Soon, they reached and Seungmin parked the car. “Everything’s at the back seat” Sihyun nodded and went to check everything at the back seat. “Are the guns loaded?” Seungmin nodded, Sihyun took her gun and kept it with her. “Let’s try not to kill anyone tonight. I don’t want anyone interrupting our deal” Seungmin nodded and they saw Hanuel’s car parking. Hanuel came out of her car with her gun in her hand. Seungmin was holding a briefcase and they all went inside the warehouse.

“Everyone’s ready with everything?” the whole gang was there and they nodded, “Yes ma’am” There was the seat of Sihyun, she was walking gracefully with Seungmin, her right-handed man. Hanuel stepped back and stayed as the incharge of everyone. “Everyone’s safety should be the priority along with our deal, okay?”

“Yes ma’am”

“When are they coming Hanuel?” Sihyun took a seat and asked her, “They are almost here.”

“Good” Once they are in their work mood, there’s no friendship, it’s work relationship. That’s how Sihyun taught herself to handle the whole mafia gangs, she was the leader. Her identity was hidden, she was living a normal life without exposing her identity of mafia leader. She was the leader of Mafia and she handled everything with Seungmin.

“They’re here.” Hanuel said.

Sihyun crossed her legs and nodded, “Let the boss in and everyone stay outside. You too Hanuel.”

“But-” Hanuel was surprised because Sihyun never did this, “I said, OUT EVERYONE.”

“Okay ma’am” Seungmin was with Sihyun, “What’s wrong?”

“I want this deal to be just between us, no interruption Seungmin, I do not want anyone else inside and we can’t let our guards down, no matter what”

Once everyone was outside, it was just Sihyun and Seungmin; the other gang leader entered the warehouse, he was with his man. “Looks like you wanted only me tonight?” Sihyun wasn’t liking the way this man was talking to her, being the leader and a woman she knew, how she could be treated by other leaders but Seungmin was always there by her side, and never let these men get her. Last time a man talked down with Sihyun, Seungmin lost his clam but Sihyun killed him, that’s when there was almost a war because Sihyun killed an underboss.

“Did you forget how I killed him and do you want to be the next guy, who wants to get killed by my precious gun?” there was a smirk on her face.

The guy had his hands up, “Okay, I surrender, I am here for money and you’re here for your weapons, once the deal is done, it’s over”

“Good, come and take a seat.” Sihyun smiled. The man came and took a seat opposite to her, it was the leader of Kwon gang. One of the top gangs and also a ruthless one.

Once they showed each other, whatever they need, Sihyun checked the weapons and Seungmin showed the money. “Looks like this weapon deal is done” the guy had a smirk, and Sihyun smiled, “Yes” she took a pause and leaned towards him, “But always remember not to mess up with my people, I won’t hesitate to kill you and your members next time I see them killing any of my man or trying to hack our systems” Sihyun looked intensely at him, “Okay?”

“Well, you can’t order around like that Kim Sihyun” she had a smirk, “Of course I can, because all of my men are outside, and your people are already taken down. That’s what you pay for trying to hack our system and killing two of my men”

“Are you out of your mind?” she smiled at him, “I wish I was, but that’s how you handle double-faced people. Now get up and walk away, and remember not to mess up with me” he got up and at the same time, Sihyun and Seungmin heard Hanuel’s voice in their in-ear “Seungcheol and a team is almost here, get out of this place with Sihyun. RIGHT NOW.”

“Leave, they are here.” By the time, Sihyun’s voice was heard, everything turned upside down in a second, “Do not wait for me, leave. LEAVE HANUEL, TAKE EVERYONE AWAY I WANT EVERYONE TO BE SAFE.” Sihyun threw her in-ear and looked at Seungmin, “You take everything and leave first”

“No”

“I said, LEAVE.”

“I REFUSE KIM SIHYUN”

“THIS IS AN ORDER” By the time she could say one more word, she heard the door open and she pushed Seungmin, “If you ever cared about me, then leave” and that was it, Seungmin had no choice, and Sihyun didn’t know what was she going to do?

Surrender to Seungcheol? When she doesn’t even know why is he here?

To prove herself right that Seungcheol was lying to her and is an undercover agent?

That Seungcheol was the following her?

“Hands up” and then she heard her husband’s voice. And Seungmin couldn’t leave because of his loyalty, no matter how much Sihyun pushed him away. She could recognize his footsteps, and they were getting closer.

She saw him holding a gun and she was standing there face to face with him. Never in her nightmare, she was prepared for a day like this, standing face to face with Seungcheol and him pointing a gun towards her.

“What are you doing here? You shouldn’t have been here.” He screamed, the anger was visible on his face, he was pointing his gun toward her and in a second, everyone was pointing a gun towards her, “Lower your guns, not a single bullet should be fired and no one should hurt her or I will shoot you myself” his voice was stern, Sihyun rarely saw Seungcheol being pissed but today was something else, it was a blow-off for both of them. No one dared to speak a single word, “But sir-”

“STAND DOWN I SAID” Seungcheol’s voice almost made her flinch, but her expression stayed the same.

“So? Sihyun, how long have you been lying to me about everything?” he asked, his voice was almost unrecognizable to himself, she couldn’t answer and it was very evident that Seungcheol was pissed. She didn’t have any answer, “You also lied to me Seungcheol” and then she looked at him, directly in his eyes. No one had any answer, both were doing their own job, and falling in love was something that was never in their plan and how worse it could be that, the case Seungcheol was assigned and Sihyun was the mastermind and leader of everything. It was her job to protect her team and familia but it was his job to take her down, how could the universe be so cruel?

The pain and hurt were visible in his eyes, he wanted to prove himself wrong tonight, it’s been more than years since Seungcheol was assigned this thing, and he was an undercover agent. He was feeling cheated on his trust, he almost had a fight with his vice-team leader about Sihyun being the leader and he said he would prove them wrong tonight that’s why he lied to Sihyun about going out.

But here he is, standing face to face gun pointed towards his own wife, who was a ruthless gang leader. How could he do this to his own wife?

“You shouldn’t have been here SIHYUN” his screams weren’t helping him at all. There was just silence, no one spoke a single word.

“You shouldn’t have been here not after all this” Seungcheol’s mind wasn't working at all, looking at his wife as the person who was behind all this, she was the prime suspect but he was in denial and now that she is standing infront of him, he was more than shocked and angry.

“Seungcheol, remember I love you but for once in my life, I am going to choose my job” and she took out her loaded gun and pointed at him. Sihyun had no choice. “Let him leave and I will be the one here” Seungcheol, never said no to his wife, for him she was always the priority but he couldn’t even let his emotions take over him right now, he was on his duty. “If I let him go then what are you going to do Sihyun?” if her eyes could tell him how hurt she was when she heard her own name, she wasn’t used to this Seungcheol. “I am the one, you need.” She took a pause and looked at Seungmin, “Let him go.”

“Bring him” Another officer went to bring Seungmin, he was holding Seungmin. “Leave him” Seungcheol agreed and Seungmin had to walk away from the warehouse, Seungcheol knew what he was doing, he was trying to make Sihyun vulnerable and he had his team all over this place, once Seungmin stepped out of this warehouse, he is going to be caught by the officers and he would be taken away from this place.

“Now, put that gun down. You cannot leave this place” she shook her head, “I won’t and mind it, by the time you take me down, everyone would be gone, I saved my members already.” Sihyun’s eyes never looked away from Seungcheol’s eyes, there was a tension only they knew. “I gave you my heart already and there’s nothing left to give you anymore. My love, my heart and my whole life, it’s all yours. The day I realised I was in love, I knew what I was signing up for, the love the betrayal. I kept myself prepared for the day, maybe someone will ask me to surrender for being the leader but, never in my wildest nightmare I imagined you, that you would be here as the officer and telling me to put my gun down?”

“Why would you lie about yourself Seungcheol?” she was hurt, he knew she was hurt. It was his mission, he couldn’t even share this even after getting married, he wanted this mission to be over so that he could tell Sihyun and be happy. Seungcheol was feeling betrayed but on the other hand Sihyun was also feeling betrayed, both were on their duty and the crime of being in love and married to eachother was enough to tear them apart. “I love you Seungcheol and I can give up on my life for you but I can’t betray my family and knowing how they weren’t even my blood but someone I could call my family. And after knowing how much me and my people had to go through, I can’t step back. Do you want to know who made me like this?” Sihyun’s eyes were speaking, Sihyun never opened up totally with her past and Seungcheol was always waiting for her to say it without forcing her. “You and your organization” she had a tight smile “They didn’t take a single step when our family was killed. My own family died infront of my eyes, I never told you, how but my family was killed infront of my eyes when I was just nine years. And the people you’re working with, you call them justice?” she let out a smirk, remembering how she still gets the nightmare of her family getting killed infront of her, it was another reason why she afraid to be with Seungcheol. “It turned a blind eye and that was it.”

“I was alone until I found you.” all the memories of Seungcheol felt like a flashback to her.

“Seungcheol” she took a deep breath, she wanted to be calm and say everything that’s inside her but her heart was beating like crazy because she was nervous. “Your smile heals me. You make me happy and I admire you a lot. You helped me to find a home, a home I can always return back to. I want to give you all the love, more than you deserve. I call you, ‘My Seungcheol’ because you are everything to me. Love is not just a word I can use to describe you, you are a feeling, an emotion for me, you always give me a heart-warming feeling that no one else can ever give to me. You are my own Seungcheol. I will never keep a secret from you and will stay with you in all your happiness and sadness. I am ready to share my life with you and take one more step towards us. I love you too”

Once the exchange of rings was over, the priest then asked, “Do you Choi Seungcheol take Kim Sihyun, to be your lawfully wedded wife, to share your life openly, standing with her in sickness and in health, in joy and in sorrow, in hardship and in ease to cherish and love forever more?” her eyes were fixed on Seungcheol, and she heard “I Do” it felt like her whole world stopped for him. He smiled at her, his dimples. Another reason she never wanted to let go of him.

The priest turned to Sihyun, “Do you Kim Sihyun take Choi Seungcheol, to be your lawfully wedded husband, to share your life openly, standing with her in sickness and in health, in joy and in sorrow, in hardship and in ease to cherish and love forever more?” She took a deep breath and replied, “I do”

“You may now kiss your Bride”

The kiss was one overwhelming one and it had so many emotions in them. She couldn’t believe she made this decision, this was the second decision she made for herself. She was happy, she could feel the happiness, just for today she wanted to be the girl she wanted to be, forgetting about her duties as a leader. She wanted to be just ‘Seungcheol’s Wife’

“Why would you do this Sihyun? Why? Was everything a lie?” Seungcheol couldn’t process anything, everything Sihyun told him yesterday about have a little one and being a happy family was coming back to him as a flashback.

“You’re my happiness and my home but seems like at the end of the day you would also leave me. You knew everything about me Seungcheol except one fact, I am the leader you’ve been looking for since years, even before we met, if only I knew this is how it was going to end then I wouldn’t have met you” by this time, Sihyun was tearing up, it reminded of all the best memories Seungcheol gave her. How her life was beautiful after meeting him, “I love you but I hate your organization and now that I know you’re the one who was handling my case, I can’t even hate you. It all fell down.”

“I always had a motto, and that was to ‘die with dignity’” and with that the grip around her gun got tighter, “Thankyou Seungcheol for all these amazing seven years, I love you” and she fired.

The moment the bullet was fired, Seungcheol moved from his place but his bullet hit her right there and against his will he realized he shot her.

“Sihyun” was the last thing she heard before falling into the floor.

And the very next day, it was Seungcheol who received the award standing infront of the whole crowd, he was holding the trophy. He gave his speech and only he knew how much it was hurting. Only he knew, how he saw his wife dying, the tears that were threatening to fall, didn’t deserve to fall. It was the pain of losing his wife, his support system, his love, and the person he trusted the most, but then what is even trust?

He was the one who shot his wife and here he is being awarded for that.

All the dreams died down the moment she took her last breath infront of him saying she still loved him even after this.

[cancerian-woman]

i was reading a fic on wattpad where bonnie and rebekah are having a romance plot, its just a side plot but already well done in delving into Bonnie's sexuality and making her more desirable than canon a klaus hybrid likes her too. if you like tyler its a good fic to read because the author writes him so well. its called allure

could you please do some headcanons on bonekah

I haven’t read any non-Bonnie fics for tvd tbh but I’ll look into it. Here’s some headcanons:

Bonbekah:

Bonnie introduces Rebekah to Rihanna and Beyoncé’s music. I know Beyoncé and Rihanna doesn’t exist in TVDU.. but they do today.

Rebekah felt guilty after hearing Bonnie’s breakdown outside the Mikaelson Manor. So she reaches out to be friends or more.

Bonnie would’ve ignored Rebekah’s advances at first so Rebekah uses Bonnie’s kinship to Matt to help.

Rebekah would use her family’s history with Ayana to appeal to Bonnie. Bonnie likes family, she loved meeting witches heavy on the Bennett’s.

They’d bond through Bonnie helping Rebekah with the cheer routines which leads to sleepovers to parties!

Rebekah would become very possessive over Bonnie. Bonnie’s very loyal and idk I just think once someone else has a small fraction of what she gives to her friends. Sharing will not be easy after that.

[orangedodge]

Okay, another few questions:

1, how old were the original five X-Men at their introduction? 2, how old were they (OG team) when Banshee and the other "new X-Men" joined Cyclops in stopping Krakoa? And 3, how old were the original five when M-Day happened?

Sorry, these are details I just want to know for myself. Hope you don't mind the questioning, and keep up the good work!

According to [Uncanny] X-Men #1, Bobby Drake was sixteen when the team made its public debut. Furthermore he describes himself as a "couple" of years younger than his friends. We also know that Hank is somewhat older than Scott, Warren, and Jean. So, the short answer to your first question is: Bobby is 16, Warren, Scott, and Jean are 18, and Hank is probably 18 or 19.

It's not specifically clear whether Bobby is literally two years younger, or if "couple" is being used in a more figurative sense. I think it's safe to take at face value though, given that he is clearly presented as a member of their age cohort (along with Lorna and Alex); is meant to be reasonably close to the same age as Peter Parker and Johnny Storm (who should also be in the same general range as the original X-Men, as they were all teenagers at the same time); and lastly when Claremont revived the X-Men publication years later, Bobby was depicted as now comfortably a young adult, finishing up his accounting degree, at the same time that Jean was dealing with her first job drama, and Warren was off with the family business.

I also think it's safe to guess Hank is no more than a year older than the others. He's treated as a peer of his teammates rather than as a helper to the Professor, and seems comfortable as a member of the group even outside of X-Men training. Hank's more advanced academic pursuits with respect to his teammates are also shown to be a product of his intelligence and not simply him being in a more senior class, which I think furthermore point to him being loosely their age.

Later authors have occasionally given different ages to the first team, or at least to Scott. Bendis, who wrote them for the longest, identifies the younger Scott as sixteen when he first comes face to face with his modern counterpart (Uncanny X-Men volume 3 no. 12). In Matt Fraction's inexplicably titled Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Exodus, Scott gives a televised speech in which he claims to have joined the X-Men at age 15. And in Stuart Moore's X-Men Origins Cyclops, Scott is shown to have first met Charles when he was 17 (which works), but he also dates X-Men #1 as taking place when Scott was 21 (which contradicts every other version of the story).

I think it makes the most sense to just go with the original story, and take 18 as the team's median age. I think you could also just as well argue that the 15-17 number isn't in contradiction per se, but only reflects Scott's age when Charles started training him, or even when he first became Cyclops, and not his age in X-Men #1 when Jean joined the team and they confronted Magneto for the first time.

I know some fans also feel that the Bendis' run discounts the possibility that they're in their late teens, because he writes them so young, but I think that's kind of ridiculous. Bendis writes everyone like that, and in any case people are basically the same at 14 as they are at 34, so how much more mature does anyone get from 16 to 18, really?

I think having them remain (mostly) at 18+ is the most plausible reading of the original run, and the most consistent with their general dislike of Charles recruiting actual child soldiers in later classes, and as well with Marvel's editorial policy that the X-Men have existed for ten years in-universe in perpetuity and are now just shy of 30.

Second question: Their ages later on, when the All-New, All-Different team first formed aren't given directly, but they're easy to work out.

So, at time of first death, Jean was 24ish depending on when her birthday falls in the year. Scott and Warren are the same age, Bobby is two years younger, and Hank is probably around 1 year older.

How much time passes between Jean's introduction to Storm, Thunderbird, Wolverine, Banshee, etc and her death isn't specified, and during his first run, Claremont tried to maintain a pretense of everything occurring in real time, but already it had started to become untenable and can't be trusted.

At the time of Jean's death, the core Claremont trio of Storm, Wolverine, and Nightcrawler are still very early in getting to know each other as people, despite spending a lot of time together on page. So I think it's very likely that only a few months have passed between the new recruits joining the team and when Jean died and the remaining original X-Men make their departure. So I would just treat the Dark Phoenix Saga as taking place in the same year as the first mission to Krakoa, with Jean/Scott/Warren remaining 24 throughout.

Third question: To get to their ages at M-Day, I need to do something cataclysmically stupid. Something that I always tell everyone to never do when talking about the X-Men: I have to talk about how old Kitty Pryde was. She who has had three separate, non consecutive, fifteenth birthdays; and she who, famously, began the 1990s three years older than Jubilee, but still managed to end the decade two years younger than her. But, for once, bringing her into things is going to make everything else make more sense.

In X-Treme X-Men we're told directly that Kitty joined the X-Men five years ago. This is useful to know, because she joined the team on the exact same day that Jean died, so it has also been 5 years since that happened. X-Treme X-Men takes place at the same time as New Mutants volume 2, later to be relaunched as New X-Men: Academy X, which documents the first academic year of the Xavier School post its outing as a mutant boarding school. The two books ran parallel to one another and reference the same events in the lives of the original New Mutants.

Academy X concludes during the House of M crossover itself, and with the depiction of the typical US/Canadian school dances, and the inclusion of a year book issue, I think it's reasonable to conclude that the entire Academy X era takes place over about one full school year. So adding that together, M-Day should fall around 6 years after Jean's first death, making her, Scott, and Warren around 29-30, Hank 30-31, and Bobby 27-28.

If you want corroboration while also having the chance to experience a desperate urge to kick something, here's a cropped out section of the House of X/Powers of X timeline.

My version has a type mistake, where years 49 and 50 were incorrectly reversed. Genosha should be year 50, and Moira's "death" at 49. (IIRC later print editions fixed this) M-Day and Decimation would happen in year 51. The Year 47 event references the storyline beginning in Jim Lee's X-Men #1, and so the formation of the Claremont X-Men would likely be in Year 45 or 46. Scott and co being 30ish at Year 52, and working backwards...It actually all kind of lines up?

Which I hate! I hate that it works. It forces you to accept that everything after M-Day occurs over the course of just one single year. And it's so annoying that it's actually kind of possible, when you remember how much everyone loved decompressed storytelling in those days, and subsequently how almost nothing actually happened for a decade and a half of comics. But still! That's so ridiculous! Why do they do this!

Hope that helps! Thanks for the ask.

[brookstonalmanac]

Birthdays 12.1

Beer Birthdays

William Krug (1857)

Randy Mosher (1952)

RJ Trent (1968)

Susan Boyle

Five Favorite Birthdays

Morris; Belgian cartoonist (1923)

Mary Martin; actress and singer (1913)

Jeremy Northam; actor (1961)

Jaco Pastorius; jazz bassist (1951)

Richard Pryor; comedian, actor (1940)

Famous Birthdays

Andrew Adamson; New Zealand film director (1966)

Woody Allen; comedian, writer, film director (1935)

Carol Alt; model. actor (1960)

Micheline Bernardini; French dancer and model (1927)

Eric Bloom; rock guitarist (1944)

Jan Brett; author and illustrator (1949)

Candace Bushnell; writer (1958)

Richard Carrier; author (1969)

Billy Childish; English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and painter (1959)

Jonathan Coulton; singer-songwriter and guitarist (1970)

Julee Cruise; singer-songwriter, musician, and actress (1956)

John Densmore; rock drummer (1945)

David Doyle; actor (1929)

Étienne Maurice Falconet; French sculptor (1716)

Matt Fraction; comic book writer (1975)

Steve Gibb; singer-songwriter and guitarist (1973)

Sophie Guillemin; French actress (1977)

Judith Hackitt; English chemist (1954)

Annette Haven; adult actress (1954)

DeSean Jackson; football player (1986)

Tahar Ben Jelloun; Moroccan author and poet (1944)

Jonathan Katz; comedian and actor (1946)

Clark Kent; fictional character, Superman

Richard Keith; actor and drummer (1950)

Martin Klaproth; German chemist (1743)

Zoë Kravitz; actress, singer, and model (1988)

Jerry Lawson; electronic engineer and inventor (1940)

Jimmy Lyons; saxophonist (1931)

Emily McLaughlin; actress (1928)

Bette Midler; actor, singer (1945)

Bart Millard; singer-songwriter (1972)

Julia A. Moore; poet (1847)

Emily Mortimer; actor (1971)

Sandy Nelson; rock drummer (1938)

Jim Nesbitt; singer-songwriter and guitarist (1931)

Eligiusz Niewiadomski; Polish painter (1869)

Gilbert O'Sullivan; pop singer (1946)

Isaiah "Ikey" Owens; keyboard player (1975)

Billy Paul; soul singer (1934)

Chris Poland; guitarist and songwriter (1957)

Chanel Preston; porn actress (1985)

Lou Rawls; singer (1933)

Martin Rodbell; scientist (1925)

John Schlimm; writer (1971)

Karl Schmidt-Rottluff; German painter (1884)

Dick Shawn; comedian, actor (1923)

Sarah Silverman; comedian, actor (1970)

Rex Stout; English writer (1886)

Robert Symonds; actor (1926)

Malachi Throne; actor (1928)

Charlene Tilton; actor (1958)

Lee Trevino; golfer (1939)

Jane Turner; Australian actress (1960)

Marie Tussaud; wax modeler-maker (1761)

Mihály Vörösmarty; Hungarian poet (1800)

Treat Williams; actor (1951)

Vesta Williams; singer-songwriter and actress (1957)

Minoru Yamasaki; architect (1912)

[doomerpatrol]

Comic Log 2024 (Redux)

The Great: Comics that stick with me, that are fun to read, look at, and think about; these wind up in my "Favorite Comics" spreadsheet.

Dungeon Meshi by Ryoko Kui Doom Patrol by Grant Morrison and Richard Case The Flash by Mark Waid, Grant Morrison, and Mark Millar JLA by Grant Morrison and Howard Porter Animal Man by Grant Morrison and Chaz Truog All-Star Superman by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely Batman by Grant Morrison Hawkeye by Matt Fraction and David Aja Black Widow by Marjorie Liu and Daniel Acuna Birds of Prey by Gail Simone Fantastic Four by Jonathan Hickman Moon Knight by Warren Ellis and Declan Shalvey Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow by Tom King and Bilquis Evely Immortal Hulk by Al Ewing and Joe Bennett The Fade Out by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips 20th Century Men by Deniz Camp and Stipan Morian Gotham Central by Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka Action Comics by Phillip Kennedy Johnson The Many Deaths of Laila Starr by Ram V and Filipe Andrade Invincible Iron Man by Matt Fraction and Salvador Larocca House of X / Powers of X by Jonathan Hickman, Pepe Larraz, and R.B. Silva Superman: Birthright by Mark Waid and Leinil Yu

The Good: Comics that I overall enjoyed but had some notable complaints about.

Seven Soldiers by Grant Morrison Batman: No Man's Land by various authors Wolverine by Greg Rucka Catwoman by Ed Brubaker Journey into Mystery by Kieron Gillen Black Cat by Jed MacKay She-Hulk (Vol. 2) by Dan Slott Magneto by Cullen Bunn 52 by Johns/Waid/Morrison/Rucka/Giffen Wonder Woman by Greg Rucka Superman: Up, Up, and Away by Kurt Busiek, Geoff Johns, and Pete Woods Superman and the Authority by Grant Morrison and Mikel Janin Black Widow by Mark Waid and Chris Samnee Punisher by Greg Rucka and Marco Checchetto FF by Matt Fraction and Mike Allred The Nice House on the Lake by James Tynion IV and Alvaro Martinez Bueno Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen by Matt Fraction and Steve Lieber

The Mid: Comics that slid off me in one way or another, or had potential that I think got squandered - not terrible, but feel a bit like time lost. Least likely to get a write-up.

X-23 by Craig Kyle & Chris Yost Detective Comics by Greg Rucka JLA by Mark Waid Batman: Hush by Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee Detective Comics by Scott Snyder Batgirl by Kelley Puckett X-Men: Messiah Complex by various authors We3 by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely

The Bad: Comics that I actively did not enjoy.

Astonishing X-Men by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday Action Comics by Grant Morrison Punisher by Rick Remender Venom by Rick Remender Moon Knight by Brian Wood and Cullen Bunn Uncanny X-Men by Ed Brubaker Daredevil by Ed Brubaker Ant-Man and the Wasp by Mark Waid Sex Criminals by Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky New X-Men by Christina Weir and Nunzio DeFillippis

[drasnianfrank]

Twenty Books Challenge

Hypothetically, you are only able to keep 20 of your books. Only one book per author/series. So what books are you keeping? Credit due to @the-forest-library (I have been thinking about this list for like a week straight)

Guardians of the West by David and Leigh Eddings - any of the Belgariad/Mallorean series frankly. I read these series I don't know how many times as teen. Yes, they are a problematic. Yes they are trope-y as hell but I love them.

Memory by Lois McMaster Bujold - inching just barely above Miles in Love or Mountains of Mourning.

Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison - This is a book that always makes me cry.

Whale Talk by Chris Cutcher - A swim team comprised of various kids with disabilities and are deeply flawed but are also attempting to do good things? I wish this was on every book list for teens.

All Systems Red (Murderbot Diaries) by Martha Wells - I mean all murderbot series is great. Funny story, I told my mom to read this book eons ago and she only read it after a librarian recommended it.

Return of the King by JRR Tolkien - though technically LotR is one book and I don't have single copies of this anymore. But the scouring of the shire just hits me in different places when I read it.

A Child's Anthology of Poetry edited by Elizabeth Hauge Sword and Victoria Flournoy McCarthy - My textbook of poetry when I was young.

Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr - Another a book that makes me absolutely sob.

The Realms of the Gods by Tamora Pierce - I love the Wild Magic Series the most of all Pierce's series. And yes, I recognize the problematic relationship. But also, talking badger.

Sabriel by Garth Nix - I'm sorry the far superior goth necromancer with bells.

First Truth by Dawn Cook - If had I pick one of the truth series. I have an unnatural fondness of a book series that combines magic with Punnett Squares.

Macbeth by William Shakespeare. Narrowly above Midsummer Night's Dream. But the tomorrow speech is an absolute banger.

All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot - Any of the Herriot books. I read these almost to pieces.

Double Whammy by Carl Hiassen - It was this or Squeeze Me. But Skink really deserves to saved.

House of Leaves by Mark Z Danielewski - Post Modern Horror.

Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein - More Poetry of my childhood.

Dark Tales by Shirley Jackson - specifically The Possibility of Evil.

Daredevil vol 6 by Mark Waid, Chris Samnee - Graphic Novels count and I will fight you. This has one of the first individual issues I picked up.

Sandman vol. 8: World's End by Neil Gaiman, Micha Allred - Sandman holds a near and dear place in my heart. It was a close call between this and American Gods or Preludes and Nocturnes. But I will have echoes of Crements in my head.

Hawkeye vol. 4: Rio Bravo by Matt Fraction, David Aja - Pizza Dog! Also any of the volumes are fantastic and visually gorgeous.

I did take the prompt literally, but here are five more books I either always buy on kindle/can only get as an ebook. I would pay an extraordinary amount of money for these in print.

Toad Words and other stories by T Kingfisher - I was following her when she was still writing fantasy!

I Reap You Not by Catelyn Winona - Second Person done right.

True Porn Clerk Stories by Ali Davis - This causes me to giggle, rage, and cry.

The Heiress Effect by Courtney Milan - Brothers Sinister series is the standard I compare all Regency Novels to.

Night Shift by Stephen King - Specifically Quitter's Inc. But frankly any collection of Stephen King is gold.

Tagging @thatoldstandby, @msfehrwight, @raventycho, @timemachineyeah, @theneptuneviolin and anyone else. And of course you can include pictures too.

[comicmix]

Marvel Addss Tie-in Comics to Fantastic Four: First Steps

New York, NY— April 25, 2025 — This July, the Future Foundation is proud to partner with Marvel Comics to produce the first-ever authorized retelling of the Fantastic Four’s early adventures. Titled FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS, the single-issue comic will be authored by acclaimed writer and renowned Fantastic Four expert Matt Fraction and drawn by award-winning super hero artist Mark Buckingham.…

[woodflooringuk]

Vinyl Flooring That Mimics Marble: Luxury on a Budget

Vinyl Flooring That Mimics Marble: Luxury on a Budget

Author, Written by:  Bledy (Installation Expert and Technical Writer)

Love the look of marble but not the price tag—or the upkeep? You’re not alone. In recent years, vinyl flooring that mimics marble has taken the design world by storm, offering homeowners the high-end elegance of natural stone without the cost, complexity, or cold touch underfoot.

Whether you're renovating a bathroom, styling a rental property, or upgrading your kitchen on a budget, marble-look vinyl flooring makes it easy to achieve that luxurious aesthetic without compromise.

1. The Look of Marble, Minus the Fuss 🪨

Modern vinyl flooring is no longer limited to basic designs. Thanks to advanced printing and embossing technology, today’s vinyl planks and tiles can replicate realistic marble veining, patterns, and textures—from classic Carrara to bold Calacatta and dramatic black Nero Marquina.

✔ Highly detailed veining and subtle colour shifts mimic natural stone. ✔ Available in matte or gloss finishes depending on your preferred aesthetic. ✔ Works beautifully in both traditional and contemporary interiors.

🖤 Design Tip: Choose larger-format tiles for a more authentic marble slab look, especially in bathrooms or hallways.

2. Affordable Luxury That Fits the Budget 💰

Natural marble is stunning—but it comes with a hefty price, not to mention professional installation and regular maintenance. Vinyl is a far more budget-friendly option:

✔ Costs a fraction of real stone—both in material and labour. ✔ DIY-friendly installation (with click-lock or peel-and-stick options available). ✔ Perfect for cost-conscious makeovers and budget-savvy landlords.

💡 Smart Move: Use marble-look vinyl to create a luxe effect in high-impact spaces like foyers or powder rooms without blowing your renovation budget.

3. Easy Maintenance, Everyday Practicality 🧼

One of the biggest downsides to real marble is its porosity—it stains easily, scratches easily, and requires sealing. Vinyl? Not so much.

✔ 100% waterproof – Great for kitchens, bathrooms, and laundry areas. ✔ Scratch- and stain-resistant – Ideal for busy households with kids or pets. ✔ Just sweep, mop, or wipe—no sealing, no polishing, no fuss.

🧽 Everyday Bonus: No need to worry about wine spills, toothpaste dribbles, or muddy shoes.

4. Soft, Warm, and Comfortable Underfoot 👣

Unlike stone, vinyl flooring offers a softer, warmer feel underfoot, making it much more comfortable to walk on—especially during colder months.

✔ Compatible with underfloor heating systems. ✔ Provides a slight cushioning effect—easier on joints and ideal for long-standing areas like kitchens. ✔ Quieter than stone, reducing footstep noise in apartments or upstairs rooms.

5. Where to Use Marble-Look Vinyl

Thanks to its durability and visual appeal, marble-effect vinyl works in almost any room:

✅ Bathrooms – Achieve a spa-like feel with waterproof functionality. ✅ Kitchens – Get a clean, classic look that stands up to daily messes. ✅ Entryways and hallways – Make a bold first impression. ✅ Living rooms – Especially in open-plan spaces where you want continuity with a touch of elegance.

Stylish Simplicity, Without the Marble Maintenance

Vinyl flooring that mimics marble offers the best of both worlds: the timeless luxury of natural stone with the comfort, affordability, and practicality of vinyl. It’s the perfect solution for homeowners who want a polished, high-end look—without the high-maintenance routine.

Thinking of adding some marble-inspired magic to your space? We’re here to help you find a vinyl style that suits your home and your budget beautifully.

About Author:

Bledy is a flooring installation expert with over 15 years of experience. He writes easy-to-follow guides and tips to help homeowners and professionals with flooring projects.

[ibboard]

Wil Wheaton sits down with Amy Dallen, Kelly Sue DeConnick, and Matt Fraction to imagine a dystopian world where power has been concentrated into the hands of one centralized authority. They are a group of teenage rebels who have had enough!

Stories let us explore concepts and teach us lessons. Sometimes they turn things up to 11 for dramatic effect. The dystopia is not meant to be a societal goal!

[pagesofkenna]

>read this amazing fanfic where Trystan Valentine gets into crime because he makes time stop when he has sex, playing on the 'sex criminal' in-show joke

>JPC references the 'sex criminal' joke in Hey Riddle Riddle and Adal informs him that there's a comic called Sex Criminals where the characters do crime because time stops when they have sex

>I did not realize that fanfic was a concept crossover! (I must not have read the author notes, or remembered them, lol)

>The comic is a collaboration between Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky???? I need to read this immediately!!

>My local library has it!?

>It's listed as 'temporarily unavailable' in the system, and the librarians all know me because I used to work there, and I don't feel comfortable asking them why the Sex Criminal books are mysteriously missing

:C

[mattbrittonnyc]

Enhancing Consumer Legal Services with AI: Insights from Matt Britton

In the rapidly evolving landscape of legal services, where access and efficiency are paramount, the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) is not just a futuristic concept but a present-day reality. As organizations navigate this complex terrain, the demand for insights from proven experts in AI and consumer trends has never been higher. Enter Matt Britton, a renowned AI keynote speaker whose extensive experience could dramatically shape how legal services cater to consumer needs through technology.

Matt Britton, known for his role as the Founder & CEO of the groundbreaking consumer research platform Suzy, has carved a niche as an authority in understanding and leveraging new consumer trends. His insights are backed by a robust history of consulting for over half of the Fortune 500 companies, making him a sought-after figure in translating complex data into actionable strategies. His best-selling book, YouthNation, solidifies his stance as a forward-thinker in the dynamics of consumer behavior, particularly among Generation Z, a demographic that is increasingly influencing market trends.

The Relevance of AI in Consumer Legal Services

The integration of AI in consumer legal services is a game-changer in enhancing access to justice and improving the efficiency of legal processes. AI technologies, from natural language processing to predictive analytics, are revolutionizing how legal firms handle large volumes of information, automate routine tasks, and provide personalized legal advice at a fraction of traditional costs. In such a scenario, a top keynote speaker like Matt Britton can provide invaluable insights into how these technologies can be harnessed to meet consumer expectations and drive business growth.

Why Matt Britton as a Keynote Speaker for Your Conference

When planning a conference that tackles the theme of AI in consumer legal services, choosing the right speaker is critical. As an AI expert speaker, Matt brings a unique blend of expertise in AI applications and a deep understanding of consumer trends that can translate into more focused, client-driven legal services. His speeches are not only informative but are also designed to inspire and provoke thought, driving innovation in practice.

Expertise in Consumer Trends

As legal services become more consumer-oriented, understanding shifting consumer behaviors and expectations becomes crucial. Matt’s background as a consumer trend expert, particularly with his insights into Generation Z, makes him an ideal conference speaker to discuss the alignment of AI technologies with consumer demands. His discussions are rooted in real-world applications and enriched with data-driven insights, providing a clear roadmap for innovation in legal services.

Proven Track Record with Fortune 500 Companies

Matt's consultancy experience with over half of the Fortune 500 offers a testament to his ability to adapt and apply trends across various industries. For legal firms looking to scale and innovate, his keynotes provide not just theoretical knowledge but practical strategies that have been proven in the most competitive environments. This experience positions him among the top conference speakers, capable of addressing the complex needs of an audience from diverse legal backgrounds.

Engaging and Authoritative Delivery

One of the hallmarks of top keynote speakers is their ability to engage an audience. Matt Britton excels in delivering compelling, dynamic presentations that not only hold the attention of his audience but also encourage them to rethink their approaches to technology and client service. His authoritative delivery, supported by up-to-date research and real-world examples, ensures that attendees leave with a thorough understanding of the subject matter and a clear set of actions they can immediately implement.

Conclusion

For any legal conference focused on the future of consumer legal services, Matt Britton stands out as a keynote speaker capable of bridging the gap between AI technology and consumer needs. His dual expertise in AI applications and consumer trends provides a comprehensive perspective that is both insightful and actionable. Legal professionals attending his keynote can expect to gain a deeper understanding of how to integrate AI into their services effectively, ensuring that their offerings are not only efficient but also aligned with the evolving expectations of their clients.

Choosing Matt Britton as an AI keynote speaker for your next legal conference could be the pivotal step in transforming your approach to legal services, making them more accessible, efficient, and consumer-centric. His proven track record, authoritative insights, and dynamic speaking skills are exactly what your event needs to inspire and empower your audience to embrace the potential of AI in reshaping the future of legal services.

[jcmarchi]

Australian Scientists Detect Most Distant Fast Radio Burst Ever Discovered - Technology Org

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/australian-scientists-detect-most-distant-fast-radio-burst-ever-discovered-technology-org/

Australian Scientists Detect Most Distant Fast Radio Burst Ever Discovered - Technology Org

Record-breaking observation of the most distant fast radio burst ever discovered offers a path to weigh Universe’s ‘missing matter’.

In a tiny fraction of a second the radio burst released the equivalent of our Sun’s total emission over 30 years. A new generation of radio telescopes will allow us to unravel the mystery of fast radio bursts.

An artist’s impression (not to scale) illustrates the path of the fast radio burst FRB 20220610A, from the distant galaxy where it originated all the way to Earth, in one of the Milky Way’s spiral arms. It’s so far away its light took eight billion years to reach us, making FRB 20220610A the most distant fast radio burst found to date. Image: ESO/M.Kornmesser

An international team of scientists, including at the University of Sydney, has spotted a remote blast of cosmic radio waves lasting less than a millisecond. This ‘fast radio burst’ (FRB) is the most distant ever detected.

The discovery of the burst, named FRB 20220610A, was made in June last year by CSIRO’s ASKAP radio telescope on Wajarri Yamaji Country in Western Australia and it smashed the research team’s previous distance record by 50 percent.

This FRB is also one of the most energetic ever observed; in a tiny fraction of a second it released the equivalent of our Sun’s total emission over 30 years. The location of the source is in a galaxy so far away that its light took eight billion years to reach Earth.

In a paper published today in Science, the team led by Macquarie University’s Dr Stuart Ryder and Swinburne University of Technology’s Associate Professor Ryan Shannon, report on their discovery.

Co-author Professor Elaine Sadler, from the Sydney Institute for Astronomy at the University of Sydney, said: “Tracking down the galaxy where the fast radio burst originated was very exciting, because it suggests that we will be able to find even more distant bursts in the future, allowing us to probe further into the Universe.”

Dr Ryder from Macquarie University said: “Using ASKAP’s array of dishes, we were able to determine where the burst came from.

“Then we used the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope in Chile to search for the source galaxy. We found it to be older and further away than any other FRB source found to date and likely within a small group of merging galaxies.”

Professor Sadler, also part of the School of Physics at the University of Sydney, said: “The distant galaxy where this burst originated looked quite different from the other galaxies where FRBs had been detected and we think we may be seeing the collision and merger of two galaxies rather than just a single galaxy.

“Galaxy collisions of this kind were more common in the distant and early Universe than they are today. Even though this galaxy is billions of light years away, measurements with a range of telescopes have allowed us to measure its size and mass as well as the typical age and chemical composition of its constituent stars.

“This information is helpful in trying to pin down the physical mechanism that produces such highly energetic magnetic flares, represented by the FRBs.”

Weighing the Universe

The discovery confirms that FRBs can be used to measure the ‘missing’ matter between galaxies, providing a new way to ‘weigh’ the Universe.

Current methods of estimating the mass of the Universe are giving conflicting answers and challenging the standard model of cosmology.

“If we count up the amount of normal matter in the Universe – the atoms that we are all made of – we find that more than half of what should be there today is missing,” Associate Professor Shannon said. “We think that the missing matter is hiding in the space between galaxies, but it may just be so hot and diffuse that it’s impossible to see using normal techniques.

“Fast radio bursts allow us to detect this ionised material. Even in space that is nearly perfectly empty they can ‘see’ all the electrons, and that allows us to measure how much stuff is between the galaxies,” he said.

Finding distant FRBs is key to accurately measuring the Universe’s missing matter, first demonstrated by the late Australian astronomer Jean-Pierre (‘J-P’) Macquart in a Nature paper in 2020.

Dr Ryder said: “J-P showed that the further away a fast radio burst is, the more diffuse gas it reveals between the galaxies. This is now known as the Macquart relation. Some recent fast radio bursts appeared to break this relationship. Our measurements confirm the Macquart relation holds out to beyond half the known Universe.”

About 50 FRBs have been pinpointed to date – nearly half using ASKAP. The authors suggest we should be able to detect thousands of them across the sky, and at even greater distances.

Associate Professor Shannon said: “While we still don’t know what causes these massive bursts of energy, the paper confirms that fast radio bursts are common events in the cosmos and that we will be able to use them to detect matter between galaxies, and better understand the structure of the Universe.”

The result represents the limit of what is achievable with telescopes today, although astronomers will soon have the tools to detect even older and more distant bursts, pin down their source galaxies and measure the Universe’s missing matter.

The international SKA Observatory is currently building two radio telescopes in South Africa and Australia that will be capable of finding thousands of FRBs, including very distant ones that cannot be detected with current facilities.

ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope, a 39-metre telescope under construction in the Chilean Atacama Desert, will be one of the few telescopes able to study the source galaxies of bursts even further away than FRB 20220610A.

Research paper

Ryder, et al. ‘A luminous fast radio burst that probes the Universe at redshift 1’, Science (October 2023) DOI: 10.1126/science.adf.2678

Declaration

Funding for this research came from the Dutch Research Council, the Australian Research Council and the US National Science Foundation.

Source: University of Sydney

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[brookstonalmanac]

Birthdays 12.1

Beer Birthdays

William Krug (1857)

Randy Mosher (1952)

RJ Trent (1968)

Susan Boyle

Five Favorite Birthdays

Morris; Belgian cartoonist (1923)

Mary Martin; actress and singer (1913)

Jeremy Northam; actor (1961)

Jaco Pastorius; jazz bassist (1951)

Richard Pryor; comedian, actor (1940)

Famous Birthdays

Andrew Adamson; New Zealand film director (1966)

Woody Allen; comedian, writer, film director (1935)

Carol Alt; model. actor (1960)

Micheline Bernardini; French dancer and model (1927)

Eric Bloom; rock guitarist (1944)

Jan Brett; author and illustrator (1949)

Candace Bushnell; writer (1958)

Richard Carrier; author (1969)

Billy Childish; English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and painter (1959)

Jonathan Coulton; singer-songwriter and guitarist (1970)

Julee Cruise; singer-songwriter, musician, and actress (1956)

John Densmore; rock drummer (1945)

David Doyle; actor (1929)

Étienne Maurice Falconet; French sculptor (1716)

Matt Fraction; comic book writer (1975)

Steve Gibb; singer-songwriter and guitarist (1973)

Sophie Guillemin; French actress (1977)

Judith Hackitt; English chemist (1954)

Annette Haven; porn actor (1954)

DeSean Jackson; football player (1986)

Tahar Ben Jelloun; Moroccan author and poet (1944)

Jonathan Katz; comedian and actor (1946)

Clark Kent; fictional character, Superman

Richard Keith; actor and drummer (1950)

Martin Klaproth; German chemist (1743)

Zoë Kravitz; actress, singer, and model (1988)

Jerry Lawson; electronic engineer and inventor (1940)

Jimmy Lyons; saxophonist (1931)

Emily McLaughlin; actress (1928)

Bette Midler; actor, singer (1945)

Bart Millard; singer-songwriter (1972)

Julia A. Moore; poet (1847)

Emily Mortimer; actor (1971)

Sandy Nelson; rock drummer (1938)

Jim Nesbitt; singer-songwriter and guitarist (1931)

Eligiusz Niewiadomski; Polish painter (1869)

Gilbert O'Sullivan; pop singer (1946)

Isaiah "Ikey" Owens; keyboard player (1975)

Billy Paul; soul singer (1934)

Chris Poland; guitarist and songwriter (1957)

Chanel Preston; porn actress (1985)

Lou Rawls; singer (1933)

Martin Rodbell; scientist (1925)

John Schlimm; writer (1971)

Karl Schmidt-Rottluff; German painter (1884)

Dick Shawn; comedian, actor (1923)

Sarah Silverman; comedian, actor (1970)

Rex Stout; English writer (1886)

Robert Symonds; actor (1926)

Malachi Throne; actor (1928)

Charlene Tilton; actor (1958)

Lee Trevino; golfer (1939)

Jane Turner; Australian actress (1960)

Marie Tussaud; wax modeler-maker (1761)

Mihály Vörösmarty; Hungarian poet (1800)

Treat Williams; actor (1951)

Vesta Williams; singer-songwriter and actress (1957)

Minoru Yamasaki; architect (1912)