#Blake’s entire head bothers me to no end but it’s fine

[schofieldshelmet]

Just finished this piece! Les Mis reference at the top, anyone?

(Also yes, my camera is horrible so it looks super muddy. Irl it’s much less grainy)

[callmewrinkles3]

Charlie

December 2022

Em really didn’t want to be out. She was constantly tired and still felt stressed, but Blake insisted. Her cast was off and she’d finished physical therapy so “cmon Timmy, the two of you are coming out for dinner and drinks.”

So she did what he told her and got dressed, the three of them sitting at a table and chatting. It was good food and relaxing and she actually enjoyed herself. Dan spotted where Blake’s attention was being drawn, a woman standing at the bar turning down a guy. She’d glanced over at Blake a few times but kept looking away.

“Have a crush, Blake?” He asked and their friend shook his head and pushed his glasses up.

“She’s cute. But you know me.” Em looked at him and stood while pointing at their glasses.

“Same again?”

“Yeah, please.”

Going up for drinks was just the first excuse that Em could find to go up to the bar and stand beside the pretty brunette Blake kept making eyes at. She’d deal with him being annoyed at her later, her friend deserved some happiness for once. As much as he tried to hide it she could hear the sadness when he said “you know me”. He’d put his personal life on the back burner for them.

It wasn’t that Blake didn’t want to meet anyone and settle down and be happy, but he didn’t have time. And it was entirely because of her and Dan. The thin walls between her old apartment and his worked both ways and she knew he’d stopped bringing anyone home over lockdown and never did again. Between how 2021 started, the mess of that year and how it ended, and the hell that had been 2022 he didn’t stand a chance. Instead he kept an eye on them, half brother, half parent, all Blake.

Officially his job was to be Dan’s manager but after everything he became a professional third wheel to make sure they were ok. He’d spent the last year keeping his barely functioning best friends going and ignored his own happiness. So for once Em - helped by the g&ts she’d drank already - was ignoring how shy she could be and telling the girl that Blake was interested if she was too. Em couldn’t even remember the last time she’d seen Blake’s eyes light up at seeing someone. It’d be worth his annoyance to make him happy. He’d put her happiness first, it was her turn to do that for him.

“Can I get a gin and tonic, a Jack and Coke, and another pint please? And whatever her next drink is too? Thanks so much.” Em pointed to the girl beside her as she ordered once she’d stepped into a free spot before turning and holding her hand out. “Hey, I’m Em.”

She saw the surprise on the woman’s face the second Em introduced herself. If someone ever did that to Em in a bar one night she’d probably run away, and definitely run back to Dan, but the woman didn’t. She had skinny jeans and converse on with a tank top and a flannel shirt over it. The woman stood there with her nearly empty glass for a second before speaking.”

“Hi. I’m Charlotte. Can I help you?”

“This sounds insane, but yeah, you can. I mean not exactly me but my friend. See the cute one over there with glasses? His name is Blake. He thinks you’re cute.” Charlotte glanced over and back carefully, but Em saw the “oh fuck” expression on Blake’s face.

“He does?”

“Yeah. I’m sorry about his face, he’s mad at me for telling you because he wasn’t going to say anything. But I promise, he’s a sunshine. The sweetest man in the universe after my husband. So I figured if you think he’s cute you can come sit with us and say hi. And if you don’t that’s fine, enjoy the drink. We won’t bother you.”

“You actually want me to say hi to someone at Daniel Ricciardo’s table? Really?”

“Sometimes I forget my h-boyfriend is a celebrity. But seriously, don’t think of him like that. Dan’s a regular guy, and Blake’s even more normal. So if you feel like it come say hi?” The drinks were out down beside her and Em tapped her card on the machine to pay. “I haven’t touched your drink, it’s all yours. It was really nice to talk to you, Charlotte.”

Em walked away from the bar barely balancing the three glasses in her hands, dropping them down on the table in front of her two favourite men barely spilling a drop. Her favourite part about getting back was how their jaws dropped slightly. She was never the one who did those things. She was the introvert, the one who hated talking to people. Especially talking to strangers. But three gin and tonics and a margarita meant she wasn’t thinking about how uncomfortable it was to talk to people. All she was thinking about was Blake being happy, even if it was just for one night.

“What did you just do?” Blake asked, staring at her as if she was an alien and not one of his best friends and his adopted sister.

“You mean to say “thank you”, right Blakey?”

“Where’s my sweet baby girl and what have you done with her?” Dan joked, trying to keep it together and not burst out laughing at what his wife had done.

“What did you tell her?” Blake sounded frantic so Em took pity on him.

“That my very sweet, handsome bestie thinks she’s cute. And then I paid for her drink and told her to come say hi if she thinks you’re cute too. She’d just said no to that other guy and I saw her checking you out, so I think she’ll come over. You’re welcome in advance.” Em took a sip of her drink. “When you get married I get dibs on maid of honour duties and to be godmother for your first child.” She shrugged and scooted closer into Dan. It was the least her thing she had ever done, but she owed it to Blake.

“You’re never gonna drink again. Ever.” She wanted to laugh as she watched Blake blush even harder, but she didn’t want to make things worse. Instead she smiled and snuggled into Dan as he wrapped an arm around her. “Seriously. I’m never letting you drink again.

“And you’ve never seen her when she starts drinking rose. That’s when she really says the weird stuff.”

“Dan!”

“You know it’s true!”

“Weirdos,” Blake murmured under his breath and Em could see how he was beginning to regret not only coming up with the idea to go out that night, but for Em to start drinking again after a few months off alcohol.

“I might be a weirdo, but I’ll have you know Charlotte’s looking over here.” She could see how Charlotte was trying to act normal while looking at their table and checking out their friend. It was a small smile half hidden behind a glass that she was trying to finish for some extra courage. It was the table where hometown hero Daniel Ricciardo was sitting with his girl and his best friend.

“She told you her name and you weren’t even going to tell me? Seriously, Timmy?”

“Oops?”

“Sometimes you’re so annoy-shit she’s coming over.”

If Blake’s cheeks were read before, his entire face may as well have been an apple. Em couldn’t remember seeing him so nervous I’m all the years she’d known him. He was always the composed one, especially at work, so seeing him blushing like a school kid with his first crush was the most adorable thing in the world.

“Hey, Charlotte, you joined us!” Em welcomed her happily, gesturing to the free seat beside Blake when she saw her standing next to their table.

“Is that alright?”

“I invited you over for a reason, right?” She smiled and gave a wink to make the other woman feel welcome and able to relax, even if for a moment. “Introductions, this is my h-boyfriend, Dan. Ignore if he tries to impress you and be fancy.”

“Nice to meet you, don’t believe a word Em says about me.” Dan held his hand out to shake like the polite man he was.

“And this is my best friend, Blake Friend. Yes it’s his actual name, and yes I tell him regularly it’s ridiculous. Blakey, this is Charlotte.”

“Hi. Call me Charlie, Charlotte is for strangers or when my parents want to ask something. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Hey Charlie, it’s nice to meet you too.” Blake smiled and offered his hand for her to grab like Dan had, but it was nothing like when Dan introduced himself to Charlie. Em could nearly see the sparks. This was the night she’d met Dan for her best friend and this new girl, she knew it.

“I need some air. Come out with me, Love?” She whispered to Dan and grabbed his hand to give the other two some privacy.

“What’s that for?” He asked when they got to a dark corner across the bar.

“Give them some privacy.” She leaned against Dan and gave him a kiss, hoping that it was going as well as it looked for the two.

[casspurrjoybell-33]

Taming Arrogance - Chapter 20

*Warning Adult Content*

The flight home is unbearable.

Our seats aren't together this time and I'm left fending off my anxiety while sitting beside a middle aged woman who is so large she takes up all of her seat and half of mine.

The turbulence is worse this time around, too.

The plane bumping and skidding through the tormented winds.

I try to distract my mind but every time my thoughts move to something else, they inevitably fall back on Blake.

I can't help but wonder if he requested to sit apart from me.

My stomach churns at the thought or maybe that's the burrito I had at the airport.

The woman beside me adjusts in her seat, smashing my finger on the arm rest with her elbow.

I wiggle it out from under her and curse, inspecting my finger for damage.

The entire thing goes unnoticed by her and I huff before shoving myself as far as I can towards the window.

Wisps of dark clouds scamper past the small window and I chant over and over to not look down. '

This sucks. It really, fucking sucks.'

By the time we land, my hands are stiff and snow white from gripping my arm rests so hard.

I don't bother waiting for Blake before going to our baggage claim.

He didn't even give me a chance to explain myself but if he wants to be apart from me, fine.

Two can play at that game.

There aren't a lot of people at baggage claim by the time I get down there and I stare at the dark suitcases as they start brushing into view.

The belt whines as bag after bag passes by at a snail's pace.

My foot starts bouncing after a few minutes pass, my impatience getting the better of me.

I just want to get my luggage and get the fuck out of here.

As far as I'm concerned, there's no reason for me to see Blake again until work on Monday.

The man is infuriating.

Yeah, so I had Cade in my hotel room overnight.

It's not like anything happened.

'But he doesn't know that,' the voice in my head challenges me with a persuasive edge and I brush it aside.

Even if we had done something, it's not Blake's business anyway.

Isn't he the one who just broke up with fag-tard Phil?

It's not like we're together or some shit like that.

My prior guilt and trepidation begins to melt away to the heat of anger bubbling up inside me.

A dark blue suitcase with a white stripe down the side comes into view and with muscles taut with irritation, I hoist it off the belt.

If Blake is around, I don't see him.

If he sees me, he doesn't try to stop me as I head out the doors of the airport and hail a cab.

If my company wasn't good enough for him on the plane, than his isn't good enough for me on the drive home.

The cab driver gets out of the car and helps me put my bag in the trunk.

When the two of us are back in the car, he turns around with a half-hearted smile.

"Where to?"

********

As well-played as I thought my idea was to travel home alone from the airport, it only makes things worse.

The terrible flight manifests into a terrible weekend and then an even worse first week back to work.

When another Monday rolls around, I have zero motivation to walk inside those doors at all.

Blake's clinical kindness has down-graded to a state of indifference that even the most aloof people would find offensive.

It's not my imagination, either.

I see the way people whisper when I walk past, their gossip circulating like wildfire how, in a matter of a few days, I fell out of Blake's good graces.

By the end of last week, I began to wonder if Blake noticed my presence at all.

My eyes flicker to the time on the dashboard.

With a heavy sigh I get out of my car, slamming the door shut behind me.

A few other cars sprinkle the lot but for the most part, it's a ghost town.

I do my best to avoid as many customers and fellow employees as possible but by mid-morning my name blares across the speakers.

"Callum Greene, you have a call on line three. Callum Greene, line three."

I head towards the nearest work phone in the break phone and pick it up.

"Hello?"

"I need you in my office please. Now."

Click.

The call disconnects and I slam it back on the receiver.

Just hearing Blake's voice sends unwanted waves of desire prickling across my skin.

What the fuck happened to me in the past few weeks?

I shake my head and trudge to Blake's office, my palms sweating with uncertainty.

I see the man on an-almost daily basis.

So why has my confident ability to be around him dissolved to dust?

His door is ajar and I give it a tentative knock.

"Come in."

I step inside and suck in a breath.

I haven't been in Blake's office in almost a week.

Is the fact that I'm in here now a good thing or bad?

Blake doesn't look up from his stack of papers as he mumbles for me to close the door.

After a beat of silence, he sets his pen aside and lifts his gaze.

His guarded eyes settle on my face and I think it's the first time he's looked at me, really looked at me, since were in Florida.

I can feel the heat rising in my cheeks just having his attention on me again.

"Please, sit," Blake instructs.

I sit without question, my spine ramrod straight.

Blake fiddles with his cufflink and a deep frown creases the space in between his eyebrows.

He shifts his eyes away from me and I have the sinking feeling he's letting me go.

"Am I being fired?" I ask, my voice so timid it's humiliating.

"No, Mr. Greene. You're not being fired."

My shoulders sag with endless relief.

Then curiosity takes hold and I start wondering just where this is headed.

Blake leans forward, resting his elbows on the edge of his desk.

He clears his throat.

"I believe I owe you an apology."

'An apology?' My ears perk. 'This is it. He's going to apologize for being so cold and callous the past week.'

Maybe he'll even add in a comment or two about abandoning me and making me sit next to Fat Bertha on the airplane.

I almost have to hold back a giddy chuckle as I wait for him to continue.

"My behavior while we were in Florida was unprofessional. Inexcusable even."

My grin slips.

'Wait. What?'

"You are, first and foremost, my employee. I should have treated you as such," Blake continues, eyes never meeting mine.

"I apologize for letting things get out of hand. I'm not sure what got into me. Maybe it was just the stress but I assure you, Mr. Greene, it won't happen again."

My heart picks up speed as the full impact of his words unfold.

He's not sorry for anything last week.

Instead he's apologizing for the possessive moments, the stolen kisses and the intimate touches.

He's apologizing for the very memories that consume my thoughts every night while I drift off to sleep.

Of its own accord, my tongue swipes across my bottom lip, a silent reminder that Blake's lips were against them at one time.

I run a hand through my hair and slump back in the chair.

I've ended plenty of 'flings' over the past few months.

None of them amounted to much but a few chicks ended up shedding tears as they left the confines of my bedroom walls. Is this what they felt like when they left?

A gift-wrapped pile of shit?

"Oh..." my voice trails off.

I feel like an idiot.

What was I expecting to happen when I came in here?

For us to pick up where we left off?

To live out some sort of fantasy office romance?

'Hahaha. Looks like the jokes on me.'

The emotions tumbling through my body are so foreign and intense my head starts to pound in pain.

Blake looks at me again.

The hardness of his expression is gone and his eyes search my face with a hopeful gaze.

He's looking at me as if he wants me to challenge his words.

To give some indication that this isn't what I want.

Every inch of me wants to argue, to give up my pride and let him touch me as much and in whatever way he wants.

It's all I think about, anyway but my pride doesn't work like that.

Instead it flares with every bit of strength it can muster, extinguishing my only opportunity to change the outcome through silent acceptance.

I swallow hard, trying to fight down the feeling of regret.

"It's all good," I say, my eyes focused on the corner of one of his file folders.

"Already forgotten about."

I can't bring myself to look at Blake, though I can tell by the change in his position that he's disappointed.

He picks up his pen and points the end of it towards the door.

"Wonderful," he says, his voice distant and cold.

"I have work to do, now. You're dismissed."

[mviswidow]

my girlfriend’s got a gun

Fallon Carrington x Reader

Word Count: 2,185

Warnings: gun

Prompt: Maybe one where we're Fallon's girlfriend, but also at the same time her bodyguard/personal assistant to keep up a facade since she doesn't want anyone to know about the reader. - @another-fantasy-world​

Summary: Three scenes of Fallon and R dating.

“I don’t want to see that happening anymore. If I have to ask you again you’ll be fired,” Mr. Carrington said peremptorily. 

You nodded your head, clutching the iPad in your arms tighter to keep yourself from fidgeting, “Of course, Mr-”

“Excuse me?”

Your shoulders relaxed the slightest bit when you heard the voice of your girlfriend, her heels clicking on the floor until she was standing beside you, a few feet away, “Why are you trying to fire my PA?”

“Fallon, she comes out in almost every single one of the photos that the press takes of you. She is not your babysitter. It’s ridiculous, a quarter of the articles that have been written about you in the past five months have been speculating that the reason you broke up with Michael was because (Y/n) drove you apart and-”

“What is your point, Daddy?” Fallon challenged, her arms crossed. “She’s my personal assistant, her entire job is following me around.”

“Going to clubs, parties, and galas with you is not in her job description,” He said, jaw clenched and brow furrowed. “She doesn’t need to be there.”

You felt uneasy, the two of them talking about you as if you weren't even there.

“No, but I want her there. There’s no harm in befriending your staff,” Fallon said simply, eyebrows raised, as if she wanted him to argue with her because she knew she would win.

“Fallon-”

“I’m the one who gives her a paycheck, so it isn’t up to you. I’m not having this conversation again,” She left Blake with no room to say anything else, her eyes flicking to you for a moment. “(Y/n), go get me a coffee and come up to my room so we can discuss the schedule for this weekend.”

“Yes, Ms Carrington,” you nodded, taking your leave before either of them could say anything more to you or each other.

You made it to Fallon’s room five minutes later. You’d taken a bit longer in the kitchen because you had to bug one of the chefs so they would give you a croissant for Fallon.

You knocked on the door with your knuckles, waited two seconds, and then opened the door to see Fallon in one of the lounge chairs in the corner of her room, doing something on her phone, “You took a long time to get here,” She said without looking up.

“Sorry, I was getting you a croissant,” You walked over and placed the plate on the low table that stood in between the two chairs before taking your usual seat from when the two of you went over her schedule, on her bed bench that was at the foot of her bed.

Fallon slid her phone underneath one of her thighs and smiled softly at you as she took the plate into her lap so she could eat the baked good, “Thank you.”

“It’s nothing,” You shook your head with a small blush spreading on your cheeks from the way that she looked at you, unlocking your iPad and pulling up the schedule. “Your father has two meetings scheduled for you this weekend, one Saturday and one Sunday-” “Cancel the one on Sunday, he knows I don’t take more than one meeting during the weekend unless it’s urgent,” She interrupted before taking a bite out of her croissant.

“Okay, Sam requested that I add ‘go to the mall with Sam’ on your schedule, so I fit it after the meeting on Saturday, but of course, if you want it to be cancelled I can always do that. Steven asked that I make a dinner reservation for him, you, and Sam, for the Seafood Room on Saturday night-”

Fallon interrupted you, once again, with noises of protest as she tried to swallow the bit of croissant she had in her mouth quickly, “Not happening, you know Saturday night is our night.”

“I know, but you haven’t gone out to dinner with them in two months, and besides it’s almost Steven’s birthday.”

“I don’t care, cancel the reservation,” Fallon said sternly, placing the plate back on the table once she had finished crossing her legs at the ankles.

You sighed and nodded, “Alright, and finally, Sunday is the banquet for the children’s organization I told you about on Monday.”

Fallon’s eyebrows furrowed at the way you said it, “But?”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to go with you,” You bit the inside of your lip, nervous for the reaction she was going to have.

She scoffed and rolled her eyes, “You have to stop letting my father get to you.”

“He’s right though,” You shook your head, opening a tab to search up her name. “Look, there’s articles about us all over the internet.”

“When will you learn that I don’t give a damn about what the press says? I’ve been scrutinized by them since I was a child, I can handle it. I don’t care if they call me lonely and desperate or if they say that you’re trying to ‘befriend’ me for money or whatever it is they’re coming up with.”

“You read that one?” You asked, a wince on your features.

Fallon sighed, looking between your eyes before standing up and going to sit beside you, taking the iPad from your hands and putting it behind her so she could take one of your hands in her own, “Do the articles bother you?”

You bit the inside of your lip again, nervous habit, before speaking, “Kind of.”

“Okay,” Fallon nodded, trying to think of a solution. “I know you aren’t used to this stuff and keeping us a secret is probably really stressful for you... If doing this - us, is too much, I understand-”

You frowned and shook your head, tears pooling in your eyes at the idea of what she was trying to say, “No, I love you, I love us. Stupid articles are nothing, I can ignore them.”

“I don’t want you upset over this stuff, baby,” Fallon frowned a bit and reached the hand she wasn’t holding yours with up to cup your cheek, running her finger along your cheekbone. “Although I don’t exactly think you should be reading these articles, I know you do whatever you want, but if you read one that bothers you, you come to me and I’ll make the calls I need to get it taken down, okay?”

“Yes, darling,” You smiled softly and nodded, leaning into her hand.

Fallon smiled, “For now I rather enjoy no one knowing about us. It’s so private and I guess it feels more intimate in a way? But, I do eventually want to announce that we’re dating, so I want to tackle these issues now so you’re hopefully much more comfortable in the future.”

“Really?”

“Of course, baby,” She smiled softly and leaned forward to kiss you languidly.

You sighed into the kiss before she pulled away slowly and kissed the corner of your mouth before sitting back, “So, I’m either going with you, or I’m not going at all. It’s a shame that all those children will have to suffer the consequences of your decision,” She said, making a face.

You rolled your eyes, and ducked your head to hide your smile, “Fine, I’ll go, asshole.”

Fallon grinned and clapped her hands, she had known she was going to get her way, but was happy that you weren’t miserable about it, “Thank you.”

“Anything for you, my love.”

------

Your brow furrowed when you got a call from Fallon at around 5:30 while you were out running an errand for her. She was supposed to be in a late meeting with her father, Jeff Coulby, and a few investors for Carrington Atlantic, an odd and dangerous mix of people.

You answered the call and heard it connect to the bluetooth of the car, “Hello?”

“Can you come get me? Please,” Fallon asked, her voice sounding a bit shaky on the other line.

“Yes, of course, where are you?”

...

You pulled into a parking spot on the side of the road of the address Fallon gave you, “Okay, I’m here, babe. Can I hang up now?”

Fallon let out an ‘mhm’ and ended the call, and it took you 30 seconds to see her walking out from between two buildings towards your car, which you unlocked and waited for her to get into the passenger seat and close the door before you spoke.

“Are you okay?” You asked, outstretching your hand and tilting her head towards yours when she wouldn’t look at you.

“‘M fine,” She nodded, her eyes watering.

“Okay I get that you didn’t want to talk about it over the phone but don’t think for a second that I’m believing that crap. You look like a kicked puppy.”

She groaned and closed her eyes for a moment, “There were no investors. Just Daddy and Jeff-”

“Hold on, since when do they tolerate each other?” You asked, resting a hand on her knee.

“I don’t know but they apparently do now. Or at least, when it’s convenient,” You could almost hear her roll her eyes as you turned forward again to pull out of your parking space.

“What did they do?” You urged her on and took your hand off her leg to put it on the center console, but she quickly grabbed it and laced her fingers with yours before putting your hand in her lap.

“They cornered me about something I leaked to the press, not Crystal related this time, and- the whole thing was really embarrassing, I don’t really want to get into it right now.”

You squeezed her hand gently and nodded, “Okay, that’s perfectly fine. Though I have to say I had no idea you leaked something, I haven’t checked any articles in like, two days.”

Fallon chuckled, “Oh boy, just wait til you read these.”

------

“Screw you, I’m not going anywhere. I need to talk to you about the C-R-A-Z- why does the crazy lady have a gun?” Fallon asked, her jaw slack.

You were on your way to follow Fallon into the dining room, but stopped when you heard what was going on. You turned on your heel, quickly and quietly walking towards where you knew Fallon kept her gun.

“She’s not crazy, she’s been faking her brain injury,” Crystal replied calmly.

“Why fake such a miserable life? Actually- that’s a rhetorical question. I think I know exactly why. I think you’ve been faking lots of things.”

“Sit down,” Claudia said, gun pointed at Fallon.

“You never had a brain injury, did you Claudia?” Fallon asked, shaking her head.

“Of course I did, I almost died,” She said quickly.

“That’s true, she and Mathew were in a terrible car accident,” Steven interjected.

Crystal cut in, too, “I remember it.”

“I bet,” Claudia spat before turning her head back to Fallon. “That was the night I found out he was cheating on me, I just didn’t know who the other woman was.”

“All you knew was that one minute your husband was cheating, the next he wasn’t going anywhere because he had to take care of you, and then you got better,” Fallon said with a raised eyebrow.

...

When you got close enough again to be able to hear, you heard Fallon speaking, “Girls can be engineers, too, Dad. When I was a kid I told you I wanted to be one so you introduced me to Mathew, who told me his wife was an engineer. That was before your accident, of course.”

You smiled to yourself as you listened, God you loved her. You clicked the safety of her handgun off, just waiting for the right moment to come in.

“You killed him, you killed Mathew,” You heard Crystal say.

“No, I loved him. You killed him,” Claudia replied, which made you furrow your brow and you almost let out a scoff at how ridiculous this lady was. “He told me he was leaving me even though I was sick.”

“Even though you were faking it,” Fallon corrected.

“He didn’t know that. You took him from me, and once this snake ran me over, I saw my chance to do something about it-”

“I don’t mean to interrupt,” You said, stepping into the room, the barrel of the gun pointed straight at Claudia, using one hand to aim and the other hand used to steady the gun, just like Fallon taught you. “but I think you guys have let her pity party run for too long.”

And with that, Claudia faltered and you took your shot, shooting the gun right out of her hand before giving Fallon her gun, “I think this is for you.” Fallon smiled proudly and took it, taking her aim at Claudia, who was not left defenseless, “I wouldn’t try anything,” She said with a smirk once she saw Crystal pick up the gun Claudia had been pointing at her. “Not sure if you’ll be able to pull it off as well as you pulled off the brain injury.”

[texanredrose]

Prep and Goth

Day 1: Enemies to Lovers/Secret Library Time

---

Weiss stared at the clock, mentally urging the second hand to move faster. The transition between this period and the next always took the longest- or at least it felt like time slowed down around this point in the day. She hated how the end of the period never caught her off guard; she was always keenly aware of the clock, with her work done and backpack already packed and ready for her to leave the classroom. She was usually the first one out the door.

“Hey, if I give you five lien, could you get me a redbull?”

“No, Ruby; for the last time, I don’t have a release period next, I’m a library aide.”

“Oh, come on, everyone knows you just show up, sign in, and disappear!” Her fellow senior slumped in her seat. “It’s not like you’re going to get in trouble! Ms. Goodwitch knows you ditch and she doesn’t say anything!”

How she’d become friends- perhaps even best friends- with the school’s most energetic track star was beyond her; it involved an ill fated chemistry lab and the fire department but, honestly, she couldn’t remember specific details beyond that. While Weiss would love to say she merely put up with and tolerated Ruby, the truth was that she still hadn’t entirely adjusted to the concept of having someone who would be with her through thick and thin. She was being… persuaded to open up to the young woman but she still kept more secrets than she probably should from her best friend.

“I swear, Ruby Rose, if you keep spreading such slander about my character, I’ll be forced to take drastic action!” She tore her gaze away from the clock to glare at the woman. “I do not skip class!”

Rolling her silver eyes, Ruby rested her head on her desk and groaned. “Just because you’re the Valedictorian doesn’t mean you have to be perfect, Weiss. No one’s going to care if you ditch one period.”

“I care!” The bell rang a moment later and she forgot about the argument entirely as she quickly grabbed her pack and fast walked to the door.

The walk from her class to the library was a blessedly short one, made slightly longer by classmates and underclassmen getting in her way as other students emerged into the hallway for the passing period. A cold glare managed to persuade some of them to move but not all of them- those blessedly ignorant few she stepped around or nearly barreled through if she could get away with it. It probably contributed to her reputation of being a vicious, cut throat type of person like her sister but her patience had worn too thin and she needed to get to the library.

A few steps from her goal, a hand suddenly landed on her shoulder and spun her around, and only two people in the whole school would dare put their hands on her like that, and only one of them for no good reason. “YANG-”

“Calm down, Princess, this’ll be quick, promise!” With hands on Weiss’ shoulders, she guided them away from the throng of students to a small alcove next to the library doors. “Just got something I need to say real quick.”

“What could you possibly have to say to me?” Weiss scowled at the blonde, annoyed that she seemed to get taller every time they talked, and crossed her arms over her chest. “Last I checked, I didn’t have anything to do with the girls’ basketball team. Or the weightlifting team. Or the boxing team. Or-”

Yang clapped her hands together in front of Weiss’ face, smiling that do-you-really-think-they’ll-expel-me smile of hers. “Hey, do me a favor? Drop the frigid bitch act for, like, five minutes, okay? Because I really don’t have the time for it; if you wanna go toe-to-toe in the bitch-out-lypmics, we can schedule that another time, but right now, I need to have a serious talk with you. It’s about Blake.”

At the namedrop, her blood ran cold and her heart lodged in her throat, eyes growing wide as a genuine tendril of fear began taking root in her chest. “Is she okay?”

“Well, that depends,” Yang replied, looking around at their classmates walking past without paying them any mind. “Look. I don’t get it, okay, the whole secret girlfriends thing, I don’t even know how you two got together… but what I do know is that Blake deserves better than someone who’s ashamed of her-”

“Don’t you dare put words in my mouth,” she hissed, worry turning to fury in the blink of an eye. “I’m not ashamed to be dating Blake. If it was safe, everyone would know!”

“Yeah, can you define ‘safe’ for me in this context? Because I’m having a real hard time convincing Blake you’re being sincere when you don’t want anyone knowing the two of you are dating.”

“You know we’re dating!”

“Because I refuse to let things go and I knew she was acting weird!” Yang growled in frustration, fingers flexing as if she was seriously debating throttling Weiss. “Listen, I figured it out and I bullied her into telling me weeks ago, but not even Ruby knows beyond that. Not a fan of keeping secrets but I’ll do it for a friend. Now, answer my question, please, because with the rest of the school convinced you two hate each other, this whole ‘don’t tell anyone we’re dating thing’ is clear as mud, and it’s really starting to get to her.”

Weiss’ shoulders fell as she looked away, her anger abating in the face of the situation presented to her. “It’s… complicated.”

“Then uncomplicate it for me.” Yang made a gesture with one hand. “Just give me a straight answer!”

“I can’t!” She stamped her foot, speaking before she could think about her word choice. “I can only give you a gay answer!”

Yang stared at her for a long moment. “So, that’s what Blake meant when she said you have the worst sense of humor.”

“I’m done with this conversation-”

Yang grabbed her arm and stopped her, expression turning serious. “Listen, you don’t wanna talk to me? Fine. But talk to Blake. If you really care about her, she deserves to hear that.”

As the blonde stepped away, the bell rang, making both of them late- not that it would matter. Ms. Goodwitch wouldn’t count her late and even if she did, a single tardy wouldn’t be much of a blemish on her record. There was a time when it would’ve bothered her but she’d grown past that a few years ago; perfection was, in some sense, in the eye of the beholder. Blake would notice, though, and she hurried to the library to keep her ‘secret girlfriend’ from worrying.

When she got to the library, she dropped her bag behind the counter and signed in, highly aware that Blake was somewhere among the rows reshelving books. 

The librarian gave her a small nod. “I presume you have good reason for being late but don’t make a habit of it.”

“Of course, Ms. Goodwitch.” With that, she grabbed a few leftover books that needed reshelving and went into the stacks to reshelve them. As soon as she was far enough away from the front desk, she spoke in a soft voice that Blake would be able to hear regardless. “Blake? I’m sorry I’m late.”

“Is everything alright?” She’d long ago grown accustomed to the faunus’ silent steps, which really shouldn’t be possible given the amount of glistening chains and bits of metal hung from her ensemble but it was one of those things Weiss had accepted about Blake at first and had grown to admire. “It’s not like you to be late.”

“I… got pulled into a conversation.” She debated, briefly, if she should mention who the conversation was with but ultimately decided against it. Yang would likely bring it up herself at some point but she didn’t want the distraction at present. “Blake… you know I care about you, right?”

“Yes, Weiss, and I care about you, too,” she replied, her voice holding that special lilt that Weiss used to think was snideness. Now, she recognized it as a gentle sort of teasing and, sometimes, a deflection. “What brought this on?”

“I’ve been thinking about some things… and I find myself curious about some… other things.”

“Truly, you have a way with words.”

“I’m trying to be serious!” Weiss whined, putting a hand to her head as she tried to think of a way to word what she wanted to say. In the next moment, Blake stepped up and wrapped her arms around her waist, resting her chin on Weiss’ shoulder in a silent show of support. This was, partly, where they differed, because even when words escaped Blake, the faunus could somehow find a way to convey what she needed; Weiss, in contrast, simply clammed up entirely if she didn’t begin insulting whoever was nearest. “You know the only reason we’re not dating publicly is because of my family, right? That, the moment I turn eighteen and gain access to my funds, I’ll shout it from the rooftops… right?”

Blake took a step back but one hand lingered on Weiss’ hip, a soft assurance that she wasn’t leaving but that they should probably have a conversation like this face-to-face. When she turned around, she searched shining amber eyes and found a touch of disbelief hiding there. “I’ll admit, I didn’t think it was the only reason.”

“It really is…” Weiss sighed, running a hand through her bangs in frustration. “I… I don’t know how to prove it, I don’t know if there’s anything I could say or do that would, but… I don’t want you thinking that I’m ashamed of dating you… that’s… that’s the furthest from the truth.”

Feline ears flicked towards one end of the row and both of them quickly focused on shelving the few books that remained as a group of students went back to one of the study rooms. Once the coast was clear, Blake sighed heavily. “I told Yang to drop it.”

“She’s trying to help.” Begrudgingly, she continued. “Ruby’s the same way. They meddle when they can but they have the best of intentions.”

“Still… she wasn’t too… forceful, was she?”

“She only threatened to throttle me, so no, she wasn’t too forceful.” Weiss tilted her head. “And, arguably, she has a salient point. I… I perhaps took it for granted that you would… that I made my feelings about you clear to you.”

Blake ducked her head, her ears flicking back briefly to blending into midnight black hair. As per her usual, the faunus was bedecked in all black save for the silver of the chains hanging from her pants and the snake bite piercings on her bottom lip. Whenever they were making out, Weiss found that flicking either of the piercings with her tongue would always result in a soft groan from Blake.

“So… when you turn eighteen…basically, when we graduate?” Blake took a step forward. “That’s… a long time to be a secret from everyone.”

“Well… not from everyone. Yang knows.”

“Uh huh.”

“And Ruby will know… when I tell her…”

“Right.” Blake came a bit closer. “I guess that means we won’t be going to prom together.”

Weiss raised a brow, then caught onto what her girlfriend was doing, a smile tugging at her lips. “You? Go to prom?” A soft chuckle. “I thought you said you wouldn’t be caught dead at… what was it you called it? A useless party for empty headed idiots?”

“And a waste of money. I said that, too.” Blake stopped just a hair’s breadth away and very nonchalantly shelved a book just behind Weiss’ shoulder. “But you’ve got a crown to win, right? Prom Queen to go with your other honors?”

“There’s only one crown that I care to claim,” she replied, reaching up to bury her hand in midnight locks between the faunus’ ears and pulling her down into a kiss. Normally, they didn’t indulge in such outside of Ms. Goodwitch’s office, which the librarian granted them access to once they’d reshelved all the books. If she suspected what they did in there, she remained silent, probably because while reshelving the books they would also fix what other aides did incorrectly and she appreciated the help more than she cared to curtail PDAs.

The kiss didn’t last too long- just long enough to drive her point home- but the look in amber eyes almost made her too weak to move.

Weiss gathered her courage. “I do love you, Blake.”

Not ‘care about’, not ‘fond of’, not any other arrangement of words she’d used over the past year to describe how she felt. Fear that caring too much would make her careless had prevented her from saying the words before. Now, though, she couldn’t go another moment without Blake understanding exactly how much she cared.

After the shock passed, Blake smiled softly, ears canting forward. “I love you too, Weiss.”

It took a moment for them to part but they returned to the counter and finished reshelving the books.

“Blake?”

“Yes?”

“Do you think I’d look good in black?”

---

Hi, yes, please join me in picturing Blake as a late 90′s/early 00′s goth girl.

[morizoras-cave]

Drink (Request)

Ryan Reynolds x teen!daughter!reader

Genre: angst, fluffy ending

Request Description: Could you maybe do a Ryan Reynolds x teen!reader where the reader maybe goes to a party and something gets slipped into her drink but she calls Ryan and says she doesn’t feel well and he gets her and looks after her? Only if this is okay for you to write and you feel comfortable doing it. I love you work so much🥺 Thank you!🤍

Warnings: attempted rape, drugging, language

(A/N): this is my first ryan reynolds post. v excited. reading this back, i realized that this could be taken as victim blaming. the beginning part where ryan is talking about how his daughter “shouldn’t wear that dress out” was more of a “awww look hes a protective and good dad”. i dont believe in victim blaming at all. (off topic here) also i wrote the last part of this drunk af. anyway i hope y’all still enjoy. now smell you later losers!! break begun!

“Y/n, you are not going to a party in that outfit!”

You glared at your dad, who was both shaking his head and wagging his finger in disapproval. 

“What’s so wrong with this dress?” you protested, crossing your arms. 

“The boys and the girls will be after you in seconds! I will not have some sweaty teen thinking something nasty about my daughter!” his voice was high (as always), as he squealed his argument. You rolled your eyes. 

Your mom walked into the room to grab something from the fridge, but stopped and looked at you. “Nice dress, N/n, you going to a party?” 

“Don’t encourage this!” Ryan hissed and you smiled scornfully. Blake’s laughter came throughout the room and she stopped beside you with her glass of milk in her hand. 

“Calm down, Ryan. She’s growing up!” 

“Nuh uh!” your dad looked away, still unsatisfied. You couldn’t help but giggle. 

“Y/n, just go to your party. I’ll deal with the grump lord,” your mom pushed you towards the entrance. Ryan’s face twisted into that of someone betrayed by his closest. 

“Woah, woah, woah! Grump lord? I have a code name? In my own house?” 

You skipped to the entrance room, sliding on your jacket and your shoes, smiling playfully. “Wait!” your dad yelled and footsteps nearing you, as he jogged to the entrance. You looked at him. 

“Just.. Call me if you’re in trouble. Anything at all,” he knew he was defeated. Although, you loved basking in the glory of victory, you couldn’t help but smile at your dad’s kind words.

“I will,” you promised.

The party was loud and booming. Every inch of the house was hot (in an uncomfortable way) and crowded, teenagers rubbing against each other and dancing. You found yourself with your friends in the living room, dancing to the sound of a Nicki Minaj song. 

“I’m gonna go get a drink!” you yelled over the music. Your friends, extremely intoxicated and doing ‘the stanky leg’, gave you a mindless thumbs up, and continued to dance. You giggle was drowned out in the music. 

You squeezed your way past different people, finally making it to the table with all the liquor. The boy who was hosting had miraculously bought enough for there to just be an all-you-can-drink table. 

The unnerving feeling of someone watching you became immediately clear. You looked around, finding the person fairly quickly. It was a boy, maybe a couple of years older than you, with a drunken gaze and tousled hair. He was smirking at you. You rolled your eyes and poured yourself a gin and tonic. 

The moment the drink was finished, someone poked your shoulder. You looked up. It wasn’t the same boy as before. This one was bigger and broader. He had the same knowing smirk on his face. You felt unnerved.

“Hey. Is this your friend over here? They look pretty smashed, you might want to check on them,” he pointed to somewhere behind him, taking all your attention from your drink to your idiot friends. You told them not to drink too much.

“Can you show me where they are?” you mumbled and the boy nodded, pulling you away from your drink. He led you to somewhere entirely different in the house, where a girl you’d never seen in your life was doubled over, puking on the poor host’s carpet. 

“I don’t know this girl,” you explained and the boy’s mouth made an ‘o’ shape. He sighed and then shrugged.

“Sorry, I thought I saw you talking earlier. Sorry to bother you,” then he walked off. You shook your head at the weird incident and walked back to you drink. You started gulping it down hungrily, deciding you were definitely too sober to be at this party.

 Almost immediately, you started feeling extremely drunk. Extremely. Which was weird, you thought, but it was hard to concentrate on it, when the environment was so loud and your thoughts were so blurry. 

Then, slowly, you realised that you didn’t usually feel like this when you were drunk. You tried to rationalise it. Maybe you just put too much gin in your drink? Maybe you had forgotten that you’d drunk something? Whatever the case, you started feeling weird. 

Everything was spinning. You wouldn’t have been able to find your friends if you wanted to. Then, in your chaotic state, your eyes passed someone else’s eyes, and you recognised them. It was the boy from earlier, the broad one, smirking at you. This time, his smirk felt alarming. Chilling. 

That moment was when the penny dropped. Your head snapped to the other boy, the one who’d just watched you. He gave you a grin. 

You were shaking, blinking away tears. You realised the position you were in. You were prey. And you were vulnerable. You took a few shaky steps, trying to make it seem like you hadn’t just realised you’d been roofied. 

When your back was turned to them, and you were stood behind a wall of dancing bodies, you pulled out your phone from your bag. You couldn’t tell if it was your vision, or if your hands were shaking, but everything was buzzing, unable to keep still. 

Your finger hovered over his number. What if you weren’t roofied? What if you were just drunk and silly? How embarrassing would that be? You felt tears prick your eyes. 

His voice echoed in your head. “Call me if you’re in trouble. Anything at all.”

You pressed down on his number, bringing the phone to your ear. You could hardly form a sentence. Everything was moving and it was so loud. 

“Hello?” Your dad’s voice was like cutting open this hellspace to some sort of heaven. It felt safe. You closed your eyes, a tear running down your face. 

“Hi, dad,” you had to yell, “can you- can you come pick me up?” 

There was a moment of silence from the phone, before he said: “Sure, why? You’re at Erik’s house, right?” 

“Yeah, Erik’s house. Let’s talk about this later!” then you hung up. It almost felt like your heart was shaking in your chest. It was too much, all of it. You could hardly walk, but you took a step towards the door, then several more. 

You feverishly grabbed the door handle, trying desperately to open the door, but you weren’t strong enough. It was a chilling realisation, that you weren’t even strong enough to open a door. 

“Do you need a help?” 

You jumped and shrieked, but it was drowned out by the music. No one noticed. You looked up and you had to stand there for a moment, before you realised that it wasn’t any of the boys you’d seen before. 

This boy looked concerned. You couldn’t even process how you must look, tear-streaked face, ruined makeup, shaking and helplessly grasping a door. You didn’t care. 

“Here,” he mumbled and opened the door for you. You whispered a ‘thank you’, and wobbled out on the street. You heard the boy leave, but you kept standing there, waiting uncomfortably for your dad to show up. 

Eventually, you saw his car pulling up in the distance. You breathed out in relief and dashed to his car, opening the door and sitting down beside you dad. He was looking at you, brows furrowed in concern. 

It was a scary thing. He was always afraid of seeing you like that. Seeing you scared and drunk and desperate. As you sat down his hand grasped yours. 

“Are you okay, Y/n? What happened?” 

You shook your head. You felt so unfocused. It was impossible to understand everything that was going on. You missed being sober. “My- My drink,” you mumbled senselessly, unable to speak normally. 

“What about your drink?” Ryan pressed, squeezing your hand. You were his child. He loved you. He was worried. Beyond belief.

“I-I think someone.. I think someone put something in it..” you mumbled, head swinging. You were far from the normal you. Everything was swinging right by you. 

“You think someone..?” Ryan trailed off. You saw his knuckles turn white as he grasped the steering wheel angrily. “Did they- Did they touch you?”

You shook your head. You saw your dad breathe out in relief, his hand never leaving yours. 

“Alright, I’ll just drive you home. It’ll be fine,” he mumbled (mostly to himself) as he started the car and drove away from the booming, partying house. “It’ll be just fine, N/n.”

He kept mumbling to himself, but you fell asleep in the car. Eventually everything was too much for you, so you just decided to close your eyes. It was a good decision. Sleep was so peaceful. 

Ryan drove you home, carrying you into their house and into your room. “What’s wrong with her?” Blake would yell, confused and scared, but Ryan would just focus on getting you to bed. 

“She was roofied. Someone put something in her fucking drink! She could’ve been- She could’ve been fucking raped!” he ranted to his wife, whilst you slept peacefully in the other room. 

Needless to say both your mom and your dad were much more overprotective after that, both with parties and with boys. But it was okay. You woke up safe and sound, and you were happy your dad had gotten you before something awful happened.

Honestly, you didn’t oppose their overprotectiveness, because after that night you felt like you needed it. No matter what way you twisted it, that night fucked you up. You weren’t as reckless or careless after that. And you got help from a professional, but still. It was an awfully traumatising experience. 

You were just happy your dad had been with you that night. And that he cared for you. Of course, he would. He was your dad. He loved you more than anything else in the world. You had no reason to worry, not when you had your dad by your side. 

___________________________

Tag List:

@hera-the-writer @marvel-madness @40srogcrs @whatthefuckimbisexual @snarky–starky @garbage-potato @lozzypoz321 @allthecreativeonesaretaken @missamericana713 @rororo06 @shady80smusicsingercolor @ireadfanficforfun @deephideoutmilkshake @rae-is-typing @sophs-library @herecomesthewriterwitch @alicedanganh @eviemarvel @idk123906

[magnhild]

Before the Dawn didn’t ‘retcon’ Sun- an explanation from an actual writing major

Since the release of Before the Dawn, the sequel to RWBY’s After the Fall, I’ve seen a lot of different takes on it, but there’s a consistent one that it completely and utterly absurd- the idea that Sun Wukong’s persnality was ‘retconned’ for the book. The idea is, quite frankly ridiculous.

Before I get into why this take is so stupid, let me first explain what a retcon actually is, seeing as this fandom has so little understanding of the word. Retroactive continuity, often shortened as ‘retcon’ is a literary device that ignores or outright contradicts something already established in a work’s canon. For example, one actual retcon in RWBY would be the DC comics, while being canon, showing Ruby talking in full scentences shortly after Summer’s death, when Yang previously stated in the show that Ruby could barely talk when it happened.

A retcon is not something being explained differently or adittional information being given towards soemthing, even if these other details hadn’t been come up with to begin with. Salem’s backstory, for example, is not a retcon of the show’s opening narration, because not only is the opening narration very simplied so that it’s easier for the auidence to understand, but it’s also done by Salem herself, who would natutally not be telling the full story.

Now, the case with Sun is not the first time I’ve heard the claim that a character was retconned in the novels. While I don’t know if it’s at all a popular idea, one Redditor ranted at me in fury about how bad After the Fall must have been if it characterized Velvet as at all sassy because we’d never seen her that way in the books, ignoring my attempts to explain that, realistically, shy people are not going to be as shy around people they know well.

The couple of times I’ve shared these screenshots on Twitter were met with the same scorn I felt upon recieveing such responses (espeiclaly since the last comment was posted around two weeks after the rest of the conversation). So, when people failed to see that the situation with Sun was the same, it surprised me.

People claim that BTD characterized Sun completely differently as he is in the show. This is...weird, but I can slightly understand why people would jump to the conclusion that the personality he has in the book is somehow different to his personality in the show.

The first thing of note is that Sun still very much exhibits the personality traits that he’s known for; the positive ones. The very prologue of the book shows that, even in a fight, he’s still cheerful, easygoing and goofy, and we see several moments of this throughout the entire book. The second thing is that 99% of his scenes in the show are with Blake, who he has (or had) a literal crush on. Of course he would act differently around her and her friends than he would around his team, or people he didn’t care as much about. Right away, this shows that his personality was not contradicted and was, thus not retconned. But, of course, I have more to say than that.

The first big complaint regarding something that was indeed added in the book- or, at least, that we didn’t see in the show (given how Sun is not at all a character of focus) is that he’s shown to be angry and on-edge at certain points. And yes, this is not soemthing we saw of him in the show, but it’s also not out-of-character, and very easily understandable. Sun returned to his team expecting everything to be fine and dandy after a quick apology for leaving them, so when they don’t instantly forgive him and are still angry with him, he doesn’t understand, and thus becomes angry with them in return. He had an idea in his mind of how things would go, and when this didn’t go to plan and he continued to be confronted on his flaws, he can’t help but be a little salty about being treated this way by the people he’s known the longest among the main cast. For him, it’s a personal issue. The only reason we never saw him this angry in the show is because nothing ever personally affected him. He had no reason to be truly angry at anything because they were Blake’s problems, not his, and while he would natually want to help her out, he didn’t have any personal feelings towards the matter. But his team are supposed to be his friends, and here they are, not forgiving him after he apologized and everything. In his mind, he was being critizied even though he thought he’d fixed the problem with a simple apology.

The second big complaints are those of how Sun’s not-great relationship with his team throughout most of the book are contradictory to the last time we saw him in the show. People thought that his acknlowedgement of his shortcomings as a leader meant that he was going to be an instantly better one after the fact. These people fail to realize two major problems with this- the first being that there’s no rushing personal improvment. It’s very weird to me that people thought that Sun could instantly become a better leader when he was such a bad one in the first place. The second problem is that Sun, despite his name, is not the brightest bulb, and I say this in the nicest way possible. It’s made clear by both the show and the book that, while he acknowledged that he shouldn’t have ditched his team for several months without explanation, he still failed to realize the seriousness of his actions, or how the team dynamic was affected when he came back and took over again from Scarlet’s temporary leadership. As mentioned in the above paragraph, Sun thought that he could fix everything with a simple apology, and that it would absolve him of all wrongdoing. But more importantly, but the end of the book, he has realzied the weight of his negligence and that he needs to work harder to gain back respect from his team. And yet, critics ignore this and seem to this he acts badly throughout the whole book with no change in behaviour, when this couldn’t be further from the truth.

The third complaint, and the most absurd to me, is that Sun’s dismissiveness of serious situations and regular insensitivity in the book are out of character. Excuse me, but...did we watch the same show??

Perhaps it’s easy to forget because we haven’t seen him in show for a while, but these are two of his core personality traits, especially earlier on in the show. It seems that the fanon depiction of Sun as a sweet and loveable himbo who can do no wrong has caused a lot of people to forget his very prominent flaws, but Sun has always been this way, from as early as Volume 1. He treats serious situations as a joke or bit of fun, and he is constantly making insensitive comments, even to Blake, who he likes. Just to show a few, with replies from Blake for context regarding the second two:

From Black and White:

From Of Runaways and Stowaways:

From Menagerie:

Even in situations where he isn’t outright insensitive, he still frequently exhibits a struggle to read the room. He fails to understand why Team RWBY don’t want him and Neptune coming with them, he fails to fully understand why so many faunus take issue with humans despite being a faunus himself, and he fails to understand why stalking Blake across a continent was a very, very bad and creepy thing to do, even if he had good intentions. In fact, he never even apologises for any of this, at least, not that we saw, so it’s enitely plausible that it’s not soemthing he’s learned from.

So the fact that he continued to demonstrate this insensivity in BTD is very much in-character. That has always been a part of his personality, even though it’s often played off as a joke.

With all that said, it really bothers me that people list what is, in objective truth, a deeper insight into Sun as a character, as a flaw of the book. This is not a flaw. I’ve been studying writing through university for over four years, and believe me, showing that people act different depending on the situation or people they are around, as well as expanding upon any flaws they might have, is good writing. Something is not a ‘retcon’ because it contradicts your headcanon, or what you wanted to happen. That would be like if Nora were (not that I think she ever would be) confirmed cis and I called it a retcon because I headcanon her as trans. That would be stupid. 

After the Fall and Before the Dawn are honestly amazing books. They do have their issues, but character writing is far from one of them, and I would, in fact, consider it one of their biggest strengths. The way they flesh out both pre-existing and new characters, the way they can get us to love them within just 20-something chapters, is wonderful. They dive so deeply into even more minor characters, and make them all unique. So the idea that characters like Sun and Velvet were written badly because they were expanded upon and further characterized than they were in the show is an absolutely ridiculous concept, and one that I’ve hopefully changed people’s minds on with this.

Sun was not retconned. You guys just need to remember that the picture you paint of a character in your head is not always going to be the way a character is in canon. We’re not Adam defenders, people (at least, I hope not). 

Anyway. Read the RWBY books. I don’t care if you have already. Do it again.

[rhysismydaddy]

Fanny Pack Sexiness (Nessian Smut)

Prompt: *sensually unclips fanny pack* this is weird, i know. but i just saw a tweet and i thought if anyone could write this, it would be you.

Laughed so hard when I read this. If this isn’t Nessian, I don’t know what is. NSFW warning because I do love a fanny pack moment ;)

_________________________________________________________

Nesta glared out the window, keeping her unspoken vow to not look over at the atrocity that was her boyfriend. 

Well, that wasn’t not fair. 

The boyfriend himself was actually pretty nice to look at. 

Broad shoulders, a tall frame filled with meaty muscle, curly brown hair, and golden eyes made him interesting enough, she supposed. 

But it was what the bastard had chosen to wear that had driven her insane all day. 

The monstrosity was strapped around his waist currently, and she could’ve sworn it was laughing up at her. 

Consider this the first and last time she would ever travel with him. 

Because since it wasn’t obvious enough they were American, Cassian had chosen to wear a fanny pack. Over an I <3 LONDON shirt. Which he’d paired with khakis. 

He looked like the cover of a tourist’s guide made for forty year-old, single men who lived with their mothers. 

And she knew it was at least partly her fault he was dressed so stupidly, but she refused to apologize. 

Last night, they’d been heading out to dinner, when she commented that almost always, he wore all black. Honestly, it wasn’t even a complaint, considering she was guilty of the same thing. 

Why bother trying to put together prints and fabrics and colors, when black looked so nice on her? 

Anyway. She hadn’t been complaining. Teasing, but not complaining. 

But noooo. He’d immediately gotten that annoying, competitive look in his eyes that both made her smile and want to strangle him. 

“What would you like me to wear, Nesta?” he’d asked, golden eyes practically glowing. 

She’d sighed, probably making things worse. “I’m just saying, we look a little goth when we’re together.”

Cassian had just smiled down at her, then walked out of their room. She hadn’t thought any more of it when he’d slipped back in later that night, but then this morning, when he’d gotten dressed in the bathroom and opened the door with a flourish, she’d almost hit the floor. 

He was not built for fanny packs and khakis. 

He was built for... well, he was built to be naked all the time, but since that would probably get them sent back to the states, tight black shirts and jeans was a decent second option.

Plus, as if it weren’t bad enough already, he’d been adding to the ensemble all day, building up to the horrendous outfit she was currently avoiding looking at. 

His faded combat boots had been replaced with flip flops. His hair was tucked under a very large hat with a Big Ben outline across the front. He’d even stopped to buy a fucking old-fashioned pipe from the William Blake exhibit they’d gone to see. 

He was trying to drive her crazy. 

But little did he know, she had a few tricks up her sleeve. After three years together, she knew how to drive him crazy, too. 

So she’d plotted and schemed all day. And as they rode back to their hotel in the cab, it was finally time for it to come into play. 

Trying to be discrete, she nodded at the driver.

Cassian’s eyes shot to her as the man slammed on the brakes. It had costed her twenty Euros, but seeing the look of shock on her boyfriend’s face was so worth it. 

Especially as she shouted, “Drive him to the other side of the city and kick him out!”

And jumped from the cab. 

It was still moving a little, but she’d been prepared and hit the ground at a run. 

Manic laughter came out of her as Cassian turned around in the now-speeding cab, shouting something unintelligible back at her. 

He wanted to dress like a tacky tourist and drive her crazy? 

Fine. 

She’d just have to show him what he was missing out on. 

~

A little over an hour later, the door to their hotel room swung open, hitting the wall angrily. 

“That asshole took me halfway to fucking Essex, then had the audacity to charge me for the ride. Next time you have someone kidnap me, at least pay the fee, woman! I swear-”

Whatever he was about to say lodged in his throat as he took a look at what she was wearing. 

It was all new, and his eyes took in every piece of the wardrobe with a predatory gleam that sent her toes curling. But she acted unaffected, even as she bent down to fix the strap of her very high, very uncomfortable shoes. 

“What’s going on?” he asked, voice rough. 

Straightening, she shrugged and fluffed her hair. “I’m going to dinner.”

“You mean we’re going to dinner.”

Finally. 

Nesta turned towards her boyfriend, enjoying the way his eyes dipped to the almost indecent amount of cleavage on display. 

She traced her eyes over his entire rumpled, touristy outfit. “I’m not going in public with you while I look like this and you look like that.” 

His eyes narrowed as he finally caught on to what she’d done. “I’ll change then.”

It was a struggle not to laugh. “Well, you seemed so intent on replacing your wardrobe, I figured I’d help you out and dumped your suitcase.”

That was a lie. It was safely hidden down at the front desk. 

“You did what?”

Ignoring the question, she said, “You’re welcome. And since you can neither change nor go like that, I guess I’ll just see you later.”

Making her way to the door, she was abruptly stopped by a hand smacking into the wall closest to her, an arm now blocking her path. “Nesta Archeron, you are not going out looking like a goddamn supermodel while I sit here with my thumbs up my ass.”

“How you fill the alone time is irrelevant to me, Cassian.”

His other hand made its way to the wall, too, caging her in. 

“I know you wouldn’t throw my clothes out. Where are they? Tell me, and we’ll go to dinner.”

She shrugged, resolve to keep the secret building by the second. 

She was aware they were both a little competitive, but she didn’t care. She was winning this, one way or the other. He’d admit he’d been wrong to dress like an idiot today, then--and only then--she’d give him his clothes back. 

“I know what you’re doing,” he told her, the tone of his voice proving that it was working. 

He was suddenly so close she couldn’t think about anything else. 

Even dressed in head to toe tacky, he somehow managed to suck all the air out of her lungs. 

One hand turned his hat backwards so the brim wouldn’t poke her, and he leaned in close enough to run his nose down her neck. 

“Tell me, Nesta.”

“No.”

His teeth nipped at her skin, and she shivered. “Do I need to fuck it out of you?”

Gods, yes. Please. 

That hadn’t been her plan at all, but her body was more than on board with it. 

Except there was a bit of a problem. 

“You are not fucking me with a fanny pack on, hate to break it to you.”

Cassian pulled back far enough to wink at her, then his mouth was on hers, dominating her in the way that she’d only ever let him do. He pressed her against the wall, chest tight against hers, as he slipped his tongue in her mouth. 

Hands on her waist lifted her, and then she was being thrown halfway across the room onto the neatly-made bed. 

Propping herself up on her elbows, she glared over at him. 

“I was being serious, Cassian. You’re not getting any while you’re dressed like Uncle Sam.”

He swaggered over to the foot of the bed, the comment not at all impacting his confidence. 

“Allow me to remedy the problem then, princess.”

The hat’s the first to go, and it was a relief to see his unruly hair finally free. She heard the slap of his flip flops on the floor and figured he kicked them off, too. Cassian tugged the horrible, bright yellow “I <3 LONDON” shirt over his head, then stared at her, eyes narrowed. 

“I’m keeping the fanny pack.”

It was adorable how wrong he was. 

Raising an eyebrow, Nesta leaned back and let her thighs fall open, keying him into the fact that she’d somehow forgotten to put on underwear tonight. 

His jaw tightened, but he didn’t move to take off the damn pack. 

So she ran a manicured nail over her bottom lip, then slipped it in her mouth and sucked on it. She was pretty sure Cassian was about to pass out as she released it with a pop, then brought it between her legs. 

“Nesta.”

“Hmm?” she responded, the sound drawn out and breathy as she pushed the finger inside herself. 

“I like the fanny pack.” He sounded so sad, it was almost comical. Like a kid on Christmas who’d just been told Santa hadn’t come.

Too bad.

“Then stand there and watch.”

Oh, he did. His eyes were intent on her hands, both the one between her legs and the other that made it’s way to her breast. 

She rolled a nipple between her fingers and groaned, and he leaned down to fist the sheets at the end of the bed in his hands. “Fuck.”

Nesta refused to give first. Absolutely refused. 

And she knew what it would take for him to give in. So she added another finger, back arching off the bed, and worked herself until she was so close she couldn’t stay still. 

His knuckles were white as he gripped the comforter tight enough to threaten the strands, but it wasn’t that that forced him to lose their little battle. 

It was the sight of her coming undone before him. 

She moaned, and it might’ve been his name that fell from her lips, as release found her. When she heard the strangled, creative curse he let out, she knew she’d won. 

Forcing her eyes open, she watched as he finally unhooked the fanny pack and let it drop to the floor. 

It was the sexiest thing she’d ever seen. 

Cassian quickly kicked off his hideous khakis, then prowled up her body, dropping little love bights on her thighs, her hips, her breasts. 

“That was so hot,” he groaned as he settled between her thighs, bracing himself on his elbows. 

“That was the idea, idiot.”

He stopped for a moment, pulling back to give her a sour look. “I think I’m going to make you apologize for that.”

Before she could tell him there was a fat chance of that happening, he pushed into her. Nesta gasped, and his mouth was suddenly on hers, absorbing the sound. 

After a brief moment to adjust, his hips grew rough against hers, the grip he had on them almost bruising, but she didn’t care. 

“Fuck, Cass,” she groaned, arching into his touch as he drew little circles on the bundle of nerves between her legs. 

He picked up speed, pounding into her so hard she started shifting up the bed until he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, keeping her in place. 

Release started building up in her, and she could tell it would be almost too intense when it crested. But just before she got to find out, he slowed his rhythm, swirling his hips slowly against hers. 

An indignant, hateful sound left her mouth, and he pulled back enough to smirk down at her. 

“Say it,” he commanded, eyes like molten caramel as they watched her hips try to gain more friction. “Say you’re sorry, and I’ll give you what you want.”

“Fuck you,” she panted, barely resisting the urge to punch him. “You insufferable, arrogant bastard.”

“Not exactly what I want to hear, but close.”

A maddeningly slow circle of his hips had her regretting ever going out with him. 

Another had her planning his murder.

Yet another had her cursing the day he was born.

“Say it, Nesta. You know you want to.” He dipped his head to kiss the base of her throat. 

Her body was so strung out it was a miracle she didn’t burst into tears, but she somehow managed to hold off for another few minutes.

But then he grabbed her hands and pinned them above her head and all but growled, “Just fucking say it. Say it so I can fuck you like you deserve.”

And she was just desperate enough that she said, “I’m sorry I called you an idiot, you horrible asshole.”

He smiled down at her, and she glared. “Such beautiful words.”

“Cassian, I swear-”

The words became lost in her throat as he finally, finally started moving again, somehow harder and quicker than before. 

Release immediately crashed into her, and she moaned as she drew tight around him. 

“Good girl,” he murmured, and even though she currently hated him, the words just made the release that much sweeter. 

Especially as he didn’t stop. Her body was trembling underneath his, but he kept going, even dipping his head to kiss his way down to her breasts. 

His tongue swirled around the peak of one, and she groaned loudly as the wave inside her seemed to crash once more, leaving her scattered and broken in the aftermath. 

Cassian finally followed her lead, collapsing on top of her and pressing her into the mattress below as he said her name in a helpless, loving sort of way. 

Their breath was uncontrolled and loud, and it took a few minutes before either of them could speak. 

Then he asked roughly, “Now, where’d you hide my shit?”

“Front desk,” she panted, pushing her hair off her forehead with a tired hand. 

He drew back, looking over her partially-clothed body in a satisfied, male way that made her smile. “I really like that dress, in case it isn’t obvious. Want me to go change so we can eat something?”

Before she could respond, his mouth was at her ear, hot breath raising goosebumps across her skin. “Or do you just want to eat here?”

Suddenly, food was the last thing on her mind. 

Her hands found their way to his hair as she drew him back down to her. 

“Just get it tomorrow,” she murmured, lips finding his again. “And never wear that fanny pack again.”

_________________________________________________________

Like I said, I had WAY too much fun writing this hahaha. Kinda really loosely based on when Joey (Friends) went to London and dressed like a tourist :)

Tags: @sjm-things @santas-dwynwen @thebitchupstairs @sayosdreams @perseusannabeth @cursebreaker29 @a-bit-of-a-cactus @elriel4life @girl-who-reads-the-books @aelinfeyreeleven945tbln @highqueenofelfhame @tswaney17 @rowanisahunk @superspiritfestival @studyliketate @over300books @justgiu12 @maastrash @aesthetics-11 @bamchickawowow @b00kworm @sleeping-and-books @musicmaam @hizqueen4life @maybekindasortaace

[slytherinbarnes]

Sub Rosa [90]

vi. nakara

Pairing: Bellamy Blake x reader

Word Count: 2.3k

Warnings: angst (we're heartbroken, my friends), violence, fighting, death, anxiety.

Summary: with the realization that you have failed to save bellamy in time, you and your friends look for a way off of bardo, trying to get home.

a/n: i’ve felt very unsure on whether i should still post this today, but i talked to a few people who thought it might be nice to have some normalcy after today’s news (if you don’t know what’s going on, please read this post). i want to dedicate this chapter to ria and say thank you for all of the encouragement and support you gave me on sub rosa. I’m sorry i didn’t tell you sooner, I thought there would be more time. rest in peace angel. 

please note: there are discussions of death and grief in this chapter. please take care of yourselves.

previous chapter // season masterlist // series masterlist

Someone pulls you to your feet, but now that your anger has faded, you feel nothing.

You’re in a daze, Wanlida putting up wall after wall so that your emotions can't reach you and make you lose control again, numbing you to everything around you. Someone pushes your helmet onto your head, and you look up and see Gabriel, his expression unreadable. He wraps an arm around you and guides you through the halls of Bardo as Hope helps Octavia and Echo leads the way. You faintly register the sound of the alarm stopping midway through, and you start to think the alarm was for something unrelated, because everything seems fine. 

Every guard, person, or conductor that you pass is calm and minding their own business. No disciples are running down the halls, no invisible people are popping up on your helmet. Everything is fine. You almost feel regret to see everything so calm, your body craving chaos to help distract you from the thoughts in your head. The walls in your mind are holding strong, but the thoughts on the other side are continuously knocking, continuously yelling, begging to be heard. They want to talk about Bellamy and the anguish you feel, but you want none of it. You don't want to feel the pain of grief heavy on your chest. You don't want to feel the bloodthirsty anger and revenge. You don't want to feel any of it, you just want to escape it.

And as you try to outrun your thoughts and your small group tries to outrun danger, you ultimately end up walking right into it. 

As you round a corner, there’s a person in a guard uniform fighting off three disciples, finishing them off with a knife to the chest. Something about it raises alarms in your head, but you don't really have the energy to think about why. Instead, you follow the others as they pause just down the hall from the guard, who spins around and looks at all of you, sizing you up, before they send their knife flying straight into Hope’s helmet. And as you watch the guard running straight towards all of you, prepared to take you out the way she took out the other disciples, you realize that you know her. The recognition and shock is enough to bring some energy back to you and with your eyes locked right on her, you call out, “Diyoza?”

She pauses, and you pull your helmet off to stare at her. Hope pulls her helmet off, staring at her mother in shock, Diyoza inches from killing her own daughter. “Mom?”

Echo and Gabriel take off their helmets as Diyoza starts to cry, pulling her crying daughter towards her. If you knocked down the walls to let your emotions in, you know you'd feel happiness for Hope, glad that at least one of you will get your happy reunion. But you keep the walls firmly in place and stare blankly at them instead, unable to process your emotions right now. Echo seems to feel the same, because she glances at the reunion briefly before turning to glance back down the hall. “Stone Room's this way.”

Diyoza turns to look at her, glaring a little for interrupting the reunion. Echo barely meets her eyes before tuning to walk away, and Diyoza turns back to look over all of you in confusion. You feel her eyes rest on you longer than it does on the others, taking in your blank expression, before she locks eyes with Octavia. “What's wrong with them?”

Octavia looks over at her friend, her expression sad as she answers the question. “Bellamy's dead.”

Diyoza seems genuinely sorry to hear the news, looking between you and Octavia with sadness before Hope reaches out and grabs Octavia, pulling her closer. Diyoza lifts up a hand and puts it on Octavia’s cheek, a quiet show of comfort, and you feel tears rise to your eyes as you watch, the gesture knocking down all of the walls in your head. Because it reminds you of Bellamy, which reminds you that he’s dead, and never again will you put your hand on his cheek or experience his hand on your own cheek. You let out a little sniffle, trying hard to keep your tears at bay, and Gabriel squeezes your shoulder in comfort. Octavia spins around towards you, pulling her face close to yours and whispering, “We’re almost free, la lune. Can you stay with me until then?”

You look at her with tear stained eyes, because despite your grief, you don't want to be the reason your friends end up captured. You nod at Octavia, promising her and yourself that you’ll keep it together until you escape. She leans forward and presses her forehead to yours and adds, “We’ll get through this, sister.”

You feel a rush of grief, wrapped up in guilt, as you start to consider what Octavia’s been through since you saw her disappear on Sanctum. She was taken from all of you, so soon after starting to reconcile with Bellamy. She watched him die, right in front of her, and you know how helpless she must have felt, because you experienced the same thing when you discovered that Josephine stole your twin’s body right under your nose. She’s been going through all of this alone, for who knows how long, and you haven’t even stopped to check on her. You were so blinded by your own grief, you didn’t even make sure she was okay. 

You pull your foreheads apart to look at her with tears in your eyes, your voice low and broken. “Octavia, I’m so sorry. We tried to get to you sooner, to save you and Bellamy both, but-”

You cut yourself off, unable to finish the rest of your sentence: we were too late. Octavia understands though, and she shakes her head, forcing a small smile to her face through her own hidden turmoil. “Hey, I know you and I know you would’ve done everything you could to get to us sooner. There’s no need to apologize.”

Echo suddenly appears at your side, eavesdropping on your conversation and adding, “There’s no time.”

You and Octavia turn to look at her, both of you nodding, remembering the danger you’re in. As everyone around you pulls their helmets back on, Octavia turns back to you, putting her hand on your cheek. “We’re gonna get out of here, and then we’re gonna talk about it. Okay?”

You nod and whisper back, “Okay.”

The two of you step apart, and your group starts to move again. You don’t bother putting your helmet back on, not wanting to deal with it anymore, but no one fights you on it, allowing you this one thing as you all jog down the hall towards the Stone Room, in search of freedom. Gabriel keeps a hold on you the entire time, and you think he must be remembering your near death drowning on Skyring, or all the times you bolted in an attempt to outrun your feelings, because he seems terrified that you're going to run off and get yourself killed. But you don't. You stay by his side, and even if he let go of you, you still wouldn't run off, your brain too conflicted to decide much of anything at the moment.

You finally creep around the last corner, arriving at your destination. “There it is, that's the Stone Room.”

Echo looks around, her voice low and suspicious. “There's no one here.”

“It's too quiet.”

Diyoza agrees, “Something's not right.”

Wanlida shakes you a little, encouraging you to be on alert as most of your group agrees that you’re in danger, the killer in your mind not wanting you to end up dead. Like your fiance. You shake the thought away and listen to her, perking up a little as you glance towards the Stone Room door. “The Stone is our only way out.” 

“They'd know we were coming here.”

Echo nods and gets into a defensive position. “Good. We'll take right, you'll go left.”

Diyoza steps onto the left side, and Gabriel positions you against the wall, out of the way, just in case, before he stands ready at the door. Octavia is standing nearby, her eyes locked on something in the distance, and you follow her gaze over to a janitor, mopping a floor nearby and shaking his head. Beside you, Gabriel starts to count. “We go on three. 1... 2…”

You watch the janitor with interest, and Octavia does too, before she finally makes a decision and calls out, “Wait.”

Everyone pauses, seconds away from attacking, watching as Octavia moves towards the janitor. Helmets come off as Diyoza reaches out, ready to stop her or defend her, you’re not sure which, but Hope stops her mother first. “It's Levitt, let her go.”

You watch them have a quiet conversation, catching bits and pieces as you do. “...dozen disciples…”

“...to Sanctum?”

“...oxygen farm…” 

You turn away and glance at Gabriel, who stands beside you, watching Octavia and Levitt intensely. When he senses your gaze, he glances over at you, giving you a skeptical look. You’re about to ask him what’s wrong when Octavia comes jogging back towards all of you. “Guys, we run.”

As you turn towards her, you see Levitt in the background, lying on the floor, courtesy of Octavia’s punch. But everyone else seems uninterested in that, because they are already turning away and following Octavia, who is jogging down the hall, away from the Stone Room. You turn and glance at Gabriel again, wondering when the decision to run was made, but he’s still staring at Levitt with skepticism. Echo calls out to you and Gabriel, reminding you of your impending danger, and you both take off running after the rest of the group, following Octavia down to the oxygen farm. “This is it, the oxygen farm.”

As you come to a stop outside the door, a P.A. system overhead announces, “Attention all guards, prisoners last seen on level 12 by the ward.”

None of you even get the chance to exchange a worried look, because the door to the farm slides open, and an older man walks out of the farm and into the hallway as everyone is taking off their helmets. He looks around in fear, clearly about to run off, but Diyoza clamps a hand down on his shoulder and puts a smile on her face. “There's nothing to be scared of. Just tell us how to get outside.”

“To the surface?”

“Yes.”

He shakes his head, the bundle of flowers in his hands shifting as he moves. “You can't, not without rebreathers.”

You look at the man in confusion, “What happens without rebreathers?”

He glances over at you, but gives his answer to Diyoza, clearly still scared of her. “Same thing as happened to the Bardoans. Extinction, only slower, I expect.”

All of you exchange a worried look before looking over at Octavia. She shakes her head, “Levitt wouldn't have told us to do this if it wasn't survivable.”

Octavia has barely finished her sentence when Echo shoves a knife into the back of the man’s neck, killing him. Gabriel looks at her as if she has lost her mind, letting go of you so he can shift closer to her. “What the hell's the matter with you?”

Diyoza answers for her, “Octavia said his name. We still might need Levitt on the inside.”

Echo nods, confirming that’s why she killed the man, though you’re not sure you feel better about it. You avoid looking at him, trying to keep your emotions in check and yourself composed like you promised. Instead, you look over at Echo, who is watching you closely. Despite her anger and her calm intensity, her voice softens when she asks you, “You okay?”

You’re not, but there isn’t time for that right now, so you help Wanlida tuck your overflowing emotions into a new box, shoving them behind the wall in your mind. You look at Echo and nod, and her expression gets stern again before she steps towards the door to the oxygen farm. “On me.”

Gabriel steps in front of her, blocking the door and your path to freedom. “You just heard him, it's too dangerous.”

Echo glares at him. “He wants his answers, that's all he's ever wanted.” 

“No, that's not true. I want to live.”

“Then I suggest stepping aside.”

Diyoza reaches out to grab him and pull him away. “We don't have time for this.”

Gabriel shakes her off, looking between her and Echo. “No, wait-”

Down the hall, he is cut off by the thundering of boots approaching, letting you know that the clock is ticking, and time is nearly up. You glance towards the sound, starting to feel anxious, turning back to look at the group with worry. “They’re coming.” 

Octavia adds, “I trust Levitt, let's go.”

But Gabriel doesn't listen. Instead, he pulls on his helmet and plants himself firmly in the way as the girls in your group look at him with anger and annoyance. You just watch him in confusion, wondering what he saw or knows, his skepticism of Levitt clearly growing stronger with each passing second. 

“Move!”

“Gabriel, open the door.”

Gabriel shakes his head, his voice slightly muffled from beneath the helmet. “I can't let you risk it.”

And before any of you can comprehend his next move, he activates his weapons system and starts to shoot stun rounds at all of you. He starts with Echo, then Diyoza, Hope, and Octavia. He pauses when he points it at you, and you shake your head, not wanting to get stuck in Bardo, the place where your fiance died. “Gabriel, please don’t. I don’t want to stay here.”

His voice sounds genuinely upset when he mutters, “I'm sorry, cielito. I have to keep you safe.”

And then he shoots you too. 

You only feel a slight jolt of electricity and a flash of betrayal, before you fall towards the ground, unconscious before you even hit the floor.

-

next chapter

[howtosingit]

Fic: the crash and the fall and you there through it all

Carlos faces the loss of Iris Blake for the second time in three years.

*

A missing moment from 1x07. 

2.3K | Also on AO3

- - - - - -

He’s able to keep it together while he drops Michelle off at her mom’s house, jumping out of his car to give her a tight hug. She clings to him, her sobs rattling through his ribcage, before she pulls away, quickly masking her pain for her mother. He waits until she’s inside the house before he turns away, blinking rapidly to fight the sting he feels at the corners of his eyes.

He’s able to keep it together on the drive home, too, pulling into his driveway and switching off the ignition. His mind races with the image of the blue pickup truck being pulled from the ravine, along with the memory of the last time he saw Iris alive three years ago, and his heart rate speeds up, the pounding in his ears reaching a crescendo. Before he can let it overwhelm him, he pushes open the door and races into his apartment.

But once he’s inside, he doesn’t know what to do. He looks around, taking in the stillness of his living room and kitchen, the low hum of the air purifier in the corner. It’s completely at odds with the wild, erratic energy coursing through his veins, causing him to tremble in his entryway. He knows he can’t stay here, that he’s moments away from becoming something akin to a bull in a china shop; he needs an outlet, somewhere to put all of this excess internal commotion, and nothing in his apartment presents itself as the answer. So, he’s got to get out.

He all but runs to his bedroom, stripping off his jeans in favor of his running clothes. He sits down only long enough to slip on his shoes before he’s up again, grabbing his phone, keys, and AirPods and heading for the door.

He pulls it open, barely breaking his rhythm, and runs headfirst into the man standing on his front step, his hand raised to knock. Carlos collides with him, sending them both stumbling a few steps. 

“Fuck, sorry,” he cries, reaching out to grab TK’s gray hoodie right before the other man falls into the bush next to his front walk. 

“That was a close one,” TK says, a grin on his face as he rebalances. Carlos watches as that smile slips away when TK turns to look at him, replaced by an expression of concern. “Carlos, are you okay?”

The words run through Carlos’s mind, his brain somehow unable to process them fully. Is he okay? He’s been fine for three years, he’s pretty sure, but maybe that was just a facade. Maybe he’s just been faking his way towards fine all of this time. Finding the truck, the one that they’re pretty certain Iris was in the night she died, it’s like facing her disappearance all over again. He thought he was ready, that he could handle this, but maybe he was wrong.

Then, there’s another part of him that doesn’t really know why this is hitting him so hard. They haven’t even started the full investigation of the truck yet, they don’t even really know that they’ve found the answers that Michelle has been searching for this whole time. Carlos understands the process, lives by the process - in general, by process itself. He knows how this works, so he doesn’t understand why his brain and his heart are intent on skipping all of the steps. They’re still at the beginning, there’s a lot that they don’t know, so why is he acting like they’re at the end? 

It’s not what he does, this isn’t who he is, and he doesn’t know how to make that make sense to himself, let alone try to explain it to someone else.

Someone else like TK, who is standing in front of him wearing a terrified expression and… oh, he’s calling his name.

“Carlos!”

He snaps out of his mental traffic jam, his eyes darting everywhere. He can feel his chest rising and falling, can still hear his heart pounding in his ears, but he tries to ignore it, to focus on the man in front of him instead.

“Did we have plans?” he asks, his voice thin. He honestly can’t remember, and that’s not at all like him either; he never forgets his plans, especially ones with TK.

“Um, not exactly,” TK says, the words coming slowly as he reaches up to rub at the back of his neck. “But, I remembered you saying you had the night off, so I thought I might stop by and see if you wanted to-”

“Do you want to go for a run?” Carlos cuts him off. He knows it’s rude, and typically he would never do something like that. He can practically hear his mother scolding him from San Antonio, but he pushes that guilt away. The loose canon of energy that has been coursing through for the past ten minutes is starting to build again, and he needs to do something about it. Now.

TK’s mouth snaps shut, his eyes roaming over Carlos, obviously trying to figure out what exactly is going on. He’s sure he looks a mess, if not a little terrifying. He tries not to look like this ever, too intent on appearing professional and put-together at all times. He knows he’s definitely never looked like this in front of TK.

“Yeah, sure,” TK finally says, gazing into his eyes. 

Carlos nods, quickly turning to lock his front door before moving past TK. “I move pretty fast, so try to keep up,” he tries to joke, but his voice doesn’t sound right for it to really land. TK seems to understand his intention anyway, if his smile is any indication.

“Show me what you’ve got, officer,” TK says, falling into step next to him.

They race through Carlos’s neighborhood, side-by-side, and then into the park at the end of his street. He doesn’t bother with his AirPods, content to listen to the sounds of wildlife all around him and TK’s steady breathing right next to him. 

They run for what seems like forever, Carlos pushing himself harder as his mind attacks him with memories of happier days spent with his college best friend before she disappeared out of his life in the blink of an eye. They hadn’t been as close then, with him joining the academy and her… doing something else. Whenever there was time for them to hang out and catch up, she would cancel on him, without explanation, and he eventually learned not to push for her attention.

He’s always hated being the one doing the chasing.

There’s anger now, too, mixed with his grief, and he allows the strain of his muscles to push forward and overcome those feelings. His eyes burn, and he knows he’s crying now, after having kept his tears at bay for so long, but he lets them come, lets them mix with his sweat and disappear as if they never really happened at all.

The entire time, TK runs at his side.

They re-enter his neighborhood, finishing a full loop around the area, and as they come up to his front yard, he pulls back a bit, reaching down for his keys. TK lets out a huff next to him, a sound of pure relief, and Carlos can’t help but smile at the sound. 

“Holy fuck, that was brutal, man,” the firefighter says, gasping for breath. Carlos turns at the door, key in the lock, to find him hunched over with his hands on his hips. 

“C’mon, I have water,” he says, ignoring the garbled tone of his voice. 

They step inside, Carlos moving towards the fridge to grab two water bottles. He hands one off to TK, who takes it with a weak “thank you” before unscrewing the cap and lifting it to his lips. They drink for a moment, the same silence from the run taking over the space. 

They stand close, and Carlos has no idea what to say. TK puts down his water and turns to look at him, his face flushed and his eyes bright.

“You were crying,” TK says knowingly, without preamble. Carlos’s breath hitches in his chest, swallowing heavily as the other man takes a step closer to stand right in front of him. Without a word, TK brings his hands up to cup Carlos’s face, his thumbs moving to brush away the sweat and tears from his cheeks. “Talk to me, Carlos. I’m right here.”

He hears the sincerity in TK’s voice, recalls similar words coming out of his own mouth only a few weeks ago, when the tables were turned and TK was feeling lost. He opens his mouth, trying to say something, anything.

“I…” he starts, trailing off with a huff when his voice cracks on the single syllable. He feels raw again, like all of his thoughts and emotions are just beneath the surface, wanting to push through. He thought the run would help, but it didn’t. He thought pushing himself past his comfort level would leave him empty, but it didn’t. He doesn’t know what to do now.

TK’s grip tightens on his face, almost as if he can tell that Carlos is thinking about running away again. Their eyes lock, and Carlos lets out a breath for the first time as he stares into those bright, lovely, wonderful green irises; the ones that haunt his dreams and make him feel bigger than himself. The ones that ground him.

Oh.

There’s a shift at that thought, the notion that TK grounds him, and he knows without even thinking about it that it’s true. 

All he needs is TK.

Before he can even begin to process that revelation, he finds himself pushing forward, whining as he captures TK’s lips with his own, his hands coming around to hold the man close to him. 

There’s a moment of shock before TK responds, but when he does, Carlos feels the way that he pushes into him, both of them trying to find some sense of control in the unexpected moment. 

Their tongues tangle together, dancing through familiar choreography from months ago like it was just yesterday. It’s a language that they speak without needing to learn, a conversation that comes naturally and fills Carlos with a yearning so strong that he wishes to never be parted from TK again, lest he forget how magical it is to know this man in this way.

And then, TK loosens his hold, pulling away suddenly.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he says quickly, taking a step back. “I shouldn’t have… I didn’t mean to… I’m so sorry.”

Carlos watches him struggle to find his words, shaking his head as he steps closer. “No, TK, stop. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Carlos, you’re clearly going through something,” TK explains, his voice sharp as his eyebrows furrow in concern, “and I want to be here for you, but not like this, okay? This isn’t what you need right now.”

“Yes, it is,” Carlos says automatically, and he knows it’s a lie but he can’t help the way that his heart fills with hope at the idea of holding TK again, even just for a moment. “It’s exactly what I need.”

“Carlos, please,” TK pleads, stepping close and taking Carlos’s face in his hands again.

“I want you here, TK, I do,” Carlos says desperately, placing his hands on TK’s hips. “Believe me, I want you right here.”

TK’s expression softens at his words, his lips pulling up into a sympathetic smile. “I want to be right here, too, Carlos,” he admits, his voice barely more than a whisper. “But it can’t happen like this, okay? You’re hurting right now, whether you want me to know it or not, and I can’t be a thing that hurts you even more, no matter how good it might feel in the moment.” He leans forward, resting his forehead against Carlos’s own. “Please, I know you can understand that.”

The thing is, Carlos does. He’s self-aware enough to know that he’s trying to mask the events of today behind something that he knows he wants, something that he knows will bring him a moment of peace. But TK’s right: the moment will come to an end, and if they don’t talk about it, it won’t end well. For either of them.

They both deserve to have this moment when the time is right, not when it’s forced inside a different, painful moment. That’s not fair to them, or their relationship.

“I’m sorry,” Carlos says, choking back tears as his vision blurs. “I’m sorry, TK.”

“Hey, no,” TK cries, pulling him into his arms. “You don’t have anything to apologize for, Carlos.”

Carlos buries his face in TK’s neck, finally letting go of the pain from earlier. He lets TK guide him to the couch, where Carlos curls into his side, continuing to unleash everything that has been weighing him down for the past few hours. He feels himself drift off, the exhaustion from his run and his day with Michelle finally pulling him into sleep.

When he wakes up, he’s still on the couch. His shoes are off and a blanket covers his body. The lamp in the corner provides the smallest amount of light, and as he looks around, he realizes he’s alone. 

A note sits on the coffee table in front of him, the paper pulled from the grocery list pad in the kitchen. It’s a simple message, just a few lines. 

Sorry for leaving, I didn’t want to overstay my welcome. Text me when you’re up for it. -TK

(I’m not running away.)

Carlos’s head falls back onto the couch cushion, and in no time at all, sleep pulls him under again.

[pastpatientlywaitingforimagines]

Cosmos | Spencer Reid x Reader Platonic

WC: 3484

A/N: This was titled in my WIP doc as “ANGRY SPENCER”. Also, I def almost cried writing this, I’m so sorry.

GALAXY MASTERLIST

Warnings: ANGST, hospitals, death, mentions of war, Sad Spencer, mentions of therapy, SPOILERS FOR Season 8 (The Lesson and Zugzwang)

Incessant knocking on your front door was enough to drag you away from the cringe-worthy reality TV on your screen and to your front hallway.

“I thought you had a date tonight,” you returned to your couch quickly when opening your door revealed your best friend. He stood awkwardly in the entryway, clutching a book in his hands while you sprawled on your couch.

“I cancelled.”

Normally you would have made a joke, a light jest, but clearly something was bothering Spencer.

“I thought Blake mom-talked you into it? Why’d you cancel?” you pulled your limbs in and patted the cushion next to you. He sat down and you noticed the way he practically melted into the piece of furniture.

“I thought her stalker was there so I called her and told her to go home.”

“Did you get a good look at him? I’ll call Garcia and we can watch traffic cams-” you started reaching for your phone, but Spencer grabbed your hand.

“It wasn’t him. I was just paranoid, and she probably is now, too. I’m never going to meet her.”

“Spencer,” your heart broke for your friend. You had only known he had been talking to Maeve for a few days, despite their relationship spanning months. You understood his reasoning for keeping it a secret, but now that you knew you were just happy that he was happy, “you’ll get another chance. There will be another date.”

He stood up and started pacing across your small living space, “you don’t understand.”

“I don’t understand half of what goes on in your head, but I do know you love her and that you’ll figure it out. You always do.”

“How do you know?” you didn’t really appreciate the sass from him, but you were too exhausted from the case you had just gotten back from to say anything about it.

“The same way I know almost anything else, I feel it. Intuition or instincts or whatever. What’s that thing you always tell me? Our instincts exist for a reason?”

He nodded, “I told Maeve the same thing before we left for the case, she said she knew deep down that her stalker was gone.”

“Spencer,” he stopped pacing and looked over at you, “your instincts exist for a reason too.”

“They were wrong. I was wrong,” he fumed. You stood up and padded to the kitchen, leaving him to his own devices for a minute.

“Is that from her?” you acknowledged the book in his hands when you came back and handed him a cup of tea. He seemed to have calmed down, although sometimes with Spencer it was hard to tell.

“Yeah, she wrote a quote inside it too,” he smiled sadly.

“Spencer Reid, if you do not call this girl and reschedule your date I will do it for you,” you told him, sipping at your own drink. The look of terror in his eyes as he glanced up at you was enough to make you laugh, which in turn made him laugh.

“Alright, I’ll do it, I promise.”

“Good. You deserve good things, Spence.”  

You kept repeating that phrase to yourself when you pulled up to the loft and watched your best friend walk inside without his vest or gun a few weeks later.

He deserves good things, he deserves good things, he deserves good things

A gunshot was fired and on Hotch’s command you went into the building, immediately noticing the way Spencer was clutching at his arm as he told you to stay back.

He deserves good things, he deserves good things, he deserves good things

As soon as the second shot was fired you were by Spencer’s side, collapsing on the floor and pulling him into your lap. Your heart was pounding, a combination of adrenaline and shock at the events that had just happened. You were acutely aware of the sobs coming from the man in your arms, as well as the blood from his arm seeping onto your shirt but you didn’t care. In all of your years of knowing Spencer Reid, you had never seen him this broken. Even when Emily had faked her death it was a different kind of hurt, one you both shared and could heal from together, but this… this was something new entirely.

You didn’t move when the rest of the team started working with SWAT and the crime scene unit to clean up the scene. You didn’t move when Diane’s body was taken away. You didn’t move when Hotch crouched next to you.

“We need to take care of her body,” you nodded, holding Spencer a little tighter. You wanted to ask the doctor how he wanted to proceed, but there was no evidence that his brain was functioning any higher than a pile of mush so you had to make the decision for him. He didn’t make a fuss when they moved Maeve’s body, so you knew that you had made the right choice.

The team didn’t bother you again until they were ready to leave, Alex and JJ approaching the two of you slowly. They didn’t have to speak, you knew what they were going to tell you.

Spencer’s heaving breaths had since slowed, but you could see the shine from the tears still running down his cheeks.

“Spencer,” you tried gently, “let’s go home.”

He gripped your arm tightly as you stood, still pressing himself into you much more than either of you usually preferred. You walked downstairs and were immediately directed to an ambulance that was still waiting. You sat on the back bumper as they treated his arm, not loosening your hold on the man.

The EMT went over to talk to Hotch after they were done bandaging Spencer’s arm, who in turn went to talk to JJ. JJ came to sit on your other side, a comforting hand placed on your shoulder.

“They want him to go to the hospital, don’t they?” you asked, already knowing what she was going to say.

“He needs fluids and an X-Ray, at least.”

“What do you think, Spencer?” you turned to your friend, feeling a little piece of your heart break off when you again saw how much he was hurting emotionally.

“Will you drive me?” his voice was small and feeble.

“Of course I will.”

Hotch let you take one of the SUVs. You flipped on the lights, but drove as carefully as you could towards the hospital. Spencer was silent the whole drive. You parked somewhere close to the emergency room entrance, but out of the way enough that the car would still be there when you were ready to leave.

You walked Spencer in, telling the reception nurse who you were and what had happened. They had been notified that you were coming and already had a private room ready.

Spencer tried to put up a fight when they took him to get an x-ray, though in his broken state it was just a desperate glance thrown in your direction.

“I’m not going anywhere,” you told him in reassurance as they wheeled him out of the room. While you waited you took the time to call Penelope, who was (as you predicted) extremely worried.

“Physically he’s fine, I should be able to bring him home tonight. Mentally though…” you trailed off.

“Keep our boy safe, ok?” she asked.

“I’m doing my best,” you sighed, giving her a quick goodbye and hanging up when Spencer was brought back into the room. You talked with his doctor who confirmed that you were able to bring him home, so you collected his belongings and slowly walked back to the SUV.

He was quiet when you drove to his apartment, and the silence continued when you walked up the stairs and into his dark home. At this point, you had done all you knew how to do and were waiting for any kind of indication from Spencer about how he wanted you to proceed.

“You should go home and get cleaned up,” he spoke for the first time since agreeing to go to the hospital.

“It’s just your blood, Spence. I’m fine.”

“I would really like to be left alone right now, would you please just go home?” he snapped.

“Ok,” you took a step back, holding your hands up in surrender, “I’ll go home, but I’m coming back tomorrow morning to check on you, ok?” Spencer wouldn’t look at you, even after a whole minute of silence, so you stepped out of his apartment. You hesitated at the top of the stairs, wondering if you had made the right move, and then you heard the click of the lock behind you.

You did as Spencer asked, you went home and showered your best friend’s blood off of you. It was the kind of horrific you never thought you’d experience. Curling up on your couch, you realized that what broke you most about the events of the night wasn’t watching two people get shot in the head in front of you, it was the way Spencer unraveled in your arms.

You fell asleep on the couch with all of the lights in your apartment still on.

True to your word, you showed up at Spencer’s apartment in the morning, getting breakfast for both of you on your way. You knocked on his door when you got there and waited, but he never answered. You knocked again, calling out “Spencer, it’s me,” but the door stayed shut. You tried the knob to find it still locked, so you pulled out your phone and called him.

“Hello. This is Spencer Reid. Please leave a message.”

“Spencer, it’s me. I brought food, just let me in so I know you’re ok,” you sighed, sitting down on the floor next to the door. You ate your breakfast, too hungry to wait for him. You had half a mind to try kicking down his door, but you decided waiting him out would be better. He knew you were there, he’d talk when he was ready.

“Hotchner,” your boss answered his phone when you called after four hours of silence in the hallway.

“Hey Hotch,” you realized you didn’t know what your goal was with this phone call.

“How’s Reid?”

“I don’t know. He made me go home last night and won’t let me back in. I’ve been outside his apartment all day.”

“He’ll be ok, he just needs time. Don’t forget to take care of yourself too.”

“I won’t, thanks Hotch,” you tossed your phone on the floor when the call ended. You couldn’t decide if you felt better after having the conversation with the older agent. He was right, Spencer needed time Another two hours passed before someone you recognized came up the steps, bearing a large basket.

“(y/n)?”

“Hey Penelope.”

“Have you been here all night? Where’s Reid?”

“He’s inside,” you nodded in the direction of the door dejectedly, “he kicked me out and hasn’t answered since I got back this morning.”

“Well,” she set down the basket she was holding by Spencer’s door, “I’m as worried about him as you are, but I can’t have two of you not taking care of yourselves. Come on,” she held a hand out to you.

“Where are we going?” you were hesitant to move.

“Rossi’s, to get you a real meal.”

“I can’t leave him here alone,” you argued.

“I’ll call Derek, he’ll understand,” as you stood, Penelope took out her phone. You located your own device, redialing Spencer’s number.

“Hello. This is Spencer Reid. Please leave a message.”

“Hey, Penelope’s making me go get some dinner. She, uh, she left a basket out here for you. I think Morgan’s going to come over, if you want to talk to him maybe. Call me if you need anything, ok?”

When you finished the call Penelope was looking at you with sad eyes. You held your hand out to her and let her walk you back down to the street and into her car.

Rossi wasn’t surprised to see you when he answered his door. Penelope must have called him while you were leaving the message for Spencer. As you stepped across his threshold, Penelope stayed on the steps.

“You’re not coming?”

“This is for you,” she said, giving you a hug and a sad smile before walking away. You closed the door and followed Rossi to the kitchen.

“What’s bothering you the most about what happened last night?” he got to work preparing dinner for you.

“I feel like I’ve lost him,” you told him as you leaned against the counter, “is it selfish to hurt more for him than for seeing two people die in front of me?”

“We’ve seen more than enough people die in front of us for one lifetime, kiddo, you and I especially. It’s different when it’s someone you love.”

“I just wish he would stop shutting me out. We’ve always been honest with each other. He knows I understand how he feels,” you growled.

“You do?” Rossi pressed carefully. Your hand instinctively went to the bracelet on your wrist.

“I had a…” you hesitated, “a friend, in my squadron. We were on a routine surveillance mission, something we had done a million times before. We got attacked out of nowhere… It should have been me, Rossi.”

“They weren’t just a friend, were they?”

“No,” you sighed, accepting the plate of food he slid in front of you and not making eye contact, “Spencer’s the only one that knows the whole story.”

“He’ll let you in when he’s ready. You need to make sure you’re ready to be there for him when he is.”

“You make it sound like that’s easy,” you told him with a tired smile, finally starting to eat.

Having dinner with Rossi cleared your head in a way that was helpful, though it wasn’t close to the kind of clarity you usually got from being with Spencer.

After a week of camping outside of Spencer’s apartment whenever you weren’t at work, he finally let you in.

“Thank God, I’m pretty sure Miss Cavanaugh was one trip outside from sicking her Pomeranian on me,” you said once he had closed the door. Spencer didn’t laugh at your joke. He looked like a mess, and his apartment reflected the state of his dishevelment.

You decided not to comment on his state of living, and instead let him control how he wanted you to help. You made yourself comfortable on his couch, waiting for his next move. He surprised you by curling up next to you and laying his head on your lap.

“Everyone’s been really worried about you,” you tried. He still didn’t say anything, “I’ve been really worried about you.”

“Why? You know what this is like.” he finally rasped, his voice so quiet it was barely a whisper.

“I do, that’s exactly why I’m worried.”

“When does it stop hurting?” he sounded so desperate, a very vulnerable form of the information-seeking Spencer you were familiar with.

“I know this isn’t what you want to hear, but it doesn’t really. I still think about them, and it hurts sometimes. The other day I saw a moth that they would have really liked. It hurt out of nowhere and they’ve been gone for almost six years.”

“When does it get better?”

“That’s up to you, Spence. It’s different for everyone. It got better for me once I started going to therapy, but I had other things that I was getting treated for at the same time which I think helped the process along. I was doing a pretty terrible job managing it on my own, I know that much. It’s ok to take your time to figure out what works for you, there’s really no rush.”

The man in your lap sighed, and you wondered what he would be like once he got to the other side of this. You had no doubts that he would rejoin society and come back to work, but at what cost to his sanity?

You sat in silence for a while, eventually realizing Spencer was asleep. You figured this was the first time he was actually able to sleep in a week. You fell asleep yourself, until he jolted awake.

“I’m here,” you mumbled, adjusting yourself on the couch and patting his head lightly until you were sure he was asleep again. You continued this pattern every few hours for the rest of the night. It was exhausting, but you didn’t really care how well you slept as long as you knew he was safe.

The last time you woke up, you could just barely see the streams of sunlight through his closed curtains and you realized you needed to be leaving his apartment if you were going to make it to work on time.

“Spencer,” you nudged him lightly.

“Hm?”

“It’s time for me to go to work. Will you be ok if I leave or do you want me to call Hotch?”

“No, you should go,” he sat up, blinking slowly.

“Do you want me to come back later?” Spencer shrugged.

“I’ll come back at the end of the day, but you don’t have to let me in if you don’t want to, ok? This is your healing process, I’m just here to help,” you waited for his nod of approval before you spoke again, grabbing your things and moving towards the door, “if you need anything please call me.”

You were only ten minutes late, but the team was already in the round table room.

“Sorry, sorry,” you apologized, rushing into your vacant seat.

“Are you ok?” Hotch had noticed the dark circles under your eyes.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“You’re wearing the same thing you wore yesterday,” JJ noted.

“I was with Spencer and didn’t have time to go home,” you started flipping through the file in front of you. The rest of the team was silent, until finally Morgan spoke.

“You talked to him?” You cast a glance at Rossi and realized that you were going to have to answer their questions before they would get back to the case.

“A little bit, I did most of the talking really. He’s getting better but he’s still in pretty rough shape. I’m honestly not sure he’s going to let me in again when I go back there this afternoon,” you trailed off, not sure what else to say.

There was a pregnant pause before Hotch finally directed everyone’s attention to the case you were consulting on.

“I shouldn’t have left this morning,” you told JJ while you were eating lunch, “I tell him all the time I’m not going to leave him, but I straight up walked out of his front door.”

“I’m sure he understands. I can stop by after work if you want to go home,” you were about to decline her offer, until you heard an eerily Spencer-like voice in your head telling you about the benefits of homeownership.

“That would be great, Jayje. Thanks.”

As you predicted, Spencer’s door was locked and JJ was in the hallway when you made it back to his apartment. You didn’t see Spencer again until he showed up a week later at the police precinct, draped in a cardigan, to help with the case you were working on.  

You were surprised to see him, but glad that he had finally made it out of his apartment and back into the world. You wouldn’t have solved the case without him, and it felt good to have him around at work again even though he still kind of looked like a mess.

He even took the jet back with you all, seeming more normal as he joked with JJ. When he asked for help cleaning up his apartment, you could start to see some life returning to him.

“You’re still here,” he noticed your position on his couch after Morgan, JJ, and Penelope had left.

“Last time I left you locked me out for a week, I’m not taking any chances,” you teased, thumbing through the book in your hands, “and you really need to stop apologizing. I get it, Spencer. It’s ok,” you spoke quickly before he could finish getting his hundredth apology out.

He laughed, not as strong as usual but it was a laugh nonetheless.

“Hey, now that we can get to your chessboard safely, do you want to play? I bet I can win this time,” you grinned.

“You’ve never even come close to winning. Every time we play I could win in three,” he deadpanned, settling on one side of the board and resetting the pieces.

“Well maybe today will be my lucky day.”

“(y/n), chess has nothing to do with luck, it’s all strategy. We’ve played enough that you should know that.”

GALAXY MASTERLIST

[peachamiibo]

alright i really feel like i have to write this because i’m just so incredibly pissed off with CRWBY and RT’s marketing. i’ve been a fan of this show for 7 years - since the yellow trailer came out! and sadly even though i’m so attached to the characters i think i’m going to have to drop it unless this situation is handled well - which, at the moment, it is not - it’s a fucking train wreck.

anyway let’s start with the main issue: queerbaiting.

CRWBY, intentionally or not, queerbaited with clover / qrow. at this point, i’m believing it was intentional. first and foremost, their interactions in the show were very flirtatious, mimicking another beloved ship (bmblb). for instance, when yang first compliments blake this volume and she puts her hand behind her head and blushes - the SAME THING happens with qrow when clover tells him not to be so down on himself. further, there was the parallel with the waitress from v4 who was hitting on qrow. the official rwby twitter account teased the relationship a few times, as did amity arena, and a few other’s who work on or have worked on rwby. 

but sure! let’s go with the narrative that their interactions weren’t meant to be seen as flirtatious. fine! let’s go with it. here’s another issue: the character design. color is one of the most important symbols in RWBY. characters aren’t given colors without reason. let’s look at clover’s initial design compares to his final design: 

his original design was based more off of the kingfisher bird. cool design - love that journey for him. they intentionally changed his character design to complement qrow in color. especially eye color. we all know eye color is an important part of rwby (ruby’s silver eyes, bmblb’s complementary eye colors) 

further, if you compare his design to other couple’s in the show, it adds more to the potential romantic symbolism. he wears a red sash on his arm - qrow’s color. who else does that? yang - yang wears a purple sash which is blake’s color. taiyang wears a red sash - for summer. it’s not hard to see.

also, the semblances of the two are important. the fact that they didn’t explore a good luck semblance in it of its own should be a criminal offense, but it was a perfect match for qrow. just like bmblb! yang’s semblance encourages her to get hit to store up power - an offenesive semblance. blake’s semblance enables her to retreat - a defensive semblance. they compliment each other. qrow/clover’s does the same! (& before any clowns want to compare yang and adam, characters with the same or similar semblances are meant to have distinctions drawn between them. im not going to elaborate on yang and adam’s distinctions because that should be common sense in how they interact with blake). 

there’s a lot more stuff i could add in regards to parallels and such, but lets move on. 

let’s get away from the queerbaiting, you might not see it. fine! that’s ok. here’s why the decision to kill off clover still sucks:

qrow was recovering from alcohol addiction and depression. he was improving the entirety of v7. it’s a great story for him! clover was clearly a part of his improvement, whether it be platonic or romantic - it doesn’t matter. 

what does killing clover off do for qrow’s narrative? it sends it backwards. an entire volume of development erased. qrow formerly believed that he and his semblance brought nothing but sorrow and misery to people. now that belief is going to be reinforced - because the man with the literal antidote to his bad luck was killed because of him (in his head). is the man going to be able to stomach being around the light of his world, ruby? or is he going to think he will eventually lead her to her death, too? what’s the point of this? at worst, it’s telling us people like qrow (depressed people, alcoholics, etc) don’t get their happy ending. at best, it’s just really shitty writing. 

finally - crwby’s response to this has been absolute garbage. eddy said that their relationship wasn’t meant to be seen as important (he also compared wanting lgbt rep to wanting a shopping montage, but lets digress). great! you don’t know the impact of your own writing! but even beyond that, after the finale, the officialrwby account decides to promo some new merch its selling! 

but i thought their relationship wasn’t meant to be important? but i thought you didn’t know clover would be a popular character? you knew well enough to attempt to profit off of it. and before anyone says “marketing is different from writing” - sure, that’s true, but after the backlash clover’s death had, you would think somebody could write an email saying “hey, maybe lets not tease the ship even more after we killed one of them!” 

and even if this was made BEFORE that, why would the marketing team have an incentive to put them together if it wasn’t for the writing that portrayed them together multiple times? it’s also worth noting that clover is the only ace-op with merch so far. hmmm. why’s that.

also, i’m not even going to go into why the “born unlucky” is shitty and the fact that they want to sell a pint glass themed after qrow (haha alcoholism is funny!!! bad luck!!!)

the straw that broke me is eddy rivas’ response to all of this. 

eddy had previously said he would discuss the decision to kill off clover after the series ended. we are still waiting. then, this fiasco happened with the marketing team, and he tweeted this out. after people have been asking for answers for like, a week at least now. and it’s just worth some emojis to him! nothing more. us mlm fans are just like the people who want an atlas shopping montage, right? shrug emoji! 

this is just garbage. im out unless rt fixes this somehow.

also: if you want to disagree with me that’s fine, i’m happy to talk about it, but if you’re going to be a clown don’t bother

[ask-garnet-n-ruby]

Symbiotic Lust on Halloween Night

Garnet/Harem (Milf AU)

Word Count: 7,900 Summary: After the end of a Halloween Party, Garnet and his mothers started heading home. But on the way, they stop by an odd little curio shop, where Garnet gets a birthday present to celebrate his first Halloween with his new family. But when they get home, his little present ups becoming so much more for this sinful little family.

“Later guys, thanks for the amazing party!”

Smiling at the various shouts and calls of goodbyes, Garnet waved to his friends Oscar and the others as he walked up to his three mothers. The trio of women offering a warm smile as they all started back for Schnee Manor, looking to have a nice wonderful evening with one another after spending an evening at what had been, an amazing and exciting Halloween Party. An evening which held a lot of special importance to them, Garnet in particular, as this was the first Halloween he’s experienced ever since he’d gotten adopted by his Yang, Blake, & Weiss and started his new life, befriending a lot of people both in his mother’s age group and within Beacon Academy.

“I gotta say,” Blake started, stretching her arms above her head as they walked, “That party was a lot of fun. I found myself enjoying it a lot more than I had expected to.”

“Hmph,” Weiss folded her arms with a curt turn of her nose, “I suppose it was alright for the most part. I honestly was expecting the worse when we arrived.”

“I’m just happy that I was able to get to go at all.” Garnet beamed, bringing his hands together, “I thought for sure you would put your foot down when you learned about this little event, Mom” Garnet said to Weiss scratching his cheek, “Especially when you learned just who exactly was hosting it.”

No sooner had he said that; a pair of golden & lilac-colored set of eyes glanced over to a certain heiress who looked away from her friends. Not willing to dignify them with a comment or even a sparing glance. Weak awkward laughter left the teenage crimsonette as he recalled back to when he had told his mothers about the party a few weeks back, and how the festivities would be held up by Sun and Neptune. Along with the fact that a few of his schoolmates would be attending the not-so-little shindig. Yang, to no real surprise of anyone, had been all for the idea right out the gate; completely thrilled and pleased at the prospect of Garnet actively going out and having fun on his own. Not to mention she had been looking to cut loose and have a little fun lately. Whereas Blake, though she was a little more hesitant on the matter, still gave her blessing in allowing Garnet to attend the party, feeling he deserved to have some fun. Plus, like Yang, she felt it couldn’t hurt to attend as well and have a little fun as well.

Weiss, however, was a different matter altogether.

In retrospect, it shouldn’t have come as a surprise to him that Weiss would’ve been the only one resistant at the idea of him attending any gathering with those two in charge. Both in letting him go and even attending the event herself. When it came to anything revolving around Uncle Sun and Neptune, especially Neptune, Weiss had garnered a bit of a presumptive nature with the two of them. Believing that anything regarding those two would result in nothing but trouble for everyone else. . . Granted, she was right most of the time, but it was still a little unfair to assume that EVERYTHING would go bad whenever they tried to do something. And that was the very thing Garnet tried to argue when pleading to let Weiss attend the party.

Fortunately, both of his Moms, Yang and Blake, ended up being on his side on the matter and helped manage to persuade and talk Weiss into going. Along with a few other things, he didn’t know what Yang had whispered to her. But all he knew was that it had Weiss bright red and huffing as she conceded her consent to him. Though it was pretty obvious she wasn’t happy about it.

Yang formed a small grin at the stuffy Schnee walking alongside her, “See?” She leaned in playfully towards her friend as she wrapped her arms around her son, “And you got all worked up over nothing. I told you everything would be fine and we would have a lot of fun.”

“Just because the house was still standing, doesn’t mean I was relieved or reassured in the slightest,” Weiss snorted, rolling her eyes.

Blake gave a side-eye to Weiss once more, “You’re never gonna forgive them for that little fire incident that happened in your house, are you?”

“I STILL DON’T UNDERSTAND HOW A LIT BLOWTORCH AND A PAIR OF ROLLERS RESULTED IN 50,000 LIEN WORTH IN PROPERTY DAMAGE!” Screamed the irate Heiress.

‘Best not tell her about the huge canister of fire dust Sun also found that day as well.’ Blake, Yang, & Garnet mentally thought in unison.

“Well regardless, you have to admit, you did have fun while we there. Not to mention you were a bit eager in attending this thing from the beginning,” Yang smirked as Weiss threw her a look of shock, “You can’t tell me you weren’t, otherwise, you wouldn’t have bothered dressing down in a costume, just like we did.”

Blake chuckled, “She’s got a point.”

Weiss sputtered before letting out an abrupt harrumphed and looking away, tightened up her folded arms. As a bit of a requirement to do before heading to the party, the family of four had to dress down in some costumes for tonight’s Halloween Bash. Something Garnet had been more than excited to do, while Yang and Blake shared the same level of enthusiasm. Weiss, much to their surprise, didn’t offer much resistance if dressing up. And as a result, she found herself attending the party as One Punch Man’s very own Tatsumaki. An outfit that surprised the rest of the gang, due to how tight and form-fitting it was against Weiss’ slim yet curvaceous figure.

“I-I only wore something like this for Garnet’s sake, that’s all. So don’t get any ideas, I wasn’t going to let my attitude ruin his first Halloween Experience with us.” She defended.

“Suuuure,” Yang rolled her eyes, Blake chuckled at that, “That’s the reason.”

“You got something to say?!” Weiss snapped.

The blonde harbored a shit-eating grin, “Why Heavens no Schnee, I would never; though I’m amazed you were able to talk with the amount of shit that came out of your mouth.”

“Why you-!”

“Hey hey!” Garnet chimed in, deciding it was now time to intervene. “Come on, let’s not fight; we just finished having a wonderful night. Let’s not do this, please?!”

Blake assisted in separating the two women from their little squabble, “He’s right, that’s enough,” She pushed the two apart, “While I normally don’t mind you two having your little tiffs, not tonight.”

The two women looked up at their surrogate son’s expression before sighing, mostly on Weiss’ part, and conceded as they broke away. Blake nodding with a satisfied expression while Garnet beamed and sighed in relief, high fiving the Milf Belladonna.

“Well in any case,” Yang rubbed Garnet’s head, “It’s still your special little night Garnet, and the night’s still young. Is there anywhere you wanna stop by before we head home?”

Garnet hummed in thought as he looked around the decorated Halloween streets of Atlas and all of the Halloween goers before he found his attention at an interesting looking curio shop in sight, “Ooh! Let’s try there!”

The girls blinked, watching their son running towards the shop with excitement. Looking at one another, the girls gave various shrugs before following along, figuring it best to give the shop a try before judging.

-X-

The interior of the quaint little store upon entering gave off a rather gloomy and somewhat supernatural setting. No one was sure whether it was due to the shop owner having prepped this store in advance for Halloween. Or if it was actually how the environment normally looked on a daily basis. And a part of the group’s mind couldn’t help but feel that it could likely be the former. Regardless, it didn’t seem to deter Garnet in the slightest as he found himself looking around the entire establishment with interest and excitement in his silver eyes. The same more or less, couldn’t really be said for the mothers, though they couldn’t deny the inner intrigued they had for the store.

“Well, this place looks… interesting,” Was all Weiss could find herself saying politely.

“Hm, dark setting, overall grim environment,” Yang smirked, “Seems like your kind of place, Belladonna” Laughed the blonde earning an elbow to her arm from the faunus in question.

“Heh-Hey~ Looks like I got new customers.”

The sudden new voice broke through the air, grabbing the four’s attention. Walking out into the open was a woman who looked to be around her early 20s. With pitch-black hair pulled into a ponytail and a large bang over her right eye, streaked with a Snow White highlight. And a pair of heterochromatic icy blue and neon green pair of eyes. Wearing a simple witch dress costume, the woman walked up and folded her arms, offering a soft smile at the group of four.

“Sup, how can I help ya? First-time shoppers?” At various nods, the smile only grew bigger on the supposed owner’s face, “Looking to buy something, or are you just browsing around?”

“Um… browsing around I suppose,” Weiss replied before everyone else. “I take it you’re the owner of this place?”

“You got it,” Smirked the dual eye colored girl, “Name’s Daniella, opened this little shop a while back with a couple of people close to me. To try our luck with the people of Atlas, and so far, I like to think business has been successful despite the small location.”

“I can guess,” Yang smiled as she walked about deeper into the store, “It’s never easy running a shop here in the kingdom from what I hear.”

“Eh, I’m not worried about the big wigs higher-ups,” Danniella waved off dismissively, “Can’t really target or take out a store that you show no interest in, in the first place now can you?”

Weiss and Blake looked at one another, “She does have a point there.” Blake acknowledged.

While the conversations between the store owner and his mothers were going on. Garnet was still busy venturing into the deeper parts of the starts. Looking through the many knick-knacks and trinkets the place had to over. Some of them having this… odd, otherworldly feeling to them that he couldn’t describe. This only made him wonder just how someone like Daniella had managed to get her hands on some of these things. And why would she be willing to sell them to patrons and not have them in somewhere like… a museum or something. Passing another row, there was suddenly a glint of light blush flashing in the corner of his eyes.

“Huh?” Backstepping a bit, Garnet followed the light to where he previously been. Coming face to face with a cool looking gemstone. Emitting a faint glow, it was sapphire-colored, circular in shape, and was decorated in a stylized silver metallic wrist band.

“Whoa…”

“Caught your eye, didn’t it?”

Nearly jumping out of his skin, Garnet was startled when he noticed Daniella standing behind him, grinning over his shoulder, “Whoa Jesus, where did you-”

“Can’t say I blame ya, that beauty’s was a rarity of its own kind.” The shopkeep continued, not at all perturbed by how she had frightened the younger man.

“Rare?” Yang repeated, approaching the two with Weiss and Blake, the former of the two have some interest on her face at what was said. “What do you mean by that?”

“Used to be part of a set called ‘Reality Gems’. Stones said to hold many mystical powers and abilities, that could easily change the fabric of existence to those that wielded all of it under their control,” The store owner explained, “This right here, is called the Gem of Fantasy, or as I like to call it, the Fantasia Gem.”

“I. . . think I had read about that somewhere before, years ago,” Blake spoke up, bringing a hand to her chin in thought, “It was supposedly the third gem in the lineup alongside its sibling gems, the gems of life and form. If I remember right, this stone had the power to turn someone’s fantasies, wishes, and desires into reality.”

Yang raised a brow, then had a cheeky grin, “Sooo what, you saying that this little gem here could give Weiss huge tits if it turned out to be real?”

“Oh fuck you, Xiao Long,” Weiss glared, quite pissed off.

“You know I love you, hun.”

“Supposedly,” Blake answered, “IF it turned out to be real. This is probably a fake or something.”

“Real or not, it looks so cool,” Garnet exclaimed, finding himself utterly entranced with the beautiful looking stone. As if the gem was calling out to him, “Can I get it?! Please?” He looked towards his parents with the best puppy dog look he could muster.

The girls quickly looked away, knowing that they would immediately cave to his pleas if they saw that look. Turning to each other, they had a silent discussion amongst themselves.

“Should we?” Weiss was the first to ask.

“I mean, it IS his birthday tonight,” Blake noted, “Plus he rarely asks for a lot from us as it is.”

Yang nodded, “Blakey’s right, if anything, he deserves to be spoiled every once in a while.”

Hearing the final opinion, the Schnee Heiress sighed and faced the store owner, “You take Lien, Credit, or Both?”

Garnet fist-pumped the air, cheering “Yes!” as he hugged Weiss. The

-x-

“Oooh!”

Garnet had starry eyes as he marveled at his new gift securely wrapped around his right wrist. Loving the way it was glowing in the dimly light store. Yang grinned as she wrapped her arms around her son’s neck looking at the gem embedded accessory.

“Enjoying your new gift?” She uttered, prompting to have Ganret look over his shoulders at her.

Garnet had a megawatt smile, “Mhm! I love it!”

“I’m surprised how affordable it was,” Blake looked at the bracelet before regarding Daniella, “I would’ve figured this would be a little bit more pricey.”

The Costumed employee smiled, “Normally it WOULD be, but since you guys are first time customers, I always give out a little discount as an incentive to come back and check out more items. And to this day, it hasn’t failed me yet.”

Blake looked fondly at the woman, “Well, it is an interesting shop, and I’d be lying if I said some of the things here didn’t pique my interest a bit.”

“Aye~ Hope to do business with you in the future then.” Daniella beamed.

“Thanks so much again, Daniella.” Garnet smiled with a bow.

The shopkeep waved it off, “It was nothing, and please, call me Danni, with an ‘I’.” She waved to the group as they all left her store. Having a small self smirk as the door closed behind them.

“You’ll have a lot more fun with that thing than I ever will~”

-X-  

The rest of the walk home was relatively uneventful, save for the family getting a little snack from their favorite cafe. Once back home, everyone stretched and stifled a sigh/yawn, happy to back home in the Schnee Manor.

“Man, what a night.” Yang breathed, letting her arms flop down to the side.

“Mhm!” Agreed a happy Garnet, “I think this was probably one of the best nights of my- MMPH!”

Anything else that Garnet wanted to say was swiftly cut short by Yang grabbing and cupping his face. Pulling in for a searing hot kiss on the lips. The young teen feeling his mother’s lip pushing it’s way into his mouth, making him weak-kneed in the process. As well as stunning Weiss and Blake no sooner as they walked into the house and saw Yang macking on their sole child.

“. . . Well she’s not wasting any time,” Blake commented with a blink.

“Really?!” Weiss locked the door with a resounding click, “You couldn’t wait until we settled in first?!”

Yang looked back at Weiss, breaking off her kiss with a breathless Garnet, “Oh don’t give me that, Schnee. You and I both know you were the same as I was, Blake too. We were barely able to keep our precious grubby hands off our son the entire night.” The look of amusement on her face merely grew when he faced back at her baby boy.

“And I know the same goes double for Garnet as well. Especially with the costumes that we wore tonight.”

The crimsonette boy could only flush at the accusation. But didn’t bother to find it within him to refute or deny any of what Yang said, it was true. Ever since they had shown off to him what they were wearing to Sun and Neptune’s party, it was hard to keep his eyes off of his mothers, even if he tried.

Along with Weiss, and her wearing the ever slim curves emphasizing black dress of Tatsumaki from One Punch Man. Which had done an amazing job showing off the Heiress’ slender legs, slightly plump thighs, and her cute bubbly ass. All in a way that showed that one didn’t need a massive rack to gain attention. But that didn’t mean his other moms had been slouches in their costumes as well. Blake and Yang both had both donned on appealing and head-turning costumes as well. In Blake’s case, she donned on the tight skin hugging Spider-Gwen outfit; a look that had no problem showing off her fairly impressive bust but more importantly, those strong wide childbearing hips and that famous round ass that has gained popularity amongst both the men and women. Garnet had lost count of how many times he had noticed a bunch of horny party goers staring at his mom’s ass whenever they got a chance, not that he could blame ‘em, he had snuck a few glances at her as well too.

And then there was Yang, who ended up arguably being the life of the party, if only because of her Albedo costume. From the anime series Overlord that Garnet has started watching recently and something that Yang fell in love with ever since she saw both the hilarious character within the succubus Albedo along with the stunning long white dress. It was the perfect outfit that complimented Yang’s voluptuous ass, hips, and curves respectively, but most notably, her bust as well. The massive cleavage window she provided; which was barely covered by the golden thinly spider web-like mesh above, grabbed a lot of attention this evening. The fact that she was able to walk about easily without any sort of restrictions made it a huge plus for Yang.

To put it short and sweet, Garnet had managed to get his own brand of candy this Halloween Night, in the form of eye candy.

“You’re staring~”

Garnet jumped, spooked at Yang’s face being directly in front of his. Silver meeting lilac as Blake and Weiss started surrounding him. All of them bearing the same look that always led to the same if not pleasurable outcome. A deep gulp left Garnet, the shorts to his costume already beginning to feel stiff and tight. A clear signal of how much of an effect his mothers’ costumes had on him.

“Aw, what’s the matter, is our little soldier feeling a little flustered at the moment?” Teased the succubus dressed blonde. Taking a hand and running it along with the fabric of Garnet’s costume of choice for the evening. Which had been the symbiote/Agent Venom costume, modified and tailored to fit him perfectly in his own way. And much how he had been treated to the alluring sight of Yang, Blake, and Weiss’ costumes. The girls in return was treated to the very precious and handsome sight of him in his black and white spider themed costume.

“You stared at us so hard throughout the night. I thought for sure you wanted to do something to us,” Weiss grinned as caressed Garnet’s face sensually.

“Maybe we should… give him a little nudge in the right direction?” Blake teased, having her own playful grin on her face.

The redness on Garnet’s face deepened even furthered, his poor somewhat innocent mind racing around the idea of what would be awaiting him in just a few mere moments with these carnal hungry-looking women. But just before any type of action could be taken amongst the sinful family of four. A bright flash occurred.

“?!”

The young mothers looked in shock as they stepped back. Garnet himself alarmed as he looked down at his newly purchased gift, seeing the sapphire gem shine brightly from its sole slot of his decorated brace. The small blue dome that surrounded his wrist grew bigger until it surrounded him, and began expanding the entire time room.

“W-What’s going on?!” He looked up worried at Yang and the others “Mo-”

The single word could not escape his lips fast enough as the bright flash overtook his and everything else’s sight. And then, at that very moment, everything went black for the young birthday boy.

-X-

When Garnet started to awake, he winced at the slight ringing occurring in his head. As if someone blasted his alarm at max volume but even worse. Or Weiss when she got angry with his mothers or him, albeit rarely, and screamed at the top of her lungs, those times were never fun.

Nonetheless, he opened his eyes slowly, wincing once more as his eyes was forced to take in the lights as best as he could. His body feeling surprisingly a bit heavy and sluggish as he tried to move an arm to rub his eyes.

“Thank the brothers, you’re awake.”

The familiar voice filled with relief managed to jumpstart everything within Garnet’s body as his eyes snapped open. Looking up to find Yang smiling happily down at him, “I was so worried when you blacked out, are you feeling alright, nothing is hurting or broken or anything, is it?”

Garnet wanted to laugh a bit, finding a sense of comfort in his adoptive mother showing overbearing concern for him, as she always did. He made to reassure her that everything was alright when he suddenly froze. His silver eyes truly opening up in shock at his mother’s appearance. The first thing that he took notice of was the fact that Yang’s lilac eyes were… glowing? Bearing a gentle, almost entrancing, radiance as they bore into him. The second thing he took in was the fact that his mother had…

“Are those horns?!” He cried out in shock, taking note of the twin pair of protrusions sticking out and curling around the front of the blonde head in a curved manner.

Yang didn’t seem bothered by the exclamation that her son made regarding her changed appearance. In fact, she had been expecting it, “Heh, was wondering when you would take notice of these little babies on my head,” She ran a hand alongside the curved horn, “But that wasn’t the only thing I gained.”

Garnet looked confused, “Gained?” It was until the sound of gentle flaps followed by a light breeze did he noticed the second pair of add ons.

Wings. Pitch black as a starless night sky, protruding out from the blonde’s lower back. The feathery limbs furling around his body in an almost protective manner. Staring in wonder, he looked up back to his mom, his mouth opening and closing, trying to ask all the questions burning desperately on his tongue. Though he wouldn’t get a chance to do so when he would be interrupted once again.

“Looks like he’s awake,” Garnet looked about, wondering where the voice was coming from, “Up here sweetie.”

Following the voice, both Garnet and Yang glanced up towards the ceiling, the latter smiling while the former was in shock at what he was looking at. High in the air was Weiss and Blake, both of whom had been looking down towards the pair. But what really surprised Garnet was what was occurring with them at that moment. In Weiss’ case, the slim figured heiress was actually floating up in the air, fluctuating around her body was some sort of light blue energy, much different from her normal aura. Whereas Blake, she was upside down, LITERALLY upside down, crouched on the ceiling, staring down (or up in her perspective) at her son and friend.

“Wait, Mom?” Garnet blinked so confused, “Are… are you two-?”

“Floating in the air/Sticking to the roof?” The two spoke in unison before looking at one another with amusement on their faces, “Yes, yes we are.”

Garnet slowly shook his head in disbelief, “I...I don’t understand,” Weiss and Blake made their way down towards the ground floor. Though Weiss still floating above the ground a bit, “How is this all possible?”

Blake tapped her chin in thought, “Well, if I had to wager guess…” she pointed to the jeweled bracelet latched on Garnet’s wrist.

Garnet looked at the item in question, “My bracelet?”

“It IS the only logical explanation behind our sudden transformation,” Blake smiled, “Or are you going to tell me this whole time, you believed that Yang had demonic wings her whole life?”

A light blush was the young teen’s only response, finding his lap very interesting at the moment. Only to turn rigid when he felt something occurring within his body. Looking down at his hands, he noticed his outfit starting to shift about as if it were some kind of watery substance. Or rather… oozy substance; the girls were started when they saw black tentacles and tendril shooting out of his clothing and wriggling around wildly. To say the boy was freaking out would be an understatement, that is; until he finally started to realize that he fell under the same transformation spell or whatever took place just now. Which meant he had a living symbiote at his-

“Uhhh, Garnet?”

“Huh?” The crimsonette looked behind him and paled to see Yang, having her chest molested by one of the tendrils in question. The Older woman simply raising a brow as her tits were wrapped around and squeezed lightly.

“OH GOD! WAIT!” Garnet tried his best to concentrate and luckily through some sheer force of will, called back the symbiote. Which wrapped around his arm in what seemed like an apologetic manner, “I-I’m sorry Mom, I-I don’t know what-”

“So naughty sweetie, feeling up your own mother so causally,” She sniffed dramatically, wiping a fake tear, “I always knew you would have it in you.”

“Huh? WHOA!”

The boy was soon tackled and pinned to the ground by the blonde succubus, who had a crazed look in her eyes and was panting heavily. Her fluttering uncontrollably, “Uh Mom?” He didn’t like that look in her eyes. The last time she gave him that look, he was in the hospital for two weeks with a cracked pelvis.

Weiss and Blake were pissed during that time.

Speaking of…

“Hold it!” Yang blinked before she found herself being levitated off the teenage boy. Surrounded by a light blue aura, showing that Weiss was the culprit behind restraining her busty friend, “Like hell, we’re just gonna let you take the lead with this as usual. Besides, with how you are now; you’ll probably drain Garnet dry before me and Blake get our turns with him!”

“She’s right,” Blake chimed in, getting a ‘Hey!’ from the blonde, “Today’s a special day after all, if we’re gonna have our fun with him. I think it’s only fitting we savor and have our fun with him the only way we should. The girls looked at one another, solidifying their silent little agreement with each other. Smirking at Garnet, the boy in question could only sweat with a shaky smile.

“E-Eh…?”

-X-

The Master Bedroom, aka Garnet’s room has devolved into a series of various moans and sexual noises, as Garnet was in the middle of a three-way assault by his mothers. No sooner had they decided on what to do, they practically flew with him (Which could’ve been literal at this point) to the bedroom. Wasting no time taking off part of their attires and pouncing on the newly minted 17-year old. Weiss’ newfound esper abilities being put to work in pinning down her baby boy. Leaving him completely helpless, while the rest of the ladies indulged in his body.

Blake and quickly gravitated to Garnet’s member, already half-hard from arousal and stimulation prior. Blake took his thick shaft into her mouth, bobbing up and down hungrily, letting sweet purrs and moans of bliss while her friend Yang took their son’s ballsack into her own mouth. Her nose inhaling the powerful musky scent as she swirled her tongue around one of them while cupping the other in her hand. Her glowing eyes quickly growing hazy with its own brand of ecstasy.

The two women double team elicited groans of pleasure from the teenage boy, though were muffled by Weiss. Who took the opportunity to straddle her adopted child’s face and ride him. Rocking her hips, she couldn’t help but shudder from the skillful tongue she had come to love and grow addicted to, invade her folds. Sending a course of sudden electricity up her spine, hissing out a sharp moan. A hand grabbing at her petite breast through her thin fabric dress while her other hand gripped Garnet’s dark locks, forcing his face deeper into her crotch as she ground against him. Nearing her first orgasm for the evening.

It was all becoming too overwhelming for the birthday boy, from the taste of Weiss’ sweet nectar hitting his tongue to Blake and Yang sucking him off. He couldn’t stop himself from cumming right then, surprising Blake as his load shot right into her mouth. Making her gulp down the first pump on reflex before pulling away, allowing the rest to erupt into the air and hit her face. Her’s and Yang’s, who rose up into time to get a lovely facial of her son’s semen. The new demonic blood in her once again going haywire as her long tongue lapped up whatever she could into her mouth.

Garnet wasn’t the only one to experience an intense climax. Throwing her head back, a loud “Fuck!” left Weiss’ lips as came all over her’s face. Her pussy quivering, spraying her juices into his mouth. Her lower half twitched for a few moments as the wave started to die down. The woman blinked she felt her head being turned to the side, only for Blake to lock lips with her, in doing so sharing some of her son’s cum with the fellow mother. Much to the amusement of one certain blonde as she watched her friend deepen the kiss with the sole faunus in the room. Cupping one of her breasts in the process.

“Man Weiss, you must’ve been really pent up this evening,” She teased, “I’ve never seen you been so aggressive on top of Garnet like this before in your life.”

Weiss flushed as she broke away, trying her best not look at the cheeky expression forming on her friend’s face. While the girls were talking, Garnet’s pleasure addled mind began to grow dull; hazed by the orgasm he had endured, as well as him still taking in Weiss’ sweet scent. His mind still processing being triple-teamed the way he was by his mothers. While he definitely wasn’t a stranger to handling more than one at a time when it came to them. This was the first he truly felt powerful under their horny grip. And while hot, he was worried that the rate they were going, he might not be able to outlast them all before they drained him dry.

He had been so out of it, he didn’t even realize that his Fantasia Gem flashed once more. Shining brightly, grabbing the attention of the rest of the ladies. Surprised by the sudden light show taking place. When it died down, the trio was left confused as to what happened. That was when it happened.

Garnet’s symbiotic suit, which had been left complacent by its master’s will, came to life once more. Shooting out from various parts of the costume were a group of pitch-black thick oozy tentacles, much like the one from before, they all surrounded the women. Making them all go from confused to alarmed, having little time to react as the thick tendrils lashed out towards the three. Binding their arms behind their back or above their heads while their knees and ankles were constricted as well, forcing their legs to spread apart. Parts of their dresses or bodysuit were torn away, giving the appendages a full view of their privates as they were lifted into the air; much to their embarrassment.

“G-Garnet!” Weiss screeched; her face a perfect imitation of a tomato as she called out to her son, “What is all this?!”

“Garnet,” Blake cried, finding her position flipped upside down, “Sweetie, can you hear us?!”

The boy sat up, but one look in his eyes would tell the mothers that he was not all entirely there. Unaware of what was going on, or what he was even doing to his mothers at the moment.

“He’s… moving completely on instinct- MMPH!!!”

Yang’s lilac pupils shrank at a tendril invading her mouth, plunging itself as deep as it could until one could see a large, near grotesque bulge forming against her throat. Muffled gags escaping her followed by a sudden squeak of surprise when her ass and pussy was penetrated as well. Weiss and Blake sharing the same fate, feeling their holes being filled up by the slimy tentacles. A warm, almost hot sensation overall, yet clammy to the touch, but it didn’t feel unpleasant to them in the least. Wriggling, the tentacles started moving inside of the costumed trio. Thrusting deep into their depths, hard and fast, creating a nice significant bulge in their stomachs. Slender legs, and plump breasts bouncing helplessly in the air, as the girls were violated by their transformed son.

But Garnet was far from content to just letting his tentacles get some action. His body moving towards Blake, he guided the tendrils to bring her closer as the two were pinned up against the wall. The natural sticky adhesion from the venom symbiote allowing the crimsonette to cling to the wall alongside his mother. Blake could feel her breasts and the side of her face pressing up against the flat surface of the wall as she glanced over her shoulder to look at Garnet. The poor boy seemingly in a trance as he held her wide powerful hips. The completely dominant manner he exuded making her feel vulnerable. Like a small spider having fallen prey to something even bigger. How fitting given what she was at the moment. The presence of his cock pressing right up against her pussy already had the faunus soaking wet. More than what the tentacles in her ass and mouth were doing to her.

Maybe it was her newly heightened senses or the strange position they were now in. The moment he slid into her, Blake nearly came all over the wall. Her pussy clamping down in euphoria from the feeling of having him inside her. His movements and pacing was in sync with the rest of the tendrils alternating in and out of her holes. Feeding to her a new level of pleasure she’s never experienced before. Yet he didn’t stop there either, his smaller body pressed up against her back, mounting her in the familiar doggy style position as he reached up fondled her breasts through her bodysuit. The teen going for her mother’s weak spot, that being her nipples. Making her moan loudly around the oozy appendage.

While that was going on, Yang and Weiss had been reduced to having their own fun. Garnet’s symbiote tentacles forcing the two into a deep hot passionate kiss. The nipples to their different size bust rubbing up against each other, pleasure coursing through their body as the thick tendrils continued to pump themselves deep into their depths. But what truly snapped them out of their daze in shock, manifesting behind their friend’s respective backs were two exact copies of their son, down to the last key defining trait. The only difference was the burning rose surrounded by a black web tattooed in the middle of their upper backs.

‘What the-’

Neither girl could voice their thoughts fully, as the symbiotic Garnet clones pulled the mothers away from each other. One of them tossing Yang back onto the master bed with him on top, tearing off the top of her dress, and freeing her massive rack. Offering a slight bounce, her twin pink-colored pert nipples stiff as the clone latched on and traced his tongue around the erected nub. Skillfully gliding the hot wet muscle around as a hand went to her other boob, squeezing down, practically mauling at the perky mound in pure lust while he used his free hand to lift a leg up and giving the clone access to her dripping core once again.

Yang whimpered and soon started crying out in wanton lust and needy pleasure from the ministrations she was being subjected to. This inky blob or whatever it was may have been a copy of her baby boy, but damn if he didn’t know how to please her the same way he did. The needy whines grew louder when she felt the clone purposely teasing her entrance with his cock. The tip barely pushing its way in, driving her mad. The more she tried to buck her hips and have him stick it in, the more he pulled away at the last second. Making her succubus nature scream in desperation.

“Sweetie please, don’t make Mama beg,” She cried, her wings flapping against the bed madly, “Give Mommy was she wants before she goes crazYYYYYYY~”

Yang threw her head back with a scream from the Garnet close plunging his cock deep into her cunt. Her eyes crossing in delight as she quickly wrapped her legs around him to keep him from escaping, “Yes! Fuck me, baby; don’t hold anything back!”

The clone happily obliged, pumping his hips, slamming his waist as hard as his could against the delirious blonde, who was gripping the sheets as the massive bed began to creak and shake underneath them.

Weiss, meanwhile, was left floating in the air with her personal clone. Who replaced Yang in delivering a deep savory kiss to her, an act that had esper heiress moaning deeply when discovered the clone to have a long slimy tongue being shoved down her esophagus. Robbing her of oxygen, but a part of her couldn’t deny how amazing it felt suckling on the long muscle. The saliva seemingly having an aphrodisiac-like effect on her, turning her on in various ways. Feeling her nipples poking through the fabric, the clone turned its hands into claws before taking a swipe at her chest, leaving her petite chest bare for the symbiote. Weiss could only blush in embarrassment as her arousal flowed out of her. Clone Garnet’s cock rubbing itself against her lower lips, with a soft wet pop, he pushed his way inside. Spreading her walls wide apart, the esper biting her lip as her folds quivered tightly around the meaty girth.

Her powers started to fluctuate, it being a miracle the two were even still in the air, yet it was only through sheer will and unconscious determination that was keeping them both airborne. The only thing on her mind was focused on was pure pleasure, offering no resistance to the clone. Even as her legs were hiked up by the clone’s tentacle, putting her in a full nelson. The new position allowing the clone’s massive cock to rail her even deeper than before.

And like that, for the rest of the night, this was the fate that befell the mothers of one. Completely at mercy of their son and the various tentacles and clones used in the one many gangbang. Passed around between their genuine son, the black tendrils, or being spitroasted the two clones. None of their holes spared as they succumbed to the ferocious carnal bliss racking their entire body. Savoring every single second of it as the times passed.

Blake, once more, was ganged up by the symbiote tentacles. Finding herself to be more receiving of them as the fucked her without restraint, sucking and clamping down as hard as she could around the hot clammy tendrils. Her own webbing used to tie up her body in makeshift bondage, popping out her tits even more and griding in between her asscheeks. Two smaller appendages wrapping around her nipples and clit, pinching and pulling against them., piling on more mind-numbing sensation. Relegating her to a state where she couldn’t escape even if she wanted to. And she didn’t want to.

Weiss was content with the two Garnet clones double-teaming her. Their cocks in both her pussy and ass, she used her psychic powers to make her holes as tight as physically possible. Upping her own sensitivity as they slammed full force into her, holding her by her arms and waist. All the while leaving the woman to suck on a sole tendril thrusting in and out of her mouth. While two smaller ones teased and molested her tiny chest, wringing out constant shuddering of absolute bliss.

And for Yang, she had the luxury of having her son all to herself. Arms wrapped around his head, fiercely making out as he pounded her cunt. Her tits jiggling, brushing against his chest while her ass rippled absorbing the heavy balls smacking against her. Her own legs swinging back and forth in the air as she felt her son’s superior cock driving into her in a mating press. Heart racing, wings fluttering, her lilac eyes rolling into her head as she neared yet another intense climax. How many she and her friends had been through this entire evening thanks to this sudden strange occurrence, even she didn’t know. Nor did she really care about it anymore.

‘Totally thanking that Daniella girl when I see her again.’ Was the only thought running through the mind broken mothers’ heads.

-X-

“. . . Ngh...Huh?”

Wincing and holding his head with a groan, Garnet flinched at the sudden bright light peeking through the blindfold of his bedroom window. Slowly sitting up in his and letting his eyes readjust to the room around his. He immediately went from tired to shock at the sight before him.

The teen found himself in the middle of his room. . . or what was the remains of his room with the amount of destruction and chaos that had been done to it. Everywhere he looked was like a massive war zone, emphasized by the various holes, cracks, and… we’re those claw marks on the walls and ceiling?! Not to mention the destroyed or tossed furniture all over, he wasn’t even in his bed now that his mind registered it. Though one quick look at it, seeing the king size mattress was in utter shambles. The framework snapped in two, along with the bed itself.

“Wha- What happened-“ He winced again, clutching his throat realizing how hoarse he sounded. What on Remnant happened last night after he and his moms got home?!

His thoughts were cut short by a slew of soft moans, and Garnet then felt something shifting around. Looking down, his eyes widened to see his Moms; Yang, Weiss, and Blake, all sleeping on top and next to him. Semi-naked with residual sexual fluids all over their bodies, on top of the various bite marks and hickeys left on their persons. But what really threw him for a loop was the sight of them still in their costumes… or what was left of them. The dresses on both Yang and Weiss were practically shreds, Blake’s skintight one piece in the same state, and Yang’s wings were...

“Wait wings?” He muttered, his eyes narrowing in confusion, his mind finally registering the black feathery additions coming from Yang’s lower back. “When did mom get- …?!”

Reaching out to touch them, Garnet noticed the jeweled brace that had been glowing faintly and that’s when it all came rushing back to him. The bright light, the transformations, the new abilities he and his mothers gained. Which all led to what could possibly have been the most sexually aggressive and fiercest fuck session he had given his mothers in his entire adopted life. He couldn’t believe he had done all of that to them, and the worst part of it, it had been while he was semi-conscious!

“Mm, morning already?”

Garnet snapped his head down to see Yang stirring from her slumber. Rubbing her eyes as she picked herself up, Blake and Weiss following suit. Seeing her son was up, life began to fill Yang’s eyes as she had a big smile on her face.

“Morning sweetie,” She kissed the stunned boy on the cheek, “Last night was amazing, I didn’t think you had it in you with what you did last night.”

What?! “M-Mom, I- that’s…”

“Don’t bother saying anything,” Yang hushed, placing a finger on his lips, “Last night, your real fantasies and desires came out full force. And we managed to get, not just a taste, but an actual full-blown meal as to what you always wanted to do to us. Wouldn’t you agree, girls?”

Weiss and Blake, who managed to catch what Yang said, blushed fiercely. Memories of what had happened rushing in like a raging flood. Even single touch, caress, nibble, bite, and cocks/tentacles that filled them could be felt around their entire body. Even now, they could feel their pussies quivering in need and a rush of excitement, wanting to have another round. Yang smirked while Garnet kept his head down, too flustered and embarrassed to say anything.

“Hey now, no need to feel down,” Yang cupped her son’s face, “If anything, you should be proud. With you doing this, I think it’s safe to say that we’ve definitely grown closer in our own naughty sort of way.” She smiled and slowly stood up, her wings flapping gently, “Now then, what do you say to breakfast? After last night, I’m looking to put some food in my belly.”

“Yipe!” Garnet snapped his head to see Blake collapsing to the ground. Having lost feelings in her legs.

“. . . Provided your regains feelings in her legs,” Yang added with a blink.

The cat faunus blushed as she was helped up thanks to Weiss using her abilities, which were starting to become second nature to her. Yang smiled; following them out of the room, her wings furled up against her back. The mothers leaving their son behind in the destroyed bedroom, who was still stunned by everything that had transpired last night. Looking down at his bracelet, specifically, the gem that had made all of this possible for him and his family last night. A soft smile had made its way onto his face as he stood and stretched. Only one thought to summarize last night.

“Best birthday ever…”

[ask-rwby-multishipper]

((Response to accidentally deleted dare sent by @kr-xero: “Mass dare—everyone randomly swaps clothes with someone else, even the guys”

For this dare, Jaune, Ren, Sun, Neptune, Flynt, Fox, and Yatsu have been added!

And for the purposes of this skit, everyone has to wear their new outfits for an entire day!))

Name Randomizer (these pairs swap with each other):

Emerald & Penny Flynt & Neo Sun & Pyrrha Ruby & Yang Blake & Nora Yatsu & Elm Cinder & Ren Jaune & Neon Neptune & Coco Ilia & Velvet Ciel & Fox Harriet & Weiss

Team JNPR’s dorm...

Nora: Jaaaaaaune, come on! The mall is gonna be closed soon.

Jaune, from inside the bathroom: I’m not going.

Nora: Jaune, whoever you swapped clothes it, it can’t be that bad. Like, Ren swapped with Cinder, and he actually looks pretty good.

Ren, nodding: Who knew thigh-high socks were so comfortable?

Nora: And I got Blake’s, and can I just say, this bow is cuuuuute.

Jaune: Good for you two. I’m still not going.

Nora: Who did you swap with anyway?

Jaune: Neon.

Nora: ...

Ren: Now we get it.

Nora: So what though? You’ve worn a dress before.

Jaune: Yes, and it was elegant and beautiful. This? This is not elegant at all!

Nora: But Jaune, it’s mall day!

Pyrrha, walking in from the kitchen: Uhm...

Nora, looking over and gasping: Ohhh my gods.

Ren, blushing: Let me guess. Sun?

Pyrrha, chuckling: Indeed. I tried to be as authentic to the original as I could, but I couldn’t quite pull off the, uhm....Sun’s unbuttoned look, without a sports bra underneath.

Nora, slamming her fist against the bathroom door: Jaune get out here, Pyrrha abs! I repeat, Pyrrha abs!

Jaune: So what?! We’ve all seen the Pyrrha abs!

Nora: *gasp* Blasphemy!

Jaune: FINE! *the door swings open, revealing Jaune in a blue crop top and pink skirt* There! Happy?!

Ren: *stifles laughter*

Jaune: Oh fuck, even Ren is laughing?

Nora: Jaune, you look good.

Jaune: Do I? Do I really, Nora? I look good in this?

Nora: Yeah!

Jaune: Then why do I feel so ridiculous?!

Pyrrha: It does show off your more...shapely features...

Jaune: ...Oh.

Nora: The gang’s all here, let’s go to the mall!

Pyrrha: Mall trip!

Nora: Woo!

Jaune: Wait! *getting dragged along by his team* Pyrrha, what was it you said about my shape—?

Blake, Sun, and Neptune hanging out at a downtown Vale cafe...

Blake: Wow, Sun. For once, your titties are concealed.

Sun, proud of his shiny chest plate he got from Pyrrha: I’m cool with it.

Neptune, looking over Coco’s sunglasses and nodding: That skirt really works for you, too.

Sun: Bro, that’s kinda gay.

Neptune: So what if I am?

Blake: Boys, focus.

Neptune, chuckling: On what?

Blake: I dunno. Something besides flirting with each other right in front of my salad.

Sun: You’re just mad because for the first time in your life, your weird knees are showing because you’re wearing Nora’s skirt.

Blake: My knees are not weird, they’re normal!

Sun, glancing under the table: I dunno...

Blake, crossing their legs: Watch it, monkey.

Sun: What?

Neptune: Did you just try to look up their skirt, bro? Not cool.

Sun: If I catch you trying to look up my skirt later, I will snap those glasses in half and tell Coco it was your fault.

Neptune, suddenly terrified: You wouldn’t.

Sun: Try me, bro.

Neptune: But I like having all ten fingers.

Sun: Then you better keep things above sea-level, got it?

Blake: Ha. I get it.

Neptune: Was that a hydrophobia joke?

Sun: Maybe... *reaches towards Neptune’s face* Those shades look a little smudged, lemme get that for you—

Neptune: NO! *smacks his hand away*

Ruby, Weiss, Penny, and Ciel at the arcade...

Ruby: YEAH! HIGH SCORE!

Ciel, tugging on the collar of Fox’s top: You know you can use the mallet to whack the moles, right?

Ruby: Why bother when I can punch them?!

Weiss: Just because you’re dressed like Yang doesn’t mean you have to—

Ruby: H’YAH!

Weiss: Punch...so much. Where’s Penny, by the way?

Penny: I’m behind you.

Weiss: AHH!

Penny, a blanket over her head: My apologies for startling you.

Ciel: Why do you have that blanket over your head? And where did you get it?

Penny: Uhm, the prize counter? And I’m using it to conceal myself. Emerald’s top is very revealing... *whispers* My joints are showing. Even the abdominal ones...

Ruby, taking a break from whacking moles: Here, Penny. *takes off Yang’s jacket* Put this on instead.

Penny, peeking out from under her blanket: Oh, thank you, Ruby. *puts on the jacket instead*

Ciel: How did you get enough tickets to win a blanket like that? That must have cost thousands of tickets.

Penny: The movements of the enemy characters on a lot of these games are really simple. I simply have all of their patterns memorized.

Ciel: Woah, that’s really cool...

Weiss: Not to mention, that combo of Yang’s jacket and Emerald’s jeans is...actually a really stylish look.

Penny: Oh. *poses* You think so?

Ciel: OMG...yeah...

Weiss: *blushes* Oh...

Ruby: *nosebleeds* So cute...

Yang, Flynt, Neon, Elm, and Harriet on their way to one of Neon’s parties...

Neon: Geez, does Jaune Boi not have any fashion sense? The bunny rabbit hoodie is cute, though.

Flynt, tugging on Neo’s top: Man, speak for yourself, I feel like I’m being slowly hugged to death. Seriously, who’s decision was it for me to have to trade with the smallest adult person in the world?

Yang, gesturing widely, doing her best Ruby impression: It’s but the will of the universe.

Flynt: The fuck does that mean? *coughs* For real, one flex and this thing’s gonna be ribbons.

Neon: And then Neo will turn you into ribbons for ruining her outfit.

Flynt: This thing’s stretched to all four corners of fuck by this point. It’s already ruined.

Neon: Oh well, Neo will understand, I’m. *glances back at Elm and Harriet* How are the two newbies feeling?

Elm, in Yatsu’s outfit: Pretty good. Kinda glad I traded with someone...not tiny. Sorry, Flynt.

Flynt: Riiiight.

Harriet, practically glittering in Weiss’ dress: I swear....I hate this.

Yang: Why? It actually works for you.

Harriet: That’s just the thing. I feel so...girly. If one of you makes a joke and I giggle, like, full-on giggle? I’m ripping this dress off and jumping out the nearest window.

Neon: Depending on where this party goes tonight, we might all end up doing that.

Yang: Atlesians are weird...why can’t Weiss be more like you guys?

Team CFVY studying in the library...

Coco: I’ll hand it to Neptune, he doesn’t have the worst sense of style, but... *takes the goggles off her head and glares at them* It’s not great.

Fox, in Ciel’s outfit: I’m certain I look great. Right, guys? I know I feel great.

Coco: Come on, Fox. You know you love it. Though the blue beret on red hair doesn’t quite click.

Fox: How embarrassing...

Coco: Velvet’s feeling herself, it seems.

Velvet, taking selfies: Hey, Ilia’s got good taste. I’m taking advantage.

Yatsu: Didn’t we come here to study? Rather than debate fashion?

Coco: It’s like you don’t even know me.

Cinder, Emerald and Ilia waiting in the hallway...

Cinder: Ugh, Neoooo! *knocks on dorm room door* How long does it take to put on a tux?

Emerald: I’d guess a little while. Lotta buttons.

Ilia: Sh—he did swap with Flynt. He’s probably trying to do his own quick tailor job so he doesn’t look like he’s wearing something insanely huge.

Cinder: Ren’s outfit is big on me and I’m dealing just fine.

Ilia: Yeah, but Neo is, like, a third of Flynt’s size.

Emerald: Why are you staring at me?

Ilia: I’m what?

Emerald: You keep looking at me.

Ilia: Oh. I guess I’m just not used to you wearing a dress.

Emerald, messing with the skirt of Penny’s dress: It does feel kinda weird. But also I feel really cute?

Ilia: You look really cute.

Emerald: Aw, thanks.

Ilia: Huh?

Emerald: You said I look cute.

Ilia: Out loud?

Emerald: Yeah?

Ilia: Oh...

Emerald, chuckling: You look really cute in Vel’s outfit, too.

Ilia: Oh.......

Cinder, interrupting them by banging on the door again: NEO! Come on!

Neo, suddenly whipping the door open, dressed in Flynt’s outfit: *flips the hat onto his new short hair* Ladies.

Cinder: Oh gods...

Ilia: Woah, Neo, you look so cool!

Neo, bowing: Thank you. I try.

Emerald: Did you cut your hair while you were in there?

Neo, shaking his head: Illusions.

Emerald: Oh, riiiight. That must be really useful, being genderfluid.

Neo: It is. Glad to know I.... *glances at Cinder* I can still pull off the masculine look. *winks*

Cinder: Uh-uhm.... *turns and starts walking away* T-Took you long enough, let’s just get going before we lose anymore time...

Emerald: But the movie doesn’t start for a while, we’re good—

Cinder: I said let’s go!

Emerald, looking at Neo: How do you do it?

Neo, shrugging: I honestly don’t know. Cinder’s always been easily flustered.

Ilia: Most obvious thing I’ve heard today.

[whentheynameyoujoy]

Women in SPN—Is it Really That Bad?

TL;DR: Somewhat, yeah, it kinda is.

This is going to be a series of long ones, people.

Before I jump head first into this giant vat of weird toxic shit, let me say something:

The thing about most of the female characters is that on their own? They’re perfectly fine, ranging from serviceable to the occasional flash of thematic brilliance. Barely any of them qualify as “this is hateful on its face and incompetent regardless of context and the writers should feel bad for ever conceiving of it”, i.e. the normie benchmark for justified criticism. It’s only when you put these characters next to each other that a worrying pattern emerges;

Although discussions about sexism in the media were very much a thing in the mid-2000s, as well as shows with characters whose primary role wasn’t to serve a man’s needs, I can’t honestly claim that the flaws of SPN are out of the norm for its time; and

The first few seasons could really do with a PSA at the start of each episode, something along the lines of “A part of the reason why female characters are killed off or written out with such regularity is rabid superfans who couldn’t abide anything with tits brushing against J2, srsly, the writing team and the 2000s’ fan base were a match made in hell, except it wasn’t the writers who couldn’t do with bitching on their LiveJournals about the gall of women to exist in the show, choosing instead to harass the creators and actresses and wives and call them every sexist insult under the sun AND I MEAN WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE HAS THERE EVER BEEN A CESSPIT AS DISGUSTING AND NUKEWORTHY AS THE SPN FANDO—“

Anyway.

SPN has a legacy (as a posterchild for not knowing when to bow out gracefully, but legacy nonetheless) and isn’t watched in 2005 but in the year of our Lord Today. Meaning that as time goes by, the issues surrounding the show’s production retreat into the background and only what’s on the screen remains, to be judged on its own merits.

So let’s run down a list of the more noteworthy and relevant female characters of the first arc, focusing on their characterization, role in the narrative, and end. In the conclusion to this series of posts, the sum of characters will be analyzed as a whole to see if there are any unique tendencies in the show’s handling of women as opposed to that of men. I’ll do this for the original five seasons as the recent finale went out of its way to say that nothing after season 5 was strictly speaking necessary so why bother.

(Also because I died of frustration in season 8 and vowed not to subject myself to any more of the post-apocalypse fanfic era)

Angels, while strictly speaking genderless clouds of energy, will be classified as men or women depending on the apparent gender of the vessel they spend most of the time riding. The same goes for demons where I also take into account their stated gender while they were alive. That’s because although beings like Meg, Ruby, Anna, or Lilith can’t technically be considered women in the show’s present day, their consistent preference for conventionally attractive and/or female vessels throughout the original arc makes claims of genderlessness essentially meaningless. For all intents and purposes, we’re watching girls and women on screen.

Baby—the only true NB of the first run

All right, time to jump.

Say hi to our ladies!

Mary Winchester

Killed in the very first scene to give the story a reason to exist, she remains an active presence throughout the first arc where she has a wide-reaching influence on the plot and characters, driving the conflict on several levels. Fleshed-out more and more with each appearance to be more than just “the dead mom”, she’s portrayed as protective, pro-active, capable, and assertive, mirroring the duo’s desire for normal life and their inability to have it. Her story comes full-circle in season 5 when the personal tragedy of her fate is embedded in the wider tragedy of the Winchester family curse and the overall theme of destiny.

Status: Dead as of s5

Importance: Major

On her own: Textbook example of fridging… and that tropes aren’t bad in and of themselves.

Jessica Moore

Comparatively, if anyone doubts fridging can evolve into something meaningful, Jess drives the point home by having no personality and no point but to prop up her boyfriend before she ends up pinned to the ceiling, the reveal of which is the most interesting thing about her entire existence. At best she’s a symbol of Sam’s civilian life, at worst an obstacle to be removed for the story to happen.

Status: Dead as of s5

Importance: Major in terms of manpain, non-existent otherwise

On her own: A cardboard cut-out, barely qualifies as a character

Missouri Moseley

A psychic and the primary reason why John Winchester even knows to wipe his ass. Appears once over the course of the first arc yet everyone wants her to come back years later—that’s how awesome she is. Has this fantastic trait of being compassionate and empathetic while not taking a single speck of shit from anyone, especially when it comes from the two main dumbos who might just as well have been raised in a barn. Is very particular about the pristine state of her coffee table.

Status: Alive as of s5, killed in s13 (wait, what?)

Importance: Major…ly wasted potential

On her own: As strong a character as Bobby Singer, and as worthy of being elevated to the main cast.

Lori Sorensen

The writers can’t figure out why anyone in the universe would care about Jess either so they insert an intentionally awkward romance subplot to convince people the time’s not yet ripe for Sam to stop grieving and start slaying. The result’s… erm… well, awkward. Lori’s naïve, sheltered, devout though accepting of her non-repressed friend, and sort of on a religious crossroads because of her hypocritical preacher father. I guess the virginal power of her virginal virginity does… something in the plot? Primarily a vehicle for Sam to mark the stages of his moving on.

Status: Alive as of s5

Importance: Minor

On her own: A bit done. Like a bit lot. Like a “could be a trope namer” bit lot.

Meg

Boom, baby!

Arguably the chief antagonist of season 1 and one of the best things about it. The first one to point out the pervasive toxicity of the Winchester family business, so props for perceptiveness. Possesses the standard qualities of a lower-level henchman—manipulative, no-nonsense, and quietly sinister which, while not exactly groundbreaking, sets her apart from the other bad guys in the season as they tend to have no distinguishing characteristics at all. Plus Nicki Aycox makes the role seem more unique and “lived-in” by projecting a sense of understated amusement at the two main chucklefucks. Is one of S1’s turning points in blurring the lines between monsters and humanity. Has a face transplant twice—once to have revenge (good on her) and the other time to pursue someone else’s goals again before getting stomped into the ground like a mook.

Status: Alive as of s5 (?), killed in s8

Importance: Major

On her own: The actresses do most of the heavy lifting. Which doesn’t mean I don’t love watching the character burst onto the scene and announcing the end of the Winchester brand of bullshit.

Layla Rourke

A terminal cancer patient in a religious cult, she’s a more mature take on a Lori-type character and the themes of faith and doubt. Serves as a conduit for Dean’s budding survivor guilt, self-loathing, and sense of worthlessness. Is kind and cheerful, with strong hints that she’s relying on forced optimism to get through the days; also understanding of the circumstances of others while realistically freaked about the possibility of death. Weirdly, she enters the episode already in a state of acceptance and leaves it just as accepting when it’s confirmed that yeah, she’ll die soon. All expressions of anger at the injustice and senselessness are left to her mother which somewhat undermines the “struggling” portion of Layla’s character and renders the final scene where she makes peace with her fate a bit hollow.

Status: Implied dead

Importance: Minor in the overall narrative, major in the episode and Dean’s development

On her own: I want to like her, I really do, just… if only she were allowed to get pissed, once.

Cassie Robinson

Dean’s ex and that’s pretty much all there is to her. I struggle to pinpoint a single personality trait of hers—the 2000s idea of a “strong woman” and “not like other girls”, perhaps? Undermined as a love interest because TPTB don’t show the happy or any parts of her relationship with Dean so really, why should anyone care if two sniping assholes with little to no chemistry get back together? Memorable for being in a horribly scored softcore scene which YouTube tries to convince me lasts for shy over a minute, not the week I remember it to. Involved in the show’s first and last attempt at incorporating the issue of anti-black racism.

Status: Alive as of s5

Importance: Minor

On her own: She’s in the racist truck episode. ‘Nuff said.

Sarah Blake

A sophisticated people-person conversationalist with a love of high art and a deep sense of introspection. Ascends to the state of godhood by being able to pull off pigtails while adult. Bonds with Sam over responding to loss by crawling into a shell but deciding to move on. Doesn’t care for your fancy schmancy fine dining, Romeo. Isn’t ashamed to openly talk feelings which includes her explicitly asking Sam if they have a thing going on (honestly, this is such a breath of fresh air for a normcore romance). Despite being scared out of her wits, she refuses to be shoved into the helpless civilian box after learning about the existence of the supernatural; Dean creates a Pinterest wedding board in response.

Status: Alive as of s5, pointlessly dragged back to be murdered in s8

Importance: Minor in the overall narrative, major in the episode and Sam’s development

On her own: A great love interest that has enough writing behind her to fool you into thinking she’s something more.

Up next, whenever I feel like it, seasons 2 and 3!

[haberdashing]

open your eyes (i see your eyes are open) (4/?)

Jon, faced with being the last one left in a dying world, sends his memories back in time to someone who might be able to fix things before the worst can happen.

Sasha James, for her part, is very confused.

Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4

on AO3

The visit to Artefact Storage was nice, but just like when she’d been reassigned, Sasha was only too happy to get out of there and head to the Archives, though she knew well enough now that the latter was plenty dangerous in its own right. At least she knew what to expect from the Archives. At least the Archives weren’t literally paying her to test out horrible, unpredictable things...

...no, that was Jon’s job now, wasn’t it? Elias had chosen him, the Web had chosen him, and now he was the Archivist, and he was going to be put through things much worse than anything Artefact Storage had to offer...

Sasha had started this train of thought in the hopes of reassuring herself, but instead, as she entered the Archives, she just felt a little queasy as she thought of what lay in store in Jon’s future.

Or what would lay in store in Jon’s future, anyway. Things wouldn’t be so bad this time around, not if Sasha had a say in it.

Jon was already in the Archives, perched over Tim’s desk as the two spoke about something, and Sasha was struck by the sight of him. He looked so different than he had in his final days before, and not just because his skin was free of scars--his hair was short and much less gray than before, he was still wearing a suit of all things rather than the hodgepodge of outfits he’d rummaged through as his professional mask slipped and his options grew slimmer...

...and, as Jon turned her way, Sasha could see his eyes focus on her, and though his gaze was still dark and meaningful, there wasn’t the same weight to it, the same sense of the universe itself staring back out of those deep eyes.

(She still felt like she was being watched, but that was only to be expected now, wasn’t it?)

“Good to see you, Sasha.” Jon shot her a quick nod. “I was just briefing Tim on his next project--you’re still working on the Hodgson file, correct?”

God, that felt like ages ago, though Jon had only given Sasha that assignment last Thursday. The Hodgson file wasn’t even one of the real ones, just somebody who’d gotten drunk and mistook what was probably a plane for an alien vessel, though Sasha was struggling to recall all the details at the moment. “Right, yeah, I was, er, having trouble looking up the relevant flight patterns, I believe it was? But I’ll keep trying, of course, so-”

Jon looked over Sasha again, and his gaze softened slightly. “Are you feeling alright? You look a little pale.”

“I’m fine, I... it’s just, um...” ...hell, she was struggling to come up with an excuse, so why even bother? She wanted to tell Jon about what she’d learned eventually, and perhaps now was as good a time as any. “Actually, could we talk in your office? When you’re done with Tim, I mean, I don’t mean to rush you.”

“I think we’re done here already.” There was a flat tone to Tim’s voice that set Sasha on edge--had he and Jon been arguing, perhaps?

“Oh, yes, we’ve covered pretty much everything I wanted to discuss at this point, so.” Jon rapped twice on Tim’s desk with a slender fist, a gesture Sasha had never seen him use before his promotion but had already encountered several times since. “I’ll leave you to it, then.”

“Sounds like a plan, boss.” Tim’s voice had a bit more energy to it now, and as she walked with Jon to his office, Sasha saw him shoot her a wry grin.

Sasha closed the door behind her and took a seat as Jon got settled.

“What was it that you wanted to talk to me about?”

“Well...”

That feeling of being watched that permeated the Institute was making the hairs on the back of Sasha’s neck stand up, and she knew it wasn’t just because Jon was looking at her with an expression somewhere between curious and impatient.

What were the odds that Elias- that Jonah Magnus was watching them right now? Probably not great, really, he did have an actual job besides just spying on his employees, but he certainly could be watching. Was thinking about it that much more likely to make it happen, drawing his attention to her thoughts? God, it was hard to know, wasn’t it? And that was the problem, being caught up with knowing and not knowing...

“Now that you’re the head archivist here, it’s your job to hear when the general public’s encountered something supernatural, right?”

“If it’s in a statement given to us, yes, but those are usually made by liars and the mentally unwell.”

Sasha did her best to drum up a smile. “Good thing this isn’t a statement, then, right?”

It could be a formal statement, probably, but Sasha didn’t want that, not when anybody with access to their archives could read it afterwards, not when there was information she now knew that could prevent the literal end of the world if the right people acted upon it.

A soft sigh, more perfunctory than anything. Jon was trying to play the grump again, but Sasha was pretty sure she could see through it even without everything she now knew about Jon masking his true feelings. “Where are you going with this, Sasha?”

“This weekend, my mind just- just filled with a ton of information suddenly. Info about you, about the other assistants, about the supernatural, about a little bit of everything really. Things I should have no way of knowing, but now I do. I figured you ought to know--could come in handy down the line.”

“Do you have any proof of this?” Jon tilted his head to one side slightly. “Something you shouldn’t know about me, perhaps--and not just from hacking, either?”

Sasha thought about arguing the point about hacking with Jon, but honestly, it was fair enough that she be called on it. Instead, she just nodded and took a deep breath--not that she really needed the extra air for what she was going to say, but because it felt right, and who was she to deny the moment that extra bit of dramatic flair?

“Mister Spider wants more.”

Jon’s face went pale in an instant, his gaze unfocusing as he seemed to look more through Sasha than at her.

“Jon?”

Jon didn’t respond.

“Jon, it’s okay!” Sasha rapped gently on his desk. “It’s just me. It’s not... it’s not that.”

Jon blinked rapidly a few times before shaking his head.

“You alright?”

“I’m fine.” Jon was clearly not fine, as his hands were shaking slightly and his face still didn’t have its full color back, but Sasha wasn’t going to argue the point. “But I- I’ve never told anybody about that, how did you-”

“I told you. Weird supernatural information shoved into my head over the weekend. Simple as that.”

“Right. You- you weren’t making that up, then.”

It wasn’t really a question, but Sasha answered just the same. “Of course not. I wouldn’t do that to you.”

Jon looked unconvinced, and Sasha suddenly remembered how when “Antonio Blake”’s statement had appeared, Jon had thought only Tim could be trusted to investigate it, only Tim could be ruled out for having written it as a practical joke on his new boss--that felt like an eternity ago, and yet it hadn’t even happened yet...

“You said you didn’t want to give a formal statement, correct? Was there any other action you expected from me regarding this?”

Sasha shrugged. She still wasn’t sure how much she could share, especially here, in the belly of the beast. Maybe in the tunnels, some time... assuming there still were tunnels, and they weren’t being plagued by worms or Not-Thems or murderous Jurgen Leitners...

“I just wanted you to know about it, mostly. I know a lot about these old archives now, so if you’ve ever got a question, I’m glad to do what I can. Not that I wouldn’t be willing to help anyway, but, you know, if I already know the location and validity of statement number 0051701, or whatever, might as well use it, right?”

Jon squinted a little. “What is statement number 0051701?”

“Oh, it’s...” Sasha let out a soft giggle. “We haven’t gone over it yet, but it’s about an old calliope organ.”

“Kuh-LY-o-pee.” Jon corrected.

“Ka-lee-O-pee.” Sasha repeated, a grin growing on her face. “Though there’s really no one correct pronunciation, or so I’ve heard.”

“...right. Well, thank you for letting me know about all this, I suppose.”

“Of course. You are the boss around here, right?”

“As Tim keeps reminding me, yes.”

Sasha stood back up and cracked open Jon’s office door, but before she left entirely, she added, “Seriously, reach out if you need me- or any of us, really. It’s not healthy to spend too long cooped up in here by yourself.”

“Duly noted.”

As the door closed behind Sasha, she could only hope that she was doing enough, that her offers to help would be taken advantage of when Jon needed it most.