#Half my team are tanks so whatever lol

[ponyartistbrainiac]

Lore dump about Thunder Punch I typed up for the people who asked

He was a hero of the wasteland

When he was a foal he had a brother named Flint Lock they had a dad who was a sunnova bitch and after years of hurting him and his brother Thunder killed him while defending said brother which gave him his cutiemark (which stands for making tough decisions).

After a while his brother, who was a talented unicorn, started making special magic guns and bullets. With Thunder as the face they started to do heroic deeds in the wasteland that gained them a high reputation and many allies and they became known as "The Thunder Runners". Flint also made a special gun and coat for Thunder with a note that said "please be careful I only have one brother." A mare named Casey a marksman joined their group. After a while Flint retired after having a foal, leaving Thunder on his own to handle this group and things started to get wild. He came back to talk to flint and to ask him to return but he said he wouldn't he had a child now and Casey deserted both of them. This eventually ended in an argument which lead to a wrestling match between him and Thunder which he wasnt fit for. Thunder was a strong and hardened wastelander but Flint had been retired for a while ans grew soft. Thunder accidently broke his neck.

Sick with himself and the wasteland he so desperately wanted to change over time he started to get ideas on how to fix it .

He took down the local raider king and took over and raider activity dropped immensly.

For a while things where fine until he was approached by a very strong and very terrifying cybernetic alicorn that gave him an offer he couldnt refuse. If he wanted to keep his life. He was approached also by the general and she offered him a way to fix the wasteland forever by forcing the other settlements to become settlements of Treasure a massive city located in the Equestrian treasury.

Reluctently he accepted and this is where we came in.

He was forced to send his raiders to try to take over settlements and alot of them started to question his choices while others started to see him as some sort of god.

He took whatever prisoners they took and kept them as safe as he could while he continued.

He had some of the smarter raiders build massive machines so that he could take over a town known as Old Fork.

Our adventuring team went to stop him in the heart of his base. A massive military base in the mountains surrounded by "the flencing woods" where magic sandy winds whip so hard your skin would be torn off without alot of preparation and some magic casters.

Pretending to be his hired body guards we (and by we i actually mean the other half of my group I was in hackamore but thats a different story) made it to his chambers and he put a hoof on our Gunslingers shoulder and said "excuse me lil lady but are you the "body guards" I hired.

An enclave vertibuck appeared and started to wreck havoc.

He took her out back and told her to shoot down the vertibuck which she failed to do. It was then taken down by the cybernetic alicorn.

She then learned that Thunder Punch the killer of her father and the raider king himself, was infact her uncle.

She then tried to fight her uncle and just as she was about to lose she was saved by an arrow from one of Older Caseys friends named Ztev. We had run into them on the way while they where hunting down our Casey thinking she was an impersonator but instead she was her daughter lol wow.

We found out about his plans and met back up with our full party in old fork to stop an all out war.

A massacre is what we expected.

We also got his builders to join our side instead and they asked us to stop the machines but not destroy them because they could be used to build. (A dozer and a tank)

While we tried to stop him but one of us was captured (doctor scorp) and I stayed behind to help him.

As our team was leaving in old Caseys car they where chased by raiders on scrap motorcycles. As I was one that was left behind Silent Spring was panicking and Old Casey told her that Thunder was a reasonable man he wasn't a monster and her friends will be fine.

After waking Scorp Thunder tried talking to him about what was going on and I made my presence known.

I talked with Thunder and asked him why he wanted to kill so many people. He was confused and asked why we thought he would do that. Eventually he said he was going to use us as leverage to talk to his neice. Our gunslinger also known as Casey.

After I annoyed all the raiders he had guarding us so much they left I set myself and Scorp loose.

When we escaped the machine and got back to town. there where many fires but a magic flare shot to the sky ans a thunder storm started.

I "Shotglass the spy breezie" told Casey to just talk to her uncle.

Before leaving I told Thunder he was just a coward watching from his chair while his minions did all the work. He said "its a very comfy chair". An enclave vertibuck flew over and he landed on the wall and broke one of the guards necks with his bare hooves. We then realized the gravity of the situation.

Casey really wanted to kill him because he killed her dad.

She was so angry she sort of mislead some of us on his misdeeds even making some of us believe he took slaves which wasnt true. And he was forcing ponies to do evil things which was sort of true but they where gonna do evil things anyways just different more dangerous evil things.

He kept taking people alive because he wanted to talk to her but she wasnt having it. Including our witch abyssinian named Maneki which he knocked unconcious and carried around the battlefield to try to talk go his niece. Despite everything the machines never did much destruction to the town and minimal casualties happened to innocents thanks mostly to our party rallying the town to help us and providing alot of aid. And partially because Thunder didnt want a massacre but we didnt know that at the time.

We ended up having a showdown on the top of the church he was so fast that most of us couldnt touch him but he was holding back alot. Our sorcerer kirin Silent Spring started spamming magic missle until he was wittled down and the final blow to end the attack was done by Casey and Minty working together

After we finally defeated him she asked him why he killed her dad

Turns out it was an accident and he sort of fell into a path of self destruction because of it

He was helpless and cooperative and he seemed to be at peace with his impending doom. Pulling out a photo of Flint and Casey (our casey) to look at as Casey put her gun to his noodle after stripping him of everything.

The party questioned the morality of killing a helpless and cooperative stallion.

She put a bullet in his head despite the parties pleas

In the days after his death everyone who knew him which are pretty much all old hardened wasteland heros where extremely sad to hear it and his niece started to regret killing him. Her mothrr giving us an old lighter that simply read "Thunder Runners" etched into the silver. It was the name of his team of heros and his band of adopted misfits.

Old Casey didn't stay for the cremation she was incredibly sad.

We cremated him and she put his remains into whats basically a giant bullet

We where granted access to a massive high tech city called treasure afterwards for doing their dirty work and the raiders he kept at bay where now running wild and killing innocent people everywhere

We still wonder if killing him was the best decision

[the-kittens-of-vol-tron]

More trans Keith au??

Keith opens the door in his binder, thinking that it's Shiro but it's Lance who immediately starts freaking out at the glimpse of bare midriff at the bottom of Keith's binder. By glimpse, I mean that Keith immediately closed the door and put on a shirt.

Okay, 

So I wasn’t sure if you wanted me to continue on from the other two I wrote or do a stand alone. So I’m writing this as a stand alone. 

Authors Note: 

This is based off something that happened to me once lol 

-----

Keith ran his hand through his hair, trying to brush out the tangles that formed during training. 

There was a knock on his door and he made his way over to open it. Shiro said he was going to stop by after they cleaned up. They had been watching some Altean show together that they were both surprisingly intrigued by. 

He opened the door, not really looking at the person on the other side; after all, he was expecting Shiro. Not Lance. 

“I uh-sorry!” Lance stammered out and Keith quickly understood the position he was in. He was standing in baggy black sweatpants and his black half-tank binder.

Keith quickly slammed the door shut, grabbing the first shirt he touched in his closet.

He reopened the door after he slide it on, Lance still standing in the same spot. "...can I help you?" Keith was a bit surprised about how nonchalant he was. He hadn't told anyone on the team except Shiro, who knew before Kerberos, and Coran who helped him copy his testosterone prescription.

Maybe he was tired of hiding it, maybe he knew that the rest of the team wouldn't care; especially after Pidge came out.

Lance still looked like he saw a ghost or something terrible. "I uhhh.....sorry I don't mean to interrupt you changing or anything."

Keith blinked at him, "...okay?" He still didn't know what Lance wanted.

Lance looked at him a bit longer, clearly debating the next words he said.

Keith braced himself, preparing for the 'are you trans' question or some overwhelming support he didn't really need. He was confident in himself, he didn't need someone telling him he was a real man, even if they meant well.

"You wear a cropped undershirt? Is your jacket not enough?" Lance asked.

Keith felt his face scrunch up in confusion, that wasn't what he expected Lance to say. "What?"

"Your undershirt. It's seriously cropped? That's an interesting fashion choice."

"You're seriously judging my fashion choices?" Keith found himself playing along; pushing his confusion to the side.

"It's a weird choice!"

"What's going on?" Shiro appeared beside Lance, wearing his own comfortable clothes.

Lance looked at their leader, "Keith wears a cropped undershirt."

Shiro made his own face of confusion, sending Keith a panicked glance before looking back at Lance. "He does?"

"Yes! I just saw it, and then he put a shirt on. It's weird right?!" He looked at his leader with pleading eyes. Needing someone to side with him.

"We all have our different styles were prefer."

Lance rolled his eyes, "whatever."

"What did you need?" Keith finally spoke up.

"Oh...yeah so I was wondering..." he looked at Shiro. "You know, I'll catch you later. Have fun watching your sitcom!"

Keith and Shiro watched Lance bolt down the hallway, completely bypassing his own room.

“What did he want?” Shiro asked as he entered Keith’s room. 

Keith let the door slide close, “I have no idea.” 

Shiro chuckled slightly as he took his normal spot on Keith’s bed. “He thought your binder was a cropped undershirt.” 

Keith chuckled some, “I would have been okay if he figured it out.” 

Shiro nodded, “maybe he wanted to ask you on a date,” he wiggled his eyebrows at the other boy. 

Keith threw a pillow at him, “shut up!” 

-----

I love writing Shiro and Keith as broganes <3 

I hope you like it

Thank you <3333

[tobiasdrake]

Here we go. Tackling my first Gym.

Full disclosure, I like to use randomized teams that get rerolled periodically for funsies. Heading into Artazon, I pulled:

Surskit

Gimmighoul

Ralts

Charcadet

Steenee

Nacli

Seeing that this Gym is Grass-Type, I get a little nervous. Charcadet has Type Advantage, but Gimmighoul seems like dead weight, Ralts is super weak, and Surskit and Nacli are at a Disadvantage. Can Charcadet carry this battle?

I remember that Surskit is Water/Bug. Bug is good against Grass. Does Bug resist Grass? I don't remember. We'll take our chances. Save Charcadet for late-stage and lead with Surskit.

Challenge begins.

Pokemon 1: Petilil

I don't have Petilil recorded in my manual Pokedex so I can't check its stats, but I remember it being pretty weak. It's basically a baby, little more formidable than Ralts.

I, however, have made an error. It turns out Surskit does resist Grass so that neutralizes his Water weakness. But. Uh. Here's his movelist:

Water Gun

Quick Attack

Sweet Scent

Soak

GUESS WHAT I FORGOT TO MAKE SURE HE HAD.

Shit. Shit. I go for a Quick Attack. It does some damage. Not much. Surskit's Physical Attack is too shit for a 40-power off-Type Physical attack to win the day. Petilil answers with a Mega Drain that does little damage to Surskit but recovers nearly all of its HP. This is a battle of attrition I'm not gonna--

Wait, did that say Soak?

...

Ha! I just had the stupidest idea. Enjoy your Water Type, Petilil.

I switch to Steenee. Petilil is no longer getting STAB on Mega Drain and Steenee's Grass type resists it. It does jack all. Steenee erases Water-Type Petilil in a single Razor Leaf.

Pokemon 2: Smolive

Oh my god, it's adorable.

This is a new one. I have no idea what it's capable of. It's probably a Special Attacker given its small size, but I figure we'll roll the dice. Steenee uses Play Nice to cut Smolive's Physical power. Smolive responds with a Tackle.

Okay. Good. I hit it with another Play Nice for good measure, then swap in Surskit. Surskit tanks the next Tackle easily and gives Smolive a good Soak. Smolive replies with Razor Leaf, but its Physical power is cut in half and it lost its STAB bonus. All it could hope for was that high crit rate, which did not come through.

Back to Steenee. Her Razor Leaf is much more effective.

Pokemon 3: Sudowoodo

LOL. My dude, that is not a plant. XD Oh my god.

When I finish laughing, I go ahead and send off the Razor Leaf that will--

Oh. Right. Tera Crystal Thingamabob is a thing. Now Sudowoodo is, in fact, a plant. I didn't expect that. My Razor Leaf barely nicks it.

New plan. Steenee resists Trailblaze, whatever that is, and she's holding up well against his Rock Throws. Well enough to utterly sabotage him. As the fight progresses, Steenee administers a full set of six Play Nices before she gets low on HP.

His next move is going to be Rock Throw, but even with Type Disadvantage, I think Charcadet can take a few 1/4-strength Rock Throws.

I switch in Charcadet, since Sudowoodo's crystallizing has made him Grass-Type. I'm right. One Rock Throw only takes off about 1/4 of his HP despite the super-effectiveness. Hit Sudowoodo with a Will-O-Wisp for good measure, just to really pile on the neutering.

That winds up being a good idea. It takes three Embers to bring down Sudowoodo, and he's got the edge in Speed thanks to the two Trailblazes he tried to use against Steenee earlier. Rather than failing at the last second, Charcadet winds up pulling through with 3 HP left to go.

Whew! That felt weirdly intense, but I pulled it--

...

Oh goddammit, I should have Tera Crystal Thinged Charcadet. >.< Okay. Takeaway for next time.

[stereax]

BAHAHAHAHA "they've already broken my heart let's go trade season" is a mood and a half, they can't even tank for bedard right lol

see the thing is realistically it's the devils offering holtz + muk + the 1st for meier (maybe + late picks for salary retention or whatever, since the sharks are scraping the 50-player contract cap) which carolina doesn't really want to beat because that would be giving up a good roster player or PRIME prospect - and that's not like a HUGE loss for us anyway, our prospect pool is deep as fuck, muk might be stuck in the KHL, and holtz deserves top 6 minutes we can't give him since our top 6 is basically set with hischier, hughes, bratt, mercer, and our left wings cycling between tatar, palat, and sometimes shango which would probably drop to just tatar/palat and meier if/when meier becomes a devil. (shango instead of holtz is also possible but holtz would seem to fit the sharks better esp bc he's good friends with some eklund guy on the team? and also sharks need to rebuild and holtz can really turn into a top 6 guy if he gets the minutes whereas shango is a bit too streaky.) but then there's the thing where the sharks are looking at mercer and zetterlund. and idrc about zett but you bETTER KEEP YOUR PAWS OFF MERCER.

supposedly the blues offered san jose their shittier 1sts and the sharks said no. so like... hm hm hm. again, the other horses in the timo sweepstakes are really carolina and vegas. rangers dropped out of it when they got tarasenko and now kane too. vegas will have to pay a hefty premium given they're in division so I don't see it happening. carolina doesn't have the prospect pool we do and can't afford to give up a player as easily as we can for meier. by all accounts we're the current frontrunner. (also helps that the sharks' gm used to work for our gm.) I'm just worried about how it'll shake out in the details, but fitz (our gm) has a talent for fleecing other gms so... it should be okay. it SHOULD be okay.

KAPPY BABE I’LL GET YOU OUTTA THERE I PROMISE IM SO SORRY-

[waterasart]

This was bound to happen, I was excited for the update of the new island. It’s my main story team and I love all of them.

[yoonpobs]

bad boy good thing ix.

pairing: jeon jungkook x oc

genre: angst, smut, fluff, miscommunication (we hate her lol), pining

warnings: smut, jungkook is really an asshole, the angst hurts a lot tbh, unhealthy relationships (?)

words: 3, 844

summary: a series of drabbles where you're confused and jungkook's confusing

Jungkook recognises that it’s, to a fault, extremely unhealthy for him to pretend like his problems don’t exist and bury them under a blanket of social interactions that were meaningless to him and excessively working out at the gym so he could get his mind off things.

Granted, it was always how Jungkook dealt with things and he was a creature of habit. He was stubborn and irrational at most times, and usually pretending like his problems didn’t exist did him relatively well. Because like most things in life, problems passed and if people were his problem then he’d just not talk to them. Simple, really. Jungkook had it figured out right to the o.

Well, until he realised that a huge chunk of his problems, though irrationally, was working out right beside him.

“You almost done?” Namjoon grunts, finishing his last rep as he drops the weight to the ground as it sounds through the empty gym.

Only because Namjoon and Jungkook were the only people that were crazy enough to work out at eleven o'clock on a school night. But realistically speaking, Jungkook only asked the football group out of formalities and did not expect his own captain to have responded.

Maybe because you’re too busy hanging out with _____, came Jungkook’s bitter thought. But surprise, Namjoon was very much sweaty and engaged in the workout session that has Jungkook’s head spinning.

“Yeah.” Jungkook huffs, dropping his own weight before he dabs the hem of his tank top to his forehead to catch the bead of sweat before it drops.

Namjoon walks over to pick up his own bottle and toss Jungkook his own before he chugs the liquid in one go.

Jungkook has half the mind to be a petty motherfucker and rejects it but he was way too parched to deny the tempting object. Besides, he could pretend like Namjoon wasn’t the bulk of his many problems. Even if he knew Namjoon was unsuspecting of everything, it was easier to blame him for the fact that you weren’t keen on hanging out with him than himself.

“The circuit today was intense.” Namjoon points out, shooting a raised eyebrow expression in Jungkook’s direction. “You nearly killed me, man.” He finishes with a teasing tone.

Jungkook huffs dryly, “Maybe that’s a sign for you to work out more.”

He’s being bitter, he knows that. Because Namjoon was huge and hit the gym as frequently as Jungkook did.

Namjoon, however, is oblivious to this. “Maybe.” And Jungkook hates that he accepts it so easily.

Jungkook’s mind is all over the place and never mind that he’s burnt enough calories to last him his workout quota for the next two weeks, but he has the urge to pry. To ask Namjoon things that he no longer had the privilege to ask you anymore.

But before he can say anything, Namjoon beats him to the first word.

“You and ____ are close right?”

Jungkook pauses, fist tightening around the bottle before he clears his throat. “Um. Kind of.” Because he wasn’t sure anymore, so he settled for that instead you conveyed otherwise to Namjoon. But he knew that you wouldn’t, you weren’t petty like that. “Why do you ask?”

And Jungkook doesn’t like the way that Namjoon looks nervous. Call it his sixth sense, but he just doesn’t like the insinuation behind the way Namjoon fiddles with his fingers.

“Well, you, Jimin and Tae are, right?” Namjoon asks. “And Yena, but I already had this conversation with her anyways.”

“What conversation?” Jungkook immediately asks, eyebrows furrowed.

“I think it’s pretty obvious to most people that I’m into her.” Namjoon snorts, but Jungkook can’t find it in himself to laugh.

“Right.”

“Things have been going well and so far all the hangouts we’ve had were friendly,” Namjoon says with a small smile.

Jungkook doesn’t know what to do with the information he was receiving or why he was even receiving it in the first place. Sure, Namjoon and he were close because they were under the same football team and chemistry between players was definitely a prerequisite when it came to bagging wins.

“That’s nice to hear.” Jungkook grunts.

Namjoon nods absent-mindedly as he plops onto one of the workout benches, swinging a towel over his shoulder. “I told her that I wouldn’t rush into things with her but I really do like her. And I want to ask her out. Officially, that is.”

Jungkook quite literally freezes all his limbs when the words tumble out of Namjoon’s mouth.

“And because you’re important to her, I just wanted to know if you were okay with that? I mean—she has to be okay with it but you’re someone she cares about so your opinion does matter to a certain extent. Either way, I’m going to do it but I thought it was just courteous of me to let you know.”

And damn you for being courteous, Jungkook curses to himself mentally.

“What?” Jungkook croaks because that’s all he can manage.

He’s heard it from Jeonghan, Yugyeom and Jaehyun when it came to locker-room talk but he’s brushed it off because what did they know, right? Even if Yena was heard whispering to Jimin conspiringly, he’d pretended he hadn’t heard a single word just so he could delude himself into thinking that it wasn’t real.

But for Namjoon to directly confirm it to his face, Jungkook feels like he’s been punched in the gut.

“I don’t know, man.” Namjoon sighs, “She’s really something else, you know? I’ve been kind of admiring from afar for a really long time because someone wouldn’t introduce her to me”—he shoots a playful glare to a stone-faced Jungkook who can’t even respond—“and getting to know her personally just really solidified the fact that I really like her.”

Jungkook is a level-headed man, most of the time at least, but there were things that threw him off. Overly salty food, flash mobs, microwaves; but most of the time he was able to recover.

Most. Not all.

“No.”

Namjoon freezes, and so does Jungkook. But for two very different reasons.

“I’m sorry, did you just say no?” Namjoon asks dumbfounded.

Jungkook can’t stop his mouth. “Yeah.” He swallows. Stop talking. “No.”

Namjoon furrows his brows, “Yeah to you saying no or, yeah to literally the context of this conversation?”

Jungkook has never resented Namjoon more than right now, even when he’d made the team run extra laps as a warm-up.

“You can’t.” Jungkook deadpans. “You can’t ask her out.”

And for as long as Jungkook knew Namjoon, he knew that under the calm and collected exterior that he took most of the time because he was the captain of the football team, and diplomacy was necessary. He was petty, and to a certain extent, immature. But he did a far better job and conveying his displeasure compared to Jungkook.

“Okay, and who are you—her dad?” Namjoon scoffs.

Even if it was made explicitly clear by Namjoon that he was doing so out of respect for you, Jungkook still felt the need to defend himself.

“Her friend.” Jungkook snaps. “And you’re my captain. That’s just—weird.”

He knows his excuse is lame, and so does Namjoon.

“Really,” Namjoon says dryly. “That’s your excuse?”

“Not an excuse. Facts.” Jungkook retorts childishly.

Namjoon snorts before raising an eyebrow at Jungkook who is all but making eye contact with him.

“Does this have to do with why you weren’t keen on introducing her to me in the first place when I asked?”

Jungkook nearly drops his water bottle when he swings around, face scandalised in a way that shows that he’s been caught but attempting to deflect.

“What the fuck are you even saying.” He splutters.

Namjoon is as calm as ever, “You tell me, Jungkook. I don’t see a legitimate reason as to why I can’t ask her out.”

Jungkook scoffs, cheeks red. “I told you. It’s weird. What if you guys break up? How’s that going to be for Jimin, Tae and I?”

Namjoon blinks.

“I can be civil.” He shrugs. “The question is, can you?”

Jungkook narrows his eyes into slits as he observes Namjoon. He’s never gotten into any conflicting situations with Namjoon, purely because he never had a reason to. He never knew his captain could be so … retort-inducing, but here he was. Ready to snap back, for a very childish reason he wasn’t ready to unpack just yet.

“Look. How bout’ you think about it a little more?” Jungkook feigns disinterest when he fiddles with his gym bag as if he was looking for something. It was an escape to this conversation. “The two of you just started hanging out and she’s not the type that likes it rushed, anyways.”

“I’m not asking her to marry me, Jungkook.” Namjoon blinks.

Jungkook rolls his eyes, “I know. If you were I think I’d have a stroke.” He mutters. “Thing is, there’s probably a lot of things that you don’t know about her yet so you may as well just … wait.”

His excuses are getting a lot more pathetic by the second, and Namjoon clearly feels the same because he shoots a frown at Jungkook.

“That’s the point of asking her out … to get to know her.” Namjoon drawls slowly, stating the obvious.

Jungkook lets out an exasperated sigh and he wants this conversation to be over because he’s already let out more than what he’d like.

“She’s just not the type …” Jungkook lamely defends.

Namjoon purses his lips. “And that’s coming from you?”

Jungkook glares at Namjoon who doesn’t look like he’s going to back down.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Namjoon rolls his eyes. “It means—you’re not her so you have no right to be assuming shit about her. I don’t care if you’re her best friend or whatever the hell you are to her that makes you think you automatically know what she wants or doesn’t. The reason why I’m telling you all of this is purely out of respect for her, and her only. Frankly—I couldn’t give a rats ass about your opinion on this.”

Jungkook gapes at Namjoon because this is the first time he’s seen him anything less than cool and collected. But perhaps this was why he was always taken so seriously in every context he’s found himself in. Namjoon was diplomatic when he need be, and firm when necessary. This was one of those occasions and Jungkook hates that it’s him on the receiving end under the context of you being the topic of conversation.

“Well—”

“And, if you have something you want to say to her.” Namjoon sighs, throwing his gym bag over his shoulder and levelling a look so serious that it sends a shudder down Jungkook’s spine, “Be honest to her. She doesn’t deserve anything less than that.”

Right before Namjoon turns around to leave, Jungkook has to ask—

“How did you know?”

He doesn’t have to say what, because Namjoon clearly knows what he was talking about. The stiff chuckle he releases is enough to prove that.

“I’m not stupid, Jungkook.” He says. “First it was not introducing us to each other and now it’s the unwarranted possessiveness. It doesn’t take a genius to put two and two together.”

Jungkook purses his lips, feeling his blood run cold because if Namjoon knew then …

“So what? You’re going to tell her?” He accuses.

Namjoon scoffs. “Jungkook, I like you. You’re a good friend of mine. I’m not going to fuck you over like that. That’s your own issue to deal with.”

“Sure doesn’t feel like it,” Jungkook mutters dryly.

Namjoon sighs, turning his body to face Jungkook as he offers him a blank expression that he can’t quite read.

“I don’t know about you but I’m not the type to conflate my personal life with my friend's personal life. Sure, we like the same girl—” Jungkook winces, but Namjoon continues anyway. “—but life goes on. I’m a big boy and so are you, right?”

Jungkook tongues the inside of his cheek when Namjoon offers a slight smirk with a raised eyebrow.

“So you’re backing off?”

The slight hopeful tone that Jungkook has is naive, and he knows that. But a selfish part of him just wished that Namjoon would so he could figure out how to solve and fix things between the two of you without the interruption of his own football captain in the mix.

Namjoon snorts, “No way. What did you take me for—a pushover?”

Jungkook gapes, “Then what—?”

“I’m still going to ask her out. Your feelings are your own and it’s not my responsibility to look after them for you.” He shrugs, turning on his heel to leave the gym. His hands are on the knob when he turns around. “She’s single. Nothing’s stopping you or me from doing anything.”

And he leaves, not before he adds: “Don’t be late for training tomorrow. We have circuit training.”

It’s been a week since you’ve last spoken to Jungkook and two weeks since he’s apologised to you at your apartment. You still remember the ghost of his lips, the heat of his hands when he held you close.

You still had moments in between where you were distracted, but there was something oddly compelling about a person you were trying to forget for the time being that haunts your every thought. And you hated yourself for it, for still wondering if he was okay or how he was doing when you were the one that put distance between the two of you.

Maybe that’s why your hand reaches out to your phone, but it’s as if God had sent you a Guardian Angel when a hand grips your wrist.

“I thought we weren’t touching our phones?” Namjoon has a teasing tilt to his voice when he murmurs the words.

You flush, meekly retracting your hand as you send him a playful glare.

“What are you? The exam invigilator?” You scowl.

Namjoon snorts before rubbing a thumb between your furrowed brows. You can’t help but flush harder, pouting at him when all he does is grin at you.

“I’m meant to be the person you’re paying attention to.” He returns, voice husky and you feel yourself grow flustered.

Obviously, because Namjoon was attractive and he told you on occasions that he’d intentionally raised the pitch of his voice because it was way too deep for people to understand.

“Grow up.” You mutter, but your tone is light when you roll your eyes at him.

You’ve grown much more comfortable with Namjoon in the recent times you’ve hung out with him, purely because there was something very welcoming about a person like him. He was understanding and calm, yet he was absolutely hilarious without even needing to try. There were moments where he’d make you laugh until you cry which resulted in the librarians shooting you glares from their desks.

“Penny for your thoughts?” He hums, definitely recognising the way you were a little out of the loop even throughout your study session.

The library is quiet during this hour because it wasn’t exam season and rarely were students willing to spend time on a school night at the library against their own will.

“Just … stuff.” You sigh.

And Namjoon frowns ever so slightly because you were always like this, tucked away in your own compartment as if you were afraid to reveal anything more.

“You can always talk to me, you know?” He whispers, eyes focusing on your face when he leans down.

You purse your lips and you nod. You knew you could, but your problems were far more complex than what you could describe in words. Besides, you knew that Namjoon had some … form of feelings to you—so how the hell were you supposed to explain the fact that you’ve allowed your best friend to touch you in a way that a lover is meant to?

“I know.” You sigh, fiddling with your fingers when you bring yourself to look up at him through your eyelashes. “It’s really complicated and I don’t want to unload onto you.”

Namjoon smiles at you so gently you feel even guiltier for feeling the way you do.

“And I’m a pretty simple guy. Say anything and I’ll take it at face value.” He jokes.

You roll your eyes at him and shove at his chest. Only then do you realise how close the two of you are. When did his face get so close to yours? Why were you only realising his breath on your cheek?

It’s late, and you’re tired from the copious amount of studying so maybe that’s why your eyes involuntarily dart to his lips that were much closer to you than you’d realised.

“Can I do something?” He murmurs, and you watch his lips move when he asks.

You find yourself blindly nodding, too caught up in the moment.

Namjoon reaches a gentle hand around your jaw, cradling it so softly as if he was afraid to hurt you. A touch you’re familiar yet new to, enough for you to remember and think of Jungkook even if it’s Namjoon in front of you.

The logical part of you tells you to push Namjoon away, to not subject him to this unfair treatment when you know your heart lays elsewhere. But you’re human and you’re selfish because you’ve never been doted on like this—never looked in a way that shows you that he wants you.

Namjoon tilts your head up so that he’s looking straight into your eyes and you’re positive your face is on fire. It feels … nice. But that’s it. You don’t feel exhilarated like you did when Jungkook held you, and you curse yourself for always comparing the two.

He leans in so slowly that you’re quite literally gripping the edge of your seat. You realise this, though.

Namjoon is strategic when he maps out the journey to your lips, both careful and calm when he brings you closer like he’s been preparing for this for a long time. What you remember, is Jungkook—a spontaneous lover who smirks against kisses and tugs you closer in a rush that makes your head spin.

The two are so different, and you’re inclined to want Namjoon too. But you’ve always been a sucker for adrenaline.

But you push those thoughts away and try to focus on the way Namjoon is treating you so tenderly.

“Can I kiss you?” He whispers against your lips and you feel your response before you say it.

“Yeah.” You breathe, fingers digging into your seat.

And Namjoon looks stunning up close, suave and handsome like you always knew him to be when he closes the distance.

He presses into your lips so softly that you barely feel it at first, not until he’s tilting his head to bring you closer and his other hand cups the other side of your face.

Your face is hot because he’s the second person you’ve ever kissed and it feels … it feels. You like it. That’s what you think.

You don’t dare go further than return his kiss, and Namjoon is far too gentlemanly to prod at your lips.

Your hand instinctively reaches out to wrap them around his neck, but a voice interrupts your movements.

“______?”

Immediately, you pull away—remembering where you were and how easy it was for you to be spotted locking lips with Namjoon.

You flush, turning to the source of the voice to mumble a sheepish apology until you realise who it is—and your face pales.

Not only because is it Jungkook, who’s staring at you and Namjoon with a hardened gaze. But because of the company he has.

“Cute,” Jennie smirks, arms looped around Jungkook’s and you feel your throat clam shut.

Namjoon notices the drop in your expression that you try to hide, and he reaches out to squeeze your hand in an attempt to offer consolation. He doesn’t need to guess why.

“What are you—?”

“We were about to leave, right?” Namjoon murmurs so softly that you barely catch him. Not until you realise that Jennie has her eyebrow cocked, awaiting your response.

You blink before you turn to Namjoon who’s still looking at you so gently.

He didn’t deserve this.

“I’ll go.” You say curtly, softly taking your hand back from where he’s squeezing it as you offer an apologetic look to him. All while Jungkook is still staring at you.

“Wait, ____—” Jungkook reaches out to grab at your elbow, and you immediately pull away as if you’ve been scathed.

You knew you didn’t have a right to feel this way, not when you made it explicitly clear that you needed time away from him. But you also thought you made it clear how you felt about him and he was around her … again. It’s like a bucket of cold water that’s been washed upon you and you feel like utter shit when you see Jennie smile up at you, completely oblivious to the conflict you were having in your heart.

“I’ll walk you back.” Namjoon stands up, even as you attempt to protest. But Namjoon levels you with a firm expression that has you snapping your mouth shut and sighing to yourself, begrudgingly allowing him to stand by your side; almost towering over you and even Jungkook when he shoots him a withering glare.

“I’ll do it.” Jungkook snaps back, shaking Jennie’s arm off of him.

Before Namjoon can respond, you’re doing it for him.

“There’s no need, Jungkook.” You say softly, avoiding his eyes.

You don’t have to look at him to see the fall in his face.

“I just wanted to talk—”

“There’s nothing we can’t talk about with them here, right?” You smile stiffly at him.

Jungkook pauses, hands too as they reach for your shoulder.

“It’s not what it—”

You’re cutting him off again, tired of hearing the same thing fall from his lips, “you don’t need to say anything.”

But your heart wants to stay even if your mind knows it’s a bad idea. You’re lucky Namjoon was there because he’s tugging you aside with his arms.

“Let’s go, okay?” He whispers into your ear, soft enough so only you can hear.

You nod your head, turning to leave when you feel your heart break for the same reason again. You hate that your first instinct is the hotness behind your eyelids.

“So you’re with him?” Jungkook huffs, and you can tell he’s exasperated.

You’re about to retort, but Namjoon shakes his head—turns around to mouth something to Jungkook you can’t be bothered to see before he’s leading you out the library, leaving Jungkook and Jennie there.

Right before you step out, you hear Jennie say:

“We should do a double date.”

Namjoon hears this too and wraps an arm around your shoulder as he squeezes. He’s nice enough that he doesn’t ask why you were sniffling on the walk back to your home.

[the-empress-7]

Some tea from LSA:

Ok so let me preface this by saying I have a friend who works for a huge printing company in LA. This past weekend my family had dinner with him and his wife and during dinner chat we asked how his business was going, you know just light conversation and he told us his company did a huge order for Meghan Markle during the beginning of summer (let me also say that no one besides my husband knows my absolute disdain for MM lol but they do know I love the royal family and love to hear anything about any of the royals). Do you remember the t shirts that Gabrielle union and Tracey Ellis Ross wore for MM’s birthday initiative or whatever? It had a slogan like (and I am paraphrasing) something like for women, we give everything, how about you and it spelled out “FORTY”, do you know what I’m talking about? Well his company was the one who did the printing of those shirts. Apparently she had thousands of shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies, baseball caps, totes, mugs, yeti cups, tumbler glasses, backpacks, gym bags, tank tops, etc printed up. And she sent all this merchandise to celebs and influencers. My friend said he knows Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Garner, Nicole Kidman, Beyoncé, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift and a ton of journalists like savannah Guthrie and Honda Kotb, and more. He just told me who he could remember off the top of his head lol. MM thought all these celebs and influencers would wear her shirts on IG and there would be an insane demand for her merch. Whoever works for MM and placed the order (my friend’s company didn’t deal with MM nor were they part of the design team, they just printed them) asked my friend’s company if they could produce a large volume of merch. Once it became available, she thought all of Hollywood and mommy bloggers and sugars were going to want to walk around with her dumb slogan plastered on their clothes and tote bags and coffee mugs. Lol they really thought her dumb word salad t shirt was going to be in demand. They even said this was a huge, global initiative ‍♀️ I guess maybe she was going to sell it through Archewell, or a retailer, or knowing her, she probably wanted Stella McCartney to sell it for her—but who knows, I don’t even know the rules for selling things through Archewell. But the problem is, none of these celebs posted her birthday merch, so her idea was dead on arrival lol. And think about it, if you are a young pop star, especially like Taylor Swift who is a whole decade away from 40, why would she want to walk around with a t shirt with 40 on it? Anyway, MM is stuck with thousands of merch with her dumb slogan. What is she going to do with it? Idk, but she might find a retailer or website to sell it. But I love the idea of half of Casa Montecito filled to the brim of merch reminding MM of just how UNIMPORTANT she is in the world. Lol I know it’s not major tea. But I thought you might enjoy the chuckle.

[itsblorbotime]

woohoo finishing heavensward time (actually the first half of the post-patches i'm not doing the second half right now...) you gotta scroll all the way to the bottom to see my real Thoughts :)

ok he kinda foine tho...

i do think nidhogg should have killed all the bystanders at that ceremony lol. or at least let loose ONE breath weapon and killed a bunch of them. it would have raised the stakes a loooot more than just injuring (not even killing...!) a single dragon and then flying off

midgardsormr pulling the "i'm not angry i'm just disappointed" following alphinaud AND aymeric calling hraesvelgr out on his bullshit is [chefs kiss] the new sohr khai is definitely an improvement on the original but it's also really boring lol. aymeric as a tank is fun though :)

val gets new white mage robes :) decided i don't like the orison ones actually lol

that fight with nidhogg and hraesvelg was soooooo cool and badass. ... but did hraesvelgr die there??? he didn't, right? idr when it addresses what happened to him but like my guy got his WHOLE wing torn off.

also, aymeric hot

guh!

so fuckin funny that hraesvelgr fuckin GOT HIS ASS by distracting him while giving us his eye... your ass is TOAST nidhogg

and of course, final steps of faith is a great duty, both normal and extreme.

estinien wresting back control of his arm and nidhogg taking it back to CHOKE HIM OUT UNTIL HE COUGHS UP BLOOD jesus christ

begging the wol to kill him and wol and alphinaud just being like "cool! no :)" and running up to physically RIP THE EYEBALLS OFF HIS ARMOUR aaaaaah

YSAYLE AND HAURCHEFANT COMING TO HELP I FORGOT ABOUT THIS AAHHHHGHGHHHGGGHHH

honestly don't have a ton of commentary at this point just Screaming and Crying

oouuuughhhh

crazy night out in ishgard huh

OH SO THIS WAS AYMERIC'S FAULT!!!!!!!!

yeah... i did that :)

i feel like this whole sequence must have been as hype and emotional as 5.3 back in the day -- tho i think the exarch's character development was handled better than estinien; this was partially bc estinien was intentionally a prickly and mean character (who grew meaner as nidhogg's influence affected him more...) vs the exarch who was like, yes secretive but ultimately VERY supportive and caring towards you in particular and a staunch ally.

i also wish they hadn't waited until patch 3.3 or whatever this is to go into estinien's backstory and his relationship with aymeric like this... i wish this had been part of the main expac.

"Where once I craved vengeance, now I crave rest."

my final thoughts on heavensward? definitely an improvement over a realm reborn, but i think a huuuuuge part of that is because heavensward only had to tell its story over the span of 10 levels rather than 50, so there's much less (but not 0) filler, and it laser-focused on a single city-state and its whole deal. it also had the benefit of going in with an antagonist whose motivations were clearly understood both by the writing team and the playerbase, unlike the ascians, who were written to be vaguely sinister and evil and they were like "uh we'll decide their motivations later."

the main heavensward expac is good, and the final confrontation with nidhogg is really, really good. estinien's body being held hostage made the stakes much more personal than anything else in ishgard; i think if they'd let us get to know the people of ishgard more, PARTICULARLY the lower classes in the brume, the threat of the city's imminent destruction would have carried the same weight as the peril to estinien's soul, but the highborn in ishgard are so fucking annoying i don't care if they die. the patch quests fix this a bit by giving the common folk a face and names, particularly poor little maelie, what a sweetie. the later patches, from what i remember, is where the game loses me a bit... and then stormblood is, um, a lot. we'll go over that when we get there!

i will also say i do not love how heavensward handles female characters. hilda shows up very late in the story and has very little to do -- she definitely makes a strong impression, but then she fucks off and they clearly don't really know what to do with her from there. minfilia is pretty unceremoniously killed off for not real reason except they ran out of stuff to do with her. ysayle is a great character who is ... somewhat randomly killed off and treated kind of weird in the msq; again, i don't really think they knew what to do with her, particularly her shiva summoning. her death is not as impactful as i think it should be. i clearly remember haurchefant's death, but only remembered that ysayle died protecting us, but not much else about her death scene. i don't think she needed to die to be "redeemed," or to progress the story or conclude HER story. i also don't love how characters are CONSTANTLY reminding each other that she was actually like super bad and did terrible terrible things and can probably never be redeemed for them but her heart was in the right place :) like . she was right though??? about everything?? justice for ysayle...

i think the main scenario writer of heavensward has an issue with women and you can see that in his other work, including ff16.

heavensward is good but i do think it's slightly overhyped. there's still a lot of clumsy mechanical things going on with the gameplay, the story's a bit wobbly in places, and the way it starts handling the eorzean/scion part of the xiv story i actually really hate, lol!

continuing my heavensward ng+ replay commentary here on the tumbls bc twitter is a dumpsterfire and this is a better avenue for it anyway...

[inoxske]

a few my hero academia headcanons (mostly kirishima, kiribaku, and bakusquad) (3rd year)

kirishimas laugh is a very wonderful sound that everyone fucking adores, so lots of people think hes flirting because he laughs a lot but he isnt lol

i believe all the bakusquad can sing but their all shy so they pretend to be really bad but theyre all closeted theater kids so when 'the room where it happened' from Hamilton played one night at karaoke night they all sang and hamonized and everyone freaked the fuck out

bakugo and denki cross dress because it makes them feel powerful and they are often seen in fashion magazines and shit

kirishima is best friends with bakugos parents and all of katsukis family adore eijirou

bakugo cries the second any kind of animal or child is hurt in movies

adding onto that ^ bakugo loves kids, more so as he gets older

kirishima will go to interviews for really important people, but because of his adhd he forgets important shit so he has to call bakugo while in the interview and ask and they always keep the clip because he always puts him on speaker

kirishima will put on classical music but like really nice music and dance with people in the dorms. hes danced with all the girls, and was caught slowdancing with katsuki once at like 3am on a saturday (aizawa cried like a little bitch)

all of 1a calls aizawa dadzawa by the time 2nd year rolls around. like, if someone calls him aizawa now he thinks hes in trouble or someone died or some shit.

kirishima can handle any kind of spice because one of his mamas is half latino and so he basically grew up with lots of spice. bakugo challenged him to a spicey wing eating thing and they ended up having to stop because bakugo ran out and threw uP BC HE WASNT GONNA LOSE OKAY

kirishima will escort young ladies home if they feel unsafe, or he will just scare the shit out of men who harass anyone

sero becomes super fucking popular with ladies like everyone thinks hes hot and he doesnt know why but like- BITCH- ..... he is so fine, next

bakugo and midoriya go to therapy together and work shit out. kirishima ends up having to go with bakugo to therapy a lot bc he says he gives him the courage to open up and not feel weak 🤨..... idk sounds kinda gay to me

a majority of class A has a mission near an animal shelter, and damage is done to the shelter and a really dangerous aggressive dog starts running at mina and bro this dog- this dog is fucking BIG like wolf big and out for BLOOD and is so loud and kiri, ya know, grew since first year and is now like a tank like 6"7 and 300 pounds of muscle and so he gets infront of mina and just goes "HEY!" in a really fucking deep like angry as shit voice and makes himself big and the bear of a dog immediately flinches and runs back into its kennel. and everyone kind of freezes and looks at him, and hes like "jeez, i didnt mean to be so loud" and bakugos like "oh no that was the hottest thing ive ever seen in my life" anyways

bakugo can cook, kirishima can bake

bakugo gets super bad sensory overload sometimes when hes had an especially bad experience with a quirk or something and will have meltdowns about his clothing or how sweaty he is, or how loud his quirk is and how bright it is and kirishima will help him. when it first happened everyone handled it really well, and turned off the lights, and momo made him a weighted blanket and noisecancelling shit and kirishima put his head on his chest to help him match his breathing and shit. v wholesome.

kirishima and bakugo got in a super big fight near the beginning of second year when bakugo was in a bad mood and called him weak again and kirishima blew up on him and told him how he wasnt gonna let katsuki walk all over him just because he feels insecure or weak or whatever and kirishima got super fucking pissed because bakugo got defensive and told him he shouldnt take it so seriously and that it was true and he needs to get stronger and kirishima was like fuck you, at least i admit i have some weaknesses to overcome, and some things that need to be fixed, and they were both hurt and shit but bakugo wouldnt apologize so he stopped talking to him for a while. and then kirishima kept teaming up with midoriya and working together and bakugo confronted him and was obviously trying not to cry and apologized and shit

^ adding onto that. kirishima is equals with bakugo, and will always be equals with bakugo. he never ever comes back crying first, and he always leaves bakugo alone until he apologizes. thats called being partners bitch, and bakugo tries his best. they barely ever argue, unless its about mac and cheese or some shit

kirishima loves calling bakugo pet names, and bakugo will absolutely never admit to anyone it makes him feel like the strongest person alive, but he will to kirishima

kirishima called bakugo "puppy" once while he was sleepy and bakugo broke down crying because he didnt know why it made him feel so nice. kirishima felt horrible. they werent even dating yet 💀

when minas bored she'll teach one of the boys a dance and make a tiktok with them. bakugo is surprising good at dancing.

bakugo, kaminari, and kirishima are the absolutely fucking hilarious when left alone together.

bakugo is super innocent so everyone will ask him random questions at the most random times just to see his whole body blush red and he turns into a grandma, like "bakugo how do lesbians have sex" and hes like "WH- WHAT THE- EW!!! GROSS I DONT KNOW! WHY WOULD YOU ASK ME THAT!!! YUCKY!!!"

bakugo has to have braces for a year and then wears a retainer and kirishima likes it alittle too much while everyone else thinks he looks fucking stupid

denki will go wake up aizawa and sleep in his bed when he gets sick or has a nightmere. present mic will make denki breakfast if he comes to the dorms to find his spot taken.

mina and bakugo are barbz, and so is kirishima just much more on the DL.

kirishima and bakugo can talk telepathically by the time they get to 3rd year, so they always make up the best excuses. also they have really weird nicknames that only they get. kirishima did make the mistake of joking around and saying he wants to be called big daddy boss man and bakugo wouldnt cook for him until he had a written apology.

bakugo really loves cuddling but doesnt know how to ask for it so he just acts like a cat and headbuts kiri and sits on him angrily until he gets the message.

[yourmidnightlover]

pain reliever

TW: descriptive talk abt period cramps ig?, talk abt cysts, mutual pining lol

Summary: in which spencer and Y/N love each other but refuse to tell each other. Y/N's having major period pain, the effect of a cyst, and spencer comes over to comfort her.

WC: 3,744

A/N - this one’s a bit of a rollercoaster. it has three different POV’s so just bear with me please!

masterlist

--------------------

don't get me wrong, working at the BAU is amazing and definitely has it's perks, but it also has several downsides too. one of those pesky little downsides includes the amount of time off we have.

meaning we don't have much downtime.

this was one of the rare occasions when we were able to have two weeks off, the result of a very strenuous case.

this time was so exciting, spencer and i planned to go out to a movie he'd been dying to see. nobody else wanted to go with him and were being absolute jerks about it, so i automatically stepped up to go with him.

i went to bed the night before we were supposed to go out after showering. i was actually excited to be able to spend some time with him.

i couldn't help but begin to have feelings for him soon after i joined the team. i mean, who would be able to resist those amazing curls, the sweet smile, kind spirit, not to even mention how smart he is.

he didn't know that, of course. and i planned for him to never know. i was able to keep it a secret for 5 and a half years, and i didn't plan on stopping that streak anytime soon. i didn't want to ruin the friendship i had with him by confessing my undying love for him only to confirm my fears of it being unrequited.

i woke up groaning, the effect of an intense pain on my neck, back, and uterus. I almost immediately knew what that meant, sadly.  

i ran to the bathroom, only to find my suspicions confirmed. my period has always been irregular but about a year ago, i started getting terrible cramps when it wasn't anywhere close to the time for my period.

i went to the doctor to find out a cyst had grown on my left ovary so i started taking birth control per my doctor's request. the only thing about the birth control i was on was that it made me sick when i was on the green pill, so i had to stop taking it.

not taking it meant my period was always a surprise. but hey... at least i wasn't pregnant i guess.

when i took the birth control, it also lessened the cramps. not taking it also brought them back. sometimes not even the extra strength mydol was able to subside the terrible cramps that would ripple throughout my body.

those cramps meant that i needed to cancel my plans with spencer. i could only hope he wouldn't take it as me not wanting to spend time with him.

although, i certainly didn't want him to see me like this.

i decided i would take a shower in attempt to wash the dirty feeling off of my body. I could just call him after i got out and tell him i have a bug or something.

i took my time washing myself, letting the hot water soothe my aching muscles. cysts normally only affect the uterus area and cause discomfort at most times, but it always becomes severely worse during that time of the month.

luckily, my doctors helped create an appointment for a procedure to remove the cyst. the only catch being that the appointment is still 6 months away.

i finished showering and wrapped a towel around my body before popping two mydol's in my mouth and swallowing. i grabbed my cell and quickly dialed spencer's name.

"Y/N! hi. what's up?" he asked sweetly. i could hear the excitement in his voice.

"hey, spence," i started, already feeling terrible for the sad news. "i won't be able to go out today. i really, really wish i could. i came down with something and don't think i'm well enough to go out. i'm so sorry," i murmured, already regretted having to cancel.

"oh... that's okay. are you alright? do you need me to take you to the doctor?" he asked all worried. i giggled softly.

"no, that's alright, spence. thank you though. i think i'm probably just gonna get some house work done in the meantime," i declared with a sigh.

"you're planning on cleaning when you're sick? another reason to never doubt the strength of a woman, i suppose," he quipped, another laugh erupting from my chest, this one being louder.

"that, spencer reid, is why you're my best friend," i said with a smile.

"that and the fact that you actually listen to my incessant babbling and rambles," he remarked.

"i actually happen to enjoy those rambles, doctor. don't sell yourself short," I demanded in a sweet tone.

"thank you, Y/N. you should get some rest. don't overexert yourself," he said sweetly. "in all the years i've known you you've only been sick a number of times, so i would imagine you really don't feel too well," he declared. "goodbye."

"goodbye, spencer. s-sorry again," I stammered out.

I hung up the phone before actually getting dressed in some proper underwear. I threw on some loose shorts and skipped putting a bra on, my boobs were really sore, opting for just throwing a tank top on.

i started with doing the dishes from last night. the medicine was kind of kicking in, not fully taking the stabbing pain away but lessening it enough to where it would be manageable.

once the dishes were done i started doing the laundry, taking breaks in-between loads. during the breaks i made sure to drink a lot of water to stay hydrated.

part of me was debating going to the store to pick up some dark chocolate, ice cream, kale chips, and some chinese, but i decided against it.

i'm sure if i went out i would immediately regret it and have the pain 10x worse, just because that's my luck. so, suffering alone it was.

once i finished all of the laundry, i sat down on the couch. i had been going for about three hours, and definitely felt the toll it was taking on my body.

i turned on FRIENDS and grabbed a heating pad from a bin in my living room. i placed the pad on my upper back and groaned at the heat.

before i knew it, i was dead asleep.

SPENCER'S POV

i didn't buy it.

she never gets sick, and when she does it's like she's dying. she doesn't laugh when she's sick, and her voice wasn't as nasally.

don't get me wrong, something was obviously wrong with her, but she wasn't sick sick. maybe another sick.

what else would cause her to cancel plans with me? she's never done that before.

although, there was one time where she mentioned her needing to go to the doctor for a consult about a cyst. maybe it was the cyst?

wait... her uterus. the cyst was on her uterus.

we were on a case a couple months back, and this unsub was hard to track down. when we managed to figure out where he was, she ended up having to chase him down. she had to run a mile for at least 7 minutes before actually getting him. he was only 25 and was an exercise fanatic.

after catching the guy and bringing him in she had a hard time hiding her discomfort. even at the station, abut an hour later, she was still grabbing her lower stomach in pain. when i asked her what was wrong she told me about the cyst and where it was.

although, the cyst never really affected her energy level since then. she was able to go out on cases and perform perfectly fine.

the only thing that it could've been would be her- ohhh!!

oh...

i should get her something. food. she loves food.

she's probably in a lot of pain right now because of that. she shouldn't have to handle that pain 24/7. she was so sweet, and caring, and generous, and loving, and undeserving of any sort of discomfort.

to be honest, i've had the largest crush on her since after she joined the BAU. who wouldn't?

she's such an amazing person. just being around her lightens my mood. not to mention her beauty. don't get me wrong, i absolutely love her mind and everything about her personality, but the beauty she beholds is beyond anything i've ever encountered. then again, maybe the feelings i have for her boost that beauty in my eyes.

it was that beauty that kept me quiet. why would someone with beauty as ethereal as hers even look at a guy like me? it's like she's not meant for this world. she's too good for this world.

i'm in too deep now to share my feelings. i would do anything to keep her light in my life, even if that meant keeping all my love for her bottled up.

my heart ached at the thought of her in pain that i can't help her subside. the least i could do is be there for her.

i quickly grabbed my keys- yes, that's right. i'm driving for her. what kind of man am i?- and headed out of my apartment.

i went to the grocery store and picked up some of her favorites, dark chocolate, mint chip ice cream, kale chips, and... chinese. she loves chinese, so surely that's what she's craving. if she doesn't want it i would gladly get her whatever it is she does want.

i would give her the entire world if i could.

after picking the items up, i made my way to her place and pulled her key out of my pocket after she didn't answer my knock the first couple times. We had both decided to give each other a copy of our keys for safety purposes, result of me becoming the designated driver after a girl's night out gone wrong.

long story short, all the girls left with someone, leaving Y/N stranded at a heavily populated bar. if the girls weren't drunk when they left then i know i would've scolded them for leaving her in such danger. hell, they were FBI agents and left a friend who wasn't in her right mind alone in the middle of the night.

the only reason i was able to pick her up was because she drunkingly called me, slurring her words together. that's a story for another time.

i held the bags in one hand and the chinese food under my arm while i unlocked the door and quitely walked in. i saw her laying down on the couch, looking so peaceful.

SECOND PERSON

spencer looked at you as you slept. he noticed the heating pad laying on your back as your face was partially smushed from the couch. he'd never seen anything so adorable.

he pushed a strand of hair out of your face as he gently tapped your shoulders to wake you. you squinted at him in confusion for a second before you finally spoke.

"spencer? wh-what're you doing here?" you questioned him in disbelief.

you had no idea why he was here. you had told him you couldn't go out, right?

"me being the amazing profiler i am figured out what was actually wrong," he gloated. "i brought your favorite snacks and came with chinese food. if you want something else i could always go back out and-"

"did you drive?" you squeaked.

"why wouldn't i? you're in pain right now, that's the least i could do to somehow help you," he gushed.

you felt tears pricking your eyes at his confession. how could someone be so selfless and kind as to put themselves though something they hate doing for you?

"hey-hey, what is it?" he worriedly questioned.

"i-it's just... th-that's so sweet, and nice, and you hate driving, and you're such an amazing person, and i don't deserve you," you sniffled out, the tears flowing past my eyes as you sat up on the couch to give him a place to sit.

He grabbed the heating pad that fell off your back and set it on the coffee table before wiping your tears. His arms wrapped around your shoulders as you lightly cried into his shirt for a few minutes before pulling back.

"sorry about your shirt," you whined.

"don't worry about it. and i truly think it's me who doesn't deserve you, Y/N," he said softly. "now, let's dig into the food. i'm actually hungry right now, i had to smell it the entire way here and it's been taunting me ever since," he said seriously, eliciting another laugh out of you. "oh! there she is! i love hearing your laugh," he smiled.

"oh, you're just saying that," you waved him off as he feigned offense with a loud gasp.

"are you accusing me of lying, Y/N? i'm terribly offended," he shot his hand over his heart in an attempt to mock pain as he groaned.

"i would never, spencie," you taunted with a smirk before getting an actual cramp.

your face contorted slightly in pain as you bent over in an attempt to ease the discomfort. it felt like someone was stabbing your entire lower stomach and punching you all at once. the pain and sudden movement made your head begin to throb intensely, so you didn't know where to put your hands. your stomach or head? you chose stomach.

spencer felt horrible as he watched you go through such pain.

"what hurts, Y/N/N? let me help you," spencer pleaded.

"head. really bad," you groaned.

he got behind you as his hands found your temples and began massaging them gently, being able to subside the pain pulsing in your head. while your stomach still hurt, the pain became bearable again, allowing you to sit up and face spencer. he saw that your eyes were full of tears once again and his arms flew around you.

he hated that you had to go through that... every month too? your pain tolerance has always been high, something spencer learned after you got shot in the thigh and didn't even shed a tear, so he knew the fact that tears were in your eyes had meant the pain had to be terrible.

"food?" he said softly, you nodded eagerly, still being wary of the headache.

he went into your kitchen and put away the ice cream, chocolate, and kale chips before getting the chinese. he grabbed you a water bottle from your fridge before exiting the kitchen and sitting beside you on the couch.

"why didn't you tell me they were this bad?" spencer wondered.

"i didn't want you to worry, or see me like this," you shrugged.

it was true, you hated anyone seeing you hurt or weak. you prided yourself on being tough and strong enough to withstand most things. the fact that a measly monthly period was breaking you hurt your ego more than you'd like to admit.

for spencer, he didn't care. the only thing he wanted to do was make sure you were okay and be there for you when you weren't. he was determined to help you through this time. it made him feel... important. he enjoyed caring for others as it gave him a sense of purpose.

"Y/N, i don't care what state you're in. i always enjoy seeing you. and i'm always here to help you. asking for help makes you stronger than you'd think," he soothed you.

one thing you loved about him was that he always had a way with words. he was able to make you feel safe in the most dangerous situations, calm in the most chaotic, comfortable in the most destitute, and all with words.

you ate your food rather quickly after realizing you hadn't eaten all day. you were unashamed of eating that much, too. you'd become so comfortable with him over the years that you didn't feel embarrassed over something as routine as eating as you normally would with others.

after spencer finished eating he insisted on cleaning up rather than you do it yourself.

and to think, you thought you couldn't fall deeper in love with the man and here you were, falling deeper the longer he stayed.

little did you know that spencer was already madly in love with you.

he came back and sat beside you gently, looking at you with the utmost adoration that you couldn't see since you were back to being doubled over in pain.

"let's get you laid down, hmm?" spencer suggested as he gently rubbed your back.

"mhmm," you agreed, sitting up far too quickly. your back shot out in pain as you tried to straighten out, bringing a groan to your lips and causing you to twist your torso in an attempt to avoid any more hurt. "i guess i can just stay here," you said, resuming the doubled-over position.

spencer wanted to cry himself seeing you so defeated. you were the most strong-willed person he knew and here you were, giving up on something. he wouldn't let that happen.

"you'll be more comfortable in the bed. i'll carry you since you can't get up, okay?" spencer suggested.

you hummed in defeat as he swiftly scooped you up, leaving your body folded up as you swung your arms around his neck. he laid you down on the bed gently as you groaned at your back stretching out.

"turn over on your stomach," spencer ordered.

"wh-what? why?" you wondered.

"you'll see when you do it, ms. stubborn-pants," he teased.

you groaned and flopped onto your stomach, reaching to cuddle the pillow your head was resting on. spencer secretly wished he was that pillow.

his hands fell onto your back, applying light pressure right between your shoulder blades.

"ohh, this is what you were gonna do," you hummed in content as his hands continued to work their magic. he gathered your hair and pulled it to the side as he worked his way up to your neck. "ugh that feels amazing, spence," you groaned.

spencer huffed a laugh at your enthusiasm, him being happy that he can subside some of your pain. if doing something as simple as giving you a massage made you happy, he was happy.

spencer worked his hands back down to your shoulders and worked out nearly every single knot on your back. you felt your breathing slow from the relaxation and didn't even realize how good of a distraction your hands on her body were. if only you could massage my boobs, you thought with a laugh.

"umm... what?" spencer questioned.

"hmm?" you questioned, suddenly realizing that you had said that out loud. "i didn't say anything," you said, your voice raising an octave as you spoke.

spencer knew what he had heard, but decided to drop it to make you more comfortable.

"right, sorry," he said with a smile. maybe you did have feelings for him.

he continued the massage and noticed you were asleep after about ten more minutes. He sighed as he watched your hair move with each breath you took. he relished in the fact that he helped you achieve something, that he was useful for something.

"god, i love you so much," he whispered. "i love you so much, i don't even think i could tell you how much i truly love you."

you were awake. you heard him. you heard every word. you were in that weird between stage when you weren't really asleep, but you weren't necessarily awake either.

"i love you too, spencer," you spoke.

spencer shot up at your words, realization hitting him as you stirred in what he assumed was your sleep. you rolled over onto your back and looked into his eyes.

"i love you so, so much, spence," you smiled, noticing the shocked look on his face.

"y-you do?" he babbled.

"of course i do. how could i not?" you quipped, noticing his utter nervousness.

"i-i can't believe it. you love me?"

"how many times do i have to say it? i love you, spencer reid. i love you," you said as the shocked expression on his face turned into one of pure happiness and joy.

"i love you, Y/N Y/L/N. i've loved you for so long..." he trailed off, bringing your body into his arms.

"and fyi, i mean the romantic way if you didn't catch that," you joked.

"good because that's exactly how i meant it," he said, pulling back to look at you once again. "ca-can i kiss you?" he asked as his hands were balanced on the back of your neck.

you nodded eagerly before his lips crashed into yours passionately as you placed your hands on his face. the feeling of his sharp jawline with his scruffy facial hair something you've been wanting to feel against your skin for far too long.

spencer tugged gently at your hair, bringing a soft moan to your lips, allowing his tongue to enter your mouth gingerly. he was immediately granted dominance as you allowed his tongue to travel into your mouth, investigating it thoroughly.

you were both in a state of euphoria as you delved into each other's presence in a new manner. both of you knew this discovery would change your relationship, but you had both gone through every scenario in your minds in the many years' past.

you finally pulled back at another sharp pain in your uterus.

"ouchhh," you grimaced.

"are you okay? what can i do?" he wondered eagerly.

"just cuddle with me?" you asked with pleading eyes.

"of course i can," he smiled.

he moved up to the headboard and laid his head on one of your pillows after getting underneath the covers. after he opened his arms, you rested your head on his chest and threw one arm over his torso, interlacing your legs underneath the sheets. he brought one arm around your waist as the other drew you closer across your shoulders. You nestled your head into his neck and inhaled his comforting scent.

"you smell good," you giggled.

"thank you," he laughed at your compliment.

"spencer?" you asked.

"yea, Y/N?"

"you're my pain reliever."

[emtornado]

Miraculous but make it Squid Games

Inspired by https://www.instagram.com/p/CUm02T7BCGr/?utm_medium=copy_link

Do I know why I keep making Miraculous posts? Nope. But here we go with another one~

(Also this takes place in Korea cuz I don't know any French children's games and didn't wanna complicate my own life so just roll with it)

Let’s introduce our characters first.

Marinette Dupain Cheng— A French student studying fashion in Korea who has lost all her money and is in severe debt.

Adrien Agreste— Marinette’s friend from France, and a former model who left his father and his company behind to travel the world ending up in Korea where he gets a very interesting offer.

So let’s start with the fact that there are obviously no miraculouses here. Both were two normal students who used to be friends but drifted apart, not even knowing that the other was in the same country, years later.

Marinette, who used to study in Sungkyunkwan University, is completely broke and the only reason she could afford school is because of her parents. Now, with a degree and no jobs (Korea is hard to foreigners, and even after years, that’s what she is to everyone), she's lost all motivation in life. Her sketchbooks, once full of life, now lie empty.

At her lowest moment, Marinette sits at a subway and contemplates what to do with life when a dude comes and offers her money, and all she has to do is play a Korean game. Ending with a stinging cheek and 40,000 won in her hands, the man offers her a card and tells her to think. She gets a lot of money, and all she has to do is play some games.

On the other side, we have Adrien. Adrien, who is more like Chat— confident, witty and VERY flirty. He left his father’s house when he was 18 and has been travelling ever since. He and Nino went to the states, travelled Europe by car, went to India (cuz yes) and currently makes a stop in Korea, where he is approached by a man. This man asks them if they’re up for a job, where they gets a decent amount of money and all he has to do is follow the rules and keep his mouth shut.

Adrien has experienced many things in his life so far, and his money supply is depleting. Thinking of this as some drug shit, he agrees and signs the contract (fucking idiot. After staying with his father and being a model for so long he should’ve known to at least read things properly smh). Seeing him, Nino does too.

Fast forward to the very first game. Adrien has been training for almost a month now and has a little idea of what he’s working for here.

He knows not to ask any questions, to only take the head mask off when he’s in his room and do whatever the man in the black mask tells him to.

He doesn’t ask a single question cuz he’s seen what happens to those who do. What happened to Nino, as his best friend’s brains splattered all across his mask. (sorry, but like. People had to die.)

When the participants play their first game, he doesn’t even flinch at the absolute massacre happening on his screen. He thinks about how nothing can faze him anymore when he catches sight of two pigtails on the screen. Two pigtails that look almost blue under the sun’s glare.

And that is when his stomach DROPS.

Let's yeet back to Marinette. Our sis is dying inside but she WILL NOT die outside. She came here for the money and now she has a greater motivation to survive— her life.

She is the last person in the game— number 467, and all that goes on in her head as three people beside her are shot due to the creepy doll’s eyes is the fact that she will remain the last one standing. It’s not about the money anymore, it’s about survival.

After the first game, when given the option, she presses her hand on the cross without a second’s hesitation.

As she makes her way home, she is relieved, that the torture is over.

And then she meets Adrien.

Back to Adrien. When all the participants head back, he uses two of his precious leave days from this fucked up organisation to track Marinette and meet her. When they do, they fucking collide cuz he saw her almost die and she almost died. They have reason to cling onto one another shush.

And then Adrien tells her. He tells her everything. He tells her what is happening, how many people have died, how Nino had died, and how he needs her help to shut all this down.

Marinette runs away. She doesn’t wanna be there. And then she starts looking at all the chats and pictures of her and Nino. How he was one of her very first friends. And so she goes back to the same cafe and meets Adrien again.

They make a plan. They will make sure she survives, for which she will need allies in the game (not outside the games, cuz she will always have him there).

And so armed with knowledge, Marinette goes back into the game and meets a naïve Korean man who teams up with everyone, a bitch who will survive somehow (and will kill anyone to do so— yes I mean Lila) and a young man who seems so fucking familiar.

And so the games go on and Marinette keeps surviving. And as that happens, she starts to spend her nights in a secluded area with Adrien, where they talk, they reminisce and they find a reason to live in each other.

And then the marble game happens. She partners with the boy, Luka, who turns out to be another face from back home. She partners with him because she trusts him and she is afraid nobody else will partner with him because of the growing bloody wound on his head courtesy of the thugs trying to kill him.

Adrien is the guard assigned to her and Luka, and he watches as Luka slowly and steadily grows more and more out of it and Marinette starts full-on sobbing. Right when the time is about to end, Luka gives his marbles to Marinette and begs her to survive this game and live, and go back to Paris and tell Juleka about all this, as his final goodbye. He looks her in the eyes with a smile until the very last second when Adrien shoots him.

That night, the VIPs arrive and both Mari and Adrien know that they need to move on with their plan, but they spend the whole night by diving tanks they know won’t be used anymore, cuz the Black Mask Man made an example out of everyone who tried to betray him. Marinette is curled into Adrien and in the silence, she vows to end them. That morning (night?) when they are sneaking back, they come into contact with one of the black-masked dudes who would serve the VIPs and Adrien knocks him out and switches outfits.

He kisses Marinette before making his way to the VIP chamber.

Imagine his surprise when after almost half a decade he hears his father’s voice behind the mask of a man wearing an elaborate gold butterfly headset.

He watches in rapt attention as Marinette thankfully chooses number 15, with Lila right in front of her. Now we don’t like Lila (here specifically) because after Tug of War she started to turn people against Marinette, because of whose strategy their team won the game. Marinette was almost killed by many of the thugs in the nighttime because of Lila, and when there’s 30 seconds left and one step left to be determined, Marinette pushes Lila off one and scores victory for her and number 16, Alya Cesaire. (Who is in Korea for journalism internships or some shit and got roped into this because of lack of money, and became Marinette’s greatest ally)

They both know that one of them will die at the end, and so Marinette tells Alya of hers and Adrien’s plan to end this thing once and for all, and so they go and play the final Squid Game, where at the end, Alya very convincingly stabs herself, making Marinette the winner.

On the other side of the glass, Adrien, who has gotten the interest of a disgusting old VIP, puts an idea into his head about how the VIPs should really go and really be in the scene and see what has happened, and that old man, fascinated by the idea of being in the zone, convinces his 'friends' that they should go.

And so they all go, surrounding a blood-soaked and sobbing Marinette and start laughing and congratulating her. (cue Gabriel recognising her and being condescending as fuck. Imagine dialogues like "you had so much potential and now are just reduced to this", which cements the fact that he really is Gabriel Agreste).

That is when Adrien, who was escorting them along with the Black Mask, pulls his gun on them, Alya pulls the knife “out” of her and takes the old fat man who liked Adrien hostage and Marinette pulls out her own knife to Gabriel.

They try to make a deal, and when Gabriel almost gets the better of them (cue seggsy fight scene which I don’t have the words to describe rn) Marinette stabs him in the neck.

After threatening the VIPs and getting all of their identities, as well as the black mask dude’s identity, they go to the nearest police station and give all of their gathered evidence.

Due to the physical and psychological trauma and torture faced by Alya and Marinette, as well as part of a settlement plea from the VIPs, they both get all the money.

The two girls plus Adrien fly out to France and reconcile with their families. Adrien and Marinette visit Nino’s family, Juleka and Rose and as many of the people as they can.

The two of them get a small apartment together, unlike the huge mansion that Adrien was left after Gabriel’s death (which he sells and uses the money to be given to all the victim's families)

He also becomes the owner of Gabriel, and with Marinette turns it over into a completely different company (cuz Gabriel was one corrupt bastard)

And so they live happily with weekly therapy sessions and a traumatic, but happy ending.

Gods I need help, I wrote almost 2000 words for this lol. Maybe I'll write this properly someday hahaha.

[royallyprincesslilly]

Title: Distraction {One-Shot}*

Chris Evans x Reader

Warning: Silliness, Cursing, Mild NSFW

Words: 1.9k

Note: So, this came in and I thought this is cute. It got me thinking how this would go down for both Chris and Jason. So, this is for Chris and I’m thinking of doing one for Jason as well. Anyway, I hope I did this right and I hope you guys enjoy this. Thank you, as always for reading!!!❤️❤️

***Loosely Edited/Proofread***

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You were very active on social media. As a model social media really gave you the free exposure that kept your name on everyone’s lips. These days, a girl had to use every tool at her disposal, and social media was a massive tool. Your management team thought it didn’t hurt you, so they allowed it. Of course, there are some things you kept off of social media completely, and sometimes you teased at.

 At the beginning of yours and Chris’s relationship, both of you thought it was a good idea to keep things quiet. You didn’t want the hoopla about being his “new fling,” and he didn’t want you exposed to that kind of negativity. He knew his fanbase was insane. For the first year and a half of your relationship, it was kept so quiet that no one but your families knew what was going on. By the time the public got wind of things, you and Chris had been together for two blissful years.

Today, at almost three years in, your relationship was not a secret. Everyone knew how crazy Chris was about you. He was not quiet about expressing his love for you, and he was not shy about posting pictures or little snippets that were about you. You two were crazy in love and had yet to get out of the honeymoon phase. When you got the message from Scott, you didn’t think anything of it. When you opened the link attached, it brought you to a Tik Tok page.

 The girl was whispering to the camera about doing some sort of prank. She was going to walk into the room naked while her boyfriend was playing video games to see what he would do.  You watched her drop the towel and everything and prance into the room. As expected, it took her boyfriend a whole of ten seconds to look at her and one second for him to drop the controller and approach her. When the video ended, that started your descent down the rabbit hole. You watched video after video of girls and guys doing the same thing.

 Almost all the videos of the girls doing it ended just as how you’d expect. The videos of the guys doing it were mostly met with giggles, but a few you could guess what happened after the screen darkened. Thus started your wheels. You spent the next ten minutes trying to come up with a plan. You didn’t need a reason to be naked in your own house, but you wanted optimal results. You could pretty much imagine what was going to happen. You got on IG and posted a quick live.

 “Hey guys it’s your girl Y/N. I hope you guys are well. So, I just got sent a video from one of my favorite humans on this earth, and it gave me a wonderful idea. I’m bored, and you know what they say idle hands do the devil's work.” You gave a sinister smile.

 “Tune into my Tik Tok for just exactly what I mean. Bye, guys.” You blew a kiss to the camera and ended the video to post it.

 A message came in from one of your friends.

 MSG Simone: What are you about to do now?

MSG: Nothing, just mess with Chris a little.

MSG Simone: That poor man. I know he’s about tired of you during all this free time.

MSG: LOL. 😂 I know you’re right. TTYL.

 As you were finishing up formulating your plan, you scurried downstairs looking through the rooms of Chris and your Boston townhouse. He wasn’t anywhere you expected. When you got to his office there he was behind his desk.

 “Hey beautiful,” Chris greeted with a smile as he reached out for you.

 “Hi, baby.” You approached him and allowed him to wrap his arms around your waist as you sat on his lap. Chris moaned and nuzzled his cheek onto your breast.

 “Perfect attire you have there,” you pointed out, nodding to his half-dressed state. He wore a short-sleeve fitted Henley and his boxer briefs. He snorted.

 “What? I think this is the perfect attire for where we are. Don’t you?” He nudged his hips up, sending his half-hardened member on your ass.

 “Woah, calm down.” Chris trailed kisses along your collar up to your neck and your ear. Once there, he softly nibbled and sucked your earlobe. He was doing such a good job distracting you that you didn’t feel his hand creep underneath your tank top to grip your breast. When he gently pinched your nipple and rolled it between his thumb and pointer, you groaned. With his free hand, he trailed it into the front of your lounge shorts and quickly found your clit.

 “Fuck.” You sighed out and closed your eyes, enjoying the feel of his hands on you. His moan was like a croak, and you knew what he wanted.

 “Nope. I did not come down here for this.” You got off of his lap and took a few steps away.

 “Come on. You’re really gonna say no to this?” He motioned to his lap where he was hard enough to proceed until he reached peak hardness.

 You bit your bottom lip because are you kidding, your man was a whole snack, and he had dinner right before you. Shaking your head, you focused.

 “I’m gonna say no. I wanted to know what you wanted for dinner.”

 “I’m looking at dinner and dessert.” He rose his eyebrows, and you couldn’t help but snort.

 Turning your back, you saw the perfect spot for your phone. Playing it off and knowing his eyes were focused elsewhere, you poked out your ass a little while you planted your phone, ensuring it was recording. When you turned to him, he looked ready to pounce.

 “Fine, since you won’t tell me seriously. I’ll make whatever.”

 With that, you turned and walked out of his office. “I know you want me!” You smiled at his cocky but absolutely true statement.

 When you got back upstairs and calmed yourself down, a message came in from Chris.

 MSG Chris: About to hop on this Zoom with the group. You wanna come join me?

 A wide smile spread across your face. You couldn’t have planned this better.

 MSG: No, I’m going to hop in the shower.

MSG Chris: Ooh, want some company?

MSG: One track mind. Didn’t you say you were getting on Zoom?

MSG Chris: They’d understand. We can reschedule in an hour. What else do they have to do?

MSG: Keep it in your pants. I’ll shower alone. Tell them I said hi.

MSG Chris: Boo!

 This was perfect, you thought. In order to make it a little believable, you answered a few emails and got a little work done in order to pass a little time. After a good fifteen to twenty minutes passed, you got yourself primed and ready by stripping down, grabbing your towel, and just adding a little natural colored lip gloss and making sure your hair looked right. After being pleased with your reflection, you felt the nerves. This could go either way, but you were more than sure he would be embarrassed.

 As you walked down the hall toward Chris's office, your excitement returned. You couldn’t wait to see his reaction. The closer you got, you could hear the voices from the Zoom. You heard Mackie, Pratt, RDJ, Scarlett, Seb, and Hemsworth. They were carrying on as if the zoom was nothing. They were laughing and everything. You also heard the sound of the tv. They were watching some old boxing match. This was a modern-day bro’s fight night and chill. You shook your head.

 Before you walked into his office, you took a few deep breaths and dropped your towel, and walked inside.

 “Aw come on, that was clearly an easy takedown he should’ve--,” Chris paused midsentence and just watched you enter the room. In one hand, he held his beer bottle, and the other was raised in the air to the TV before him.

 “You alright, buddy?” You pinched your lips at RDJ’s inquiry. He sure was not alright.

 “Uh—what’re—what’re you doing?”

 “What?”

 “Is that Y/N?” Scarlett’s excitement fully came through.

 “Hiiiiiiiiiiii,” they all exclaimed in unison. Chris didn’t look as if he were breathing.

 “Come on, dude, let us see her. Don’t hog her all to yourself,” Pratt groaned out. Chris gulped.

 “Nope, you can’t—can’t see her. uh-uh.” You smiled and walked further in going in front of your phone, knowing that the angle wouldn’t show anything.

 “Jesus Y/N.” Chris stood, and everyone on the zoom shouted out.

 “Woah! No one wants to see that!” Hemsworth’s protest was loud.

 “Put that thing away!” Seb mimicked the vomiting sound.

 “What the hell is going on, man!” Mackie just sounded through with all of it.

 You couldn’t conceal your laughter anymore and busted out.

 “Wow, okay, so I’m gonna go, guys. I have some work to do here.”

 “Ewww, work?” Scarlett sounded disgusted.

 “Please mate, we know we’ll see you in ten minutes,” Hemsworth teased.

 Chris dipped down and looked into the camera of his laptop.

 “Ha, that might be how they do things down under, but here in the Evans house, work doesn’t end until me, and my woman are thoroughly drenched if you catch my drift. Later.”

 “Wow, dip on us for some pus—,” Mackie’s sentence was cut off by Chris, closing the laptop and damn near pouncing on you like the predator he was. You screamed and ran out of his office, but you weren’t quick enough before he scooped you up and threw you over his shoulder. You laughed the entire way back to his office.

 “Where you going with all of this running from me?” Chris attacked your neck and dropped his head to your nipple. You moaned and got lost again before you remembered.

 “Wait, wait. My phone.”

 “Nope, you don’t need it. I need your hands free for what I want you to do.”

 “No, Chris, my phone. It’s recording.”

 “What?”

 You pointed to your phone on the ledge underneath the wall mounted tv.

 “Why is your phone there and recording? Did you want to make a video?” He wiggled his eyebrows again, and you laughed again.

 “No! oh my god, it was a Tik Tok thing. Walk in naked while your boyfriend is doing something to see his reaction.”

 Understanding washed over Chris’s face before he laughed.

 “Wow, so this was all a little trick?”

 “Stop recording, or this will turn into a very different video.”

 Chris’s eyes darkened, and he smiled widely. “Guess it’s turning into a whole different video. I’m not stopping anything.”

 You stared at each other, and you could tell he was serious. Chris pushed you back onto the desk and plopped your legs wide open and got to work.

 “Oh, fuck!” One lick and everything fell to the wayside. You could edit it out after all.

[shimmershae]

My thoughts on Episode 12--The Lucky Ones

Yeah.  Spoilers have me not too excited for this one either, I admit.  Maybe that’s at least one of the reasons for the crackdown?  Like Angela knows we won’t tune in if we preemptively find out they boring as hell?  I dunno.  

Anywho.  Starting the ep in 3-2-1.  

As always, placed behind a cut for those of you that would rather escape my babbling, lol.  You’re welcome.  

Okay.  I have to say that I do love how nerdy Real Stephanie, aka Max is. 

I’m tired, though, of glasses being used to denote nerdiness.  Because some of the biggest nerds I’ve ever met (hahaha) don’t wear or need glasses.  The Clark Kent stuff is getting a wee bit old.  So long as they don’t eventually have Max undergo a “glow up” just by removing them and fixing her hair, a la She’s All That, I can overlook it but still.  

Sidenote:  I love Max’s quilt.  Because it’s colorful and pretty and feminine and these characters have long been deprived of those kind of things so it’s nice to actually see it again.  

Mercer busting on up in Max’s room like he did feels more like an uber-overprotective dad move than big brother.  Maybe dude took over the rest of raising her young (baby) adult self when the world fell.  Tbh?  Mercer and Max kind of put me in mind of Connie and Kelly, though I feel the age gap with the latter is more significant.  Are they mirrors of each other?  Interesting to contemplate.  Anyway.  Babbling temporarily over, lol.  Onward. 

“Especially for me and you...”  Okay, though.  Where was Mercer going with that statement?  Is it especially dangerous because it puts their high positions (Commander or whatever of CW soldiers/Pamela’s assistant) in peril?  Or for some other reason?  Like they’re part of or at least sympathetic to the burgeoning Resistance?  

That look Fake Stephanie gave Real Stephanie, aka Max.  Does she know?  Does Lancy already know or at least suspect Max was the voice?  Because dude totally seems like the type to sit on information until he hatches the perfect scheme for it to benefit him.  

I promise.  I won’t call Max Real Stephanie forever, lol.  It’s just a hard habit to break.  

“A day without my son acting like a little asshole.”  LOL.  To dream the impossible dream be just as dangerous as not Pamela.  

Poor Eugene in  his teenage, prepubescent feels as a grown ass 40+ year old man.  Kang really thought let’s do the 40 year old Virgin in the most emotionally traumatic way for this man. I mean.  It could have been worse.  But Eugene feels so betrayed. Ms. Angela has a mean streak a country mile wide don’t she?  

What’s so special about ASZ, Lancy?  With half of my faves vacating it, it’s just some place.  

It makes 100% sense Aaron was the one to stay behind and oversee rebuilding ASZ but I don’t like not having him interacting with everyone else.  Tbh?  It was around the time they started splitting Team Family off in so many groups that my interest in the entire show (separate from my favorites) started to tank.  Just saying.  Because this season is sadly giving me some of those same vibes and making it hard to stay engaged.  Coupled with the lack of any kind of promotion or even connection between the characters that we have long watched and loved together and I feel my initial excitement at seeing how they tie all these threads up into ZA-appropriate bows eroding as I type this.  

“It didn’t matter.”  Daryl’s answer to Mercer when Boss Dude asked him what he did before gives me mixed feelings.  Because on the one hand, I’m loving it because it really didn’t matter.  Who they were burnt away so they could become the people they were always meant to be.  But on the other hand?  I’m just as curious as Mercer as Zach as everybody else and actually hope we find out more about Daryl’s past as he and Carol pursue their future because I feel there’s some real good, meaty stuff there for NR and MMB to slay us with and bury our damn bodies, lol.  

I don’t recall Daryl being that big a fan of Deanna but I guess time and maturing your viewpoint is what hindsight is all about.  

Interesting that Pamela said she wasn’t interested in politics at that time when I had HER pegged as a politician from birth.  

Finally.  Something that makes actual sense.  EZ’s right hand man Jerry actually being his literal right hand man, lol.  

Lancy must have been mega impressed with our girl to move EZ all the way to the front of the line and pay off his bill.  The power she has.  

Ofc, Jerry is ecstatic.  I love it.  <3

Pedicures during the ZA.  Imagine that.  

Nothing against Rachel.  But did they ever satisfactorily explain WTF happened with Cyndie and why Rachel ascended to leadership?  All I’m asking for is a little continuity.  If it makes actual sense?  All the better.  They waste so much expository dialogue to fabricate wholeass friendships and other relationships out of thin air but don’t bother to use it to explain where the hell people disappear to if they’re not canonically dead.  I just don’t get it.  Angela, girl.  Sometimes I question your priorities.  Especially when you’d rather feed the trolls for the sake of feeding them instead of informing the rest of us watching the actual show and not rewriting it into fanfic in our heads where so many previously established characters just up and disappeared to.  

On a related note, where the hell was Oceanside when ASZ was starving?  Make this shit make sense.  Please and thank you.  

Is Aaron really that much bigger than Lancy?  LMAO.  I mean.  I know he’s definitely the “bigger” man but literally too?  

Damn, y’all.  Even that Daryl/Maggie hug was more intense and intimate than THAT hug.   NR really demonstrating the difference amongst friendly hugs (Connie + Kelly), family hugs (Maggie), and forever (SOULMATE, I mean Carol) hugs and people be sleeping on the man’s work big time.  

C’mon.  Subconsciously, you know they have to KNOW.  

Did Lydia go back to Hilltop because she felt a connection with Henry there because when has she shared more than 10 words with Maggie?  And when were they more than civil?  Because Maggie was pretty distrustful of her in the past so I’m not seeing the draw for my girl in going back to Hilltop.  Unless she just felt uncomfortable with CW helping rebuild ASZ and didn’t feel like it was “home” anymore without Daryl and Carol there.  

“When do I ever?”  More proof Daryl is playing this CW system solely for the kids’ sakes because you know he ain’t trusting them far as he can throw ‘em.  

Pamela Milton acting like she’ s on some type of safari hunt has me LOL.  I don’t know if I’m supposed to or not, though.  

Pamela’s either a super slick politician or just innately savvy enough to press Maggie’s buttons.  Probably both.  I’m thinking both.  

The self-proclaimed king is dwelling in poverty.  No wonder he’s questioning things.  I mean.  To go from a kingdom of admirers to one real admirer in Jerry and an ex that’s on a mission .  Ouch.  

Took 20 fucking minutes for my girl to show up.  Do better, Angela.  Not everybody has the patience of Job waiting for the best part of the show to commence with her arrival.  

How is MMB so freaking beautiful?  What damn show are the ageist haters watching because she is gorgeous?  

“Because I don’t want you to die.”  Carol’s never wanted any of them to die.  This is nothing new or even all that special in case some people want to pretend it is, lol.  Just saying.  Her facial expression though, lovelies.  LMAO.  The unspoken but blatant WTF still has me rolling.  Like, is EZ more offended that she circumnavigated around a corrupt system and “cheated” on his behalf?  Or that she did it and shows no signs of throwing herself into his arms and declaring her everlasting romantic love?  That she did it simply because it’s the kind of thing she’d do for anybody she’s ever cared for?  

Sorry.  Sorry.  I’m being unfair.  But dude is 100% aware there’s nothing there for them as a couple, you can tell.  And I think part of his attitude toward her stems from that knowledge.  

“...for her shitty son.”  LMAO.  Tell us how you really feel, Carol.  

Cue the overzealous, performatory CZers jumping all over the lesser man commentary in 3-2-1.  He still ain’t the man of honor she’s been looking for since Season 2.  In deed and everything else?  That man is Daryl Dixon but some people are never gonna be ready for that conversation.  

Against my will, I’m actually, I wouldn’t say liking Pamela, but I would admit to falling deeper into intrigue over what makes her tick.  That’s all thanks to the actress, I’m sure.  

Beautiful shot of Eugene in front of that body of water.  But can somebody, anybody please, PLEASE take a pair of scissors to that rat tail hanging from his head?  Because it vexes me so, lol.  

Aww.  Rosita stopping by with Coco.  I have really grown to be touched by this friendship.  I’m not gonna pretend I haven’t.  

I know she don’t want that baby’s stroller close to the edge of that pier but it doesn’t sit right with me that Rosita is relaxed enough at the CW to have her literally positioned at her back.  Like, is it bringing up any of the same feelings in anybody else or just me?”

“Pretty damn good at everything you do, Rosita.”  Aww, Eugene will always have her on a pedestal, won’t he?  

It’s not that he’s wrong exactly but Rosita’s expression says she thinks he’s given her too much credit and yet?  She’s touched.  

Rosita being excited about the future makes me worry she won’t have one because this damn show has given me major PTSD and trust issues.  

I’m refraining from d’awwing again but I do love what the Rosita/Eugene friendship has grown into.  Rosita is so sweetly supportive of him that it gives me major feels.  

I almost didn’t recognize Dianne without her armor.  Especially with her hair down.  

Other than the Henry connection, seriously, somebody help me understand why Lydia threw her lot in with Maggie because I’m blanking on when they’ve ever shared more than a semi-friendly scene.  

Sweet hug between Lydia and Daryl.  I was wondering when or if they were even gonna acknowledge each other.  

Lydia asking Daryl how to know when to walk away feels multifold.  Like not just from trying to fix a broken community but a broken relationship (with somebody that feels broken) too.  

Daryl asking Lydia if that (walking away) is what she wants to do felt like a concerned guardian going “oh shit, you gonna make me worry about you, too?”  LOL.  No.  Seriously.  Season 11 Daryl is all about choices.   You’re not gonna convince me that Lydia bringing up that question didn’t lead his mind back to Carol.  For reasons.  

Why is Hershel wearing Mercer’s hat/helmet thingy making me think of Spaceballs?  LMAO.  Glad they finally showed the little dude because I was starting to think TWD straight up giving all these kids the soap opera treatment.  

Wonder who it was that thought it’d be better for Daryl to be out of his armor for appearance’s sake?  Lancy or Pamela?  

I do enjoy the Daryl/Mercer interplay so more of it, please.  Also?  I enjoyed the fact that Mercer respects Daryl enough to voice a subtle warning about CW.  

“Pineapple on pizza makes no sense.”  Literally the first thing, aside from thinking Carol is an absolute goddess, that me and the self-professed king have agreed upon in ages.  

Okay.  I think smarmy Lancy just overplayed his slimy hand but we’ll see.  

Another quick sidenote:  Mercer is so effortlessly badass and I love him.  

“Everything costs something.”  I’m actually with Maggie on this one.  

“It was an infiltration of the most epic proportions.  He is a snake.”  And Carol’s gonna cut the head off that snake but carry on, Eugene.  

Eugene is tugging on my heartstrings.  I’m not gonna lie.  

Okay.  Screw it.  Eugene and Max are cute in their nerdy way.  I wouldn’t be opposed to seeing more of them.  But not at the expense of more Carol scenes because GD.  Somebody remind Angela who her female lead fucking is.  

Judith sending Hershel candy was sweet but what about her forgotten BFF Forever Gracie?  

So.  Pamela knows Lancy’s a snake, too.  Is this a case of it takes one to know one or?  Who is the bigger evil here?  The devil you know or the one waiting in the wings?  

Interesting preview but again no Carol that I could see and they’re introducing yet more new characters.  I’m tired AF of this.  If they hadn’t completely pushed their female lead aside in 11A for the other newb group Kang was deadass determined to push down our throats, it would be one thing.  But it’s developing into (or revisiting) a shit ass pattern I hate so nah.  

Let’s see what Angela’s explanation points hold for us, shall we?  

Very moral person, huh Angela?  As opposed to Carol who’s what?  You know what?  Fuck the implications of that statement and editing, intended or unintended.  Dude is not some moral paragon.  He’s fallible and human and humanly selfish.  Trying to pretend otherwise, to whitewash the only non-caricature personality points he has?  Does not do him any favors.  Just saying.  

Carol’s always right.  We been knew.  

Pamela added to the list of those impressed by Maggie.  Like, we get it, Angela.  You keep telling us Maggie’s the greatest but is she?  Is she really?  Have her actions demonstrated it?  I still retain some meassure of affection for the character but damn you’re laying it on thick. 

These fools might be impressed with Maggie but they’re never in a million years gonna see Carol coming so.  I know who I find more impressive and it’s not the character you’re using a buttload of other characters to tell me they’re impressive.  

Thing is?  I want to be on Maggie’s side and embrace her return so bad (for nostalgia and Glenn-related reasons) but the blatant ass kissing at this point REEKS of shit so it’s a no for me right now, dog.  

Overall impressions?  

I enjoyed the episode much more than I anticipated because it kept me engaged and you know why it kept me engaged?  

Because every spoke of the story had a link to our long-term characters, be it Daryl on the mission with the CW’s political leaders, Aaron overseeing ASZ’s reconstruction, Maggie highlighting Hilltop’s struggles, Eugene and Rosita touching base as he navigated the perils of love and betrayal at the CW, and the Carol of it all and her desire to fix other “broken” things with EZ’s flagging health.  

Don’t get me wrong.  Last week wasn’t terrible.  I really do have a soft spot for Eugene, I like Connie and I love Princess, and any time Carol is playing superspy I am there.  But it  honestly didn’t feel like TWD and not just because of the tone.  Because of the choice of characters not as firmly rooted in my heart and imagination as Carol and Daryl and the other long-timers.  

The superheroine sisters are great but they are supporting characters at best.  Eugene, by default, is what I consider a long-term main character but without the anchor of other similar characters, his character suffers somewhat.  

Essentially, last week felt like they played us the B-side of one of Princess’s records and while it had some merit and enjoyment factor, there’s a reason it’s not on the A-side.  You lovelies get me?  

LOL.  

Anyway.  

I’m not too inclined to sit my ass up waiting for next week’s ep either so who knows when you’ll next get these rambling thoughts nobody much cares about, lol.  

Until next time.    

[colderthancoldest]

The Perfection in Imperfection

Read on Ao3 Here!

Summary: It's the heist of the century- the 61rd century to be exact-

Or at least it WOULD have been if everything hadn't gone terribly wrong.

It feels like this is all your fault, however the Master knows there are more important things than a scheme going according to plan.

Prompt: "You hate me for that." "I don't hate you."

Pairing: Dhawan!Master x Reader

Rating: G

Word Count: ~3k

Other: fluff, emotion hurt comfort, hugs, wholesome, this was a request

(I hope this formats okay. Just tell me if it doesn’t lol) Enjoy <3

~~~~~

Days- weeks- of planning, preparation, reconnaissance, and every other synonym under the sun- all lead up to this moment.

It's a scheme like no other. A scheme involving a crashing government bringing the planet to a grinding halt as a distraction from what would be the greatest scheme of the 61st century.

Or, more accurately, what would have been.

It had taken ages to set up every detail just right. To calculate the change of guards on the craft you're about to help rob amidst all the chaos, to collect all the right keycards and make it through the security doors, to arrange the right uniforms and covers and information.

And at the last second-

You choked.

You were inside. Everything was going swimmingly. The military ship of riches and highly coveted intel galore was nearly within your grasp.

You only needed to flip a few switches to unlock a door for the others on your team when-

"What are you doing?" someone stops you forcefully.

The voice belongs to a guard. An armed guard.

There wasn't supposed to be anyone else down here in the massive ship's tiny radio room. You and the Master have combed over every detail of this elaborate scheme.

No one else is supposed to be here.

You freeze. You should be prepared to lie- but your mind is too caught up in following the pre-arranged series of events to remember what you're supposed to say if reality deviates from the script.

"Ch-Checking the- What's it called?" you fumble.

The guard immediately hits the alarm. It's sharp, and quick, and their angry military-taught voice threatens you harshly.

You're too afraid to move.

Just like that, it's all over.

You didn't realize the world could crumble so fast.

The team assembled to pull off this job shatters before they're meant to, each racing away out of self preservation. A few get away with a small handful of the many treasures, but you're no longer able to steal the entire ship from under the captain's nose as you had planned to. It's a mad scramble as everyone retreats before they can be taken alive.

They run- and you barely evade capture yourself- and suddenly it's over.

 When you get back to the Master's Tardis, he's already throwing a fit. The whole arrangement is in tatters, months of preparation gone. He has nothing to show for it and his momentary allies will certainly remember this failure.

He shoves all his carefully arranged papers off a nearby table. The blueprints and discarded replicas of security badges crash loudly to the floor. He paces about the main room as he attempts to rationalize what happened.

"Ages of compiling all of this- and not a gemstone to show for it! This is the last time we pull together a crew! I should have known we were better off doing this ourselves! This is unbelievable-" he shouts to the open air.

You simply look to the floor.

"It's my fault," you say quietly.

He spins on his heel to look at you. His head tilts, and he takes a step towards you.

"How?" he asks sharply.

He never talks to you that sharply, he never snaps at you the way he snaps at other people- but he does today.

You rub your arm with one hand.

"I... choked," you confess. "Someone was there that shouldn't have been there and... And I froze."

You immediately regret saying that. It's no excuse. It's not even a good explanation.

All this time traveling, and this is what messes you up? It's pathetic. This is entirely on you and you know it.

"You-" the Master nearly begins to shout- and then abruptly stops.

You don't have the nerve to look at him as he marches away. You keep your eyes on the floor and do your best not to show how heavy the guilt is.

It feels like you're standing there forever as the Master reaches for one of the papers littered about on the floor and picks it up.

He then trails off down one of the halls. You flinch a little as you hear him yell in the distance and the echo rings down the long halls.

You're not certain what to do as you wait. You're not certain what to do at all. You're still in shock that this could all fall apart so quickly. You aren't sure what to do next.

You wait, and eventually he comes back. He's grumbling to himself as he makes a lap about the main room.

"I can't believe this. I thought I had accounted for everything! I should have prepared for the unpredictable. Maybe I should have sent in someone else-" his harsh tone hisses to himself.

You suddenly interrupt.

"I know! Okay?" You nearly yell, tears brimming in your eyes, "I know I messed up! I know you must hate me for it-"

The Master turns to you, and something new is on his face. His brows press together somewhere between surprise and confusion. He marches briskly over to where you're standing halfway between the center of the room and the front doors.

You lift your head to face him, and stare him down boldly even as tears splash down from your eyes. They fall silently as you stand your ground.

"Just please, don't yell at me," you request firmly. "Whatever you have to say, I already know. I'm well aware that I messed this up."

His expression twists again.

You flinch as he raises a hand, an old fearful reaction, but he simply presses his palm carefully to your jaw and brushes away your tears with his thumb.

"I don't hate you," he says softly.

His eyes flicker all over your face as he examines you and waits for his words to sink in. He waits for you to believe that they're true.

You stare into his caring, concerned, and worried eyes and you slowly realize that you do believe him.

"I could never hate you," he says gently.

He takes a deep breath and forces himself to calm down. He shakes his head in dismay and looks to the paper in his other hand for a moment before he lifts his eyes to meet yours.

"I only meant that I should have accounted for there being strays about the ship. I should have taken unforeseen circumstances into account, and sent in one of the mercenaries ahead of us to check that the coast was clear.

I'm only angry that I should have been more thorough. This isn't on you."

You shake your own head, now more insistent.

"But it is. I should have known what to do.

But the guard was armed and I- I was scared-"

The Master discards the paper immediately. It floats lazily to the floor somewhere to the side. The Master instead moves his hands to your shoulders, his entire focus on you and you alone. In a second, he's already forgotten all about the failed theft.

"They threatened you?! Are you alright?!" he questions. His voice is gentle, but firm. He's clearly far more angry about the prospect of someone hurting you than anything else.

You chuckle a little and brush away another stray tear with the back of your hand.

"Yeah," you force a smile. It's always nice to know he cares.

"Of course I am. I'm just sorry I messed up the mission."

"It's not your fault," he assures you unequivocally. "You couldn't have known. We'll be more prepared next time," he promises wholeheartedly.

You give a small nod. "Right."

He flashes a reassuring smile, but there's still worry in his eyes. He pauses for a brief moment to think it over.

Then he suddenly grins.

"I have an idea," he promises, his eyes lighting up dangerously.

His usual energy comes flooding back and you can't not laugh at the way he's beaming away.

"Plan B. How about we enact Plan B?" he askes playfully.

"What's plan B?" you chuckle.

He's doing this on purpose, to cheer you up. You can see it in the way he acts and the way he peppers in that dramatic little swing to his voice.

"Plan B is my favorite anyway," he grins. "It's a way to get half the loot and revenge- all in one swoop! Plus the light show."

"Light show?" you chuckle.

He only grins. It's clearly exactly what he wanted you to ask.

The Master takes your hand, carefully, and only moves once he feels you squeeze his hand in return.

"Enough Ocean's 11- let's take the easy way out and call it a day."

 It's night. The next night.

The Master wound time forward to this moment for a very special reason.

The massive, reinforced tank of a cruise liner is floating innocently beside the docks.

Nearly everyone has gone home for the night and the ship is locked up tight. The only guards are the ones watching down from nearby spotlight towers.

You take a seat at the doorway of the disguised Tardis, and the Master soon joins you. The Tardis is hovering in the air a safe distance away, overlooking it all.

The Master offers you a remote. It's black with a large clear case overtop, covering the large buttons.

"What does this do?" you ask curiously as you take the remote. You turn the cold metal and glass around in your hands.

"Harmless revenge for one. But a means to complete our mission for another."

He waves a hand at the large red button.

"Feel free to do the honors," he insists warmly.

Knowing him, you already have an idea of what the button will do.

You look down at the massive ship floating below- and press it anyways.

The craft erupts in a fiery explosion fit for an action film. No expense is spared as a ball of flames is shot into the sky and bits of the ship are launched in every direction.

Whatever smoldering chunks of metal are left quickly begin to sink off the edge of the dock. Soon, there's barely anything left above water to see.

You grin.

There is something quite satisfying about erasing your mistake like this. Getting rid of it so completely feels like closure.

You realize you're chuckling and the Master watches you, rather than the explosion, as he smiles. You laugh even more as you realize he's watching you with deeply love-struck eyes.

"What?" You ask.

His gaze flickers away now that your eyes are on him, but his expression doesn't change.

"Nothing," he decides.

He quickly stands up and offers you a hand.

"Let's go get what we came for."

 He takes the Tardis to the ocean floor.

It's not terribly deep where the ship has sunk, but it's depths to which any diver would need an oxygen tank to survive the return trip.

Luckily for you, the Master expands the Tardis shielding to push away the water in the surrounding area. He clears a bubble of air around his Tardis and the water floods away from the nearby wreckage.

It's strange and beautiful beyond belief- to step out onto the sandy ocean floor and look up to see the moonlight sparkling down through the depths as the fish around you continue on their way without a care in the world.

You walk out, unafraid despite the millions of buckets of water suspended overhead.

It's beautiful. Like walking through an aquarium tunnel in the night.

It's easy to forget your fears now that they've quite literally gone down in flames and you're left standing in the beauty of a quiet night under the sea.

"Do you like it? It's a simple enough trick," the Master chuckles.

He strays after you now that the shielding is safely in place.

You beam a bright smile.

"I do. It's beautiful," you reply.

He smiles that soft little grin again, so gentle and bursting with love. It's a good look on him.

He finally tears his eyes away from you as you both approach the wreckage.

The force of the explosion has damaged the usually-impenetrable safes that had been hauling the highest valued items. Uncut gemstones and cases upon cases of nearly-priceless jewelry fall open across the ocean floor.

You pick up a crown among the wreckage and pull as many strings of red and green gemstones over your neck as you can carry. Every time you think that's all, there's more.

There's bags pouring open of partially-melted coins of gold and copper and platinum.

You happily pick up as many as you can carry until your pockets are filled and you're covered in enough jewelry that it's weighing down your shoulders.

You return to see that the Master's been doing the same. You laugh warmly at the sight of him- in 5 different tiaras, strings and strings of pearls draped over him, and multiple diamond rings on every finger.

He turns to the sound of your voice, and laughs warmly at you in return.

"Your highness," he jests with a small bow. One of many tiaras falls off his head.

"Your highness," you joke playfully in return with a duck of your head.

You both look like little kids playing dress up, but it doesn't matter. Nothing went as scripted, but you wouldn't exchange that moment for any other.

You pick up the tiara that fell from the damp ocean sand and return it to the others that sit atop the Master's dark, wavy hair. He laughs as you fit it into place among the several others of its kind.

"It's a good look on you," you comment cheerfully.

And there he goes again. Beaming away at you like you're more beautiful than the bright night sky overhead.

"Maybe we should crash a masquerade next, dressed in all this," he jokes. "Or perhaps a famous royal wedding."

You take his hands and spin him about on your heels.

"Maybe we should become royalty next!" you suggest.

He grins, countless ideas flashing behind those sharp eyes of his.

"I like the way you think," he grins.

You laugh and joke about the treasures as the two of you haul your latest loot back to the Tardis. It takes a bit of time to go through the wreckage of the sunken ship's storage room and pry out as many half-melted bars of precious metals as you can; but metal is metal and you'll still be able to make a pretty penny off of the haul.

It takes time, but you don't mind in the slightest. You have all the time in the universe to spend together.

 Once you're finally done, you both head back for the Tardis.

You're halfway there, still standing in the moonlight streaming in through the waters overhead, when you pause.

"Wait a second," you request.

The Master stops and immediately turns to you. The moonlight through water dances over his shoulders.

"What's wrong?" he asks at your nervous expression.

You only give a reassuring smile.

"Nothing's wrong," you promise. "It's just... this whole thing," you begin to explain.

He pauses and watches you thoughtfully. He can be harsh and jagged at times, but he always tries to be his best self with you. You always appreciate it.

"I just... wanted to say thank you. I know things didn't go as planned, and that I messed it up, but...

You didn't hold it against me. You found a way around it. And I've had a wonderful time with you.

I... don't think there's many people who would have handled this so well and I-

Thank you."

He looks a bit perplexed for a moment, and then he looks... almost... sad.

He steps closer and you move in to hug him. He hugs you tightly in return, almost as if he's trying to make sure you feel safe- almost as if he's trying to protect you.

"I've been the person who's messed up," he explains quietly and simply. "And it just happens. Sometimes through no fault of your own.

That's just the way of the world, to mess up, and I know what that's like to feel like a failure because you made one mistake in an otherwise perfect plan.

That guilt is a terrible thing- and I would never want you to feel that way because of me."

He pulls away from the hug, but stays close. His voice is gentle.

"So we didn't get away with the whole ship. So what? We got enough of what we came for and made the most of it.

All you can do is adapt to the new situation," he explains thoughtfully.

"People who expect perfection... they're never happy and all they do is hurt others when things fail to meet their expectations. So forget all of that. I won't be one of those people."

You give him a moment to settle down, and then hug him again. You bury your face in his shoulder.

"That's quite profound of you," you half-joke.

He smirks.

"Shut up."

There's a brief pause.

"Plus, now we don't have to share the loot," he observes.

You chuckle. That sounds much more like him.

 After a little while of laying on the Tardis floor among the piles of precious metals and gemstones, the Master decides the pair of you should get to have a bit of fun with the treasures of your mostly-successful heist.

You break into a famous celebration full of 23rd century royalty on some distant planet and pretend to be visiting rulers of a far off kingdom.

You dance the evening away- and get involved in a messy barfight when someone calls your bluff.

However, you quickly realize; it's all okay- even as you run, hand in hand, for your lives.

Sometimes this is just the way things go; and it's all perfectly imperfect as long as you're facing it together.

(Please Comment or Kudos on Ao3! Link here)

(More Dhawan!Master x Reader fics here) :)

[baodurs]

i want someone besides me and the 2 friends who know all the lore to meet my detective, but i’m too impatient to let you get to know her via fic so i filled out this questionnaire instead. she is veronica and she is so important, here is some stuff about her if you are interested :’)

QUICK READ OF YOUR DETECTIVE

Name: veronica langford

Pronouns: she/her

Sexuality: bi

Love interest: adam

Best friend: morgan

Main skill: science/technology

Secondary skill: combat/physical

Main personality trait: impulsive

Secondary personality trait: sarcastic

Why did they join the Wayhaven PD?: best use of her science skills

Relationship with Rebecca: not great

Relationship with Bobby: ex, finds it hard to be around him

Verda or Tina?: both! but she’s on verda’s branch

Murphy bite?: wrist

Murphy's fate?: captured

Rescue LI or Rescue Sanja?: sanja

GENERAL

Name: veronica “it’s been 3 years and i never gave her a middle name” langford

Nickname: just veronica. people around wayhaven called her ronny growing up, and a few still do despite her trying to grow out of it. maybe a few people from college and sometimes tina call her v or vee or something.

Birthday: please you all know i am so scared of concrete dates

Age: 26

Pronouns: she/her

Sexuality: bi

Hair color: brown

Eye color: dark brown

Height: 5′10 (178 cm)

Piercings: just one in each ear

Tattoos: something retro sci-fi on her shoulder. not a reference to anything specific, but like a little planetary landscape with a UFO in the background or something.

Clothing Style: casual. lots of tank tops and muscle tees (weather- and occasion-permitting), concert t-shirts, warm colors. flannels and leather jackets. jeans, sneakers, combat boots. think like rocker chick vibes, but cozier and more colorful.

Apartment Style: basic. she really did not plan on living there long and kept putting off decorating because it’d be a waste if she was just going to move out. this rationalization went on so long but since the end of book 1 she has slowly bought a few things to push it towards “cozy,” still pretty sparse though.

STATS

Personality:

Charming | Intimidating

Impulsive | Cautious

Sarcastic | Genuine

Friendly | Stoic

Easygoing | Stubborn

Traits:

Heart | Mind

Optimist | Pessimist

Team Player | Independent

Skills:

Main Skill: science/technology (but mostly science)

Second Skill: combat/physical

By the Book | Bend the Rules

KEY DECISIONS

Reason for joining the Wayhaven PD: best use of her science skills

Murphy bite:  Wrist | Neck | None

Murphy’s Fate: Captured | Escaped

Rescued: Love Interest | Sanja

ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP

Love Interest: adam

Why them?: for veronica it’s kind of retroactive. the way i imagine their True Canon, they don’t have any real romantic moments in book 1, so she doesn’t seriously consider that adam might have feelings for her until well into book 2. (the training scene is when she’s like “oh. ok. i get it now.”) even then it takes a few more chapters for her to really process that, figure out how she feels, and recontextualize everything. like realizing that he loves her and then thinking back on their relationship, knowing that, makes her feel so held (sorry i have no better way to say it) in a way that just makes her want to cry.

to give some actual specific reasons, it’s his dedication and his constancy and hidden care/softness. and his very specific brand of... selflessness might be just left of the word i’m looking for, but hopefully you get me.

Bold, shy, or mixed?: neither! in theory it’s closer to bold, but it’s more just earnest.

What were their first impressions of each other?: disastrous. on top of finding him condescending and unpleasant, there are also a few moments where veronica genuinely wonders whether he’s even a good person. or, like, cares about people. but once she learns the truth of things, a lot of her initial anger gets transferred to rebecca.

adam, with the benefit of knowing what’s actually happening, has a slightly more favorable impression of veronica. yes he thinks she’s difficult and reckless and too emotionally driven, yes she’s making his job absolutely miserable, but he does begrudgingly respect that her accusations are always on the right track and she’s good at her job.

What do they find attractive about each other, mentally or physically?:

for veronica: she loooves his sense of humor. and how much faith he has in the people he cares about. physically, dimples <3. but everything about his smile really. and his nose!

for adam: veronica has a very blunt, unadorned sense of kindness to her that he really loves. the way she is kind before she is nice and values directness. physically, her eyes, they’re deep brown and so expressive.

What do they do to spend time together?: they’re both competitive so anything where they can compete on the same team is fun. (competing against each other is fun too, but also like. exhausting. for them and everyone.) maybe puzzles or other things where it feels like they’re “winning” or solving something together. i have spent an embarrassing amount of thought on veronica and overw*tch esp*rts and she would absolutely make adam learn how to play main tank so they could queue as a tank duo. but most of the time i think they don’t Do specific things together; they just hang out. just talk with each other. perhaps snuggle.

What is their favorite memory together?: in current canon... lol. veronica really just treasures any time adam relaxes around her but those moments always get Ruined. even once they’re well into a relationship, i think veronica’s favorite memory would still be something small like a random time he said something funny and they both laughed together and they were outside and the sky was pretty.

What are their love languages?: acts of service for both of them, but especially adam. veronica... probably lots of words of affirmation and physical touch. they’re both bad at blocking out time for themselves in the first place, so quality time can get neglected especially at first.

How do they handle being apart from one another?: pretty well i think! once they’re in an established relationship at least, before that it’s probably harder. but adam can distract himself with work, and veronica is good at focusing on whatever’s in front of her (whether that’s work or she’s away on vacation or something). if neither of them is too busy, veronica calls every night and they stay on a while, half talking and half just keeping each other company.

Do they argue? How do they handle arguments and disagreements? How do they make up?: i think arguments are fairly rare! yes they’re both insanely stubborn, but they also understand each other pretty well (especially once in a relationship) and are very sympathetic to where the other is coming from. unless both of them are extremely stressed, one of them crumbles when they start genuinely arguing like "i don't want to fight ok, let's take a second."

What does their future look like?: who knows! i haven’t decided whether veronica will turn. i think she probably will, just because i do not want my main pairing for this IF to make me very sad all the time, but like. i’m not fully committing until i see a reason pop up in canon. as of book 3′s final demo, it’s not on her radar at all; she knows she loves adam and wishes they could Talk, but ultimately doesn’t expect or even want a relationship right now (because she doesn’t want to deal with dating one of rebecca’s agents OR with the logistics of being in a committed relationship with an immortal being). it’s just all so foreign to her current state of mind that it’s really hard to say!

Anything else you'd like to share: do you know how hard it was to answer some of these considering veronica wasn’t sure they were even, like, on decent terms for such a large portion of the canon content

BEST FRIEND RELATIONSHIP

Best friend: morgan and farah are essentially joint besties but i’ll go with M

Why them?: i think they appreciate each other’s no bullshit attitude. morgan likes that veronica doesn’t take herself too seriously and respects/relates to the way she tackles problems (quickly, head-on, and without complaint but also without pretending that it doesn’t suck?). veronica appreciates morgan’s bluntness, likes bantering with her, and in general just likes being around people that have quiet/steady presences.

What were their first impressions of each other?: neither of them had much of a first impression honestly. morgan barely thought of veronica at all beyond “she’s annoying,” and kept to herself so much that any dislike veronica had of morgan took a backseat to her dealing with the rest of unit bravo.

What do they do to spend time together?: lots of just sitting in the same room and listening to (low volume) music, veronica spends a lot of time hunting for songs morgan might like. morgan is also her go-to sparring/training buddy. and there are semi-frequent movie nights where veronica shows farah her favorite old shitty B movies, and sometimes morgan will tag along just to sit in the room with them or affectionately talk shit.

Anything else you'd like to share: i’ll talk a little about N! obviously veronica and nate respect, trust, and like each other, but she finds him the hardest of UB to connect with. they’re both people who wear their compassion on their sleeves but keep a lot of their hearts/themselves held back, so they just kind of circle each other, especially since like... nate values politeness and is very sweet in how he relates to people, while veronica values directness and is more jokey/lighthearted to put people at ease. idk how well i’m communicating this; as of the book 3 demo it’s getting easier, but their friendship is still newer/more... nebulous? than the others.

OTHER RELATIONSHIPS (Feel free to go in depth!)

Relationship with Rebecca: so strained. veronica has come to terms with rebecca’s absences throughout her childhood, but there’s newer resentment over... a lot of things, but how she handled the murphy case especially. veronica hates being kept in the dark, and even more than that she hates being rebecca’s priority. it’s difficult to reconcile her childhood and present images of rebecca, and she’s angry that rebecca is so freely and recklessly choosing her, now, to the point of endangering others if she has to, especially when she never felt like rebecca’s choice before. and incredibly frustrated/confused by how often the lines between their professional and familial relationships are blurred and what rebecca actually wants from her.

Relationship with Rook: veronica takes after rook a lot. in stat terms, the only trait they don’t share is stoic, and even then that’s veronica’s least extreme stat. people always told her how like her father she was growing up, and it’s a comparison she took/takes a lot of pride in! she looks up to him based on the stories, but more recently is uncomfortable with the comparisons. veronica would never have even come back to wayhaven if her life panned out as planned, let alone become a detective or joined the agency. that makes her doubt herself, and she feels like that doubt is letting rook down somehow.

rook is also part of the reason her relationship with rebecca isn’t as bad as it could be. she knows that rook loved her, and that he would want his family to be there for each other, so she feels obligated to at least try to make things better. but it’s really hard for her to move past everything to connect with rebecca (which also makes her feel like she’s disappointing rook).

Relationship with Bobby: they were together for a long time and veronica thought she loved him a lot! it was her first relationship, so she wasn’t sure a) what a “bad partner” looked like, or b) how to even be in a relationship or rely on someone in that way. so they spent a lot of time together and had great superficial chemistry, but veronica didn’t have enough experience with not feeling neglected to realize how shallow it was, or notice the red flags when she did occasionally open up. the plagiarism fiasco was a slap in the face, especially because it cost her internships/grad school apps/whatever, i don’t have the details, and forced her to move back to wayhaven after school. she’s still very hurt by it and finds it hard to be around bobby.

Relationship with Verda: due to the above plagiarism fiasco, veronica was pretty depressed when she moved back home, and disliking her job didn’t help. she was extremely jealous when verda was hired and wanted to hate him. but it did not take long for that to crumble into respect/admiration, and eventually into close friendship! verda is a role model for her; they bond over science; they joke easily and have good chill fun. she was really excited to see him piecing together the truth about the supernatural and then devastated to see how he reacted. she feels insanely guilty and thinks it was selfish of her to let him figure it out, but is also cautiously optimistic about making it up to him as of the book 3 demo.

Relationship with Tina: very close! veronica isolated herself when she came back to wayhaven after school, and she is so grateful to tina for being her closest friend and link to the rest of the world during that time. hates keeping the supernatural from her, though. she didn’t like lying to tina to begin with, but she feels even worse about it now that verda knows, and now that tina has clearly picked up on something being wrong but she still can’t say anything.

Relationship with the Mayor: cannot stand him. hates the way he talks about rook, hates the way he talks to rebecca. she cooperates as necessary but doesn’t bother hiding her lack of patience/respect for him.

Relationship with Capt. Sung: basically fine. i think veronica might be a little too casual for him in the way she works, but she always gets the job done so he’s not too bothered by it. (she is ‘bend the rules,’ but more ‘strict rules aren’t important as long as you’re still doing good work’ than the ‘boooo fuck paperwork’ variety. so it’s mostly fine.) she also appreciates him as a minor link to rook.

Relationship with Haley: very friendly, but not super close. they get along great and could make pleasant conversation for hours, but ultimately don’t know each other super well despite the familiarity of growing up together.

Relationship with Elidor: such a comforting presence for veronica during her recovery! she is so grateful, so fond.

Relationship with Tapeesa/Vieno: veronica loves vieno’s cranky-yet-friendly vibe and they get along well! not close, but will stop to chat whenever they pass each other.

Relationship with Unit Alpha: loves their energy. always looks forward to the next opportunity to chat with them, and fully supports any harmless dunking on UB even if she rarely joins in.

Relationship with the Maa-alused: going through the house of mirrors and then coming home for them to appear in her apartment and infect bobby was one of thee worst experiences of her life, and it’s hard for her to get past that + the illness in general. sympathizes with them, and got them to sign the treaty, but is still kind of unsettled by everything that happened and by falk.

Do they have any other important relationships, past or present? (Relatives, friends, etc.?): some vague figures i have in mind but no one i’ve really developed. a couple friends from college, and maybe an elderly couple that lives on her childhood street and used to check in her.

PERSONAL BIO

Describe their personality: her usual demeanor is very warm and casual. sincere but private--she’s pretty blunt and likes to be direct with people, but steers conversations away from personal topics. likes to joke around and doesn’t take herself that seriously. but behind all this, she’s extremely stubborn and won’t shy away from conflict if she thinks you’re in the wrong (which is why she seems like a different person in the first half of book 1. UB is surprised by how like... chill and nice she is once they clear the air). a workaholic, self-reliant and secure but still pretty hard on herself, takes a lot of responsibility for the people around her.

Strengths: so dedicated. honest and trustworthy, has a strong moral compass and can always be counted on to do her absolute best. flexible and intuitive, her brain works really fast.

Weaknesses: cannot compartmentalize or separate herself from a case, throws herself so recklessly into everything (in terms of both physical danger and emotional burnout). doesn’t necessarily hold grudges but has a hard time letting go of hurt, still can’t think objectively about bobby or rebecca.

Where in the world is their Wayhaven?: somewhere on the US east coast idk what to tell you. perhaps a carolina or a virginia.

What is their personal history?: veronica was pretty social and well-liked around wayhaven growing up. she was known as just a really good kid; she was an overachiever and got along with almost anyone. in college, she felt like she was free of something and took a very work hard/play hard approach to life. always doing or going, whether it was for school or work or fun. she really enjoyed life during this time but crashed and burned pretty hard when she and bobby broke up; a lot of her plans were delayed until the plagiarism incident was resolved and she didn’t really have the heart to pursue them afterwards.

a year or so after graduating, she returned to wayhaven with the intention of taking one more year to regroup, and she has been stuck there longer than she meant to be and has kind of hit a wall when book 1 starts.

If they weren't a detective, what would their dream job be?: she was on track to become a biochemist and it was her dream job but then the main plot happened to her.

Anything else you'd like to share: i don’t really know enough to fully explain this, but no OC i love is a cop so like. i think maybe the job she took when she got back to wayhaven was a douglas-esque receptionist role for detective reele’s private office. then reele retired and small town politics + veronica’s history of useful contributions to cases in her downtime at work led to her being pressured to take up the mantle. it’s hard to explain why she’s a detective when she so deeply does not want to be one but i am Trying (or maybe she would have jumped at the chance to do something marginally closer to forensics?? who knows)

RANDOM FACTS

Zodiac sign: aries is what i assigned her when i first made her and i think it suits her! plus it’d be fun for her and M to be twins. this goes hand-in-hand with my birthday commitment issues though

Hobbies: music (she plays guitar and bass and sings a little), running, gaming unfortunately. i could also see her having been into boxing or some martial art but idk what exactly!

Likes: early morning stillness, DIY projects, t-shirts with inexplicable slogans and other weird thrift store finds

Dislikes: overly sweet food or drink, when cold weather lasts too long, being lied to or “protected” from the truth

Drink of choice: something with gin maybe. also feels a great fondness and gratitude for cheap wine.

Starbucks order: i truly know nothing about coffee. is it weird to order black coffee at starbucks

Favorite food: variations on spicy chicken soup! she eats a lot of crockpot meals for convenience and they’ve grown on her, and she has a few different recipes based on whatever she has on hand.

Favorite color: maybe like a rusty orange

Favorite music: she will listen to anything, but her favorite is probably folk rock, or sometimes stuff with soul or old school country vibes. big thief is a good example of an artist she’d be into i think! also was very into the indie music scene in her college town and still follows some of those bands.

Favorite genre (and favorite movie/book/etc): loves old, campy, unselfconsciously optimistic sci-fi. loves star trek tos. also a fan of documentaries of all kinds.

Favorite season: summer

Anything else you'd like to share: a kiss for you reading this mwah

[being-worthy]

Sunday Home Cinema: Army of the Dead!!

I haven't done one of these reviews in a long time (thanks to Covid-19 ¬¬) but I'm glad this film was the one to get me back in doing these reviews.

Honestly, I found out about the film about two weeks ago when I clicked on it on YouTube out of curiosity. It looked good and I'm an all big fan of zombie films and series and every zombie-themed film/series, even if it's extremely bad made (e.g. Z Nation but it's so funny to watch).

Sorry for any mistakes or things that make not much sense but I'm writing this at 2.30am and I just wanted to write this down while it's still fresh (I might review it later on if I feel like it).

> SPOILER ALERT AHEAD!! <

Apparently, Zack Snyder's Army of the Dead (here's the trailer), which can be watched on Netflix, is the prequel of Dawn of the Dead from 2004 also directed by him, which was a remake of the George A. Romero classic. I've got a hard time seeing this due to the zombies being so different but well, let's just roll with it.

Scott Ward (played by Dave Bautista) is offered/hired for $50 million by Bly Tanaka (villain/businessman played by Hiroyuki Sanada) to break into a walled Las Vegas after it was overrun by a zombie outbreak starting at the outskirts of the city with patient zero aka alpha zombie Zeus (more to the different zombie types later on) to "apparently" retrieve $200 million that is stashed in a safe at the casino's basement. Basically, it's like Ocean's Eleven but with zombies giving the film a nice touch.

I knew from the moment Tanaka offered Scott this job that there was going to be more to it. Why else would a stinking rich guy like Tanaka need to have a group to retrieve some money when: a. the insurance paid him some of that money back. I know he mentions he can't use it but come on, people like him know how to find either a way around whatever rule there might be or even wash it. And b. he looks like a guy who understands how business works and is well off, so you're telling me he wants to send a group there just for $200 million? B*tch please, I'm sure that's just petty cash to him, and there's surely more to it, especially after one of his goons (Martin) "invites" himself to tag along with the group to "make sure" they get the job done.

If I was offered that kind of money to go to a completely sealed city ruled by zombies, I wouldn't accept it no matter how bad my situation might be. The probability that something might go sideways is too high not to mention the risk that the virus spreads out to the rest of the world, I wouldn’t be able to live with that on my conscience.

In order to pull off this heist Scott assembles a team for the mission:

Vanderohe, the tank and chainsaw man. There'll be a little paragraph for him since his fate doesn't make entirely sense to me.

Marianne Peters, the pilot.

Maria Cruz, the mechanic.

Kate Ward, a volunteer in the quarantine zone. She's Scott's daughter and the only (human) survivor in the film.

Geeta, the mother. She ventures into the zombie-infested Vegas to find money in order to pay for safe passage out of the quarantine zone for herself and her children. I believe she dies in the helicopter crash but we don't see her body, so she might be alive somewhat?

Ludwig Dieter, the thief/safe expert, and I love how he questions everything lol!

Lilly "The Coyote", "the one who knows her stuff" aka zombie expert. Somehow interesting that she's got a conscience/good heart.

Martin, the inside man, and Bly Tanaka's right hand and got the death he deserved by kitten Valentine.

Mikey Guzman, the Sharpshooter and a YouTuber.

Chambers, the muscles and Guzman's sidekick (sort of). Her death was very predictable and her own fault! Girl, why the hell would you tell Martin that you don't trust him directly to his face?! That's such a rookie mistake!!

Burt Cummings, also the muscle for like 5 minutes before turning into the bait/bargain chip for a "deal" with the zombies in order to pass their territory. Overall, he's just a big jerk.

We see the first five people are survivors of the outbreak when Vegas was "freshly" being overrun by zombies and barely made it out of the city before it was completely sealed off. The rest of them are new characters. Almost none of them have any deep character story/feeling/development, most of them are quite plain and you don't care whether they survive or not. I've got also a hard time seeing any father-daughter relationship between Scott and Kate. I get that they haven't talked to each other since Scott had to put down Kate's mother after she got turned into a zombie but if I hadn’t seen the beginning I'd say they're just two strangers who met during the outbreak and he saved her at some point.

I very much like the fact that they introduce different types of zombies! On one hand, we've got the standard zombies aka shamblers who move slowly and are dead if you blow their brains out and if they bite you you become a shambler too. Then, there are the alphas who are fast (so fast that they can dodge bullets), they can also think, take orders, and are very organised. If you're bitten by one you become an alpha too but they also die if they're shot in the head which is easier said than done! We've also got a zombie horse, that's more bone than anything else, and a big tiger kitten called Valentine who used to be part of Siegfried & Roy's show (which also throws in the question, during which year is this movie set? They've both already passed away and they haven’t been retired from the entertainment world for a while before they passed away, and we see Tanaka carrying a modern mobile, so it must be during the past 2-3 our years.)

Their leader is patient zero aka Zeus who we see at the beginning being transported by a convoy of soldiers from Area 51 to somewhere else but never makes it there because he breaks free due to part of the convoy crashing into a car of a recent married (while the guy gets a blowjob and doesn’t watch the road!). He also takes the Bride as his queen (later on she's beheaded and her head still alive), who we see to be pregnant!! HOLY COW!! This throws in sooo many questions! For instance, how do zombies reproduce? The same way as we humans? What will the baby look like? Full zombie? A hybrid, half-human half-zombie? What power would they have? Do I even want to know or see this? Probably. Probably not. How many times did I wish they'd have introduced something like this in TWD (before I stopped watching it). At some point the virus that makes people zombies is supposed to mutate, every virus mutates at some point. We did already see a zombie baby in Dawn of the Dead but that was different since the woman was already in the late stages of pregnancy when she got bit. This one was one that was produced from zombie sex. I’ve got a feeling that their sex must be quite violent to say the least. Also, they way how the care for each other, especially Zeus for his Bride and child and seeks vengeance for both their deaths showing they’re capable of feeling and caring for their people. Maybe, just maybe want to find a way to survive without having to turn people but I think they’ll still need humans as a source of food. I don’t think they’re capable to live from eating normal food.

I've to make a special mention about Vanderohe. Besides, the fact that he's very attractive, there are a few things that don't make entirely sense to me.

He survives the nuclear blast of Las Vegas since he was looked inside the safe, which I can see being possible but (a little more possible than Indiana Jones seeking shelter in an old-fashioned fridge from a nuclear blast in Indiana Jones and Kingdom of Crystal Skull)... the whole city was nuked! And I mean big smoke of mushroom nuke! So, shouldn't the place, I don't know, be radioactive or something like that? And shouldn’t he find the nearest decontamination shower? Furthermore, it doesn't make sense that he gets infected, i.e. bitten. He gets into a fight with Zeus while they're in front of the safe and I watched that part several times and in slow motion too and we don't see Zeus bit him. There's one time where Zeus almost bites him but his teeth don't end up sinking into the flesh. He has Van in his hold, dislocates his right shoulder, and almost bites him there but only almost! In that same moment, Dieter hits Zeus in the head and pulls Van into the safe closing the door behind him (and most likely gets killed/turned by Zeus). I repeat there's no "visible" scene of Van being bitten by Zeus or any other zombie in another scene. So, where the f*ck did he get the bite and from who? I've also read that there's a theory of Van being immune because he's not turning as quick as the soldiers at the beginning of the movie when Zeus escapes the convoy (he still might be able to infect others though). He starts to feel lightheaded/dizzy and his body feels cold to the touch on the plane, and around the bite we see the veins turning black but that's it.

As much as I love the concept of the movie, it's very predictable as well as easy to figure out who makes it out alive and who makes it out the other kind of "alive" and it also reminded me a bit of Resident Evil (the first film was good and the rest just a waste). Tanaka wanting a fresh sample of an Alpha to make a virus that enables him to create an army of zombies he can control and take over the world. He could be Wesker's twin and his company the equivalent of the Umbrella Corporation. It's worth to watch but it doesn't compare to other zombie films such as 28 Days Later or even Dawn of the Dead (the classic and newer version), and many others.