#I am actually really excited to write a high-protocol dynamic

[gemmahale]

For your WIP ask game:

Is there a scene or even a moment in one of your WIPs that you are looking forward to writing but haven’t gotten there yet?

Sometimes I have scenes in my head that are in a vacuum, and I have no idea how I’ll get to them in their particular story, or if the plot will take a turn in a different direction, but I still like to imagine winding my way to them eventually.

Just wanted to know if you had something similar! Plot bunnies, I guess.

WIP Ask Game!

Jeepers yes, Cali. Entire universes have been borne from plot bunnies alone.

Useful Girl is one such example, actually.

I recently (with some help) reworked the plot of Useful Girl. Nothing major has changed, it’s just been refined and cleaned up and it is much less amorphous. And there’s so much stuff I’m excited for!!

I’m very excited to write about John and Scarlet [redacted], when John first [redacted] and Scarlet [redacted].

Oh, and definitely when John [redacted] and the [redacted] Scarlet is asked to do before that.

And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the first time the rest of the 141 [redacted] Scarlet.

What, you thought I’d tell you?? 😂 And ruin the surprise? 😘 (I’m sorry I think I’m funny.)

(Honestly, the snippets I’ve shared in #Useful Girl WIP have been plot bunnies. I didn’t have a concrete plan then and so I was feeling the two characters out.)

[rorykillmore]

okay this is for @transrobro who requested a catra/scorpia fic! which is a dynamic we’ve really only just picked up but that i already have so much love in appreciation for, in no small part thanks to jay’s scorpia.

jay... i am so grateful to be able to celebrate another year of us being friends <3 this sounds like. cHEESY but your kindness and generosity really does touch everyone around you even in the smallest gestures (my mom still treasures her groot ornament.) and you have a wonderful talent for making me laugh REALLY hard which i oftentimes find i really. need tbh. thank you so much and i hope you congratulate yourself on this year; it has certainly had its ups and downs but i know you have taken a lot of important strides over the course of it and i am proud of you!!!

She thinks about how lucky she is to be here, right now. To have not lost herself entirely to that all-consuming anger.  To have come out the other side and still have friends who care about her, and want to forgive her.

“I just feel like... I already have everything I need.”

One of the many, many differences between Catra and Scorpia is that Scorpia is a notorious early riser, while Catra is notoriously... well, not. And she wouldn’t compromise that for just anyone or anything, but she’s spent the past few days since her little outing with Zero meticulously planning this out, and she knows she’s going to get too restless if she waits it out much longer.

Besides, she’s not exactly sure what the protocol is for when Christmas morning is supposed to... start.  Better safe than sorry.

“Hey. Scorpia.”  Catra leans over her sleeping form and uses one finger to give her forehead a gentle prod.  “Wake up.”

Scorpia’s eyes flutter and eventually focus on Catra as she stirs, her expression moving from surprise to delight, with the tiniest underlying hint of uncertainty (definitely new, Catra has noted in the weeks they’ve been in this world together).  “Catra!” She sits bolt upright, forcing Catra to draw back quickly to avoid a painful collusion of their foreheads. “Did -- did we have plans today? Did I sleep in too long? Oh, I knew I shouldn’t have stayed up to finish that season of Parks and Recreation...”

“No -- no, you’re fine. It’s still early,” Catra reassures her quickly, not bothering to add that she has no idea what ‘Parks and Recreation’ is.  A nature documentary, or something? “Sorry to wake you, I just -- I have something I want to show you.”

It’s not much of an explanation, and Scorpia could very easily be skeptical of why Catra would sneak into her apartment after the sun’s barely gone up for such vaguely defined reasons.  But it’s Scorpia, of course, so she just says, “Oh! Exciting. Okay. Um -- should I go get Emerald?”

“Let her sleep a little while.  We’ll get her later,” Catra promises, because she tentatively has something in mind for Emerald - who, for the record, is a lot harder to shop for than Scorpia - as well.  She fights the urge to lower her ears in embarrassment.  “For now, let’s just -- I mean, this is... for you, specifically.  So.”

The look on Scorpia’s face makes her feel both pleased and guilty. Catra can only describe it as awed -- stunned, even, like Scorpia never in a million years would have expected Catra to wake her up just to tell her she’d done something nice for her.  Catra supposes she hasn’t really given her much reason to.

“Give me five minutes!”  Scorpia springs up, amending over her shoulder as she springs into her closet, “--Three minutes!”

“Take your time,” Catra tells her, unable to suppress a goodnatured roll of her eyes.  “I know you have your morning routine, or whatever.”

“It’s fine. I have a speedrun version prepared for emergencies! -- Hey, Catra?” Scorpia sticks her head out of the closet a moment later, suddenly hesitant.  “You know you... I mean, I don’t want you to feel like you... have to do stuff like this. For me. I mean, I’m over the moon, don’t get me wrong, I just --”

Catra holds up a hand to stop her, because she’s already figured out that this isn’t just obligation, or the desire to fix things, on her part. It feels -- well, okay, nervewracking right now, because she isn’t entirely sure what Scorpia’s reaction is going to be once she sees the actual gift.  But Catra’s sure it’ll feel good eventually.  “It’s Christmas, silly.”

She gets a slightly nonplussed look in response, which... figures. So Catra goes on to explain,  “It’s a thing they do in this world. A celebration. You, like -- buy presents for people, among a bunch of other weird, colorful traditions.”  She can already envision Scorpia’s panic at the realization that she hadn’t somehow magically known about a holiday tradition that didn’t even exist in their own world, so she quickly adds,  “Yeah, I didn’t know about it either, until a couple of days ago. So I just threw something together. It’s no big deal.”

The way Scorpia is looking at her, eyes bright with emotion, suggests that she very much thinks it’s a big deal. Catra looks away.  “You’re hyping yourself up.”

“I am so completely just the right amount of hype. Just a sec!”

“Take your time!” Catra tells her yet again, fond exasperation taking the edge off her usual prickliness. “I’m not going anywhere.”

It’s a promise she takes more seriously than Scorpia probably really knows.

----

“Okay. So. I didn’t know how to wrap it.”

Catra awkwardly hoists the present in her hands, well aware that it looks absolutely nothing like the neatly wrapped gifts with the perfect bow finishes that she saw in all those display windows in Metropolis.  Instead, hers is a clumsy mess of tape and shiny red paper, an immediate betrayal of the fact that Catra has never done anything like this before.  But then, she figures, Scorpia already knows that.

“It’s perfect!” Scorpia beams, completely undeterred.  She takes the gift from Catra in one claw and tears carefully at the wrapping paper with the other, and Catra notes that the messiness probably does make it a bit easier for her.

If she was anxious about her presentation, though, she’s even more anxious about the gift itself. Scorpia pulls back the wrapping to reveal a large, leatherbound book with no title on its cover. Even though Catra is sure she must be puzzled, her enthusiasm does not seem to be dampened as she shoots Catra an inquisitive look.

“Open it,” Catra says simply, trying to keep her expression neutral.

Scorpia does... and Catra watches her expression change from curiosity to shock as she takes in the contents of the book’s pages. A soft, stunned exhale quickly prompts Catra to leap to explain,  “It’s, uh. A scrapbook, basically. But like... a special, high tech one I bought in Auriga.  You can upload photos directly onto the pages, and mess with the colors and stuff. I -- uh. I started it for you.”

Truthfully, Catra didn’t have very much to work with. An old picture of her and Scorpia, and one she took with Emerald a couple of months ago, and a couple of silly candids she snuck of Entrapta. And then Catra’s rough attempts at scenic photography; a few shots she took of some of the prettier places she knows around the Southwest. Since... that’s kind of become their home now.

“Catra...” Scorpia whispers.

“Well, I -- I mean, you have to fill it out, obviously.” Embarrassingly, Catra can’t seem to stop talking, her tone bordering on defensive for no definable reason. “Which will take a while. But I know you like that kind of sappy stuff. Making memories, and all that --”

She gets cut off with a sudden huff as Scorpia frees one arm to pull her into a tight hug.

And Catra, despite Scorpia’s best efforts to convert her, is still not really... a hugger.  But she’s learned that she’s capable of making a few exceptions. And if her eyes are stinging a little, well, she makes sure she’s blinked any wateryness away by the time Scorpia lets her go.

“This is -- it’s the most wonderful thing you possibly could have gotten me. I am going to keep it forever,” Scorpia declares, making Catra’s cheeks warm sheepishly.  “I -- I have to get you something! And Emerald! Stay right here, I’ll --”

“Scorpia,” Catra finally manages to cut in quietly.  “I’m sure Christmas hasn’t really been the first thing on Emerald’s mind, either. She’ll understand if you’ve gotta do some belated shopping.  And... you really don’t have to get me anything.”

Scorpia falters a little, concern seeping into her expression as seamlessly as it always has for Catra’s sake.  “Hey. I know you’re trying to do the whole, you know,  ‘making amends’ thing, but if you think that means you don’t deserve a gift...”

“It’s not that.”  Catra shakes her head.  “This isn’t a ‘me hating myself’ thing. Don’t worry. It’s just that...”

She thinks of the note written on the inside of the back cover of the scrapbook. The one she deliberately hasn’t pointed out because she doesn’t want to stand here in front of Scorpia while she reads it.

She thinks about how lucky she is to be here, right now. To have not lost herself entirely to that all-consuming anger.  To have come out the other side and still have friends who care about her, and want to forgive her.

“I just feel like... I already have everything I need.”

Scorpia opens her mouth to respond, but for once, she doesn’t seem to know what to say. So Catra reaches out - a rare gesture of her initiating affection - and squeezes Scorpia’s claw in her hand.

“Merry Christmas. Or whatever stupid thing people say.”

Slowly, Scorpia’s expression melts into the kind of soft, adoring expression that Catra still doesn’t quite feel she deserves. “Merry Christmas, wildcat.”

As for anything else that needs to be said, well -- Catra will wait until she takes her leave, or until the next time Scorpia flips through the scrapbook if need be. Whenever that might be, Catra’s message in her messily scrawled handwriting will be there waiting for her.

Scorpia,

I suck at words, sometimes. Writing them down’s easier. I know I haven’t been a very good friend, so now I’m gonna help you fill up this book with a bunch more good memories to get rid of the bad ones. You deserve to be happy, and if this world gives you that, then I guess I really do owe it one.

Thank you for giving me another chance.  I won’t waste it.

Love, Catra

[xukunstellation]

Assassin (Part 1) || Fan Chengcheng

Title: Assassin Pairing: Female!Reader x Chengcheng Genre: Agent!AU + Mafia!AU + Action Word Count: 1061 words Summary: Your mission is to eliminate the son of the most notorious gang in all of China: Fan Chengcheng. However, you come to realize that Chengcheng is no easy target. Warning: mentions of violence and guns, though no one actually dies or gets seriously hurt in this. i tried not to make this too explicit bc Chengcheng is still a minor. please do not read this if you are sensitive to any of this mentioned!

A/N: The amount of enjoyment and fun I’ve had writing this is unreal. I normally stick to writing fluff and angst, so it was a breath of fresh air to try something new and write an action genre scenario. As you can see, I had a little too much fun considering I had to split this up into two parts since it was getting way too long.

I ended up writing the reader as female simply because I was inspired by the Agent J performance and the dynamic between Jieqiong and Chengcheng in that stage. Feel free to message me if you wish for me to make the reader non-female.

Bless the anon who requested this. I hope this lives up to your expectations! 

Part 2

i’m so excited to write this

fan chengcheng in a suit? in a mafia au??

sign me the fuck up

annnnnnd start

so you’re a secret spy working under one of the most prestigious agencies in the espionage world

your agency primarily focused on bringing justice to high profile criminals and putting them behind bars via finding information about them; another sector of your agency were specially trained assassins sent to take out the really dangerous criminals 

you have a reputation for being at the top of your sector

due to your advanced tracking and communication skills, you were usually sent on missions that require you to go undercover and gain information from the enemy or opposite side

per protocol, you were pretty well versed in hand-to-hand combat as well

to your surprise, you were assigned a completely different mission than what you usually did

your boss explained to you about a gang called yuehua who were notorious for performing a multitude of illegal activities, usually grand-scale theft in order to sell for higher prices on the black market. they would go as far as killing others or making them go missing to hide their traces

there have been several reports that yuehua were planning on infiltrating your agency in order to gain information for their future endeavors

and who was the one who knew what and where information was held in the agency?

yep that’s right

you

luckily you were good at keeping an extremely low profile on your missions so no one outside of your agency knew of your spy background

the mission was simple: eliminate the yuehua members one by one and without a trace before they can get to the agency

just to be safe and throw off your identity as a tracker, your boss decided to place you on the assassin sector of the mission, meaning you as well as the rest of your team were in charge of taking out the yuehua members

it probably would have made more sense to make you go into hiding, but your tracking skills were desperately needed by the agency

look at you taking one for the team

you found out that several members of yuehua were to attend a special masquerade banquet held by some elite family

being the agent with the most experience, you were in charge and assigned each member of your team a yuehua boy that went as followed:

yanjun → zhu zhengting, chaoze → ding zeren, dinghao  →  huang xinchun, zhangjing → li quanzhe, honglin → huang justin, maotong → bi wenjun

the yuehua member you were assigned?

none other than the son of the head of yuehua himself

fan chengcheng

handsome, clever, charming, and extremely dangerous

he was known to seduce females only to make them go bankrupt as his gang members stole all of their assets behind the scenes

you figured you would give him a taste of his own medicine

your disguise had you all dolled up from head to toe in an elegant hairstyle and a sexy black dress that accentuated your looks beautifully. the outfit was paired with a silver laced mask that covered nearly half your face, keeping your identity somewhat safely hidden. for extra caution, you wore black silk gloves so you wouldn’t leave any traces of fingerprints behind

you were sure to get some looks because damn you lookin like a whole snack

but all you cared about was catching the attention of fan chengcheng

while yanjun distracted security, you managed to slip your way into the party without being seen. walking around, you did your best to blend in with the crowd as you scanned the area 

target sighted

from across the room, you saw chengcheng looking dashing in a classic black and white tuxedo matched with a gold jeweled mask, helping himself to a generous amount of finger foods at the catering table. you knew it was him by the yuehua tattoo on his wrist that appeared whenever he raised his hand high enough

you almost lost your composure when you nearly laughed at how stuffed his cheeks were. if it weren’t for who he is and what your mission was, you would have thought he was cute

you waited until he was done eating before waltzing over to him and tapping his shoulder, catching his attention as he looked at you with vague interest

“hello. would you care to dance?” you smiled charmingly

“who am i to deny a beautiful lady’s request?” he replied, returning your smile with a slight smirk

taking your hand, he led you to the center of the dance floor. the music picked up and changed from the typical waltz to something reminiscent of a tango. chengcheng grinned at you before strongly pulling you closer so that you both were chest to chest just as a traditional tango dance would have. 

not wanting to back down, you merely grinned back before wrapping your right leg around his left leg and twisting your body back sharply, causing him to dip you down lowly with your faces a mere few inches apart as you stared intensely at each other

everyone literally cleared the entire floor for y’all 

they were shookth bc things were getting spicy between you two hot damn

you quickly spun your way out of his arms, him catching your hand at the last second and pulling you back into his embrace, the two of you gliding on the marble floor with ease. during one particular part of the song, the music slowed and lowered to a suspenseful melody. falling into step, you and chengcheng slowly walked around in a circle, neither of you breaking eye contact with each other

you felt something lingering in the air between you both, a feeling you couldn’t quite put into words. it encased you both entirely, making it feel as if you two were the only ones in the room.

when the music finally sped up and reached its climax, all of a sudden there was a loud pop as white smoke began to fill the air. soon, the sounds of yelling and fighting erupted in the room followed by screaming

knowing that the mission was going according to plan (zhangjing set off harmless smoke bombs as a diversion), you feigned fear and began pulling chengcheng away and out of the room

[raybyanothername]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Flashpoint (TV) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Dean Parker & Sophie Lane Characters: Dean Parker (Flashpoint TV), Sophie Lane Additional Tags: Episode Tag, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics Summary:

In A World of Their Own (5x10) Dean storms out after arguing with his father about Cornell. He goes to Clark's house and ends up getting advice from an unlikely source - Sophie Lane, another omega - who helps put things in perspective.

Essentially, I've been wanting to write an A/B/O family drama novel and haven't had the time, so I'm doing it with fanfiction instead!

Sophie Lane was just about to wake Izzy from her late afternoon nap when a knock sounded on her front door. Of all the options she imagined on her way to the door, Dean Parker on her steps wasn't one of them.

"Hey Mrs. Lane, is Clark back from his cello lesson yet?" Dean smiled at her, but his shoulders were tense and his hands were fidgeting with his belt loops. The lack of jacket given the weather finalized her suspicioun's level at high.

"No, not yet," Sophie glanced at her watch. Clark wouldn't be finished for another 30 minutes and Ed was picking him up. Something she was certain Dean knew just as well as here. "He won't be back for another hour probably."

Dean nodded, rocked back on his heels, "I'll just call him later then." He got one step before Sophie registered the shake in his voice and the acidity of his scent. He was upset.

"You're welcome to wait for him." Sophie watched the boy hesitate before nodding. He took a seat at the counter and she decided to let Izzy sleep in favor of leaning on the other side of the island. "So, what's new?"

Troubled teenage boys needed guidance. Dean Parker wasn't overly great at asking for it.

"Uh…" Dean scratched at the side of jaw, "I got in to Cornell."

Sophoe raised a brow, "You don't sound excited about that." He sounded kind of annoyed actually. Not to mention the way his scent spiked.

Young omegas could never hide their emotional shifts. Sophie's lips quirked as she remembered how easily her own mother had been able to read her in high school because of it. Dean, it seemed, was none the wiser to this hole in his defenses.

"What's going on Dean?" Sophie reached a hand forward to lay lightly on his shoulder. She felt his muscles relax instinctively at the contact before tensing even further.

"It doesn't matter." Dean shrugged her hand off. He hunched his shoulders and leaned over his arms on the counter. Add a half empty bottle of bourbon and a glass beside him he'd look far too much like the Greg Parker she first met years earlier.

Sophie crossed her arms, rolled her eyes, and huffed, "It matters to you. You're upset, you walked all the way over here Dean Parker, you might as well tell me." He fidgeted, his eyes darted up to her face. She shrugged, "I can just as easily pry it from Clark later."

"I want to be a cop."

He said it quickly, jaw set and eyes defensive.

"And?" Sophie raised a brow again, arms gesturing wide. Dean blinked at her. "You wanted to be a cop at six too, am I suppose to be surprised?"

Dean's entire posture shifted. His shoulders lowered as his hands dropped into his lap. The acid scent he'd been pumping into the air since his arrival lessened, lightened even.

"Your father didn't react well to this announcement did he?" Sophie sighed heavily and nearly collapsed forward onto the counter. Dean nodded. "Can't say I'd be happy if Clark wanted to be a cop either, and I know for a fact Eddie and his father are giddy about his staunch opposition to that career path."

"So you don't think I should do it either?" Dean's eyes narrowed and the sharpness in his voice was matched by a spike in his scent.

Gosh, he really couldn't regulate his shifts at all could he?

Sophie chuckled, "Not that it matters, but no, I think you'd be a good cop." She smiled slightly, something her mother told her when she presented popped into her mind, "Omegas are carers,  Dean, we look out for our people. Each of us in our own way."

"My mom wants me to be a lawyer, she's had this plan since I was 10. When I presented, she said that proved that I shouldn't be a cop. Cops are alphas, maybe a few betas, they're aggressive."

Sophie rolled her eyes are the familiar stereotype. She crossed her arms, "One day I want to watch your mother meet Spike."

"My dad doesn't think I should be a cop either." Dean's eyes narrowed on her counter and Sophie had to resist the temptation to reach out to him again.

Dean wasn't Clark. He didn't want her hugs or a shoulder to cry on. He didn't need them either. He needed another omega, he needed someone who understood.

Sophie took a breath and planted her hands on her hips, "Your father's reaction has nothing to do with you being an omega and everything to do with the fact that *he* is a cop. An actively over-invested one at that."

"I don't-" Sophie raised her palm and Dean shut his mouth, shoulder sinking as he stared up at her.

"Eddie's worst nightmare is Clark becoming a cop." Sophie said bluntly. Dean's eyes fluttered. "Good cops spend their whole careers feeling guilty for not saving everyone. Protocol is black and white, but people are grey and good cops struggle with that, with living in the grey, with the stain of every wrong decision."

Dean didn't look away, or retreat, when Sophie leaned forward on to the counter. Her voice dropped lower, softening.

"Your dad loves you Dean, and he knows you have a good heart. Which just makes the prospect of you becoming a cop even scarier…" Sophie smiled at him, a tight, slightly water smile as she blinked a few tears away, "…because a cop like you will either spend your life patching up every shot straight through it, or you harden yourself to all the pain."

Sophie took another breath to steady herself, looking at the ceiling. She'd never considered how similar her husband and his sergeant were before this.

"Both options suck for those that love you," Sophie chuckled, shaking her head as she looked back at Dean. She wasn't quite sure whether she was seeing his father or her husband in the determined set of his jaw.

"I know being a cop will change me," Dean pursed his lips, his eyes flickered to the counter briefly before coming back up to meet Sophie's, "But if I can do good, if I can help people, I want to do it."

There was a hesitancy to his smile that made Sophie's fingers  start drumming on the table. Greg, Ed, Spike - those were not the comparisons that were going to help Dean right now.

"When I was your age, I wanted to be a gourmet chef," Sophie leaned forward again, chin dropping to her hand as she chewed on the inside of her cheek.

"That's kinda what you do, isn't it?" Dean tilted his head, eyes scrunched up.

Sophie shook her head, "It's as close as one gets without a culinary arts degree." She smiled at him, lips trembling and pressed tightly together, "Which I would have gotten if my high school counselor hadn't convinced me that culinary school was too competitive for an omega."

"Oh." Dean stared straight into her eyes, frowning, "I'm sorry."

"You don't want to go to Cornell?" Sophie raised a brow. Dean shook his head. She slapped her hands onto the counter, "Then don't go."

Dean slouched forward as Sophie straighted, "But my parents-"

"Want you to be happy," Sophie tapped at his chin. Dean looked up at her, lips puckered slightly and eyes narrowed. She shrugged, "UT has a decent criminal justice program, psychology too. You got into Cornell, I bet you can get in there."

"But that's not being a cop." Dean shook his head, jaw clenching. Determination was practically dripping from his cheek bones.

Sophie rolled his eyes, "A lot of cops - especially the ones who make decisions - they have degrees Dean. The Academy has a prep course, you can take that too. If you're gonna be a cop…" Sophie laid a hand over Dean's, patted lightly, "...be the best one you can."

Dean didn't withdraw from her touch this time. He nodded curtly, lips twitching up in to a smile, "I think I can do that."

-.-.-

If you liked this fic and are feeling generous: https://ko-fi.com/raybyanothername