#I cave plans for my costume and I am so excited

[hurdy-girly]

I love Minish cap so much actually have I told you guys about how much I love Minish cap

[madneedshelp]

All That Love - Josh Kiszka x AFABReader

Summary: It was a surprise to find out you and Josh were expecting, and when the idea for a fall date arises, you devise the perfect plan to tell him the news.

Warnings: absolutely sickening fluff because I’m feeling like it, mentions of pregnancy, allusions to sex

Words: 1.3k (just a quick little oneshot)

A/N: It's been so long since I've wrote a fic, and I wanted to post something for the Halloween fics @hearts-hunger was organizing. Besides, I cannot resist a little Josh fluff. Also, fair warning, this isn’t edited because I really wanted to get it posted but I am a busy gal.

It was so nice to have Josh home on a break from tour. Especially during this time of year. While he may have been the human embodiment of sunshine, fall was one of his favorite times of the year. All the horror movies and psychological thrillers that he considered masterpieces, the cozy weather, the seasonal activities, he loved all of it and you loved partaking in it with him. 

However, none of those things were what had you most excited for him to be home. 

Two days ago, you found out you were pregnant. It was a fairly common scenario, the two of you weren’t actively trying, but you also weren’t necessarily preventing. Besides, you had been together for ages and you both wanted kids, this would be a welcome surprise. 

While it would’ve been so plainly easy to tell him, you decided you wanted to do something special. After all, this was Josh. He always gave thoughtful gifts and surprised you with elaborately planned outings. You wanted it to be your turn to do something nice to tell him. 

“What do you think of carving pumpkins tonight?” You asked from your spot on the couch. 

Josh looked up from the book he had been reading. “Hm? Pumpkin carving?”

You nodded with a small grin, trying your best to keep your face a reasonable level of excited. You happened to be unfortunately bad at surprises. “Yeah, I thought it could be fun. We could go to that pumpkin patch and pick them this afternoon, then we could come home and carve them this evening. Might as well enjoy your time off, right?”

He leaned over to kiss your cheek with a grin. “Sounds perfect, I’d love to. What made you come up with this?”

“Nothing in particular, just sounded like a nice idea. I do have those sometimes. Anyway, since you were a fan of my genius plan, we better get ready and get going.” You stood and pulled him up off the couch with you. If he asked too many questions, you would slip up or cave, and you were determined to pull your little scheme off. 

“Someone’s in a bit of a rush.” He gave you a mildly suspicious glance. 

You shook your head. “No, no, I just figured I need time to shower before we go and plenty of time for you to join me.”

“Ah, I like the way you think, sugar.”

—--------------

It was late afternoon by the time you and Josh made it to the pumpkin patch, and it was still packed. These places were always a bit insane in the month of October, though. It was kind of nice, all the families and couples that were out having a nice time. You could definitely see you and Josh bringing your kids to do this kind of thing. 

Before you could start to get emotional, you snuck a glance over at Josh. He was also looking at the crowds. He seemed to notice your gaze and turned to face you with a grin. 

“What?” You chuckled at him.

He leaned in a bit closer and spoke in a low voice. “I want one.” He nodded his head slightly towards a young couple with a baby dressed up in an adorable little pumpkin costume. 

The three little words warmed your heart. It had been so hard not saying anything to him yet, but you knew it would be so worth it when you told him that night. “Me too, but I think this might be a conversation for later.” You whispered back, giving him a quick kiss. 

Thankfully, the “later” part of the day didn’t take too long to get too. By the time the two of you picked out your pumpkins, went home, and made dinner, the evening had arrived. Still, the excitement had you eager to finish your plan. 

“So, any idea of what you’re carving?” Josh asked as he finished setting up the carving station on the back porch of your house. 

You made sure the carving template you printed off was held out of his view. “I have an idea.”

“What is it?”

“A surprise.”

Immediately, you could see the intrigue overtake his features. “Oh? Well now I have to know.”

You made your way to the table and scooted your pumpkin to the opposite side from him. “Absolutely no hints. We’re going to carve them facing each other and you’re not going to peek.”

“You torture me so, my heart.” He clutched his chest in mock anguish. 

“Just sit down and carve your pumpkin.” You sighed. 

He made it approximately four seconds before he started in again. 

“What’s that in your hand?”

You looked down at the paper in your hand. “Just a template.”

“Are you telling me you printed off a stencil?” He chuckled smugly. 

You pointed your flimsy carving tool at him with a stern look. “Hey, I just wanted it to look really good this year.”

He shrugged, still looking entirely too proud. “Well, we can’t all be naturally talented pumpkin carvers, I suppose.”

“You better knock it off, or I’m not showing you the finished project.”

His hands flew up in mock surrender, teasing finally starting to ebb. 

You put on some quiet background music, and the two of you got to work on your pumpkins and chatted lightly. The stencil you picked took a bit long to actually carve out. It had two little footprints in the middle and the words “coming soon” surrounding it. Josh finished first, and luckily didn’t try to distract you too badly. Deep down, you knew it was because the unknowing was killing him and he wanted you to hurry. You wanted to assure him that the feeling was mutual, and the sooner you finished the pumpkin the better. 

“Okay,” You let out a breath. “The masterpiece is complete. Are we ready for the big reveal?”

He nodded excitedly, grabbing his pumpkin. 

You matched his smile. “Okay, you first.” 

He swiveled the pumpkin around to face you. He carved his triangle symbol onto it, which wasn’t really a shock. He even had it embroidered onto the back off on of his suits, amongst many other things. 

“Fantastic work, it looks great, Josh.” You gave him a small round of applause. 

He waved a hand dismissively. “Why thank you, but the show isn’t over. We have to see your pumpkin before both can truly be appreciated.”

“Alright…” You bit your lip and turned it around slowly. 

As soon as he read it, his face cleared of all joking manners. The soft glow from the candle inside the pumpkin cast his face with a small bit of light, but it was enough for you to tell a faint sheen of tears coated his eyes. 

“Does this mean what I think it means?” His voice was practically a whisper. 

You nodded, your own eyes welling up too. “I’m pregnant, Josh. We’re gonna have a baby.”

He was in front of you in an instant, pressing a kiss to your lips as he embraced you. A few silent, happy tears escaped both of you as he leaned his forehead against yours and his hands traveled to rest on your stomach. 

“We’re having a baby,” He chuckled breathlessly, voice a quiet rasp.

“Yeah, we are.” You grinned, mirroring his soft laugh. 

He looked from your stomach then back up to meet your gaze. “I love you. I love you so much, and I will spend the rest of my life trying to make you as happy as you’ve made me. I love our life and I cannot wait to watch it grow together.” 

“Likewise, Josh, I love you. Forever and always.”

[reigningqueenofwords]

Glitter

Part 4 of Dad’s Back

You were absolutely livid when John talked to you about staying with Ellen. Yes, you loved Ellen, and had a lot of fun with Jo, but you loved being with your father and brothers more! John tried to appeal to you, pointing out that you could make friends, go to a dance class, no more traveling a lot, etc. If looks could kill, your glare would have dropped John dead. Finally, he ended up making you a deal. You would try to stay with Ellen, and if you didn’t like it come Christmas time, you could leave with John and the boys. You’d caved, agreeing to at leas that. 

You started kindergarten in August, along with dance lessons. You didn’t mind school so much, but loved those dance lessons. John made sure that you had anything you needed for it, wiring Ellen money when he could. Two months later, you had your first dance recital. There was no way the three Winchester men would miss it. They arrived two days before, and you’d squealed when you saw them. It was a Halloween themed recital, and you couldn’t wait for them to see your costume. 

John watched you dance, beaming with pride. You seemed to flourish at Ellen’s, and while he missed you like crazy…it was worth it. “Daddy!” You ran to him after you’d changed backstage, letting him scoop you up. 

“You were great, princess!” He beamed. “I’m glad you’re liking your dance classes.” 

“Y/N/N is a natural.” Your dance teacher came over. “She picks things up extremely quickly.” 

“She’s a smart one.” Dean grinned. 

“That’s Dean.” You told her. “And that’s Sammy.” You pointed, as she had met John, but not the boys. 

She smiled. “So these are the famous big brothers.” She chuckled as they looked a tad bashful. “She speaks very fondly of both of you.”

Instead of going off with John and the boys the following summer as planned, you’d stayed with Ellen. You were taking dance classes two days a week, and then gymnastics one day a week. You didn’t want to get behind. John understood, but had been looking forward to having you around for a couple months. 

When it came time for a gymnastics competition right before school started, you were confused to see only John and Dean. “Where’s Sammy?” You asked, worried. “Did something happen?” 

John crouched. “We got into a fight, princess.” He explained. “He left. He’s in California for college.” He refused to repeat what he’d told his son, not wanting that on your shoulders.

“He won’t get to see my first competition?” You asked sadly. “I was so excited!” The last time you’d seen him was for your 6th birthday.

Dean could tell you were getting upset. “Hey, Jo told me you got some new nail polish. Wanna show me? I’ll even let you do my nails.” He tried. 

You still looked extremely disappointed that Sammy wasn’t there, and John felt guilty. “Me, too.” He offered, making Dean look surprised. “Anything for Y/N/N.” He tapped your nose. 

“K.” You agreed. While it didn’t make up for Sam missing your competition, you were looking forward painting their nails. “Ellen and Jo let me practice on them.” You weren’t the best at it, but you enjoyed it anyway. “I’ll go get my nail polish!” You told them before taking off to your room. 

They left three days after your competition, nails still painted. Dean’s were blue with glitter, and John’s were multi-colored (blue, purple, pink, and orange). “I’m surprised you didn’t ask Ellen for nail polish remover.” Dean noted. 

“Neither did you.” John pointed out, smirking. 

“Hey, she did a good job.” Dean looked at his hands. “And she had a blast. Who knows if we’ll be out here to see her in a couple weeks, or a couple months. This way she’s kind of with us.” He said fondly. “I’m glad that she liked things enough to stay here.” 

John nodded. “I am, too.” He agreed. “I’m terrified about when the other shoe falls. She’s been here, living a normal life, for a year. You never got that. You got months. I’m scared I’ll get a call in the middle of the night that something happened.” 

“I get it.” He felt the same way. “At least she’ll have at least a year of not worrying about traveling, and seeing us come back to motel rooms all beat up.” That was something in his mind. 

Tagging: @ilovetaquitosmmmm

[if-i-had-a-voice-i-would-sing]

I haven’t had the energy to write up a full recap for the 18th Feb show, but I had a great time! The audience was a lot less unruly than my last visit, which was a relief, as that had really ruined my previous visit. In summary:

Loop 1:

Followed Artemis for the first time and I am in love with her choreography, she dances in the way that I prefer to when I choreograph, and as such she’s risen to the top of my ‘dream roles’ list. Weirdly despite being transmasc, I found this portrayal of her to be especially Gender, and now I’m considering growing my hair out just like her. Her movements are so playful yet animalistic, and the stone table dance with Apollo is simply stunning, as is her choreo in the resurrection scene. I’m also obsessed with the costuming for her and Apollo, the way the silicone bodysuits shift under different lighting, and the way they enhance every tiny movement. Artemis’ cackling atop the girders is always a standout moment for me, it gives the performers a chance to really lean into their own interpretation of Artemis’ more cruel tendencies.

Loop 2:

Followed Iphigenia/Hecate for the first time, got her 1:1 at the end of the loop. I was enamoured by the lighting & sound design used in that tiny 1:1 space, plus her performance of a text that felt veeeery familiar as someone who’s seen SNM NY (if you know, you know). Combine that with the familiar red dress, and you have a great little crossover Easter egg for fans to pick up on. Finally got to see the fabled bear ritual, and it is so much weirder and more uncanny than I’d even imagined, I was having flashbacks to Midsommar the whole time. Iphigenia’s loop was even more heartbreaking after seeing Artemis’ first, knowing the whole time that this excited, innocent girl never had a chance at happiness. Even when she’s smiling and laughing, we know that it can never last, yet all the same we hope that maybe this time it’ll turn out differently. This loop combined with Artemis’ also leave me intrigued about the oracle, and they’ve now been added to the long list of characters I need to follow.

Loop 3:

Located the bar (for the first time in all 4 of my visits!!) and chugged a LOT of water before returning to Troy, and quickly found Askalaphos, following him through the streets and back to his florist shop, arriving in time to see Hecate & Patroclus pass through. Watched as he picked up the roses and then selected someone for a 1:1, leaving me alone in the shop. I wandered over to the sake bar and found Hades leaving, so I followed him to the Troy finale (which was a blast, as always) and then found myself at the front row of the circle for the Mycenae finale. I was being offered a walkout (not sure who by, I can almost never tell performers apart when they’re sans-costume lol) when someone walking out behind me accidentally tripped me over, and by the time I’d regained my bearings the actor had chosen another WM to escort out.

All in all a wonderful trip, and as the wiki is slowly but surely becoming more helpful for researching loops, I hope that I’ll find it easier to follow some more long-admired characters. My next visit is on the 5th of March, so I’m currently trying to figure out who I want to prioritise following. I never like to have any iron-clad plans, as I feel that tends to ruin some of the fun that spontaneous discoveries can bring, but I’m definitely leaning toward wanting to see some of Kronos, so perhaps I’ll follow Polymestor & Polydorus as well, and do another show of intertwining loops. Equally though, if I run into Hades or Persephone, I can’t promise that I won’t cave and spend a whole show with them. Or maybe I’ll finally catch all of Apollo’s loop, or see more than a glimpse of Kampe! At least I have another week or so to consider my many wonderful options.

Due to there being no under 25s tickets left in April or May, I’ll soon be facing a 2 month drought until my June show, and I’m already so sad at the thought of being without this beautiful dreamland for so long 😭 I’m genuinely listing “be closer to woolwich for shows” as one of the pros to potentially moving back to London (and not even solely because I’m still dreaming that one day I could work for Punchdrunk lmao).

I don’t really know anyone who’s a fan of TBC, so if you’d like to chat about the show and your experiences/theories/recommendations on things to look out for, I’d love that! My DMs are very much open for all things theatre and mythology :)

[saskiamcc]

Mr Balloonhead Man - Shoot day 3

16/03/2024

This day was the most difficult day to plan as we had quite a lot of locations with not the most amount of time. I realised when we were doing a rough schedule that this was a big day for the rugby and in hindsight I should have kept this in mind when planning which days we were going to shoot. This meant that we had to be extra careful with safety as when it gets later in the day, the streets will be much busier and on top of that, we need to be careful not to get faces of members of the public in the film as that requires extra permission. This day was mainly for the montage scene of Mr Balloonhead Man walking around the city, so we needed to be as efficient as possible to get the shots we needed.

We started the day off pretty early as I wanted to get some shots when the streets would be as empty as possible. We met at unit base with our skeleton crew - Duncan, Gus, Lachlan, Jack, Gaby, India and our actor Lev. We had planned to have a few extras for this shoot, so for our first shot of the day, we called Alex, our head of post-production sound to be our man on the bike. We did a few takes of this and managed to finally get a shot we were happy with. This shot took longer than we'd hoped due to members of the public walking by quite a lot.

Next we moved on to the shot of the Bam. For this we were initially going to cast Fionntán, however Duncan and I noticed that Fionntán had already been in shots in the house as he was the 'father', so Lachlan, our 1st AD, stepped in to help and he was absolutely brilliant.

Our next shot required two extras who I had cast quite early on into the project. Two regulars from my old work, Ronnie and Michael, had expressed interest in being in our film, so I cast them as the men judging Mr Balloonhead Man as he walked down the street. I left set to collect them from The Scotsman's Lounge, about 15 minutes away. During this time, the crew reshot the scene where Mr Balloonhead Man leaves the flat as we realised that continuity wise, the weather was different from the day we shot it. Despite Ronnie and Michael not being professional actors, they absolutely smashed it and it looked really authentic, I am really excited to show them how it turned out.

Our sound team getting 'ambience noise'

Lev was scheduled to leave set early as they had an audition later in the day, so while Duncan and the rest of the crew did some traffic shots by a tunnel facing the royal mile, India, Lev and I took a few photos of Lev in costume before letting releasing Lev for the day.

The last two shots we needed was Mr Balloonhead Man on the bus, and the shots of the balloon flying in the sky. For this we needed to cut the amount of crew down even more as getting on a bus with a big film crew was bound to attract too much attention. Here, I split the team into two, one to get footage of the bus, and one to collect a helium balloon from Ali's Cave on Lothian Road. Duncan, Jack and I went to Ali's Cave, while the rest hopped on a bus and got the footage we needed. I kept in constant contact with Lachlan to ensure everything was alright and it all went well!

After this shot was done, everyone headed to a hill while India met me back at the flat to start packing the equipment we didn't need up. I finished up the call sheet and ensured to check all the equipment was there before packing it all up and organising what we needed for tomorrow's shoot.

When everyone arrived back, I did a little debrief and welfare check to make sure everyone was alright and not too tired and sent everyone on their way for the day to rest for tomorrow's shoot. Overall, today was fantastic and I am so proud of everyone for being so professional and working really well to get the hard day done!

To end the day, Duncan, Gus, Lachlan and I met Fionntán to watch the big rugby game together :)

[dilemmaontwolegs]

Run These Streets {5} || Street Racer!Bucky

Summary: With a new car and a new found freedom, Bucky is ready to take back his streets. Warnings: 18+ only, nsfw, fluff, smut (unprotected sex, fem rec oral) WC: 2.3k

Bucky Masterlist || Part One || Part Two || Part Three || Part Four || Part Five || Part Six

“I’m gonna be in jeans all damn summer.” Bucky grumbled after the ankle monitor was unlocked and dropped in the probation officer's bag. “Look at this tan line.”

“I didn’t think you could even tan.” You giggled behind your hand as he massaged the free limb and scoffed. “Pretty sure I’ve only ever seen you burn.”

After signing a few documents Bucky walked his probation officer to his car on the street and grinned when his sneakers hit the pavement, something he hadn’t been able to do for months. You couldn’t help laughing as he punched the air triumphantly and stuck his tongue out. It was like a window to the past seeing him so excited, for a second Bucky was 17 again. 

“Wanna take a road trip to Miami?” He asked suddenly. “Plenty of rich kids down there to sell the Cali to.”

You looked at the candy red Ferrari parked in the garage and pouted. “It was kind of growing on me.”

“You said that about the Supra too.” He smirked. “What happened to eww it’s an import!”

 “First off, I don’t sound like that.” You said before pausing. “And…I don’t have a comeback to that.”

His fingers were already twirling the keys that he had pulled from his pocket as he waited for you to give him an answer.

“This is what you want to do with your newfound freedom? Drive for 20 hours.” You reconfirmed, his eager nod making him look so young and innocent that you immediately caved and agreed. “Fine, but you should invite Steve and Hannah along too. He’s been dying to see you wearing more than just boxers.”

He laughed as he pulled you into his arms, shaking his head at the reminder of the many days on home detention where he couldn’t be bothered getting dressed. “Bullshit, Steve’s always enjoyed perving up on this.”

“I can understand the appeal.” You said as you bit your lip and trailed your eyes over his body. “But I always did feel like a third wheel in your bromance.”

“Fuck I’m sexy.” Bucky stated boldly as he walked into the room with a pair of bright red heart shaped sunglasses. “I am rocking this look.”

“I’d say you’re a solid 8.” Steve said seriously before going back to plugging in his PlayStation in your tv. 

“Will you stop going through my closet?” You huffed as you tried to take the silly glasses back but Bucky’s lanky height towered over you. “I have things in there.”

“I know.” He smirked as he watched you try and fail to reach the cheap costume glasses, his eyes fixated on the lace of your bra peeking out of your top with each jump. “I wish our school had a uniform like the one you have.”

“Bucky…” You growled, forgetting the glasses as his words caught Steve’s attention and his head popped up from behind the tv. “That was a halloween costume and that is all I will say on the matter. I’m going to do my homework and pretend you don’t exist okay.”

“Goodluck with that, doll.” He winked, shoving the sunglasses atop his head and dropping onto the couch as Steve tossed him a controller. “What’d you get this week?”

“Gran Turismo.” Steve said as he sat on the floor in front of Bucky. 

“Again?” Bucky chuckled. “Just give up already, you can’t beat me.”

Steve didn’t answer as he concentrated on picking the car and race track that might give him an advantage.

Every Friday night was the same, staying up until dawn playing video games, eating junk food and planning extravagant adventures that would likely never happen. The only thing that changed was whose house you were at. This week was your turn to host since Steve’s mom was sick and Bucky’s dad was on an Army training exercise.

After closing your books and packing them away for school on Monday, you fell across the couch, kicking your feet up on the armrest and laying your head on Bucky’s lap. His arms came down around you without missing a turn on the track and your heart beat rapidly as you watched how his fingers moved across the controller.

“Alright, I’m tired of spanking your ass Rogers. Tell me you brought another game.” Bucky teased as he won yet another race and dropped the controller so he could rest a hand on your waist. 

“My turn.” Steve chuckled, holding the plastic cover up. “Call of Duty.”

Bucky grinned as he sat up a little straighter and your pillow shifted until he was in the prime position to play the new game. “You’re on.” 

“What’s the point of this?” You asked as they ran around like headless chickens, shooting anyone they came across including each other. “You’re on the same team.”

“So?” Steve laughed. “He can’t get more points if he’s busy respawning. Fuck!”

Steve dropped the controller as his half of the screen turned red and replayed the killshot, Bucky’s abs bouncing against you as he tried not to laugh too hard. 

“You were saying, punk?” Bucky teased, before patting your side to get you to sit up so he could pull you onto his lap. His arms wrapped around your waist and he placed your hands on his so you were holding the controller with him. “This is how you aim and this is the trigger.”

“I think I should stick to racing games.” You growled as you died once again. “Sorry, I’m ruining your stats.”

“Ugh, don’t apologise to him, just keep playing,” Steve begged. “I’m only one kill away from winning.”

You could never understand how a man could pack so light or fast but Bucky was ready to go in minutes with the necessities; a bottle of whiskey, a change of clothes and some cash left over from the sale of the Supra. With your bag finally packed and sitting with Bucky’s in the trunk of the Ferari, you were heading to Steve’s house where he was waiting outside practically chomping at the bit to get in the car along with Hannah.

“Do you know how long I have been dreaming of this road trip?” He grinned as he climbed in the back. “This is how we should have spent the summer of senior year. It’s not like those college visits did us any good.”

You laced your hand with Bucky’s as he wove through the traffic to get on the interstate south. It was a beautiful day for a road trip, the sun was shining and a tepid breeze blew through the windows that were down. Steve had made it his mission to steal the auxiliary cord and plug his phone in to control the music despite knowing the lifelong rule that whoever rides shotgun is in charge but he had fallen asleep somewhere around Richmond, Virginia, Hannah soon following after laying her head on his shoulder. 

Bucky looked more content than you had seen him in months and the carefree smile was something you had sorely missed. Everything about him looked perfect and you couldn’t help taking a photo to capture the moment as he rested his arm along the open window and slapped the steering wheel in time to the beat of a Lynyrd Skynyrd song. 

Tossing your phone back in the centre console, you placed your hand on Bucky’s thigh and watched the terrain go by in a blur. Your thumb massaged the denim material mindlessly, slowly creeping closer up his leg without any conscious thought. It wasn’t until you reached the crease of his pocket that he cleared his throat and you looked across to see him smirking down at your hand and you froze. 

“You should be concentrating on the road, Barnes.”

 “You know, I am trying to focus…” He groaned. “But I can’t deny that it doesn’t feel good. Keep going, please.”

You looked over your shoulder and found Steve’s mouth open as he snored with Hannah in a similar state. Satisfied they were fast asleep, you teased your fingers over the fly of his jeans and watched him take a sharp intake of breath. The sound sent a bolt of lightning to your core and you crossed your legs to ease the friction that was suddenly as necessary as air to survive. 

From the throaty chuckle he gave you knew he had noticed your reaction and reached over to run this thumb along your neck. “I love how your pulse races for me…”

“You better find a motel for the night.” You warned as you caught his hand and brought it down to the apex of your thighs. “I need you.”

The rev of the car woke Steve and he sat up, rubbing his eyes as he looked around and spotted the sign for Virginia Beach. 

“Sunset on the beach…romantic.” He grinned, waking up Hannah as Bucky pulled into the first motel that had a vacancy sign. “This dump, not so much.”

“You’ve slept in worse places.” You teased as you grabbed your handbag and followed Bucky to the reception.

Bucky’s lips were on yours before the door to the room even closed, the bags getting dropped unceremoniously beside a second before he dragged you to the bed. 

“You get off on teasing me don’t you doll.” Bucky moaned as he unwrapped you with all the vigour of a child at Christmas. “Getting my blood pumping.”

You sighed longingly as his lips left a trail of fire down your collarbone and over the soft flesh of your breasts. “What can I say, I love where it leads.”

Your squeal of surprise filled the room when Bucky suddenly fell back on the bed and pulled you with him but you quickly recovered as you straddled his hips. Bucky’s large hands guided your body down on his and your head fell back with a moan as he filled you.

“You feel so good baby.” He moaned as you rolled your hips and teased your nipples, pinching and rolling them to stiff peaks as he watched on hungrily. “Lemme taste ‘em.”

He pushed your hands aside so he could suck your nipple into his mouth, his tongue soft and warm like a velvet dream that left your core tightening around him. The need to climax spurred you to move faster, the cheap headboard and the spring mattress bumping and squeaking with every movement. You bit your lip as you tried to stay quiet, not wanting to add to the noise knowing who it was on the other side of the wall, but it was mission impossible and you cried out when Bucky thrust up into you.

Quiet moans echoed through the wall and you shook your head as if you could shake away the knowledge of what Steve and Hannah were doing. Bucky smirked as he heard them too and he flipped you over, the glint of his competitive nature bleeding into his eyes as he pulled out.

“Bucky, please…” you whined as your pussy ached to be filled by him again.

“Patience sweetheart.” He chuckled as he settled between your legs. “I didn’t get to say hello to my best girl.”

Stars shattered your vision until the outdated wallpaper was replaced by a galaxy and you cried out as his tongue delved between your slit with a kiss he usually savoured to dominate your mouth. Your legs squirmed from the sparks that jolted down them but Bucky’s hands held you tight and kept you from wriggling away. You were so close to coming and he could feel it as your clit bounced over his tongue.

“Oh god, Bucky!” 

Bucky crawled up your body, kissing the soft skin along your belly, stopping to give some love to the breasts he salivated for until he got to your lips. “I love you.”

Your words were lost in a moan as he filled you and hooked your leg over his hip. Bucky’s eyes were practically glowing in the reflection of the neon sign outside the window and you were enamoured by the love they held for you. If only you had listened to your gut all those years ago, you could have saved both of you a lot of time and heartache. 

“I love you too.”

His thumb caressed your cheek and he smiled the kind of smile that left your stomach somersaulting and your pussy clenching. He always smiled when you said those words, like he was still surprised that you would say them to him. 

You took his hand and laced your fingers with his as his slow strokes turned frantic, every thrust aimed at the sweet spot that left your head spinning. The room was filled with heady moans and the delicious sounds of your bodies joining in a heated dance, an overload to your aural senses of the best kind. Heat spread across your skin until you were slick with a sheen of sweat and the elastic band in your core snapped, sending your body convulsing beneath his touch.

“Bucky!” You whined as he kept his relentless pass and chased his own release. “Oh fuck.”

Bucky shuddered as he buried himself to the hilt and let a deep growl claw out from chest before collapsing atop you, his lips pressing gentle kissing to your racing pulse.

“We should shower and get ready to go.” Bucky murmured as he reluctantly sat up.

“Go where?” You asked as you caught him and pulled him back, still not finished with his cuddles.

“I can’t handle 14 more hours of Steve’s music.” He smirked, dragging you up with him and letting him lead you to the shower. “They have got to get their own ride and I know the perfect place to win one.”

Click here for part six.

[urcuteharrington]

halloween party🕊💌

pairing- billy hargrove x fem!reader

summary-married to billy after leaving hawkins was the best thing you did, it’s 1990 and you both head to a halloween party.

word count-1.3k

warnings- smut, drinking, cursing

a/n- this was requested and i hope you guys enjoy it! i’ve been so busy lately but i still plan on doing billy’s enemy’s to lovers when i get the chance<3

requested by anon<3

masterlist

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

halloween 1990

"billy what are we gonna be tonight for the halloween party" i ask my husband waiting for a response. billy and i got married two years ago when we turned 21 and we couldn't be happier, afterwards we left hawkins since we both decided it would be best to leave behind all the trauma it gave both of us. " billy are you listening to me" i ask him as i walk over to him and see what he is doing.

"hey dollface" he says to me while drying his wet hair." so have you decided what we can go as? i'm thinking between a vampire or Farrah Fawcett with the big hair" i say as i run my fingers along his chest."and if i am a vampire you can be my victim with the blood running down your neck" as i trace where it would be" and you can wear your leather jacket with no shirt under" sending him a wink after. " well sweetheart what would you wear" he asks me as he places a hand on my waist." well ill wear something black , put two dots on my neck, these fangs on my teeth and then add some fake blood dripping out?" i say to him and get excited. " well seems like we figured that out quick." alright well hurry and get dressed so i can start getting ready" i say to him, walking away i feel his slap my ass and i shoot him a look knowing this was only the beginning.

after a few hours we were both almost ready." stay still i need to do the dots before the blood" i say as i draw two black dots on his neck with eyeliner. " okay the blood is gonna have to dry before you do anything because i think this shit stains " laughing as i dab on some fake blood on billys neck. fanning it down with my hand i feel his hands travel from my waist to my hips then travel to my butt. "wondering hands?" i smirk and he tells me" i can't help it you just look so sexy in this. " i laugh and ask him" well now can you help me with these fangs? i got them so its one for one tooth and another for the other one because i was not gonna have a huge chunk of plastic in my mouth all night." he chuckles and we fo the final touches of our costume.

" damn baby you look so good" he says to me as we walk out of the house." mmm thank you" i say as i give him a kiss. as we drive to the party i feel his hand on my thigh slowly going up to my heat. putting my hand on top of his i stop him" the nights only starting love" he shoots me a cheeky smile making me melt.

as we arrive to the halloween party hand in hand we head over to the kitchen to get a drink. " lets take a shot" i semi yell to him over the blaring music and he nods to me. 2 shots down and im pulling him to the dance floor " come dance with me" i say as i put my arms around his neck shaking my hips from side to side. looking him in the eyes with my bedroom eyes he leans in and tells me " don't tease me or you won't be walking tomorrow" laughing slightly i tell him " challenge accepted " biting his ear softly.

the music mixed with the 2nd drink in my hand , not including the other two shots after my first drink, gives me this euphoric feeling. dancing and feeling the beat i start shaking my hips side to side while billy follows behind me. "sweetheart i'm serious no teasing, how rude would it look if we left because you couldn't control yourself. i think about it for a second but no one would notice if we left so i continue, how far could i tease billy before he caved in.

as the lights get dimmer i flip around and start kissing and nibbling on his neck in search of his sweet spot. "that's it" he says to me as he pulls me out of the dance floor putting his arm around my waist. whispering to me he says " i warned you baby" he says smirking as we leave side by side.

once we get home and the front door closes he begins. " i want that off and you in bed by the time i get to the room" he says as im pinned against the wall, his breath on my neck, the feeling of wetness pulling between my thighs. walking to the bedroom i take off my outfit leaving just my bra and panties.

billy walks through the door and my heart beats faster. " good girl now can princess undress me?" he asks me and i nod. getting off the bed i take off his jacket tossing it in the pile with my outfit. unbuckling his belt slowly i hear him groan" no teasing baby" i continue and eventually get the rest of his clothes off leaving him only in his boxers. massaging his member from the outside i hear him let out a deep breath. " suck me off princess" he says as he puts his hand on my cheek playing with my lips with his thumb. i pull his member out and slowly start with the tip " still shocked by his size after being with him so long. " take off your bra" he says as i continuing sucking him off while taking my bra off. eventually deepthroating him i hear him pant and groan." im close princess" he says to me and i start massaging his balls knowing he melts when i do that. "f-fuck" i hear as his hot sticky cum hits the back of my throat. swallowing it all i show him "good girl now lay down on the bed" i lay on the bed and he soon slides my panties off while kissing me. getting lost in the kiss i feel his hand massaging my breast occasionally squeezing my nipple.

trailing the kisses down my neck as he left love bites and hickeys all around my neck until he reaches my breasts. kissing and massaging them he then snakes one hand down to my clit rubbing circles making me moan. " mmm fuck billy" i say as he goes down and inserts one finger into my heat. the feeling on him fingering me and sucking on my breasts is beyond me especially since i'm still feeling the effects of the alcohol. inserting another finger he comes up and moves to be in between my thighs, sucking on my clit i can't help but moan his name." i c-close" is all i could mutter out and billy sucked on my clit like a pacifier. reaching my orgasm i lay their breathless, billy wasting no time inserts himself into me and i moan as he slides all the way in.

balls deep he waits for me to give him the okay to move. "move" i say as i feel him pull out, only the tip inside, and slam into my g-spot. he continued this making my legs feel like jello. he puts on of my legs of his shoulder and continues slamming into me. eyes rolling to the back of my head i sing his name like its the only word i know. to top it all off he puts his thumb on my sensitive clit rubbing it in circles. at this point i am feeling the bubble in my abdomen build" i i am go-ona cum-m" i manage to let out as he cums with me.

laying their i catch my breath" this isn't the end princess i told you if you continued you wouldn't be able to walk tomorrow, im keeping that promise" he shoots me a wink and kisses my lips gently.

[random-imagines-blog]

Voices {Diana Prince x Fem!Reader}

Requested by: Anonymous Wordcount: 2343 Summary: Jealousy is hard to tame, even in an Amazonian Princess. Warnings: Smut.

Diana had never been the jealous type. That was until had come along and joined the Justice League, the only other female in this male-dominated group. You weren’t quite as powerful as Diana, but you contributed a lot to the team, and knew how to handle yourself in a fight. Your powers of creating a force field had saved the ass of each one of these lunatics at least once. Even Superman had owed you a debt of gratitude for your powers, all of which you took with a grin. But out of all of them, the one that you seemed to be the closest with was Bruce - and that is where Diana’s jealousy came in.

You, like Bruce, were also from Gotham, so there had been that instant connection there. You would often talk about restaurants, about high school, about people and if there was any overlaps in where you used to hang out. It turns out you used to frequent some of the same places, despite being from totally different backgrounds. You two could often be seen talking and laughing around the coffee machine, or going out to dinner - which made the tabloids go wild. The rest of the league knew that you two were just friends but Diana had always suspected something.

She had originally thought that she would be the one that you would bond with, given that you were a woman. And yes, you two were friendly enough but it wasn’t quite what she had pictured. You would catch eyes in the hallway and nod at one another, and you worked well out in the battlefields of the world. When she saw you with Bruce, your voice would flow through her head like music, while Bruce’s was grating, like nails on a chalkboard. It affected her relationship with Bruce, which had once been friendly but now, being around him just felt like the annoying co-worker.

You and Bruce came into the Batcave from going out to dinner, and you were talking about the couple who had been sitting next to you. “I think it’s romantic,” You were saying about them.

“I think it’s convenient,” Bruce was shrugging off his jacket. “I know a thing or two about gold-diggers, y/n, and that man was one of them.”

“Sometimes, Bruce, I think you see the world in too dark a light,” You said, finally noticing that the others were gathered around, with only Diana and Barry eavesdropping. Cyborg was hooked into a supercomputer, and Clark was in his ordinary Clark attire, looking at his phone. “Oh, was there a meeting?”

“No, I was just bored,” Barry said. There was a flash of yellow, and he was standing right beside you, offering you a bag of chips. “Hungry?”

“Just ate, but thank you. I don’t think I could take another bite,” You protested. Bruce did the same with an elegant gesture of his hand, and you went your separate ways. Bruce went to hang up his jacket while you strode over to see what Clark was doing. Diana was sitting alone at the table now, watching the way that your dress moved about your body. She admired it on you. It was white and gold, and reminded her of home, though this was much more formal than functional. The sleeves draped over your shoulder, exposing the soft flesh of your collar and arms. As you bent over to peek at his phone and see who he was texting, she caught the curve of your breast, and looked away quickly, face glowing red in shame.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to look. But rather, she wanted you to be the one to show her, of your own free will. She wanted you to ask her to unzip the dress and watch as you stepped out of it, completely bare. These thoughts clouded her mind to the point where she didn’t notice that Barry had slipped into the chair beside her and was staring at her, grinning.

“You’re so obviously in love, just go ask her out!” He said, a little loudly. Diana shushed him quickly, and darted her eyes back to see if you had noticed. But you were teasing Clark about his girlfriend, Lois at this point and didn’t seem to have overheard.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Diana said, turning back towards Barry. “Isn’t there some marathon that you should be running?”

“Ouch, you get mean when you’re jealous.”

“I am not jealous,” Diana said, though she knew that it was a lie. Jealousy was a snake that was making it’s way through her nerves, and if she didn’t do something about it soon, she was afraid she was going to burst. The toxicity was unscrewing itself.

She stood up and made her way to the bathrooms. There were two, side by side, neither of them labeled as male or female because it seemed stupid. Just pick a bathroom and use it. She went inside and ran some cold water over her hands and patted at her flawless face. She looked at herself in the mirror and saw the red coming across her cheeks. She saw that glint in her eye that she didn’t like. Though alone, with the only sound being the pipes, she thought she could hear your voice. Laughing. Then Bruce. Probably saying something witty. Oh, I’m Bruce Wayne, I’m rich. I’m Batman.

She splashed herself again, trying to get control over these negative emotions. She dried her face with some paper towel and went to step out, planning on leaving the Bat Cave since she wasn’t needed here, but when she opened the door - you were standing there. You looked startled by the door opening, but your open mouth turned into a frown. “Are you okay?”

You pushed your way into the well lit bathroom with her, and closed the door behind you. Your hand then went to her forehead, reaching up because the Amazonian woman was so tall, and tried to feel for a fever. “Do I look sick to you?” Diana asked, raising an eyebrow, but let you touch her skin, her face. It brought that heat back but it was a different kind.

“Well, your cheeks look a little flushed, and you have been more quiet than usual,” You said, stepping back with a frown. “But you don’t have a fever, so hurray for small miracles.”

“Good,” Diana said with a nod. “But I could have told you that I’m not sick. I don’t get sick.”

“Of course, your immune system is probably as crazy powerful as you are,” You chuckled. “Is there something else wrong then? I mean, you look amazing as usual but there’s something up with you. If you wanted to talk about it, you know I’m here, right?”

You were just so nice, it was hard for Diana to really comprehend it. She only wished that you were this nice to her, and not to everyone else, as cruel as that seemed. In what was at first meant to be a reassuring motion, she put her hands on your arms and rubbed up and down, and then up, past the thin off-the shoulder sleeves, to your shoulders. Once she had started, she found it hard to stop.

“You’re here, and that’s part of the problem,” She admitted. You tilted your head in confusion, exposing more of that beautiful neck that so tempted her. The way that she was looking at you - with eyes ablaze - it was a wonder you weren’t running off. “I have to ask you a question, and it may sound a little strange.”

“Of course, what is it?”

“Do you have feelings of any sort for Bruce?”

“Oh, gross, no,” You said, shaking your head. Her hands were still on your shoulders, keeping you grounded. “He’s like a brother, especially since we grew up in a lot of the same places. Why do you ask?”

“You two seem very close... very close.” Her hands went up your neck, caressing the soft and exposed skin until she reached your jaw. Your breath hitched in your throat, she could feel it. But you didn’t become meek or shy. Instead, you surprised her.

“Hmm... are you jealous, Diana?” You asked. You didn’t attempt to push her off, or get her to move. In fact, the reason why you had been going towards the bathroom in the first place was easily forgotten. Diana was caught of guard by your direct question, and responded to it with a nod rather than verbalizing. A smile went across your lips - closed lipped, tantalizing. “Then my plan has been working.”

You were the one that initiated the first kiss, wrapping your arms around her neck, bringing her in. She was in her full gear in case something had come up, and her metal breastplate rubbed roughly against the soft fabric of your dress. It was a good feeling though. It was a bit cold - and it permeated through the dress until you could feel it on your nipples, making them grow hard. In contrast, Diana was now feeling the soft, the flowing feeling against her elbows as her arms bent when she came closer. Lips smashed against lips, and that jealousy melted away.

You were the first one to pull away, take a step back and looked over that outfit of hers. The infamous Wonder Woman outfit. Turned into cheap costumes the  world round. “How do you take that thing off?” You asked. Surprising her again.

“Are you asking me to take it off, or are you curious?” Diana asked, pushing her hair out of the way, behind her neck, so that she could get back at yours with kisses.

“Both,” You said, leaning your head back so that she had more skin to get at. Diana grinned into these kisses, and showed you exactly how the form fitting top came off.

Diana felt very comfortable in her skin, and was fine with showing it off - to you. There were plenty of perverts out there who wanted to see this view, but it was only for you. Her chest was heaving with excitement, the pink that had been on her cheeks blushed her tan body. The skirt had come off as well, it being a one piece, and now she was standing there in only her underwear. For you.

You brought her back in for another kiss, this time with no hard breast plate in the middle. Diana’s hands deftly made their way to the back of your dress, and found the zipper. You moaned in encouragement, and gently - so as not to ruin the dress - she pulled it down until it reached your lower back. You shrugged your way out of it, pulling your arms out of the sleeves and let it fall onto the bathroom floor. At least Alfred kept this place spic and span himself. These floors had only been mopped that very morning.

Diana kept the kisses raining down upon you, your neck, your shoulders, your breasts once they were exposed. It was just the two of you in your underwear now, pressed against one another but it never felt close enough. Lifting you with ease, Diana swept you off of your feet and put you up onto the sink. You leaned back against the mirror, surprised at how quick all of this was going on. Both of you were. But neither of you were putting a stop to it. This was what she had been thinking about doing. Taking you from Bruce’s side and showing you how she really felt. This, this was a dream come true.

She kissed her way up one of your thighs, right along the inner skin, got to your underwear and started to pull it off slowly, leading it with kisses among the other thigh, to the calf, the to your pretty feet, bound in heels. Those, she would leave on. Just like she would her own thigh-high boots. “You’re very beautiful, y/n,” Diana said, getting a real good look at you.

“So are you, Princess,” You said with a smile, watching with eyes full of adoration. She existed for your compliments, and made her way hungrily between your legs. She was soft, just like those plump lips of hers, and she was gentle. She was also quite slow, which made you want her all the more. Her tongue was wet and warm and seemed to know exactly where to go to bring out the little whimpers in you. Your hands went to your own breasts, squeezing them. You pulled at your own nipples, making a display of it as Diana watched. Her dark eyes stayed focus up on you as her mouth worked.

As you began to reach your climax, miscellaneous things in the bathroom started to rumble. The garbage can for one, began to shake. The paper towel roll became entirely undone. The soap started to squirt out on its own. The lights flickered on and off as that force-field of yours affected the electricity around you. When you did finally reach it, your legs tightened around Diana, trapping her there as you thrust your hips up and down against her face, mewling with satisfaction.

The afterglow must have been amazing, for you grew a lot more loose and limber afterwards. Once you let Diana out of your grip, she joined you, hopping up onto the counter and put her arms around you, bringing you in for more kisses. These ones were more so lazy, just little pecks, as you started to recover from that rush of emotions. “What about you?” You asked, looking her over with a grin on her face.

“In time,” Diana smirked. “We have all of that in the world.”

[nour386]

Meeting the not Heroic Family

My submission for @pinesconessecrets as the santa of @mothmanfactkin, His prompts included super hero au and awkward dinner. So I combined them together into one massive fic. I hope you enjoy this because I enjoyed writing this. (Also on Ao3!)

"Dipper, I'm not sure about this," Wirt tightened his grip on his boyfriend's hand.

"It'll be fine!" Dipper awkwardly bumped Wirt with his elbow. "They don't need to know that I'm dating the legendary 'Spirit of the Plants'."

"Dipper this is serious." Wirt said. "If your Uncle is half as smart as you say he is, he should be able to figure out my identity in an instant."

"Don't worry about that, we have your cover story remember?" Dipper grinned, "a humble library part timer fresh out of college, looking for work. It'd cover most of our bases."

Wirt didn't look convinced. He bit his lip and looked away. His mind raced with all the ways this evening could go wrong. A villain somehow reconsigning him, and attacking them through the window. A giant monster bursting through the ceiling, crushing everyone and splattering the walls with their blood. Or worst of all, his boyfriend's uncles deciding that he was a bad influence. Cutting his time with Dipper short.

"Hey, look at me." Dipper pinched Wirt's cheek making the lanky man wince.

"What was that for?" Wirt rubbed his cheek.

"You were doing that thing where you panic and over think everything and worry that the end of the world will come about because you dropped a spoon." Dipper rolled his hand as he spoke.

"There was no apocalypse this time." Wirt said in a small voice.

"That's not the point Pilgrim." Dipper sighed. He placed both his hands on Wirt’s shoulders. "I know you're worried, and in truth, I am a little as well; but nothing helpful is going to come from sitting here and stewing in our sweat. Let's go take this thing down together."

Wirt took a deep breath, and let himself be held by Dipper. The weight of his hands on his shoulders helped ground the young man. He looked into his boyfriend’s eyes and gave a small smile. 

“I think. I'll be fine.” Wirt said slowly.

“I’ll be with you every step of the way.” Dipper smiled.

The pair made their way down the long walk up to the mystery shack. Normally Dipper would have insisted on flying the pair over, but decided that letting Wirt get excited over the natural beauty of Gravity Falls might help him calm down enough to face his uncles. That judgement worked out swimmingly in his favour as Wirt awkwardly asked to stop every few minutes to observe some flower or shrub that he didn’t quite recognise. 

“I know you said the town was bustling with the unknown, I didn’t think that would include plants.” Wirt carefully touched the leaf of a shrub. 

“Is a small bush that impressive?” Dipper squated next to Wirt to observe the plant. The stem looked like it was covered in red polka dots. 

“Look! This shrub adapted its stem to look like it's covered in red ants to avoid being eaten!” Wirt said in an excited voice. He gave the leaf at the tip of the stem a small poke and gave a small twitter of delight as the stem curled up perfectly to make the polka dots look even larger. 

“Huh, I never noticed that.” Dipper taped his chin.

“Probably because you spent the better part of your time running for your life.” Wirt tapped a nearby tree. A sturdy branch grew out, just high enough along the trunk to help him stand up without groaning. “Thank you.” He whispered to the tree.

“You know, for a superhero you sure do use your powers haphazardly.” Dipper teased. He stood up, and led the way to the shack.

“You’re just jealous that your yearbook photo this year was captioned ‘plant killer’.” Wirt smirked,   following Dipper along the path.

“I told all of our friends to not get me house plants as gifts. But they never listen.” Dipper threw up his hands in exasperation. “I can hardly take care of myself. You think I can take care of a plant?”

“Thank your lucky stars that I didn’t decide to incarcerate you for crimes against greenery.” Wirt said.

“That’s not a thing and you know it Mr.’Hero’.” Dipper punched Wirt’s arm.

“Well it might be!” Wirt shot back. “And now the charge has changed to battery.”

“Oh no. how could you have stopped my dastardly crimes.” Dipper rolled his eyes.

“Who’s talking about crime?” came a gruff voice.

The pair looked ahead to find an older looking man. Greying hair that lay flat on his head, a red nose and square jaw. He wore a serious expression, his face behind his square glasses was twisted into a serious scowl as he looked at the two young men. 

“I-uh no-one Sir.” Wirt squeaked. 

Dipper on the other hand rolled his eyes. “Why? You want a cut of the goods?” “You’re damn right.” The old man smirked. 

“I wha-” Wirt looked between them.

“Are you sure you’d want to be associated with horrible criminals like us?” Dipper asked. “Wouldn’t want the press to find out and cause another scandal.”

“Those paparazzi cronies will swarm after anything. It’ll blow over in less than a day.” The old man chuckled.

“What?” Wirt tilted his head.

Dipper grinned. “Wirt, this is my Great uncle Stan, retired hero and ever active conman.” 

“Hero?” Wirt stared at the man. His mind raced to put a mask to the face.

“Autographs cost 50 and pictures with me are 100.” Stan gave a showman’s grin. “Keep in mind that those prices are mutually exclusive.”

“And if you want him in costume you’d be footing the tailor’s bill.” Dipper elbowed Wirt.

“Wait, who were you?” Wirt asked.

“Who was I? Who was I?” Stan looked as though he had the wind knocked out of him. “What kind of cave dweller did you bring to my house?”

Dipper rolled his eyes at Stan’s theatrics. He was well used to his uncle’s inflated ego about his hero career. Wirt on the other hand found difficulty picking up on Stan’s very subtle hints at playing a bit. He felt his stomach sink to his feet as the man’s voice grew in volume, his life flashing before his eyes as he tried to figure out which hero this angry looking man could have been. 

“Grunkle Stan, tone it down, you’re going to give him a heart attack.” Came a sweet as sugar voice from inside the shack. A young lady with her hair done in a long braid opened the mesh door and punched Stan in the arm. Aside from rosy cheeks and the lack of a beard, her face was identical to Dipper’s. It didn’t take long for Wirt to recognise his boyfriend’s twin sister, Mabel. 

She turned to Wirt and gave a warming smile. “Sorry about this old grump. He thinks his comedy routine should double as a horror show.” 

“It’s only horror if they’re too sensitive.” Stan rubbed his arm. 

“You promised Dipper you’d play nice while Wirt was visiting.” she crossed her arms.

“I also promised your uncle Shermie that I wouldn’t let you do any hero work while staying over. And look how that turned out.” Stan rolled his eyes.

“Stopping someone from stealing a car isn’t hero work.” Mabel shot back. 

“Sorry about Stan,” Dipper muttered under his breath. “He’s just jealous that his hero career was cut.” 

“Jealous?” Wirt stared at Dipper. “You said you didn’t tell them anything”

“He’s jealous of your youthfulness” Dipper squeezed Wirt’s shoulder. He leaned in close to whisper into his ear. “I haven’t told them a thing, I promise.”

“So he’s not mad?” Wirt clarified. 

“Nope, just a really bad comedian.” Dipper smiled.

Wirt closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He held onto Dipper’s hand to ground himself. It took a couple of moments but he felt his heart rate slow down. 

“Hey, is the kid okay?” Stan called from the porch. Wirt could hear the audible smack of Mabel’s fist against Stan’s meaty arms, followed by a hushed. “Ouch!”

“Ready to go in?” Dipper asked patiently, ignoring his relatives and their antics.

“I think so yes.” Wirt opened his eyes and gave a weak grin. 

***

The pair had wanted to spend the wait for dinner in the living room, enjoying the terrible public access television that Gravity Falls had to offer. However, Stan had other plans. Apparently Dipper’s second Grunkle, Ford as Stan called him, had failed to arrive in time to help like he had agreed. And now the couple were forced into the kitchen to help with dinner preparations. 

“Honestly you don’t need to help too much.” Dipper insisted as he kept an eye on the bubbling stew.

“I don’t mind. It’s nice to see the shack you talk so much about.” Wirt smiled. He carefully peeled an onion before dicing it. Dipper could have sworn the onion grew plumper when he handed it to Wirt.

“So he talks about this place huh?” Stan looked over his shoulder and away from his chopping board. “Better be talking about how great it was.”

“Oh but of course.” Dipper rolled his eyes. “The 5 star accommodations, and food to match? How could I complain?”

“Didn’t you say that the walls were riddled with splinters?” Wirt asked.

“They add character!” Stan insisted. He banged his fist on to the chopping board, launching sliced up carrots into Dipper’s bubbling pot.

“And a surprising amount of fiber.” Dipper said. He placed a lid on the pot. 

“What?” Wirt looked at Dipper. 

“The kid chews just about anything. I’m surprised his power wasn’t something like eating anything.” Stan said, he took the onion slices from Wirt and poured them into a pan with some oil.

“I don’t think that’d be very fitting.” Wirt said. 

“Oh? And why’s that?” Stan snapped his fingers, summoning a small flame at the tip of his finger, which he then used to ignite the stove. He raised an eyebrow as he stared at Wirt. Challenging him to back up his claim.

Wirt could feel his stomach twisting under the gaze of the older man, but a gentle hand on his shoulder helped the practising hero ground himself. He took a deep breath and put on what felt like a confident grin. “Well, for one thing Dipper would need an appetite for such a power to be useful.”

There was a beat, Wirt held his breath, expecting some snide remark about how he didn’t know what he was talking about. Instead, Wirt watched as Stan slapped his knee in laughter. The old man’s wrinkled face lifted with glee as his hoarse laugh filled the shack. He accidentally knocked over the pan he had just put on the stove. 

Acting quickly, Wirt grew a strong vine from the flowers on the window sill, easily catching the pan.

“And here I thought you were all talk about him being a smart alec!” Stan grinned. He clapped a hand on Wirt’s back.

“Thank you?” Wirt looked to Dipper for help.

His boyfriend gave him a small smile and a thumbs up. “Told you he could hold his own.”

“He still looks scrawny as hell.” Stan pulled his pan out of the vine’s grasp. “Pretty good with his powers. You sure he ain’t some mask behind your back?”

“Grunkle Stan, Wirt would never lie to me like that.” Dipper frowned. He looked disgusted at the suggestion.

“Not many regular people are quick enough to catch something that fast. Especially with powers they don’t use regularly.” Stan said.

“I do use my power often.” Wirt said honestly.

“And what does a librarian need chloromancy for?” Stan asked.

“It helps me put away books faster.” Wirt said. “Not to mention I had a very excitable younger brother. If I wasn’t keeping an eye on him, there was no telling how much trouble he’d get in.”

Dipper held his breath as he watched his Uncle’s reaction. The old man eyed Wirt up and down, before shrugging and moving back to his cooking. “Jeez you really are dating a goody two shoes, aren’t you?” 

“You know me. Can’t help but stick to the rules.” Dipper said with an awkward chuckle.

“Only when it suits you.” Stan remarked. “Now toast the bread, I didn't bring you in here to play 20 questions.”

***

‘Ford’ was still nowhere to be seen, but the family had decided to start dinner without him. 

“If he thinks I’m going to wait for him to eat then he’s got another thing coming.” Stan said. 

With the use of his plant powers, Wirt was able to set the table rather quickly. He wondered why Mabel hadn’t been asked to help, but when he saw several burn marks hidden under the table cloth, he realised the risk the ever glitter throwing Mabel could be to the kitchen. It wasn’t long before the table had been set and all food was served. The three Pines and Wirt sat together at the table, enjoying the delicious food. The sound of clinking plates filled the air.

All was peaceful until a loud crash came from the living room, followed by an angry shout.

“Stanley what did you do to my mirror!”

Stan didn't get up from his seat, in fact he  acted as though he didn’t hear what had just transpired. Wirt remembered seeing the old man reach for his ears before they began eating. ‘Perhaps he turned off his hearing aids?’.

Dipper gave Wirt a smile. “We’re in the kitchen Grunkle Ford!”

Wirt turned to the doorway just in time to see a man with a similar face to Stan’s but with a much deeper cleft in his chin and much poofier hair. He wore a trench coat and red sweater over black dress pants. His clothes were scuffed and were burnt in multiple places. To the untrained eye it would have looked like the man had run wildly through the woods from some kind of monster. However Wirt was familiar with markings like those that were all over Ford’s clothing. They were from stray bullets that had nicked his clothing, narrowly avoiding him. 

“Stanley, what was the big idea with putting my mirror behind the couch!” Ford marched right up to his twin, his face red with rage.

Stan lazily looked up at Ford, his mouth full of mashed potatoes. He raised a finger and swallowed his food. “I can’t hear anything you're saying Sixer.” Stan pointed to the kitchen counter, where his hearing aids sat, keeping him deaf to the world around him.

“You knucklehead! I almost got crushed!” Ford reached to punch Stan, but he was stopped by Dipper. The young man had jumped out of his seat and grabbed a hold of Ford’s arm. Dipper also summoned a vine from the window sill to keep his uncle restrained.

“Grunkle Ford, I’m really happy you’re back in one piece. I was hoping to introduce you to my boyfriend, Wirt.” Dipper said. He nonchalantly gestured to Wirt.

“Ah, yes. I had forgotten we had guests.” Ford’s cheeks turned red as he collected himself. “I apologise for my outburst. I’m usually much more composed. However, someone’s pettiness has affected that.”

“Still deaf as a post.” Stan pointed to his large ears. His mouth full of half eaten stew.

Ford rolled his eyes and walked over to Wirt. The old man wiped his hand on his dark pants before offering a six-fingered hand shake. Wirt politely returned the gesture with a firm hand. But as the pair shook hands, a painful realisation dawned upon them both. 

“You…” They both breathed. Their eyes locked into one another. 

Before Wirt could say anything, Stanford ran out of the room, and out of sight. 

Stan, Dipper and Mabel stared at Wirt, all thinking the same question. Wirt could feel their eyes boring into his skull, so he stood up, and excused himself. The young man made his way to the bathroom, closing the door behind himself. He splashed his face with some cold water and breathed deeply. He looked at the mirror above the sink, screamed, and tripped back into the bathtub.

“Calm down!” Dipper whispered. He stepped out of the mirror.

“How did you-”

“I’ve been copying Grunkle Ford’s power for ages.” Dipper said. “Now, would you mind explaining what that was just now?”

“So, remember how I thought I never met your uncles and was worried about a bad first impression?” Wirt asked. His tone sounded jovial despite his rattled nerves. “Well I don't need to worry about that anymore.”

“When did you meet Grunkle Ford?” Dipper asked. He sat on the side of the bathtub.

“I was doing a nightly patrol of our campus. The security guards had asked for some help from the local hero guild. Someone was breaking in and taking the latest data found by the scientific teams. I was already on campus so the hero guild put me to the job.” Wirt said. He kept in his awkwardly sat position in the tub as he spoke. The shower curtain tangled with his long limbs. 

“So as I was walking around, I heard the guards calling for help, turned the corner and saw the tail coat of a man run down the hallway. ‘The light of the moon shone through the windows, guiding me through the dark to his eventual capture’. Is what I thought when I saw him turn down a dead end. But instead there was no one. There was the one way glass of the nearby lab door; but it was securely locked. The guards checked it anyway and found no one.”

“Right.” Dipper nodded along, tapping his chin.

“I walked along the floor, looking for any signs of the intruder; but alas he had slipped my grasp. The only person I found was one of the professors leaving after a late night at work. I had thought he was the intruder at first, since the first thing I saw were the tails of his coat, but it was a lab coat.” Wirt continued.

“But where does Ford fit into this?” Dipper asked.

“That professor dropped a roll of paper he was carrying. I thought it was some of his research, but when I reached down to pick it up. I noticed he had six fingers, which was not mentioned in the staff listings. And when I looked at his ID, it was a crudely faked card.” Wirt said. 

“Ooooh.” Dipper sucked in a breath. “And he realised you were the hero from that night?”

“There’s no way he didn’t.” Wirt said.

“Okay, things are messy, but, there’s nothing to worry about.” Dipper clapped his hands. “He knows that you know, but we don’t know he knows. So we can use this to our advantage.” 

“If he knows that we know, then he won’t try to deal with me to make sure I don’t blab?” wirt asked.

“But he can’t be sure that you know.” Dipper said. “As far as your story goes, you’re only a librarian. Just keep your cool and things should smooth over.”

“Considering how annoyed your Uncle Stan is, I doubt he’d want to cause too much more trouble.” Wirt said.

“Exactly.” Dipper smiled. “Now come on, dinner’s getting cold and trust me when I say you don’t want to fight Mabel for seconds.”

 Wirt watched as Dipper stood up offering his hand. The young man took a deep breath before accepting his boyfriend’s hand.

“That sounds lovely.” he agreed.

[fandom-necromancer]

‘You come here often?’ ‘Well I work here.’ Part 4 

This was prompted by the lovely AO3 user LoafofCat! Enjoy!

Fandom: Detroit become human | Ship: Reed900 [Read complete on AO3]

‘You know, if you just wanted to see me, there would be easier ways.’ ‘Bold of you to assume I come here only to see you.’ Nines smiled looking up to Gavin, who was just untying his apron and sitting down in front of him with a coffee of his own. ‘Am I wrong then?’, the human asked and Nines huffed, letting his head fall. ‘No’, he admitted. ‘Okay, so let me get this right’, Gavin laughed. ‘I had to propose to my boss to get thirium drinks on the menu as a “costumer asked for it” and it might help us crank those numbers up, just so you could plant your ass here in your break?’ ‘It did get you more costumers though’, Nines shrugged pointing to the other tables. ‘That’s not- Nines, do you think I care about this shop? I just work here; I don’t care if… You know what? Screw it. Nice to see you, Nines.’ ‘Nice to see you too’, the android chuckled. ‘How are you?’ ‘Can’t complain. What do you have there?’

Nines looked down on the tablet in his hands. ‘Oh, just work. A case.’ ‘You are on your break and brought work?’, Gavin asked, looking at him sceptically. ‘Tina was right, you really are me just with a little less personality.’ ‘Being nice and polite doesn’t mean not having a personality. You were just an asshole.’ ‘What technically is a personality trait’, Gavin argued, taking a sip from his coffee. ‘Now come on, tell me about your case!’ Nines frowned. ‘I really can’t tell you, it’s-‘ ‘Confidential, I get it. But come on, I’m a former cop I can keep a secret. For old time’s sake.’ The android eyed Gavin and how he looked so eager to get information. It was cute in a way, how he looked in between his eyes and the tablet in his hands. Maybe that’s why Nines showed weakness and caved in.

‘Okay, but you really keep this to yourself. We are investigating a series of murders. They don’t have anything in common in regard to victims or how the deed was done or staged, but at every crime-scene we found the picture of this man.’ Nines flipped through the pictures of the different crime-scenes until he reached a few portraits. They weren’t really the kind of pictures you would expect of a cold-blooded serial-killer. Not after the few flashes of gruesome staging, Gavin caught a glimpse of as Nines had searched for these. They all portrayed a middle-aged man with a small belly you could easily get if you worked long hours in the office and were too exhausted afterwards to do sports. The pictures looked like they were ripped right out of a family photo-album. The guy was at the beach smiling at the camera with a cocktail in hand. The next one showed him in what Gavin supposed to be his home with a small dog on his lap. Then next to a ridiculously oversized barbeque grill all shiny chrome and reds.

Gavin lifted a brow at Nines. ‘Yeah, sorry Nines, but no way this is your killer.’ ‘I ruled it out as unlikely, too’, the android nodded. ‘Although you can never know with people. At the very least it’s a lead. Maybe the killer knows this man. As much as this is a lead, it is also our only link.’ Gavin shrugged, leaning back. ‘Well, why haven’t you solved it then? I mean, you can scan his face and get a name, age, address, likely even social media as creepy as they designed you and Connor. No offense there.’ Nines sighed. ‘As creepy as I might be designed, my scanner has its limits too. I can’t get a name to this man, not even an age. Scanning him just returns an error. Manual research in the police databanks also hasn’t brought up anything yet. We also can’t exactly go around asking for this man. If he is the serial killer, as unlikely as it might seem, we would only alert him.’ Gavin nodded absent-mindedly, staring at the photo, pulling the tablet closer to zoom in on some details. ‘Honestly?’, Nines said frustratedly. ‘We’re all currently waiting for the forensics to find more evidence on the bodies. It’s quite frustrating, but at the same time no one really minds if I spend a bit longer on my break with you.’

Gavin couldn’t help but let out an exaggerated ‘Awww’ at that, Nines reprimanded with an annoyed but amused look. ‘Nah, really thanks, looking at your tablet for what, ten minutes? This was already more exciting than the whole damn month. The most action I had was a drunk guy I had to escort out because everyone else was too chicken shit to risk getting vomited on.’ ‘Understandable.’ ‘Not the point. I mean, I’m happy here, I guess. It is decent money and I have more time for my cats at home. Also, maybe not being confronted with what humans are capable of is nice for a while. But I can basically feel my brain rot here.’ ‘That is also understandable’, Nines huffed. ‘Maybe search for some outside work activity? Something new to learn and keep you active mentally?’ ‘Like what? Knitting?’ ‘If you want that?’ ‘You know what? Maybe not the worst idea. I’ll see if I can find anything and when I have I will-‘

Nines never got to find out what Gavin would do afterwards, as his colleagues called him, pointing at the growing queue. The human sighed. ‘Well, my call to duty’, he announced and walked over to press a quick kiss to the android’s temple. ‘Was nice chatting with you, babe. Good luck with your case.’ ‘Yeah, you too.’

-

It was a slow Tuesday, without many costumers coming in. The rush of office workers in their break had already stormed the small shop and rushed back to their workplace and now it was mostly a few students and the regular old granny circle in the front judging people and eating cake. Living the life. Gavin had already washed the entire stack of mugs twice now and was out of work, except for manipulating the radio until his co-workers began to wonder why the last song had been so long and found him messing with the system. Then he walked around, collecting discarded newspapers and cleaning the tables while his co-worker told him she would be out for a cigarette. He nodded and continued working until a sole costumer entered. Gavin quickly rubbed the table dry and hurried over, throwing the man an extra smile just in case he wanted to complain about having to wait a few seconds. ‘What can I do for you?’ ‘I’d like a coffee, please. Medium, to go with cream but no sugar.’ ‘Coming right up.’ Gavin was already going through the motions of preparing the coffee and turned around to hand it over. ‘Anything else…’ He trailed off, as he saw the man’s face, but he seemingly hadn’t noticed his slip. ‘No, thank you, that would be all.’

Gavin watched him leave again and was trying to decide what to do next. He couldn’t just leave; he was at work after all. But he couldn’t do nothing either. Frantically he looked through the shop and, in the end, shook his head, rushing past the counter. Outside his co-worker stopped him. ‘Gavin? What are you doing?’ Gavin blinked, but came up with an excuse fast enough: ‘Dude forgot his wallet. Can you take over for a moment? Sorry!’ ‘Sure, no problem. Just hurry, he’s already behind the corner.’

Gavin did hurry. But not to run after the man, but to pull out his phone. ‘Nines? Yes, hi babe I know you are at work, shut up, this is work. Li-Listen, yes. Shut up for just a second! I’m pursuing your office killer. Ye-Yes, exactly, the beach holiday photo model with the ugliest dog I’ve seen in my life. Now will you phcking get your ass here? I will pursue him you can track my phone. Wh- come on, it can’t be that dangerous, I’m still well trained now stop worrying and move your ass!’

He had become louder than he wanted and had caused the man he wanted to follow inconspicuously to turn around. He wasn’t really unsuspicious though, dressed in the silly coffee-shop apron and shouting at someone on the phone. Trying to play it down, Gavin instead tried the open approach: ‘Hey, you forgot your wallet!’ It only caused the man to bolt. So much for being a friendly, costumer-orientated employee. Gavin pushed it all to hell, lifting up his apron and running after the man. So, he did had dirt on him. Gavin followed him down the street and used a streetlight to take the corner with more speed. A mistake he later would regret as he ran face first into a fist that definitely wasn’t human. Seeing stars, he looked up from where he had fallen against the building. The chubby man was surprisingly agile and fast, unfitting to his overall completely average looks. And Gavin saw why: The skin where the man had punched him had retracted to show stern white underneath. The man was an android? Where the hell did he get all these modifications from? Cyberlife had designed all androids to be phcking inhuman models. But maybe that had been the plan. Being as inconspicuous as possible. Remembering the brief flashes of crime-scenes that made him pale. Oh no.

‘How the hell did some barista recognise me, huh?’, the android asked, holding Gavin by the throat, his toes barely touching the ground. ‘You are all over the news!’, Gavin tried. ‘I’m not. None of my doings have even been published yet.’ ‘Well, I was a cop once.’ ‘Were you? Well, who is your contact then? If you were a cop once.’ Gavin really hoped someone would turn the corner and see this to help him. Because the way the android’s hand clenched around his throat, lack of oxygen could soon be his least concern. ‘My boyfriend, okay? But I will never tell you his name!’ ‘Your boyfriend? Alright, thank you. After I killed you, I will go to him next. See if I can’t keep this information from spreading.

The pressure on his throat became almost unbearable, as Gavin saw a flash of white behind the man. ‘I highly doubt that’, Nines voice sounded through the alley and Gavin could see the gun aimed at his head. ‘Now let him down and go.’ The android in front of Gavin cursed, but complied. ‘You are arrested for the suspected murder of three people, as well as the attempted murder of this man. Turn around, hands behind your back.’ Nines handcuffed him, reading him his rights before making the call to the station to send a car.

‘Gavin, that was extremely reckless of you.’ ‘Hey, I got your killer, right?’, Gavin croaked with a cocky grin while rubbing his throat. ‘I solved a case you would have waited weeks on before even getting close to the guy.’ ‘Oh, please, I’m the most advanced android there is. I would have gotten him.’ ‘Yeah, but it was the ex-detective they threw out to replace with you that caught him in the end.  Please, rub that into Fowler’s face for me, would you?’ ‘I most certainly won’t’, Nines stated. ‘I will emphasize your involvement in this case though, what at least should keep your employer off your ass.’ ‘Oh, what would I do without you?’ The android in Nines grip struggled against him, causing Nines to return his attention to him. ‘Urgh, get a room, you two!’ ‘Excellent idea actually. Gavin, how about after our shifts ended, we meet at my place? You know? To celebrate.’ ‘Oh, I’d love to’, Gavin grinned and winked the RK900.

The captive criminal got a glimpse of the gesture and regretted it deeply. ‘Oh, please, just kill me, would you?’

[doc-pickles]

i saw mommy kissin’ santa claus

Hello! And welcome to “Festive Fridays with Two Dumb Bitches So Dumb They Can’t Stick to the Schedule They Make for Themselves” featuring me and @odd-birds-and-booksellers We wanted to find a day of the week for December to post our Christmas fics on and decided on Thursdays (this was originally titled ‘Two Dumb Bitches Thursday’ but we are both terrible procrastinators so now we have that fancy new title up there)

Will you get posts on Thursdays? Fridays? Who knows! But we’ve both committed to posting once a week every week of December with a fun festive fic! (Please don’t come to our inboxes and hound us about them, we yell at each other enough as it is and Lay is mean.....)

Anyways this is my first fluffy fic entry of the month and it’s definitely not inspired by real life events. Hope you enjoy! :) 

(also this is not my best work because i’m sleep deprived and also my pregnancy brain is not letting me write how i normally do soooo cut me some slack please and thanks)

“Karev!”

Both Jo and Alex turned at the sound of Bailey’s voice behind them, the woman looking expectantly at Alex. Now that he wasn’t a young resident, Bailey rarely evoked a feeling of fear in him but today her stern voice had him racking his brain for anything he’d done wrong recently.

“What can I do for you, Chief?”

“Doctor Peterson retired earlier this year,” Bailey waited for either Jo or Alex to make a connection from her words, but both stared blankly at her instead. “Doctor Peterson used to dress up as Santa every year for the Peds Ward Christmas party. Since he’s no longer available, I need a replacement.” 

Jo’s eyes lit up in delight as she turned to Alex who wore an unamused expression, “Absolutely not, I am not putting on that ridiculous costume.”

“Oh c’mon! It’s for sick kids Alex,” Jo settled a hand onto her husband's arm as she batted her eyelashes at him. “It’ll be fun! You should do it!”

Alex looked between his wife and his boss, Jo smiling excitedly at him while Bailey fixed him with a glare. A groan left him as he realized he didn’t have a say in the matter, “Fine I'll do it. But I’m not happy about it.” 

Jo let out an excited squeal as Bailey thanked him, walking away with a satisfied smirk. Turning to his giddy wife, Alex wrapped his arm around her waist and leaned down to whisper in her ear, “You better make this worth my damn while.”

“What, do you want me to come and sit on Santa’s lap and tell him what I want for Christmas,” Jo rolled her eyes, but Alex kept his gaze fixed on her. “You’re serious? You really are a pervy old man sometimes I swear.” Alex swatted at Jo’s ass playfully as she walked away from him. If she hadn’t happened to be standing next to him when Bailey asked he wouldn’t have caved so easily. His eyes narrowed at the thought, knowing that at least one of the women had planned that out. 

“Stupid freakin’ Santa costume…” 

+

There was a reason that he’d avoided the Christmas party for the Peds ward all these years and he finally realized why. Alex was surrounded by dozens of sugar high children who hadn’t seen outside of the hospital walls in weeks. He loved his job and working with kids, but he rarely had to deal with them when they were running around and screaming at the top of their lungs.

“Well you look like you’re having a great time,” Meredith sidled up to Alex, chuckling as she pulled on his fake beard. “The white doesn’t look so bad on you, maybe by next Christmas you won’t even need the fake beard.” “Oh shut up, I’m only here because Jo made me come. And she hasn’t even bothered to show up and make things around here more enjoyable,” Alex grumbled as he swatted away Meredith’s hand. He’d been sitting with kids on his lap for almost an hour and a half now, asking them what they wanted for Christmas and listening to their lists. “I’ve got fifteen minutes left before I can go home and drink beer and I can’t wait.”

“I’ve gotta go find my kids in this madness, but it looks like you have another visitor,” Meredith gestured to the little girl patiently waiting to meet Santa, bright blue eyes staring up at Alex in awe. “Have fun Santa!”

As soon as she was gone, the little girl bounded up to Alex and settled herself onto his lap, a gap toothed grin appearing on her face. Alex recognized her as one of his own patients, five year old Lauren who had a gastrointestinal problem that kept her in the hospital for weeks at a time, “Hi Santa!”

“Hi Lauren,” Alex almost chuckled at Lauren’s wide eyed expression when she realized that ‘Santa’ knew her name. “What do you want for Christmas?”

“I want a Barbie dream house and a pink glitter ballerina Barbie too,” Lauren was full of giggles as she relayed her wish list to Alex. Her expression softened however and she leaned in close to him, whispering her next words. “And I want my tummy to feel all better so I can go home and have a real Christmas. Christmas in the hospital is no fun.” Alex’s heart broke at the little girls words, realizing just how much of a toll being here was taking on such a young girl, “You know what, I think your doctors will do their very best to get you home for Christmas so you can play with all your new Barbies. How does that sound?” Lauren’s face lit up at Alex’s words, her arms wrapping around his neck as she giggled in delight. A string of thank yous left her as she hopped off Alex’s lap and reunited with her mother, who sent an appreciative wave in his direction. 

“Well aren’t you the best Santa in the world,” Alex turned at the sound of Jo’s voice, holding back an eye roll as she lifted her camera to snap a photo of him. “See, I told you it wouldn’t be that bad! Your mom is going to love that photo, I hope she puts it on the mantle.” “Did you come here for any reason besides to mock me,” Alex grumbled. “I’m almost done with this and then I’m never doing it again no matter how much you beg.” Alex couldn’t help but smirk at Jo’s amused expression. She looked so happy that he was doing this, like it had made her whole year. If nothing else, Jo’s excitement made the stupid gig worth it.

“Well I came here to tell Santa what I want for Christmas but if he’s too grumpy…,” Alex reached for Jo’s hand, pulling her into his lap as she laughed at his antics. 

“Now what do you want for Christmas,” Alex pressed his face into Jo’s neck, more laughter coming from her at the feel of the fake beard against her skin. “I’m sure Santa would be more than happy to oblige.”

“You realize you’re trying to talk dirty to me at a children’s party right,” Alex pinched Jo’s leg at her remark, a squeal leaving her as she jumped. “Okay okay, what I want for Christmas is… a baby.”

“A baby?”

“Yes a baby,” Jo grinned widely, leaning in close to Alex with a twinkle in her eyes. “I want you to knock me up. Preferably not wearing the Santa costume.” 

Alex stared dumbly up at his wife for a moment, her grin never fading as she watched him process what she’d said. A baby… Jo wanted to have kids. Kids with him.

“You know there’s easier ways to say that you want to try for a baby,” Alex chuckled as he leaned up to kiss Jo, his fake beard getting in the way of his attempt. “C’mon let’s go home, I finished my duty for the day. Maybe if you’ve make it on the nice list I’ll put in a good word for you with Santa.” A string of giggles left Jo as she watched Alex try and sneak out of the room, instead getting ambushed by almost all of the kids that were running around. After a quick goodbye and a promise to work hard on their wishes, the pair finally made it out of the room, Alex turning to Jo with a grin, “You want one of those? You sure?”

“More than anything. Now kiss me,” Jo pointed upwards to the doorway where a sprig of mistletoe hung. “It’s tradition.”

+

“I can’t believe you volunteered to do this this year,” Meredith stared dumbfoundedly at Alex, who sat in his chair with a smirk peeking through his fake beard. “Seriously, are you feeling okay? You couldn’t stop complaining last year.” “Would you pipe down, it’s different this year,” Alex shrugged, waving at one of the kids that ran by. “I wanted to spread some Christmas cheer to sick kids, is that so wrong?” “Don’t listen to him, he didn’t want some ‘germy mall Santa’ to hold Peyton for photos,” Meredith turned at the sound of Jo’s voice, a grin lighting up her face as she took in the sight of the small baby cradled in the baby sling across Jo’s chest. “Although the peds ward of a hospital can’t be much better.”

“Stop whining and come over here,” Alex held his arms out, expecting Jo to hand the baby to him but instead having her sit across his lap. “Really? You’re gonna sit on my lap again?”

Jo shrugged, pressing a kiss against his cheek as Alex reached up to uncover the baby’s face, “I figured my Christmas wish came true last year, might as well go again.” “Listen I love you but this one barely sleeps through the night as it is,” Alex gestured to Meredith, who was smiling at the happy family with her phone in hand. “Now would you smile so we can have a semi decent first Christmas photo for our daughter.” Jo and Alex both wore bright smiles as they looked at Meredith, the two month old between them not even batting an eyelash as she slept soundly on her mom’s chest. The warm feeling in Jo’s chest almost made her tear up, thinking to just the year before when her husband had begrudgingly put on a Santa costume to please her. This year he had eagerly gone through the motions, excited to create memories with their daughter without a care about all of the patients that came with the deal.

“What’s on your mind? You have that blissed out look on your face,” Alex’s fingers on her cheek snapped Jo out of her daze, her lips coming down to press against his briefly.

“Nothing, just thinking about how lucky I am and how much I love you.” “I love you too, but you can’t just kiss me like that,” Jo’s brows furrowed as she took in Alex’s serious expression. “The kids are watching! What are they gonna think when they see you kissing Santa like that? I’ll get a bunch of angry letters.” “You’re the worst, Karev.”

[jeongyunhoed]

8 Stories, 8 Movies from the Golden Age (1930s to 1960s).

It’s the golden age and 8 men are the most sought-after actors in Hollywood. Lights, camera, action!

A tale of love and suspense, Park Seonghwa is haunted by the memory of his deceased wife, a shadow looming over the halls of his mansion. When he marries again, his new wife now comes to realize that even in death, his wife still remains.

Daphne

Warnings: Mentions of murder, death, suicide, and illness. Might have some innuendos, might not. But I’m putting these warnings out there regardless.

Other things to note: There are OCs. I might mention other idols (most likely NCT).

A/N: More of creepy San, but the last (and longest) part of Seonghwa’s story. Who’s next? Most likely Jongho or Yunho, or maybe even San. Either way, enjoy. 

Masterlist

Part 3

She ran out of Daphne’s room mortified with what San told her and in tears. It felt like she was running around a maze without an escape, an escape from the shadow cast over the Fontaine estate by Seonghwa’s first wife. She was that powerful, and she was that barrier between them. She ran down the flight of stairs, and like a light at the end of the tunnel, she saw Seonghwa enter, following Hongjoong who was carrying his briefcases. “Seonghwa!” She cried out, throwing her arms around his neck in a tight hug as if hoping that he would shield her from the madness. 

“Hello to you too,” He giggled, returning the embrace. “Hold on any tighter and you’d be choking me,” He added, pulling away to give her a soft peck on the lips. 

“Am I?” She asked, hoping that it would at least snap her out of the overwhelming anxiety she felt earlier. 

“Yes, my darling, what have you been doing while I was away?” Seonghwa asked, holding her hands. 

“Seonghwa, I was thinking we could hold a costume party, a ball, we could dress up and show everyone that the Fontaine has always been the same. Can we?” She asked. 

Seonghwa smiled. “Alright, if you’d like, we can have it. You should probably get help from San,” He suggested. 

“No, no,” She shook her head, feeling a lot more assured after getting her husband to agree. “I don’t need him to help me, I can do it on my own.” 

“Alright then, if you’re sure,” He said. 

That seemed to give her the confidence she needed to do what she was thinking of doing next. She was going to do something about the looming shadow of Daphne over the house, and sooner or later she returned to Daphne’s room and approached her desk, noticing all the embellished “D”s on her notebooks and contact lists. She opened the drawer and took out the thick wads of letters and cards that Daphne had signed, noticing some cards coming from Wooyoung, further confirming how he knew her. 

She piled everything on top of the desk. If they were to move on and be happy, there was only one thing they could do. One thing she could do. She picked up the phone and asked for San to come inside. “Yes, Madam?” He appeared shortly after. 

She got up and approached him. “I want you to gather all of these things and throw them out. Pile them in the cottage by the beach, I don’t care, I want all of these things out of the Fontaine immediately,” She instructed, sounding firm in her resolve this time. 

“This belongs to Mrs. Park, Madam,” He replied. 

She stared at him and turned to the door. “I am Mrs. Park now,” She turned the knob. “I would also request that Seonghwa not know about Wooyoung dropping by earlier either.” 

“Yes, Madam,” San could only reply before she left the room. 

~ 

Regardless of her insistence not to have San help her decide what to wear for the costume ball they would be hosting, he helped anyway. He suggested that her costume be based on one of the portraits on the walls, a woman in a flowing white dress, puffed sleeves and a hat with ribbons. She hoped Seonghwa would like to see her in it, and as the days went by until the party, she planned everything with a kind of excitement she hadn’t felt since they got married. 

The night of the ball approached, Hongjoong choosing to wear his graduation toga with his cap, while some of their friends and their respective spouses wore other costumes. Seonghwa greeted them in his tuxedo as she could see from her room. She could imagine the look on his face when he’d see her enter from the hall. She hurried down the steps to enter the ballroom, but stopped when she saw that everyone had gone quiet. 

She noticed all of them looked shocked. None of them had smiles on their faces, especially Seonghwa, who looked as if he was going to faint or collapse from fright. She carefully approached her husband, feeling all eyes on her as she went up to him. His expression was now stiff, and she could tell he was upset. “What the devil were you thinking?” He said. 

“Seonghwa, it’s based on the picture, the one in the gallery-” She paused, seeing his expression stiffen even more. “What? What is it?” She asked. 

“Take it off, go and take it off,” He said. “Just take it off and change, what are you standing there for? Go and take it off!” Seonghwa snapped, making her step back in surprise. 

She seemed to have hit a nerve as she excused herself to her room, tears streaming down her face in embarrassment. She could sense San was already following her to her room and she closed the door, wiping the tears that kept streaming down her cheeks. “Do you need help with another gown, Madam?” She heard his voice by the door. 

“No,” She sniffled, shaking her head. “No thank you, Mr. Choi.” 

“Mr. Park was upset, I saw you just now, Madam,” San spoke. “I watched you go down the stairs, just as I watched her a year ago. Even in the same dress you couldn’t compare with her.” 

She looked up at him, eyes wide in the realization. “The same dress? This is the same dress?” She said, now understanding why Seonghwa was so upset. “And you knew it, you knew it. You knew she wore it and you suggested it on purpose!” She didn’t know whether to cry from being further humiliated or get angry. “Why do you hate me? What have I done to you for you to be this way with me?” 

“Because you tried to take her place,” San said stiffly. “You let him marry you. I’ve seen his face, his eyes. He had the same look as those first few weeks after she died. I used to listen to him pace in his room, in the study, all night long thinking of her, miserable because he lost her.” 

She covered her ears the more San spoke. “I don’t want to know! I don’t want to know!” She yelled. 

“You thought you could be Mrs. Park, you thought you could live in her house, walk her steps, take her things,” San’s voice was growing louder. “But she’s too strong for you, you can never beat her. No one could, ever! She was beaten in the end, but it wasn’t because of a man, but because of the sea!” 

“Stop it! Stop!” She cried out, backing away from him. 

“Oh, you look distraught, Madam, I shall open the window for you, the sea air could do you some good,” San walked up to her, making her realize that she was already standing by the window that he was opening. “Come, stand here, Madam. There’s no need to be afraid,” He approached her again, gesturing to the view of the sea. “Look down there, isn’t the sea beautiful?” 

She turned around to face the window, but more chills ran down her spine when she realized that San was now standing behind her. “Why don’t you go? Why don’t you leave the Fontaine? He doesn’t need you,” He hissed. “He’s got his memories to live with, you have nothing to stay for, nothing to live for,” 

“Look down there, it’s easy, isn’t it? Why don’t you? Why don’t you jump?” 

She cried out again, nearly sliding to the floor in tears only to stand up straight when the sounds of a ship’s whistle were heard from the distance, followed by a rocket fire. “What’s that? What’s that noise?” She wiped her face, looking out into the sea. 

Moving past San, she changed into the first other dress she could find and left the room. “Seonghwa? Seonghwa!” She called out, looking around the halls. “Seonghwa?!” She continued to call out, noticing that everyone had left to look out for the sound. She stepped out, catching up to the crowd, Hongjoong being the first one she saw. “Hongjoong! What happened?” She went up to him. 

“There’s a shipwreck, there’s a ship sending up rockets,” Hongjoong looked up at the sky, then turned to one of the staff. “Call the coast guard, tell them there’s been a shipwreck” He instructed, the staff nodding and running off. 

~ 

Hours had passed since the news of the shipwreck. The party didn’t matter now as something had come up that she noticed how worried everyone seemed to be, including the rest of the staff in the Fontaine. “Hongjoong?” She saw him standing by the path that led to the beach. “Have you seen Seonghwa?” She asked upon approaching him. 

“Not since 30 minutes ago,” He replied quietly, looking out at the waves crashing onto the rocks and the shore. 

“I haven’t seen him back at the house all night, I’m starting to think something probably happened to him,” She said, looking out at the view as well. She glanced at Hongjoong and stopped. “Hongjoong, are you okay? You look worried.” 

Hongjoong looked down for a moment, then back at the sea again. “A diver went down to inspect the bottom of the ship found the hull of another boat,” He said. “A sailboat.” 

She stared at him, sensing something unusual in the way he said it. “Hongjoong? Is it-” 

“Yes, it’s Daphne’s boat.” 

“Daphne’s?” She was in disbelief. “Oh, why did they have to find it? Why couldn’t they have just… left it there at the bottom of the sea? Poor Seonghwa, it’s going to be hard for him again,” She let out an exasperated sigh. 

“Yes,” Hongjoong nodded slightly. “It’s going to bring it back again, but this time it’s going to be worse.” 

~ 

She left Hongjoong later on to find Seonghwa, getting increasingly worried the more she looked for him at the beach. She couldn’t sleep knowing that something probably happened to him. Everything seemed to be caving in on both of them and it felt like they weren’t going to be able to come out of it. She called out his name the more she looked, but there was no answer, until she stopped at the boathouse. Daphne’s cottage, but this time, it looked like there was someone inside from the dim light coming from the window. 

A part of her suspected it was probably the old man with his shells again, but a bigger part of her felt that Seonghwa was in there. She approached the cottage and gently pushed the door open. She could see the fireplace was lit, and seated by the fire was Seonghwa, looking distraught and tortured, one side of his face illuminated by the flames. “Hello my dear,” He said softly. “Come in.” 

She would’ve been relieved upon seeing that he was alright, but as Hongjoong had predicted, Seonghwa looked like he was about to curl up in fright, like he was about to cry but no tears would escape him. She closed the door behind her and took small steps in case he was still upset about the costume party. “Seonghwa, you haven’t slept a wink, have you forgiven me?” She asked, almost kneeling down in front of his lap. 

“Forgiven you?” He asked. 

“For last night, for what happened in the party, I was so stupid, I’m so sorry Seonghwa-” 

He shook his head. “I forgot about that.” 

She sighed, reaching for his hand to hold. He had never looked so devastated with their situation. “Seonghwa,” She began. “Can’t-can’t we start over? I’m not going to ask you to love me, I’m not going to ask too much from you. But I’ll be your friend, I’ll be your companion, I’m perfectly alright with it,” She said quietly, squeezing his hand. Her own heartache didn’t matter when her husband was too stricken with fear and guilt from the past, from his first marriage. 

Seonghwa looked into her eyes and cupped her cheek with his other hand. “You love me very much, don’t you? But it’s too late now, my darling. We’ve lost our chance at happiness.” 

She shook her head. “No, Seonghwa, no.” 

“Yes, it is. It’s all over now. Daphne has won,” Seonghwa looked down, his hand on her cheek dropping back down onto his lap. “Her shadow has been between us all the time, keeping us from each other. She knew this was going to happen.” 

“Seonghwa, what do you mean she knew?” She said, squeezing his hand again. 

“They sent a diver, they found a boat-” 

“I know. It’s Daphne’s boat,” She cut him off. 

Seonghwa nodded slightly. “The diver found something else. He broke through one of the ports and found a cabin. There was a body.” 

“A body? Then she wasn’t alone? Someone was sailing with her?” She asked. 

Seonghwa looked even more devastated. “No, you don’t understand, there was no one else with her. It’s-it was Daphne’s body they found.” 

She gaped at him, unable to say anything. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “No, no, that’s- no,” She said. 

“The woman that was washed up on the beach,” Seonghwa sighed, voice cracking. “The woman that is buried in the family crypt, that wasn’t Daphne. It was some other woman. I identified it even if I knew it wasn’t her. I knew where Daphne’s body was. On that cabin floor at the bottom of the sea…” 

She didn’t want to ask what she was thinking, but she needed to know. “Seonghwa, how did you know her body was there?” 

Seonghwa looked away, pulling his hand away from hers. “Because,” He paused. “Because I put it there.” 

“Seonghwa…” She managed to say. She wasn’t sure how she was taking all of this. “You? You put it there?” Her eyes were welling with tears. She didn’t know what to think, she didn’t want to think it but the suspicion was beginning to set in. 

“Will you look into my eyes and tell me you still love me now?” He asked, pain evident in his tone. 

“Seonghwa…” She said. 

“You see?” He looked away from her again. “I was right. It’s too late.” 

She shook her head, trying to regain her composure and trying to process everything she found out. “No, no, it’s not too late. You shouldn’t say that. We can’t lose each other now. We have to be together now more than ever,” She insisted, almost pleading. 

“We may only have hours, days left,” He said weakly. 

She got up and sighed. “Seonghwa, why didn’t you tell me before?” 

“Sometimes I nearly did, but you never seemed close enough,” He managed to reply. 

Frustration was beginning to sink in her. “How could I be close to you when I knew you were always thinking of Daphne? How could I even ask you to love me when I knew you still loved her?” 

Seonghwa’s expression changed from distraught to disbelief at what she said. “What are you talking about? You thought I loved Daphne? I hated her.” 

It was her turn to be surprised again. “...Hated her?” 

Seonghwa got up this time. “I was charmed by her as everyone was charmed by her,” He paced back and forth. “But I never had a moment’s happiness with her. She was incapable of love, of tenderness, of decency.” 

“...You didn’t love her?” She asked, now firm on trying to understand what he was saying. 

Seonghwa moved to the window seat and sat down, the light from the fireplace casting a slight glow on his features. “Remember that cliff where you first saw me? Daphne and I went there on our honeymoon,” He recalled. “That was where I found out about her, about who she really was, four days after we were married. She stood there, laughing, her dark hair blowing in the wind as she told me about herself,” 

She stood in her place, prompting him to explain further. “Things I’ll never tell anyone. I-I wanted to kill her,” He paused. “She told me, ‘I’ll make a bargain with you. You’d look rather foolish if you were to divorce me now after four days of marriage, so I’ll play the part of a devoted wife, the mistress of your precious Fontaine. People will visit us and envy us and say we’re the luckiest, happiest couple this side of the world. What a big joke it’ll be - we’ll have fooled all of them!’” 

Seonghwa looked down at his hands. “I shouldn’t have accepted her proposal, but I did and I kept it. She apparently upheld her end too, but after a while she got careless, sloppy. She got a place in the capital where she’d stay away for days at a time, then she started to bring her friends here. I warned her but she ignored me. Then there’s that cousin of hers, Jung Wooyoung.” 

“I know him,” She nodded. “He came the day you went to the capital.” 

Seonghwa looked up at her. “Why didn’t you tell me?” 

“I didn’t because I thought he would remind you of Daphne again,” She explained. 

“As if I needed reminding,” Seonghwa scoffed. “Wooyoung used to visit her here in this cottage. When I found out, I warned her that if I see him here again I’d get rid of them both,” He sighed and looked down again. “One night when I found out she came back quietly, I thought Wooyoung was with her. I decided to go down here and do away with them, but,” He paused. “She was alone, lying on the divan, looking rather ill. Then she got up and walked up to me. ‘When I have a child, neither you nor anyone else can ever prove it wasn’t yours. You’d like to have an heir wouldn’t you, Seonghwa? For your precious Fontaine?’” 

She looked down, nodding as she listened. “Then she laughed,” He went on. “‘Funny, isn’t it? I’ll be the perfect mother just as I’ve been the perfect wife, and no one will ever know,’ She walked closer, face to face with me. ‘So, what are you going to do about it, Hwa? Aren’t you going to kill me?’ I guess I went mad for a moment, I probably struck her but she stood there looking at me as if she won. She started to go up to me again, smiling, but she stumbled and fell, and it must’ve been a while when I looked down as I saw her on the floor. She hit her head on a heavy piece of ship’s tackle, and I wondered why she was still smiling but then I realized that she was already dead.” 

She looked up at him again. “You didn’t kill her, Seonghwa, it was an accident, you didn’t do it,” She said. 

Seonghwa looked away from her. “No one would believe me, but I had to do something, so I carried her out to the boat, placed her in the cabin and when the boat was far enough into the sea, I tried to destroy the planking of the hull, the water eventually coming in. I climbed onto the dinghy and pulled away from the boat. The boat capsized and sank, and it began to rain,” He finished. 

“Seonghwa, who else knows about this?” She asked. 

“No one else, just me, and now you too,” He replied. 

“Then we have to explain it. It has to be the body of someone you’ve never seen before,” She suggested. 

He waved a hand dismissively. “No, they’re bound to know who she is. The rings and bracelets she always wore and was still wearing. They’ll identify her and then look into the other woman, the one buried in the crypt.” 

“Seonghwa-” She approached him this time and sat beside him, wrapping her arms around him to hold him tight. 

“I did a selfish thing, marrying you,” He said, cupping her cheeks. “I’ve loved you, and I always will, my darling. But I’ve always known that Daphne would win in the end.”

She kept shaking her head. “No, no, she hasn’t won. No matter what happens, she hasn’t won” she insisted, leaning up to kiss him. 

They heard the phone ring, and Seonghwa pulled away slightly to reach for it. “Hello? Hello Hongjoong...Who? Colonel Song Mingi? Yes,” He said with a soft sigh. “Tell him I’ll meet him there as soon as I can,” and he hung up. 

“What happened?” She asked. 

“Colonel Song Mingi called. He’s the Chief Constable of the area. He wants to know if I was mistaken,” He paused. “In identifying that other body.” 

~ 

As Seonghwa had expected, they were able to identify the body was Daphne Yoo. An inquest soon occurred and she knew she had to be there for him. She knew he was innocent even if everyone else found it hard to believe. She was the only one who knew what really happened, his side of the whole story. Among the crowd in the inquest was the coroner, Kang Yeosang aside from Colonel Song Mingi who was overlooking the proceedings. “I’m sorry to bring you back here for questioning, but now that you’ve heard the statement from the boat builder, maybe you can help us somehow,” Yeosang said. 

Seonghwa shook his head. “I don’t think I can.” 

“The holes in the planking were done from the inside, is there any possible reason you can think of?” He asked this time. 

“Of course I can’t think of any reason,” He snapped. 

“Then since Mrs. Park was sailing alone, is it possible that she made those holes herself?” Yeosang prodded him again. 

“Believe whatever you like!” Seonghwa snapped again, sounding increasingly annoyed. 

“Can you tell us why Mrs. Park may have wanted to commit suicide?” Yeosang continued to prod. 

“I don’t know of any reason whatsoever!” 

Yeosang pressed on. “Mr. Park, as painful as it may be, I’ll have to ask you a very personal question. Were you and the late Mrs. Park happy?” He asked. Seonghwa didn’t answer. “Again, were relations between the two of you happy-” 

“I won’t stand for this any longer,” Seonghwa got up and she could feel herself getting light-headed. 

“No, Seonghwa-” And she collapsed, falling to the floor. 

“Mrs. Park! Mrs. Park!” Yeosang exclaimed, the crowd surrounding her, including Hongjoong, gathered around. Seonghwa broke through to help her up. “We’ll adjourn after lunch.” 

“My darling, are you alright?” Seonghwa helped her up, slinging her arm around his shoulders. “Hongjoong, help me bring her outside for some air.” 

~ 

“Be careful, there’s no need to hurry,” Seonghwa said, helping her out of the courtroom and towards the car. 

She was beginning to regain her composure as she got some air, Hongjoong choosing to catch up in case something happened again. “It’s very foolish of me, fainting like that, I’m sorry, darling,” She said, her husband shaking his head to assure her. 

“Hello hello!” Came in the cheery voice of Wooyoung, making them look. 

“Oh, Seonghwa. It’s-it’s Wooyoung,” She noticed his expression stiffen again upon the mention of his name. Before she knew it, Wooyoung was standing by them. 

“How is the bride doing today?” He asked with a grin. 

“What do you want, Wooyoung?” Seonghwa asked. 

“And how are you doing, Seonghwa? I have to admit I got a little worried about you after hearing about the inquest. That’s why I’m here,” He replied, a sly smile played out across his features. 

“How thoughtful of you,” Seonghwa turned back to her. “If you don’t mind-” 

“I have a feeling their verdict’s going to be suicide,” Wooyoung said. “Unless of course, something else, something unforeseen is revealed?” 

“What are you talking about?” 

“Well, I can’t help but feel that before the end of the day, someone might bring up that very expressive claim of foul play,” Wooyoung revealed. The more she listened to him, the more she felt uneasy, but she knew she had to be strong for Seonghwa if he was to make it. Seonghwa said nothing and instead gave him a look that prompted him to explain. “You see, Seonghwa, I’m at an awkward position right now, and you only need to read the note that I have to know why,” He took out a card from his pocket. “It’s from Daphne, written on the day she died.” 

“She-?” Seonghwa looked uninterested. 

Wooyoung pocketed the note again. “I’m not going to regale you with the details at the moment, but I can tell you that it’s not written by someone who plans to drown herself the same night,” He paused, glancing at her. “I’ve always wondered what it’d be like to retire to the countryside, have a nice place with a few acres where I can go shooting, I haven’t figured out how much it would cost per year and I’d like to take that up with you.” 

Seonghwa turned back to his wife. “Darling, Mr. Jung and I have some business to take care of, we should probably do this in the nearby inn. They have a private room there.” 

“But Seonghwa-” 

“Are you feeling better now?” He asked. 

“Yes, but-” 

“Hongjoong will be back, and when he does, ask him to find Colonel Song Mingi, then bring both of them to the inn right away, okay?” Seonghwa kissed her forehead. He turned back to Wooyoung. “Come on, Jung. Let’s go,” and they walked off. 

~ 

Seonghwa made the introductions between Wooyoung and Colonel Song Mingi later on when they all gathered at the inn. Wooyoung, with his attempt to be affable, suggested he was friends with the colonel, who only greeted him a good morning when introductions were made. “Since you’re old friends, you probably already know he’s also the head of police here. Colonel Song might be interested in hearing what you have to say,” Seonghwa pointed out. 

“I don’t know what you mean, Seonghwa, I just want to see justice done, Colonel Song,” Wooyoung turned to the official. “The evidence seems to suggest some possible scenarios regarding Daphne’s death, suicide being one. But, I have a note here that can put that scenario out of court,” He took out the card again. 

Colonel Song read out the note, revealing that Daphne went to a doctor and was on her way back to the Fontaine. “I shall be at the cottage this evening, and shall leave the door open for you. I have something important to tell you, Daphne,” He read. 

“Well? Does that look like the note of a woman who tried to take her own life? Colonel Song, as an officer of the law, don’t you feel that there may be some grounds for suspicion?” Wooyoung asked, as if trying to taunt and accuse at the same time. 

“Of murder?” Colonel Song asked. 

“What else could it be?” 

“Blackmail!” Hongjoong suddenly spoke, glaring at Wooyoung. 

“Blackmail’s not that simple, Mr. Kim,” Colonel Song pointed out. “Mr. Jung Wooyoung, perhaps you have a motive to present?” He asked. 

“I knew you were going to ask that, and present it, I will,” Wooyoung said, moving to the door. 

She turned to Seonghwa, squeezing his hand. “What do you think he’s going to do?” She asked. He said nothing. 

“Will you come in, Mr. Choi San?” Wooyoung called out as he opened the door. The figure of the head butler appeared, and she felt her heart stop for a moment. Wooyoung introduced him to the Colonel. 

“Mr. Choi San, I have some questions for you-” Colonel Song spoke but Wooyoung cut him off. 

“I think it’s better if I ask it as he might understand it more from me,” He said. “Sannie, who was Daphne’s doctor?”

“Mrs. Park always had Dr. Jeong Yunho from the village,” San replied. 

Wooyoung shook his head. “Daphne’s doctor. In the capital,” He added. “We both know Daphne went to a doctor in the capital on the last day of her life, who was it?” 

“I don’t know.”

“I understand, Sannie,” Wooyoung nodded. “You’re trying to defend her. I’m doing the same thing.” 

Colonel Song spoke this time. “Mr. Choi, it was suggested that Mrs. Park was murdered.” 

San stared at him in horror. “...Murdered?” 

“There you have it, Sannie,” Wooyoung said. “There’s also another thing you should know, the name of the murderer, Park Seonghwa,” He glanced at the taller, who said nothing. San remained horrified. “Well, Sannie?” 

“...Mrs. Park sometimes went to that doctor privately,” He revealed. 

“What’s his name?” 

“Dr. Choi Jongho,” He replied, revealing the address of the said doctor. 

Wooyoung looked triumphant, like a predator close to catching its prey. “There you go, Colonel. There you’ll find your motive! He’ll tell you why Daphne went to him, she wanted to confirm that she was going to have a child! A sweet, sweet, rosy-cheeked child, and she told Seonghwa about it and like the gentleman that he is, he killed her!” 

She wanted to say something, she wanted to refute his accusations and deny everything, but she knew she couldn’t. Colonel Song turned to Seonghwa. “I’m afraid we’ll have to question this Dr. Choi Jongho,” He said. 

~ 

Despite Seonghwa’s insistence that she go back to the Fontaine to wait for him, she chose to stay. She still wanted to be there for him, partly because she wanted to see Wooyoung proven wrong. As the said doctor was brought in, she stood by him, holding his hand tightly to assure him that things will be okay. “Dr. Choi, are you sure you’ve never had a patient named Daphne Yoo?” 

“I’m sure of it,” The doctor brought out his notebook that had his schedule. “Here, all my appointments that day, Liu Yang Yang, Xiao Dejun, Wong Kunhang, Choi San-” 

“San?!” Wooyoung exclaimed in surprise. 

“Doctor, can you please read that name again, Choi San?” Seonghwa asked. 

“Yes, the wife of Choi San, she booked the appointment under his name. She was my three o’clock,” The doctor replied. 

“Can we ask what she looked like?” Seonghwa said. 

“Oh yes,” He nodded. “I remember her very well. She was very beautiful - tall, dark hair, elegantly dressed,” The doctor recalled. 

“Daphne!” Seonghwa pointed out. 

“Well in that case, it’s surprising, I’ve been seeing her for a while,” The doctor revealed. 

“What was going on with her?” Wooyoung asked. 

“Mr. Jung, there are certain ethics involved-” 

“Dr. Choi,” Colonel Song spoke. “Could you perhaps give us a reason for Mrs. Park’s suicide?” 

“For her murder!” Wooyoung exclaimed again. He turned back to the physician. “She was pregnant, wasn’t she? Come on, say it!” 

The doctor raised a brow at him. “No she wasn’t, Mr. Jung,” He said. “But she was very ill.” 

The color seemed to drain from Wooyoung’s face. Seonghwa looked just as stunned while she felt relieved and she could tell Hongjoong was as well. “You mean...she wasn’t going to have a baby?” 

“That’s what she thought, but the diagnosis said otherwise,” The doctor explained. “She wanted the truth, I told her. She only had a few months left probably even less than that.” 

“Did-Did she say anything more when you told her?” Seonghwa managed to speak. 

“Well, she smiled in an unusual way, but then she said something that I thought was even more unusual after I told her,” The doctor recalled. “She said, ‘No, not that long.’” 

Wooyoung’s expression fell further. “Thank you, Dr. Choi, you’ve been very helpful,” Colonel Song said. “As for you, Mr. Jung, I’d like to have a word.” 

“Hey, I-I didn’t know-” Wooyoung stammered. 

“Will we be needed any further at this inquest, Colonel?” Hongjoong asked. 

“No, no,” Colonel Song shook his head. “I’ll see to it that Seonghwa’s not troubled any more, you may go.” 

~ 

It was all over, and she wrapped her arms around Seonghwa as they left the inn that night. It was then they realized that they were there all day and into the night, but she didn’t care. Seonghwa was finally free from suspicion. “Hongjoong, there’s something you don’t know,” He suddenly said as he drove. Hongjoong raised a brow in response. “I didn’t kill her, but now I know that when she told me about being pregnant, she wanted me to kill her. She lied. She knew what was going to happen. That’s why she stood there, laughing-” 

“Don’t think about that anymore, Seonghwa,” He said. 

“It’s all over now” She assured him this time. 

Hongjoong sat up when they noticed Seonghwa pull the brakes. “Hwa? Why’d you stop?” He asked. 

Seonghwa looked up at the sky. “What time is it?” 

“It must be three or four in the morning, why?” 

“The sky. That way,” Seonghwa pointed. “It can’t be the dawn coming in.” 

“It must be an aurora,” Hongjoong replied. “But then, we only see those in the winter…” He looked to where Seonghwa was pointing to. 

Seonghwa’s expression turned into that of horrified as he figured out the cause. “It’s not an aurora, it’s the Fontaine! It’s burning!” He stepped on the gas again, driving faster than before. 

She could feel the wind grow warmer the closer they got to the estate where they heard the loud sounds of crackling flames as the mansion was now set ablaze. The staff were all surrounding the house, trying to put out the fire. Seonghwa pulled the brakes and the three of them got down the car. “What happened? What happened? Why is the Fontaine burning down?!” Seonghwa asked the staff. 

“It’s Mr. Choi, San, he’s gone mad!” One of the housekeepers said. “He set the house on fire!” 

“He’d rather destroy the Fontaine than see us happy here,” She realized, holding his hand tightly. 

“He’s at the West Wing!” Hongjoong pointed to the other balcony. 

“Seonghwa! He’ll be killed!” She said. 

Before any of them could do anything, they heard a scream as a loud crash from the West wing was heard. No matter how hard the staff members tried to put out the fire, it was too late. The Fontaine continued to burn down. 

[purplesurveys]

1169

Do you take lessons for anything? No. I’ve done so in the past, but not at the moment.

Has something really heavy ever fallen on you?  Other than siblings or cousins from when we played together as kids, I don’t think so.

If you wear makeup, what colors do you usually wear?  I never wear makeup but whenever my friends have used my face as a practice stage (lol) they’ve usually just used natural or nude-ish colors, which I find look okay on me.

Does your shower have curtains or a glass door/wall? It has a sliding door. I’m not sure what material it’s made out of, but I can tell you it’s at least not glass.

If you have more than one pet, do they ever get jealous of each other?  Cooper does tend to bark and/or whine when he sees me giving more attention to Kimi, but not always. Kimi couldn’t give less of a crap, but this is also because he is 13.

Is there a room in your house that you don’t like going in? I used to not like being inside my bedroom, especially after the breakup. For a long time it was a place I only associated with crying and breakdowns, so when I was doing the arduous task of starting over I haaaaated staying there because it only hurled me right back to square one. But I’m happy to say that I eventually got better, had enough strength to change the narrative for my room, and now I like being here again :)

Do you remember the last question you were asked? What did you answer? My mom just asked me to watch Cooper because he was having the zoomies.

Besides salt and butter, do you put anything on your popcorn?  Not a big fan of popcorn but if I had to pick a topping, I’d go with cheddar cheese.

Are you lonely?  I’ll feel it sometimes, but it only lasts for a moment or so.

What’s your favorite magazine to read?  Wow I haven’t read a magazine in years.

Do you like pineapple?  I hate it. In all forms. The pizza debate doesn’t even matter to me lmao, I just think pineapple downright sucks.

Have you ever seen fireflies? They used to be common in our village when we first moved in, back when there were only like 3 houses in the neighborhood (we were one of the first to move in here). As more houses were built and the place got more occupied the fireflies gradually lessened until they disappeared altogether.

Have you ever trespassed?  I very vividly remember taking multiple trips to the school cemetery back in grade school (I went to Catholic school and ours had a cemetery below our chapel, where all our deceased nuns were housed...I really shouldn’t be talking about this at 10 PM...). I am 100% sure that was an off-limits area but we went there anyway because we were a naughty group of kids and because no one was guarding the area.

Do you tell your parents where you are going? Yeah; if I live with them, they have the right to know. < Ooh, I’ve never even thought about it this way before but this is a very good point. I’ll second this, haha.

Do you agree with the notion that all people were created equal? Yes.

Do you raise your hand or participate in class? God never. I hid as much as I can and only recited if I was called on purpose.

Do you like visiting the mall? Why or why not?  I like the malls that we have. But then again, malls are the only decent public spaces we have - we don’t have public libraries, parks, playgrounds, etc. – so it’s not like I have a choice on where I can go if I want to go out. 

Have you ever purposely hurt an animal?  Yeah I kill bugs when I see them. Soz, I have no feelings for them whatsoever.

Would you ever see a therapist?  I planned to finally do this last year but it just fell through haha and eventually I was able to care for myself too. Now that I’m doing a lot better for the most part, I feel like I’d have no clue what to talk about once faced with one.

Are you afraid of heights?  Only if I had to jump all the way down. But if I ever found myself staying at an extreme height simply to enjoy the view, or if I was ever in one of those towers where the top floor’s floor is made out of glass, I think I would enjoy that.

Are you afraid of the dark?  I always say I’m usually not afraid of the dark, and will only be if I was in a situation that was intended to scare me. I would definitely be afraid of the dark if I was in like an abandoned cave or a haunted house, but I would also find the darkness in my room comforting.

Are you a jealous person?  When I am it’s mostly been in a playful sense and rarely serious.

When is your birthday? April 21st.

What are you listening to right now? My very very old aircon doing its very very loud whirring thing. It’s become a running joke in the family because it is literally SO FUCKING LOUD hahahaha Have you ever been caught doing something you weren’t supposed to be doing?  As a goody-goody, I can only ever do this to my mom; but yeah, she’s caught me many times.

Are you still friends with someone from kindergarten?  Sure, but I’m not ~close friends with any of them. Just chummy enough to like their photos on social media once in a while or greet them happy birthday. My oldest friend was from Grade 1.

What is the most important thing to you?  Being happy with myself and making sure I don’t miss out on life and opportunities.

Do you like whipped cream?  I can take it or leave it.

Are you close to your mother?  We get along but not close.

Are you close to your father? I’m closer to him in the sense that I would be more comfortable around him, but we’re also not physically or emotionally close. 

Do you walk around bare foot when you're at home? Or do you wear socks?  I am Asian hahaha what do you think?

Do you like chocolate popsicles?  Sure! One would sound lovely right now, actually.

Would you ever be your school’s mascot who wears that costume?  Both of the schools I’ve attended don’t have mascots.

Would you rather see the Great Wall of China or Big Ben?  Great Wall for sure. Sorry but I can’t see myself getting excited over a giant clock, and I’m sure there are other lovely spots in London I’d much rather visit. 

Have you ever written a poem?  Always unsuccessfully. It’s never been my forte.

Would you ever be a tornado chaser?  That’s a thing? Uh...no way??

What is your favorite thing to eat with bbq sauce, if you even like that stuff?  Pizza. And anything, I guess. Barbecue sauce is the bomb.

Your parents tell you that this summer, you get to pick the vacation. Where do you plan to go?  Covid notwithstanding and budget permitting, probably New York City.

What do you think is a good theme for a prom?  I could not care less.

Have you ever had to do a class in summer school? Thankfully, never.

Do you get nervous when you go to the doctor? About what?  You know, I’ve always thought going to the doctor was no sweat until I realized just how nervous I was when I had to book a telemedicine consultation once as part of my job (PR can make you do the most random, out of context things sometimes, I swear haha). I surprised even myself with the reaction I had when I found out I had to do it, and how I felt like declining the offer...I guess I was scared about the possibility of underlying health issues suddenly being unearthed. Your whole life can always get turned upside down in the blink of an eye with just one diagnosis.

Have you ever been to the rainforest?  I’m pretty sure the climate I live in is called tropical rainforest, so I guess yeah.

Have you ever created a website?  Not from scratch. I had always made it under an umbrella website, like Blogspot.

Ever thought about writing a book?  Sure, as a kid.

Have you ever had a dream where you killed someone?  No. Whenever I have dreams of that nature it’s always me or a loved one being killed, but never me doing the killing.

Do you ever make up stories in your head and wish they come true? Yes.

Which is worse: stuffy nose or runny nose?  Stuffy. It sucks not being able to breathe freely.

Which is worse: Sick to your stomach or sore throat?  I super hate sore throat. I already get stomachaches frequently, so even though I know how sucky it can be I feel like the discomfort would be bigger with a sore throat.

Do you think your last relationship was a disaster?  The way it ended was, but it wouldn’t be fair to myself to invalidate the genuine happiness I felt when I was in it.

Have you ever solved a Rubik’s Cube?  Never.

Who do you think is the easiest to talk to?  Angela.

Would you consider yourself to be emo?  No.

Do you have a favourite metal band or do you not like metal?  Not really, no.

What is your current desktop picture?  It’s just one of the provided desktop photos on my Mac.

Thick or thin blanket?  Thick.

Who are your favorite bands?  Paramore, Coldplay, and Against Me!

How do you mark through your word search puzzles?  Depends on my mood. Sometimes I’ll strike through and sometimes I’ll go ahead and encircle the entire word altogether.

Have you ever sewn something?  I’ve done embroidery...does that count?

What did you eat for dinner last night?  We had breakfast for dinner, actually hahaha so my dad made an omelette, hotdogs, and tapa.

Ever been grounded? If so, for what?  Continued from last night. Yes, I was caught cursing all over Twitter when I was like 11 so my parents cut off my access to all my gadgets for a year or so. Which, in retrospect, is an acceptable consequence for my actions, but we’re also talking about a time when schools were starting to view the internet as a necessity in doing homework and research. I missed out on nearly all my homework for a while, and my mom didn’t buy it when I kept telling her I needed to do my research over the internet. At the same time, she kept demanding why my grades weren’t doing so well when she was the reason they kept being pulled down...so yep, not a very fun time.

Have you seen all of the Jaws movies?  No and I don’t really have the desire to. Doesn’t seem like my kind of movie.

When was the last time you played cards? (not on the computer)  Maybe 2 or 3 years ago.

Have you ever drank Cherry Coke? No, I don’t drink any soda.

Have you ever had a black eye?  Nope.

Have you ever eaten a bug?  Not to my recollection, but I would love to try cooked crickets and whatever bug can be prepared and eaten.

Do you like pranking people?  Never; the idea makes me cringe since I never know when it’s considered going too far. I’d rather watch people prank other people.

Did you ever take a cooking class in school?  Yeah, but we were required to take it. We also had some baking sessions, which to me was a lot more fun. I remember having to make macarons and rainbow cake which are both right up my alley, heehee.

Do you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day?  No, idk what that is. I just know people turn everything green on that day lol.

Do you use Skype?  I’ve never used Skype on my own. That’s where I used to talk to my dad for video calls maybe around a decade ago, whenever he was abroad; but I never had my own account. These days I alternate among Microsoft Teams, Google  Meet, or Zoom.

Have you ever participated in local magazine cover girl searches?  I don’t think so, but I did join a few contests on some of those kid’s magazines we used to have...none of which I won.

Have you ever been called a skank/slut because of the way you dress?  No.

Is your ex sexually attractive to you still?  I haven’t seen her in 5 months, which helps...that said, I simply feel nothing. I’m neither sexually attracted nor not sexually attracted to her.

Describe the most romantic moment you’ve ever had.  I can think of one but I don’t see the point in still raising it, considering where I am in life right now.

Have you ever cheated on a test?  Yes, once. I hated it.

Have you ever been to couple’s counseling? Nope.

How often does your employer ask you to work overtime?  A few times a week. Sometimes I’ll do it willingly as well just to get the task over with or to save myself some deliverables the next morning. I’m fine with OT-ing tbh; since I work from home, I feel like my time is a lot more flexible.

Did you often read for fun when you were a kid? I read A LOOOOOT as a kid. I was a total bookworm. < Yeah, same. You could always find me bringing a book to school and reading during breaks, even though they technically didn’t allow us to bring any non-academic book. My spark for reading died when I was around 12, same time as when my depression started to kick in, and it never really came back.

When was the last time you were scared?  Someone from the media called me up yesterday VIA LANDLINE to ask a question about a press release I had sent out that day. I usually read up on the materials we have, but I honestly didn’t give a shit about that particular story and didn’t really make an effort to know more about it, so I found myself stumped when he dropped the question. I ended up stalling for a bit before I was able to stutter an answer, so that was scary, but at least he was nice. Also, I hate phone calls.

What’s your favorite song by Rihanna?  KISS IT KISS IT BETTER

Can you speak binary?  No, I never understood it.

Would you rather live somewhere that had hurricanes or tornadoes?  I already do, at least for hurricanes. I imagine I’d be terrified of tornadoes.

Have you ever had a pet that you disliked?  Nooooooo, never. I was never close to Arlee but I still did my best for her to like me, and always fed her whenever my sister would be in her dorm.

When was the last time you saw hail?  Never. Doesn’t happen all that often here, and when it does it’s always in the provinces.

What is on your mind right this second:  I want to spend my remaining time awake reading fanfic (I’m into them again, omg) but I also wanna finish surveys...so I’m doing my best to breeze through this so I can finally look for something to read hahahahaha.

Have you ever given a nickname to your pet(s)?  Cooper is Cooperino to me. Sometimes I’ll call him Cooperino Cappuccino. Kimi is Kimchi, Kimmerl, Kimberly, The Kimster, and sometimes Lolo, which is grandpa in Filipino heheh.

When was the last time you shaved your legs?  Like 3 or 4 days ago.

Do you ever try free samples at the store?  Nope.

Do you like boys with long hair?  Physical traits don’t matter much to me.

Do you like rootbeer?  I’ve never tried it but I don’t really want to either haha. It smells weird.

What is the best fast food place, in your opinion?  KFC or Taco Bell. Or Jollibee.

Do you have faith in yourself?  Starting to.

[sarcastically-defensive17]

Maybe a Penelope Garcia x reader where the reader creates the clothes that Garcia wears and they have flirty friendship but one day the reader offers a dress for free in exchange for a date? Or something along those lines? Would prefer a female reader but gender neutral is ok if you're more comfortable doing that :)

Seamstress - P. Garcia

Thank you so much for this request! I adore Penny! She’s such a ball of sunshine! So sorry it took so long, and I sincerely hope you enjoy this!

Original story by sarcastically-defensive17

Penelope’s wardrobe was the most unique thing that anybody could observe. A dress of every colour of the rainbow. Cosplay outfits. Comfortable items for when she is lounging around. Day of the dead dresses. Halloween costumes. Christmas dresses. Valentine’s Day dresses. Dresses for every occasion.

Not only was Penelope unique in her dress, but she was also particular. All of her dresses were custom made, and all from the same hands. Garcia trusted nobody other than Y/F/N to make her dresses.

She stumbled upon a market stall a few years back, the dresses intricately decorated, and almost as beautiful as the woman working the stall. Penelope was enamored by both, purchasing as many dresses as she could at the time. Soon after, that same woman from the stall opened a store. The shop soon became a second home for Penelope, and she enjoyed being there as much as she did her favourite diner, or her office with her friends, or at home with her favourite things.

Now, there was a convention coming up. Penelope and Spencer planned for don cosplay outfits of reincarnations of Dr. Who, and Penelope only trusted Y/N to create the garment for her.

When she sent the reference image and the request, her message was answered with ‘anything for you, baby doll ; )’.

It had taken a week and a half for Y/N to work her magic, and she had promised to deliver the item to Penelope at the BAU. The squad were in Nevada on a case, and Penelope was stuck in her little bat cave until further notice. Y/N was more than happy to deliver.

When Y/N arrived, she held the carefully wrapped dress box in her hands. She followed the instructions that Penelope had texted to her, budding with excitement at seeing her favourite customer and nerves. Penelope has that affect on her. She was unique and kind and funny and an amazing support. She had helped Y/N get her start and build her confidence as a seamstress, and Y/N was falling for the adorable blonde.

When she came upon the door labeled ‘Garcia’ she paused. She exhaled a breath through her neatly painted lips and rapped on the door our times.

A cute “come in,” answered that action and Y/N was opening the door before she could gather her courage.

“Well, well, well, this room is almost as adorable as you are,” Y/N quipped, taking in the small office. There were many little figurines and squishy items on the desk, a perfect representation of the blonde woman’s personality. She also took notice of how Penelope was wearing one of the first dresses she had requested to be made. The sight made her heart swell.

“Honey, you know how to make a girl blush,” Penelope turned around in her chair, her mind immediately turning to anything except the phone call with Derek that was currently happening.

“Not just any girl, only my favourite ones.” Y/N couldn’t resist the wink that she let slip, placing the box delicately on the desk and gesturing to it. “A dress, requested for the soon to be best looking eleventh doctor known to humankind. I hope it does you justice, gorgeous.”

Penelope made quick work of the box, nearly drooling over the seam work and the pure quality of the garment. She couldn’t hold back throwing her arms around the woman and pressing a kiss to her cheek.

“You,” Penelope pointed a finger once she stepped back, observing the item once again. “You are spectacular, Y/N.”

“Honey, you know how to make a girl blush,” she drawled, smirking at Garcia. “I’m glad you like it. I wanted it to be perfect for you.”

“What do I owe you for it, Y/N? This is worth all of the money I have right now.”

Y/N knew her cue, she raised her hand slightly. “It’s free, in exchange for dinner?”

Penelope blushed finally, looking back at Y/N from the box. She almost smiled at the nervous expression plastered on the seamstresses’ face.

“Y/F/N, are you asking me on a date?” Penelope smirked, stepping slightly closer to the woman.

“I am if you’re accepting,” she grinned, hopeful eyes watching Garcia.

“Well, I might have to accept and take you up on that offer. Tomorrow night?” Garcia was beaming.

“I’ll text you and we can work out a time,” Y/N’s smile matched, both women beaming with excitement.

They exchanged another smile before the Seamstress took her leave, throwing an excited smirk Penelope’s way before closing the door behind her.

Penelope couldn’t wipe the smile off of her face - that is, until she put her head set back on and heard the sing-song voice of Derek Morgan.

“Penny and Y/N, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-“

Penelope used her pen to end the call on the receiver, rolling her eyes at his antics.

Tag List:

@theanswertoeverythingisl0v3 @mantlereid @another-lonely-heart @starshonerose

If you want to be added to the tag list then send me a message!!

[damianwaynerocks]

Damian’s Journal - Why I’m Not Allowed to Work With Mystery Incorporated Anymore Even Though I Was Completely Justified in my Actions

 Bruce, on the advice of Dinah Lance, is forcing Damian to start a journal. This series is just that, his journal entries.

This entry is about Damian Wayne meeting the Scooby-Doo gang

Word Count: 1592

A/N: Yo, this is a crack fic. Enjoy.

Masterlist

__

Dear Journal (Not a diary)

So, hello, I guess. My name is Damian Wayne. Grayson, my older brother, suggested I start writing a journal. Of course, I strongly objected to this, however after talking to Dinah Lance, Father agreed that it would help with my 'trauma.'

I'm not allowed to go back and edit this so if there are spelling errors, my apologies.

So I suppose my first entry will be about the mayhem that happened with Mystery Incorporated.

We'd heard reports of reports of a group of people sneaking around Wayne Enterprises so of course we had to check it out. Father didn't want me to go because 'you have homework damian' but Wayne Enterprises is MY birthright so?? Of course I had to go??

I followed Father and Grayson carefully and because I am me, Damian Wayne, they didn't notice me behind them. I caught up to them right as they had surrounded the group of teenagers and surprisingly there was?? No fighting??

Apparently they knew each other??

"Batman!" a boy with blonde hair and an atrocious-looking ascot around his neck yelled.

Seriously who wears ascots anymore?? Pennyworth would faint if he saw that.

Father narrowed his eyes. "Fred," he grunted, "And the rest of you. What are you doing in Gotham this time?"

"Somebody's been dressing up as a vampire and scaring people away from Wayne Enterprises at night," a girl in an orange sweater replied, "So we were checking it out. You seriously didn't know about this?"

"I've had my hands full."

By having his hands full, Father meant going off-world to deal with some space threat because of course Hal Jordan couldn't handle it on his own. The imbecile.

I was away, also, on a mission with my best friend, Jon. He's alright I suppose. Annoyingly positive, but alright. He eats vegan burgers with me, at least.

Grayson had been in Bludhaven so we had entrusted Todd to watch Gotham but of course he missed something as significant as a threat to Wayne Enterprises?? I decided I would have a talk with him whenever he returned.

It was then I saw him.

My body buzzed with excitement. It was a dog.

And then it happened.

THE DOG TALKED.

THIS IS NOT A DRILL, I REPEAT, THE DOG  T A L K E D

"Reah, we were helping!" the dog barked gleefully.

I screamed in excitement and fell off the lamp post I had been holding on to.

I couldn't help it, and you couldn't have helped it either if you saw it.

Everybody looked at me.

"Robin," Batman growled, "I told you to stay behind!"

"Yeah, Robin, you had an essay to do!" Grayson agreed.

"How do you expect me to focus on an essay whenever there is a talking dog!?" I demanded as I walked to the hound.

The dog narrowed his eyes. "Rog? Where?"

"Like, hi Robin," a lanky boy who looked like he lived off marijuana and those ridiculous memes that Drake loved greeted, "This is Scooby-Doo."

"Hello Scooby-Doo it is an honor to meet you I am so excited," I babbled as I scratched him behind his ears. I usually would not act like such a child but. This is a talking dog.

"Come back with us to the Bat Cave," Father said to Ascot-Guy, who must be their team leader which is a terrible decision in my opinion because?? An ASCOT?? In 2020??

So anyways, we then went back to the Cave after blindfolding the group because there was no way we were trusting a team who entrusted their safety to an ascot-wearing buffoon to know the location of the Cave.

Father drove their vehicle, a van that looked like it was painted while lanky-guy smoked marijuana, to the Cave while Grayson rode in the Bat Mobile and I drove my Red Bird.

We got to the Cave and I instantly hopped off my motorcycle and threw open the back of the van where the dog was and enveloped him in a hug. "Let's go, Scooby-Doo, I can show you my sword collection!" I said excitedly before Father rested a hand on my shoulder.

"No time, Robin," he said, "We need a plan on how to catch this vampire."

"Oh, we have a plan," Ascot said with a wave of his hand, "Velma, Daphne and I are going to put a trip-wire down which will drop a barrel on top of him, and then we'll rush forward with chains and tie him up."

"How will you get him to fall for the trip-wire?" Grayson asked.

"Well, we'll use Shaggy and Scooby as bait, of course."

I saw red. I was shaking in fury. They were going to use?? The DOG?? As BAIT????? They were going to put the DOG IN DANGER???

Not on my watch, no sir.

"Absolutely not!" I exploded, "You are not going to put that dog in danger!! What is wrong with you, you ascot-wearing oaf!! I should call the police on you right this instant for animal cruelty!!"

Ascot blinked and took a step back. "S-Sorry Robin, it's just tradition!"

"No way!" Marijuana Man said, "I agree with the scary one! Kind of. Like, no police, but Scooby and I do not want to be bait!"

"Oh no, you can be bait," I said.

"Oh, come on guys!" Orange Girl urged, "I'll give you a Scooby Snack!"

"Scooby Snack!?" Scooby barked, "Roh boy! Rive me on of rose!"

"Like, oh boy, oh boy!" Marijuana Ma- Shaggy, agreed.

My eyes widened. "You would put your beloved friend in danger for a dog biscuit!?"

"Like, try one, kid!" Shaggy said, handing him a biscuit. I scrunched my nose at it but bit into it anyways.

When I tell you that it was the most amazing thing that has ever graced my tastebuds, I mean it.

It tasted like the feeling of working with Richard. It tasted like heaven. It tasted like the feeling of defeating a bad guy. It tasted like the feeling of saving an innocent. It was better than even Pennyworth's cooking.

Of course, I couldn't let them know that, though.

"Give me that!" I snapped, ripping the box from her hand, "I will be confiscating this."

Really, though, I just wanted it for myself and to give to Pennyworth so he could hopefully find some on Amazon.

"I will be bait instead of Scooby-Doo," I declared, "Because clearly you people care more about food than safety."

"Robin, you do know that being bait requires you to act scared, right?" Grayson asked gently. I scoffed.

"Of course it does, and I can act scared!"

I meant it, too. I would just pretend I was watching that Hereditary movie that I went and saw with Todd.

Or that time I walked in on Drake and Brown having coitus in the Bat Cave.

That is the real trauma I need to write in this journal for. Growing up with assassins? Forget it. Dying? No big deal. Seeing Drake's genitals? I will be needing years of therapy for that.

So that's how I ended up outside my inheritance building with Shaggy. I was dressed in civilians clothes with sunglasses to hide my identity.

"Like, you know only weird people wear sunglasses in the dark, right?" Shaggy said, taking a bite of a hotdog he had pulled out of nowhere.

"Incorrect," I disagreed, "My brother happens to say that only cool people wear sunglasses in the dark."

"If you say so."

We were loitering outside the building and I was bored.

"Do you smoke marijuana?" I asked bluntly. Shaggy choked on his hotdog.

"Like, no?"

I opened my mouth to argue with him before we heard a screech. I looked up and saw a poor costume of a vampire coming towards us.

Shaggy screamed and started to run and, picturing Drake's thing in my mind, I screamed and ran after him, through the double doors of the building.

We hopped over the trip-wire, and skidded to a halt in front of the stairs. The vampire was running towards us but gave a weird yelp whenever it tripped.

At that moment, a barrel fell from the ceiling and landed on the creature. Ascot-Man and Grayson jumped out of the shadows, tying the creature up in chains.

"Ah ha!" A lady with red hair- Daphne, I think -yelled victoriously. "Not so scary now, are ya?"

Velma followed her out of the shadows, Father close behind. Velma took off the vampire mask, and revealed- my English teacher??

I wasn't really shocked, though. He was a Trump supporter.

Velma rattled off obvious reasons why he was in Wayne Enterprises and apparently he just?? Wanted into the safe??

There's so many more easier ways to do that than dressing up as a vampire??

So that was that. Kind of. We tied the guy up, calling Gordon, and left and went back to the Bat Cave where we saw Scooby-Doo sleeping on top of the dinosaur.

Scoobysaurous Rex perked up as he heard us come in, and his tongue lolled as he ran down the tail of the statue and jumped into Shaggy's arms.

Father congratulated them but me?? I absolutely did not.

I once again gave them an earful about how irresponsible they were to put Scooby-Doo in danger.

"If I find out you have done that again I will personally have your liver on a platter-"

Grayson interrupted me with a nervous laugh. "He's just kidding!! He'll just send you a strongly worded email!!"

I glared at him before turning back to Ascot-Man. "And another thing!! An ascot!! In 2020!! What is wrong with you!?" I tore it off of his neck and huffed, "There, now you look slightly less idiotic."

And then Father sent me to my room.

So yeah that's what happened there. I've been keeping tabs on them and so far I have seen no sign of them putting the dog in danger.

Good riddance. Because I would have indeed sent them a strongly worded email as well as the liver thing.

- Damian

[calamity-bean]

Notes: Barkskins Q&A

Barkskins fans! Today (6/28/20), American Cinematheque hosted a Barkskins Q&A webinar with creator Elwood Reid and cast members Marcia Gay Harden (Mathilde Geffard), Christian Cooke (Rene Sel), and David Thewlis (Claude Trepagny). Elwood, Marcia, and Christian were on the call live, while David was interviewed beforehand and his responses recorded. Topics discussed included: 

The show’s general scope and the adaptation process

Historical research

Accent coaching

Colonialism and the portrayal of First Nations characters/cultures

Sets and wardrobe

An audience question for Marcia about Mathilde’s daughter

An audience question for Christian about Rene’s physical/action scenes

Here I’m sharing a summary of the notes I took during the talk. This isn’t a transcript and I didn’t write down everything, but I tried to note interesting things as accurately as I was able. Please pardon any misinterpretations or errors; I did the best I could, but if you remember something differently (or have something to add), feel free to let me know.

This got quite long... Lots of notes below!

The Show in General

First, the big one: the show has not yet been renewed for a second season, but Elwood is hopeful! He feels like season 1 just barely “set the table” for the story, only to yank the tablecloth off right at the end, and he wants more seasons so that viewers can really dig into the meal. It was always planned as multi-season, and right now he’s just hoping that there’s been a good enough viewing and that people talk enough about the show.

The season was originally slated for ten episodes, but had to be cut to nine and then to eight due to the weather changing and due to the time necessary to construct sets. 

The book was considered to be a huge challenge to adapt -- almost unadaptable. Initially, Elwood had ideas for doing a generational / time-skip structure like in the novel, where each season would start over and focus on a new time period; however, one of the main reasons he scrapped that idea was because of the cast. He really adores the whole cast and is excited to write more stories for these actors rather than switching focus to new characters. 

In general, the show was repeatedly described as being essentially about “haves” versus “have-nots” -- who are the “haves,” who are the “have-nots,” what do they want and what are they willing to do in order to become a “have.” It is also a show in which every character (except Rene, initially) has a secret and everyone has something they want that they can’t have.

Also, things such as which characters live/die will not be beholden to what happens in the book.

Historical and Character Research

Marcia and Christian have both read the entire book. Since Mathilde wasn’t in the novel, Marcia called up Elwood with a lot of ideas for how to develop the character, although in the end Mathilde became someone much gravelly, crass, and more conniving than she had initially expected. Christian was very impressed by the scope and uniqueness of the story and found Rene’s simple worldview appealing, describing Rene as a man of the forest, a man of the land, with desires that are simple but meaningful and noble: a better life, prosperity, a piece of his own land.

David read about the first hundred pages, and his initial idea of Trepagny was as someone much tougher and more physically imposing, as portrayed in the book. He then had to work to shed that preconception of the character into the very different Trepagny of the script. He described Trepagny as a man of contradictions: Is he good or bad? Charming or obnoxious? Vulnerable or a bully? Does he live in a cabin or a mansion? Does he worship a god / dual god or a rotten old log? Is he delusional or is he a visionary?

Primary source materials from the period that Elwood used in his historical research include the accounts of Jesuit missionaries, business ledgers describing trade and commerce, and a few memoirs from filles du roi. However, he found it difficult to find primary sources, especially in English, and was careful to remember that these accounts always had a French/colonial bias.

Marcia did a LOT of research on her own in order to better understand what conditions in France might have driven the Geffards to leave. She asked herself, “Why the hell would anyone leave France to come to these mosquito-filled woods with ostensibly hostile First Nations people and English? What was going on in that moment BEFORE they came over?”

Christian didn’t do much historical research but rooted his character in terms of the physical research he did, such as learning woodcutting. He said Rene came from a rural area of northern France and was a woodsman there as well. 

Accent Coaching

Marcia said they did receive accent coaching, but they didn’t want to lean too hard into strong accents because they wanted to give the impression that the French characters were speaking French, which, as their native language, would be very fluid. So it was okay to not have a heavy accent in order to better communicate that effect.

It was also okay for everyone to have different takes on the French accent, because they wanted to give the effect that these characters were coming from all different parts of France and each had their own individual background. They felt that communicating the characters was more important than getting the accents entirely correct.

They likewise had Native actors speak English on screen when their characters were talking among themselves (even when the characters should be understood as not speaking English) so that the audience would get that same impression of fluidity, cleverness, and colloquial conversation.

Colonialism: "Whose perspective are we bringing to bear? Whose story are we telling?”

Elwood acknowledged that Americans tend to be bad about looking outside their own history and that societies with a history of colonizing tend to come up with justifications for why it was okay for them to invade and colonize others. They wanted the show to avoid reinforcing that idea and to not sugarcoat the reality of it.

He mentioned the importance of having Migizi Pensoneau’s voice in the writer’s room. They also made an effort to speak with tribal communities and leaders in the area in order to gain their insight.

Elwood also hit on the effect of the Western film genre (as in cowboy Westerns) in shaping stereotypes about Native Americans and exporting these stereotypes to the rest of the world. Wanted to avoid those stereotypes (bc they’re inaccurate anyway and bc Barkskins takes place in the eastern part of the continent, not the western, and in an earlier time period) and in general to avoid portraying indigenous people as a uniform/interchangeable monoculture.

Marcia highlighted efforts to foreground First Nations characters in front of the camera as well, specifically mentioning Yvon and Mari. She mentioned that Yvon was educated at Harvard and that Mari’s father was French.

Sets and Wardrobe

This was my favorite section because I love this stuff and it was very impressive! Elwood basically gushed about how the production designer (Isabelle Guay), costume designer (Anna Terrazas), and wig maker were invaluable to the show. I tried to record the wig maker’s name, but I was going by ear, and I couldn’t find any search results that seemed right based on the spellings I tried. He was a Montreal area wig maker whose name sounded like (but I am sure is not spelled like) “Ray-jean For-jay.”

Isabelle Guay is local to the area and was in charge of building all the sets. She scouted all the areas personally and paid close attention to period details in construction. Authenticity was very important to Nat Geo; it had to look good and feel real.

Most of the costumes were not existing pieces that the show rented or reused; Anna Terrazas wanted to build as much as possible from scratch herself. She and the other costumers dyed deerskins, found period 17th- and 18th-century fabrics to make garments out of, and even hand built shoes.

Likewise, although it would have been cheaper to get okay-looking wigs premade, the wig maker wanted to make high-quality authentic ones himself. He flew to the actors, measured their heads, bought hair in France, and then constructed all the wigs himself.

Marcia on how the costume informed her character: Anna gave her a leather pouch to hang on a belt around her waist. It was filled with lavender, the idea being that Mathilde kept this lavender close to counter the foul smells of Wobik. Marcia viewed it as a “little secret” to draw on in her acting.

Christian found the costumes surprisingly comfortable/immersive and the landscape very awe-inspiring.

The moodboard for Trepagny’s wardrobe/aesthetic included pictures of Nick Cave and Jimi Hendrix.

Mathilde’s Daughter

Marcia was asked how much of the details about Mathilde’s daughter were of her own invention. She said that everything said on screen about Veronique was straight from the script, but she came up with more herself in order to inform her acting.

Marcia imagines that Veronique probably died from a sickness, perhaps something like whooping cough that to many of us today wouldn’t seem so serious but which would be more fatal in that era.

This is the point at which Elwood blindsided Marcia, me, and everybody else by talking about a scene he had been “obsessed” with a planned scene in which Renardette would go down to a room below the inn and find Veronique’s preserved body hidden down there, covered in her own dresses. Ultimately, Elwood felt that this was “too gothic” and that it wouldn’t work for Mathilde in a season of only 8 episodes, because it would too quickly take the audience’s understanding of her to a very bizarre/dark place.

He defended the idea by saying that it wasn’t uncommon at the time for people to do things like that, i.e. keep a loved one’s remains for a period of time. (I will take your word for it, Elwood. Also, I’m totally ready for you to go full gothic on this show, please follow your weird impulses in the future.) Marcia, though, felt that it wouldn’t make sense for a character as pragmatic as Mathilde. She pointed out that Francis is the one who wants things like refinements, whereas Mathilde is much more practical.

Also, I was today years old when I learned that Lola Reid (Renardette) is showrunner Elwood Reid’s daughter. In my defense, it’s not an uncommon last name.

Christian on Rene

Christian was asked about the physical aspects of playing Rene, such as chopping wood, fighting, swimming, etc., and which were most difficult and which most enjoyable. He said that he loved those aspects; he would get immersed in the physical act so much that he would forget he was acting. He could get very emotional in those intense moments and found it very difficult to come out of those scenes because of how emotionally charged they were (such as when watching character deaths) but also found it very enjoyable in a cathartic way.

Elwood said that he thought Christian had the hardest role because Rene is a stoic person who has to hold the screen with very few words. It was at this point that he talked about all the characters having secrets and something they want but can’t have; he pointed out that Rene is the only character who doesn’t have a secret and whose wants and needs are very simple. This makes his character “like a rock” that other characters try to pick up and bash around but can’t figure out what to do with.

In light of that, Elwood felt that this first season was a slow burn for Rene, but that the future focus of the character’s arc is essentially: What’s the breaking point of a man like that? What will make him crack? What will make him act out of his character?

He said it was also similar for James Bloor (Charles Duquet) because he had to take so much abuse in this first season, with Elwood assuring James that it was building toward a big future payoff.

In conclusion...

Aaand that’s all I’ve got! We are all encouraged to keep talking about the show and to make known our desire for a second season. Thanks for reading, and like I said, let me know if you have anything to add or to correct.