#I know we probably won’t see Cole in the new game but I can think about it real hard

[anew-flame]

Whatever happens in Veilguard, my headcanon is that my Rook somehow gets custody of Cole and marries Emmrich, and they both raise their weird sons together as a happy, blended goth family devoted to helping others

[alicentflorent]

how would you change the writing for Alicent in season 2 if you had the chance?

I’d have to go back to season 1 episode 8 (post driftmark) to have her characterisation and development make sense because 1x08 - 2x02 Alicent is pretty inconsistent and all over the place as if you’ve had different writers writing their own version of her and poorly putting it all together.

After driftmark, although she apologised for almost harming lucerys, a child. Her resentment for Rhaenyra and Viserys grows. Finally Rhaenyra confirmed what Alicent feared, that her children would be in danger and Viserys has proven for the final time that he won’t protect their children, he’ll never treat his second family as equals to his first. Even she lives in Emma’s shadow as Aegon lives in Balon’s.

Alicent has to take matters into her own hands to protect her children and this realisation leads to the formation of the green council. Instead of becoming even more ingrained in her faith she struggles with it, she knows she’s breaking her vows and going against duty and honour when she starts plotting to usurp Rhaenyra.

She also struggles to deal with how Aegon turns out (which did happen in canon. He terrifies her but he’s a monster of her own creation and she needs him ready to take the throne for the sake of all her children and grandchildren.

When she tells Rhaenyra “you’ll make a fine queen” bitch is lying, she wants Rhaenyra to feel security after she watched Rhaenyra order the death of vaemond velaryon for the sake of her own children. Alicent needs to play the game if she wants to take Rhaenyras throne out from under her. Rhaenyra won’t let it go so easily.

When viserys calls her “Rhaenyra, my only child” this is when Alicent snaps. She’s continued to be a dutiful wife and cared for him as he got sicker, she even tolerated being called aemma over the years but now he thinks Rhaenyra is caring for him? Rhaenyra who didn’t visit in 6 years? And not only that, he thinks of her as his only child. “I gave you four healthy children who you ignored, I cared for you, I was loyal to you and you now you can’t even remember our names?!” - Alicent leaves the room upset, comforted by criston. There is no misunderstanding of prophecies. When she is later woken by the news of viserys death, this is when the green council is revealed. When Alicent sits at the head of the table and announces viserys it’s revealed that she’s been actively plotting for years. She announces Aegon is the new king.

Episode 9 probably goes about the same but we see more tension building with Cole as a widowed Alicent still struggles with her faith and who she really is outside of being a wife and a mother. When Larys tries to blackmail her she pulls rank because she’s still the dowager queen and can have his before he speaks a word against her. Alicents final scene of the season is still the same.

Season 2 so far: b&c happens similarly to how it does in the books, Alicent is still in the scene itself (but it’s focused on helaena). We see the moment when Alicent gives into her desires and decides to do something for herself. We get clarity on how how their relationship started after seeing them slowly get closer over the years rather than it just being “so these two religious sexually repressed hypocrites are fucking now”. Alicent and Criston also start scheming to get rid of Otto when she realised she’s just a pawn after being undermined in front of the council

Episode 2: we see her grieve as her crisis of faith returns. It’s jahaerys that she lights a candle for not Lucerys. She still struggles to comfort her own kids and the episode is very much focused on how everyone grieves differently and how the poison of politics and self image is destroying them from the inside. They don’t know how to come together to mourn like the blacks did. They each grieve alone and the only time we see them interact is when Otto is exploiting their trauma for PR and this is also causes conflict within the family. The episode is written in a way that has you empathising with each of them to an extent - it has a similar vibe to the aftermath of Logan Roy’s death. The siblings grieving in different ways both coming together and then pushing each other away as their team are already coming up with PR strategies and focusing on the company and their profits and which grieving child is the best asset etc they really could have as their own version of the Roy’s with the throne as the waystar/royco equivalent. Also they really should have cut down on the Rhaenyra scenes in that episode. The first two episodes as a whole need fixing because every character got screwed.

[crancisfrozier]

Okay I just finished Dragon Age the Veilguard after about 100 hours and I have SO MANY thoughts I need to get out of my system.

First, the positives; 1) This game was FUCKING GORGEOUS. It is lightly stylized and I can see what people mean when they say it’s a little sims or Disney like, but overall I think they made a really bold choice to not look like every other game that’s coming out now and I think it paid off. I’ve never cared about photo mode in games before but I found myself stopping to take a screenshot every 5-10 minutes. Even in boss battles!!

2) The combat. This the first time ever in a DA game that combat is genuinely fun and not kind of a slog you have to get through to advance the story. Playing as a mage has never been more enjoyable.

3) The major story points. I won’t go into spoilers right now but Weisshaupt and the entire last act of the game were phenomenal. Peak Dragon Age. I was crying. I was shaking. I was scared for my companions and the state of the world. These battles were enormous and epic and world changing.

Okay putting the rest under a read more because this post is really getting away from me. There will be spoilers under the cut :)

4) The Solavellan content. I fully expected to have their story lowkey ignored because of how much time had passed and how much was going on in the world. At best I thought there might be one or two lines of dialogue about it. I was not expecting to get a conversation with my inquisitor solely about him that so beautifully sums up exactly why me and my inquisitor fell in love with Solas, or to be able to get the happy ending with them that I have yearned for this past decade.

Before I go into the negatives I want to state that I really enjoyed this game. It’s probably a 7 or 8/10 for me! But enjoying it does not make it immune from criticism. So, the negatives for me:

1) The writing/dialogue. I know this has been a massive point of hate for a lot of origins-only crybabies and I don’t want to necessarily validate them but I think we have to admit that the writing was…shall we say inconsistent perhaps? As I mentioned above, the pinnacles of act 2 and 3 are Dragon Age at its best imo, but in between that? There is a lot of tell not show going on and modernization of dialogue that can take me out of the immersion, which has never happened for me in a DA game before. My theory is that they overcorrected from inquisition, a game that is not very new player friendly (I say this as someone whose very first DA game was inquisition and I wouldn’t change that for the world) and ended up simplifying, excessively repeating, and underutilizing themes and parts of the story.

2) The companions. I enjoy them as characters don’t get me wrong (Emmerich Volkarin my beloved I will romance you every playthrough)! But they feel much flatter than in any other DA game. There is not a lot of tension or realistic personality dynamics between them. I’m not saying every game needs to have a Fenris/Anders level rivalry but when a group of people come together in a situation as stress-inducing as stopping the end of the world, they are not going to immediately be happy and love each other and give found family vibes off the bat. That has to be earned, they have to actually go through things together! They will have people they like and don’t like, people they get along with and don’t get along with! Consider the dynamic in inquisition: Sera and Solas do not get along. She hates his arrogance (and his “elfyness”) and he dislikes but mostly pities her. But Sera and Blackwall are best friends! Blackwall and Solas have a super interesting dynamic given their *ahem* personal identities. Solas and Bull have a mutual respect as strategists (I will always love their mental chess match in banter). Bull and Dorian have a whole enemies to lovers thing going on! Vivienne hates Cole because she sees him as a demon, But Cole is basically Varric and Solas’s adopted son who they have a minor custody battle over. I could go on and on! This drama, these personality clashes are what flesh the companions in previous games out so well. Everyone joining the team and then having next to no internal conflict (or if they do it is basically immediately resolved) makes it boring, I’m sorry! And on that topic, I have to mention their approvals and disapprovals. They mean nothing. There are not really any consequences for doing something a companion hates. They will typically immediately forgive you no matter what. Thinking back once again, what would the inquisition companions be without the approval/disapproval system? Without Vivienne changing around the furniture out of spite? Being able to punch Solas? Having companions leave because they disagree with you so much or straight up telling them to leave?? Not only does this give characters agency and flesh them out, but it provides the perfect role playing opportunities in what is supposed to be an action RPG!

3) The world state/choices from previous games. These were essentially non-existent and boiled down to “did you romance Solas in Inquisition or not”. It feels like they were trying to kind of soft reboot the universe which feels incredibly disappointing after a legacy of choices that can leave so many unique world states. A lot of them even conflict with some of the storylines in the game. For example, I always romance Alistair in Origins and keep him a Grey Warden. Where the hell was he in this game?? Multiple times they say every single Warden has gathered at Weisshaupt, you’d think you might want two veterans of the fifth blight (counting my HoF) to help fight an archdemon??? Are they dead then? Did you kill them bioware??? Also Morrigan, not only does it seem like Kieran doesn’t exist but it’s heavily implied that Morrigan drank from the well of sorrows, a choice that I have agonized over for these past 10 years because I am firmly in the “my inquisitor drinks from the well” camp. I also feel bad for anyone that romanced someone other than Solas in Inquisition because it seems like you get a little note from your beloved and that’s it.

4) The soundtrack. I don’t dislike all of it, there is some battle music I like and the dread wolf and end credits music were great! But a lot of this music felt disconnected from Dragon Age and almost like it was for Mass Effect. Like why are there weird futuristic synths in ancient Arlathan Forest? I was very worried about this the first time I heard Trevor Morris wasn’t coming back for the OST. And when I heard that he was being replaced by Hans Zimmer I couldn’t help worry that they were replacing high quality and understanding of the source material with a big name. The first time I heard the title music it sounded like Starfield. Or like generic epic action movie soundtrack. There has been nothing as truly memorable as the Inquisition theme. Nothing that I will cry in my car to like the lost elf theme.

5) The sanitization of some of Thedas’s darker parts in what feels like an attempt to not upset anyone. Tevinter is known through Thedas for its slavery, for its abhorrent treatment of elves. But we are in the capital of Tevinter and see none of that? The main story of the game unravels the central religion of the world and there is not a single religious person in your group or near it that can feel the full effects of this unraveling? If you play as a dalish elf, gods that you likely worshipped your entire life are proved to be real but not only are they callous and cruel they are trying to kill you personally? And all we get is a few lines of dialogue just saying “oh wow can you believe this”? Where is the mourning for your misplaced faith??? For people’s lives given to devotion for nothing???

6) The state of the world at the end of the game. There is a certain hollowness in preventing the end of the world but having possibly millions killed in the process. And about having places we have loved so dearly, and worked so hard to save in previous games, being completely destroyed offscreen. Then treating the protagonist like this is a great triumphant victory! There should have been a post battle scene at the end, like in origins and inquisition. A breather after all the hard work, but a more melancholy one this time. To register and convey how much of the world has been lost, what the price of this victory was, and the work it’s going to take to recover from.

I know I’ve listed more negatives here than positives but I want to again express that I did really enjoy this game! Not only did I put 100 hours into it, I’m literally already planning my second and third playthroughs. But it does have some major flaws that I think need to be pointed out. We can’t pretend this is a perfect game. For me, Inquisition is still the best DA game and that’s okay! I still have Inquisition, I can go back and play it whenever I want. And if anything, it’s a miracle that this game came out at all. We came very close to living in the Bad Place where it didn’t come out or where it came out as a live service game. I am truly so appreciative of all of the love and effort that went into DA4 and my hope above hopes would be that they do something like Larian where they identify and fix the major issues, but I know that likely won’t happen :(

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

What would happen if you were sent back and ended up in the orphanage with Tom Riddle—and say you also had magic?

Oh boy.

Well, there's a lot to question here. Judging by the... spirit of this ask, I presume I'm... pretty much reincarnated. I'm in the orphanage, I'm much younger than I am now and a child, I'm pre-Hogwarts age, and I retain my current knowledge.

For the purpose of this ask I suppose I also retain my current mental faculties. Despite being in the body of an eight-year-old, I'm not The Carnivorous Muffin at eight.

Welp, there's a lot to consider here.

First, I probably don't realize I'm in Harry Potter for quite some time and instead assume I've been reincarnated to some parallel universe. It's the 1930's, I'm in England in the depression, WWI has occurred and the vast majority of major historical events I know about seem to have happened in the right order, and this Earth is eerily similar to the Earth I left behind.

Strange that I appear to remember everything of my past life with my adult mental abilities, but alright universe, I guess that's how we're going to play this.

What I do know is that I'm dirt poor, presumably still a woman which does not bode well for my career prospects, and if I want any prospects in life period I'm going to have to fight tooth and nail for it. It'd be great if I got adopted to help with this, and might be nice to have people in my life who love me, but there's a lot of orphans in the world and a lot of orphans who are much less weird than I am.

The orphanage is the orphanage and not great, Mrs. Cole is overworked, the orphanage is chronically understaffed, and the kids are running wild beating the shit out of each other.

Being a girl, I probably don't have to worry about getting the shit kicked out of me quite as much, but I still probably try to keep my head down and don't aggravate the particularly beefy looking orphans.

Yes, there's some very angry gremlin named Tom Riddle around who will shove you down the stairs in retribution, but that's just a weird coincidence. And then supernatural shit starts happening. Billy's rabbit hangs itself, people get injuries when Tom is nowhere near them, and I start wondering if this is really the Tom Riddle.

I'm in Wool's Orphanage, my matron is Mrs. Cole, Tom Riddle is running around lighting things on fire. It's possible, though it could all be a strange coincidence.

Now, how things go from here depends on how controlled my own magic is. Since accidental magic typically does manifest at least once or twice, it probably does manifest for me for.. something. If Tom Riddle's there to witness it then...

Well, I imagine he's very offended. Here he was, special, different, better than everyone else, and then some girl in the orphanage (who dares to get very good grades on her assignments in school) has it too.

And I just stand there, smiling, going "Tee hee".

He probably confronts me to prove that he's better at it than I am, and he probably is unless the universe hates both him and me, but having someone else with the Shining around probably prompts him to take me as his protégé (in part so he can show off and in part because he's genuinely excited to be able to share this super cool talent).

I am now apprentice to eight-year-old Tom Riddle. Whoop de doo.

Well, I don't remember this part of Harry Potter, so now I'm probably confused as to where I am again. Regardless, I try to advise Tom on how to tone it down and not, say, traumatize Amy and Dennis for life and antagonize all the other orphans forever. He probably doesn't take me seriously. What do I know, I can't even light that patch of grass on fire?

Hanging around Tom Riddle gets me a reputation to, given the difference in genders, probably a fairly nasty one at that. When Dumbledore arrives he's undoubtedly told hot gossip about how eleven-year-old Tom and I have had sex in a ritual to summon Satan. Dumbledore takes this seriously.

Dumbledore probably meets us both at the same time and it's a disaster. I tried my best to prep Tom without revealing I'm a prophet, Tom first doesn't believe there might not be others, then doesn't believe they would be antagonist/anything but amazed by how awesome he is.

Well, Dumbledore lights his wardrobe on fire while I sit there. Dying inside. Dumbledore probably also does something to me too, to teach me some kind of lesson about something.

I imagine he temporarily disfigures me/makes me appear very ugly, then sticks a mirror to the wall, that way I realize that looks aren’t everything/being a whore is wrong. Tom, still traumatized over the wardrobe, is no help and my magic’s probably not controlled enough to do a thing about it.

I spend a day looking like a pig, Tom and I are given just enough money to buy new wands and second hand/barely functioning everything else and given the world’s worst directions to Diagon Alley. Thanks, Albus.

Well, months pass, we get our wands, Tom gets excited for Hogwarts and I... start seriously considering the future. WWII is coming, the Blitz is coming, Tom and I live in east London and must be able to evacuate during the bombing of London (which went on well past the Blitz to the end of the war). I also start considering my future in the wizarding world. Do I now actually have career prospects?

Probably not because I’m muggle born and a woman. My best bet is doing very well in useful subjects and finding employment with the goblins, I can’t imagine they have the same hang ups as the wizarding world.

Tom wants to go to Slytherin, of course, I tell him this is a bad idea. “Gee Tom,” I say, “Not sure how I know this but I have this feeling that Slytherin is filled with people who loathe our very existence and will shank us. Why don’t we pick Ravenclaw or Gryffindor instead?”

No one shanks Tom Riddle! Tom says. Tom is still eleven and while he admits that sometimes I may, in retrospect, have been right about certain things that doesn’t mean he wants to go to the house known for hard work. That’s code word for everyone there being a moron and having no other redeeming features than tenacity. As for the other two, Ravenclaws sound like smug, elitist, nerds and Gryffindors like dumb jocks.

Better to be known for ambition, cunning, and actually being competent.

Well, there’s no talking him out of this one, and goddamn it we’re all each other has.

I’m the closest thing Tom Riddle has ever had to a friend in all these years and in the orphanage the only one who could hold a decent conversation with him. And while it’s not my moral obligation to keep Tom from becoming a domestic terrorist, and there’s no guarantee I even can, dumping him for one of the other houses and drifting apart won’t help.

Not to mention that, after all these years, I’m undoubtedly lonely, I’m in this foreign land, and he’s now the closest thing to a friend I have.

Looks like I’m going to Slytherin, YOOOOOLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOO! I shout as a battle cry as tears run down my face. I may have to convince the hat to put me in Slytherin, but like all human beings I am a mixture of many qualities. I’m not cunning in the least, mind games exhaust me unutterably, but I’m full of ambition. 

This confirms every bad opinion Dumbledore had regarding me and Tom.

For the next several months, Tom probably beats the shit out of dormmates who steal his things/harass him. He beats up mine too because feminism (TM) means that he should treat all people equally when guilty of the same crime. I... am not sure I can win that fight so I just resign myself to having to adopt some of Tom’s tactics to make sure I’m not shoved in lockers, have tampons thrown at me, or pig’s blood dumped on me at the prom.

Once again, everyone thinks Tom Riddle and I are dating. I don’t even know if they’re wrong at this point.

Well, being in class with eleven year olds who seem to have had little to no prior education, Tom and I are undoubtedly blazing through class. I imagine I’m bored out of my mind (the Hogwarts curriculum sounds unbelievably boring) and Tom is... well, probably devouring the library but probably also bored. I decide to try and see if I can find some real history texts on this world (there are probably none, the wizarding world seems to only have two historians and both... have a different approach to history than current modern thought as I know it) and discover what magic even is. That shit is fascinating: wingardium leviosa is not.

Dumbledore likely gives neither me nor Tom points in class, I think the house cup is stupid, so I really don’t care. I have no interest in playing quidditch, neither does Tom, so that doesn’t happen.

The second world war starts up, Tom, me, and the muggle borns are the only ones who give a flying fuck. I work harder on figuring out how to get lodging during the Blitz/the bombing of London. Unfortunately, Mrs. Cole hates me too for being the Bride of Satan, so that’s a no go. Third year, 1939, I probably write her in earnest anyway telling her to PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, send Tom and I instructions for the summer/where the orphans are staying/how they’ve been dispersed to the countryside. As a back up plan, I try desperately to shmooze shopkeepers in Hogsmeade during every Hogsmeade weekend to get myself and Tom part time jobs and lodging over the summer. As a back up back up plan, I spend my time badgering Tom to become very good at survivalist wandless magic and if the Lord has pity on me gain some ability in it myself.

Hopefully, either Mrs. Cole or one of the Hogsmeade shop owners take pity on us. If not, then Tom and I are going extreme camping. Given Mrs. Cole (and the brain damage brought on by Dumbledore erasing memories left and right) and the likelihood of Hogsmeade shop owners just not getting it, Tom and I probably go extreme camping.

(Tom, meanwhile, asks Dippet and Dumbledore if we can stay in Hogwarts over the summer. He’s told no exceptions. London’s being bombed, you say? No exceptions. Toodles. Tom is never the same.)

Me, Tom Riddle, a tent we made ourselves, several rabbits we had to catch and skin ourselves, and the pitiful fire that we can keep going through pure will alone because if we try to use real people spells then we’ll get arrested. It has the benefit of making Tom feel very manly and impressive, catching his own food, but both of us are well aware that this sucks.

But hey, we aren’t dead.

Well, I’m sure Tom doesn’t appreciate that and this is where I imagine he seriously starts talking about violent revolution. I imagine much of my time is spent discussing the merits of not violently overthrowing our ant overlords. I imagine a thirteen-year-old Tom isn’t impressed by my pacifism, but he’s not married to Voldemort yet (probably).

Then I imagine the horcrux thing comes up and... Well, I will argue hard against it. Humans die, it is a truth of the universe, and simply something we have to accept. Horcruxes are not a measure against that, they can be destroyed, given infinite time they will be, and the sacrifice they require is too high: human life as well as the very essence of who you are.

What is a soul? I’m not sure, we never really learn in HP canon, but whatever it is, it is in some way the essence of yourself. If you take half of it and throw it somewhere else, you will cease to be you, someone or something else is walking around in your body while the other half of you exists in endless agony.

If you must chase immortality, create a philosopher’s stone (as I darkly wonder why it was that couldn’t be replicated and what Flamel had to do to make it in the first place). On second thought, maybe we should search for the Holy Grail.

Whether I can talk Tom out of this or not is... unclear. I’m going to say that I can, in part because I imagine he’ll want to show the chamber off to me, tell me when he realizes he’s Heir of Slytherin, and in doing so I can prevent the basilisk incident from occurring. Without that, there’s no dead Myrtle, which means no first victim. That summer, when he goes to the Gaunts, I’ll go with him and convince him that it’s not worth it. He can just turn around and leave these people alone, I hopefully can talk him down. Which means no second victim.

I start writing Flamel to see if Tom or I can get an apprenticeship (Dumbledore probably beats us to the chase and poisons him against us, but it’s worth a shot).

Then, should all go well, I can convince Tom to find employment with the goblins rather than shady antique dealers on the bad side of town. Hopefully, I can convince him to never become Voldemort, and instead we travel the world together looking for the origins of magic or something.

Dumbledore goes around taking people’s memories of us in preparation for when Tom becomes a dark lord and I his lady of the night darkness.

TL;DR Apparently my life would become an SI/Tom Riddle fic. So, thanks anon.

[pthalomars]

Synopsis of Jay's Empire AU⚡⚡

[[Made by me and @culturalmochi ]]

The way it starts out is that Jay goes on a solo mission, finds the hard drive for Prime Empire, and gets trapped in the game.

Nobody knows where he went, so the ninja are desperately trying to find him.

Time in game moves a lot faster than in real life, so a few weeks for the ninja is a few months (close to a year) inside of the game.

Jay met Scott and he showed him the ropes of the game, but tried to subtly warn him about Unagami. Jay spent a lot of time leveling up and grinding so he could get high stats, but later found out that he wasn't able to leave or communicate with the outside world. Enter Unagami.

Unagami tells Jay that he sees potential in him, and that he's impressed with his progress through the game. They begin to have a sort of mentor/mentee kind of relationship.

Once again, time moves much faster in game. So jay starts to miss the real world and tells Unagami that he misses his friends. Unagami tells Jay, "if they were really your friends, they would have come back for you by now, wouldn't they?"

Later on, Jay is approached by none other than the ninja! His dearest friends finally coming back to rescue him and bring him home!

But as he spends more time with them, something feels... wrong. It turns out they're NPC's, and in his mission objective list, it says he has to "discard" them. So he does, and they crumble into little pixelated cubes. He levels up.

This repeats several times, each time the ninja dupes become more rude, indifferent, hateful. At some point they become so far removed from their true counterparts that the only thing in common they share is their appearances.

Then comes the time where Unagami is ready to open the game to the rest of the world. He brings Jay to help him spread the word by broadcasting an advertisement for Prime Empire.

That's when the ninja find out where Jay has been this whole time.

So the real gang enters Prime Empire and find Jay, who looks displeased to see them even if he tries to hide it.

Everyone is so happy to see him and to bring him out of the game, surrounding him with hugs and tears of joy.

But then Jay checks his objectives. "Discard the ninja". It's the same as it's always been, so he goes along with it.

But as Jay journeys with his friends through the game, he slowly comes to the realization that they aren't NPC's.. they're his real friends.

Scott, when he was first sucked in by the game, leveled up really fast and eventually gained the attention of Unagami. Unagami said he saw "great potential" in him and gave him access to the coding of the game. For Scott, this means he can essentially influence and change parts of the game, but not always by his own free will. With him being connected to the coding, that includes his thoughts, emotions, memories, trauma, etc. this connection also gave Unagami a way to keep track of where Scott was and what he was doing at all times. 

so eventually, Unagami wants to bring empire to the physical world, but he needs help getting the world out. he tells Scott his plan and Scott is like "actually, fuck this :)" and escapes from Unagami. in order to keep him from tracking his every move, Scott cuts off his own connection to the game's code. He hunkers down in his hideout and tries to plot a way to a)escape and b)prevent Unagami from taking over the real world. 

so finally, Jay enters the game! Scott finds him running away from red visors and picks him up and takes him to his hideout. Scott explains the general rules of the game, gives him tips on how to survive, glitches, cheats, all of it. but he tries to warn him about Unagami and Jay is too enraptured with the thrall of the game to pay any mind to Scott's warnings. Jay starts leveling up and progressing, very similar to how Scott did, and gained the same kind of attention from Unagami. he saw great potential in him. at that point, Scott says that Jay can't come to the hideout anymore, and Jay asks why. Scott says "i already told you, but you didn't listen to me." and so Jay goes to Unagami. Unagami promises him steep advantages in the game, protection, etc and Jay is going along with it because, to him, its still just a game. the gravity of the situation hasn't quite hit him yet. he doesn't know that he's trapped. 

so now, Jay and Unagami have a sort of mentor/mentee kind of relationship, and Jay very much fits into the role of the teachers pet. the red visors are **VERY** protective of him and will often accompany him wherever he goes unless he tells them to leave (sometimes they listen, sometimes they dont). There is one red visor who is particularly close to Jay. she goes with him everywhere and is the most protective of him compared to the other RV's. Jay tries to talk with her sometimes, and one day he asks her what her name is. her voice glitches out a lot, like something is corrupted in her code. she repeats "four o-oh four-r-r AA e-rror-r four o-o-oh four-r AA" and Jay is like "hmm.. rora? can i call you rora?" and she just nods at him. (Rora becomes important later!!)

so anyways, going back to how Unagami has adopted Jay as his mentee, Jay has the same kind of access to the game's coding that Scott does. including the influence of his memories and past traumas. this manifests in several ways, but one of which is how the NPC clones of the ninja interact with him. Jay has a lot of issues with self esteem and often fears that nobody really cares about him, finds him annoying, etc. so with each iteration of the ninja dupes, they become meaner and meaner until the only resemblance they share to their irl counterparts is their physical appearance. 

Jay (not realizing that Unagami is the one creating the dupes) goes to Unagami to vent about how he misses his friends and wishes they could join him in the game. Unagami tells Jay "if they were really your friends, they would have come for you by now. They probably forgot about you. but it's not you ever needed them anyways. here, you are powerful, loved by everybody, adored by the masses. in here, you are important." gotta love that gaslight gatekeep gameboss moment. eventually, Unagami is ready to bring prime empire to the physical world once he's seen Jay get to the same point that Scott was at. Unagami says that he needs Jays help to deliver the message, and that crossing the line between digital and physical means that Jay can go back to the real world while still maintaining the same power and reputation he has in the game. Jay agrees and works with Unagami to make an advertisement. 

this is the advertisement script: 

[Do you want to join Prime Empire?

“What is Prime Empire?” it’s a fully immersive, futuristic video game experience! Using the latest virtual emulation technology, players are quite literally part of the game. Customize your avatar, meet other players, level up, and compete in tournaments!

“But how do I join?” The answer is simple, silly! Prime Empire can be found in your arcades, in your consoles, even on your phones! You would have to live under a rock to not find your way in.

“How do I win?” Your quest is to seek out the legendary Keytanas. But be warned, there are challenges that you will face. Deadly forests, dangerous races, and more! Will you rise above the rest and claim your rightful victory?

Join today, but don’t delay! Only the first 100 players will get a chance to meet yours truly (winks). In the Super Star Rocking Jay event, I will teach you the ropes of the game, along with exclusive tips that will give you an advantage over other players!

Do you have what it takes? Prove your worth and become part of Prime Empire!] 

however, Scott has caught wind of the ad, and so he hacks into the broadcast and tries to warn everybody to "STAY OUT OF PRIME EMPIRE!!" but once again, his warnings fall on deaf ears. 

however, now the ninja know where Jay has been all this time! they manage to be part of the 1st 100 players in the game and go to the super star rocking Jay event. Kai, Nya, Lloyd, Cole, pixal and zane all get in the game. but due to their own coding, pixal and zane despawn and get plopped back in the real world within the first 10mins of the game. They spend a lot of time outside of prime empire trying to find ways to re-enter the game.

so now we finally get to when the (remaining) ninja meet up with Jay, and he is disappointed at best when he sees them. but when they surround him with love and hugs and tears of joy, it throws him off guard. all of the NPC's were never this kind to him. He checks his objective menu and a new notification shows up. "discard the ninja". same as it's always been. part of the objective has always been to "not let the ninja know that you know they are fakes." but after all of this time, Jay has grown tired and so he doesn't really bother trying to keep up appearances. he won't flat out say that he thinks they're fakes, but his demeanor is completely off. 

the ninja make it to okino and they start going through the forest, the cliffs, and finally the maze of the red dragon. throughout this time, there are several little moments that lead Jay to believe that these might be his real friends. he tries to write them off, but it keeps nagging at him. in the canon scene where Unagami pauses the game and talks to okino, its the same except its Jay that Unagami talks to. "just wanted to check in with you, everything is still going according to plan, correct?" Jay responds with "yes, but these ones are different. none of the other clones have acted so.. so close to my real friends." Unagami scoffs "these ones are just as fake as the others. make sure you complete your objective. we are very close to bridging the gap, and I wouldn't want anybody to hold you back from being at my side when we cross over." Jay agrees and the game resumes. 

Jay has the perfect opportunity to let his friends perish at the hands of the dragon, but something in him screams at him to help them win. he points out the scale on the back of the dragon, they defeat it, and Jay gets the dragon summon. instead of keeping it, he gives it to Cole. "i figure you guys will probably need it more than me. I've got higher stats, i can take care of myself." (that dragon summon becomes important later) so ANYWAY now its time for the speedway 5billion. but they don't have enough credits so they have to get some extra money. the gang goes to the dance battle, but! theres also a karaoke battle they have to participate in. Jay and Cole sing Everybody Wants To Rule The World by Tears for Fears (this song is also important later!) and they win the contest and get enough credits to enter the race. however... 

by this point in time, Jay is pretty sure that this group is his **real** friends, and he doesn't feel like he can go through with his objective anymore. besides, would clones really dance with him? sing his favorite songs with him? watch out for him when danger approaches? smile at him with such kindness and sincerity? clones wouldnt, but his real friends would. once again, his connection to the code means that Unagami is able to track him, and also take peeks into his mind. Unagami senses this realization and pauses the game again to confront him. "Jay, you must not let these clones cloud your judgement. you still have a mission to complete." Jay says "Unagami, these aren't dupes! they're really my friends, and they came back for me! i can't just "discard" them like you want me to. I won't!" "you WILL if you ever want to leave this digital space. if you will not join me in bridging the gap, then you will be left in here for all of eternity. the choice is yours, Jay walker." and with that, the game resumes. 

the ninja are all talking and they realize that Jay has gone silent. "Jay? you good?" Kai asks. Jay snaps out of it and reassures them that he's fine. but thats when he sees *him*. in the crowd of NPC's bustling about the city, he sees nadakhan. staring at him with that evil, calculated grin and begins approaching them. Jay's eyes go wide and his stomach drops. "are you sure you're okay?" Lloyd asks. "we.. we need to get out of here. we need to leave *now*" Jay says with a quiet, wavering voice. Just as he moves to flee, Nya gasps.

It was the scene of Nya dying. She was cradled in Jay's arms, muttering her last words before going completely limp. The master of lightning shook with broken sobs, clinging to his friend as if holding her tight enough could bring her back. That was the day that Jay Walker had lost everything.

And now, that moment was set on an infinite loop, broadcasted on every screen in the capital city of Prime Empire.

Jay was frozen, unable to do anything but succumb to his rising panic.

Nya was in a similar state, feeling the sharp pains of her chest that came from her old wound. She remembered dying, the pain and vulnerability. Now her final moments were in full display.

The rest of them gazed in horror and confusion, unable to comprehend what was going on. Jay thinks he heard Kai yelling, maybe he was asking why his sister was dying over and over again. Cole sounded like he was trying to warn everyone about the approaching assailants. Those of which looked like clones of the Misfortune's crew, including their tyrannical captain.

It was all too much. Jay felt his digital blood freeze in his veins, his air cutting off entirely, and his vision slowly turning to static.

Nadakhan. Nya. Tiger widow venom. Kai. Nadhakan. Nya. Zane. Cole. Nya. Lloyd. Nadakhan. Nya. Nya. Nya. N-

Jay's friends tried to reach for him, to help him, but then it happened.

An explosion of lightning burst from Jay's body, flooding through the city with blue and white pixelated sparks. And once the wave had passed, the city went dark. The screens that were looping that wretched day were now idle. The Misfortune's crew were nowhere to be seen. Jay had fallen unconscious. 

"What are you guys doing here?" Scott asked, his face contorted in concern.

"Scott, it- its Jay. He had this weird power surge and he-" Lloyd stuttered before him and his friends were roughly yanked inside of Scott's hideout.

Cole was carrying Jay's limp body, and followed Scott's instructions to lay him on the workbench. But not before he had thrown all of his tools and blueprints on the ground in a rush.

"What did you say? About a power surge?"

"It was-" Lloyd started again

"It was like he exploded," Kai cut in, "we've never seen his element act like that."

"The city, it went dark." Nya added.

"And there was something going on with the city screens, they were showing-" said Cole.

"My sister dying! Over and over again! That's not part of the game, right?!"

"Guys guys! Chill the fuck out, one at a time." Scott demanded. They all went quiet before Nya spoke up.

"The screens showed one of Jay's memories. One of his most traumatic ones. NPC's started changing into people that.. are related to that memory. They started attacking us from all sides. Jay had gone into a panic attack before he surged. That wave of power blew out the whole city's power and everything went dark. After that he passed out."

Scott looked at her with a look of dread.

"This is worse than I thought.."

"What do you mean worse? Scott, what's wrong with Jay?" Cole asked. Scott sighed.

"He's.. he's become part of the game."

"Like an NPC?" Lloyd said.

"No, not an NPC. His memories, his soul, his life force- it's bleeding into the coding of the game. His emotions and memories are able to affect the behavior of the game. Environments, NPCs, everything."

"How do you know all of that, Scott?" Nya interjected.

"Because he's just like me."

"What??" The ninja said in unison.

"When I first came into the game, Unagami wanted me to bring Prime Empire to the real world. To break out of this digital prison and conquer the rest of the physical world. I agreed to help him because I didn't see any other way out of this hellscape. He granted me access to the code. So I'm just as connected to Prime Empire as Jay is. My memories are there too.

But the thing is, is that I've cut myself off of the code. It's the only way I could hide from Unagami, since I had abandoned ship and didn't want to help him anymore. I'm a threat because I can affect the code.

But if I don't connect to it, I stay hidden.

But Jay, his connection is so strong by this point. Everything he does changes the game.

He's gonna be okay, for now, but I can't guarantee the same for all of you." Scott finished, his eyes sunken and tired.

"Wh- what are we supposed to do then? How can we get Jay out of here?" Kai asked.

"Beat the game. As far as I know, there's no other way out of here."

They all looked at each other, faces grim but determined.

"Well we can't leave here without Jay, can we stay here until he wakes up?" Said Nya.

"Absolutely not." Scott replied.

"What? Why??" Cole butted in.

"The longer you guys stay here, with h i m, the more danger all of us are in. Jay is part of the coding, Unagami can find him. And that means he can find u s."

"Well how do we wake him up? There's gotta be some way!" Lloyd pleaded.

Scott looked at Jay's unconscious form.

"Fuck, okay, let me try something." 

so Scott does the only thing he can think of that might work. he reconnects himself to the game's code in order to "plug in" to Jay and wake him up. when he plugs in, Scott sees Jay in a dark, endless room. he's crouched on the ground, sobbing and shaking

But thrashing from his body is manifestations of his trauma, like a horrible amalgamation that is distorting his physical form and its. Horrifying.

Scott looks at him and tries to approach him without getting hurt

He gets to him and he makes contact with his shoulder and then the surge of energy happens and he gets unplugged and shot across the room, and Jay wakes up with a start, chest heaving and his eyes still wet with tears. Cole is there right next to Jay, and Jay clings onto him like a lifeline. Kai wraps his arms around Jay too and they hold him and comfort him as best they can. Lloyd and Nya go over to Scott to see if he's okay. he groans and sits up, Lloyd and Nya help him stand. "what happened? what was that??" Nya asks. "I woke him up. but its not safe anymore. you guys have to get him out of here, or else Unagami is gonna show up and if he does.. well its safe to assume it'll be game over for all of us." 

"we still have to win the highway 5billion and get the second keytana." Cole says, "and we need cars." Scott sighs at this, "i've got cars you can use, i won't be using them very much anymore anyways." "what does that mean?" Kai asks. "did you not hear me? its game over. you guys have to get Jay out of here." Scott says. "Scott, you know the game better than anyone, we need your help. will you race with us?" Nya pleads. Scott is about to reject when he looks at Jay. Jay is looking at him with a look that breaks his heart. "fine. I'll race with you guys." 

so they fix up the cars and enter the SW5B and Scott is like "i guess if we're going in, i might as well get a new look." so he customizes his avatar (if u check my post with his redesign, thats the avatar he has, the glowing parts of his outfit change colors!) and they start the race! Scott doesn't have his own car, instead he's jumping from vehicle to vehicle and taking out the other drivers so that the ninja can win. he uses his baseball bat as a melee weapon but it can also shoot lasers! Kai still gets that loot box upgrade and has the running mech, and just like in canon, Cole and Kai get cubed. so does Scott, he gets run over lol. now its just Jay, Nya, and Lloyd and they make their way to the temple of madness.

then we have the fight. in canon its Lloyd and harumi, but in this au, Jay enters the arena instead. he gets in and the game picks his fighter. expecting it to be someone he's fought before, he prepares himself. but nothing could have prepared him for who he saw standing in front of him. it was echo zane. 

Nya stares in horror and Lloyd is confused. "who is that? that can't be zane, right? why would he be part of the game?" Lloyd asks. Nya can't say anything, and neither can Jay. Jay wants to give up, he cant fight echo. someone who helped him in the most dire of times, only to be left alone on that island for the rest of eternity. Jay had never gone back for him, and that guilt he felt had just kicked into high gear having to look echo in the eyes. but then echo starts attacking him, and Jay has to defend himself. Jay wins, and sees echo disappear after the final blow. the walls of the arena disappear and Jay falls to his knees. Lloyd and Nya move in immediately to help him up. "seriously, what the hell is going on?? why aren't you guys saying anything??" Lloyd demands. "we can't talk about it right now, Lloyd. we'll have to tell you later." Nya says quietly. her voice is tight and dies in her throat. Lloyd gets the hint and doesn't push it any further. 

so the three of them make it through the sushi restaurant and make it to the gate with the 3 keytanas. Jay, Lloyd, and Nya go to put in the blades and they open the gate. standing in front of them is none other than Unagami. "Jay, you have disappointed me. you were so important, so valued, and you have thrown that away for the sake of your so-called 'friends'. thankfully, there is still a place for you." Unagami says. "i don't WANT a place with you! you've hurt me, you've hurt my friends, you've hurt so many innocent people. all of those cubes? those are REAL PEOPLE! i can't let you do this Unagami. I won't let you get away with this." Jay says defiantly. Unagami sighs, "i was hoping it would not come to this. but if you chose to act this way, you will face the consequences. you will help me bridge this gap, whether you like it or not." and Unagami holds out his hands. an intense blue beam of light bursts from his palms and hits Jay square in the chest. the light is absorbed by his body and his form begins to glitch and spasm violently. mochi and i have called this the Blue Screen of Death. (tw for mild(?) body horror) Jay is overcome by the blue and his body begins to grow and distort, all the while he's screaming and his cries are glitched out and staticky. Lloyd and Nya watch, frozen in fear as their friend begins to grow to massive size, writhing in agony. Jay thrashes and knocks into both of them, sending them off the side of the platform and cubing them. the last two energy cubes join the gate and Jay crawls through. 

(with this scene, in the background, the lorde version of everybody wants to rule the world would be playing, just as a nice parallel to the song from earlier at the karaoke battle)

MEANWHILE, as pixal and zane attempted to find ways to get back into the game, find milton dyer, etc, zane gets captured by the mechanic. everything goes the same as it does in canon where the mechanic hooks zane up to the gate. 

and now, we get a look at where everybody who got cubed resides. Scott, when he was cubed, was greeted by Unagami personally. he criticized him for his actions and expressed his disappointment before ultimately locking him inside of a digital cell. Scott figured that this was how the rest of his life would be, trapped in a cage with no way out and no way to die. but then! Rora shows up. that corruption in her system from the beginning? that was her beginning to break away from her coding and becoming more of a person. she saw what happened to Jay, and she wants to help him. she breaks Scott out and they agree to work together to save Jay. but they're gonna need all the help they can get. together, Scott and rora free the ninja and all of the other cubed players and they make it through the portal. 

and thats where they see Jay, now as tall as the skyscrapers in ninjago city and wreaking havoc on the entire area. 

everyone looks up at him in utter horror and see just how corrupted he's become. he's wailing in pain as he drives his guitar down on building after building. thrashing and flailing, causing the structures around him to crumble and collapse. "how the fuck are we gonna fix this?!" Nya cries. "i can help." Unagami approaches them. everyone gets into fighting stances, ready to beat Unagami into the pavement. "i did not realize that corrupting him would turn out like this. i know how to fix him, but i need your help." "why should we help YOU?" Kai growls. "if you want to save your city and your friend from complete destruction, you *will* help me." and so Unagami explains that if they can lure Jay back through the portal, Unagami can undo his corruption and fix Jays "coding" 

so now the ninja are trying to figure out how to get Jay's attention and bring him back through the portal. it seems like nothing is working, and then Cole gets an idea. he starts singing the lyrics to everybody wants to rule the world. it seems to get Jay's attention, so he keeps singing.

the others hear him and they join in. now they have Jay's attention, and he's closing in on them. that dragon summon from earlier? now thats when that comes in handy. Cole calls the digidragon and rides it so that Jay cant crush him while he lures him back to the portal. low and behold, they manage to get Jay through the portal, Unagami purifies his "coding" and they return to the physical world once again. Unagami gets to have his talk with milton and all of the npcs+pcs that want to come out do, and the others stay in the game. the city is in shambles, the portal closes, and zane+pixal+wu reunite with the others. 

the car ride home is very quiet. everyone is exhausted, Jay is asleep and leaning on Cole's shoulder. they have a lot to talk about, but for now, they just want to sleep through the night. they make it home, go to their separate rooms, and go to bed.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand thats pretty much all of it!! theres a little epilogue that has snippets of what Scott, racer 7, okino, and rora do now that they're outside of the game, but thats just kinda there lol.

[ships-bynoa]

The Titans are almost back, bitches. aka 3x06

Guys, literally every time the titans are together-or even paired up-the episode gets ten times better, but in 6 episodes there is simply not enough Kory and Gar. I can easily forget that when I’m basking in the episode they are in, especially when they’re giving us family dynamics.

Kory:

“You’re not mad that I left. You’re mad I came back.” Kory’s face tells us Blackfire is right on the money, and who would know her better than her sister?

So, Kory, oh boy. Our girl is on edge. She is slowly unraveling and is super vulnerable and raw with Kom around and little sister is going to exploit it and her guilt, which I think she’s carrying a lot of. So far their dynamic has been fascinating because there’s so much to read between them and so many accusations being flung back and forth, from both. From Kory; you sense guilt and even contempt and from Kom there’s envy and resentment, but also there’s a sense of idealization for her older sister, too, which of course, with younger siblings, there always is an element of that. And as an older sibling, there is always an unspoken and sometimes spoken responsibility placed on them for their younger siblings. Parents often don’t realize it, but they can create a lot of tension within siblingships by assigning roles.

They remember home and family very differently, which is often the case, too. Kom was often thrown in the pit and to that, Kory attributes her sister’s constant rebellion as the reason, and yet, Kory herself was a bit of a rule breaker, sleeping with her guard, Fiddei.

Kory was being suffocated by the laws and customs of her home planet; one could say she rebelled by going on a mission, to escape her duties. Home did neither of them any favors because while one rebelled because she did not fit in, the one who did fit in was dying inside, surrounded by little robots and becoming one herself. Being told what to eat, wear and who to love or be friends with is yikes.

I was thinking Kom began her game of manipulation in the bunker, but she really started before that when she sent Fiddei to bring Kory home when she probably intended to kill him all along. After all she would’ve castrated him if she’d had the chance to for sleeping with Kory in the first place. Shortly after Fiddei’s death, Kory flamed out. No powers. Emotionally wrung out from the news her family was dead and now the culprit is here. These two know each other very well and know exactly how to get underneath each other’s skin. Right now Kom is getting underneath Kory’s and our girl is losing patience fast. 

I’m wondering when exactly Dick will tune into Kory’s anxiety-ridden state and step in to support.

Ultimately, I just want to see what truly happened to the girls on their planet and how we have the versions we have now. Like, Kory said to Rachel, “No one is born good or bad, we are defined by our choices.” I get the feeling Kory has given Kom so many chances to make a different choice and has become disillusioned, meanwhile Kom believes nothing she does will give her the respect she feels she deserves anyway, so she may as well blow shit up, figuratively and literally. At least then she’ll have Kory’s attention.

Gar: 

Gar losing it on Dick was so cathartic and yet he could’ve gone much further, considering Dick abandoned him last season to go jail and hallucinate Bruce. It ultimately led to Gar (and Conner) being kidnapped and experimented on by Mercy. It’s actually all the adults fault this happened, but as the leader promoting his family everywhere he goes, he needs to keep his eye on the ball. He would know if he spent five minutes at home with them that Gar is struggling. Last season Gar was #OperationSaveTitans and this season he’s #ThisFamilyIsDying. He’s doing what the adults should be doing, or at least leading the charge on it. He’s the glue, but who will hold him together?

He’s carrying too much emotional responsibility and Dick’s dismissal, because he is fully locked into Gotham and being Batman, makes me mad. Get your head in the game, Grayson. Gotham is going to eat your family while you retread the nostalgic steps of your past.

We all know Dick’s not good at expressing himself emotionally, though he’s usually forced to express something when talking to or being confronted by Kory, so I was proud of him for giving Gar the floor to speak. I just wish Gar spoke about himself, but then again, he needs more time and consistent offers to be heard. I’m happy Dick followed up the conversation up with a bonding/training session. There was definitely pride in Dick’s face because Gar really has come a long way in this group, but he needs MORE SCREEN TIME. I’d like to see the two of them out in the field together the way we’ve seen Kory this season with Gar and Conner. 

I wonder if Gar losing control is the start of all his trauma bubbling up to the surface, will being in Gotham, hunting down a friend be too much?

As a side, has the CGI tiger face gotten worse?

Kom (and Conner):

First thing’s first, what music are we thinking Kom listens to? Probably the kind of music she can break your tailbone to, like, Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole and Jay Z, or Prince, Jimmy Hendrix, Stevie Nicks and Led Zeppelin? Rihanna?

Kom is absolutely a villain this season and if she isn’t, what a waste that’ll be. A mastermind at mind games (see, her picking up the chess piece), who is going to drum up Kory’s paranoia and anxiety around her being there. Trying to kill her suspicion by guilt tripping her while simultaneously being a do good-er to the group, feigning interest in helping the Titans to earn her way in, a tip from our boy, Conner.

She says she wants acceptance and I believe that’s absolutely true, but she doesn’t know how to get that without using power, so she’ll continue to covet acceptance through and with power because according to Kory, she’s always been a climber. Add to that, being born the cursed child and the only royal member born without the gift of fire, something that differentiates them from the common folk, being too frail to participate in the same games as Kory, having a speech therapist be her only friend while being the object of ridicule and you have a villain origin story nicely set up.

I really enjoyed Conner and Kom’s exchange. The boy lit up when he spoke about seeing his family happy and it made me light up. He’s so genuine and has a big heart and Kom is going to take advantage of it, that’s not to say she won’t develop real feelings for him, but she can like him and still use him.

Conner’s “you have to earn your way into the family,” is perhaps an internal and personal struggle he has from sharing blood with Luthor. I think it may come from an insecure place because he was made a titan as soon as he woke up and no one questioned it, but as he’s only half of superman, he’s constantly trying to prove his usefulness for good, which losing Hank has rocked, leaving him vulnerable to Kom’s recognition for his otherness. Their otherness.

She gave us insight into her mind, but also she has likely seized an opportunity to use the vulnerability against Conner and to her favor by making him her kindred. Outcasts. Will she gain influence over him? He’s still young and learning, and trusting, too.

Her interest in him felt layered, ignoring the ugly customs of sex servants, she was also observing Kory’s relationships and ranking them in her sister’s life. Her being able to determine who may have Kory’s interest (which Kory gave away with her vulnerable display of worry over Dick’s welfare in front of Kom) will surely come into play at some point, right? After all, Kom did kill Kory’s last lover/royal guard. This may be me projecting. LOL.

Romantically, I’m waiting to see how they play it before I decide if I like it or not, but so far, they have a nice chemistry. Friendly.

Dick (and Barbara) :

What a lovable dumb ass. 

I was so happy Kory lost it on him and called him on his lone ranger shit, at least when it’s her, even when he’s being an idiot, he’s still listening. “Let’s go.” and I thought it was hilarious that he tried explaining himself, but when Gar called him out, he got all huffy with, “Excuse me, young man.”

Gar asking Kory not to have words with Barbara over Dick getting shot was so funny because Dick’s face seemed to ask the same when she asked how it happened. We love a protective Kory. I’ll be looking at him when it’s his turn to reciprocate.

I don’t like him dismissing their concerns about his personal safety and how it affects them, it’s like he’s learned nothing after running off alone to battle Trigon, or rather has unlearned his lessons of S2. I’d like to see some more permanent emotional growth from him by this season’s end. In his current state, he’s not an exuding leader. He can’t be when he’s still wrapped up in Bruce and all things Gotham. He’s not tuned into Kory’s anxiety, or Conner’s grief and insecurity, or Gar’s emotional burden. 

He’s started making it up to him, but he has much to do in taking Gar’s concerns and emotional needs seriously.

I’m not even going to try and work out the timeline between Barbara and Dick and Dick and old Titans in San Fran and S1. But it doesn’t bode well that Dick’s dream with Barbara ended in a nightmare. 

I wish they’d never did the whole Dick and Dawn relationship in S2 because they’re basically repeating some of the beats in showing us how they don’t work as a couple, only his relationship with Babs makes a lot more sense even though I don't care. Dick has unfinished business with that relationship, Bruce and Gotham and I can only hope he’s wrapped it up for good by this season’s end. I want to see relaxed, smiling and happy Dick in THE PRESENT. I still Babs will be the one to notice and point out Dick's feelings for Kory.

Barbara (outside of Dick) is being downplayed a little, no? Dismissing Dick’s suspicions about Jason when he arrived, showing no knowledge of Jason’s visits to Crane and then taking the bait and moving Crane after he got a light beat down. A commissioner who was also a very capable vigilante is tricked by a recording and goes to meet “Bruce” on her own. I really enjoyed that she could hold her own and the fight scene was really good, but it was a bit baffling that she fell for that ruse. So far, she’s not entirely good at her job.

Dick’s a distraction in his own right and her feelings clearly get in the way, which is why she keeps asking him to leave the precinct and Gotham; because she’s pining a fantasy and he’s ruining it. Lastly, I really like the way Savannah plays Barbara.

Why’d they do that to Tim?? :(

Overall, it was a better episode and I enjoyed it more than latter episodes, but they’re not quite there yet for me. I’m  still waiting for Team Titans.

[starrywatermelon]

Jealousy

Gilbert Blythe x Fem! Reader, Ruby Gillies x Fem! Reader (platonic)

Requests: here and here 

Authors note: These two requests are similar, so I decided to merge them together. This also steered a lot more to Ruby and Y/N’s friendship, so I kinda have a love hate feeling towards this fic. 

Warnings: Kinda obsessed Ruby? Jealousy (as the title suggests),slight bullying, not 100% true to plot

Word count: 1,471 

Y/N has always been close friends with the girls of Avonlea. All of them had practically grown up together, sharing secrets and talking about crushes. She had also always known that Ruby was in love with Gilbert Blythe. Ruby would be livid if anyone else had a crush on him, and everyone swore to not like him, no matter how handsome and kind he was. Y/N herself even promised Ruby that she would try to get the two together, only if she could be a bridesmaid. But what Ruby didn’t know, was that Y/N also liked Gilbert, but she had never mentioned it to anyone.

Years and years went by, but nothing had changed. A new girl named Anne even joined the school, and she too got the “Gilbert is off-limits” talk. Anne did seem a bit scared at first, but she also eventually got used to it.

“Did you all see Gilbert today?” Ruby exclaims as the girls take out their lunches.

“Yes, he goes to school with us and you're always talking about him!” Josie replies in frustration.

“No, I wasn’t going to speak about just him today. I was going to ask if you saw him this morning! He was talking to a girl.”

Y/N started to feel slightly nervous, but she kept listening to the conversation.

“A girl?”

“Yes, Tillie. A girl, about our age. I couldn’t see her face, but I wonder why he was talking to her.”

“I don’t think it's any of our business on why he was talking to her.” Diana retaliates.

“But what if he’s in love with her? What if she’s in love with him?” Ruby has tears in her eyes when she says this.

“Ruby, I don’t think that’s the case, if it was, we all would know. Right?”

“I hope that’s the case, Anne.I really do.”

She didn’t say anything else, none of the girls did. They all ate their lunch, everyone but Y/N tried to figure out who the mystery girl is.

The sky was orange and pink, clouds scattered everywhere. It was still fall, which made it convenient for Gilbert and Y/N to meet up. Today, she decided to go to his house and tell him about what happened. Not caring about her appearance to much, she ran to Gilbert’s house.

“Gil! Open up!”

A yawning Gilbert opened the door, and smiled.

“Hey! I didn’t expect you to come over today.”

“I didn’t expect to come over either, but something happened today that I wanted to tell you about.”

Gilbert’s smile drops, quickly letting her in. What the two didn’t know, was that a boy was watching, one that shouldn’t be trusted with secrets. That boy? Billy Andrews.

He was standing close by, and when Y/N entered the house, he went closer.

“What happened today Y/N/N?” he hears Gilbert, who sounds worried

“Today, Ruby was talking about how she saw you with a girl. She saw us, Gilbert. Thankfully she didn’t see who the ‘girl’ was but I just can’t stop thinking about if she finds out. Our friendship will be ruined forever and-“

She was quickly cut off by his arms around her, pulling her into a hug, and then giving her a small kiss on the forehead.

“It’s ok. Ruby won’t find out... And if she did, I’m sure she wouldn’t be too mad.”

“I hope that’s the case, I really do.”

Sure, Ruby hadn’t found out, but Billy certainly did.

Days went on, and nothing too interesting happened. Ruby continued to gush about Gilbert, the other girls continued to pretend that they were interested, Mr. Phillips continued to give the students a very hard time, and Y/N and Gilbert kept meeting up.

What was different, was the fact that Billy had kept spying on Y/N and Gilbert. He kept collecting small bits of information from their conversations, just waiting to use them against the two. After all, he never liked them anyway.

However, on this particular day, the class had decided to stay behind to play a game. The class sat in a circle after Mr. Phillips had left, waiting for Josie to explain.

“Whomever the bottle points to, you are permitted to kiss.” she made sure to look at everyone as she said this. “It needs to be boy-girl, boy-girl.”

“Where does that leave Cole?” Billy sneered

The class laughed, but Y/N wished she could punch him.

“Jane, go sit next to your dumb brother. Tilly, you're over there... and Anne, switch places with Charlie.”

Gilbert sat quietly in the circle, the one day he had decided to stay behind, they were playing spin the bottle. With Y/N and Ruby there. But, if Y/N and him kissed, Ruby couldn’t get mad.. right?

The first round, Diana and Moody kissed, and then Anne and Cole, and before he knew it, it was Gilbert’s turn.

Gilbert took a deep breath and slowly spun the bottle, desperately trying to avoid eye contact with the h/c girl he so very loved... However, the odds weren’t on his side today. As he slowly looked up to see who the bottle landed on, he met Y/N’s eyes. Both of them immediately froze in place, Gilbert seeming more nervous than the other.

“What’s wrong, Blythe? Are you too scared to kiss your girlfriend in front of us? You embarrassed for having to date her? C’mon, don’t be too scared, she's not as bad as carrots.”

The whole class gasped, and Ruby looked over at Y/N.

“What he’s saying.. Isn’t true, right?”

“No, of course, it’s not true Ruby, you know I’d never hurt you-”

“She's lying,” Billy replies. “I saw them, meeting up, for weeks. They so desperately tried to hide from you.”

The short blonde girl’s eyes filled with tears. Never in a million years would she think that her best friend would betray her. Without thinking twice, Ruby ran out of the room.

After a moment of hesitation, Y/N runs after her, quickly catching up to Ruby, whos standing outside of the small school.

“Ruby...”

“Shut it Y/N! I can’t believe you were seeing Gilbert behind my back. All this time, I trusted you. I trusted that you wouldn’t talk to Gilbert, but you did. You knew that I liked him, yet you still went and stabbed me! Right in the back.”

She couldn’t even deny what Ruby was saying, because it was all true, and she felt terrible. Ruby and Y/N have been best friends since day 1, and when Ruby told the girls about her crush, Y/N wasn’t sure on what to say, because she knew she like Gilbert too. Seeing her best friend standing there, tear-stained cheeks, it killed her.

“Ruby. Please, let me explain.”

Ruby didn’t reply, as she tended to do when she was upset, but slightly looked over at the other girl, which was all she needed to start.

“I’ve always liked Gilbert, ever since I saw him. And I’ve always liked you. You were my first friend, and we’re the closest two friends in the group. So, when you told us that you liked Gilbert, I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to be a good friend, so I tried convincing myself that I hated him. I tried not to think of him, or talk to him, or even look at him! But it turns out he liked me too, he had liked me for a while. So, I tried to meet up with him secretly, so I wouldn’t hurt you. I know I probably should have told you, and I know you probably don’t forgive me, which is perfectly fine, but I hope we can still be friends.” Y/N finished, almost breathless.

“Your right. I don’t know if I can forgive you this very moment. However, that doesn’t mean I don’t want to stop being your friend, but I really, really wish you told me sooner.” A small smile forms from Ruby’s lips after this statement, like she's about to say something else.

“What? what is it?”

“Is Gilbert a good kisser? I mean, I’m still mad but-”

The two burst out laughing.

“Honestly Y/N, I don’t think I could ever hate you, but it’ll take me time to stop being mad at you... I should go back inside though, everyone’s probably stopped the game.”

“Yeah.. we should.”

They head back into the back room, where everyone is staring at the door, waiting for them to come back in.

“Is your argument over already? Well, good. We’re still playing, and Gilbert still needs to kiss Y/N before we move on.”

“Well, what do you say Y/N?”

“I say we get it over with before Josie bursts into flames.”

Gilbert smiles and then puts his lips against hers, and to answer Ruby’s question, Gilbert Blythe is a good kisser.

[razzle-zazzle]

Whumptober Day 03: Sticks & stones may break my bones but...

Taunting + Insults

1644 Words; Sleeper Skull AU

TW for verbal degradation

Cole didn’t notice anything wrong when he destroyed the skull.

In fact, the very first hint that something was wrong only occurred when the ninja had finally returned to the monastery, with a promise from the newly-coronated Vania to keep in touch.

And it wasn’t much of a hint, either. Just a sharp feeling that something was off followed by a mild headache that lasted the rest of the night.

It became clear what was happening the next morning.

“Good morning.”

Cole jolted upright, looking around his room frantically. Who had said that?

“Not very bright, are we?” The voice chuckled, and it was then that Cole realized the voice was coming from inside his head.

Cole groaned. “Oh, what now?”

Another chuckle, very clear amusement pulsing through Cole’s head from the source. “Surely you recognize me! I’m only what remains of the skull you used all of your power to destroy.”

Cole froze. That… was probably not good. But he’d destroyed the skull with the spinjitzu burst! He was sure of it!

The skull’s amusement pulsed through his head, alongside what felt like satisfaction? Images—no, Cole realized, memories—followed, impressions of a man casting a spell on himself. A longevity spell.

Cole’s eyes narrowed. That sounded a lot like what Yang had tried to do with the Yin Blade.

Another mental chuckle. “Ah, but you see, the man you’re thinking of was trying to live forever. I merely wanted to live on after death through my own remains.”

Okay. So it was another case of some guy doing stupid things to ensure he wasn’t forgotten. Cole could understand the feeling, but that didn’t mean he’d allow his new mental roommate to stick around.

Getting up out of the bed, Cole moved to get dressed. He’d go to Wu first, who would probably know what to do, or at least be willing to research the subject—and then he’d let the others know the skull had stuck around and might become a problem later.

Cole felt another pulse of amusement, this time tinged with condescension. The skull didn’t speak, exactly, but Cole did get the ideas it was conveying loud and clear.

“I’m not stupid enough to believe that.” He muttered, but… he supposed the skull was making some degree of sense. So he wouldn’t bug the whole team with something so insignificant. Whatever.

Cole knew from experience that Wu was exceptionally good at keeping secrets.

But now Cole could feel uncertainty creeping up in the back of his mind. They had only just returned home from Shintaro. Would it really be fair to spring this on them so soon?

And it wasn’t like the skull was actually a problem. Annoying, definitely, but clearly in no position to do anything now.

Cole fiddled with his shirt uncertainly. “Still… I probably should tell them…”

He wasn’t sure if he was trying to convince himself or not.

The skull scoffed. “Oh, go right ahead. Tell them all about how you failed to destroy me the first time. I’m sure they won’t mind.” The skull’s tone was arrogant. Cole wanted to punch it.

But… it had a point.

Cole sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Yeah, it wouldn’t be fair to dump his problems on everything else like that. And how would he even approach the issue, anyway? It’s not like he could just go up and tell them “you know that magic skull Vangelis was using to power himself? Yeah, it’s in my head now criticizing the way I dress.” They’d look at him like he’d taken a hit to the head.

It’s not like the skull was a problem. Having someone else in his head wasn't the end of the world.

Cole would just… wait a little bit to tell the others. But he definitely would, once enough time passed.

Yeah.

+=+=+=+=+

Cole realized he’d probably made a mistake once a few weeks had passed.

Too much time had passed. Now it would just be awkward.

But the skull—Marcellus, that was his name—still wasn’t a problem, so Cole just left it alone.

It was fine. Really, it was.

Cole probably should have known better.

+=+=+=+=+

Maercellus’ taunts got worse.

It didn’t matter what Cole was doing or saying or even just thinking; the necromancer had a snide remark for everything. Training (“You call that a kick? What are you, ten?”), playing video games (“Oops! Another life gone! You sure are bad at this, aren’t you?”), painting (“That doesn’t even look like a bird!”), running errands (“You’re going to forget the milk. Again~.”)—Cole couldn’t get a moment’s peace no matter what he was doing.

Benefits of a mental roommate, Cole supposed, bitter taste in his throat. But honestly? He’d faced much worse criticisms before.

He’d practically been raised in the performing arts industry, after all.

So as frustrated as Cole was, he wasn’t any more agitated than when he was at Marty Oppenheimer’s. Therefore, as annoying as they were, Marcellus’ jabs barely qualified as a problem.

Besides, Cole was a ninja. He had bigger problems to worry about. He wasn’t about to be humbled by something so insignificant.

At least, that’s what he kept telling himself.

+=+=+=+=+

Cole awoke to tears streaming down his face.

That… had not been a pleasant dream.

Sitting up, Cole wiped at his eyes with his arm, trying to forget the nightmare.

Marcellus, the little bitch he was proving to be, responded to this by replaying bits of the nightmare like a highlight reel, vague interest and amusement flickering through Cole’s mind.

“What an interesting dream.” Marcellus replayed the bit where Cole fell, and Cole curled in on himself at the memory of it. “You really do have a history with falling. And nobody ever bothers to try and catch you, either.”

“They—” Cole started, swallowing. “It’s not like—” He snorted. “It’s not like they could have caught me. Besides,” he added, before Marcellus could get a snide remark in, “I can handle myself. I’ve done plenty of rock climbing. A fall isn’t going to take me out.”

Some small part of Cole disagreed with that statement, but he ignored that part.

“Ah, but you don’t actually believe any of that, do you?” Marcellus taunted, self-satisfied with his little deduction.

Cole cringed. “Of course I do.” He said, voice softer than he intended. “I can handle myself.”

He wasn’t sure who he was trying to convince.

Marcellus snorted. “Are you really that unsure of yourself? And to think, you defeated Vangelis. I guess that says more about how weak that man truly was.” There was a bitter edge to the sorcerer’s words, disgust and condescension all wrapped into a pretty little mental package.

Cole huffed, flopping back down onto the bed. “Oh, shut up”.

“Why? I’m just stating the truth. It’s not my fault if you’re pathetic enough to feel threatened by it.”

“Just stop, okay?” Cole sighed, brushing his hand through his hair. “I don’t need your bitching on top of everything else happening right now.”

Marcellus hmmed. “Sounds boring.”

Cole groaned, rolling over onto his stomach and burying his face in the pillow. He just wanted some rest, dammit.

Despite his efforts, sleep didn’t come.

+=+=+=+=+

Cole could really do without Marcellus’ snark in the middle of a battle. But he wasn’t that lucky, so he just did his best to ignore the necromancer’s jabs.

But then he slipped up and gave his opponent an opening—Marcellus hadn’t been distracting him that time. That mistake was all him.

The sorcerer laughed, schadenfreude filling his words. “Oh, look at that. Another Cole Mistake.”

Cole flinched, the movement allowing his opponent to get a solid hit in. That stung a lot more than it should have.

He still hadn’t quite recovered by that point, so his opponent took the opportunity to kick Cole while he was down.

Cole gasped at the pain. Oh, that was definitely going to bruise.

Before he could recover and counterattack, though, Kai intervened, saving Cole from making anymore stupid mistakes.

“Dude, is something wrong?” Kai asked, as Cole finally recovered enough to engage another opponent. “It’s not like you to be so unsteady.”

Unsteady. Cole bristled, then clamped down on his first reaction. “I’m fine.” He punched his current opponent harder than he needed to. “Just distracted.” His jaw was set, shoulders tensed, which did not make fighting any easier.

Out of the corner of his eye, Cole saw Kai give him a look. “Then undistract yourself.” Kai snapped, deflecting what would have been a nasty hit. “Save it for after the battle.”

Cole nodded, not trusting himself to say anything more.

Marcellus remained quiet for the rest of the battle.

Cole didn’t fuck up again.

He didn’t do very well, either.

+=+=+=+=+

They got back to the monastery later that night.

Cole slipped away into his room with a half-mumbled “‘m tired” before any of them could question his performance.

Jay had come by his door earlier, trying to convince Cole to open it, or at least open up and talk about whatever was bothering him. But Cole had pretended to be asleep, and eventually, Jay gave up and retired to his own bed for the night.

Cole was laying on his bed, lights off, staring up at the ceiling. It felt like his head was full of static. His throat felt tight. His eyes were dry.

Marcellus was quiet, leaving Cole to his thoughts.

Not that Cole needed Marcellus to criticize him when he could pick himself apart just fine.

It was stupid. Cole was being stupid. He was better than this, dammit, so why did it feel like he was falling apart?

He was stronger than this. It was just a rough patch. He had to be better than this, and he would be.

Right?

Cole grumbled, covering his face with his hands.

Marcellus was right.

“I am pathetic.”

[smol-and-grumpy]

EUPHORIA - Chapter 24

Pairing: Dean Winchester x Reader

Summary: He’s Dean Winchester, owner of a shady night club. She’s a journalist who has been asked to write an article to expose the indecency and debauchery that’s going on behind closed doors. But he’s also Dean Winchester, the boy who sat next to her in class. The boy who was too cocky for his own good.

Chapter Warning: NSFW, flangst

WC: 2824

A/N: This chapter fills my ‘voice kink’ square for @spnkinkbingo.

Beta’d by @deanwanddamons <3

This series is complete on Patreon!

Series Masterlist ~ SPN Masterlist

Become a Patron ~ Buy me a coffee

He’s pissed and overly grumpy. It’s too fucking early to be dealing with bullshit. But he’s also grumpy because he had to see Y/N off.

Walking around the corner, Cas’ notices him and nods. 

“Again?” Dean asks, sees them washing down the red paint. It looks bloody and it smells awful. It almost made him nauseous.

“Yeah,” Cas sighs, “It’s nothing I couldn’t deal with, so I didn’t feel the need to call you.”

“That’s okay,” Dean crosses his arms over his chest, watches the paint come off the walls before he turns to Cas, “Security footage?”

“We got it,” Cas says, but he doesn’t look happy about it so Dean already knows that it’s probably not even worth mentioning, “The guy wore a Vendetta mask and was dressed in black.”

“Great,” Dean breathes out, his hand goes up to rub at his forehead. There’s a puddle of paint running down the pavement towards him, and he takes a step to the side.

It’s moments like these that Dean wants to give up completely. That he wants to just sell the whole fucking thing and go do something else, being a fucking accountant for the firm Sam’s working in or just something that’s less stressful. Somewhere where he has to deal with less hate, maybe. Less jealousy. 

He places a hand on Cas’ shoulder, “You go home and get some shut eye. I’ll see you for the briefing later,” 

“‘K,” Cas answers and turns to walk away. Looking back, he calls out to Dean, “Balth is waiting in your office!”

Dean groans and rolls his eyes at that.

Apparently, he can’t catch a fucking break around here.

*

Dean walks into his office and sees Balthazar sitting on the couch. The man’s busy working on his laptop. A scent of coffee lingers in the air. He must have brought a cup with him because Dean doesn’t have a coffee machine in his office. What he has, though, is a fucking bar and he wonders if it would be too soon to pour himself a couple of fingers? It’s probably five o’clock somewhere , right? 

Even though his mouth waters at the thought of the burning liquid filling his throat and clouding his head, Dean abandons the thought quite quickly. She doesn’t like him to drink. It has a lot to do with how she grew up and Dean respects that, has toned it down since Y/N came back into his life, and he wants to keep that up.

“Balth,” Dean greets the man and walks over to his desk, sits down with a loud grunt, “What can I do for you?”

“How’s your hand?”

“Good.” Dean nods and holds it up, takes a look at it himself.

It’s bandaged. Y/N was telling him that he should let her do it or she’ll get angry at him. He smirks at the memory. He would have loved to say that she could get mad all she wants, because he likes how cute she looks when she’s mad, but he thinks that would have been a bad move on his part, so he just held still while she sat on his lap and bandaged his hand. The lap sitting was a deal he negotiated because he said that he wouldn’t let her if she wouldn’t sit on his lap. She rolled her eyes but sat down and it’s crazy how his lap was made for her to sit on.

Balthazar clears his throat before he closes his laptop, and Dean is catapulted back to reality. Back to an annoying work day. He thinks maybe he should take a break, ask her if she’s game to go on a road trip. Just the two of them, driving where the road takes them with no clear destination. Dean doesn’t think he needs one with her.

“I’ve stayed with Cole after you left.” Balthazar says while he places his laptop back into its bag.

“And?” Dean frowns.

“He won’t press charges,”

Dean snorts, “Yeah, because we have the upper hand.”

It’s no surprise. Dean knew that he wouldn’t. If he would, he’d see his ass in jail and Dean doubts that Cole would survive a day in there. All Dean wanted was to make a statement and he thinks that he was pretty clear about what the statement entailed.

“Still, you should be more careful with breaking bones.” Balthazar gets up from the couch and walks over to the chair across from Dean. He doesn’t sit down, though, only braces his hands on it, leaning in a little.

“He was touching what’s fucking mine, Balth. What do you want me to do?” Dean shouts out and immediately regrets his outburst because it hurt his own ears. He pinches the bridge of his nose. It’s too fucking early. 

When Dean calms down a little, he asks, “So, you had your eyes on him? He wasn’t anywhere near the club?”

“Nope, I drove him to the ER and he underwent surgery to correct his fucking jaw that you broke. He’ll stay there for the next two days, at least.”

“Good,” Dean nods. It’s not exactly good when it comes to the club, though, because Cole’s out of the picture, “Can you get more people on board? I want someone watching the club after closing. It’s a tiny window of time, three, maybe four hours.”

Balthazar nods, “I can do that.”

*

After Balthazar left, Dean decided to start up his computer since he hasn’t checked his emails for a couple of days now. He deliberately doesn’t have his work emails on his phone. It’s his private property and he made it clear from the beginning that he’s separating work and private life.

Dean clicks through the emails. There are some new member sign ups that he needs to go through. Some harmless threats which he usually bins right away. But then there are some mails that are more worrying as well.

He clicks on the first one with the title I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST NIGHT . The email opens up to pictures of the altercation in front of Y/N’s office building. Dean can see that it was shot from across the street. Maybe from a parked car. He immediately forwards the pictures to Balthazar. 

There are more emails. Without pictures though, just words. Hurtful ones. 

  I WILL TAKE YOU AND YOUR CLUB DOWN

  YOU ARE A FUCKING DISGUSTING HUMAN BEING

  SHAME ON YOU

  YOUR CLUB WILL BE CLOSED. MARK MY WORDS

  It’s really nothing new. He gets those threats quite a lot and he always makes sure to block the sender but they keep making new email accounts and so he’ll keep deleting and blocking them. Dean can’t win in this, but neither can they, so at least there’s that.

*

Later in the day, while Dean’s briefing his employees, his phone vibrates in his pocket. He fishes it out, thinks it’s Balthazar calling him about new developments. The man had called earlier already, only to suggest for Dean to get a fucking bodyguard but Dean really doesn’t know about that. He just thinks it’s a waste of money. Only when Balth mentioned that Y/N’s safety might be in danger too, does Dean at least agree to consider it.

Dean stops his speech to look at the caller ID, has to suppress his smirk while he holds up his index finger, “I gotta take this one, Cas?” 

“Yeah,” The other man jumps in, grins himself because he knows, and Dean actually wants to wipe that smile from Cas’ face but he gotta hurry if he wants to take it before she hangs up on him.

Dean turns around, picks it up, smiles like an idiot because apparently, he lost the ability to control his fucking face, “Hey,” Dean walks up the stairs and disappears into the VIP room for some privacy.

“I’m sorry, am I interrupting? You must be busy.” 

It sounds like she’s pouting, Dean bites back a chuckle, “No, it’s okay, you never interrupt. How’s the workshop going?”

He tries to sound cheerful, doesn’t want to tell her about the things that happened yet. There’s no need for her to worry, really. 

“Ugh, boring,” Y/N sighs, and adds, “I have a short break before I have to go for the mandatory dinner.”

Dean flips his wrist, sees that it’s past 5pm. He grins, “You wanna spice things up at the dinner?”

“Dean,”

“What?” He chuckles.

“Well,” Her voice is almost whiny as she considers his words, “Yeah?”

“That’s my girl,” Dean smiles, “Jesus, I’m getting all excited myself.”

Cas appears in the room and Dean nods at him, “Baby, I gotta go, I need to finish something here,”

“Okay,” It sounds like she’s pouting and god, Dean feels bad for making her feel like he doesn’t have time for her or that he doesn’t care when all he’s doing is to make fucking time. But he guesses she’ll understand once they see each other. 

“Wear it and let me know when you’re going to dinner, alright?”

“Yeah,” She sighs, “Miss you.” 

Dean sighs, closes his eyes briefly, his heart flutters at those words. He smiles at the feeling, “I miss you, too.”

Y/N runs up to her room right after dinner, keys in her hand and leans back against the closed door as soon as she’s inside. She’s dripping wet from that vibe but she didn’t come yet. She doesn’t know how Dean does it but he always managed to stop when she’s about to come, making her whine out audibly once, and when Charlie, her friend from college who sat next to her asked what was wrong, she just said that she liked the food very much. 

God, it was so embarrassing!

She thinks about calling him but he’s probably busy working as it’s already past 10pm and the club is at its peak right about now. 

Taking off her shoes, she walks to the bathroom to clean her face and she brushes her teeth,  walking out into the bedroom shortly after. She quickly gets out of her dress and slips out of her panties that are completely soaked. 

The device is still inside of her and clear enough, it starts to buzz again, making her shriek out. She swears if he won’t let her come again—

—her phone rings.

Letting herself fall onto the bed, still in only her bra and nothing else — except for the vibrator in her pussy — she grabs at her clutch that she left there before she walked to the bathroom. 

  Dean.

  The vibrator still buzzes lightly inside of her and she picks up, has to gnaw on her bottom lip to suppress the moan.

“You are the worst!” It blurts out of her as soon as she swipes her thumb across the screen.

“Wait, what?” He’s laughing loudly.

“Yeah,” She pouts and moves up the bed, rests her back against the headboard while she spreads her legs and enjoys the buzzing between her thighs, “You turn me on and then you stop, and I was so close to coming.”

“Awe, poor baby,” Dean says in his mumbling voice and it sounds so fucking sexy, “Are you still turned on?”

“Yeah,” She mutters under her breath, “Please, you have to let me come.” 

“I don’t know,” He chuckles, “Have you been good, Y/N?”

Oh my god , he’s pulling that card, isn’t he? 

“I have. Please?” She nods and whines, teeth sinking into her bottom lip when she feels the buzzing getting stronger, moaning out shamelessly. 

“Christ, you sound so fucking sexy,” 

She can hear him growl on the other end. 

“No, you do,” There’s another increase of vibration and god, it makes her arch her back, as a shrieking sound rolls off her tongue. 

“I do? I don’t think so, sweetheart. I’m getting hard just hearing you moan.”

“It— ah— it’s your v—voice, Dean.”

“My voice? What’s with my voice, baby?” 

And it’s like he’s taunting her because it rolls deep, smooth like fucking honey and it feels like he’s wrapping her up in the warm sound. He increases the vibrations, and she didn’t know it could go further up but it does. One of her hands goes to her tit, kneads at it while she has a tight grip around her phone with the other. 

“Ah— it’s.. Fuck— it’s so deep and gravelly and oh god— it’s sexy,” 

“Yeah?” He chuckles, “Bet you’re so wet, ain’tcha, baby? You always are so wet for me. It’s the fucking best thing. Especially when you gush and come around my cock, Jesus—”

His breathing is ragged, he’s turned on too. 

Good , she thinks. At least she’s not the only one. 

“My panties were soaked. I took them off and now I’m on my bed in only my bra,” She manages to say, tongue darts out to wet her lips, “Wish you were here.” 

“I wish I was there too. Wish I could kiss you. I’d be right between your thighs right now, eating you out like you’re the sweetest thing, because you fucking are,” It comes out a little strained, “Does me telling you these thing turn you on, huh?”

“Yeah,” She chokes out a moan, “You could read me the goddamn phone book and it would turn me on, Dean.”

“Christ, I’m just imagining you right now, all spread out and wet,” There’s a low growl before he speaks again, “Can you do me a favor, huh?”

“Uh-huh,” 

“Use your words, sweetheart,” His voice is more stern. Doesn’t make it less sexy, though.

“Yes,” 

“Good girl,” 

God the praise . Y/N has to press her thighs together, already so fucking close. 

Dean goes on, “Take off your bra for me, baby. Take your thumb and forefinger, give them a firm tug for me, bet your nipples are sensitive, huh? I wanna hear you.”

She sits up to unclasp her bra before she throws it carelessly into the room. Leaning back again, her right hand goes to her left nipple, tugs hard and moans out in pained pleasure. 

“Good girl,” He coos, “Such a fucking good girl,” 

The vibration increases again and she thinks that’s the maximum it can go. Hopes it is, because she’s right there, dancing dangerously on the edge.

“Dean, please, I’m—”

“—I got you, baby,” He breathes out a soft chuckle, “Come, you can come, now. Come for me, okay? I wanna hear you come for me.” His whispering low, and the words paired with his voice, plus the added buzzing in her cunt was enough to tip her over.

Oh god. His voice is really out of his world. She comes with a squeal. His name rolls off her tongue as she squeezes her eyes shut and her legs start to tremble. Her hips buck up and she doubles over and has to roll herself into a fetal position on the bed.

There’s a ringing in her ear from the orgasm and she feels the vibration getting softer until it’s completely gone. Dean’s voice is faint in her ear through the phone.

Good girl. My fucking good girl.

She swallows hard, her eyes are still closed. When Y/N comes back to her senses, she starts to giggle and then she hears it. The knock at her door. 

“What’s so funny?” Dean asks as she sits up straight, startled from the knocking.

“Oh my god, someone just knocked at my door.” She says, her heart’s still pounding fast.

“Go on, open it.” 

“No, who would knock at this time of night? I’m sure they just have the wrong room.” She doesn’t know if she’s trying to talk to him or talk herself out of her anxiety of the realization that someone came knocking at her door late at night.

“Maybe it’s room service?” 

“Dean, I just came from dinner, I didn’t order anything!”

“Jesus Christ, I didn’t think it would be this hard!” Dean growls and she might be hearing things because she hears the deep growl outside of her door? He sighs then, “Baby, I really think you should open up.”

“Oh my god, you didn’t... Dean, no.” She scrambles off the bed, and somehow she doesn’t even care if she’s fucking naked. 

“Dean, yes!” He chuckles lightly, “Come on, I’m standing in the hallway with a visible boner and I think if someone sees it, they’ll call the cops.”

She hangs up and drops the phone onto the bed as she makes her way to the door, opens it up wide to see Dean smiling at her.

Chapter 25

Please share your thoughts with me, I’d love to hear your feedback.

[jawsofhakkontranscript]

Ameridan’s End: Talk to Ameridan

(Previous quest - Ameridan's End: Assault the Jaws of Hakkon)

Main questline: Ameridan’s End: Talk to Ameridan

Characters involved: Ameridan

This is the second part of “Ameridan’s End” questline.

Gurd Harofsen is defeated. The time magic surrounding the dragon begins to falter. Inquisitor Ameridan is revealed.

PC: Inquisitor. (Bows their head.)

Ameridan: Inquisitor.

(If the Inquisitor is a human.) Ameridan: How fares Drakon? Has he brought the Chant to the whole world yet? [1]

(If the Inquisitor is an elf.) Ameridan: Andaran atish'an. I am glad Drakon's friendship with our people has remained strong. [1]

(If the Inquisitor is a dwarf.) Ameridan: Has Drakon's empire brought in even the children of the stone? [1]

(If the Inquisitor is a Qunari.) Ameridan: Drakon's empire has spread far while I slept. [1]

[1] Dialogue options:

History: You've been gone a long time. [2]

Elf: No. The humans betrayed us. [3]

General: I am sorry. I have news. [4]

General: You're a little out of date. [5]

General: Drakon is dead. [6]

[2] History: You've been gone a long time.

PC: Inquisitor Ameridan, you disappeared in 1:20 Divine, around the time of the signing of the Nevarran Accord.

Ameridan: You say it as though it was… [7]

[3] Elf: No. The humans betrayed us.

PC: It has not. Drakon's son, Kordillus the Second, destroyed the Dales.

Ameridan: Drakon's son… [7]

[2] General: I am sorry. I have news.

PC: Inquisitor Ameridan, you have slept longer than you perhaps understand. [7]

[3] General: You're a little out of date.

PC: How long do you think you've been here?

Ameridan: You say it as though it was… [7]

[4] General: Drakon is dead.

PC: Emperor Drakon died a long time ago. [7]

[7] Ameridan: How long?

Party comments:

Cassandra: You were the last Inquisitor. There has not been another since you disappeared 800 years ago.

(If no companion makes a comment.) PC: There has not been an Inquisitor since you disappeared... 800 years ago.

Ameridan: Drakon was my oldest friend. He would have sent someone to find me.

Party comments:

Vivienne: He would have, had the Second Blight not swept across Orlais, demanding his full attention.

Solas: He never had the chance. The darkspawn that rose in the Anderfels threatened all of Orlais.

Dorian: I'm afraid Drakon was a little busy with the darkspawn pouring down from the Anderfels.

Ameridan: I see. [Go to 7a]

(If no companion makes a comment.) Ameridan: But evidently he was occupied elsewhere. The darkspawn, perhaps, or… [Go to 7a]

[7a] Telana escaped the battle. Did she... do the records say what became of her? [8]

[8] Dialogue options:

General: She lived well. [9]

General: She died trying to reach you. [10]

[9] General: She lived well.

PC: Telana died of old age many years later. She never forgot you.

Ameridan: You lie well, but I hunted demons and maleficarum long before I was Inquisitor. (Sighs.) [11]

[10] General: She died trying to reach you.

PC: She returned to the island. From what we can tell, she died trying to reach you through dreams.

Ameridan: I asked her not to. She was a good hunter and the love of my life, but she never... (Sighs.) [11]

[11] Ameridan: I never wanted this job. Hunting demons was so much simpler than politics. [Go to 12 or 13, depending on whether Cassandra is in the party]

[12] (If Cassandra is not in the party.) -> [Go straight to 23]

[13] (If Cassandra is in the party.) Cassandra: Inquisitor Ameridan, how could the leader of the Seekers be a mage?

Ameridan: Has history forgotten so much? I was not a Seeker myself, as most Inquisitors were. I used my magical gifts in the hunting of demons and maleficarum. Do the Seekers no longer welcome the aid of mages?

Cassandra: No. That was forgotten... among many other things. [14]

[14] Dialogue options:

Special: We know the Seekers' secrets. [15] (If Cassandra’s personal quest “Promise of Destruction” was completed and the truth about the rite of Tranquility was uncovered.)

General: Cassandra is a Seeker. [16]

General: Not the time, Cassandra. [17]

[15] Special: We know the Seekers' secrets.

PC: Cassandra is a Seeker... and after the Seekers went rogue, she discovered the truth about them.

Cassandra: We learned they developed the Rite of Tranquility.

Ameridan: You mean sundering one from the Fade? The Seekers do it briefly when granting an initiate their abilities.

Cassandra: It has become a way to control mages deemed dangerous. They are left Tranquil. Permanently.

Ameridan: (Sighs.) Killing a man is ugly work. You learn not to look to it as your first recourse. But sundering them from the Fade is easy. Bloodless. I told them spreading such a "solution" would lead to abuse. They swore that would never happen. They promised. I am so sorry. [18]

[18] Subsequent dialogue options:

Special: Cassandra is rebuilding them. [19] (If Cassandra was encouraged to rebuild the Seekers after completing her personal quest “Promise of Destruction”.)

General: It was not your doing. [20]

General: That doesn't matter now. [21]

General: Sorry doesn't solve it. [22]

[19] Special: Cassandra is rebuilding them.

PC: Cassandra will rebuild the Seekers into an organization to be proud of again... with the Inquisition's help.

Ameridan: Then you both have my thanks.

Ameridan: I was a good hunter. I did not want to lead an organization. [Go to 23]

[20] General: It was not your doing.

PC: You could not have known.

Ameridan: The Inquisition was a vital force, but feared. We fought so many dangers... with so many terrible weapons. I had no wish to chase a dragon to the far reaches of nowhere. I had my people to deal with... and the Nevarran Accord. [Go to 23]

[21] General: That doesn't matter now.

PC: What matters now is the dragon you hunted. [Go straight to 29]

[22] General: Sorry doesn't solve it.

PC: The Inquisition created the templars and the Circle as we know it. Do you know how many mages died when templars abused their power? How many people died when the mages rebelled?

Ameridan: I can guess. The Inquisition hunted evil. It was too easy to see threats wherever we looked. I did everything I could to transform them into a force for peace. I had no wish to chase a dragon to the far reaches of nowhere. I had my people to deal with... and the Nevarran Accord. [Go to 23]

[16] General: Cassandra is a Seeker.

PC: This is Cassandra Pentaghast. She is a member of the Order of Seekers.

Cassandra: I am honored, Inquisitor.

Ameridan: As am I. Your predecessors were good men and women in difficult times. As the Inquisition joined the Chantry, we required a leader who inspired loyalty, not fear. [23]

[17] General: Not the time, Cassandra.

PC: Cassandra, we have more pressing concerns.

Ameridan: You do indeed. [Go straight to 29]

[23] Ameridan: But Drakon told me I was needed... as I suspect you were needed. [24]

[24] Dialogue options:

Sad: It takes everything from you. [25]

Mad: I didn't want this. [26]

Pleased: I’m all right. [27]

Stoic: Let's focus on the present. [28]

[25] Sad: It takes everything from you.

PC: I wasn't Inquisitor by choice. Whatever my life was before…

Ameridan: Take moments of happiness where you find them. The world will take the rest. [29]

[26] Mad: I didn't want this.

PC: I had goals for my life. I had plans and dreams.

Ameridan: And now you have responsibility... including that which I was unable to fulfill myself. [29]

[27] Pleased: I’m all right.

PC: It hasn't been all bad.

Ameridan: I am glad to hear it... and sorry to burden you with my unfinished business. [29]

[28] Stoic: Let's focus on the present.

PC: What matters now is the dragon you hunted. [29]

[29] Ameridan: The dragon carries the spirit of an Avvar god. I lacked the strength to kill it. My own magic was able to bind us all, locked in time. But when the cultists drew that spirit into another vessel, it disrupted my bindings. It is breaking free. [30]

[30] Dialogue options:

General: I will carry on for you. [31]

General: Fighting gods is old news. [32] (If the main game wasn’t completed.)

General: I've killed gods before. [33] (If the main game was completed.)

General: We will kill it together. [34]

[31] General: I will carry on for you.

PC: I'd be honored to finish what you started.

Ameridan: Thank you. [35]

[32] General: Fighting gods is old news.

PC: I'm already fighting one would-be god. I can make time for one more.

Ameridan: Then I leave the world in good hands. [35]

[33] General: I've killed gods before.

PC: I killed the would-be god who unleashed the Blight upon the world. He had a dragon, too.

Ameridan: Then I leave the world in good hands. [35]

[34] General: We will kill it together.

PC: You won't be fighting it alone this time.

Ameridan: No. You will. [35]

[35] Ameridan: The passage of years can be delayed, but not ignored. I will soon join Telana at Andraste's side. Take this. It holds the last few memories of an old hunter who was neither as wise nor as strong as he thought. Fight well, Inquisitor. I am honored to have met you.

(Ameridan dies. The dragon escapes the time-freezing spell.)

Party comments:

Blackwall: We'll have to deal with that dragon, especially if it's possessed again.

Cole: She still has Hakkon inside her. We have to stop her before she hurts people.

Cassandra: We need to stop the dragon. It still carries the spirit of Hakkon.

Iron Bull: (Grunts.) Still need to deal with the dragon at some point. Probably has the Avvar god back inside it.

(Next quest - Hakkon Wintersbreath)

[myhockeyworld87]

Not So Dangerous Liaison - Sidney Crosby - Part 17

Word Count: 3,216

POV: Sid

Warnings: Language, Smut, NSFW

Notes: This is sort of a filler going into the next part, but I really wanted to write this smut part...haha! So I hope you guys enjoy. Happy Reading!

Not So Dangerous Liaison Masterlist

Two days after the incident with the new recruits, you were loading (Y/N)'s suitcases in the car for the flight in the morning to Cole Harbour. "Geez, (Y/N), do you think you packed enough?"

 "Don't start. We're going to be gone for like two months. I'm trying to be prepared for every occasion."

 "You know I do have a washer and a dryer at my house." You teased as you loaded her third suitcase into the car.

 "I am not a light packer Mr. Crosby."

 "So I've noticed."

 "Oh stop whining, you needed a good workout today."

 Grabbing her by the waist you hauled her close before whispering in her ear. "I know of a better workout I'd like to do." She giggled as you nibbled on her ear.

 "You'll have to wait for that. I need to drop off a key to Meg so she can get my mail and you still need to finish packing." She wiggled out of your arms and checked inside the house one last time before locking the door.

 "It won't take long to finish, plus whatever we forget we can just buy."

 She shook her head at you as she got inside the car. "Like it's just that easy if I need a cocktail dress or something."

 "Babe, it is. Whatever you need we'll just go to the store and I'll buy it."

 "You don't need to buy me things; I have money, you know."

 It occurred to you then, that you'd yet to buy her anything. By now you should've bought her flowers at the bare minimum. In fact, if you actually thought about it, she was the one who was always getting you stuff; even if it was part of her job. You would definitely need to rectify this before you declared your love for her. "Well, what if I want to buy you something?"

 "I suppose." She said reluctantly. "Let's just hope I packed everything I need."

 "Well with the amount of luggage you have, you'll be fine." She swatted at your knee, but you grabbed her hand and brought it to your lips to kiss her knuckles. "I'm so excited to show you Cole Harbour." It didn't have the hustle and bustle of the city, but you still wanted to experience all your favorite things about your small little town with (Y/N).

 "I can't wait to see it, and all the baby pictures your mom promised to show me."

 You groaned and rolled your eyes, just thinking about your mom showing (Y/N) album after album. Your mom would be in her glory. "Just tell me you're still going to date me after you hear all her stories?"

 "Oh stop, they didn't scare me away a couple weeks ago. I'm still here, aren't I?"

 "Thank god." The rest of the night was pretty much a whirlwind as you spent it packing, and (Y/N) went through her stuff again making sure she had everything. At eight in the morning, the car pulled into the drive to take you to the airport.

 (Y/N) leaned over as you got closer to the airport, to whisper over to you. "Sid, I think the driver is going the wrong way. The airport was the last exit."

 She was right, but you were using the private airport, the same one you left from with the Pens for all away games. "No, he's right. We're flying private."

 "Is that why you wouldn't let me pay for the ticket?"

 "Well partly, I always take a private jet home. There aren't any direct flights into Halifax from Pittsburgh, so this is easier." Her mouth formed a little O, as the car pulled next to the plane. The pilot came out and shook your hand to welcome you both onboard, while your bags were loaded onto the jet.

 "I guess I don't have to worry about paying extra for my bag." She quipped as she took a seat.

 You took the one across from her, before answering. "So are you trying to say if you knew we were flying private, you would've taken more? Because if that's the case I'm glad I didn't tell you."

 She laughed. "You know I just might have."

 "We would've never got everything in the car." She fiddled with the seatbelt as the plane got ready to take off. "You know we can sit on the couch together if you're nervous. I know you're used to Beau making jokes and stuff. I'm not as funny as him, but I'm good at holding your hand."

 She smiled over at you as you reached over and grabbed her hand. "Hey, I was fine for the last several flights. I don't know what my problem is today." You rubbed your thumb back and forth across her knuckles as the plane soared into the air. She tensed a bit, but as soon as you were in the air, you could feel her relax.

 "Better?" She nodded and soon the captain came across and told you, you were at cruising altitude. "Did you want a water or anything? It's usually stocked with drinks and food."

 "No, I'm good right now." She relaxed into the seat then sat back up. "Do you always fly private?"

 "Yeah, pretty much have for a while now."  She nodded and you could tell she wanted to say something, but then she sat back again. Her mouth opened then closed one more time and it was killing you to know what she was going to say. "Ok, spit it out. I can tell you're dying to ask me something."

 "Have you…" she stopped, then closed her eyes as if trying to find the right words. "Have you ever…you know?" and you shook your head because truly you didn't know what she was asking. "Joined the mile-high club?"

 Your eyes widen at her words. "No." The word slipped out before you had a chance to even think about it. Was she suggesting she wanted to? You definitely weren't opposed to it. The problem was you couldn't read her mind at the moment. So instead you said, "have you?"

 "No, this is the first time I've even flown private… well besides when we fly with the Pens. Though I suppose people find a way to do it on a commercial flight." She was probably right; it did happen, but would it happen right now was the question on the tip of your tongue. A mischievous smile appeared on her lips and you knew that you didn't have to ask anymore. "So…do you want to?"

 "Is that even a question?" You unbuckled your seatbelt before she could even think about answering and then you noticed she was doing the same. When she was unfastened you hauled her onto your lap, her legs straddling your hips, while her mouth came down on yours. You tore off her long dark gray cardigan, then worked on removing her cami.

 "Wait, the pilots aren't going to come out or anything?" she asked when you started to unclasp her bra.

 "Never have," you breathed out and then her mouth was back on yours, while her hips ground down on yours. She gathered your polo in her hands then broke the kiss so she could toss it off to the side with the growing pile of clothing. "Stand up, so I can get these off." You told her needing her leggings off as well. She shimmied out of the pants as you pushed her panties down to join them. Grabbing her hips, you guided her back to the small sofa in the plane which gave the two of you a bit more room to move. She fell back against the leather, and you followed her down, your hands working on the buttons of your jeans so you could free your cock to be inside her. That's when it hit you. "Fuck," you whispered out harshly.

 "What's wrong?" (Y/N) asked when you started to rebutton your pants.

 "I don't have any protection." You'd packed condoms in your suitcase for when you got to the house, but hadn't thought about putting any in your pocket or wallet.

 Her hands reached out to cover yours at your waistband, undoing the work you'd just done with the zipper. "It's ok, I've got us covered."

 "Oh," and you got up going over to her purse.

 "Sid, that's not what I mean." She sat up grabbing your hand and pulling you back. "I have an IUD. I've been meaning to talk to you about it, but it's always well you know…in the heat of the moment, but I'm clean if that's what you're worried about, and I haven't been with anyone but you."

 "I didn't think that you had, considering we've spent like every minute together for a while." She giggled at that. "And I haven't been with anyone either, in case you were wondering. Honestly, it's been a long time since I was with anyone before you, but like you everything's fine. Though if you don't believe me…"

 She stopped you then. "I believe you, Sid." (Y/N) tugged on your hand pulling you down with her as she leaned back against the cushions. You quickly removed the rest of your clothes then settled in between her legs before kissing her once more. Your tongue mingles with hers, lips molding together as your hips rocked into her. She whimpered into the kiss, and so you slid a finger inside her to find her wet and ready for you. You toyed with her a bit until she started to squirm underneath you.

 Slipping the head of your cock between her fold, you almost lost it being able to feel her around you without any barrier. Inch by slow inch her heat engulfed you and you found it hard to breathe. It took you a minute before you could move as you tried to get yourself under control. (Y/N) reached up and tugged on the back of your neck drawing your lips down to hers so she could kiss you tenderly. As you laid there, buried deep inside her you couldn't help feel your love for her bubbling up inside. You'd never felt this way before, never wanted to tell someone how much you loved them at that moment but you also knew it wasn't how you wanted to tell her the first time. So instead of verbalizing your feelings, you started to move in and out of her body. One of her legs wrapped around your waist as she used the other for leverage to meet each of your thrusts. She felt like heaven as you could feel her pussy clench around your cock with each push into her. "Fuck, babe…I'm not gonna last long." No matter how much you wanted this to be good for her, the feel of her warm wet pussy surrounding you was throwing you closer to the edge.

 "Almost…there," she panted out, before reaching down and playing with her clit. You just needed to hold out a little bit longer. You shifted her leg and sped up your pace, the action hitting her g-spot as she moaned out and you hoped to god that the pilots couldn't hear anything through the door. It wasn't long after that, that she was screaming out your name in ecstasy. With one final thrust, you followed her, reaching the high your body so desperately craved as you soared above the clouds. It felt amazing to just spill your seed inside her, and as you lay there trying to catch your breath; you realized your cock was still semi-erect and instead of going soft, it only was getting harder as you stayed inside her, but you knew the two of you didn't have time for another round. While it was the last thing you wanted to do, you pulled out from inside the haven that was (Y/N); you were both a sticky mess. You sat up on the couch and (Y/N) followed you up.

 "So do we get a card or something now that we're members?" You asked as you kissed her forehead and pulled her close still needing some form of contact with her.

 "I'll make you a card that says 'Mile High Member' when we get home." You both just laughed, then you finally pulled your boxers on and walked back to the small restroom to grab a towel for (Y/N).

 "I gotta be honest. I wish this was a longer flight." You told her when came back to the main cabin.

 "Oh really?" You nodded your head, before capturing her lips again; your cock rock hard with thoughts of being inside her again. She picked up her panties and leggings, struggling to put them on as the plane made a turn. "Well don't expect this to happen on any of our Pens flights."

 "Aww come on, you always bring that blanket. I'm sure we can make it work." You teased her.

 "Nope, not happening, besides you sit with Flower, not me."

 "Well, I was thinking I might have to change my seat next year."

 "No way!" She was fully dressed now and you found yourself a bit disappointed as you both sat on the couch, you'd just made love on. "You're keeping your same seat, just like you always have. I'm not changing that superstition."

 "Well, we have time to talk about it." She rolled her eyes as if it was not a point for discussion. Checking the screen, you noticed that you'd be landing in the next few minutes. "So my parents are picking us up at the airport. It's about a twenty-mile drive to the house, but I think my mom wants us to stop at their place for lunch if that's ok."

 "Yeah that's totally fine, maybe she'll show me some of those baby pictures she was talking about."

 It was a little over an hour later and your mom was doing exactly that along with showing her your childhood room. She was literally showing (Y/N) every embarrassing photo she had of you. You had to beg her to stop, telling her that she had plenty of time to tell (Y/N) every humiliating story she had over the next few weeks. The only bright spot was that it gave you a few minutes alone to prepare a surprise for (Y/N). After lunch, the two of you headed to your house promising that you'd have dinner with your parents in the next couple of days.

 You watched (Y/N)'s expression as you pulled down the long drive to the summer house. It was buried down under a canvas of trees; not as massive as the house in Pittsburgh yet you loved it all the same. "It's so beautiful Sid." There was a note of awe in her voice and you felt the same way every time you came here.

 "I'll get the bags in a bit. Let me show you around first." You jumped out of the Suburban and went around to get (Y/N). The inside of the house was nice, but it was the outside that you really wanted her to see. The long dock which held a small boat for you to take her out on, caught her eye first. "Maybe we can go for a ride later tonight." You told her.

 "That would be nice. It's so peaceful and calm here. I can see why you love it." You stood on the patio with your arms wrapped around her waist and there was no place in the world you'd rather be. "What's that over there?"

 "Oh, that's the shooting pad. It's like the one in the basement in Pittsburgh."

 "Gotcha, I couldn't quite make it out from here."

 "I thought about putting a pool in, but I don't know. Just decided to stick with the hot tub." The house in Pittsburgh had a gorgeous pool and you loved watching her swim in it, so you might have to rethink putting one in. "That building over there is my workout room."

 "Oh so if I ever can't find you, I'll look there first." She gave you a little wink and you tickled her under her ribs. "Ok show me the rest." You punched in the code to the house and proceeded to give her the grand tour, saving the master bedroom for last. "It's gorgeous, Sid; it really is."

 "It's not bad."

 "Not bad? It's more than that and you know it."

 "Well maybe. There's lots of room in the closet for your stuff, but move anything you want. I want you to feel at home here."

 She flopped back on the bed, then looked up at you. "Hmm, I think I could get comfortable right here if you'd join me." Your knee pressed into the mattress so you could hover over her body and just as you were about to press your lips to hers the doorbell rang. "Who could that be?"

 "Guess we'll have to go see." You took her hand pulling her off the bed with you as you headed downstairs. You were prepared for what greeted you, but (Y/N) was not.

 "Is there a Ms. (Y/L/N) here?" A young gentleman asked and you could see the questioning look on your girlfriend's face.

 "That's me." She answered as he handed over a beautiful bouquet of roses. You pulled out your wallet and tipped the man before closing the door. "Did you get me these?"

 You shrugged, but replied, "I don't know. You'll have to read the card."

 She carried the six dozen roses into the kitchen, setting them down on the island. You knew you'd gone a bit overboard but wanted to make up for not getting them sooner for her. She plucked the card out from amidst the blooms. You knew the words she was reading but watched as she read them in silence.

 (Y/N), I have yet to take you out on a proper date, but I'm hoping to change all that. I hope that you love Cole Harbour as much as I do and that we'll be spending many more summers here together. Yours always, Sid.

 There was so much more you wanted to say in the card, but yet you tried to keep it as brief as possible. "They're beautiful Sid, but you didn't have to do that, let alone so many." She went up on her toes and kissed you.

 "I know I didn't have to, but I wanted to." You wrapped your arms around her, pulling her close to your chest. "So, how about we go on that official date then?"

 "When...tonight?" She asked pulling back slightly to look up into your face.

 "Yeah, why not?"

 "Well, we don't have our bags inside the house yet for one thing."

 "I can have that taken care of in ten minutes. Ok, twenty with the number of suitcases you brought." She swatted your chest. "So is that a yes?"

 "Umm…how can I say no?" She teased.

 "You can't. I'll go grab the bags and then we can get ready for our date." You planted a kiss on her nose then headed out for the bags, excited that you were finally getting to take her out on what would be your first official date.

[fanfalc-616]

The Rights Of A Nindroid

Chapter Thirty-Two: How The Game Is Played

(Previous Chapter Here)

Yesterday I realized that posting two chapters over Memorial Day weekend was not my best idea, so I waited until today to post the next one I had prepared dhjsgdh

Cole looks at the computer again, blinking a couple times. “You can’t be serious,” he mutters, more to himself than anything.

He flashes the device a glare before turning back towards the main room. “Guys?” He calls. “We’ve got a problem.”

In any other circumstance, it might’ve been funny how quickly Kai bolted in- but as of now, with Zane being gone for over a year, it’s hard to find humor in much of anything.

The others follow soon after, of course, but by that time Kai’s already next to him, a thousand different stressed expressions flashing over his face.

“What’s wrong now?!” He demands, practically vibrating with his intensity.

Cole holds his hands up in a way that’ll hopefully be calming. “Okay, okay, take a deep breath. It’s not that big of an issue, we can figure this out.”

Jay peers over his shoulder, looking at the computer. “Uh. Actually. That looks like a really big issue.” He chuckles nervously, and Cole can already see the freak out that’s coming.

“What is it?” Lloyd prompts, but before Cole can answer, Kai’s already talking.

“Oh hell no!” He protests, concern flashing over to rage. “Is that-“

“A smear campaign.” Cole finishes, looking back over at the site. “Against Lloyd.”

With that, Lloyd comes over. The surprise on his face seems to wither into a more hurt and guilty expression. “I-“

“Alright, I get that we haven’t met in person, but I hate Harumi.” Kai suddenly declares. “So what if Lloyd opened the serpentine tombs?! The Great Devourer was Pythor’s fault! And that was years ago, too! Counting the tea, he was what, eight?! How is that fair?!”

Nya grimaces. “As much as I hate to admit it, she has a point. And with all the chaos we’ve gone through-“

“It’ll be easy to find things to blame on him.” Cole finishes, the realization sinking in.

Jay makes grabby hands at the computer, and Cole rolls his chair back to let him reach it. Glancing over at Lloyd, he fights back a wince at his expression.

“… okay, the serpentine thing is valid. A low blow, but technically valid. But accusing him of purposefully summoning Morro and the Preeminent just to see his dad again? Come on!” The ginger crosses his arms with a scowl, and Cole can see Kai preparing to say- or more likely, shout- something else.

Before he gets the chance, Cole stands up from his seat, intentionally getting everyone’s attention. Forcing confidence that he doesn’t feel into his voice, he tries to redirect the conversation. “Alright, this isn’t ideal,” he admits, “but we need to keep going. There’s gotta be records for times people have won things with a smear campaign against them, right? We can research them and figure out how to counter this.”

Kai opens his mouth, but Nya talks over him. “That’s a good idea,” she agrees. “I don’t think there’s ever been one in an election this big before, but we can definitely get some ideas from that.”

Looking back to Lloyd for confirmation, he sighs internally at the way the blond is still intently staring at the screen, clearly dozens of thoughts flashing through his head.

Putting a hand on Kai’s shoulder, Cole leans down enough to softly whisper in his ear. “Go take Lloyd somewhere he feels calm,” he suggests. “You’ll both be able to do more when he’s doing better.”

For a moment, Kai looks like he wants to argue. But after a glance at his honorary brother, he hesitates, and then gives a small nod.

“C’mon, Green Bean, let’s go take a break.” He starts guiding Lloyd away, and even though the blond looks conflicted, he lets himself be led out of the room.

With that, Cole turns back to Jay and Nya. “How about you guys do that research?” He offers. “I can do some digging on Harumi while you do.”

“Sounds good.” Nya gives a nod and looks over at Jay. When the ginger keeps staring at the computer, she sighs, glancing back at Cole.

Tapping Jay on the shoulder, Cole waits for him to look back. “Huh?” The other frowns, clearly not having been paying attention.

“With me, Sparky. I’ll give you the rundown.” Nya grabs his arm, and Jay gives a guilty smile.

“Let’s go, then,” he nods his agreement as she leads him out.

Once the two have left, Cole turns back to the computer, giving the campaign- or more accurately, slander- another glare. But he quickly changes gears, opening a new webpage.

“Alright, Harumi…” he mutters, beginning to type out her name.

“Let’s find out just why you’re so desperate to win.”

{ { { { { { { { { { ~ } } } } } } } } } }

Sentry narrows his eyes at his internal screen, trying again to get answers.

It’s obvious at this point that the direct approach isn’t working. It’s been thirteen months since Zane was taken- meaning Cryptor has been there for over two and a half years.

So they’re still working on this election plan, unable to do anything that might have a more immediate effect. It’s not ideal, but at least he’s begun to make some progress.

Actually… hang on. He might have something here. Another thing on the candidate running, Rune Duncan. He’s seen enough about Harumi to know that she’ll be the competition no matter what, but if he plays his cards right, he might be able to work with Rune enough to-

Perfect. According to this security camera, Rune was last seen entering a shady part of town- a place that usually only gangs meet up.

Hmm. If Sentry can’t get him to help, then maybe he can at least get some blackmail on him.

As he heads out, he sends a message to Dad letting him know that he’ll be out for a while- he knows that he’s been working on rescuing Cryptor, so he probably won’t need a rundown on what exactly he’s doing.

It takes him only about fifteen minutes to reach where Rune was last seen- Borg Tower isn’t exactly close, but with this, Sentry is nothing if not determined.

Quietly, he makes his way down the alley where the candidate was last seen. This place is insanely suspicious, so he-

“And what are you doing here?” A voice behind him prompts.

Flinching, Sentry spins around. How did this guy sneak up on him?! With all the sensors he has, it-

Wait. Looking over the guy’s dark ginger hair and tanned skin, he suddenly recognizes him.

“Looking for you, actually.” Sentry forces a smile he doesn’t feel as he studies Rune. “My name’s Sentry. I’m the general of Borg’s security forces.”

Rune arches an eyebrow, but all Sentry can think of is how out of place he looks in this back alley with a three-piece suit. There’s definitely something going on here.

“Huh. Well, you found me. Is there something you need?” He sounds unimpressed and maybe even a little annoyed. But there’s no way Sentry’s going to back out now.

“Yeah, actually. I wanted to ask you a couple questions.” Sentry keeps his forced smile, but he knows the other can see past it- he’s not exactly trying to hide his malice, anyway. “Maybe a bit about your past, if you don’t mind.”

Rune tenses for a moment, but then relaxes. But even then, the discomfort is still visible on his face- even though he seems to be trying to hide it. “And if I decline?”

Letting his smile turn cold, Sentry looks him dead in the eyes. “Y’know, I wonder what the public would think if they heard about a finalist in the Emperor Election poking around in a place like this. I don’t think that would look too good for them, now would it?”

There’s a tense moment, both of them staring each other down. Sentry doesn’t break eye contact- instead, he lets them glow an even brighter red in an unspoken threat.

Actually, it’s longer than a moment. Time seems to stretch on as the two of them glare into each other’s eyes. He’d check his internal clock to see how long it’s been, but that would involve glancing away, and he refuses to be the one who flinches first.

After what feels like an eternity, Rune looks off to the side with a growl, crossing his arms.

“Ask away.”

The tenseness coming off of him clearly shows that he’s got something to hide. And one way or another, Sentry’s going to find out what.

“Alright.” He pauses a beat before choosing to lead with a statement instead of a question- though it’ll hopefully get him more answers then outright asking.

“Whoever made you this fake identity did a horrible job.” Rune’s eyes widen the smallest amount, but Sentry keeps talking. “I dug everything up in a matter of weeks. The family tree, the missing records, the faulty information… honestly, I’m surprised that I’m the first person to realize.”

The ginger clenches his jaw. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Seriously? That’s got to be one of the most transparent bluffs he’s ever seen.

“I think you do, actually. I’d just like to know why you can’t run with your real one. You got something to hide, Rune?” He puts a little too much emphasis on the name, making sure the other gets the point.

There’s the beginning of another stare down, and this time instead of indulging him, Sentry tries something else.

Not breaking eye contact, he runs a scan on the other- maybe he can compare it to the ones in the criminal database and…

His thoughts clatter to a halt as he looks at the results.

“Oh,” he gets out. “That’s why.”

The other starts to say something, but Sentry speaks before he can as he finally fully processes the information.

“You’re a nindroid, too.” He breathes.

And he is. The scan shows it, he- Sentry’s never seen such a believable hologram as a disguise, but there’s no other explanation! That-

‘Rune’ narrows his eyes, and Sentry notices him starting to draw a blade from behind his back. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he repeats, this time with more force.

Taking a step back, Sentry lets the possible scenarios flash through his head, struggling to figure out what the hell is going on. The design doesn’t match Cryptor or Zane’s, and it most certainly doesn’t match the ones Dad did, so-

“Who built you? Why are you doing this? Do you- do you not know what’s at stake here?! Who even are you-?!”

He’s cut off when he’s tackled, the move so abrupt that he can’t counter. He struggles underneath him, but in less than a heartbeat, there’s a blade pressed between his scope and skin- a spot that underneath connects almost directly between his CPU and motor functions.

The cloak drops, and he stares at the other’s metallic skin, worn and scratched from who knows how many battles.

Red eyes boring into his own, Sentry feels himself almost shiver at the dark, smug expression the other nindroid has.

“You want to know my real name? Fine.” The voice suddenly has a more distorted, robotic lit to it, his vocal box not hiding his true nature with the cloak dropped. “I doubt you’ll get the chance to use it…”

“But I’m known as Mr. E.”

[plasticnightmaredoll]

"Mortal Kombat" (2021) second viewing thoughts

I watched the 2021 "Mortal Kombat" movie a second time and watched some videos on YouTube from fans who shared their thoughts on the movie. I now have some new things to add in addition to my full review.

Ok, so, one thing that they made a huge mistake on was making the film 1 hour and 50 minutes. It's not even a 2-hour movie, and yet, they tried to cram in 20 hours worth of crap:

Too many cooks in the kitchen

The sheer number of characters featured in this movie was ridiculous and because the writers/producers decided to do this, most characters lacked proper development -- or any development. I mean, let's take a look at the list of characters in this movie (only the "fighters," not the side characters like Cole's family and whatnot):

Cole Young

Hanzo Hasashi/Scorpion

Bi-Han/Sub-Zero 1.0

Sonya Blade

Jax Briggs

Raiden

Shang Tsung

Kano

Liu Kang

Kung Lao

Nitara

Mileena

Reiko

Goro

Kabal

I mean, damn. That's a shitload of characters! It's actually unnecessary to have that many characters, especially if they weren't even going to reach the 2-hour runtime mark. Reiko and Nitara, for example, could have been removed from the story and it wouldn't have made any difference. Hell, even Mileena didn't need to be in the movie (nothing against her character -- I like Mileena but in the movie, she was extremely underdeveloped).

For Mortal Kombat fans, at least they can fill in the gaps because they know these characters. However, what about people who know nothing about the games? I can't see them finding much enjoyment in this film, and that's a problem.

The goal of mainstream blockbuster movies such as this one, one that is meant to launch multiple sequels, is to draw in as many people as possible. You would think they would want this movie to appeal to those who aren't familiar with the games. I mean, it could even make some of those people want to play the games. As it is, though, this movie is too heavily rooted in the fans putting the pieces together.

Why is it not 2+ hours?

Ok, I get it: it's very difficult to pitch 3-4 hour movies nowadays. "The Lord of the Rings" and "Hobbit" movies got away with it because they are based on highly detailed, well-loved books. You can't just treat such legendary writing like fantasy fodder. You go all out!

"Avengers: Endgame" was three hours long, and it worked because they had a) enough material for such a runtime, b) the sheer popularity of the franchise behind it, and c) it was an epic finale for a massive list of films. You couldn't make "Endgame" 2 hours or less and expect it to be good.

Now, "Mortal Kombat" cannot get the budget of a Marvel film (or any Disney property, let's be real) -- many films cannot compete with the amount of money Disney can pour into their movies and series. MK is also not a ground-breaking, incredibly written fantasy story with extensive world-building like "Lord of the Rings." Yes, MK has a lot of stories and a lot of characters but it isn't even in the same league of quality as Tolkein works.

(Don't hate. I am just stating my observations here.)

However, even if they couldn't make this MK movie 3+ hours long, they should have gone for 2.5 hours. 1 hour and 50 minutes just isn't enough time. Add in 40 extra minutes, and you have much more flexibility.

Honestly, you could make 3-4 hour MK movies since there is so much content and so many characters, but realistically, it probably won't happen. So, the writers and producers have to do their best with what they're given, and....they cut this film waaaay too short. Going forward, they need to expand the runtime of the sequels. They need to. Otherwise, we'll keep getting mediocre films and maybe fewer sequels than originally planned.

USE YOUR BEST "TRAIT" FFS

The smartest decision the creators made was casting Hiroyuki Sanada as Hanzo Hasashi/Scorpion. He's a great actor, for one, and he just FITS the role. I mean, I look at him in this movie and, yep, that's Hanzo. They couldn't have picked a better actor for such an iconic character but.........they barely used him.

When you look at it in two ways, it's quite disappointing and confusing: Scorpion is just as popular and necessary as Sub-Zero to the MK franchise. They're like.... Godzilla and Kong for Mortal Kombat. Sub-Zero got a lot of screen time in the movie but Scorpion was only in the movie twice: at the beginning and at the end.

I mean, WHY?! We had a bunch of time dedicated to a new character with Cole, someone who isn't actually necessary for the story. Yet, we put one of the most iconic characters from the games on the back burner?

NO!

They made a smart decision but then they did something dumb with it.

If they make sequels, then omfg, FUCKING USE HIROYUKI SANADA.

Multiple sequels already planned?

While watching this video, I found out that the actor who played Bi-Han/Sub-Zero, Joe Taslim, has signed on for 5 movies, which includes the one we just got. This makes sense because Bi-Han does become Noob Saibot after dying, but that's beside the point: this MK movie series planned to be at least 5 films long.

Granted, that's not nearly as many as in the MCU films that lead up to "Endgame," but it's certainly promising. This is a chance for the writers and producers to fix some of their mistakes and flesh out the characters more as well as add more coherent details to the story.

I'm guessing the goal is to have the movies leading to an invasion of Earthrealm, ala "Endgame." I don't know how they will go about it, but I hope that, in addition to the 5 movies, we get spin-offs that focus on specific characters. The MCU did it, which helped develop the huge list of characters that ultimately made it into "Endgame," and this made it easier for the writers to focus on the story as character development was already done. If the MK movies do something similar, then this could be a good series of films.

The biggest problem, though, is that they got started on the wrong foot. The 2021 film is definitely a clumsy attempt to introduce everyone to this movie adaptation of the games, and it could significantly hinder their progress going forward. I mean, you start off wrong, you have much more work ahead of you if you plan to fix your mistakes.

It's not impossible, though. It's still early -- like, the first movie. We have at least four more to go. If the writers and producers can get their shit together, then they may pull it off.

And let's be real: I think MK is LONG overdue for a good movie.

The trailer and opening scene

The trailer for the "Mortal Kombat" movie was pretty epic, as was the opening scene of the film. Actually, the first scene almost doesn't fit into the movie because it appears to be from something of...better quality in terms of writing and development.

Now, imagine the whole movie was as epic as the trailer but also wonderfully crafted like the first scene. This could have easily produced a much better MK movie. They probably should have focused primarily on Hanzo, to be honest, and have Bi-Han there as well as the antagonist, and have some other characters on the side but not too many. I think that would have made this movie fantastic and would have fixed the issues with character development and poor plot progression.

Final Thoughts

The 2021 MK movie is still decent entertainment and worth watching a few times. However, I truly do hope the writers learn from their mistakes moving forward and give the people something much better.

[pluviophile-bookworm]

AWAE 3x1 rewatch: thoughts and reactions

So we’re finally here, up to the (unfortunately) final season of AWAE. I will be rewatching and reacting to the first half of the season only, since I’ve already posted my reactions to episodes 5-10 when they were coming out. Just thought I’d say that here. 

For this rewatch, I will be adding onto the notes to myself I made when first watching the episode. Also, this is dedicated to Amybeth McNulty for her birthday today.

So, without further ado, I suggest we dive right in.

Can we talk about how Anne’s beautiful green ribbon gets untied and flies into the air while she is riding through the snow and she doesn’t even seem to care? I mean, she looks back and smiles at it, but doesn’t even think of trying to retrieve it… If I were her, I would have turned the horse around. Although it did seem like the ribbon was too high up in the air for her to reach. Also, her hair is beautiful flying loose in the wind… like we’ve never seen it before. [Present-day note: of course we’ll see it like that again, and from Gilbert’s point of view. That scene was magical. Truly magical]

So… Ruby still has it for Gilbert… and she has it going on strong… she’s supposed to be covering the hockey game for the school newspaper, but she’s dropped her notebook in the snow [Present-day note: again, my dislike of ruining material objects speaks here, but - I felt really bad for that notebook. It’s done nothing to deserve being ruined by the snow] because she only has eyes for one of the players… and so does Anne. I really hope the budding love between her and Gil doesn’t shatter poor little peach Ruby’s heart. [Present-day note: I’m so beyond happy she got over him before Anne realised that she was, as they would say on Friends, ‘under’ him.] She’s a dearie and deserves the best.

The hockey field (probably nothing more than a frozen lake, but this is the 19th century, so, you know) has apparently turned into a place of courtship, as Billy is giving his attentions to Josie and Moody to Diana… but her parents won’t allow it. “Too rich to be a minister’s wife?”, Josie teases. But then the attention shifts to Gilbert who stares at something undefined between Anne and Ruby, leaving it ambiguous which girl his affections are directed to. The whole thing is very awkward to watch, and with no Cole around to reassure Anne that Gilbert has a crush on her, and her only, she may as well think he’s finally returning Ruby’s sympathies. That scene is intense.

The natives appear – a man and a little girl, presumably his daughter, the girl that was mentioned in the articles promoting this season. It turns out the man is the one who makes the hockey sticks for the boys, and the difference in nature between Gilbert and Billy is once again emphasised by how they each treat him. Billy is superficially polite, saying “Thank you” when receiving his new stick, but he says it in a sort of patronising way, like the subtext here is “We whites are better than you”. Gilbert, on the other hand, is just as polite and respectful as he would be to any white man – or woman, for that matter. I mean, he lives with a black couple, so he can’t be racist at all. I mean, he’s an absolute cinnamon roll.

Anne is even better with the natives, as in, she doesn’t even notice anything about them that would make them superficially different than her and her peers. She asks if she could write an article about the man, but not about his lifestyle or different standards, but about the sticks he makes. She sees the quality work, not that the man doing it is non-white. And I bet she’ll be learning a lot about their life and culture later on, in a perfectly respectful and inclusive way. This is beautiful.

Billy comes back and is all kinds of disrespectful, so the girl, Ka’kwet, shows her dislike of him very clearly, and her father warns her against “stir[ring] trouble with the white man”… the tension can’t be ignored anymore. It can practically  be cut with a knife.

The man offers a great judgement of Billy – “The little man with the big ego” – in his own native language, so only Ka’kwet understands. But he couldn’t be more right.

Billy walks away, muttering “Savages” under his breath. Anne, however, isn’t shaken for a millisecond in her wish to visit and interview them later.

So, Billy won’t even be coming back to school, as he’s stepping into the family business. I’m hoping we won’t see much of him anymore. [Present-day note: Unfortunately, we will. And when I say unfortunately, I mean devastatingly. Before this season, I didn’t think this excuse of a guy could get any worse, but in the latter half he’s proven to be an absolute entitled monster. I loathe him, and I’m not even sorry for allowing myself to feel such negative emotions.]

Jane is “chaperoning” Josie and Billy as they walk back from the game? I mean, yes, she is his sister, but she’s younger than him, I think. But well, I’m not sure how chaperoning works in such a situation.

Anne arrives at the natives’… village? What is it, exactly? Anyway, her new budding friendship with Ka’kwet (which, the poor thing says, just means “starfish”; now she and Anne can bond over wishing they had a different name – although Anne isn’t as resentful of hers anymore, now that she’s signed the family bible as “Anne Cordelia Shirley- Cuthbert) is just so beautiful… this show is pure aesthetic. [Both visually and in terms of content.]

Marilla disapproves of Anne’s having fraternised with the natives… the tension builds up. I guess Anne won’t be stopped from seeing her new friends so easily, though.

At the Pye household, Josie’s mother is pressuring her to “get a hold” of Billy before someone else does. I mean, she’s a Pye – an unpleasant person as per the book, so she deserves him. Let her have him, as long as Gilbert is reserved for Anne and Anne alone. [Yeah, in retrospect, not even Josie deserves this imbecile. But I didn’t know back then just how bad he could be.]

So Anne’s words “seems to me I was destined to be the bride of adventure” from the teaser are part of her evening prayer – a change from the (apparently) usual plea to make her good-looking, which she now, on the brink of age 16, sees as a childish wish and not a real prayer. Anne has grown!

“Many suitors or even just one…” Come on, Anne, are you blind? You have one – The One at that. Take Notice of him… I mean, the Take Notice board will be returning as per a gif set I saw here on Tumblr, so I really hope Shirbert moves on a bit quicker than it has so far.

Bash and Mary have a baby! Since when? I don’t know, but I love it. Is Gilbert the godfather? Seeing as he is Bash’s best friend and honorary brother, he must be… oh dreams…. [Either way, he’s her Uncle Gilby]

Her name is Delphine? That’s beautiful. Also, Gilbert just kissed her forehead before going out to school… the dream has come true.

The unlikely duo of Rachel Lynde and Miss Stacy takes centre stage in the next scene where Miss Stacy says she doesn’t need a man as she has discovered self-sufficiency after her husband’s death. Mrs. Lynde, of course, wants to play matchmaker for her. As I said, this is an unlikely duo and I would very much like to know how this relationship turns out further.

Anne and Diana are dreading the nearing day of their separation as Di goes to finishing school in Paris and Anne goes to college in Queens. I really want to know how this separation will turn out. [Fortunately, I won’t have to find out, and neither will they.]

 Another line of tension builds up with the resurrection of the Take Notice board, as the girls discuss the pressure to get married soon and Josie teases Anne about becoming an old maid, as seen in the trailer.

Poor Ruby takes the blow instead of Anne as she, who will apparently be going to Queens with Anne and Gilbert – only in order to remain close to him (poor unfortunate soul), is desperate to receive any advance from him. I really don’t want her to suffer, but here she is now, crying about him not noticing her. I almost want her to not end up going to Queens, as that will most probably be the place where Shirbert’s relationship will finally bloom, and I don’t want her to witness that. [AWAE Ruby would have loved to be Book!Ruby, as she gets much more attention from him there - but she doesn’t care as much. However, seeing as how Book!Ruby ends up, AWAE Ruby should be glad she’s not quite her.]

Anne “bet[s she] can help” Ruby’s Gilbert issue – but if she is the root of the problem and she doesn’t know it, how can she possibly be of any use to poor Ruby?

I’ve never seen Anne ignore someone so hard as she just did Moody – he greeted her and she barely turned her head in his direction, muttering a quick “Hi” before returning to her conversation with the girls… good thing he is not one of her suitors. Although she doesn’t pay much more attention to Gilbert, you know. 

I see Moody has grown up a lot since last time he was seen, and he’s now a close second to Gilbert, at least the way I see it. That’s quite a glow up he’s had. But I kinda wanted Diana and Jerry to be a thing – and now I’m low-key shipping her with Moody “your dress is very… blue” Spurgeon. The poor guy has always been awkward around her; it’s obvious he likes her. [See, I told you I only ship couples that have explicit signs of potential to happen. Even though Diana and Moody didn’t happen even for a second, I’ve apparently seen something in her and Jerry stemming from that one single conversation they had. I mean, he did call her ‘the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen’, so that must have been what made me ship them - even before I had the slightest idea they were going to be a thing this season. I still can’t get over the fact that they were not endgame. In my mind, at least, they are - somewhere in that future we didn’t get to see.]

 And now the super famous “take notice” scene between Anne and Gilbert is happening… oh the tension. [You know, this scene reminds me of Vanessa Hudgens’ Rather Be with You. If you haven’t heard that song, go listen to it and then try to tell me I’m wrong here.]

Anne was apparently talking about Ruby in this scene, and Gilbert was blabbing on about “the right person” and stuff… Shirbert is on!!

Well, that was a turn of events! The second Anne mentions Ruby you can actually see Gilbert’s emotions change. Kudos to Lucas for portraying that only with his eyes. How to those kids do that? 

And poor Ruby has been observing him during the conversation, of course… she is so deluded, the unfortunate thing – she thinks his reluctance to post means he’s looking for a much more romantic advance to make… Poor thing. Shirbert will break her heart and might just ruin her friendship with Anne forever… and she dies young in canon. I just hope Moira finds a way to give her the happy ending she deserves… [And, as we know, Moira didn’t disappoint there. I’m so glad things turned out for Ruby the way they did]

Jerry can read long complicated texts now… he’s reading Frankenstein [Little did I know how important this book would be for his story arc this season], for goodness’ sake! I stan one (1) beautiful [inside and out] French farm boy!! And I ship him with Diana even more now. Although if her parents won’t allow her a future minister, how will they allow a farm boy?

Diana has actual royal ancestry… but that ancestry is “keeping [her] from Queens; from [Anne]”. Isn’t this a tragical Bro-mance right there? It is indeed.

Marilla is helping Mary with the baby… makes me wonder if she has been dreaming of one for so long but never got to have it and this is why she’s so attached to this one… this series is beautiful but dramatic… it really tugs on my heartstrings.

Diana stands up for herself and her own wishes in front of her parents… but she doesn’t achieve more than angering them that way… poor little rich girl, indeed.

Also, I just love how the Barrys express their anger. Diana sits at the piano and starts playing angrily, while her mother embroiders angrily and her father reads his newspaper angrily. [I had no idea two out of those three things could be done angrily. I’ll leave it to you to figure out which two.]

The Take Notice board has a note on it saying “Susan has her sight on Moody Spurgeon”. Who is this Susan and why is she eyeing Moody if he’s courting Diana?

Anne is super excited about turning 16… “Once upon a time this was the happiest day of my parents’ life”. I really want her to find out about her ancestry eventually. But I want her and Gilbert to finally get together more. [Of course, both of these will happen in this season. I sort of knew that even back then.]

Let’s sum up: Anne has beautiful hair, but, more importantly, dreams of finding out her family history; Ruby has it bad for Gilbert - but we already knew that; Ka’kwet and her father make their first appearance and create tension in the process; Billy is racist on top of everything - but we all expected that; courting is in full swing; Rachel Lynde plays matchmaker; lots of tension caused by the Take Notice board; eye (and eyebrow) acting; Jerry reads Frankenstein; Marilla is a really good mother, and not only to Anne; who’d have known embroidery and reading could be done angrily; who is Susan; Anne is nearing 16 and things are about to change forever.

[21st-century-ninja]

Orange

My second piece for the @ninjaneverquit-zine- set in the same universe as White.  

The wings of the Shintaro are all sleek lines and silken feathers, painstakingly crafted down to each individual vane.  The Shintarans glide effortlessly through their city on them, robes neat and unruffled, nary a hair out of place when they take off and land again. They are a stunning display of craftsmanship and technology, way beyond anything that Ninjago has ever seen.

They also are completely bare of heart-colors.  

See, in Ninjago, people are born with pure white wings.  As you grow older, and grow your family and friends, their heart-colors (the unique patch of color hidden on the feathers near every person’s back) appear on your feathers.  Zane has the color of his creator spattered across his right wing.  Kai and Nya have each other’s colors covering their mantles.  Jay carries both sets of his parents’ colors, and Lloyd has each of the ninja’s colors staining his wings so violently that he looks like he was in some sort of studio accident.  

And Cole?  Cole’s left wing, near the wingtip, is painted in the rich gold of his father.  His left bears the faded orange of his mother.  Across the backs of his wings, the rest of the ninja’s colors wrap around his coverts like a warm blanket.  

Vania has just been crowned queen of Shintaro, and the coronation celebration is going long into the night.  Cole watches her from the edge of the crowd, smiling at the way she is completely unselfconscious as she dances in the middle of the room with Chompy spiraling around her feet.  She catches his eye and her face lights up; she breaks from the circle and flings herself towards him.  Cole loses her in the crowd, but by the frantic strings of apologies and yelping he hears, he has a pretty good idea where she is.

“Cole!” she shouts, when she finally breaks through.  “I haven’t seen you all night!  Have you been avoiding me?”

Cole laughs.  “Never, my queen,” he says, winking exaggeratedly when he uses her new title.  “You’ve just been busy.”  He grins wide.  “I get it, I get it, what’s a little old ninja to the queen of an entire country?”

Vania pouts.  “It’s not like that.  Everyone wants my attention, but you guys are my friends.  And you’re leaving soon, way before everyone else!”  A glint of an idea enters her eye- the same look she had before leading Cole to a drainage tunnel and whipping a set of torches from nowhere.  “It’s too noisy in here for anything, let alone talking.  How about we go for a little night time flight?”

She hikes up her skirts and marches through the crowd.  Cole laughs a little disbelievingly.  He follows her out, out onto the terrace, wings pulled close to his sides to prevent them being jostled or stepped on.  “Wait, can you just leave like that?”

Vania smiles with all her teeth.  She signals to an attendant and they reappear with her wings, attaching and securing them to her back.  “What do you mean?” she asks, cocking her head playfully to one side.  “I’m the queen!  I can do what I want!”

“Hey, works for me,” Cole says, grinning back.  He lets his wings unfurl to nearly their full wingspan, an impressive eighteen feet with his flight feathers outstretched.  “Just don’t start whining when I fly circles around you.”

“Hey, that’s not nice!”  She narrows her eyes at him.  “Just for that, I won’t let you win now.”

“Oh, so you were planning to originally?”

They take to the sky, chasing each other around the spires and drifting lazily through the moonlit clouds.  Cole marvels at the way her wings cut through the air, silent and smooth like a knife.  His own are built for power and speed but not so much for grace.  He’s sure they make quite the picture above the partygoers.  That is, if any of them bothered to look up.  

As their flight comes to an end, they alight on the highest balcony overlooking the courtyard.  Vania releases her wings, something that used to shock Cole before he got over it through repeated proximity and exposure.  His own wings he splays behind him, their motley of colors nearly twinkling in the low candlelight.  

“I used to think your wings were so funny-looking when we first met,” Vania says suddenly.  

Cole glances up at her sharply.  “Huh?”

She smiles and sits down gently beside him.  The night air is cool and a slight breeze tugs at both of their bangs.  “Your wings,” she says again.  “I mean, I still do.  They’re entirely too much wingspan for any one person to have.”

“Better to catch you with,” Cole replies, the winner of their earlier game of tag.  

Vania rolls her eyes.  “Not just the size of them though.  I couldn’t believe how colorful they were!  There are so many different colors that your wings were kinda ugly.”

“Thanks,” Cole deadpans.  “I’m really feeling the love.”

“Exactly!” she exclaims.  “They’re the colors of the people who love you, right?  I almost didn’t believe my tutor when he told me that, but I couldn’t think of any other reason why anyone would dye their feathers that way.”  She hesitates, one hand held in an aborted movement towards his wings.  “Can I- I mean, would you mind telling me about them?”

Talking about heart-colors isn’t necessarily a taboo subject.  Most people just prefer to keep their relationships and stories more private than not.  Looking at Vania’s hopeful face, half-illuminated orange by candlelight, Cole finds that he isn’t most people.  

“Yeah, sure,” he says, scooting over so he can fan his wings out.  “So you probably could have guessed, but all these ones are the other ninja’s.”  He points out Kai’s sienna, Jay’s pretty blue, Zane’s periwinkle, Nya’s warm maroon, and Lloyd’s bright green that make up the colors on his coverts.  

“This one’s my dad’s,” he says next, stretching out his left wing so the gold catches the candlelight.  “Both of my parents’ colors came in together, of course, but he saw his first because it was a little bit darker than my mom’s.”  He can remember it now, through the haziness of his three-year-old-self’s memory: his dad’s face hovering over him, eyes wide and face caught in some unidentifiable emotion.  

Reverence, Cole thinks now, years and years later.  It’s the same look Kai’s mom and dad give him and Nya when they work side-by-side.  It’s the same look he gave baby Wu, captured and immortalized forever on the tiny polaroid he keeps tucked away in his drawer.

Vania is watching him with a soft expression on her face.  Cole sighs, drawing himself from his memories.  He stretches out his other wing, wrapping it around his front so the color is on display.  “And this was hers,” he says softly.  “My Mom’s.”

“Lilly,” Vania echoes.

Cole nods.  The color on the tips of his feathers is faded now, looking peach instead of the vibrant orange of his childhood.  “For a long time, I couldn’t bear to look at it,” he admits, staring at the floor.  “I’d catch a glimpse out of the corner of my eye, and I hated it so much.  It was a brand of everything I’d lost, taunting me with how much it hurt.”

Vania seems to glow in the candlelight.  “What changed?” she asks.

Cole shrugs, feels how it costs him to be so nonchalant about it.  “The color started fading,” he says simply.  “And I realized that remembering, even though it was so painful, was so much more important that losing her forever.”

Vania is silent.  She hovers her hand over his wings, silently asking permission, and when Cole doesn’t do anything to stop her she drags her fingers gently over soft feathers.  Cole angles his wing so the vulnerable inner parts aren’t exposed, but other than that the petting feels nice.  It’s been so long since someone other than himself touched his wings like this- the ninja, for how much they love each other, are perpetually running off on some hairbrained adventure or another and don’t usually have time for group preening.  

“That’s it,” Vania says eventually, hand stilling over his coverts.  “That’s why I changed my mind about your culture’s wings.”  Her gaze travels somewhere toward the right, somewhere toward where her technologically-flawless and meticulously-kept wings rest against the railing.  Technologically-flawless, meticulously-kept, and completely bare of heart-color.  “I wish, sometimes-”

She cuts herself off.  “It’s not good to think about what-ifs,” she decides firmly, fixing a smile on her face.  Still, her fingers linger a second longer in his golden feathers.  “It must be nice, knowing that you are so loved.”

Cole closes his eyes.  The breeze washes over his hair, carrying with it the slight sounds of the party and his team laughing from below.  

“Yeah,” he says. “Yeah, it is.”

[let-it-raines]

Hello! Don’t know if you’re accepting prompts but just saw a clip of gerrit and amy cole playing catch- she’s pregnant and still bringing the heat! Thought of emma and killian in the CMIYC verse :) hope the muse inspires you, pretty please and thank you :)

I saw that video @galadriel26! Too cute! If anyone wants to watch it, I’ll link it      | Here | 

And if anyone is interested in reading this on ao3, that’s | Here |

-/-

September 2022

Emma hates him.

She really, really does, and she doesn’t plan on changing her mind about that anytime soon. He doesn’t deserve it, and she’s going to stick to that thought process for the foreseeable future.

Because that’s definitely rational, and she is a beacon for being rational at all times.

Or not.

Definitely not. But at least part of the time.

“Take the train home,” Ruby says as she hands her the largest cup of lemonade Emma has ever seen. She’s going to have to pee approximately eighteen times after she drinks it. “I’ll ride with you so you’re not alone.”

“We don’t take anything close to the same route, and I don’t care about riding alone.”

“I don’t care that we’re not on the same route.” Ruby taps her shoulder into Emma’s as Emma takes a sip of her drink. God, this is delicious. She could probably live off of lemonade right now if she didn’t think about how many calories she consumed with a cup this size. And the peeing. So much peeing. “We could get Graham to come get us. He can give us a police escort.”

“That’s excessive.”

“You look miserable. Excessive might be in order.”

Emma hums and leans back in the stadium seat, propping her feet up on the back of the chair in front of her. She needs to wash her sneakers. They have seen better days, and she loves these too much to do anything but preserve them forever. She definitely should have bought more than one pair when she got these.

Killian would have killed her.

As if he doesn’t have a million shoes of his own.

She’s definitely buying at least two more pairs of these shoes when she gets home. She deserves them.

“I’m not miserable,” Emma promises before taking another sip, “but I’m tired. I have been here since eight this morning, and Killian is out on the field running around in circles.”

“That’s called jogging.”

Emma rolls her eyes and tilts her head to lean it on Ruby’s shoulder. “Shut up.”

“I will soon because I’m about to leave for the day. I just wanted to make sure my nephew was going to be okay.”

“Oh, so what about the woman who is wearing extremely elastic shorts to house your nephew? Because if you don’t ask about me, I swear I’m going to pop off on you.”

Ruby chuckles and wraps her arm around Emma’s shoulder. “People ignoring you and only mentioning your stomach today?”

“Oh my gosh, yes. And my boobs. I had actual, real people reference my boobs and how much bigger they are because I work with a bunch of assholes who can only focus on a woman for her boobs.”

“Your boobs are absolutely gigantic, and you’re only seven months.”

Emma’s eyes narrow. If she didn’t want this lemonade so badly, she’d pour it on Ruby for that comment. “If you ever have a kid, I’m going to remind you that you think being seven months pregnant in the summer in New York is an easy thing.”

“I only meant that your boobs are going to get even bigger along with your ankles.”

“Shut up,” Emma laughs, gently hitting Ruby. “I should have never told you I have to wear compression socks while working.”

“That was a mistake.”

“My ankles are normal size.”

“If you say so.” Ruby nods down toward the field. “It looks like your baby daddy is winding down. You going to be okay if I leave you to him? Or are you going to murder him for making you wait here? I’ll support you in that, but there’s only so much I can legally do to get you out of that situation.”

“Nah, I like him too much to murder him.”

“I’ve heard he’s really good at sex, too.”

“Rubes, you’re ridiculous.” Emma pulls herself away from Ruby, standing from the seats and wiping away the sweat that’s pooled at the back of her thighs before grabbing the hair elastic off her wrist and pulling her hair up into a ponytail. “You’re also not lying if I have to be totally honest with you.”

“Ha, I knew it.”

Her eyes rolls, and when Ruby stands, Emma leans over to hug her. She doesn’t actually know what she would do without Ruby and her penchant for asking totally inappropriate questions.

“Go home and let me go try to drag the crazy man off the field, okay?”

“I’m pretty sure he’s trying to win the World Series again to impress you.”

“That would be ridiculous.”

“But it’s definitely true. You might be married to the most romantic man alive.”

“I’m going to tell Graham you said that.”

“Please do. He could step up his game.”

“I’ll slip it into the next conversation, but try as much as you might, there’s not much of a chance of Graham winning the World Series. But I’ll send him a text with a very blunt hint.”

“Perfect.” Ruby places her hands on Emma’s stomach, and Emma has to bite her tongue. She only lets Killian do that because people touching her stomach is freaking weird and should not be a socially accepting just because she has a human growing inside of her. “Baby boy Jones, your mom is going to murder your dad for making her stay here all day, and she’s going to murder me for touching her stomach, so I want you to know that I am the most beautiful woman you’ll ever see.”

“Goodbye, Rubes,” Emma sighs. She takes another sip to keep from laughing. “I’ll let you know if we’re still here in the morning.”

“You might as well wait. You’ll just be super early for work tomorrow.”

“At this rate, we both will be.”

Ruby turns and walks away toward the exit while Emma makes her way down the stands until she’s at the gate that will let her out onto the field. The sun is nearly finished setting, the overhead lights turned on and beaming down onto the field, and the heat from the day is finally melting away so that it’s not excessively sweltering.

She cannot wait for winter. It’ll be cold and comfortable and she won’t be pregnant anymore. She’ll probably be freaking out because she has no idea how to be a mother, but at least her ankles won’t be slightly swollen anymore.

Hopefully.

It’ll all be worth it. Supposedly.

No, definitely.

She’s just miserably hot today and wants to be home on the couch with Netflix on so that she can get up and do this all over again.

They’re going to the ALDS, and she’s so damn excited. They’ve been rebuilding the team for years now, getting back to the top of the game, and this is the first time in a long time that Emma’s felt it in her gut that they’ve got a chance. 2019 feels like decades ago, but it’s only been three years since their lives were insane.

Well, insane in slightly different ways.

At least there are no deadbeat dads working with ex-boyfriends to ruin their lives. She couldn’t go through that again. She needs some kind of calm to be able to get through the next few weeks and keep from getting too stressed.

Pregnancy was obviously a great idea.

“Hey, twenty-nine, they called off practice a few hours ago.”

Killian keeps jogging, but he slows his pace until he’s in a walk and heading straight toward her. He has absolutely soaked through his t-shirt and his shorts, and he is definitely going to smell horrible on the car ride home if he doesn’t shower here.

“I’m getting extra credit, love.”

“You’ve already aced the test. Let’s go.”

Killian pushes his hair off his forehead before reaching back to tug at the back of his shirt, pulling it off and tossing it to the ground. Emma’s stomach swirls, and she swallows the lump in her throat.

Damn, she is luckier than she has any right to be.

Maybe sitting on the couch and watching Netflix isn’t what she actually wants to do right now.

“You see something you like there, Swan?”

“I feel like you took your shirt off because you know my hormones are crazy and that I’m still a little extra horny…on occasion.”

“I took my shirt off because I’m covered in sweat. Something like what you suggested would simply be a perk.”

Emma laughs and meets Killian halfway when he kisses her. “You are incredibly sweaty.”

“If you’re willing to wait a little longer, I’ll shower here.”

“I’m expecting it.”

“Good.” His lips run across her jaw before he pulls back. “You want to do me a favor and do some pitching practice with me?”

“You’re kidding.”

“I notice you didn’t say that as a question.”

“Because it wasn’t.”

Killian’s lips stretch into a smile, and she recognizes it. He’s about to try to charm her pants off, probably quite literally, but she’s not going to let him. She’s going to ignore him and keep on drinking her lemonade.

“C’mon, sweetheart. I’ll cook dinner if you practice with me.”

“You’re already cooking dinner, so you’re really slacking on the convincing.”

“Damn. But to be honest, I was counting on not wearing a shirt to be all the convincing you need.”

Emma shakes her head and takes one last sip of her lemonade before putting it down on the ground. “You have to rub my feet when we get home, and you better promise that you’re not going to nail me with a ball.”

“So many dirty jokes I could make there.”

His brows waggle, and she reaches over to shove him before walking to the pile of equipment behind home plate. She finds a glove that she doesn’t hate, grabs a ball, and meets Killian on the side of the field where he’s waiting for her. They’ve done this countless times out here, in stadiums across the country, and on the rooftop of their house. Though, that last one has led to a broken window at the brownstone across the street, and that was not a pleasant conversation.

She misses one catch and disaster happens.

“I got another jersey today,” Killian tells her as she gently tosses the ball his way.

“For a newborn or for an older kid?”

“I’m thinking toddler. It was cute. They’d gotten it customized with my name and number.”

He pelts the ball back. Okay, so they’re not going super slow today.

“You get it from a fan?”

“Yep. A group of women.”

Emma closes her eyes and shakes her head as she smiles. That does not surprise her in the slightest.

“We’re going to have enough onesies and jerseys to dress this kid until he’s a teenager because of groups of women who love you.”

“What can I say? My pretty face attracts a lot of women.”

“How pretty would it be if I gave you a black eye?”

“I think I would still be at least in the top two of the most stunning men on the team.”

She hears the thwack of her ball in Killian’s glove. “You are never lacking in confidence, are you?”

“I think we both know the answer to that.”

All the time, she thinks.

He lacks it all the time, but he hides it until the darkness of night when it’s just the two of them. The demons have been coming out to play lately with the pressure of the season mounting, that possibility of greatness at the tip of his fingers, and with her due date getting closer as they’re all wrapped up in baseball.

The two of them wanted this more than anything, but their own parents screwed them over so badly that Emma gets the demons. She has them, too.

Not when they’re out here, though, and there’s nothing and no one in the world but the two of them.

“Did I tell you Ruth is coming to town next week?”

“Is she staying with us?”

“If that’s okay with you.”

“Yeah, of course, love. I’ll wash the sheets in the guest room and get some groceries delivered. She still on a pasta kick?”

“She definitely is. You should see the texts she ends me. I don’t think I’ve ever looked at that much pasta.”

“I have, but it wasn’t the good kind of pasta.”

“All pasta is good pasta.”

His ball hits her glove a little harder than she was expecting. Damn, Jones. “That, darling, is not true in the slightest. For instance, wheat pasta and then that pasta you burned.”

“That was one time,” Emma groans as she shakes out her hand while adjusting her stance. “I swear I can cook. I haven’t died of starvation yet.”

“It helps when cereal is available.”

Emma throws the ball as hard as she can at Killian, but he doesn’t even flinch when he catches it. She can throw a fantastic ball, too, so he definitely should have flinched.

Sweat is now dripping down her back, the humidity in the air seeping into her clothes and her skin, and maybe she should take her shirt off as well so she doesn’t get covered. Killian might have had the right idea there.

She is not taking her shirt off in the middle of Yankee Stadium no matter how badly she wants to. That would somehow not go well for her and someone would see, and she’d have even more shit to put up with. Emma’s definitely punching the next person to tell her that she looks like she’s going to pop any minute now.

She’s not.

But why the hell do people think that’s okay to say to a pregnant woman? She swears some people forget that pregnant women are still people all on their own.

“Twenty-nine, I love you, but if you keep making fun of me while killing my arm, you’re going to have to sleep on the couch. And the bad one, not the one in the living room.”

“Does your arm really hurt?”

“I may be a little sore from working out this morning. I’m mostly miserably hot even though I thought it was getting cooler out here. Can we move somewhere that never gets this hot?”

Killian nods and starts walking toward her. He takes his glove off and once he reaches her, he pushes the hair that’s curled on her face back up into her ponytail. “We can go someplace with air-conditioning right now. I feel like that’s an okay compromise.”

“After you shower, right?”

“What? I don’t smell great right now?”

“I already told you that you smelled awful.”

Killian hums as the corners of his lips turn up, and she doesn’t have enough time to run before he’s wrapping his arms around her and pulling her in until she’s covered in sweat and the awful smell of someone who desperately needs to shower. It’s a million times worse than when he leaves his sweaty clothes in the hamper instead of putting them in the washing machine.

“Stop,” Emma groans as she pushes him away. “Killian, stop. I’m going to smell awful.”

“I think it’s too late for that.”

“Oh my gosh,” she laughs as she stops trying to pull back. She’s already screwed. This is disgusting. “You’re a child.”

He shrugs and smiles so widely that his eyes crinkle. “I’m in my thirties, and I play baseball for a living. I’ve never had a reason not to be.”

“Well, that’s not true.”

“No, I suppose it’s not.” Killian releases her from his embrace before stepping away. “C’mon, Swan. There’s no one in the clubhouse. We can go shower. I’ve got clothes for you.”

“If you wanted to get me naked, all you had to do was say.”

“I have been trying for that this entire time.”

Emma shakes her head and chuckles. “You’ve got an early game tomorrow, and you actually have to play. Let’s go shower and then go home. I’m exhausted, and I was promised a foot rub.”

-/-

“What the hell?”

Emma shifts in bed and twists her neck to look at Killian. “What?”

The mattress dips and suddenly Emma feels Killian’s pressing into her back as his arm loops over her stomach. “Look at this.”

She looks down at his phone and at the video that’s playing. It’s the two of them from last night when they were throwing the ball back and forth.

What the hell?

“How did someone get this?”

“I don’t know. There must have been someone still in the stands that saw us and then they sent it in to SportsCenter.”

“Usually I’d be bothered by something like this, but I look like a hell of a lot better pitcher than you here. Look at that accuracy. And according to the caption, I’m a catch.”

“It also says it’s unfair to me because we’re playing two on one.”

“Shut up,” Emma laughs as she leans back into Killian’s embrace. “Have you already looked at the comments?”

“Against my better judgment, I did. There were quite a few about my lack of a shirt and how they could understand how you got pregnant.”

“I feel like a hell of a lot of people have no idea how sex works then.”

Killian snickers into the back of her neck and drops his hand to her stomach. “You do have great accuracy, love.”

“I learned from the best.”

“Rob?”

“Oh, yeah, definitely, Rob. He’s undoubtedly the best pitcher on the team.”

“I guess you’ll have to keep practicing with me until I get that title.”

“We’re going to be practicing for a long damn time then.”

Killian pulls her back against him and buries his nose in her neck. His scruff is prickly against her skin, but the burn of it is pleasant as his lips run across the cords in her neck before settling just below her ear.

“Are you and the kid going to gang up on me or are we going to let him like me for a little while?”

“I think we’ll let him like you until he’s five, and then he’s my partner in crime.”

“That is the most reasonable plan you’ve ever had.”

She huffs and places her hand over Killian’s on her stomach. “I don’t think you have anything to worry about, babe. Though, I’m definitely going to be the one to teach Jace how to throw a ball. You suck.”

“Aren’t you the one who broke the Taylor’s window?”

“I said teach him how to throw. That was a catching problem on my part. We’ll have to let Scarlet teach him all about that.”

“The thought of Scarlet teaching my kid anything is terrifying.”

“Please. You trust Will with your life.”

Killian nods into her neck again and places a soft kiss there. “I trust him with you, yeah. Do you want some breakfast? We need to get ready for work soon.”

“Do we still have that fruit bowl?”

“Mhm.”

“I’ll have that. Just give me five more minutes and then we can get up and get ready.”

“Five more minutes tends to mean about an hour.”

“No,” Emma sighs. “Five minutes. I mean it.”

“Fine, Swan, we can have five more minutes.”

-/-

-/-

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