#I watched this series! I'm mad they canceled it.

[vivwritesfics]

Hungry Like The Wolf

Chapter Ten

She hadn't seen her best friend, Lando, in years. She didn't run into him the last time she was visiting her father and she doubted she'd see him this time. Things were different now. She wasn't aware of his furry little problem. Just like she wasn't aware of the vampires plaguing the town.

1.9K

Vampire!Oscar x Reader x Werewolf!Lando

Series Masterlist

Feel free to buy me a coffee ☕☕

Of the six dates they'd been on, one of them had cancelled or rescheduled yet. It was just Oscar's luck that he was the first to do so.

"I'm really sorry guys," he said, holding the phone up to his ear. He couldn't sound more apologetic if he tried.

The ring around Lando's contact picture lit up green as he let out a growl. But it wasn't a growl of anger, and Oscar knew that. He couldn't blame Lando, though. He'd planned this date out and he'd been so excited.

"It's okay," she quickly jumped in before Lando could bite out some angry remark, ring around her contact picture lighting up purple. "Lando and I can get takeout and watch a movie instead. You'll join us when you're done, right?"

The breath Oscar let out was full of relief. "Of course I will, sweetheart," he said.

"What're you doing tonight?" Lando asked, voice clipped.

Oscar swallowed the lump in his throat. He coughed slightly, delaying answering the question. "I... uh, we're getting food tonight," he said and coughed again.

"Oh," The two of them answered.

He hated talking about feeding with them. It was disgusting, it wasn't normal. And it was something he never wanted the two of them to see. "Are you sure you still want me to come back?"

"Of course we do, Osc," she mumbled. "Take as long as you need."

The call didn't last much longer than that. Lando didn't have much to say and Oscar had to get going. "I'll see you guys later," he said. Not an I love you, they weren't at that point yet.

He ended the call between the three of them, slipped his phone into his pocket, and walked into the living room. There his fellow vampires were, waiting for him. Mark gave him a nod as he sat down between Logan and Max.

"Is everybody ready?" Asked Mark and the vampires let out different whoops and cheers. Mark clapped his hands together. "Let's get going, then."

Oscar let out a breath and followed the rest of his fellow vampires out of the house. He checked his phone one last time, checked for any messages from her and Lando.

She'd texted him, something cute. Just a quick, 'see you later, Osc. Miss ya!'. But Lando hadn't said anything. He was pissed, Oscar knew that. He was a werewolf; he didn't understand. Lando could eat whenever he wanted, he didn't need to wait for nights like this to hunt.

Yuki elbowed his shoulder and Oscar slipped his phone into his pocket. He sucked in a breath and followed the others into the woods.

***

"You can't be mad at him," she said as she ran her fingers through Lando's hair.

He let out a huff as he laid against her, his head on her boobs. God, he was comfortable, but he knew he would have been happier if Oscar was there with them. Lando would have been laying across the both of them as she played with his hair and Oscar ran his nails up and down his back.

But Oscar wasn't there and Lando was mad.

He looked at her, wearing a pout. It was pathetic of him, to be pouting like a petulant child, he knew. But he couldn't help it. He was sad and a little mad, and she had to know it.

Her finger poked his nose. "You're lucky you're cute, Norris," she whispered.

And suddenly he was on top of her, his lips on hers, hips pressing against her own. Hips hips were against hers, grinding ever so slightly.

Beneath them, her bed was squeaking. "Lando." She pushed at his shoulder. "Lando, stop. Stop, before my dad comes in," she whispered.

With a giggle, Lando laughed and sat back. "Did you know I had a crush on you when we were kids?" He asked as he laid down beside her and pulled her closer.

"Yeah," she answered as she began planning with his fingers. "Yeah, I knew."

Lando frowned at that. He stilled his hand as she continued to play with his fingers. "You knew?" He repeated, and she nodded. "But you didn't like me back?"

"No, I did. But I was only gonna be here for a few weeks or months at a time, so I didn't see any point."

Lando pulled his hand away from hers and sat up straighter. "Aren't you only here for a few months this time around?"

She rolled her eyes. She hadn't meant to, but Lando was being a pouty baby and it was over nothing. Except, this time, he wasn't pouting. No, anger and fury was in his eyes. "C'mon, Lan. This is different. We were kids then, and saying goodbye after only spending a few months, at most, together would have been so painful."

"How is this any different?" He barked back. "Oh, wait, I know. This time you'd leave for four years, instead of nine months."

"Lando!"

The laugh he released was like poisoned air between them. "You're saying my name like you're not gonna leave in a few months."

She had no defence for that. Tears sprang to her eyes, but she couldn't stop herself from glaring at him. "This isn't fair to me, you know," she whispered, pulling her legs up to her chest. "Yeah, I was gonna have to leave, but I was gonna come back! And you guys could visit me!"

But Lando had moved over to the window. "I need some air," he said as he pushed the window open.

"Lando!" She called again. But, in the blink of an eye, he was gone. She climbed out of the bed and raced over to the window, but Lando was long gone. Her eyes scanned over the yard and back towards to the woods, but he was nowhere to be found.

She left the window open, just in case Lando came back, but she crawled over to the bed and threw herself on top of the comforters. The movie was still playing, but she had no idea what was happening. She didn't care as she cried into her pillow.

How long as she laid there? She didn't know as he buried her face against the pillow.

There was a noise, the unmistakable sound of someone coming in through the window. She sat up and wiped at her eyes as she looked at the intruder. The welcome intruder.

"Sweetheart," Oscar said as he strode towards the bed. "What happened?"

His hand was on her back, moving in soothing circles as she moved closer to him. "He's such an asshole," she spat, and Oscar wiped her tears from her cheek.

"Lando?" He asked, and she nodded. Oscar let out a sigh. "Okay, tell me what he did."

She did just that, telling him everything as she laid against his side. Oscars hand was still against her. Cold and so still. He squeezed her, kissed the top of her head.

"He just lashed out? For no reason?" Oscar asked as her head sat on his shoulder and her lips nipped at his neck.

"Yeah," she mumbled.

There first fight, and he wasn't even there. If he had been, he could have stopped it. He could have stopped Lando from leaving and he could have gotten them to talk it out.

"Oh, sweetheart," he whispered and kissed the top of her head. "Do you want me to and speak to him?" He asked gently.

Her hand was against his chest as she pushed him back against the bed. "Later," she said and laid beside him, head on his chest. "Just... be here with me."

Oscar stayed with her. His arms were around holding her close as they watched the rest of the movie. Neither of them really knew what was going on, but Oscar didn't much care as he felt her breathing even out.

As soon as it did, Oscar untangled her body from his own. He laid her on the bed and pulled her blanket over her body. "I'll be back soon," he whispered as he brushed her hair away from her forehead. He leaned down to kiss her head and took off, leaving through the window.

The moment he got into the woods, the wolves made it clear he wasn't welcome. He walked with his hands in his pockets as he made his way to the pack house.

And, suddenly, a wolf was in front of him. His black fur made him almost invisible in the dead of night. "Carlos," Oscar said as he stared down at the wolf. "I need to speak to Lando."

Carlos growled. His stance was ready to bounce, but Oscar stood firm. He was getting to Lando one way or another, even if he had to go through Carlos.

"Stand down, Chilli," came a familiar voice.

Oscar looked just past him. Daniel Ricciardo, one of the friendliest wolves around, strode towards him. "You're here for Lan, right?" He called and Oscar gave a nod. "Right, let's go." He waved for Oscar to follow him and Carlos stepped to the side, letting him through.

He followed Daniel towards the pack house, acutely aware of Carlos behind him. But he ignored it as he moved forward. "So, you two are really together? You and Toto's kid?" Asked Daniel as he navigated through the woods.

"Yeah," Oscar answered. "Yeah, we are."

Daniel gave a laugh, but it wasn't mocking. "You guys are making history here," he said as the pack house came into view. "A werewolf and a vampire together. I never thought I'd see it."

He walked him through the front door and up the stairs, ignoring the growls of the other wolves. As long as Daniel was leading him, Oscar knew he was fine.

At the first door on the left, he knocked. "Piss off!" Lando called, but Daniel nodded for Oscar to enter.

"Lan?" He called as he walked into the room.

Lando swivelled his spinning chair to face the door. "Osc," he said with slight surprise. "I thought you were busy."

"I was," he said, shutting the door and pressing his back against it. "And then I headed to come meet you guys. Except, when I got there, you had already gone and our girl was crying."

His voice was so gentle, it had Lando bowing his head. "I didn't mean to make her cry," he mumbled. "I just... I was so angry. She's gonna leave again and I can't handle that," he admitted.

"Talk to me, baby," said Oscar as he came to sit on Lando's bed. "What's got you so angry?" He looked around the room, at all of the things Lando had on his shelves. His gaming set up and childhood sports trophies were no surprise, and Oscar knew how much he loved golf. It wasn't the bedroom of a man, but Oscar loved it.

And then he spied the calendar on the back of the door. Just on date was circled, the date of the full moon. "Oh, Lan." Oscar sighed. "It's the full moon, isn't it? That's why you've been extra angry, right?"

"It's no excuse, Osco," He mumbled, head thrown back and eyes shut. "She probably hates me."

Oscar kissed his head. "That's why we're gonna gonna back to hers and you're gonna apologise and you two are gonna make up. Sound good?"

Lando nodded his head. "Sounds good," he said and pulled Oscar towards him.

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[ladykibutsuji]

"Treat You Better"

Tsugikuni Brothers x Reader

Chapter 2: The Appearance Of Threat

Yoriichi x Reader x Michikatsu

MODERN AU

A SERIES

WARNING: SWEARING, SEXUAL HARASSMENT

I DON'T OWN THE PICTURE, I GOT IT FROM PINTEREST

TIME 8:00 AM

> NEW INSTAGRAM NOTIFICATION!

You let out a yawn and streched your arms, You then rubbed your eyes and look over to your other side only to find the younger tsugikuni still asleep clinging onto you.

After the event last night, yoriichi offered you to watch a movie with him in order to forget about your failed confession to the older tsugikuni to which you accepted. you fell asleep while watching the movie with yoriichi. So here you are with yoriichi cuddling you while you are half awake.

You smiled at him and patted his head while he was sleeping soundly. You didn't want to wake him up since he looks so peaceful so you slowly and gently reach out to your phone that was not so far away from you.

After you successfully managed to reach out your phone you quickly click on the new Instagram notification.

—

[Mitsuri]

Goodmorning Y/N, I heard about what happened TvT

I feel so bad for what happened! So to cheer up your mood wanna go shopping with me and shinobu-chan later? (•̀ᴗ•́)

[Y/N]

Goodmorning aswell Mitsu, It's been a while since we went shopping together so why not? :)

[Mitsuri]

Yay! ^v^ we will pick you up at your house at 11:00, How does that sound??

[Y/N]

I'm down for it!

—

You gently woke up the sleeping yoriichi who's clinging onto you because you are going to hangout with mitsuri and shinobu in about 3 hours therefore you have to get ready before 11.

"Can't you stay a little longer" Yoriichi whined as you giggled and gave him an apology "Mitsu and Shinobu will be mad at me if I cancel it now"

"that's sad.." he paused and loosen his arms "Are they more important to you than me" he gave you a sad look a deceiving one

You rolled your eyes at him since you knew what he was trying to do, "I'm just kidding" he chuckled at your expression "Have fun with them! I'll give you a ride home if you want" he offered.

You accepted his offer since you wanted to save up your money or maybe to spend more time with him

Yoriichi told you to wait for him downstairs since he is still getting ready for the day so you decided to go to the kitchen to make yourself coffee, you have been in the tsugikuni's mansion a lot of times so you know where all their stuff is placed at atleast most of them

While approaching the kitchen closer you can smell such delicious foods and you assumed that it was their maid cooking but when you peeked over you found the Older Tsugikuni brother in a purple apron cooking breakfast for himself for you

Without even looking at you, he already noticed your presence. "are you just going to stare?"

Due to the events from last night, it was kind of awkward for you to try and respond to him

"I..uh... sorry I'll be leaving" before you could turn around he quickly spoke "You should eat before you start your day, going out with an empty stomach is unpleasant."

'Since when did he care so much?' you thought, "I'm full right n-"

"I insist."

Leaving you with no choice, you just gave in since you know you couldn't win against this man he has too much pride

You sat down in the dining room while kokushibo placed down the foods he just cooked, it was Gruyère, Bacon and Spinach Scrambled Eggs in one plate.

"..Thank you for the food, kokushibo." You expressed while he turned over to you "Michikatsu is fine in private."

You nodded your head while you stared the food for a while 'i wonder how it taste' you thought, you then took a fork and picked up the food by the fork then you put it in your mouth to taste it

'Oh god, this is heavenly'

You expected the food to taste good but not this 'Good'

You looked over to michikatsu who is observing your facial expression in order to tell if his cooking impressed you or not.

"I know that you can cook but not this good, this taste so good!" you expressed while happily eating the food, It was addicting.

Michikatsu smirked knowing that you were impressed by his cooking, He continued on observing you while you were eating it was silent for a few minutes until he finally decided to talk

"Y/N, about last night.."

He caught your attention and you stopped eating, "What about last night?" You asked while there's still food stuffed on your mouth.

"I made a mis-"

"Y/N, The car is ready."

The both of you turned your heads to look at yoriichi with his car keys on his hand.

Michikatsu was mad because he ruined it again but choosed to hide it and just smiled at you.

You thanked michikatsu again for the food and waved him goodbye while he just gave you a nod.

As soon as the both of you got in the car yoriichi quickly asked you out of concern "Are you okay?" you didn't want yoriichi to worried about you so you assured him "Yes I'm fine thank you for asking."

Yoriichi sighed in relief and began to start the car.

After a few minutes of driving and talking, It finally reached your destination so you got out the car and thanked yoriichi.

"you're welcome, Take care of yourself.. I'll see you soon" yoriichi said as he drove off.

You sighed and reached out to your pockets to get your house keys.

You were about to open the door but suddenly you were greeted by someone.

"Y/N CHANNNN!!! I'M SO SORRY FOR BARGING INTO YOUR HOUSE WITHOUT YOUR PERMISSION I GOT SO WORRIED" Mitsuri exclaimed, she quickly hugged the (H/C) Woman as soon as she saw her.

"mitsu! God you scared me how did you get in?" She asked as shinobu appeared behind Mitsuri swaying the keys in her fingers.

"You gave me some of your spare keys, remember?" Shinobu answered as she joined the hug making it a 'group hug'

"You guys... Thank you for being concerned but I'm really okay" she assured smiling at both her friends who seem concerned about her well-being, they both pulled away from the hug.

Shinobu then asked "Oh by the way, where were you Y/N chan?"

You didn't answer honestly because you know these two would go wild if they knew you slept over at yoriichi's room. "I just bought some stuff!"

Shinobu tilted her head slightly "oh is that so? But your eyes doesn't say so~", it was impossible to get away from shinobu's sense so you sighed in defeat "I was at yoriichi's."

The both gasped in surprised, "you get it sis! Take the younger brother when the older one doesn't want you!" Said mitsuri who was cheering while shinobu supported mitsuri "Exactly! Yoriichi is the hotter twin anyways"

You facepalmed at their comments, "Alright, alright calm down now you two. I'll get ready and let's go okay?"

Shinobu hummed while mitsuri responded an 'alright!'

IN THE CORP'S MEETING

"We should keep an eye out for The L/N's only Daughter. He will probably be after her" The Master and Head of the organization warned

"How are you so sure master?" The big guy in a black suit with a bead necklace asked.

The Master hummed "Instincts."

The Master then gently took the book from the young white hair girl's hand assumed to be the master's daughter "The L/N's company is close to surpassing that man's company. They are now equal but it seems that the L/N's becoming more successful than that man lately. He might use the only female in their family to retrieve information about her mother's company to cause their downfall." The Master explained.

"We promised protection and alliances with The L/N, we can't let them down and we can't let the corrupted win. So please my children, Do your best." He added as they all bowed their head in respect.

"As you wish Master."

BACK WITH Y/N

You were getting dragged around by mitsuri going on a crazy shopping spree, she was literally buying everything she finds cute while shinobu was trailing behind the both of you.

"LET'S GO THERE!"

"Look shinobu chan! This would suit y/n right? Try it!"

"Shinobu chan! This purple oversize shirt suits you!"

"HURRYYYY~ LET'S GO OVER THERE"

You and shinobu were literally struggling to keep up with the pink head's energy.

"She's so energetic, I'm getting tired" shinobu whined while she was clinging onto your shoulders for support, you handed her a water bottle "here drink this"

She took the water bottle from your hand and drank it, "thank you y/n chan~" she said happily while still tired from all the shopping mitsuri did

After a while of buying Clothes, accessories, jewelries and cute stuff, you decided to treat the girls for lunch and mitsuri ordered a lot Rip your wallet

You were gossiping with the 2 girls and just catching up about your life until shinobu's phone was ringing

"Wait I'll be right back" she said as she got out the restaurant to take the call

"So Y/N chan, what happened between you and yori?" Mitsuri asked while smiling widely

You gave her an embarrassed look "Nothing we just simply watched a movie!"

Mitsuri then came closer to your face "Hmm~ really?" She teased while you were literally red in embarrassment.

"I'm back" Shinobu announced as you and mitsuri turned your head to her, "Mitsu, we need to get going. Master is requesting our presence" she informed while mitsuri saddened since she didn't want to be separated from you just yet

"Y/N chan, thank you for the treat!" Shinobu expressed giving you a smile "I'll be looking forward to hangout with you again! But for now we have to cut this hangout short due to business matters. I'll be seeing you soon! I love ya!" Shinobu added giving you a playful fly kiss while mitsuri waved goodbye at you

"Take care you two!" You said as you watched them walk away in a hurry.

You took a deep breath and continued on eating your food.

After finishing your food, you noticed that it was getting dark outside though it was only afternoon so you assumed that it was going to rain.

However this doesn't stopped you from taking a walk at the nearest park, you wanted peace so you just decided to walk at the park near the mall.

You sat on a small bench watching the sky above you and relaxing.

However there's something wrong

You feel like there someone's watching you

You were quickly distracted out of your thoughts by the rain pouring slowly, so you quickly went to the nearest store to shelter yourself in the meantime. The store you went in was empty only the owner is present which is an elderly lady.

"Good after Ms." The elder greeted, as you greeted her back "Good afternoo-"

You were quickly interrupted by a guy who's about 5'9 entering the store, he harshly opened the door and slammed it hard.

"Oi old lady! Is my order ready?" He asked in a loud voice while the elderly lady sweated and answered him stuttering "i-uh..yes! Please give me a moment to plastic it."

You were annoyed by his unpleasant and disrespectful behavior so you decided to speak up "You should show more respect to elderly people.", He then said a 'Huh' out loud

He turned to look at you "And who the fuck are y-" he stopped speaking when your body features caught his attention. After observing you for a while a smirked was formed on the his lips

"How lucky am I to have run into you here.." he expressed while walking towards you closer, "The fuck are you doing?" You asked in a disgusted tone while looking at him as if he was the worst 'thing' ever created.

"Oi Jaru! Don't touch that lady!" The elderly woman yelled trying to stop the Guy who's approaching you. She fears that guy but she doesn't want you to get hurt so she took the risk.

"shut up old lady!" He yelled still walking towards you while you walked backwards.

You took out your pepper spray from your bag but everything happened so quick you couldn't even spray it to his eyes since he tossed it aside from your hands.

He was too strong for you.

He grabbed your chin forcing you to look up at him, you spat at him so he got mad and slapped you.

You tried to look for the elderly lady but she was nowhere to be seen, did she just abandoned you?

"looking for someone to save you dear?~ too bad no one is here." He said as he forced his lips onto yours, you tried to push him but he clearly overpowered you so you couldn't do anything at all

His tongue forcefully entered your mouth and you took the chance to bite it as hard as you can, he pushed you as roughly as he could causing you to fall down onto the ground while he was screaming in pain

"THAT FUCKING HURTS! YOU BITCH!"

blood was dripping from his mouth and he was clearly in pain, you tried to run away while he was distracted unfortunately he noticed you trying to run away so he grabbed your hair and forced you onto the ground making you grunt in pain

"You fucking bastard! Let me go!" You said trying to free yourself from him, you were literally scratching his hands that grabbed your hair but it was no use.

"Oh~ what a nice ass you have there lady" he smacked your ass and you decided to start yelling for help but it was no use. Nobody was around and the store you were in was empty it was far away from the other stores

"say..are you a virgin?" He asked while gripping onto your ass

"fuck..you"

"I'll take that as a yes, I really hit jackpot this time!" He let out a laugh and hit your ass once again, he was about to start pulling your pants but something caught both of your attentions

"I believe Sexual Harassment can lead to being rotten In prison."

You tried to look at the where the voice came from and when you finally got a view it was a man with black tuxedo, a red tie over a white shirt, black pants and black coat with a red spider Lily design placed on his shoulders, he was pale and was carrying a briefcase.

"Mind your own business!" The guy yelled trying to shoo the Man away.

"The girl is my business." He calmly said as he took something out his Briefcase, "$1,000,000 in exchange you must leave the girl alone."

'a check for $1,000,000? Is he insane?' you thought.

The guy let go of your hair and grabbed the piece of paper out of the Man's hand "I'm finally getting paid for my shit. The girl is yours." He said as he scanned to check if the check was real. It was indeed real.

He left the store laughing like a complete maniac, while you were still sitting in the ground shock and panting from what Just happened.

The man bent over to your height as he put some of your hair behind your ears.

"Poor you..." He gave you a sympathetic look as he stood up offering his hand to help you get up, you took his hand and it was surprisingly soft and you finally managed to stand up properly thanks to his help.

It was still raining heavily outside so he gave you his coat putting it on your shoulders "It's cold outside, I'll take you home Ms."

He escorted you out of the store and immediately opened the door of his Porsche 911 in order for you to not get wet in the rain.

You were in the passenger seat and he was in the driver seat, before he started the car he asked you a question "Where do you live?"

You hesitate to answer at first but then remembered that he saved you from that weirdo "At Taiyō to tsuki hills, street 917". He gave you a nod as he started driving towards the given address.

It was quiet for a while until you decided to speak "Thank you...for saving me from that creep" You expressed while looking down too shy to even look at the man.

"I only did what others would do." He responded, "Because of me your $1,000,000 was wasted. I'm really sorry you didn't have to do th-"

"shh~ a million is nothing to me" he respond while still eyeing the road, He only have one hand on the steering wheel the other was on the hand brake.

You looked over to him slightly and he looked back at you, as soon as you made eye contact you quickly broke it and covered your face. God he's too handsome

"such beauty, it would be a shame if you cover it." He said in a gentle tone.

The sentence he just said made your heart beat faster and your brain go berserk, you were a blushing mess now.

"Oh I forgot to introduce myself." He paused as you finally got the courage to look at him with a straight face.

"My name is Kibutsuji Muzan"

'Kibutsuji Muzan?' his name rang to the walls of your head as you finally recognized him.

He is a famous actor and a child of a famous politician. He came from a very wealthy family, one of the wealthiest in Japan.

But other than that, yoriichi and your mother did mentioned something about "Kibutsuji"

FLASHBACK

(Yoriichi)

You and yoriichi were eating at McDonald's and you noticed him so deep in his thoughts so you decided to ask him about it

"I can see you are thinking about something, spill it out" you demanded as yoriichi looked at you, he took a deep breath preparing to say what's on his mind

"I'm worried you might meet that guy." He paused taking a bite from his burger "If you meet someone with the last name kibutsuji You must stay away at all cost."

(MOTHER)

Back then you were still a clueless kid trying to surprise your mother by hiding however instead of surprising your mother you were the one who got surprised.

"Are you meat riding the kibutsujis you fuckhead?! This isn't a fair game! I had a lot of proof that fucking kibutsuji sabotaged me!"

You were shock at your Mother's language, you haven't seen her so angry like this and for you this is the first time you heard her swear.

END OF FLASHBACK

Remembering what you heard from your mother and what yoriichi told you, The name Kibutsuji is a threat.

However you refused to believe that the man who just saved you a few minutes prior is a threat.

Maybe they were wrong about 'the kibutsuji'

You decided to ignore what yoriichi told you and what you heard from your mother.

After all, you can't just judge a person based on what you heard from other people.

"It's such a pleasure to meet you kibutsuji, I'm L/N Y/N" you said as he responded "The pleasure is all mine Ms. L/N."

After a few more minutes, you finally arrived at your house and the weather have calm down. After getting out the car you decided to ask him if he wants to stay at your house for a dessert just to repay his kindness he showed to you.

"I would love to but sadly, I have a meeting to attend maybe next time?" He said as you nodded.

You exchanged numbers after that he got in his car waving you a goodbye and droved off.

You then looked at your clothes noticing that you forgot to return his coat and he probably forgot to ask for it back so you just decided to return it next time when the both of you meet again.

"What a handsome guy." You expressed while smiling at your own thoughts.

With ???

"my head...did I fainted out of stress?" She asked herself as she rubbed her head gently, trying to remember what happened before she blacked out

"Nope! I knocked you out cold" the elderly lady flinched at the voice, she then looked at the man Infront of her. It was a 6ft tall man with a rare pair of eye colors and blonde hair.

She then observed her surroundings and noticed that she is still in the store's kitchen. "What happened to that lady? She was getting h-"

The blonde guy put a finger into the elderly lady's mouth shushing her "shh~ she's fine now, she's probably with our master!" He said proudly with a wide smile

"who are you?" She asked with hesitation as the man Infront of her chuckled "My name is douma"

"And I am the one who will send you to the after life."

BANG

???'s POV

I could hear the loud gunshot from the store, that dumbass douma actually killed the elderly lady.

What did I expect? He literally kills everyone he finds annoying even if it's not part of the mission assigned to us.

I was approaching closer to the dark valley where the supposed meet-up is.

As I approached the dark valley a guy called out to me "Oi! Are you one of that man's dogs?"

This must be him.

"are you the one he sent over to that girl?" I asked.

"Oh that girl? Yeah! Damn I wish I could of have atleast took her virginity before that little girl escapes, God she was really pretty and she had that captivating type of body too!"

These kind of man disgusts me.

I wish he would just dropped dead.

"the money is here" I dropped the bag I was holding Infront of him, I watched him open the bag as he scanned the money.

"That guy is really rich huh!"

I just stared at him with disgust.

"Do you believe in the afterlife?", He looked at me and responded "Are you a shithead? How am I supposed to know I haven't even died"

"Cool, because you are about to experience it now" I shoot his penis first and watched him screamed in pain

Disgusting men like him deserves this kind of punishment before dying.

"SHIT HEAD FUCKKK THAT HURTS YOU MOTHERFUCKING ASSHOLE I'LL NEVER FORGET YOU HOPE YOU DIE FUCKING SHIT I'LL CURSE YOUR NAME EVEN IF I'M DEAD"

He kept cussing at me but I couldn't care less.

"you don't even know my name." I looked at him like he was a pathetic piece of shit "But since I'm feeling nice enough today I'll give you my name, I'm akaza."

BANG

END OF CHAPTER

OFF-SCREEN

• Michikatsu was trying to call you the whole time but he didn't realize that your phone was on mute

• Akaza didn't like the idea of men harassing women and making them uncomfortable, he is fully against it.

• Kibutsuji and L/N are Family rivals / Business competitors

[sixohsixoheightfourtwo]

literallyyyyy ...... sorry to be petty but the cw (RIP) spent YEARS making shows with female leads conscious diversity more gay characters than i can be bothered to remember AND in many cases what can only be described as. extremely camp sensibilities... i am not saying that they were necessarily good characters or good shows! and i understand some of the storylines were not well handled / some shows were prematurely cancelled - but it's truly an excessively fandom brained take to forget about all of that and effectively define queer content as 'the canonisation of the ship i like in the currently airing show i like', to define it as 'the thing i am personally into the thing i personally care about'. i mean - jane the virgin spoilers I guess -

you may disagree with this as television or even as representation! but it's most definitely gay . the fact is we hate the cw not because they made the angel gay but because they made the angel gay and were then like. what angel! and killed dean.

sorry to whoever this person was I took this screenshot from. absolutely peak behaviour of some kind ... . person who has never seen or been aware of riverdale, crazy ex girlfriend, jane the virgin, roswell new mexico, etc, decides to log on to tumblr dot com and compare television networks

[heteromerous-rhyming]

dam i feel like a breaking my silence meme at this point ahahaha

but i wanted to talk a bit about the criticism leveled against criticism that any criticism of the show will affect whether or not we get a second season.

bc like. if percy jackson doesn't get renewed, i feel like the current fanbase is liable to turn on good faith criticism and blame that as the reason.

some facts, first: the show has become the 3rd most watched streaming original series. it debuted at 4th. the viewership numbers, if anything, are going up. (thank you variety for the useful article) this is due to good marketing and the decision of the producers or disney to air the show weekly, episode by episode.

from what i've seen, criticism has been in the minority of posts. criticism of the pjo show is not the thing that gets tens of thousands of likes or reblogs (keeping in mind that i'm mostly on tumblr goodbye to twitter that hellsite) this show has been widely praised, widely defended, and widely discussed.

i think, especially because this fanbase has been burned before, and because of the recent cancellations of adaptations, there's a lot of paranoia (perhaps justified) going around about cancellation in general. and i understand that. this has been a widely anticipated series, a widely beloved set of books. i would hate for this show to be cancelled.

but. but but but.

cancellation is a decision that is made by the company. and i'd urge people to not forget that. the enemy here (in regards to cancellation but also just in general) is disney, is the company. cancelling the show would be a financial and business decision. i highly highly doubt that any criticism on social media (at least in regards to the pjo show) would become big enough to become a deciding factor in this decision.

and if it were? i would still ask why you would blame good faith criticism. anyone whose "criticism" is clearly poorly veiled racism can rot in hades, by the way. but if it is good faith criticism that cancels the show, that means that there would have been enough people who were dissatisfied that people up top took notice and agreed. and if that were the case, why be mad at the people who gave that criticism? if that were the case, why not be critical of the writing or the directing of a show that people were clearly dissatisfied with? why not ask better from the show producers?

ig all this to say that i'd really really warn against advocating for censorship in the hope that it might incrementally change a decision that is ultimately not open or transparent to the public. most of the criticism that i've seen has been by fans, has been by people who would love to love the show. and if you don't want to see that, by all means block or mute or do whatever you need to do. but don't blame them. don't tell them to shut up because you are afraid.

[starrnai]

HER MAFIA BOSS (TEASER)

Hey guys here is a preview to a series I'm thing of writing- let me know if you like it and if I should write the whole series :)

You owe him a cash debt. Well really your father did but now that he's dead your the one who has to pay him back. Him- Jeon Jungkook- the most powerful mafia in South Korea. A man who everyone fears, including you.

That's how you ended up face to face with the mysterious man himself, and he was asking you to .... marry him?!?

"What did you just say"

"You owe me $100,000, and lets be real darling you'll never be able to pay me back, so theres only one way to setter this - marry me." Your heart raced and you couldn't breathe. Marry him? Marry this-this monster?

Jungkook stood watching your internal debacle, looking quite amused.

"Think of my offer, it's a win-win situation" He said taking a sip of gin as his eyes pressed down on you, a sly smile on his lips.

"I- I don't understand, why would you want to marry me, how does that benifit you at all?" You stutter, confused at his proclamation.

"Oh, that's easy." He says with a sly grin. "I need to find someone who's trustworthy and loyal to marry, and I think you're the perfect one. Plus, you're absolutely gorgeous."

You looked mildly terrified at the sheer craziness of it all.

Don't look so scared." He says with a sly grin. "Think of it this way, if you marry me I'll cancel all your debts and you'll be safe as long as you don't make me mad. I'm a generous guy, right?"

His voice was smooth and gentle, his eyes darkening seductively as he spoke.

"But you dont even know me" You countered.

"but thats where your wrong." He says playfully, smiling cheekily at you. "I know everything about you"

T/B/C????

ᯓ ᡣ𐭩 nai

[notfernintheslighest]

Obligatory TW for discussions of racism in media

Did anyone else notice that Deadpool 3 had way fewer characters of color? I really loved the movie and all but it felt like there was none of the characters I went to watch a Deadpool movie for. Like why is Dopinder replaced with that white man? Dopinder is one of my favorites and he’s just gone, same with Colossus. They literally replaced Dopinder with Peter, which was the joke they were making in the last movie, until they killed Peter almost immediately. Dopinder literally had a whole arc going. Where is his slow descent into madness? Like none of the main characters were people of color in this movie and the side characters were also a lot of whiter. Why doesn’t Domino make another appearance, or Firefist… Wade literally sacrificed himself to save that kid and he’s gone? Didn’t we spend a whole movie caring about them? Like Blind Al’s screen time even felt cut but maybe I'm reaching. I get that they’re not in Wade’s universe anymore but only like Blade is "new" and POC, which is typical of Disney, but not of Deadpool. He also didn’t seem to have as much screen-time as everyone else. There’s also a lot fewer references to African American culture, if memory serves. Maybe I’m delusional, but like even in the references and music it seemed to PALE in comparison to previous movies. I mean I guess Disney will be Disney, white right? I’m not excited to see how the mutants will be handled by them. Especially since the Doom casting, but playing a character outside his race isn’t new for RDJ, some could even argue that it isn’t even Tropic and that he’ll bring the Thunder.

I have only really seen one person, Nikhil Clayton on tiktok, talk about this and that was only about the lack of Dopinder to make room for White Dopinder Peter. This combined with canceling Donald Glover’s Deadpool series allegedly for being too black and making fun of Taylor Swift is not a great look.

Considering what Blake Lively has been exposed for + Ryan by extension (he’s heavily involved in the This Ends With Us debacle.) I wonder how Taylor Swift found out about the episode since allegedly it was her getting upset that “broke the camel’s back.” Shows typically don’t reach out and ask celebs who are mentioned, this is entirely speculative, but I wonder if her friend, Blake Lively, found out through her husband and somehow that information made it back to Swift. I remember Donald mentioning they had to lowkey force Ryan out of the writers room (which would be on track with his wife and his behavior on the set of This Ends With Us) but maybe I misunderstood. I don’t know for sure what all is going on, and the general public may never know, but I do know that something about this seems wrong. I hope I'm just overthinking all this, but the friends I’ve talked to have all agreed.

[freakcliff]

Things I think happened between x-men first class and days of future past in the Xavier mansion:

one time both Charles and Hank are drunk and sad and Charles tries to make a move on Hank because this is what he does but Hank being Hank gets so freaked out and then spends the next month thinking oh god does this make me homophobic I'm not homophobic but I'm also not gay I can't be gay because being blue is already bad enough and shit I didn't know the professor was gay but I'm not homophobic though I need to be supportive so loudly that Charles decides that hes never bringing it up again

Hank gets mad at Charles for being some sort of bitch (as he is frequently) but Charles spends like a week entirely oblivious to this because hes shit ass at reading people's emotions when he can't actively hear them

all of star trek the original series airs and is cancelled. in dofp they have a bit where you can see star trek playing on a TV in Hanks lab which means that hes a star trek fan. I think he and Charles watched all of TOS together but I think Charles Xavier is a fake ass nerd who doesn't like watching TV especially sci fi stuff. he spends the entire time pointing out possible scientific inaccuracies and makes the viewing experience generally worse

they also do this with doctor who. which started airing the day after jfk was assassinated

they definetly have a lot of late night emotional conversations in which they reveal far too much about themselves and don't solve anything

Hank tries to bring up the substance abuse problem exactly Once after which they don't talk for a month and it is never brought up again

Hank IS getting payed through all of this for the job he had when the school was still open . he's thought about bringing it up but a) that sounds awkward as hell and b) he doesn't actually want to stop being payed. he thinks he deserves a salary

stonewall happens in 1969. Hank, who has done a lot of growth and self reflection over the years keeps up with it because he thinks the queer community and mutants share a lot of struggles. he tries to bring it up to Charles but Charles goes hmm why should I care and Hank goes I don't know why I even try

Hank does go to the first pride parade it's really great for him he meets a group of queer mutants. it's really big in his journey towards self acceptance

[lilaccatholic]

I watched Lockwood & Co because of you and I'm so mad at Netflix for cancelling it!!!! And I'm mad I'll never see how the story was going to go and end!!!!!

My friend do I have a series of books for you

I know it's not the same thing as watching it, but the books are amazing and they tell an excellent story! Definitely read them if you can!

[those-badass-reeds]

Seriously Netflix, what the fuck?

They cancelled Kaos, which has only just been released! I mean I shouldn't be surprised because I've been down this road so many times now, but I guess I thought that all the big name actors and the good production value meant Netflix actually cared about this one. Plus, it's not a sapphic series so I thought it would escape the curse, but nope! Not only have they cancelled it, but they've done so after barely giving people time to hear about and watch it.

I myself have one episode left, I'm not generally a binge watcher and there are certain shows that I only like to put on when I know I'll be paying full attention, Kaos being one of them. I think this was actually the first new thing I've watched on Netflix for a very long time, it peaked my interest immediately.

I just truly can't understand the logic behind forking out all that money and effort to then immediately say 'sayonara!' and I'm also mad at myself for still falling into the Netflix trap

[supremeprince-bensolo]

i was disponited and angry about the acotyle got cancelled and there was campaign to save series

I'm so mad. We finally got a show with brand new characters and a story with so many interesting ideas that they'd only barely scratched the surface of so far.

It's only been a month since the finale. I'm sure there are lots of people who hadn't gotten around to watching it yet, or were waiting for it to be renewed to start watching (who now will probably never watch). Success should not be determined by the first few weeks of release. Most shows need time to find an audience.

There are many classic shows whose first seasons, or first few seasons, were not well received but they had time to find their footing and ended up being incredibly popular and successful. The Acolyte should have been given that chance.

But instead it's been cancelled and we'll never get to see the full potential of what it could have become.

[hope-of-virgo]

I don't get mad about stuff like this too often, but here we go.

Recent series Willow, on Disney+, is being pulled next week, so it looks like I'm ploughing through the rest of it real quick.

Willow has a very open and obvious sapphic relationship. It actually surprised me, considering how phobic Disney is about openly portraying gay stuff. They're in the business of making money, and particularly if they're courting countries that are significantly less friendly to queer people, it seems that they're willing to sell us out in pursuit of a quick buck.

They're citing costs, but realistically storage of high-resolution video costs fuck-all in 2023, so it's much more likely that they're sweating a bit about who might be watching. Added to the mix is their shitfight with the State of Florida, and the rising amount of anti-queer laws in their home country. Just today, Florida banned public performances of "adult content", including charges for people who attend, and this has effectively cancelled Pride events across the state.

Crucially, the portrayal of a respectful and loving relationship between young women was done as part of a coming-of-age, which is important for young people who are going through puberty and perhaps realising that they're not straight.

Willow isn't available on physical media as far as I'm aware, so for an entire generation of people who aren't familiar with P2P sharing and use of a computer outside of an app-based environment, the entire thing will just straight up vanish. I'm stopping short of calling it a book burning, but the entire way in which this is being handled should be of concern. What happens when a company just unilaterally decides that something digital-only goes away? It's literally the issue I had with digital distribution in the year two thousand and fucking seven, when I went "oh, so you're telling me that if Steam shuts down tomorrow, suddenly I don't own any games because I bought a licence, not a copy?" Like, fuck, I can still jump on my desktop computer today and fire up a copy of Grandia 2 that I bought in 2004 without worrying whether GOG is still a thing that exists.

It's no wonder that an entire generation of people is becoming disillusioned with establishments and looking to spearhead major changes, and understandably the establishment is shitting their britches about the coming upheaval of the status quo. In a (probably mangled) quote from Willow, "One day we'll be in charge, and we don't have to do things the same way our parents did".

[kristinamae093]

Ghosted

Ghosted- A Plan (Chapter 2)

Series Summary - Prince Liam fell for Riley Brooks hard and fast. A marriage filled with love and devotion was within his reach. But everything changed when she vanished just before the end of the social season. As everyone voices their concerns regarding her scandalous departure, a confession from an unlikely source turns Liam's world upside down and makes him question everything around him.

Book/Pairing - TRR- Liam x MC (Riley Brooks), hints of Liam x Madeleine

A/N1: This AU starts right before the beginning of the engagement tour. There is a two-month lapse between the coronation and where we pick up, but we will stray from canon.

A/N2: Please excuse all errors, I'm posting as I leave for work. No Liam this chapter, but I promise next is ALL Liam.

Characters belong to Pixelberry.

Soft music filled the ballroom of the Beaumont estate. White tablecloths adorned every table, all complete with centerpieces of white and navy flowers. Servants bustled through the room clearing tables from the dinner that had just concluded, and rounded the room with Ramsford’s own sparkling wine. Nobles circulated and chatted while they waited for the proper party to begin. 

The air filled with tension only a select few could feel. 

Maxwell sat at the head table alone and watched the crowd. This was the point in the evening he would usually become a one man dancing machine, but Maxwell didn’t feel like dancing.

Since Riley disappeared, Maxwell was completely desolate. He felt like he had lost his sister, his best friend. He couldn’t fathom why she would do this. Her departure had come at such a random time, completely out of the blue; nothing about it made sense. She seemed happy. She talked like she was genuinely excited about the future. There was never any sign she regretted her decision to come to Cordonia or wished to return home. His mind’s questions had to be pushed aside, however, as they had to continue forward with the social season. 

As they left Applewood for their own estate, Bertrand’s sadness cleared, and an all-consuming cloud of anger, regret, and panic engulfed him; the realization that they were truly doomed dawned on him. With no suitor, they would face scrutiny and mockery; it was inevitable. The press would surely catch wind of their tanked finances, and now there was no end in sight.

Bertrand was incredibly upset with himself for allowing their reputation to be put in such a situation. But, he found the most fault to ultimately lie with Maxwell, for making such an irrational decision to begin with. He had only been a fool and went along with his ridiculous suggestion. 

When they arrived and found that their cleaning crew had canceled, they had to scramble to get their estate in order for their upcoming doomsday. Drake stayed behind in Applewood with Liam, and nobody else could know their situation; there was no one to call. So Bertrand and Maxwell had to roll up their sleeves and scrub the entire structure from top to bottom. They worked all day and all night; even then, Bertrand still nit-picked the job they had done. 

Bertrand had spent the entire time scolding Maxwell and continuously telling him he was at fault for their predicament. He lashed out and berated an already devastated Maxwell, but in his panicked stupor, Bertrand did not care one bit. Deep down he knew Maxwell did nothing wrong, but any rationality he had left him.

As Maxwell looked throughout the room, he spotted Liam in the corner with Drake, but twisted his gaze elsewhere. He figured if anyone had a right to be mad at him, it was Liam. He knew the turmoil he was experiencing, and couldn’t even imagine what Liam must have felt. Liam’s heartbroken face after he read her note permanently engraved itself in his mind, as well as the animalistic cry that escaped him soon after.

Maxwell had sat across from Liam at dinner, but avoided eye contact. The two didn’t speak; in fact, nobody really spoke. Regina asked about Riley’s whereabouts, but Bertrand quickly steered the conversation elsewhere. The King and Queen were the only two at the table who had even finished their meals; everyone else opted to pay more attention to the wine.  

Maxwell was pulled from his daze by Bertrand, as he tapped on his glass to get the room’s attention. “If everyone would please enter the reception hall, we will proceed with the festivities.” He stated, very matter-of-factly. 

Maxwell continued to sit in his seat and ignored Bertrand’s request. He knew it was time for their infamous toast, and his anxiety heightened the more he thought about it. Everyone expected to see three Beaumonts, and he didn’t know how Bertrand planned to spin things. 

Maxwell caught movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to see Bertrand as he stomped towards him. He let out a breath and prepared himself for the tongue lashing he was about to receive. 

“Maxwell! Get up! You have a toast to make!” Bertrand ordered.

Maxwell’s eyes widened. “What? Me? B-but… we’re supposed to do this together!” he stammered.

Bertrand scoffed, “Absolutely not! All night, I’ve had to avoid questions regarding Lady Riley’s whereabouts. Since this is your fault, you will set the record straight.”

“But-”

“But nothing! I will not take fault for the situation we’re in due to your poor choices! It’s time you owned up to your irresponsibilities! Our entire lives, I have continuously bent over backwards to fix the things that you’ve broken, but no more.” Bertrand shook his head. “I still can not believe this is happening! What would father say, Maxwell?!”

“Well, he pr-”

“He would disown you! Our reputation, our finances, it’s as good as gone! All of it! There is no solution! No one will want to do business with us! We’ll be lucky if we can stay afloat until Christmas!”

“I’m sorry, Bertrand! I didn’t mean to-”

Bertrand laughed sardonically. “Sorry won’t save you this time. You’re going to have to take responsibility for what you’ve done and deal with the repercussions. The Beaumont name will be tainted forever, but I will not allow you to bring me down with you. You, and you alone, will take responsibility for this monstrosity you've created.”

“Bertrand please! I didn’t do anything! I swear! I-I’m just as shocked as you are!” Maxwell pleaded. 

“This is not a discussion! I am telling you what is going to happen, whether you agree or not. You can continue to sit here and cry about it, or you can get up and be a man for once in your life, and take accountability for your careless decisions.” 

Maxwell continued to sit and stare wide eyed at Bertrand, as his last statement cut through his heart like a knife. He physically felt his entire soul hit the very pits of his stomach, and shatter even further. He wanted to believe Bertrand didn’t mean any of the crude things he had been saying, but the glare Bertrand gave said otherwise. Bertrand looked completely disgusted, enraged, and disappointed in Maxwell; all because he took a chance on a quirky American who had captured the heart of one of his dearest friends. 

“MAXWELL. NOW.” Bertrand boomed.

Maxwell stood from his seat and looked at Bertrand with a broken expression. “Bertrand, please… Can’t we-”

Bertrand took a step further to stand in Maxwell’s personal space and growled, “No. NO. Get this ‘we’ notion out of your head this instant! You, and you alone, will take responsibility for this; do you understand?” 

Maxwell held his intense gaze for a few brief moments before he finally relented and slightly nodded his head. He could give no other response, as his throat had constricted. He turned and made his way to the reception hall. Maxwell could feel his heart thump rapidly in his chest, as well as the wine from dinner doing somersaults in his abdomen. His hands trembled at his sides, and he felt incredibly dizzy as he slowly made his way to his destination. 

As Maxwell approached the stairs, he stopped and looked back at Bertrand, who had followed closely behind him. Maxwell gave him a look of disdain, but Bertrand gave him a stern nod of the head and ignored Maxwell’s silent plea. 

Maxwell reluctantly turned back around and trudged up the staircase. At halfway, he turned around to address the crowd. 

“H-Hello everyone… Um… So… First off, I’d like to thank you all for coming. We really appreciate you being here.” He stopped to look at Bertrand, who shook his head. “I mean, I really appreciate you being here…” he trailed off.  

Maxwell looked out into the crowd and squinted his eyes to blind his vision from the rays of chandelier lights on his face. As his eyesight re-centered, he saw every gaze in the room intently directed at him. He ran a visibly shaky hand through his hair, and attempted to continue, “Uh … Y-You’re probably wondering where Lady Riley is… And um, well… “ he tucked his chin down to his chest before he quietly and quickly spit out, “she left.”

Maxwell heard a throat clear and looked up to meet Bertrand’s steely gaze. Maxwell looked at him with sad eyes, silently begging Bertrand to end this nightmare. He held his gaze for what felt like a lifetime before Bertrand once again nodded his head in a silent order for him to continue. 

Maxwell tried to swallow the prominent lump in his throat, but it would not budge. He shuffled his feet for a moment before he cleared his throat, and abruptly and loudly blurted out, “Lady Riley is no longer in the social season.” 

Gasps and whispers filled the room. Everyone turned their heads to the person next to them to confirm they had heard him correctly. It was completely unprecedented for a house to lose their suitor, especially so close to the finish of the season. Rumors immediately started regarding why they had lost their suitor, and at such a crucial moment in time. 

Maxwell gulped, and at another stern nod from Bertrand continued. “I’d like to take this opportunity formally to accept responsibility for this……oversight. My brother trusted me to make a wise decision, and I-I failed… I failed him, I failed our country, and I failed myself…”

Drake arrived at the bar shortly later. He exited his truck and leaned up against it as he waited for Olivia’s SUV to arrive. He had tried to get Olivia to ride with him, but Olivia said she ‘would rather enter the pits of hell barefoot’ than get into his truck with him. 

As the SUV that carried Olivia pulled up, Drake crossed the parking lot to meet her as she exited the vehicle. He followed behind her as the two approached the doors. 

Upon entering the establishment, Olivia scrunched her nose. “What is that smell?”

“A bar?”

“It smells like… you… Ugh... It’s repulsive.” Olivia shuddered.

Drake stopped dead in his tracks and turned to face her. “Can you not be a bitch for ten seconds?”

Olivia stopped as well. “Sure, when you can refrain from being a neanderthal for three.” she retorted with a smirk as she kept her gaze straight in front of her. 

Drake sighed and ran a hand down his face. “This is gonna be a long night…”

A bark of laughter escaped Olivia. “HA! You’re telling me!”

Drake put his hands up in surrender. “Look, I don’t like you. You don’t like me. That’s fine. But we have a common goal here. For the sake of whatever is going on, we need a truce.” 

“Not a chance.”

“Olivia.” Drake growled. 

Olivia let out a huff before she relented. “Fine. Until we figure out this maze of an ordeal, I suppose we can have a truce.”

The two shared an intense glare before Drake extended his hand for a handshake. Olivia glanced at it momentarily before she caved and lightly returned the gesture.

As she released Drake’s hand, Olivia promptly reached into her bag and pulled out a small container of hand sanitizer. She squeezed a generous amount onto the hand Drake had just shook and rubbed her palms together. 

“Seriously?!“

“What? I don’t know where your hands have been.” Olivia retorted with another shudder. She put her head up and walked further into the crowded bar. 

Drake shook his head and muttered a few obscenities under his breath, but followed her path. He scanned the crowd and noticed Maxwell sitting at a secluded table in the corner. He wore a hat and sunglasses, but was anything but subtle. The hat he wore was bright blue, with what looked to be peacock feathers etched in the design.

Drake pointed out Maxwell to Olivia, who rolled her eyes at his ensemble; the two of them made their way over to Maxwell.

As Drake approached the table, he asked, “Maxwell, what the hell are you wearing?”

“A disguise! Duh!”

“Yeah, I get what you were going for. But for the record, dark colors help hide you better.”

“This is the only hat I have!” Maxwell said as he quickly pulled the cap from his head. He tucked it into the seat next to him and took his sunglasses off before he looked back up at Drake. “It’s been a long time, Buddy! I’m so glad to see you!”

“Don’t call me Buddy.”

“But it’s been so long! Cuuummmmmmoooooon Drake, you know you missed me!” Maxwell sang at him. 

“Don’t push it.” Drake grumbled. He took a seat at the table next to Maxwell, which then revealed Olivia as she stood behind him.  

Maxwell gasped and grabbed Drake by the arm. “Drake, are you alright?! Are you sick? Do you have a fever?!” He tried to put his hand on Drake’s forehead, but Drake quickly slapped his hand away.

“I wish…”

“Ha. Ha.” Olivia said as she rolled her eyes and took the seat across from Maxwell.

Drake turned to Maxwell. “So, how are you? And yes, it has been a long time, but you still can’t call me Buddy.”

Maxwell sighed as his peppy demeanor faded, and an air of melancholy overcame his entire being. “I mean, I’ve spent the last two months hiding from the world in spreadsheets and graphs, so…”

“Why do you think you need to hide, Max? What happened wasn’t your fault!”

“Isn’t it, though? I’m the one who invited her here…” Maxwell trailed off as he picked at his napkin on the table in front of him. 

“But you are not responsible for what happened!”

“Try telling that to Bertrand…”

“He still bad?”

Maxwell cringed before responding in a quiet voice. “Yeah… I don’t think we’ll ever be the way we were before. Even with the scandal, he still blames me... Except then it changed to ‘you brought an American harlot here to represent House Beaumont'." He looked down and shook his head. “He’s told me multiple times he doesn’t want me trying to help him salvage our house’s finances. It’s only so I stay in his sight, and don’t ruin our reputation further…” He cleared his throat and looked away.

House Beaumont had been in a tumultuous time, to say the least. Rumors spread immediately regarding their suitor’s sudden departure, each with their own theory as to why. Before they were given a chance to issue a formal statement, Ana De Luca ran her story about their broken financial situation and tied the two together. That rumor ran through the mill until the Coronation, when the new conclusion for Riley’s departure came to light. But the damage had already been done to House Beaumont.

Deals started falling through and donors retracted donations. Nobody wanted to be associated with the sullied brothers; the ones who had sponsored the disgraced suitor to begin with. Stories would still occasionally run, and they were always regarding their continuous downward spiral. They had enough secured transactions to stay afloat this long, but found themselves quickly drowning in a sea of ‘no’s and denial.

Bertrand continued to berate and blame Maxwell, but Maxwell never said a word, nor challenged him; because he truly believed what he was saying to be true. He placed all blame on himself, and could only take his scoldings for his error in judgement like the ‘man’ he thought he needed to be. Maxwell had given up hope a long time ago that Bertrand would forgive him, instead he just did whatever was requested of him without hesitation or question. He did the best he could, but Bertrand always found an issue with the work Maxwell would present. 

“Damn, I’m sorry, man….” Drake responded and gave him a pat on the back, unsure of what else to say.

Maxwell shook his head in acknowledgement before an awkward silence overtook the group. Olivia sat and eyed the patrons critically and questioned why she even agreed to come. Drake took a menu and browsed the drink selection to decide what to order. Maxwell sat and stole quick glances between Olivia and Drake as he tried to decipher why the two of them had arrived together. 

“So……” Maxwell started, attempting to break the silence.

“Something to say, Beaumont?” Olivia quipped.

“Well… I was just kind of wondering why you’re here. This definitely doesn’t seem like it’s your style.”

Olivia laughed. “It’s not. Unfortunately, we have business to conduct.”

Maxwell’s eyes grew wide. “Um… We? Like… with me?”

“Yes, you. But before we begin, I need you to understand that this is a delicate situation, and your utmost discretion is necessary. Can you agree to that?”

“Yes?” Maxwell responded with uncertainty. 

Olivia glared daggers at Maxwell. He sat up straighter and cleared his throat. “I mean, yes. Of course. How may I be of service, Duchess?”

Olivia rolled her eyes, but quietly told Maxwell about everything that she knew and her suspicions, but didn’t show him the pictures due to the capacity in the bar. Maxwell sat and listened intently to every word she said. He hung on every word she said, trying his hardest to process and keep up. 

When Olivia finished, Maxwell sat and stared into his drink for a long while. Long enough that Drake grew worried. 

“Uh, Max?” Drake asked as he tapped his arm to get his attention.

“I knew it,” Maxwell whispered as he wiped a tear from his eye, “I didn’t know what happened exactly, but I knew something wasn’t right…” he trailed off and shook his head. 

“I know, man. I kinda think we all did. But nobody had anything to back it up…” Drake ran a hand through his hair and fixed his gaze on the table in front of him.

Both men let a wave of guilt wash over them for not acting sooner. Drake and Maxwell each had their doubts with the country, and Liam’s conclusion that Riley had run off to be with Tariq. But Drake knew that with Liam as enraged as he was, bringing up the idea could have gotten him exiled, especially with no proof. 

Maxwell was put to work under Bertrand’s watchful eye, cut off from the outside world. He spent every moment he was awake with Bertrand. The only reason he managed to escape for a night was because Bertrand had a meeting and left the estate. He wouldn’t dare utter a word about his suspicions to Bertrand, as he probably wouldn’t have listened to him, even if Maxwell had said something.

Olivia sat and watched both men get lost in their thoughts. She let them wallow for only a minute or two, before she slammed her palm down on the table; causing Drake to nearly flip over in his chair, and Maxwell to almost knock his drink off the table. 

“What the hell, Olivia?!” Drake shouted.

“You two have to stop sulking! What’s happened, happened. There is nothing we can do to change that. We can, however, try to get some answers for everyone involved.” 

Olivia placed her hands on the table in front of her before she continued. “Now, Beaumont. You were the last person to physically see Riley in Cordonia, that we know of. Does anything stand out from your last conversation with her?”

Maxwell shook his head. “No. Not at all. She said she was tired and was going to head to bed. She even said she would see me in the morning!”

“Do you recall what time that was?” 

“Not really. I know it was shortly after the toasts concluded, though.”

Drake’s eyes widened. “Seriously?! That was super early! I stayed down there for at least another hour, possibly two!“ 

“Was it? I didn’t think much of it. We had been traveling for days on end and any second of down time she had was spent being lectured by Bertrand.” Maxwell responded with a shrug. 

“That would make her one of the first to retire. If she had already packed, she could have easily made an escape in that time frame. Especially with everyone else still at the party downstairs.” Olivia interjected. 

Maxwell shook his head. “Her stuff wasn’t packed, not before the party anyway. I know that for a fact. I was with her before the Jamboree started while she got dressed and what not.”

Drake’s mind started running overtime. He knew he did not hear Riley at all that night. Drake had found her gone at the same time as Liam and Maxwell. He started pondering about her retiring early. If she moved fast enough, she could have packed and left before he had made it back to his room for the night. 

But would she do that?  

Olivia sighed, “Well, I’m not sure if that will be relevant, but it is worth noting.”

“We gotta take all this to Liam!” Maxwell exclaimed. 

“That’s where I started. He doesn’t think the pictures are enough proof, and her retiring early doesn’t prove much at this point either.”

“How?! I haven’t even seen the pictures, but I believe you!”

Drake answered. “I saw it in his eyes when Olivia showed ‘em to us. I know he’s thinking about it. But he’s hurt and has been since she left. He’s channeling all that humiliation and sadness into anger. And a part of me thinks he doesn’t want to admit he was wrong and didn’t jump on investigating sooner.” 

“I’d agree that would be a safe assumption. We have to find more evidence to prove to him that something did happen that night.” Olivia responded with a determined expression.

“But what do we do? Where do we even start? It’s been two months, Olivia! I want to believe that there’s something out there, but what if we’re just chasing a dead end?” Maxwell asked as he dejectedly looked into his drink.

“To start, we need to locate Tariq. I did some searching, and it seems there’s no trace of him. The last time he was seen was at the Country Jamboree.” 

“How do we do that?” Drake asked. 

“I’ll look into it. Thus far, I haven't had any luck. But, I have a contact in intelligence. Maybe I can work out a deal for Tariq’s location.” 

“What about Riley?” Maxwell asked quietly, with his gaze still fixated on his drink. 

“We will get to that. But if what Liam said was correct, Bastien already couldn’t locate her. So we may have easier luck getting to Tariq and making him talk first.”          

“What can we do in the meantime? While you try to find him?” Drake asked.

“Since the engagement tour is starting in a couple of days, we can use that as a cover for our investigation. I take it we will all be in attendance?”

“Yep.”

“I mean yeah, but… I don’t know how much help I can be... Bertrand has already made it very clear that the only reason I’m being allowed to go with him is because the invitation was formally addressed to Bertrand and Maxwell Beaumont.”

“That’s fine. We need to bide our time for the first couple of events until the court reaches Applewood. I’m not sure what we can find, given how much time has passed, but we at least need to rule it out. We must investigate any and every lead, no matter how small, and that was the last place either of them was seen in Cordonia.” 

“I agree. I’ll see if I can get Liam to tell me where they put her phone.” Drake suggested. 

Olivia raised her brows in surprise. “Wow. Good thinking, Walker. Maybe this won’t be as horrendous as I feared.” 

“You’re not the only smart one here, thank you very much.” Drake scoffed.

“Looks can be deceiving, I suppose,” Olivia smirked. 

“I always wondered about that. Why did she leave her phone? What was the purpose of that? Wouldn’t she need it?” Maxwell asked. 

“You’re right. That’s just the start of things that don’t add up, of the things Liam’s turning a blind eye to.” 

Drake nodded. “We gotta get past this wall he’s built up. I know he doesn’t believe that shit for a second.” 

Olivia laughed. “Trust me, Walker. It won’t take much. He can try all he wants, but I am better than him at his own game. I can read right through him. In his heart, he knows the truth. He’s only denying because he feels like he has to.” 

“But why? Why does he have to? He loves her! He shouldn’t be fighting us on this!” Maxwell exclaimed. 

“I know. He shouldn’t be, but he’s been through a lot. He thinks he’s protecting himself. But we will make him see the truth.” Olivia replied with utmost confidence. 

Drake gave her a determined look. “Yeah, we will. You know what? I’m gonna go see him, invite him to Applewood with us. I’ll give it my best shot and hopefully make him see reason.” He turned to Maxwell. “You can come too. Maybe if we leave the intimidating red dragon at home, he’ll actually listen.”

“Awwwww, you think I’m intimidating, Walker? How sweet of you.”

Drake ignored Olivia as he awaited Maxwell’s answer. “I… Uh… I guess I could go…” Maxwell responded in an unsure tone. 

Drake patted Maxwell on the back. “Relax. It’ll be fine. Ain’t nothin’ to worry ‘bout.”

“... Okay, but... promise me if we decide to form an official alliance, we will be the Cordonian Power Rangers, and I get to be the blue one.” Maxwell stated with a completely firm expression. He held it for only a few moments before a small smile crept across his face.

Drake and Olivia both rolled their eyes, but Drake subtly grinned. It was nice to see bits of the old Maxwell poke through, despite everything he had been through.

Drake retrieved his forgotten menu, and finally selected a seasonal skull cracker ale; the regular skull cracker, but with a slight spice flavor added. He put his menu back in the holder before he turned his attention to Olivia. “You gonna order something?”

Olivia rose from the table and scoffed, “God no. My business here is done. I suppose I’ll see you two on the engagement tour.”

Tags (If you'd like to be added or removed, please let me know): @choicesficwriterscreationstions @ao719 @txemrn @imashybish @emkay512 @queenrileyrose @kingliam2019 @riseandshinelittleblossom @dcbbw @tessa-liam @twinkleallnight @amandablink @cordonia-gothqueen @sfb123 @jared2612 @harleybeaumont @bebepac @charlotteg234 @aussiegurl1234 @busywoman @malblk21 @angelasscribbles @bascmve01  

[headcanon-territory]

☆ ~ Part 6 review and rambles - by a person who has part 6 as their first TV series watch -> reasons why because of that one edit in instragram that made it look cool

☆ CHAPTER 1 - Herlock Shomes arc aka Lupin III snooze fest ☆

>Ok to simply start, Part 6 has one of my favorite character designs in the series, I really love work of the Art Director of this Part and 2 of the specials they worked in

-But Part 6 Lupin is too attractive for me that I'm not normal when he comes up sometimes

-On a scale of attractiveness Teal Jacket is up there with Koike Lupin and CGI Lupin

~☆

>Art direction good, Animation was rough on them though

> especially the car scenes girl those are part of this series' core that it's kinda funny - they could have cheesed their way in making it cool by yknow by cutting the fps and do some squashing magic but I dont think budget and time can make up anything for it

>I should watch Part 5 for more Albert and Yata especially Albert because Yata, in comparison to what I said in the movie review post is actually... ok just not as exceptional as Prison of the Past Yata

>Ok to the biggest flaw this part have done - The Sherlock Holmes arc that took half the season

-ive been 2x speeding that whole thing because to simply put: It's almost all talk, the characters are cramped into one scene standing so awkwardly, NERFED ZENIGATA

-they should have some time to flex out the thing with Lily and Lupin because it feels so off that she immediatly knew that Lupin didn't kill her father with ease. Girl let the mystery be a mystery like how did she easily move on when that girl is trauamatized by his mere presence the first time she saw him

>And Sherlock and Lupin immediatly resolved their conflict with eachother when Sherlock disguised himself as Zenigata despite how they advertised part 6 as Lupin vs Sherlock

>SERIOUSLY ONE EPISODE WITH THEM INSIDE A LITTLE RESTAURANT WITH CRIMINALS?? THE TALKING TOOK HALF THE EPISODE IN ONE SETTING

>The Angel Fossil episode was written by Mamoru Oshii right?? Man nice to know he got a chance to show off a piece of his cancelled idea back then

-but instead of The little girl actually being an angel from the original pitch it's that blonde dude from the beginning actually being The Archangel, Michael.

-its an interesting plot but sadly was boring

-Do like that Heaven is canon to Lupin

>The time period episodes are the ones I only enjoyed along with the episode with a treasure hunter Grandma - Sad that they were kinda fillers and could have been used for more stuff with Sherlock

>GOT YURI BAITED FUCK

>God I don't think the production crew was enjoying the first half the moment theyre done with that and immediatly up with some Lupgang shenanigans felt like they can stretch their legs again

>I'm not a Sherlock Holmes fan but the closest thing that I watched related to this series is The Great Mouse Detective and I'm telling you TMS, you guys fumbled such a concept about Lupin III against Sherlock Holmes

>the story was almost all talk, they explained that shit to you with no proper buildup I was 2x speeding this shit in one day before school starts

>"Pops is not a badass" TMS count your days

~ CHAPTER 2: The Tomoe Arc ~ Mommy issues fuckfest ~

>Now Tomoe arc is the good shit and I'm so mad that the Lupin vs Sherlock thing was the thing that advertised Part 6 primarily

>infact all of my screenshots from Part 6 is from this half of the series

>Ok we have the Lupin fangirl episode, a Fanfiction episode, the episode with the fashion designer and Goemon -- THOSE ARE MY FAVORITES - AND THEY ARE ALL CONNECTED TO THE ARC THEY WERENT FILLERS??

>Me rn

>She got most of them from Pinterest boards

>I would have those photos as my pfp btw

>I like sweet man Lupin alot that's why I refuse to watch the more harsher lupin media because sweet lupin is such a comfort character

>I'm sorry Part 6, that whole monologue of Lupin in the trailer going "I'm a villain, I do bad stuff" goes nowhere in this series because Teal Jacket Lupin acts specifically like Cagliostro Lupin especially when he's with Mattea

>also Mattea kinda deconstructs the trope of the innocent girl character that we always have in the movies especially how Lupin treats her

-man she is fucked up but sad they didn't show her story more clearly

>Actually all the "Dangerous Women" that appeared each episode also deconstucts the whole thing with the NPC girls from the movies existing there for Lupin to solve their problems with how all of them are containing pieces of a puzzle that Lupin has to solve for his own problems - only for that problem to escalate

>The episodes that distances itself from the plot were fun that I didn't mind

>I'm gonna peg you Lupin

>I'm so horny for Teal Jacket Lupin save my soul

>Stupid snork minimi outfits

>Also the fact they even explained why the Lupgang are shown cooking dinner and have turns is because of Poker

-isnt that the most (unconvetional) marriage thing ever

>Even the 2nd half dosent Yuri Bait you this immediatly is superior than whatever the first half tried to offer

>Ok now the Tomoe arc has some unavoidable flaws, of course the ending and the reveal was lackluster and turns out that Tomoe was just chilling somewhere but hey what else can they do

>But the 2 episodes before the ending was wow..

>slowly and surely we are trying to figure out the nature of Tomoe through all the perspective of the girls and only in Episode 22, we finally got a peak of what Tomoe is capable of

>and how fucked up she is - Tomoe is doing all of that just to get Lupin back??

[TW:S/A AND SUICIDE MENTION]

-She has to fuck up lives of girls especially with Mattea and Mariel like girl?? You are manipulating a girl that she loves the guy that raped her???? And even got another girl in the scene to shoot the men Mariel interacted with and shoot herself after

>Wow how everything is set up and all comes together is great. sad that they all end up standing there in the last confrontation

>Also the surreal parts and fucked up lupin is what I came for holy shit look at that

>Tomoe's plan can't work dawg has his gang on the back of his mind

-Also the cage symbolism

-i really fuck with these scenes

>tomoe those cards aren't meant for you and Lupin that's meant to represent The Lupgang and their poker nights in order to see who's cooking dinner

>Fujiko's symbol item was a lipstick?? but what else can represent Fujiko

>Should have some Zenigata in there because of them being in eachother's subconcious

>Also fucked up Lupin shots goes so hard

>I should watch Mamo I need to dissect the lupins

>I absolutely love Tony Oliver's performance I was interested on how hes gonna work this past episodes out especially that this cast started with this series on crack

>The ending was saved by the conclusion being Polycule love wins

>and the lupgang being important to Lupin kinda shows too during the episodes with the ladies and how they are also connected to some of them

>seriously hold up

-You woke up from a hypnotist's trance because of your "companions"

- Your 'partner' shoves a cigarette into your mouth that was from his MOUTH

-said that they have dinner duties when one of them lose to poker

>Yea Fujiko you simply said that one episode regarding the lupgang, "I wouldn't call them exactly friends"

Yea because THEIR YOUR BOYFRINEDS!!!! YOUR STUPISF BOYFRIENDS!!!1!‼️‼️

>also the series after this was Lupin: Zero and weirdly never shows Lupin's mom but what they show is that Grandpa Lup and Dad Lup are also terrible parents so therefore: Lupin is the result of unproper care when he was a kid, genetics by horrible people and his only loving figure was a creepy woman that manipulated him

~~~~ END - What could've been & Zenigata ~~~~

How everything was set up in the tomoe arc and how that part of of the season was enjoyable enough I do wish They executed it better because alot of ideas had so much potential

Especially some scenes in the middle of the sherlock Holmes part

Like Zeni telling Yata to leave because the case is not safe for him since he knows the lengths Lupin can go and plus Sherlock Holmes but Yata refuses as he won't leave his teacher. Cool right?? And then got fucked over with the lack of Zenigata just for Sherlock to shine.

The overwhelming lack of Zenigata was the biggest flaw this part done even for the 2nd half. The writers don't wanna handle him that they put him in fucking jail for some Yata screentime. I love Yata but Yata content in exchange for Zenigata's??

And Zenigata was the guy that found out Tomoe's hiding spot for the audience to know but he came there last minute

And even they put the usual lupgang shenanigans in the last second

But in the end: Part 6 was saved in the second half but was still overshadowed by the very very undercooked first half that would have worked If the production team even tried

and The cast being so enjoyable kept me going but it really shows that without them I wouldn't have watched anything from the part at all..

~ ~ ~ ~

Sivhghgh,; you can even watch the 2nd half without the need of watching the 1st - It's fun and fun angst

[seiwas]

sel i don’t know what’s been in the air lately but i cannot stop thinking about iwa!!! the way he’d get flustered the first time you call him haji <333 he’s so in love with you, he smiles even if you call him haji accidentally when you’re mad at him!!! also buying cute pilates or gym sets and modelling them for him in your bedroom he just LOVES watching you <33 but it’s a little annoying cause u can’t trust his options cause he just says you look gorgeous in all of them <333 also the first time you wore a blue set he’d liked in particular to the gym you have to suck him off in the car cause he underestimated how much of an effect you’d have on him

oh my god. i was awwing the entire half of this until i got to the end was like whoAH WHOAH WHOAH. so true tho nonie. he can't drive w a raging boner, that'd just be too dangerous! also, buying cute pilates/gym sets gets him so rock hard i cannot EVEN. i love that idea nonie

truly... the enlightenment is in the air that’s what it is 😌🥺 we are finally being enlighjime-d, iwaitened. he also absolutely does get flustered when you first call him haji 🥺 i have a lil thing… i wrote abt that… actually… it's part of my hajime series (which is privated rn bc i'm rewriting it!! my writing style has changed a bit since i first wrote it) but!! i'll put it up here for our enjoyment 🥹🥹 and maximum feels (unfortunately, it is entirely innocent and no sucking off in the car but it is still so very dear to me! 🥺)

When Iwaizumi takes up Sports Science in California, you stay behind and complete your degree in Japan. The time difference sucks; just as he starts his day, you’re ending yours. Still, you make an effort to talk within the window of hours you’re able to. 

At 1:03 a.m., you are cozied up on your bed, night light casting a soft glow onto your tired eyes. You yawn, squinting at your phone while waiting for a familiar face to pop up on screen. A few minutes pass, and it vibrates, the picture you took of Iwaizumi that summer after high school on display. 

You swipe your screen to find bright light streaking through the lens of Iwaizumi’s camera, obscuring your vision of him.

“Hold on,” he murmurs, before the view turns to black. Random blobs and shapes move around and you suspect that he’s probably wiping the lens while moving to a place with shade. “Sorry, just walking to campus right now.”

You wait patiently. 

Soon enough, you are faced with a clearer visual of Iwaizumi, his spiky hair now shaped into a semi-crew cut—olive green eyes giving off the same stare you know can only belong to him. He doesn’t look much different from the photo assigned to him on your phone, but he doesn’t look the same either. The fact that you notice these changes means that time has passed, and you’re reminded that this is the Iwaizumi you no longer have—the Hajime you could have had. 

“Hey,” he greets, sending you a grin. A few beats and recognition flashes through his face as he notices that you’re all tucked in bed, ready to sleep. “Shit, did I wake you?” 

You laugh and shake your head, mushing your cheek against your pillow, “No, it’s okay,” you snuggle up to your duvet, “was waiting for your call anyway.” you readjust your phone and place both hands under your cheek, “You rushing to class today?” 

“Not really.” he answers, looking up from the screen, presumably to cross a road. “First period canceled, so I’m heading to the gym for a bit. How ‘bout you?” 

“Well,” a playful glint sparks in your eyes, “not rushing to class, no. Not going to the gym, either. Not in this outfit, I think.” you smile, suppressing a laugh. Iwaizumi rolls his eyes, but you can see traces of a smirk gracing his lips. 

Since going to America, Iwaizumi has gone through a few changes: his confidence, his humor, and his temperament—all of which have gotten better. He’s a lot more relaxed now than he used to be, joking around and going along with your jokes every now and then. But underneath all these improvements, he retains the same qualities that make him the Iwaizumi you know (and love). 

“Ha. ha. Funny.” he responds sarcastically. 

A twinge pinches at your heart, and you think, God, this banter, it hurts. This is the soft spot you know he holds for you. You’re brought back to the same nastiest look he’d given you when you wrote the most horrible puns on Aoba Johsai banners during matches. 

“I meant, how ‘bout you, you aren’t rushing to class tomorrow? Actually–” the video moves around and you catch a glimpse of him tapping his smart watch, a familiar black bracelet on his other wrist, “—shouldn’t you be asleep?” When he returns to the screen, worry lodges through his furrowed brows, a small pout forming on his face. You want so badly to be there to wipe it off. 

“It’s fine. You called, so.” you say softly, gently, leaving room for your admittance to ring louder. You know he understands because he’s done the same. 

“Well,” he copies you, “I don’t want to keep you up. Sleep’s really important, you know.” 

You hum in acknowledgment, “Okay,” disappointment poorly hidden in your tone. 

But he knows, he always does. “Call me when you’re free later, I’ll pick up. We can catch up then.” 

You smile and nod. A yawn escapes you, eyes slowly drifting shut. “Good morning, Haji.” you mumble.

He freezes.

He wouldn’t have heard it if not for his earphones (thank god he had them). It’s the first time you’ve ever called him Haji. Heat rises from the back of his neck, to the tips of his ears, down again to the expanse of his cheeks. The familiar thump sounds loudly in his ears. 

“‘Night,” he responds, whispering your name before ending the call.

It takes him a while before he continues to walk towards the gym; his heart is pounding too hard and too loudly for him to focus on where to go. All that replays in his mind is the sound of you saying Haji, softly, tenderly—the way you encase the syllables of his name in comfort that feels like it belongs to your lips.

Haji.

He wonders if you meant to call him that.

[starleska]

oh are we recommending characters? wellll. since I already talked to you about the COPS from telltale sam and max, ill go out on a limb and say check out hugh bliss :3 (or brady culture)

oh. oh man. Cookie, i feel like you deeply understand me and my psyche 🙈💖💖💖 THANK YOU for these delightfully obscure recommendations!!!

can i be real with you? i watched 20 minutes of footage of Hugh Bliss from different sources and i still have zero clue what the fuck is going on 😂 Sam & Max lore is absolutely nuts and i know i'm gonna adore this series when i get into it properly 🙈 but i already LOVE Hugh!!!! he's styling in only the way an evil cult leader can 😉

so let me get this straight: he's an evil cult leader who dreamed up the religion of Prismatology...because he's actually a colony of space-faring bacteria...which eats human happiness? ...that's kinda hot ngl 👉👈 but ohhh you know my weakness for a silly camp freak with a distinctive voice (a good chunk of whom are hypnotists for some reason???)... god. god i am sending curses through the screen at you right now 😭💖💖 i haven't even LOOKED but i BET this guy has sexy art of him, i just know it!!! 10/10 suggestion i can totally see Hugh as a future brainrot target 😂 now, onto Brady Culture...

oh, for the love of...just how many cute evil hypnotists does this series have, exactly? 😳😳😳 you're just calling me out now!!! 🙈🙈🙈 this stylish mf looks to be the OG Balthazar Bratt, and i was deeply obsessed with him 😂 we love pathetic former child-stars who've turned to villainy to compensate for the ego-crushing blows of their shows being cancelled!!! ohh, i do feel for him, bless his heart...and he is very cute 👉👈 but there's no accounting for taste - i think Larry Laffer is gorgeous 😂 i must say, Brady has a wonderfully pleasant voice - it's much softer than you'd expect, much calmer? and i have quite the weakness for characters who are kind of representative of/stuck in their own era (besides Balthazar Bratt there's Mad Mod, Austin Powers, Wally Darling, etc.)...mmhmm this is another 10/10 i could totally go feral for Brady 👀 Cookie i don't think you should be allowed to play the f/o suggestion game anymore, you're too good at it!!! 😳💖 thank you again, i really need to check out Sam & Max now 🙈💖

[accirax]

initial thoughts on DCAS episode 9

woah, how strong is Tess/how weak is Aiden? i guess it's probably that Tess is jacked. non-digital art supplies are heavy.

he truly is the worst dad ever. no wonder Fiore constantly faceplanting never raised any alarm bells for him. it does make him being so worried about Fiore being attacked by the scorpion/alone in the dark in S1 all the sweeter, though :) (or all the more fucked up, from his son's perspective.)

WHERE THE FUCK DID YUL GET KAI'S SHIRT FROM SHKHSLKJASLDJASLD. i guess the last time we saw Kai he was shirtless so i guess his shirt must have wound up somewhere???

this makes sense, kind of. although, i maintain that Grett's actual gameplay in S1 was ATROCIOUS. anyways i love supportive Riya!!! just like Alec and Riya, this is a really fun pairing that i hope they expand upon more.

this was just by unabashedly being himself, i imagine? i can't picture Yul supporting Grett being herself, no matter what her true self is. he's too appearance-discriminatory for that.

thank god it's not another split personality plotline; i've had enough of those from other series.

top 10 photos taken seconds before disaster

WHEN WILL YOU LEARN? WHEN WILL YOU LEARN THAT YOUR ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES?!?!?! (/ref)

something about Aiden saying "sexy" really caught me off guard. anyways, woahhhhh whaaaaat oh my godddddd i can't believe Tom's boyfriend was fake!

yeah... because cops never lie 🤨

this really is therapy: the episode, huh? it's fine, i like the character work. also, Trevor's feelings reveal! this was pretty obvious, especially once they showed it in the trailer, so i'm not at all surprised. what i am surprised about is that we didn't see any of Derek and Kristal getting a drink or playing pool this episode. did it just happen off screen, or was it canceled/postponed? i'm sure Kristal's reaction will have some kind of effect on how Derek takes the news whenever Trevor decides to tell him.

Trevor is an honorary member of the Magenta team :) also, i would've thought slip-n-slide was a copyrighted brand name. then again, i have no idea what they'd call it otherwise.

we see later that other people do miss their shots fairly frequently. thus, this is proof that Grett is 100% baller.

mad at her (/j) for this one because my first thought when Tess and Ally wound up on top of each other was "this, too, is yuri."

*adds one tally to the "Yul lines that made me laugh out loud" counter*

maybe they are soulmates

HKSDLKJDLFJSDF GET HIS ASS

THE GIRLIES ARE WORKING TOGETHER AGAIN!!! and for real this time!

mildly disappointing-- with the episode playing out this way, i was kinda hoping that it would have been Aiden instead of Tess. however, for as much as you can argue that Aiden is just an obstacle in the Jake/Tom plot, Tess was pretty much only acting as a counselor in the Gabby/Ellie plot. and, while you could argue that Tess still had more potential to be explored in her relationship with Ally, Aiden still has more potential to be explored in his relationship with Riya. the biggest shame, in my opinion, is that they're favoring Aiden and Riya, who placed 3rd and 2nd, over Tess and Ally, who placed 9th and 6th. i should probably save more of these thoughts for my next power ranking instead, but, these ARE my initial thoughts on the elimination.

and she doesn't even get her gf to see her out? what is this cruel world?! (/j)

this is a really great expression. Tom and Aiden, watch your backs >:)

overall, a really fun episode! we got some nice character check-ins at the beginning, followed by some enthralling strategy at the end. watching Gabby fully and openly devolve into villainhood is a treat. super excited to see where we go next! if you count Gabby in with the villains, we've got 5 villains versus 5 non-villains... will a merge pit the two sides against each other, or will we wait until there are 9 players left to create an even half? until next time!