#aka that one fucking book I will never be able to stop talking about.

[benbamboozled]

Source images from Batman: Urban Legends #6

[lunamugetsu]

Danny is an ao3 writer

Hear me out!

Y'know how there's a running joke that ao3 authors/writers will put in the author's notes that they're sorry that they took so long to update and their reason is because of either they got into a horrible accident/ life threatening health issue/serious personal issues/ their life went up in flames figuratively or literally, or somehow a combination of all of those scenarios. And they're all like "Well enjoy the chapter! tee-hee!" and everybody who's reading it all collectively go "are you okay?!" (aka the ao3 writers curse)

So I want to take this, and add Danny

Danny begins taking a liking to the classic literature that Mr. Lancer talks about during class and decides to writes a fanfic about it along those lines. It all starts for when he writes a Pride and Prejudice fic where Charlotte gets a better life where she's both happy and comfortable. And when he gets pretty supportive comments about it. He starts writing fics for other books as well (and it never stops)

During that time, who else but the Jane Austen fan, Jason Todd reads this fic. Yes he reads fanfic (do not ask him about his ao3 history), he yearns for more Jane Austen, but unfortunately she's not exactly able to write more books for him to read. So he turns to ao3 where there are some people who have incredible talent for writing pretty good regency era romance.

So what happens when he finds a couple of Pride and Prejudice stories written by " HalfDeadHalfAliveWriter

And when reading through the stories and looking at the author's notes.

All with very weird scenarios happening to the writer that he can't be sure that if it's a joke or if it's an actual thing he should be very worried about.

Author's notes such as:

Sorry it took so long for me to update this I was being shot at by my parents and ended up getting a burn on my hand and couldn't use my computer for awhile.

Sorry the chapter's so short, all the people in my town are being possessed by a hoard of angry ghosts because somebody had a bright idea to steal an artifact that belongs to an ancient civilization. So I had to get this out quick before they ruin my wifi connection

Sorry I haven't updated in awhile, I had to fight off a crazy guy that is obsessed with killing my father so he could marry my mother and become my new stepfather.

Sorry for the wait I got sent back to Ancient Egypt by my mentor to hunt down a runaway ghost that was messing with time.

But honestly the most recent author's note on a fic that hadn't been updated in week is what makes Jason really worried.

Sorry for not updating for a couple months guys, I was taken by a government agency that started vivisecting and torturing me. Thankfully my sister and friends busted me out and now I'm working on healing up. Anyway here's the Great Gatsby fic where Nick and Gatsby kiss.

After reading that author's note, Jason just sits there thinking only one thing.

What the fuck?

[quill-is-brainstorming]

I've just re-read the short lived duel that Aeneas and Achilles have in Book 20 of the Iliad and it's actually the most hilarious fucking thing.

So it starts out with Apollo disguising himself as Lycaon, one of Priam's many sons, and telling to have a go at Achilles. Keep in mind that this is post-Patroclus Achilles. Aka: berserk Achilles. Aka: so fucking mad he would fight a literal river Achilles.

Aeneas, who is capable of critical thinking, says he doubts he can actually take him on. He also references a time when he was herding cattle on Mount Ida and Achilles ambushed him, adding that the only reason he survived then was because Zeus gave him enough strength to book it (cracking up the official times that he's been saved by a god from certain death to 3, you go dude!).

However, after a bit of back and forth and a ton of hyping up on Apollo's part, Aeneas decides to try anyway.

Like, what could possibly go wrong?

Achilles notices Aeneas charging at him and he begins to taunt him. It's something among the lines of: "I'm sorry, are you, background trojan character #61, actually gonna try and beat me? And then what? Do you think that Priam will reward you in some way? Maybe making you king after him? Well it's BULLSHIT, because Priam fucked so much that your chances of succeeding him are basically 0. Ahah. Loser."

Now, you'd think that maybe Aeneas got enraged at the comment and attacked him, or maybe he even got scared and backed down, but NOPE. What does Aeneas do?

Well, first of all, he insults Achilles' insults, comparing his bickering to that of a child. Literally, "I heard third graders do better than that." And then he decides to list his and Hector's entire fucking family tree.

You know that part of the Bible that's like "this guy sired this other guy, and this other guy sired yet another guy" and so on? It's basically that.

So after he's done with all that, Aeneas states that while he'd love to have a battle of insults with Achilles, because according to him he's actually very good at insulting people (his words, not mine), they should probably throw hands now. Achilles agrees.

The duel is shortlived and Aeneas gets his ass handed to him. Badly. As expected. And he's about die when ✨️POV shift✨️ we're not on Olympus where Poseidon, Hera and Athena are watching this absolute train wreck go down.

Poseidon, pitying Aeneas, suddenly goes on a rant. It's something among the lines of: "come on guys, look at him, he's just a little guy! He literally has no stakes in this war, he doesn't deserve to die here! He even gives us lots of gifts and sacrifices, he's literally such a nice guy. How can we do this to him!?

...oh and also he's part of some prophecy, Zeus would get mad if he died."

The fact that the way it's worded makes it sound like Aeneas being part of a literal prophecy is an afterthought to him absolutely floors me, Poseidon is literally just attached to a random dude that's fighting on the opposite side to his because he thinks he's nice.

After all that Hera is pretty unimpressed and states that she really doesn't care if our man lives or dies as neither her or Athena have ever saved a Trojan from death, she however adds that Poseidon is free to do whatever he wants.

The literal moment Hera stops talking, Poseidon lunges down from Olympus and onto the battlefield to look for the two combatants. When he does, he saves Aeneas like only he can do.

You know how when Diomedes first tries to kill Aeneas, Aphrodite gently folds her hands around him to shield him? There's none of that here. Poseidon just runs up to him and literally flings the motherfucker.

It literally says that he flies "high in the air". It's like a Looney Toons sketch.

So Aeneas lands and, while he's obviously a bit dazed, Poseidon proceeds to call him a madman and essentially tells him to never do something stupid like that again and just wait until Achilles is dead, then he'll be able to murder Achaeans to his heart's content. Aeneas is fine with that.

Achilles, who just saw his opponent just get yeeted into the fucking sky, just shrugs and goes "welp, guess that guy's off limits, I'm gonna go kill someone else now I guess lol".

This entire scene is pure fucking gold and the fact that I've literally never seen anyone talk about it just breaks my heart.

[rokishimizu4]

Arrows and Smoke

(Realized that Bruce and Oliver were married in one past or another, but I love Roy and Jason more)

It wasn’t often that Oliver Queen found himself actually busy at a gala, as it usually him bullshitting his way through the conversation and polite smiles. However, after getting the message from Flash, it was all hands on deck.

Even poor Roy, who usually never goes to any galas, was forced to attend as Cass’s plus one. As, and Oliver would never admit it out loud, but Roy was a better, quiet, shot and Cass’s ability to read people makes for a great duo.

Oliver stood off to the side, surrounded by chatty women with big earrings and even bigger check books, and felt like he rather switch places with Flash, risked bite mark and all, but notices a man entering with his wife and twin, which was someone that he never saw before.

He was not the only one to notice as he could see Jason, damn that kid got tall, do a quick circle once and flashed a polite smile at the family as the father grabbed a glass of champagne. (Aka not familiar but not on the Bat’s hit list)

However, his attention is ripped from the strange family as Bruce strides up to him, and his group of older ladies, and asks if he could “steal” him away for a moment.

”Thank fuck, I thought those ladies wanted to strip me.” He teases as he follows after Bruce, talking nonsense to fool everyone else, but tries to keep any eye on the family-especially on how much the father drinks.

“It seems like a few of your kids couldn’t make it. Who has a gala in the middle of the day anyways?” (Aka has your kids find anything? Reason for the early meeting?) “I can barely keep up with my own business nowadays.”

”Duke and Dick are in an early meeting and Barbara is meeting her father for lunch. Cass and Damian were the only ones that could make it.” (Aka busy as all hell). “It’s been sometime since we were able to have a proper get together.”

”Tell me about it! I can barely sit down to eat without someone in my ear talking about recent events.”

The two men talk and flirt with young women for a few more hours, never drinking more than a glass or two. Keeping eyes out for anyone that could be a target. Until a crash of a metal tray hitting the polished marble.

Eyes turn towards the noise and everyone sees the father, of the small family, raising his hand towards his wife as if to smack her, but Jason got in the middle of it.

Bruce and Oliver rush to the scene, only to find the man crying while his wife stands there indifferent. As if her almost being hit was just another day for her. The twins stand a little ways off to the side with Roy and Cass.

”What is the meaning of this? Security!” Another man, the Host of the Gala, calls but Oliver holds up a hand to stop the guards.

”I believe he just needs some fresh air, I’ll escort him out. Please, continue the party.” Oliver flashes his Ollie smile and helps the man to his feet and politely drags the man out and into the fresh air.

”It’s not what it looks like, I swear.” The man mumbles, clearly having more than a few glasses of champagne but not sure what else he could have drank.

”That.. that woman… don’t let..” The man tries to continue but his eyes begin to droop, and Oliver starts to worry.

However, before Oliver could get more out of him the man starts coughing violently. He tries to keep the man on his feet and tries to call for help. He manages to get the attention of people, and calls 911.

Police and ambulance arrives even before the first ring, signaling that someone else called long before he did. The medics take the man as Oliver rushes back in, almost being trampled by the mob rushing out of the building while screaming bloody murder.

It doesn’t take long for Oliver to figure out why as the windows burst apart around the force of a ice slide rampaging through.

Several people?, burst down the ice slide cackling like children, with the twins in the arms of a red werewolf (Having the time of their lives). A winged girl, with blue and pink hair and a very revealing dress, flies down and snatches the man right out of the medic’s grip and spreads some type of dust as she flies.

A man with a black fedora mumbles spells and chants for all to hear and Oliver starts to feel dizzy as a sudden sleepiness overcomes him.

Then the strangest of all, a black and purple monster of oil follows after, carrying the screaming woman out of the building and drops her violently off at Jim’s police car. Her screaming about her head being ripped off and eaten.

Then, as if nothing happened, the group disappeared in the fedora wearing man’s smoke spell, but not before an arrow shoots through it and hits the man’s fedora.

”Nice shot kid.” Oliver whispered in awe as the police and medics quickly take over the scene, only making way for Signal and Nightwing once they are on scene.

“Commissioner Gordon, please bring this woman in for kidnapping, drug and sex trafficking, and for the murder of Mrs. Bolton, a Metropolis running mate for mayor.” Nightwing orders, and Oliver thinks that he and Roy should have stayed in Central City with the Flash.

[vgilantee]

200 mile (per hour) club {tangerine}

bullet train tangerine x fem!reader SMUTTY (minors DNI)

requested: n/a

words: 5.8k

a/n: I have had this thought for weeks since finally watching bullet train and writing this very much was a “fuck it we ball” moment. also canon is taken as a suggestion during this fic because in order for things to work, some of the plot must be ignored

This fic contains smut! I don’t normally post smut here, and have rarely reblogged smuts. But… i really wanted to write this and share it so here we are. The reader is afab :) and the codename is… a personal favourite 😅. the original idea/draft of this fic was sent to @jangofctts but as said above, fuck it we ball and the full fic gets written!

warnings: afab!reader, swearing, smut!, unprotected sex, fingering, mentions of masturbation (fem), p in v, bad attempts at northern british vernacular, use of the word cunt instead of pussy (not intentional it's just... it flows better), no proofreading we die like men, canon is a suggestion (aka canon variance),

pronouns: she/her

MINORS DNI. any minors liking/reblogging/commenting on this fic will be blocked.

(this is your reminder that i am australian and therefore use british english and punctuation. while i do make errors, often times it is a difference in english type)

You wedged your phone between your shoulder and ear as your partner, Evaline, spoke about the nuances of a cartoon they had gotten really into while the pair of you had been in Japan. 

“Listen, Ev,” you handed the teller your crumpled yen notes with a smile - asking for a ticket to Kyoto - as you spoke down the phone, “I love you and am happy to listen to you talk- Arigatou Gozaimasu- to you talk, but can this wait until after I’m done?” Despite being partners, they were the one to stay in whatever hotel room you were set up in and work as your handler. 

Squeezing between the crowds of people, you quickly made your way toward the bullet train station. You glanced at your ticket, checking the platform for the umpteenth time since getting the ticket to make sure you were walking in the right direction. 

“You know that if I bottle this up, it will only make it worse when you get back.” You snorted in amusement, swapping the ear your phone was pressed to. “But fine, okay. I’ll keep conversation job oriented.” You thanked them just as you stepped onto the train. 

Carefully, you made your way toward your seat, sliding down into it before unzipping your small backpack. 

“So your target will be getting on the train in two stops, but won’t be getting off until Kyoto so you have time.” Out from the small pack, you pulled out a book, leaning back to rest against the wall and kick your feet up onto the joined seat beside you. The perfect way to carefully watch the aisle. “But you will be at Kyoto in about two and a bit hours. You read the briefing I sent you?” It was their not-so-subtle way of asking you if you actually knew who your target was.

“You sat beside me as I read it.” You laughed. 

“Just checking.” Their voice sing-songed down the phone. “Last thing; codename.” You breathed out, almost hoping that they had forgotten and you would be able to choose your own. Sometimes you thought that Eva gave you your codenames to get back at you for something, or just to have a laugh from their end of the jobs. Only once did they forget and you got to pick your own codename. But only once. 

“Alright, what is it this time?” You could practically hear their smirk as they replied;

“Angel.”

--

Between jobs, sometimes you and Evaline got to hang out and just relax. Although you were partners, you didn’t always get moments together were you could just be friends.

So you ordered room service of the most expensive wines and liquors on the list and got drunk together. 

As usually happens, the drunken chatter turned to a game of truth or dare, asking questions that had never come up in your friendship or partnership before. 

“Okay, okay okay,” despite already having your full attention, Eva tapped at your knee. “Truth or dare?” Although the dares were quickly discarded after you ate a full spoon of hot sauce and Eva nearly threw up after putting nearly a full banana down their throat, the question was still asked.

“Truth please.” You fell back as you dragged out the ‘e’ sound.

“What petname makes your knees go weak?” 

---

“Are you fucking with me right now?” You nearly dropped your phone. You heard the sounds of Eva throwing their head back laughing, and the short shriek as they nearly fell off their chair. 

“Sorry, sweetcheeks. That’s the name you’re stuck with.” They reply between laughs while you let out a hum, half closing your eyes suspiciously. “Anyway, enjoy your book. I’ll check in with you when the target gets on the train.” 

You felt your body shift forward slightly as the train finally took off from Tokyo station and you let yourself sink comfortably into your chair. The book you were reading was one that was worn from being dragged around for the last few months and many, many attempts to read it. So you had been taking every opportunity to read little bits and pieces when and where you could. You unfolded a dogear you had made in the page and continued reading the beat-up little book, the sound of the train speeding along its tracks becoming a soft white noise in the background. 

Just as you flip the page, out the corner of your eye you see someone sit down in one of the seats opposite you. You let your eyes flick up to see who it is, and try to hide the way your breath catches as you recognise him. 

His hair is a little longer, and his three-piece is all in place and free of blood, but you had run into him enough times to know him with the smallest of looks despite all the differences. 

But you return your eyes back to your book, pretending that there wasn’t a reaction somewhere inside of you at seeing him again. 

“I hope you aren’t here alone.” You spoke without looking up. “Nobody needs to deal with only one half of the Wonder Twins.” He let out a snort and you saw his fingers appear on the top of your book as he leaned across the table to push the book down. The forced movement had your eyes finally met his. 

“Never go on a job without him.” He winked, doing very little to try to hide his smirk.  You rolled your eyes, marking your page and swinging your legs off the seat to face him properly. “Good to see you again, gorgeous. Been a while. Too long really.” He looked you up and down slowly, as he spoke, tilting his head and twisting one of his rings. 

“Not long enough.” You replied with a half smirk, and he raised a hand to his chest in mock hurt. “So, what’s your name today?” He leaned back with pride, opening his thighs slightly and folding his arms. 

“I’m Tangerine, he’s Lemon.” You couldn’t help the laugh that broke through, and your hand shot to your mouth to cover the rest of the noise. 

“Wow, your handler must hate you.” You said, shaking your head and amusement still present in your voice. Tangerine’s eyebrows pinched as his mouth dropped open a little.

“First, we have no handler, thank you very much, darlin’. Second, I thought the names were quite clever.” You raised your hands in surrender, tilting your head. “But alright, if you think our’s are so bad, what name ‘ve you got, hm?”

If you had paused, for just a moment, before you spoke, you would have realised far sooner.

“For now, I’m Angel.” When he repeated the name back to you with a hum, you realised. Somehow, Evaline had known he would be on this train with you, and that you would cross paths. They knew about the business flirtationship you had with Tangerine, having been stuck listening on more than one occasion, and they were also very good at remembering things, including you drunkenly telling them what petname turns your knees to jelly (and a man who sometimes also had that power). 

Your mouth opened a little as you let out a small breath and silently prayed that he didn’t notice your reaction. Once you recomposed yourself, you reached for your phone. 

“So, Angel,” Tangerine leaned forward and leaned on the table, flexing his shoulders slightly and you had to fight the way your brain gave you the image of him calling you angel while his shoulders flexed above you, “what’re you doing in Tokyo? Business, or pleasure?” You glanced at him over the top of your phone as you sent Eva an all-caps message of thinly veiled threats. Tangerine emphasised the word pleasure in both his tone and a slight raise of his eyebrows.”

“Business, for now.” You meant the statement more as you would be a tourist once the job was done, but the moment you stopped talking, you could see a particular look in his eye. 

“‘For now, aye, Angel?” Tangerine’s tongue ran along the back of his top teeth, and your core tightened. You could only hum your reply, worried that if you tried to say anything your voice would break. 

You notice as his eyes look past you, over your shoulder and down the aisle to the door. He nodded at whoever he saw - you assumed his brother as he never worked with anyone else - before looking back at you and tugging his blazer tighter over his shoulder. 

“So sorry to love you ‘n’ leave you, Angel,” Tangerine stood in the aisle and ran his hands down his chest, smoothing down the fabric, “but business calls. Maybe I’ll see you later.” With a final smirk and wink, he walked away. You listened for the sound of the train carriage door opening and closing, before you let out a sigh and sunk down into your seat.

You hand shot out as you suddenly reached for your phone, Evaline’s number already on speed-dial. The moment they answered, you skipped over pleasantries, quietly yelling at them down the phone. 

“How the fuck did you know he would be on this train?” 

“Ah, so he found you, then?” You could hear the smirk in their voice as they brushed past your rudeness

---

The first time you met Tangerine and Lemon, they were doing a snatch-and-grab in a warehouse that you were in the process of clearing. They had walked in, guns drawn, to you stood over a body in the middle of pulling a machete out of his throat. 

The sound of moving feet and the cocking of guns had you freeze and look up at the men. You mirrored each other as you each slowly raised your weapons and took the other in. 

They were in clean suits, ties gently tugged loose, and each had a plastic poncho tucked into their belts for easy access. 

“Who the fuck are you?” The shorter of the pair spoke, his accented voice bouncing off the walls in the otherwise silent room. 

“I’m not with them.” You lifted a bloodied boot and kicked one of the bodies by you as you spoke, joking and trying to gauge whether the new-comers were the backup or not. 

“I can see that, love.” The other man tilted his head forward with a smirk, and you ignored the warmth that began to rise. “You just here for the kill?” You lowered your weapon, hoping that they would mirror your movement now that you knew they weren’t on the same side as the various men who laid in pools of their own blood around you. 

“Take whatever you’re here for.” You gestured around to the doors behind you. “I’m just finishing up.” You dragged the machete along the inside of your sleeved elbow, cleaning off the blood before sheathing it at your hip.

You had walked out of the building shortly after that interaction, but the moment you met Eva in the waiting car, they turned to you immediately with a smirk.

“You good?” You sunk slightly in the seat and tried disappearing into the plastic sheet that protected it from blood and other fluids. 

“That taller one was… goddamn.” 

---

It was the first of a half-dozen run-ins with the twins, each time talking more and occasionally helping each other when things got sticky. And of course, Evaline made comments about your attraction. 

“Did you suggest this job on purpose or did you find out they were here afterward?”  You were almost afraid to hear the answer. Evaline was beyond clever, and should they have wanted, they would easily have been able to made it into a tech sector of a government agency. But instead, they chose to work with you and use their brains for less than legal means. So it wouldn’t have surprised you if they had gotten into one of their phones, or seen them on one of the many cameras in airports and around Tokyo. 

“Maybe this, maybe that.” Eva giggled at you, and you could hear the shiteating grin on their face. “Enjoy the view!” They sung the last syllable before hanging up on you, and you swore, slamming your phone down into the table. 

You felt the train pull into the first stop and you let yourself recline back again and relax. You weren’t normally on edge during a job, it was something you had been doing since you were eighteen and while you had nerves and your brain ran a hundred-mile a minute, it was never something that had you feeling it in your fingertips and the back of your neck. 

Though the edge that Tangerine had you on was different. It wasn’t one where you were wanting to look over your shoulder, hoping your reflexes wouldn’t be needed. But he had you in anticipation. Your body telling you that you needed him and was waiting for his fingers to graze your skin. And now he had that cursed codename to wrap his accent around. 

With the knowledge that Tangerine was on the same train as you, the book was no longer of interest. You had to read the same sentence over and over before you actually absorbed it. So as the train took off again, you shoved the book away and climbed to your feet. 

---

  “Please tell me that’s not who I think it is.” The twins jumped at the sound of your voice, letting out f-bombs as Lemon held a hand to his chest. 

After making your way through train cars, exploring out of both curiosity and in case of emergency, you found the twins having an apparently heated conversation in the baggage area of their train car. They were engrossed in a seemingly heated conversation about ass cheeks. You weren’t entirely sure, only hearing the tail-end before deciding to interrupt.

On your way down the corridor, you glanced at each person in their seats, pausing for a millisecond when you saw the twenty-something with face tattoos angrily slumped in his seat. 

The twins looked at each other quickly, then over your shoulder to where you were pointing with your thumb back down to where he sat before finally back to you.

“Depends on who you think that is, Angel.” You rolled your eyes at Tangerine then shifted your weight so that you were more fully facing Lemon. 

“Are you idiots kidnapping or returning the homeless-looking White Death’s son?” In the cramped luggage space, you did your best to put your hands on your hips. “Because one of those is certain death.” 

“Aww, you worried ‘bout us, Angel?” You let out a scoff at his comment. 

“You wish, I just need to know how far away from you I need to stay.” Tangerine muttered a joking ouch and you and Lemon share a look. 

“Returning ‘im.” Lemon ignored his brother, already used to and over his attempts to flirt. “Best of the best tasked with bringing him and his ransom back.” You cocked your head with a teasing smile. 

“Oh, ‘the best’, huh?” You replied with a hummed laugh. “Well, if that’s all… best of luck with,” you made a rough circular gesture with your hands, “all of that. I’ll probably be seeing you later.” You stepped between the two men, though Lemon stepped further away when giving you space to pass through. You could hear their interrupted argument reignite as the door closed behind you, and you continued to make your way through passenger cars until you reached the bar car. 

Inside, you saw a man clutching a bottle of dark liquor under a blanket, eyes hidden by sunglasses. You ignored him, not one to judge someone getting black-out drunk on a train, and stepped behind the bar, reaching around until you managed to make yourself a simple vodka and sprite.

Leaning on the bar counter as you sipped your drink, you took in the unconscious man. You almost choked on your drink as you realised who it was. The Wolf. You scrambled to pull your phone out of your pocket, speed dialling one of the only contacts you had in your phone. 

“Eva, we have a problem.” You carefully walked over to the Wolf as you spoke, noticing the blood on his hands and the lack of movement under the blue blanket. “Wolf got on the train early.” You quickly went back to the counter and swapped out your now-empty glass for a pair of ice tongs. Using the tongs, you moved the blanket away from the Wolf and found staining the white of his suit was a pool of dark blood, entry wound clear as day. “And it looks like somebody got to him first.”

“What do you mean? No, that’s not possible.” You could hear Evaline frantically type as they spoke. “God fucking dammit.” They sighed. “Fine just… take a photo of his body. Hopefully we can convince them that you killed him so we can still get paid.” You did as you were told, knowing that you would have to spin this in a way that would not end up with the pair of you getting killed for lying. 

After taking the photo you moved the blanket back to where it had rested, not wanting whoever killed him to know their victim had been found. 

“I guess you can sit back and enjoy the rest of the ride now.” Eva sounded defeated as they spoke. You hummed in agreement, then turned and left the car to return to your seat. 

On your way back to your original car, you saw a stressed looking Tangerine walking toward you. It took him a moment to see you as he checked each person sitting down while he walked, and when he did the stress fell from his expression and was replaced with a cocky smirk. 

“Angel!” The way he said the name sent a pulse to your core, but you refused to acknowledge it, not wanting to show him the effect the petname combined with his accent had on you. “Good to see you, gorgeous.” He finally reached you, barely a step in front as he looked down at you. “What’s up?” 

“My job on this train’s been done.” You shrugged. “Get to enjoy the ride to Kyoto.” The corner of Tangerine’s mouth quirked. 

“Wanna give me a hand with mine?” You couldn’t tell if the offer was serious, or if it was a friend or potential business partner. But there was a greedy and horny part of your brain that wanted to spend as much time with him as you could before leaving Japan. 

“Oh you must be in a lot of trouble to need my help.” You turned around, beginning to walk back in the direction you had just come from. “Who’re we looking for?” You felt him come up close behind you, the brush of his hand against yours. 

“Can’t get enough of me, huh, Angel?” Tangerine’s voice was low in your ear, his breath hitting flyaways. Your breath hitched for a moment hearing his voice so deep and close to you. Then just as quick as the invasion of personal space came, he was gone again. “Some geezer in a bucket hat with thick rim glasses. Stole som’ing from us.” You thought you were imagining the sound of a smile in his voice, attributing it to his usual cocky demeanour. 

As you walked together, you and Tangerine spoke about yourselves - as best you could without revealing too much about your personal identities. You were quick to notice the way he would always include at least one “angel” in each sentence, saying it slightly differently each time. 

You felt Tangerine slide his hands onto your hips from behind, holding your breath as he leaned down and whispered into your ear. 

“Maybe once this is all done, we can spend some time together, Angel.” You spun around and felt his hands slide across your covered skin as you did, trying to compose yourself. Your body betrayed you though, your thighs very obviously squeezing together slightly, caused by the way he all but moaned the name into your ear.

“Fuck it.” You stepped back, letting his hands slide away, then grabbed one of his blazer lapels, dragging him the short walk to the cramped train bathroom. He made a surprised noise but made no effort to fight you. 

You pushed him down onto the closed toilet, turning to lock the stall door and spun on your heel to look at him. Tangerine had his legs spread, showing off his thighs as he let his hands rest on his upper thighs. He had a smirk on his face, only breaking it to poke out his tongue and lick his lips. You dragged your bottom lip into your mouth slowly, biting it gently. 

“Well fuck, love.” You dropped your lip with a short exhale, feeling that last little bit of resolve crumble. In the cramped bathroom, it only took you two steps to get to him, but you paused just in front of his thighs. “You’re welcome to sit.” Tangerine closed his thighs and brought his hands back to your hips, thumbs pushing up the fabric of your shirt to expose peaks of skin. You stepped forward, guided by his hands, and sat down on his strong thighs. 

It was the closest you had ever been to him, and the smell of his aftershave mixed with the feeling of his thumbs on your skin had you using what little resolve you had to stop your hips from rocking, grinding down to create any sort of friction. 

Tangerine had tormented you since he found you with your codename, and you could feel your heartbeat in your core grow each time he said it. It was cruel, how much he made you need him. 

Your hands refound their home on his lapels, pulling that last small gap closed to bring his mouth to yours. 

The kisses were hungry, desperate. Breathing each other in relief at finally having the intimate contact. Tangerine brought one hand up to the back of your neck, applying pressure with his thumb where your jaw met just below your ear. He used the change in hand placement to bring you even closer to him, and you let him, greedily shifting your hips closer to him with a slight grind. He hums out a groan against your mouth and you feel the tightening of his dark slacks. His mouth moved to your jaw and neck, leaving mouthy kisses against your skin. You let your hips continue to rock against him, noticing his own hips move slightly underneath you. Moving your hands away from his blazer briefly, you made light work of the buttons on his white shirt, loosening his tie so it hung undone around his neck.

“You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for this, Tan.” You knew it was pathetic, confessing your long-term attraction for the British assassin. His fingers dug into your skin lightly at your words. 

“Feelin’s mutual, Angel.” His words were low against your skin before he quickly moved away from you. “Hold tight.” You tightened your grip on his blazer, quickly wrapping your legs around him as he stood up in the small bathroom space. 

Tangerine in his haste all but dropped you on the sink counter, and you let your legs fall from around him. One of his hands moved down and began its work undoing your jeans, running the backs of his fingers along your stomach and hips so he could feel the soft skin there, and you shivered at his touch and the sudden cool of his rings. 

When his hand made it to your hip, his other moved down to mirror it, two fingers on each side and tucked under your waistbands. 

Your hands slid to his shoulders and you watched through hooded eyes as Tangerine gradually moved down to a low squat, taking your bottoms with him. You shivered both from the cool of the train air conditioner and the way he was staring at you. As he stood, you kicked off your shoes and pants, allowing you to reopen your legs fully and allow Tangerine back into place, his hips pressed against yours. 

His mouth was quick to return to yours, eager to nip at your bottom lip and distract you from the cold of his rings and the feel of his hand sliding its way up your thigh.

You jolted when his thumb started rubbing light circles around your clit, whimpering into his mouth at the sudden change in stimulation. 

“Tan.” You sighed out his name against his mouth and to your relief, he began to move his thumb faster, adding a little more pressure as he did. You could feel him smirk against your mouth, and you retaliated by bringing one hand to the back of his neck and weaving fingers through his curls, giving them a slight tug. Tangerine grunted, pulling away while you held his lower lip gently between your teeth. 

“All good, Angel?” You hummed out an affirmative, knowing your voice wouldn’t hold, not when his thumb never stopped moving. 

Gradually, his hand moved down until Tangerine’s fingers were met with your building slick. You sucked in a harsh breath as he swiped two fingers up your cunt, collecting as much of the fluid as he could. He pulled his hand completely and you watched as he stared in fascination and you followed his line of sight to see as Tangerine rubbed his thumb and forefingers together, pulling away occasionally to see tiny strings connect his fingers. 

At the feeling of your eyes on him, Tangerine’s own flicked up to you. With a smirk, he quickly returned one hand to your core and the other sat on your bare hip, the hem of your shirt bunching on his wrist. Distracting you with a tight squeeze of his hand on your side, he slid a finger into you, dragging it out slowly only to quickly replace it with two fingers. 

Your head fell back against the mirror behind you and your mouth fell open, as Tangerine began an almost torturous paced drag of his fingers in and out of your cunt, matched by the movement of his thumb on your clit. Your hands blindly grabbed at his arms and shoulders, while Tangerine left open-mouthed kisses against your neck and jawline. 

As your nails dug into your skin, Tangerine moved between stretching his fingers inside of you, curling them upward to draw a broken moan from your throat, and pulsing his fingers in and out of you at an ever changing pace. He licked up the column of your throat as you whined out his name, and with every movement he made, he seemed to be trying to figure out which sound was his favourite. 

The wet sounds of his fingers working you were all but drowned out but your moaning and whining and pleading. 

“Tan, please-” your beg was cut off by the feeling of his spit hitting your cunt, adding an extra fluid into the mix quickly coating his hand, “need more.”

“I’ll fuck you properly in a minute, angel, promise.” You felt his low voice against your jaw. “Want you to cum on m’ fingers first.” Despite his generally cocky attitude, Tangerine wasn’t mean. He wasn’t going to get you so worked up with his fingers not to let you cum. 

Your grip on his arms tightened, desperate to grab onto something as Tangerine’s brutal pace never slowed. You felt the knot get tighter and tighter and your eyes rolled back, unable to bring your head up off the mirror behind you. With a broken moan, your cunt tightened in pulses around his fingers before finally the tightness let go. Tangerine’s fingers and thumb never stopped moving, greedily working you through your orgasm as your chest heaved and whines and moans bounced around the tiny bathroom. 

Tangerine slowly pulled his fingers out and you whined as he did, still sensitive. Once you managed to bring your head up and reopen your eyes, you were met with the glorious sight of Tangerine lazily sucking his fingers clean, eyes half lidded at the taste. 

“Angel, that was the most gorgeous thing ‘ve ever seen.” Your cheeks warmed at his words. “And you taste just…” Tangerine let out a short hummed moan, the only description he could think of. 

You reached out with slightly shaky hands, pulling him close enough that you could reach down and undo his belt, letting you at the fastenings of his slacks. Once they were undone, you moved your hands up slightly, unbuttoning his shirt the rest of the way and pushing it back so you could drag your hands across his stomach. Your mind was still lightly foggy and you almost couldn’t believe the sight was real. 

Not that you would ever admit it, but there were more than a few nights where you had dreamt of what shirtless Tangerine would look like. And more than a few where your fingers had worked while you imagined they were his. But reality was so, so much better. 

Tangerine pulled you from your thoughts with his thumb gently running across your bottom lip.

“Still wi’ me?” There was a softness in his eyes, and his cocky smirk had dropped. 

“Yeah. Still here.” Your words were soft, and Tangerine smiled. 

With your hands still resting on his stomach, Tangerine reached down with his free hand, the other still holding your jaw, and thumbed away the elastic of his underwear to pull out his cock. You watched for a moment as he gently stroked his already hard cock, before pushing his hand away with one of your own, taking his cock in your hand and slowly gliding it up and down. You felt the weight, the veins, and your eyes flicked up to see his roll back for just a moment. 

You slide your hand up from his stomach to his chest, and gently lean forward to nip at his jaw. As you do, however, you slip back slightly, and fall into the small sink. You let out a tiny shriek as you fell, and Tangerine’s eyes darted open. He lets out a snort and an amused breath falls from your lips. You shook your head, taking your hands away from him completely to place them on the counter and pushed yourself out of the sink. 

“You all good, Angel?” Tangerine put no effort into hiding his amused smile and you rolled your eyes. 

“Maybe the sink isn’t the best place for this.” A shit-eating grin made its way onto Tangerine’s face. 

Before you could react, Tangerine pulled you toward him and you immediately locked your legs around his waist. You both let out quiet moans as his cock brushed against your slick-coated cunt, the friction against your clit encouraging you to roll your hips again. 

He picked you up as you ground against him and took two steps so your back met with the wall. Once you were pressed firmly against it and Tangerine knew that you wouldn’t fall, he moved one hand down and adjusted his cock so that he head pressed against your cunt. He dragged it up and down a few times, collecting your slick and cum as lube, before pressing in. 

Although he had stretched you nicely with his fingers, Tangerine’s cock pushed in far further, and you whined at the tight feeling of him stretching out your cunt. He moved slowly, letting you adjust to his size, until finally he bottomed out. Tangerine rolled his hips, not pulling out very far but still creating a nice friction while you got used to the full feeling. 

With a gasp of his name, you told him to move. And move he did. At an almost blinding pace, Tangerine pulled out until just his tip was inside of you, before pushing all the way back in. He braced himself with one hand squeezing the underside of your thigh, and the other pressed firmly against the wall beside your head. 

Your cunt squeezed around him as he moved. Although you both wanted to take your time and enjoy this at a slower pace, you were on a bullet train and he had a job to finish. So as fast as his hips would allow him, Tangerine ploughed into you. 

Once again, your head fell back against the surface behind you with a light thud, and Tangerine immediately returned to his assault on your neck and anywhere he could reach. You knew that in an hour, all the skin on your neck and jaw would be coloured purple and red, hickeys blossoming all across the skin. And while you knew the comments you would get from Eva and the looks you would get from other passengers, you didn’t care. 

Leaving one hand to scratch at Tangerine’s chest and shoulder, you brought the other down to rub circles on your clit. 

Against your skin, you felt the low rumble of Tangerine’s moans and gasps, and you clenched around his ever-moving cock trying to coax as many of those sounds out of him as you could. 

“Close, Angel.” It took you a moment to realise that he wasn’t asking if you were close again, but was warning you that he was, and your nails ran down his chest at the realisation. 

“In me.” While it wasn’t a full sentence, it was the best you could muster as he piledrived into you, leaving fingertip bruises on your thigh. Tangerine let out a broken moan at your words, more than happy to oblige. 

His hips began to stutter and you sped up your fingers against your clit, not wanting to be left with a built up orgasm for too long after his. After two particularly short thrusts, Tangerine’s hips froze and his head fell against your shoulder as he came inside of you. Not long after he had finished, your cunt clenched around him as you came again, high-pitched moan falling from your lips. 

Tangerine slowly dragged his cock out of your sensitive cunt, and you whined at the feeling. He gently sat you down back on the sink counter, knowing your legs would likely betray you. After using some toilet paper to clean off his cock, Tangerine gently pushed himself back into his underwear, glancing down at the stain you had made. You tiredly smirked, only to flinch as he brought over some clean toilet paper and as gently as he could, cleaned up much of the fluids that had made it onto your inner thighs. 

You sighed contentedly once you were clean, and happily accepted the gentle peck on your lips. 

“Once I’m done with this job,” Tangerine spoke softly as he picked up your discarded bottoms and guided them up your legs, kissing the skin before it was covered as he made his way up, “I’m takin’ you on a proper date.” 

mutual tagging: @websterss @jangofctts (i know i tagged you already but you're also now a mutual so two tags!) @faeology

post fic note: although i do not condone cheating nor the invasion of the private lives of celebrities, i DO condone aaron (allegedly) cheating on his crusty-ass, groomer wife with his bullet train costar joey. (also a couple of my warnings read like ao3 tags but they do still count as warnings so... leave me lmao)

reblogs and kind words are always appreciated

[teecupangel]

pops in here bc I’ve been writing Resident Evil crossover AUs for fun (and angst) and I have a fun little idea for you!

so, re4make has dropped some interesting and tasty lore about Los Illuminados, aka the parasite cult that makes up the main bad guys in this particular game. according to the new lore, they popped up in 1554 and were exiled from their old place in 1741. now, we know that mutations and parasites and viruses can possibly extend somebody’s life in REverse beyond their natural lifespan and also make them far more durable than humans. I was thinking—Edward Kenway gets killed in 1735. this we’re well aware of. but what if he wasn’t?

say that Birch is aware of Los Iluminados and their work. he wants to keep a closer eye on them since he hears a lot about Las Plagas and its hive mind abilities, but he’s not about to risk becoming a part of their hive mind—he doesn’t entirely trust this cult. and he has a pesky Assassin who’s just found out that he’s actually a Templar, and who has a book and a son he would defend. if he survives the night—and it’s damn near a guarantee that he would, Birch has heard that he once cleared a whole deck of a galleon on his own—there’s nothing stopping him from taking up his sword and beelining to Birch and just cutting down every last member of the British Rite. but he can’t do that, if he has a bug inside his head.

so Edward gets knocked unconscious, and dragged off to the cult. now Birch has a reason to keep an eye on the cult, and he’s taken Edward out of the picture with no one the wiser for it.

years later—hundreds of years later—Desmond Miles, 17yo runaway, gets kidnapped along with Ashley Graham for whatever reason. maybe he saw too much and immediately launched himself at Krauser and actually managed to acquit himself pretty well in a fight, only to get stuffed into a van along with a very terrified First Daughter. Leon goes to find them.

in the meantime, Saddler has a very fucked-up Edward stand guard, and Desmond starts to talk to this guy, bc something about him seems…not quite the same as the rest of the cult. there’s some core of humanity still holding stubbornly on inside him, even if he looks pretty bad off, if not heavily mutated by now. which is how Leon ends up finding both Ashley and Desmond having managed to get a very snarly pirate to help break them out and has to gently convince said pirate that yes he really is here to help them please put that pitchfork down sir.

Oooohhh, if you wanted to, you can even include one of Ezio’s or Aquilar’s descendants in the lore as well, maybe even both? 1554 is around the time Flavia and Marcello would be 20~21 years old. Old enough to be Assassins that would be sent to foreign lands to help other Brotherhoods. We can even have them be sent by the current mentor of the Spanish Brotherhood because of this cult that supposed worship something ‘strange’. The mentor thought that the Italian Brotherhood who had a mentor who had been quite verse in strange things would have an idea of what they’re dealing with. Flavia or Marcello (or both if you want) asks to be sent because it seems connected to the precursors and, as Ezio Auditore’s children, it’s their duty to continue their father’s legacy.

They meet up with Aquilar’s child (or grandchild maybe?) and they help in exiling Los Illuminados, making the cult hate them and the Brotherhood in the process.

It’s because of their hatred for the Brotherhood that Birch was able to have a distant alliance with them and it’s because of his connection with the cult that Edward starts to suspect him as being a Templar.

(To sprinkle more angst, how about Haytham saw his father being dragged away and tried to save him, killing one of the kidnappers which ends with Teresa seeing him as a cold blooded killer and he is indoctrinated by Birch as a way to try and find Edward but never found him. After learning Birch was the leader of his father’s kidnapping, he gives up on Edward because Birch burned all evidence that will link him to Edward and the Los Illuminados)

Okay, so we go to the Ashley and Desmond part of the story.

Ashley is around 20 years old when she was abducted so, if you’d like, she could be in New York to shop or something when she was kidnapped. Desmond was on his way to his first shift in Bad Weather and saw a woman struggling while being dragged into a car with men looking like professional bodyguards (suit, sunglasses, wired ear pieces) on the ground, unconscious maybe? Dead even?

Desmond didn’t have time to think, his body reacted and he punched one of them. He starts to fight them off while telling the girl to run and the girl tried to, screaming for help but there were more men than they expected but her screaming (and his battle cries, they were not screams, they were battle cries damn it) was attracting attention so they had to book it quickly and Desmond was swept alongside the girl in the process.

Leon is briefed that an unknown man with no past of his own may be with the president’s daughter and he’s a low priority. The most that Leon is expected to do is find out who he was and if he was truly just taken alongside the Ashley because he tried to be a good Samaritan.

Now Saddler though…

Saddler had planned to kill Desmond from the very beginning but then he noticed something peculiar.

Desmond looked familiar.

So he let Desmond live because he needs to find out why Desmond looks familiar at all. He orders Edward to guard them and to keep them there.

Leon starts doing his job and Saddler gets sidetracked.

When he heard that Edward had ‘betrayed’ them, he realized why Desmond looked so familiar.

In one of the oldest journals written by his ancestors, there were sketches of the three Assassins who led to their fall and exile.

And two of them…

… looked very similar to Desmond Miles.

So now, Saddler believes Desmond is a descendant of those who exiled them and wants to infect him as well.

Because what better revenge is there than to have a descendant of those who wronged them become their ‘property’?

Unorganized Notes:

I like to imagine Ashley and Desmond become friends immediately, with Desmond helping Ashley stay calm while Ashley gives Desmond something he wanted ever since he was a child, a close friend.

Ashley would definitely not leave without Desmond and Desmond would do everything he can to keep Ashley safe.

Edward ‘recognize’ Desmond, in a way that Desmond reminds him of his young son, but he doesn’t understand it, because the infection inside him mutated thanks to his ‘bloodline’, so he’s not exactly the same as the others.

Edward will be conflicted though because his infection would make him want to obey the cult but he can't hurt Desmond at all. He doesn't want to and his body will never allow it.

Is it his own free will? The reminder of a past long gone? Or...

The Calculations at work?

[wonuwrites]

Ok my friend I thought of some options for another song reaction:

Smut - Levii's Jeans by Beyonce

Romance - Love Me Anyway by Chappell Roan

Angst (big BIG angst) - A House in Nebraska by Ethel Cain

I hope you like one of these!

Oooo~ I will check these out but def write them for you! I decided to breakup "Love Me Anyway" into units so this will be order so you know <3 According to randomizer I will be doing them in these order

Love Me Anyway (Vocal Unit) *You are here*

Love Me Anyway (Performance Unit)

A House In Nebraska (ps this song devastated me and I'm SO fucking excited for this one)

Love Me Anyway (Hip Hop Unit)

Levii's Jeans

I'll tag them in this when they are ready but hey let's get into the Vocal Unit's Love Me Anyway <3

ღ vocal unit || performance unit || hip hop unit

Just like my other song reactions, the order of the people in the drabbles will be in order of the song lyrics of the song <3. (btw this is my new favorite song so thank you anon i love you.)

Warnings: nothing really, might have some cursing but it's just gonna be pretty fluffy :) Some body confidence issues in Jeonghan's btw

ღ Joshua: "I love you because you have those Polaroids of me inside your nightstand."

You had decided it was time to do some spring cleaning. You had put your hair up and was straightening some things up in your room. You found some of Jisoo's jewelry and decided to put them in his nightstand. That's when you discovered a polaroid book you never saw before. Impulsively, you grabbed the book and saw that there were a bunch of random Polaroids showing you and moments in your relationship. Your heart started to swell as each memory came flooding back as you touched each picture. It made you love him even more. Little did you know, Jisoo had gotten home a bit earlier and was leaning against your bedroom door frame watching you relive the memories. He couldn't help but feel a bit anxious because that was supposed to be your anniversary gift that was a month away but he also loved how happy you looked looking at them. He felt very similar actually. It was at that moment when you looked up at him and couldn't stop smiling, "baby, how long have you had these?!" "Awhile," was all he could say while he looked at you which made you blush. You looked back at the photobook and just felt so touched to be able to go through memories like this.

ღ Jeonghan: "And I love you because you're understanding when I'm too shy to show my skin."

Jeonghan's love language toward you was teasing for most part. However, there were times when he knew that you needed a little TLC aka tender love and care. Those times came when you were struggling with the way you looked and a bit self conscious about showing skin. He would know you were struggling with negative thoughts pretty quickly. If you were in a sundress that was a bit shorter and you kept trying to pull it down in the back, he would casually stand behind you so nobody could look. When you were sitting, he would hand you his jacket with a soft smile so you could put it over your thighs. He hated that you had these thoughts but he knew you were working on them. He learned pretty quickly compliments would do nothing but these actions he did always made you snuggle up to his side and he'd feel like the luckiest son of a bitch ever. <3

ღ Woozi: "And I love you because you lead me back to bed when I wander in my sleep."

Jihoon found out about your sleepwalking ways literally the first night you both had a sleepover. He thought you got up to go to the bathroom and when you took awhile to come back, he went to go investigate because well... he missed you. When he saw you 'staring' at your house plant and telling it that 'you didn't need ketchup' he put two and two together. He found it precious and didn't want you to be embarrassed about it so he never made it a big deal. Whenever you would sleepwalk, he would simply just lead you back to the bedroom. He would fall into whatever you were talking about. If you were ever embarrassed by it in the morning, he would quickly shut it down and say "it happens babe, don't worry about it." When you would say "no it's not normal," he would just wrap you in his arms and kiss you. He literally had no issue with helping you when you slept walked and helping you was normal for him. It was the least he could do.

ღ Dokyeom: "Autumn came and December went. Turned you down at your high school dance. You la-love me anyway."

You were sitting next to your newly wed husband, Lee Seokmin, as members of Seventeen and both of your family members came up to share stories about y'all and your relationship. You've known each other for ten years but had been dating/engaged for the last three. That's why when Mingyu who went to high school with you both came up he couldn't help but laugh before starting his story. "When Seokmin first told me he had a crush on (Y/N), we were getting ready for a school dance." This made Seokmin blush and hide his face while you started to laugh. This bit of lore from your relationship was embarrassing for you both however it was funny to see where you both ended up being. You see, Seokmin used to be even more shier then he was now and you were just super self conscious. It was the second to last slow dance and he came up to ask you to dance. You just shook your head and ran away leaving him in the dust confused. You just didn't think someone that was as attractive as him would ever be genuine. Even though it mortified him at the time, he still ended up marrying you and neither of you could ask for a more perfect ending. <3

ღ Seungkwan: "When I met you at summer camp, I would never give you a chance. You still la-love me anyway."

When you were younger, the more red flags a man had, the better. That's why Seungkwan was not on your radar when you both were camp counselors. He was kind to the attendees and everyone. He always flashed you a smile because well he was down bad first glance but to you he could be nothing but a friend. It wasn't until years after you both met and had been friends until you realized it had always been him. You both had been sitting on a blanket watching the stars when his hand just grabbed yours. You looked over at him confused but the look on his face was nervous. He always had a confident aura around him but tonight he was nervous. This was a new side of Seungkwan and it made you nervous as well. "(Y/N), I love you. I've loved you since day one. Can you please give me a chance now?" The question made you blush like crazy before you nodded. "I should've given you a chance years ago, Seungkwan. I love you too."

Hopefully this was good <3 Stream Love Me Anyway bc it's so cute :) (Performance Unit's should be up later today or tomorrow <3)

[fictionfixations]

i had a thought

spoilers for up to book 6 (i thought dump. A LOT.)

remember the prologue

i have a thought so im sharing it

question: what does he think we can even do to stop. well. anyone??? nobody really listened to us (considering we're magicless too a bunch of ppl would look down on us) until we became like friends to them n stuff?? well ace and deuce listened to us i think but we were united under a goal that at all costs had to be reached. to not get expelled. (except us i forgot what was going to happen to us. ..cause we're not actually students ??. ACTUALLY where the fuck are our papers? did crowley just. make them up? cause if you need papers to expel someone then you need some written form of proof then. which means each student probably has files for them, like. say. proof of 'hey this person goes to this school' etc etc. what did he do with us? did he just not admit we existed to the government? but literally everyone in the school knows we exist so surely one of them blabbed like. idk. maybe some stereotypical rich brat whose like 'EWW THERES sOME' uh 'MAGIcLESs PERSON COMMON fOLK wHAtever the fuck IN THIS prestigious SCHOOL!' and like idfk like how ig maybe some of the rich think the poor will give them a disease just by breathing the same air as them [actually maybe they could though but like YKNOW what i mean] but like. if we're just completely undocumented, excluding the unexplainable shift of some funds for ramshackle i IMAGINE so we can pay for shit and live then are we not really. documented anywhere else? styx probably has something but uhh. also theres probably a bunch of law violations attached that i cant even be bothered to touch at the moment. also there are magic diseases right? but so they also have immunities to stuff. but we're from a completely different world so we've never had contact with their sicknesses. so like. ...yknow how theres a ban around like this one island i cant remember the name of because if you interact with them you'll spread stuff to them theyve never been in contact before with that you might not even realize u have cause ur immune and they'll die? like its illegal to go there at all, they're living entirely without technology. also they're hostile. you will die if you go there [if you dont get caught by the people patrolling to make sure they stay without contact]. ..i mean stuff has happened outside of canon we can see. its canonical that the overblot peeps have gone to counseling and medical mages. so maybe im making a big deal out of nothing)

im. sorry. i got really distracted i didnt intend to spiral down to papers i meant to talk about something else

so just. listen.

actually about the expelling ^ three as in Grim, Ace, and Deuce. oh (so wait if they got in trouble would we just. ..still be able to stay?? ?? he doesnt even address us?? well actually grim isnt a student yet but theres FOUR of us not three then so ????)

wait sorry how did we get here ?? (why are we involved? i dont think crowley spoke to us at all when he was angry at the others with the chandelier 😭)

the wiki might be outdated a little because it doesnt update itself when dialogue changes, people have to notice it and then take the time to add it if anything changed so this is from

so if anything changed since then well huh

(if he blamed us for not being able to stop two teenagers with magic while im magicless though i wouldve been throwing hands but im glad crowley hasnt gone that far. ..he still put a firebreathing cat into our custody though. ramshackle dorm is very flammable isnt it? is dust flammable? idk. a lot of wood also i dont think they know what fire extinguishers are. youd think someone would deal with the flames during the entrance ceremony besides riddle and azul trying to catch the flame setter. or if we have one its very unmentioned.)

but so considering grim is our responsibility.. i have to ask how we're meant to stop him..?

like so this is before we really bond with him (aka we find him annoying. unless u got attached to him right away which good for you, i dont know when he wormed his way into my heart but he did at one point and i realized it at the end of i think book 5 aka ignihyde teaser) so grim wouldnt really listen to us (looks down on us)

also i dont know about you but burns HURT. ive burned myself a few times but they're not like the really bad ones (i dont know the difference between degrees and i feel like googling it will haunt me in my nightmares). i imagine grim cant shoot fire too far? maybe a little more shorter/mid range? what even is mid range idk (and the reason it lasted to hit the statue was because of ace's wind magic imo)

well either he can control the range or he can only shoot it out so far. so then. we'd be really close trying to catch him. maybe its in one of the twistunes where he's running away. he turns around and shoots fire at you. fucking OW (also its BLUE. i dont know how colored fire works, but assuming its blue because its even hotter than normal fire. um. ow.)

like SIR im new to this world i dont know how things work

its like... like being saddled with a baby after being suddenly kicked out of the house with no warning (and thus without any of your stuff besides the clothes youre wearing. ..but youve also been isolated from the world youre whole life so WHAT theres MAGIC? whats this about strange laws i dont know about-- wait THIS IS A BOYS ONLY SCHOOL? .........THERES FURRIES?) and the baby is VIOLENT

like HOLD on a second let me at least get a source of income first before giving me a being that utterly depends on me to survive (well. grim can probably survive on his own if we assume he's lived on his own for a bit until NRC. but um. ...well theres a reason there probably needs to be a bunch of childproofing for grim.) when i can barely figure out how to survive here

so. i feel i got very sidetracked. but its also nearing the time i sleep so my brain is slowing down on me and my thoughts have veered off the train tracks enough that this is just a whole mess of thoughts spewing out

i hope im making sense but im probably not

wanted to crowley bash because why are you putting me in charge of people probably the same age as me (minus grim) but with an advantage against me considering they have magic and i dont (not to say that people who know how to fight cant beat their asses but like. ...i dont know how to fight so.)

but he also hasnt given me reason to in canon i guess (if anythings happened outside of prologue i have no recollection of it. i just went through the wiki searching for every page with 'bill' or 'expense' in it)

surprisingly fanfiction either turns to 'crowley is an asshole' (and also actually pays attention to yuu and blames them like oh) or 'parent crowley' which speaks for itself (and is very cute in its own right but i also dont like him regardless as i dislike all adults that put responsibilities on children to be fucking idk child soldiers or to fight shit or deal with shit. i mean crowley doesnt go that far but i still dont like him)

those fics though start from prologue and go in order (some include vignettes and events) so i assumed that it followed it close enough to be a recreation but [so and so] but i was wrong apparently

still tho

[imperiuswrecked]

Time to read Namor (2024) #1

I personally think Namor would rather die than ever admit his weakness to enemies.

Aaron has never been able to write Namor's noble arrogance & pride correctly.

S.M. 39 - Sub-Mariner 1939 (creation year)?

I want to physically slap Namor out of his depression so hard that my hand breaks on his perfect cheekbones.

Someday, a writer will remember Prince Byrrah exists and then the toxic royal cousin rivalry will be back on! He def would have been at the forefront of this misadventure to lead Namor into trouble.

Finally a bit of in character-ness, Namor being annoyed that the humans weak prison and ripping through the bars like it's nothing.

I can't recall, was it that awesome Namor fanfic that first introduced Namor gaining strength through blood (aka the Blood-Mariner) or was it in a comic? I'll come back to this point later to check.

Action/art in this book is great, I do love the artists so much.

He's so sad, a depressed mess.

Stingray??? This man is always around when Namor is beat to hell and tied up by humans, I swear. Except the last time he was put on display and not in a hospital bed, and it was Walter who captured Namor. (Sub-Mariner 1969 #19)

I mean the fish never spoke to you before Namor but that's ok, I know you've been knocked on the head a lot of times in your life. (Kidding aside, The fish in the Marvel universe don't talk, that's Aquaman's thing. Namor has a mild telepathy that let's him persuade/command them)

Which is the better sea pun? World War Sea or Searebro? Vote below

The thing is the Atlanteans have always been treated that way without anything to stop them?? Like the kids who were left to die on the shore in Aaron's Avengers, what repercussions did the international world instigate when that happened? It was only ever Namor who stood up for his people, and tried to implement change in the surface world's governments. Heck he finally got Atlantis/the ocean into the UN back in 2018. It's not like the humans have ever cared about the oceans or Atlanteans, so while I get the urgency Walter should have just said "Attuma said your ass looks fat and you're an ugly skank, and he insulted your mother" bc then Namor would have been rushing to beat him up. lmao.

Sorry it's just really funny to me that Namor in the past would have left everything in an instant the moment Attuma even glanced at Atlantis. The (Defenders comic? need to check) scene where he just fucks off back into the ocean always lives in my heart.

While I see what Aaron is trying to do, I don't trust him enough to carry it out because while he's set up Namor to be sympathetic in the past by the end of his use of Namor in Avengers/Enter the Phoenix, Namor is the one who was blamed for everything without any acknowledgement of the help he gives to humans, etc.

Here.

This is where I really feel that Aaron doesn't get Namor. I understand a lot of people see Namor as this cruel character but he's not. He can be capable of cruelty but he really did not start being so cold until he was an adult. It's not until after WWll, after the deaths' of his mother, Fen, his wives, Dorma & Marrina, and finally his younger cousin Nita, that Namor really changes into today's modern interpretation of the character. You can actually see his character progression into what most people know him as in the 2000s and beyond comics, but younger Prince Namor?

Prince Namor is arrogant, and brash, and prideful, but he was also kind and selfless. He was happy once.

Compare Aaron's flashbacks to Busiek's in Namor: King in Black and there is a world of difference in how they are written. Aaron's has never shown that he has the writing range of being able to write Namor's less mean side. I should say more innocent side? Because he does have one, one that believes that he should be a protector of his people. This kinda behavior is something I expect from Prince Byrrah, who was always selfish and cruel and put a lot of emphasis on him being the Heir to the Throne. This isn't the first time Aaron's written about Namor's younger self, in his Avengers, he also wrote him like this, but killing a shark just for fun.

*sigh* I knew it was coming bc of the preview of coverart but we really are back in the old suit. I do like how the artist added some flair, but I will be honest that I already miss his slutty fish net pants. Of course I wouldn't be complaining if we got Namor back in his speedo.

The worst of it was just how right I was about how Aaron really fails to grasp Namor's character. That's always been my complaint about the writer.

If the setup was in the hands of another writer I would love it bc I love Fantasy Court intrigue & battles.

However I do have to say the artists have been really great and I can't wait to see what they do next!

[reel-fear]

Looking at my old bendy posts is so sad. I used to post dissections of the story and fun things in it, I'd still like to do that but Mike sucks out so much of my energy but I also constantly feel the need to post about whatever dumb shit he says so I can explain to people why it's bad and shouldn't be supportive. On his youtube post a ton of people are being so kind to him and I'm just baffled. This rude asshole who has been nothing but bigoted towards his fans who want to see more diversity gets to be seen as some massive victim because HE said some dumb shit and people didn't like it? What about the young queers who were devastated to find out they'd never be represented in Bendy? What about the people of color who had to witness the graphic novel be filled with almost nothing but white people, with the only canonical person of color now being a book-exclusive [aka Non-Canon] character? Why do they matter so little to so many people? Why do the feelings of Mike, who has literally earned every bit of hate he's ever gotten, matter more than those of the people he's hurt? Why do I have to be the one who constantly updates tumblr on the new stupid shit he's saying no matter how tired and upset it makes me to have to constantly talk about the awful things he constantly says and then gets away with.

I miss being able to talk positively about Bendy, when most of my posts were just talking about cool things I thought about from the franchise. But being honest, I don't think I can ever go back to that time either. With stuff like the bendy books being no longer canon when they contain the best writing in the entire franchise and the way Mike shits himself at any critique he gets... I just can't speak positively of Bendy without some sort of "But..." Anymore, this franchise just fucking sucks currently.

I could make the posts I wanted to about stuff like how much I love Norman but I don't like Game Norman cause he lacks the interesting bits the books added and Book Norman has an awful design now thanks to these assholes! I could make all the posts I had wanted to about BATDR and its story, but I don't like to speak positively of the games anymore cause I don't want people to support them! I could make more posts on the books but then I'll be reminded that all this great writing Kress did, the bendy devs are completely ungrateful for! I literally can't speak purely nice of this franchise anymore cause at every turn I'm faced now with just how much it's been ruined and how much of that happened recently. I miss being able to make a causal nice post about Bendy but now I feel I can't do so without it being misleading or not the full story, Mike has tainted this fucking franchise with his presence and the fact Meatly lets him speak for both of them without stopping him or challenging him makes me assume he thinks the same way Mike does. Ughhhhhhhhhh

[david-talks-sw]

Hey,

I saw your post in which you defended Mace Windu and it is such a good post. Thank you.

At the moment I debate with someone on twitter and it is super frustrating because they are saying Mace is a potential villain because he hates the Sith and wants to kill Anakin in episode I (even through he doesn't admit it).

I'm slightly shocked that someone thinks like this. Could you maybe help me to argue that Mace isn't a villain and a potential child killer?

Hey there!

I appreciate you asking me this, but honestly it looks to me like this is a debate you just won't "win" and you should quit while you're ahead.

Firstly, because those are two arguments so ridiculous and baseless that they have to either

be made in bad faith, AKA you're arguing with someone who's literally grasping at straws and making bullshit arguments for the sake of having the last tweet. In which case you can quit interacting with them because this is a victory in and of itself.

be made by someone completely insane and/or who has made their own headcanon about it. In which case, you might as well quit because there's no way you'll change this person's mind.

But, secondly, being pro-Jedi on Twitter is hell.

I'm not kidding, there's literally SO many people who think the point of the Prequels is the Jedi's failure that if you try to dispel the notion, a rain of (factually incorrect) anti-Jedi arguments falls floods your notifications, and it inevitably devolves into "this guy missed the point of the Prequels".

I'm training myself more and more to take a page out of the Jedi's book and just "let go" because the shit I see sometimes is just infuriating. Like this one, I saw last night:

Out of 154 collected quotes where George Lucas talks about the Jedi, their relationship with Anakin and their rules (namely the attachment one), he is only critical about them twice.

TWICE! OUT OF 154!

But I didn't reply to this.

I drafted the tweet, then deleted it because this is such a big subject that you're not gonna be able to dispel it with a single tweet (and fuck getting Twitter blue, are you crazy? but even if you did, you really think anyone will read your essay of a tweet?)

And also because last year, I got into an argument re: if Qui-Gon was a better master for Anakin than Obi-Wan (my opinion is "nope"). And I argued the hell out of my case. You know what I got in return?

Fucking nothing.

All I got was the people I was arguing against (who kept piling on on like the 5th tweet in a thread instead of reading everything from the beginning, which was messy in and of itself) just... stop replying.

At some point when you're in that deep, you think it'll inevitably end with your "opponent" going:

'well argued sir, you have completely changed my mind for I have now seen the truth; jolly good show'.

Instead all you get is... nothing. They stop replying.

You don't get the satisfaction of an admission of defeat and you don't wanna be the person spamming "WELL?! NOTHING TO SAY?!" because that's just pathetic.

So all you're left with is an hour of your life gone, WASTED proving "I know more about a fictional universe than you, Internet stranger".

My suggestion is: break the wheel, turn that outrage into creativity and instead of getting into debates with people whose minds you'll never change, write a fanfic/draw a comic/shoot a short film that will transfer the emotions you feel re: Windu to anyone witnessing it.

It's a much more productive approach than arguing with someone whose either grasping at straws or genuinely thinks MACE WANTED TO KILL A CHILD????!!! 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[did-sm1-say-catfish]

thank you for the venom is THE dabihawks song

by no means am I a my chem expert, I am just a casual enjoyer who couldnt help but think of dabihawks. This is my interpretation in a dabihawks way. thank you and pls dont hurt me

The song is about two lovers, one of them pursuing a suicide mission, and the other thinking that they would gladly take that burden from them any day.

Most of the song is from Hawks's perspective. He's watching Touya slowly kill himself in pursuit of revenge. revenge for the beginning of his own destruction. But even with everything, even with every single stray bullet or misplaced burn, he'll still be wanting Touya to be happy. the only way for Touya to feel fulfilled in the black hole he lives in, if for him to finally be able to kill his father. ergo, keigo watches as his lover dies but can't, in good faith, stop him from fulfilling his dreams.

"You'll never make me leave I wear this on my sleeve Give me a reason to believe

So give me all your poison And give me all your pills And give me all your hopeless hearts And make me ill"

Keigo so fucking desperately wants to be able to save Touya from himself and his past. He wants all the poison, the bad experiences, the trauma, the pills, the hopeless hearts. he would be as ill as Touya if it meant that his boyfriend wouldn't have to deal with the trauma and lasting effects of everything he's gone through (the illness)

"Give me a better cause to lead Just give me what I need Give me a reason to believe"

this HAS to be Keigo desperately begging for another way out, or at least to understand his bf. desperately, he wants to understand the reasoning for self destructing and whats seems like giving up.

"You're running after something That you'll never kill If this is what you want Then fire at will"

This, in my book, is obviously about killing Endeavor. Touya is endlessly persisting killing his father (fair tbh) but there doubt in the storyteller aka Keigo. He knows as well as Touya, no matter how little they talk about it, that this is a suicide mission. Endeavor or Touya (or neither) is coming out alive in the end. Its a lose-lose. But as much as keigo knows this, he also has an irrefutable amount of faith in Touya. This may be a suicide mission, but it's his suicide mission. This is what he's worked his whole life for and theres no stopping him so: fire at will. go ahead, go kill your abusive dad, do your silly dance, be a dramatic little bitch. but youre keigos dramatic little bitch. he very well may not make it through, but this is what he wants.

"I'm just the way that the doctor made me,"

Ok, now you would think dabi here, but (maybe) WRONG! Hawks here has undergone everything in the book to make his quirk better and more appealing to the public. He's essentially a statue, likeness carved in the image of perfection. Theres insecurity, like, 'nah bro you dont want this im genetically modified' but this is keigo being the storyteller, and he doesn't realize the way that Touya feels the same way. the insecurity is in both of them, but in a way it makes both of them feel a tiny bit more seen. "Black is the kiss, the touch of the serpent sun It ain't the mark or the scar that makes you one,"

this is basically keigo's response to Touyas insecurity. its saying, 'youre not who you are just because of your scars, you arent who you are because of your appearance or affiliations or high rank of danger shit, you are more' than the fucked up outside (or inside), you are who you are because of your ambition, love, and dedication. You are my love' and then they kiss

the last "fire at will" in the song just feels so painful and desperate. like a final cry for help or goodbye.

thank you for coming to my ted talk

[vole-mon-amour]

2x04 (sorry for no cut but i need to be able to see the entire post on my blog for certain reasons)

That's my kind of gal.

Why is Nikolai being called Sobachka aka a doggy?

THEY'RE DOING IT???? AHHHH!!! I dislike how they're rushing through CK, but god, it's one of the greatest moments in the book! This makes me smile.

"To all of that", including "Yes, I can't do this without you." That's why I ship them. Jesper is so easygoing. He UNDERSTANDS Kaz. What they share is so special. Jesper wouldn't mind big words, but he'll do just fine without them. I can't stress enough how much he loves him & how it's mutual.

The fact that Jesper fucked up the entire thing in the book, and Kaz didn't say him a word until his patience reached it's absolute limit. Even the physical fight they had in Ck until Colm stopped them. How they brushed it off and continued with their lives, their plan, their relationship.

I just love them SO much. I wouldn't change these two for any other ship in this universe. If I was asked to choose just one ship, they'd be the one.

"Among them, it passed for good luck." <3

NINA. LMAOOO. Honestly, only she can do that. Which is a bit brutal, but also... She knows her worth and he allows her. But also, that woman is loyal and smart. They'll get there eventually.

I really like the scene where David explains to Alina how it all happened. What Darkling has now and how dangerous it is. As it turns out, I just dislike him near Darkling, but overall he seems to be an alright kind of guy.

Me: This is my fav character. Also me: Aww, poor baby suffering. He looks so good while at it.

To be fair, I do have a 'I love me some traumatized characters' tag, after all.

You already did, asshole. Honestly, the fact that he doesn't remember, just like in the book. I can't wait for Kaz's revenge. Get him, my love.

Which also teaches you what? Never trust Pekka fucking Rollins. He'll destroy you and have no regret whatsoever.

(whispers) he's so hot while he's at it. It's so much easier watching the show knowing the books, bc otherwise i'd completely lose my mind over this.

I love him, your honor. The flashback fits so well. The revenge is so sweet when boiling like that. I'm gonna enjoy Rollins' fall.

My booy. <3

"The trick is not to love anything." Because Pekka Rollins once killed what Kaz loved the most. His brother. Yeeeah.

"You'll never find your son in time." I'm a bit disappointed. They wasted the masquerade, the pushed this iconic line from near the end of CK in the middle of the season. What are they doing?

That iconic line, though:

"I want you to remember."

I also find this as a very interesting choice. In the book Inej witnessed Kaz saying that. In here it's Nina and Jesper, which also gives them an understanding of what's going on and what Kaz Brekker really is. I can't say I can complain. It's a smart move. And they nailed this. Even though too early, they nailed this.

I know Kaz wouldn't appreciate a hug, so I'd like to sit next to him and be there for him. And this is the scene that made me want to cry. Oh, Kaz. I love him with all my heart. What a character.

That smile. I LOVE HIM SO MUCH. ;_; Yeah, crying now. Also, the fact that Nina looks back at Jesper, asking if it's the right time and Jesper shakes his head. I'm not tired to say that Jesper knows him.

;______; I'm giving this episode 10/10 just for this entire scene. Losing it, besties.

I'm gonna need so many fics after this episode. Fics that address Jesper's feelings of hearing Kaz's story. I'm gonna need Kaz to call Jesper Jordie. I'm gonna need all of that.

Jesper: "I like the chaos. The gamble of Barrel life. Never knowing what comes next." Sooo... you like Kaz. :) Also, I remember people talking about this before (during the books), but isn't it suspicious that Jesper likes Wylan for this reason? Because it very much screams Kaz. VERY much. So again, if Kaz was more available... Kazper is canon, one way or another. So much to explore tbh. I'm full of inspiration again (and I haven't even finished my previous 3 wips :)))

Also, the way Jesper easily goes for a quickie with Wylan, which basically means he'd fuck Kaz if he could. Because all the traits show!Wylan has, it's all (and more) in Kaz already. And Jesper knew Kaz for years, so I think the conclusion is very logical.

I'm not giving this 10/10 bc of how they ruined Wesper. But. This was a very long, but a very good episode. So much important information. I even watched parts with Alina and Nikolai, which is VERY rare for me. I'm usually not interested in that part of the show at all.

This is so far my fav episode, but I'm really disappointed that there was no That Iconic Masquerade Line.

[solunstell]

Notes I've taken on the bsd novel 55 minutes:

Kunikida once broke into a meteorological bureau because they got the weather wrong

"From what Atsushi had gathered during his time at the agency, Naomi always seemed happier the more trouble her brother was in. Why? Who knows."

Kenji sleep talks and is apparently "irritable and annoyed" when he wakes up

Yosano asking atsushi to lend her a femur cuz it will "grow back"

The floating city reminds me of Sigma's casino

My bby atsushi was so excited for this trip I love him. He even packed a pillow for pillow fights

"Kunikida was to join later; he apparently had to do something about Tanizaki and his sister, Naomi, since they ended up being placed in the same room at the hotel due to some sort of mistake in the paperwork or somebody’s string-pulling." Naomi definitely pulled some strings.

Dazai sneaking onto the island with great security and hiding in a fucking trashcan...

"'Nice, Atsushi. You’re like a real detective already! It’s such a joy to see you grow up so fast.'" Dazai is Atsushi's dad istg

When Dazai stops smiling, it seems like the temperature dropped a few degrees.

"And with that, Dazai crouched back down into the garbage and put the lid on over himself. The garbage can then bounced into the air with a light grunt, fell on its side, and began rolling away down the street. 'Bon voyage!' Bidding farewell to Atsushi with an unnecessarily cheery tone, Dazai rattled and rolled down the sloping road until he disappeared from sight."

Poor Higuchi. She wants to go sightseeing and enjoy the island (aka a date with Akutagawa).

She only booked one hotel room too.

Dazai keeps rolling around in his trash can to move before eventually its revealed there was two holes for his legs the entire time. Drama queen

"Dazai smiled like a schoolteacher."

Atsushi taking the lid off and scaring Dazai is really funny

“'Ha-ha-ha! I never thought you’d be able to scare me like that! You’ve grown, Atsushi! The only way I knew how to reward you was by showing you my secret technique: Cardiac Arrest. It must be an honor.'"

“'So you’ve finally given up being human,” muttered Kunikida. He sounded thoroughly disgusted. “How does somebody survive even after stopping their own heart?' 'I learned how to do it during my quest to master the secret arts of suicide, naturally. Hearts don’t take long to start back up; it’s no big deal.'” nods at Meursalt!Dazai

Higuchi is smart.

According to Atsushi, Atsushi doesn't heal; the tiger negates wounds. Similarly, it seems like he isn't a man tiger, but has a tiger inside of him.

"It was Dazai. His eyes were extremely calm, unlike how they usually were."

The agency has a 'Dazai is dead' plan.

"'Because I .'"

Kyouka is the only agent unaffected by the summer heat.

"But Dazai didn’t say a word as he stared at a point in the sky with an elbow resting on the table. It was as if his eyes weren’t focused on the scenery outside but were watching vivid memories playing back in his mind." "Atsushi felt as if he could see the white smoke of a cigarette rising in Dazai’s eyes." - When asked about Mimic, dazai is definitely thinking about Oda

[plantdad-dante]

Book #147 - Looking For Alaska by John Green

(first time read; almost. I almost liked this one.)

I want to sit down and have tea with this book. I want to talk about grief, and mental health, and youth, and chance, and memory, and fucking up. I want to argue with this book, want to take it to task and have it defend its ideas when met with opposition that doesn't quite agree.

It's a nice essay Miles writes there, in the end. It is not an even remotely helpful sentiment to me, and it doesn't make a good conclusion to the theme, but I guess it is nice. If you really need to imagine an unchangable forever to deal with loss, but don't want to get overtly religious about it, I guess this is as good a way to go as any.

Maybe I'm being arrogant about grief because I've never really experienced it. No one I love has died yet. I suppose that makes me one lucky bastard. Still, I may not be able to relate, but I sympathize. Would be kind of a bastard if I didn't.

At the same time, my sympathy for Miles and his loss and his guilt and his grief do not outweigh the fact that I still think he's a shithead who only ever "loved" an idea, and who let that love be a detriment to his other relationships. I do not like him, nor the way he neglects half his social circle.

Did this book make me sad and depressed, for a bit? Yes. Do I, past the opressiveness of the heavy subject matter and the admittedly well-expressed grief on page, care? No, not really. I still got annoyed. I watched Miles experience profound emotions as he still failed to learn the lesson, pull his head out of his ass and stop being a dipshit - and I got annoyed.

In a better world, someone would have recognized Alaska's rapid mood swings as a bad sign and gotten her help before it ever came even close to the accident. In a better world, I would like this book, or this book would be the kind of book I like. In a better world, I wouldn't have guessed the last twist fifty pages before Alaska's friends did (right as it was mentioned that that street also goes towards/past her hometown, and that she had white lillies (aka funeral flowers) in the car).

In a better world, I would have a good way to end this post.

... The key to surviving the labyrinth is spite, btw. Spite and friends and everyday holyness. But mostly spite.

[dreams-of-valeria]

CHAPTER FOUR

| Series: The Glass Cage Epidemic | Pairing: Evan Peters OC x FOC | Warnings: Obscene language, smut | Word count: 2,002 | Rated: Explicit | Book mentioned: Piranesi by Susanna Clarke |

I can’t remember when exactly, but we ended up in bed at some point. I was exhausted. If he was, he didn’t show it. Because as soon as we’d gone a couple rounds and then some, his phone buzzed again before we could speak. Not that I wanted to, specifically. Pillow talk was vain and simply the means to an end. I think regular people required a bridge between sex and sleep for some reason and vulnerable talk somehow made the cut? Why did pop culture romanticize it so? What was it about the mutual exchange of a good time that warranted some lovey dovey follow up?

I was never into it, clearly. I remember Todd was almost insulted that I jumped right back into experimenting with new rum cake recipes right after we fucked. It was like his entire existence as a privileged white male (aka white male) had told him in no unclear terms that women would be an outpour of emotion after a pathetic 3 minutes of dick-taking. I didn’t mind bursting his bubble at all. If anything, it brought me joy to let him know what real women comfortable with themselves were like.

It took me a long while to work on myself and like who I was. Mainstream feminism told me that girls had to like serious things to be taken seriously. So I dropped everything floral and traditionally feminine and pretended to be really into heavy metal. But years later and following several personal experiences, I had struck the right balance.

So no, I was not upset that he chose work. The question was redundant. He’d stated his intentions and I was savvy.

I watched him through the glass door of the balcony, as he gestured with his hands as he spoke, dressed only in his boxer shorts on a September night. It was insane how toasty he was. Probably the only downside to not being able to cuddle. To be honest, it surprised me that he wanted to sleep over at all. I fully expected him to leave the second he came. Was the decision to stay over a result of the way other women had reacted to his blatant sexual appetite followed by sudden departure? I cannot imagine they were as amicable as I was.

I wondered about these women before me, perhaps even parallel to me. He said they weren’t vapid. To what extent? On par with me? Sub? Sur? Did he make a mental ranking list of all his exploits?

I stopped my bullet train of thought after that. The last thing I needed was to hyperfixate on him. Not only would I lose the prospect of boning a fine specimen who actually knew female anatomy, but it would also not be healthy for me. Not again.

He was still on the call, albeit seated, after I’d showered and changed, and finally decided to read the book. I knew I said I didn’t care if we spoke after sex, but I didn’t want to sleep when he was still up. What if he needed socks or something? I was just being a good host. Like on cue, I saw him shiver just a tiny bit synced with the wind chimes singing. I grabbed the fleece comforter from the bed end table, knocked on the glass once and draped it around his shoulders. He seemed confused, but jumped right back into the conversation without missing a beat. I noticed the cadence of his voice was different when he spoke on the phone.

I tiptoed across the cold floor and draped myself in the comforter, and nestled in for some speed reading. An old woman reading War and Peace on the subway had taught me that once. As a teen, I was intimidated by big books that had slow beginnings. But once I’d crossed the 100 page mark, there was no turning back. Unfortunately, my bane of seeing everything as goals that needed to be accomplished extended to books alike. But I still enjoyed them greatly.

And so I returned to lonesome Piranesi and his secret message.

I only looked at Atticus one time after that, as he pulled the fleece close and smiled.

After half an hour or so, the squeak of the sliding glass door pulled me out from my reading.

“Why haven’t you gone to bed yet?” He sounded exhausted, but not physically like me. Had the call taken a toll on him?

“I wasn’t sleepy so I thought I’d finish this,” I lied smoothly, as he climbed in on my left with the signature scowl on his face. I’d grown quite fond of it by then. He looked like a brooding child.

“How close?” His voice perked up and he looked at me with expectant brown eyes as he tucked himself in.

“Couple pages. I don’t mean to pry, but was that work?”

He sighed deep. “Yep.”

I let a moment pass before asking, “Everything ok?”

“Yeah, we have an audit coming up and everyone I work with is incompetent so I’m training them to feign competence one grunt at a time.”

“That sounds exhausting.”

“It is,” he said and rubbed his eyes.

“Do you wanna talk about it?”

“Actually I’d rather hear you read the last two pages to me.” he said and sunk his head into the pillows, drawing the sheets up till his nose. “Will you do that for me, Cleodora?”

Huge, gorgeous brown eyes looked up at me. It made me giggle.

“Of course. And just Cleo is fine.”

“You got it, Cleodora,” he blinked dramatically, pulling another giggle from me. This was the same man who ordered me to ‘say Daddy’s name’ as he made me come with his hand an hour ago?

Trippy.

I began reading.

“This afternoon I walked through the city, making for a café where I was to meet Raphael. It was about half-past two on a day that had never really got light.”

His head lolled to the side, and for some reason, my hands thought it was the perfect time to rub his head to sleep. It felt natural. He said nothing. A moment later, he leaned into my hand.

“It began to snow. The low clouds made a grey ceiling for the city; the snow muffled the noise of the cars until it became almost rhythmical; a steady, shushing noise, like the sound of tides beating endlessly on marble walls.

I thought he was asleep but I kept reading until I reached the end. “The Beauty of the House is immeasurable; its Kindness infinite.”

His breathing was steady and he hadn’t said anything. I removed my hand. Almost instantly, he asked sleepily, “The end?”

“The end.” I echoed, placing the book on the nightstand and sinking in flat beside him.

“Well?” Came his reply from underneath the sheets.

“I still think it’s about loneliness.” I admitted.

His eyes opened, hooded but alert. He drew the covers off his face and watched me intently. The dim light of the lamp behind me illuminated the crests and dips of his face, so many minuscule valleys that were unexplored. But I didn’t feel like I’d missed out. I felt opportune. I knew for certain I had time.

“I think the House was a reflection of his mind’s slow descent into madness and the loss of his individuality. He’s deluded from years of solitude and his mind’s gotten so accustomed to pain that he can’t live without it anymore. That’s why he wants to return to the House. Loneliness and pain is his brain’s hardwired new normal so he doesn’t know or doesn’t want to know about anything else but what he’s used to.”

“So he prefers an agonising limbo because that’s all he's known.”

“Or, all he remembers.”

Something changed in his face at that, but before I could decode it, it was gone. Atticus then placed a soft kiss on my lips, before turning away and falling asleep.

I didn’t wake up curled in his arms or embraced in his body heat. I woke up on my side of the bed, and he was fast asleep with his back to me on the other edge.

There was no real reason for me to imagine a picture perfect morning with him. I barely knew him. And contrary to popular belief, cuddling and sleeping is not comfortable. There’s only so long you can go trying to sync your breathing to get some sleep. So yeah, I preferred this.

At least that’s what I told myself as I headed to the kitchen and got started on breakfast. I didn’t know if he’d stay that long, but I was going to offer anyway.

I kept it simple, made some nut loaded (walnuts exempted) power muffins that my mom used to. The memories of school morning wafted into my brain up through my nose. I smiled.

It’s been said over and over again but we really don’t know how good we have it until it’s gone. I rang her as the oven whirred, pretending to ask for a recipe. My mom still lived in my childhood home in Oregon. When I’d decided culinary business was the way for me, downtown Oregon was unfortunately not the best real estate for one. I’d offered to make it a family business, but my mom had declined, preferring to stay back with our dog now that I was finally out of the house.

I chuckled as she recounted a conversation about a diva cup she’d overheard at a supermarket. I missed her blind positivity. She beat me to my question of asking if she was taking care of herself, going at length about how skinny I was getting. I promised her I was still plump enough to her liking and hung up with an I love you.

“Your mom?”

I started at that, and spun around to find him dressed yet again in his suit, and booted up.

��Yeah,” I smiled reminiscently. He seemed to struggle with what to say next, like he was considering if he should just let the moment pass unsaid.

“You’re not staying?” I couldn’t keep the disappointment out of my voice.

“No,” he smiled tight and glanced at his shoes. “I don’t usually sleep over either.”

“Then why did you?”

He shrugged, tilting his head to the side.

“The review. Right. Wasn’t it disappointing?” I asked as I poured him some coffee. He stepped closer.

“If anything, it was the opposite.”

Our eyes met briefly, and I stopped myself from asking when we’d see each other again. I wordlessly handed him the cup. He hesitated again.

“I should really get going. I have the audit today.”

“Right,” I sighed, hugging the rejected cup to myself. “You still haven’t told me where you worked.”

He chuckled, fingering the cuff links on his left sleeve. Why did he feel awkward? Was it at my expense? I wanted no part in it. Suddenly, I wanted him out.

“Leaving it a mystery, got it.” I shot a finger gun at him and headed for the door before him. After I opened it, he hesitated again. I pretended not to notice and stared at the floor instead.

Before he could walk out, Atticus cupped my face, angled his face with mine and kissed me. Not like a love tap, but a full, open mouthed kiss. I could taste the wintergreen mouthwash on his breath, the same one from my bathroom. His hands slid down to cup the crest of my butt and my hands flew around his neck. I fantasised he’d say something like screw work and make love to me until we got hungry.

But he broke off from me, said goodbye and left the apartment.

Outside, Atticus glanced up at the sign that said Cleo’s in a pleasing retro cursive font as he dialled his therapist.

“Dr. Wesley’s office.”

“Hey, Allison, I need to see him today.”

“He’s not in till 10.”

“It’s important.”