#and big bad crime boss is getting very annoyed that this guy is so hard to defeat and toss to the side

[slavicafire]

alright I wanted to get a lot of hours in to make sure I have an opinion that's not just my initial dislike.

main conclusion: this is a YA game. whether that's a blessing or a crime is up to you.

good things, spoiler free:

it's a casual game so it's very easy to start playing whenever, stop, then return to the game. the difficulty settings let you customize and make it even more casual, and the story will be served to you in neat easily digestible bits that do not necessitate you know anything about the franchise to enjoy it. it's fun.

the combat is really fun, smooth, and offers a lot of possibilities of matching and mixing, even if at the end of the day a lot of the skills are basically the same thing, just recoloured. it's very satisfying to play around with, and you can refund skill points at any point and try something entirely different. killing bosses feels nice.

there's plenty of voice acting that's very well done and expressive

the level design is very intuitive while still making exploration interesting and actually fun, and the decision not to make it open world was GOLDEN!

the puzzles, while somewhat rudimentary, are really fun to get into and feel satisfying to solve. you won't spend too long solving them and you will not become frustrated unnecessarily. where previous da games would be a really annoying game of connections, veilguard is a nice wordle session where you already got one or two letters settled.

the level art is beautiful and makes you want to actually look around and take the sights in. lighting design is awesome, bloom notwithstanding.

there are a lot of codex entries that are interesting to a long-time fan of the franchise, and actually satisfy some of the hunger for lore and good writing

there are multiple characters, both companion and side ones, that are interesting and have a lot of potential.

the narrative exposition of your rook's background is nicely woven in, and offers a lot of replayability potential to explore different backgrounds.

the fact that you get to explore many iconic places from the franchise is nicely done, both in terms of game mechanics and the underlying narrative reason. it's fun to finally see more of them and learn more about them.

bad things - under a cut both due to some spoilers and simply due to negativity that's about to ensue:

this is a really casual game that's even more basic in matters of storytelling and relying on YA fantasy tropes than inquisition was. it is basically like playing a dreamworks animation in form of a game. the only important thing is the power of friendship.

none of the decisions matter in any significant way - they do affect the game but it's still all about being friends and brave, and not much more matters.

the stakes are THE BIGGEST EVER! that means they don't matter at all. very marvel style where they had no other ideas but to one up the previous games in a sort of playground level of increasing stakes. oh, you are the strongest? well I am the strongest to INFINITY! oh then I am actually infinity + 1!!!

the choices presented are offensively shallow and both the narrative and the characters suffer greatly because of that. it's much, much worse than inquisition was in that regard: gone are the times of difficult decisions, risk, or thinking about politics. the only important thing is the power of friendship.

the main argument regarding the bad, YA writing is that "rook has to be a good guy and be buddies with everyone to defeat the big bad guys!!!" and I really hate it. you cannot be a cunt, you cannot be mean, you cannot be aggressive, you cannot make any choices at all that would affect the story in a significant way. you can only be a bit sarcastic - and it's done in a much more millennial "merp merp, adulting is hard XD" way. much worse than purple hawke. even inquisition let you do interesting things in terms of morality, politics, other characters...

adding to the above, you are everyone's best friend and everyone loves you and trusts you implicitly. characters who are total strangers will after one mission chime in with their mushy awe and remind you, every step of the way, that you are the bestest and bravest and most specialest. feels undeserved and shallow, and again the game treats you like a child.

the dialogue in the main quests is very basic and aimed at the most casual player. it's all skippable at no risk. outside of cutscenes, using the characters, the game treats you like a child that needs to be reminded of how its most basic mechanics work all the time, dora the explorer style. uh oh, can you see that door? it looks like it's blocked! oh no! we have to find something to unlock it with! do you remember what we did earlier today? let's try it again! can you repeat after me?

only side quests offer anything interesting in terms of writing and dialogue - and even that is scarce.

the music is so uninteresting and generic it only brings to mind a bad marvel movie where you try to superficially introduce some pomp to an otherwise underwhelming stand-off. it's criminal, honestly, and has zero character. I got literally excited when I heard one of the NPCs in the market play a tune based on one of the inquisition tavern songs because that was the only memorable piece of music in hours.

the romance is very rudimentary and the lack of any jealousy mechanics feels very YA again. flirting is underwhelming and even though there are plenty of "personal" missions with your companions, the writing and pacing doesn't let you become too attached to them.

the RP part of RPG has to be mostly done in your head. the characters have a lot of potential and most of it is wasted. if you like a given character, just go find a fanfic about them - don't count on the game giving you that.

cameos from characters from previous games are so cheap and shallow. the inquisitor is straight up from a disney movie. morrigan is sweet and nice and likes you so much. dorian is forced into a cutscene randomly as a very cheap attempt to pull in fans of the franchise. isabela looks like a knock-off doll you can buy at the cheap market and is also, ya know, fucking white suddenly.

the qunari are shit, both aesthetically and narratively.

any social and political issues from the previous games are entirely gone, whether it's the matters of the qun, slavery, elves, chantry, or mages vs templars conflicts. none of it matters because the stakes are INFINITY + 1 !!!!!!1

please i am dying to hear your opinion on veilguard

oh I have plenty. let me finish tonight's session of playing and I will return to this to ramble very, very gladly

[moeblob]

She's the right hand woman of a crime boss and then the little guy is the agent trying to take down the organization and she's like "oh my what a good little boy!" and watches him practically wag his tail and is like ....... wild.

So then she later is talking to her boss and gets a call the agent is back and she's like OH LOVELY. And tells their henchmen not to engage with the agent AT ALL she wants to deal with him and then winks to her boss and says he needs to get lost. So then she hurries to the agent and is like "IT'S THE CUTIE!" and he again flinches and blushes and is like "m-m-ma'am! hello!" and once again she just. Is like ..... wild.

[beevean]

I find it very interesting (A.K.A. annoying) how the idw comic tries defending this whole "sonic never kills" nonsense by bringing up every bad person who's turned around. But they also blatantly ignore all the times Sonic did kill or was fine with letting someone die

Dark gaia

Time eater

King Arthur

Solaris

Erazor Djinn (eternal damnation)

Ifrit

Captain behemoth

Bio Lizard

Explicitly tells Infinite he's going to kill him

The Ifrit (the one from Sonic rivals 2)

Captain whisker

Black Doom (Shadow was the one who finished him off, but the point is Sonic has no problem with other people killing either)

The idw comic's writing only barely functions if you blatantly ignore everything outside of it, and even then, it's still extremely iffy.

Secret Rings is canon to IDW, btw. Sonic had a flashback to the events of that game in #16.

"Everyone deserves a chance to be free, even the evil doctors," Sonic says after he yeeted Erazor Djinn in lava :)

Also yeah, some of these are creatures whose level of sapience is questionable... but not all of them. Solaris never speaks in his full form, but Mephiles is explicitly his mind, so we know that he's a cunning, sadistic deity. Sonic slashed King Arthur fully believing he was a real person, and he did act like one. Also Sonic is the very first person Shadow meets in his game, and the very first thing he asks of him is to kill all the aliens in Westopolis, with the goal ofc of reaching the "big boss" if you go through the Pure Hero route. Again, the sapience of the Black Arms is questionable, but those are still living creatures who might as well be slaves for all he knows. Doesn't care! He'll kill them all!

Sonic doesn't have a rule when it comes to his enemies: he's not a pacifist, he's not the Punisher. He either listens to them, or cuts to the chase: it depends on how unrepentant they come across. The very idea of him having a "principle" about it is ridiculous. Sonic doesn't have principles, he doesn't follow rules, he does what he wants to do.

I get the moral dilemma around Mr. Tinker: he's a blank slate genuinely willing to do good, so does he deserve to be punished for crimes he didn't commit? I don't know why Flynn felt the need to insert such a moral dilemma in a book that he himself has said is for kids and thus can't properly explore the concept of identity and sins, but whatever.

Problem is that, somewhere along the line, they started to treat him not as a brain damaged version of Eggman who might as well be a different person, but as "Eggman reformed", which is insane and even creepy from Sonic. It's just absurd that IDW Sonic based his entire moral code, that everyone has the chance to become a better person, after he witnessed his war criminal of an archnemesis simply getting brain damage, and somehow thinking that this amnesiac personality reflected Eggman's real ego. What the fuck.

Oh, and then this ridiculous shit lmao:

Not only Sonic would never play villain apology for Eggman of all people, but those examples are nothing but proof of how selfish Eggman is. He never cared about protecting the planet because of some hidden depths. My man spells his reasoning out very clearly:

But now Sonic passes off those strained alliances as some good deeds and proof that Eggman is not so bad after all. "Grade-A jerk", huh? Is that how you describe the guy who broke the planet into pieces and was willing to destroy the spacetime continuum for the sake of killing you? What's next, is Black Doom with his plans of turning humanity into cattle "a big meanie"? Why are you trying so hard, man?

Ah, and then he has to resort to guilt tripping Shadow about his own "crimes" (read: being forced to follow Gerald's programming) to get his way :) piece of shit who pretends to be morally superior when in reality he's just an awful person.

[lovelywritersgarden]

Hey, I wanted to request for Tim Drake where y/n has telekinesis and she’s Tim’s assistant. One day someone attacks and y/n kicks there asses without anyone’s help. Thank you <3 have a good day

After hours.

Tim Drake x Fem!Reader Oneshot

WC: 1708

SYNOPSIS: Y/N just wants a night off, is that so hard? From fighting crime to overtime at Wayne tech our favorite vigilante just wants to get some sleep, however sometimes annoying thugs get in the way of her night off. tch. Don’t worry, she’s got it under control.

WARNINGS: Violence, gunfight, Y/N being disrespectful to batman (even tho he deserves it) , swearing

Tic. Tic. Tic.

The clock that hung on the wall was making it painfully obvious to Y/N L/N that time was passing ever so slowly. As much as Y/N loved her job at Wayne Tech, this was the first night this week she didn’t have to stay for overtime. You can’t blame her for being excited to go home.

4:56. Okay, only 64 minutes to go. I can do that. She thought, tapping her pen against her mahogany desk. She had a nice private area to work, beautifully furnished, and it sat just outside her boss Tim Drake’s office. And there she sat, waiting for time to speed up and impatiently bouncing her leg under the desk.

Y/N continued to fill the time by filing her boss’s paperwork and finishing up contracts for tomorrow’s early meetings. She took messages from incoming calls and filled out Tim’s schedule for the week. Then she felt a buzz in her pocket.

Shit.

Something else that should be mentioned about Y/N. She has a rather dangerous after hours hobby.

Being a metahuman vigilante in Gotham came with its challenges. There were always going to be the usual criminals, creeps and bad guys. However the biggest thorn in your side was the big bad bat himself. He has… territory issues.

And he has an automatic prejudice against metas. It wasn’t your fault that you were hit with a particle accelerator blast and woke up with telekinesis. Nor was it your fault you looked damn good in black spandex. You weren’t sure if that last part pertained to Batman’s focus on you, however maybe he’s jealous you’re hotter. Oh, definitely.

So here you sat, your communicator alerting you of a nearby attacker. Your eyes snapped up to meet the clock once more. You glanced over at the door separating you and Tim just to make sure it was still securely shut.

You pulled the communicator out of your pocket and read the warning.

ATTEMPTED CRIME IN PROGRESS:

LOCATION: WAYNE TECH

ARMED OFFENDERS APPROACHING

POLICE: 7 MINUTES OUT

Just as you finished reading, the emergency alarm began to blare and the muffled sounds of gunshots rang out from floors below. You immediately stood up. As if you moved in sync, something very common within soulmates, Tim Drake’s door swung open. He stepped out wearing only a white button up, black slacks and a tie. His jacket must’ve been discarded in his office. A look you think he needs to sport far more often. Not the time, Y/N.

“Stay here.” You said unanimously.

You narrowed your eyes at him. Men and their egos.

“With all due respect, you have no idea-“ He began.

“Please Mr. Drake,” You raised a hand to him. “We can argue about this at a later date.” You rolled your eyes at him and began to make your way down the hall. He stumbled after you.

The lights above you flickered and you pulled him to the side of the hallway behind a pillar. Out of the elevator eight- rather large- criminals stumbled out. Tim pushed himself in front of you as the criminals filed down the hall.

“All we need is the girl. Tracked the locater here. All we gotta do is hit her once with this, grab her, and we can beat it.” One of the thugs said, holding a metal blaster in his hand.

Ugh. You recognized him. This is so tedious. These guys were after you for their higher up. Some mob leader you took down a while ago wanted vengeance, but couldn’t exactly get the best quality help while he stuck in Belle Reve. You rolled your eyes and pushed Tim off of you. His eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, he grabbed you and forcibly dragged you back towards him.

“What the hell?! Do you have a death wish? Help is on the way, just stay calm and don’t make any rash decisions.” Tim aggressively whispered. He knew he couldn’t blow his cover with a civilian present, especially one who worked for him. It would only endanger you more, however, Jason and Bruce had been notified and would be there any minute. All he had to do is make sure you don’t get yourself killed in the meanwhile.

Your eyebrow rose at his tone.

Jeez, someone needs to get this guy anxiety medication…

“Listen, Tim.” You rubbed your face in annoyance. “I kn-“

“What could you possibly say to convince me to let one of my employees, and friends, go out to armed assailants?” He crossed his arms. It’s true, you and Tim were friends. You had become rather close with the late nights in the office. Though in order to keep things professional, you didn’t see each other outside of work unless it was on ‘accidental’ terms.

Your eye twitched in annoyance. So instead of talking to him like a sane person, you decided to give him a taste of his own attitude. You slid past him and made your way down the hall.

“Y/N!” Tim whisper-shouted. You waved him off.

“Yo morons. What the hell are you doing here?” You asked, crossing your arms.

“S/N. Tch. We knew we’d get to you eventually. You see-“

“Can we cut the monologue? Sorry, but it’s late, I’m supposed to be off work in like 15 minutes. So let’s get this over with. Large bad guys with a weapon to attack with, you get your asses handed to you by a hot superhero,” You flipped your hair over your shoulder. “And you guys go back to prison, but not Belle Reve because you guys aren’t that big of a deal.”

The main guy pointed the weapon at you. You rolled your eyes and telekinetically drew it to yourself. As you examined it, you realized it was significantly more advanced than the stuff that these guys ever messed with.

“Where the hell did you dufases get tech like this?”

Three of the men lunged towards the device. You dodged downward, out of the way of the first guy, pushing his shins, using the force from your knees to flip him over your head. You ducked and punched the second guy onto the ground. The third man smirked and pointed his gun at you. You smacked it out of his hand and hit him with the bottom of your palm causing his nose to bleed profusely. He dropped the gun to grab at his face and you kicked it away from him.

When you turned back to face the rest of them, you realized Tim had his hands up in surrender from the other side of the hall. In the commotion he had stepped out, and currently had a gun pointed in his direction. Just as the BANG rang out and the bullet left the gun, you lifted your hand up and stopped the bullet in its tracks, forcing it to fall to the floor. Tim’s eyes widened in surprise. You exasperatedly flung your wrist in the direction of the gun, and it pistol-whipped the guy who was holding onto Tim, allowing for a quick getaway.

“I’ve had enough of this.” You pushed your arms out and felt your body pulsate with power as the rest of the men were thrown against the wall. You continued looking at the small blaster that was definitely intended for your capture. You looked up for a moment to see Tim with his mouth agape.

“What?” You asked, feigning innocence.

“You- and then- the- What??” Tim asked, running a stressed hand through his hair. “Four years I’ve known you! Three years I’ve been searching for S/N! How have I not figured it out?”

“Not sure, I figured out you and Batman’s identities a while ago.” You continued to fiddle with the blaster trying to break the back open. “Also for a masked vigilante, you almost got shot pretty quickly.”

“Don’t tell Batman that, he’ll throw a fit.” You smiled as you managed to pop the back of the blaster open and saw a glowing blue power device.

“Weird. I haven’t seen anything like- Ow shit!” The radiation from the power burned your skin. You dropped it and it clattered to the ground. Tim carefully picked it up, but felt no radiation.

“New biotech. Must be attracted to metahumans. I’ll get Batman to do an overview of it and get back to-“ Just as if the name summoned the devil himself, Batman and the Red Hood crashed through the window, weapons drawn.

Though you hadn’t formally met the bat in person, rumors of his glare flooded the streets of Gotham, and they were absolutely true. The bat’s eyes narrowed at the bodies surrounding you and Tim.

“You revealed your identity?” His gruff voice sent chills down your spine, but you held your composure.

“No, Bruce.” Yikes, perhaps that wasn’t the best decision you could’ve made. Well too late now, might as well go with it.

His head snapped towards Tim.

“Explanation. Now.” He said, his patience evidently running thin.

“I took the guys down. They’re some low level thugs sent out to find me. The question is, how did they get ahold of sophisticated tech like this. My guess would be Cadmus.” You stuck your hand out.

“Y/N L/N sir, also known as S/N.” He glanced at your hand. Jason took it.

“Red Hood!” He smiled. “You’ve been pissing off bats here for a while! Pleasure to meet you!”

You raised an eyebrow, but smiled nonetheless. Since the bat continued to silently stare at you, you turned back to Tim.

“Alright! Well, I’m going to head home because I am,” You checked the watch on your wrist, “Officially off work! I will see you tomorrow, Mr. Drake. Please update me on the weapon and if you have any questions, I'm sure you can reach me now. Have a good night.” You smiled and began walking out.

You were finally going to get home early! You made your way down the elevator and towards the large spinning doors of the lobby however you were stopped when you heard your name get called.

“Y/N! Y/N!” Tim said. “You uh- forgot your jacket upstairs.” He stuck your jacket out towards you. “I couldn’t, in good conscience, let you walk in the cold without it.”

“Thanks Mr. Drake.” You took it from him, fingers grazing his as you sat in an awkward silence for a moment.

“I guess I’ll see you later then.” You turned to leave, but he grabbed your wrist.

“Wait!” He swallowed. “Would you like to grab a coffee with me tomorrow? Before work?” Your gaze softened at him.

“Yeah. I’d actually really like that.” You smiled at him.

“Great!” He smiled widely. “I’ll pick you up around 8:00. Also, it’s just Tim, Y/N.”

“Alright Tim, I will see you tomorrow.” You put on your jacket and turned to walk out. Tim smiled as you walked out.

Once you got out the door you made your way down the street towards your apartment complex. As the building came into view, you were pulled into a side alley and a gun was held to your neck.

“Gimme all the cash ya’ got, and I wont hurt cha’ doll face.”

“Oh brother.”

Of course, because god forbid you could just get the night off.

———————————————————————————

A/N: Hey guys! First request and first published oneshot! I am so glad I finally got the courage to post this and once school is out I will be able to post much more! Thank you so much, love, for requesting this fic <3 Enjoy!

[argumentl]

The Freedom of Expression Ep 55 - Rage Room.

K: Hi, this is Dir en grey's Kaoru with this week's episode of The Freedom of Expression . Joe, Tasai, welcome.

J: Today we are wearing...

K: Yeh, you've been wearing these recently, havn't you? Its just the right season for them.

T, J: Yeah.

J: Its a bit warm out for a thick coat during the day now..

T: Yeah, this is really useful.

K: It is a bit warm now, isn't it?

J: Yeah, and when it gets too warm I can just take this off, and put it straight in my bag...

T: Yeah, its just right. It really is easy to use.

K: I see.

T: Its great. And when I wear it, the girls think Im cool.

J: Do they really say that to you?

T: Haha, is it just me?

J: That sounds like bragging! No one says anything to me!

K: Don't they? haha

J: No! Why do some people get called cool, and others don't..even though we are both wearing Dir en grey clothes?? Does this simply mean Joe Yokomizo is not cool? Is that it?

T: No, no. Your mood switch is impressive, haha.

J: Please stop it. You know I'm still trying to get married again. Don't get in my way!

T: Why are you so angry? haha.

J: Thats just me, haha.

K: You are angry, aren't you?　

J: Oh, I'm ok.

K: Speaking of getting angry...lets have today's topic.

T: Oh, good idea.

J: Ok, may I read out today's news? This news is about a 'Rage Room'.

T: Oh, very fitting.

J: Yes..In the suburbs of São Paulo, a 'Rage Room' has recently opened, where people can release their pent up stress and anxiety, and it has been proving popular. The room is set up in a warehouse, and peope can unleash their anger by smashing up old tvs and computers etc. According to Vanderlei Rodrigues (age 42), who started the business a month ago, there are quite a lot of people using the room who want to release their anger, especially with the spread of covid. Rodrigues claims this was the best time to open a Rage room, with so many people needing a release from the massive stress and aniexty which they are experiencing. Incidentally, the price to experience this is $4.64, which equates to about ¥490. Users need to wear protective clothing and a helmet, and can write words on the wall to aim their anger at, like 'ex-girlfriend', 'ex-husband', 'corruption', 'work' etc. A single-mother of two who used the room had this to say about it: 'Its good that I can work off my discontent in this rage room. My daughters, or anyone else, don't have to bear the brunt of my complaints, and its great being able to smash things'. A Rage Room! What do you think? First of all, would you go if there was one here?

T: I wanna try it out, yeh.

K: It sounds interesting.

J: Right? Smashing stuff up.

T: And its under ¥500.

J: Yes, it is.

T: Hm, that sounds pretty good.

J: Right?! It might be more expensive if it was in Japan, what with the land price being higher...if you compare it to São Paulo, Brazil. But if it was in the suburbs, like my home town Hachiouji or something, it might be cheaper, haha. It would be difficult to get there though. But if there was one here, I'd wanna try going. The question is though, if you went there, what would you aim your anger at?

T: Yeah.

J: Is there anything at Tokyo Sports you would pick?

T: There's a few things.

J: Right? Its like, what are you angry at? Like, 'My idiot boss!!!'?

T: Ah, I see.

K: Hiranabe?

J: Hiranabe! haha ???*1

T: Yeh, maybe I'll go with that. haha

J: Haha. Would you whack him in person?

T: No no, haha.

J: That would become a crime scene, haha. Kaoru, how about you?

K: Well, yeh...

J: What do you wanna unleash your rage at?

K: Hm, what do I? I don't really want to get direct anger AT anything. Stress happens as a result of lots of small things building up to make something bigger, right?

J: Of course.

K: I'd just wanna get the stress out in a way unrelated to all that stuff.

J: Ahh, I see. Well, yeh, stress has been building up bit by bit, even in just this last year.

K: Punchbags in gyms are apparently pretty popular too.

T, J: Ohh

J: People need somewhere to aim their rage. Ah, yeh there's that too. Some people go to the gym too. Lets go.

T: To a rage room?

J: Yeah. Well, I mean, I've got loads of things to  be angry at...loads that I can't say here, but...

T: Joe, are you that stressed out?

J: Yeah, its tough. My radio show is tough, everything is hard! Its been so tough, I wanna smash stuff.

T: But have you guys been really angry at anything recently? Like, so angry you wanted to punch someone?

K: Well, im not sure if its at that level, but I do get angry quite a lot...at people in the street wearing those noise cancelling earphones. They don't pay attention to anything around them, and just walk into you! There those people right?

T, J: Ahh, yeh yeh.

K???*2

T: You do get angry!

J: Well, yeah!

T: Well, I was out walking too, in Kichijōji, on a really narrow street near the station used by cars and pedestrians. And a drunk guy came riding his bike right down the middle of the street, and was about to crash right into me until I yelled at him. I was so angry with him!

J: Were you? Ahh.

T: Maybe my anger is aimed at people like that.

K: Mm, there are a lot of them.

J: This is why this kind of business works. Like you said earlier Kaoru, its not about being against a specific thing or person, its the daily stress that builds up and up, and this rage room helps to relieve that.

T: Its good, isn't it?

J: its just right. Should we do this? Let's open one.

K: Here?

J: Haha, we could smash loads here. Yeah, but a rage room. It sounds just right for these times....Kami is pretty quiet today..Are you there, Kami?

Kami: Im here, yes yes.

J: Were you asleep?

Kami: No no. Um, as for me...I wouldn't use this room.

J: Eh?! You wouldn't?

Kami: No.

J: Why? Don't you have any stress?

Kami: No, gods don't get angry.

J, T, K: Ehh?!

J: What do..

Kami: Its like, we are gods so we are not supposed to get angry.

J: Oh really?

T: I had the image that gods get angry quite a lot. 

Kami: No, not necessarily. You use a hammer to smash tvs and computers, right?

J, T: Yeah.

J: It would feel good, right?

Kami: I'd definitely hurt myself if I did that.

J: Haha.

Kami: Then I'd think 'Ahhh, it hurts' and regret doing it, which would make me get angry again. So I'd never do that. And charging ¥490 for it just adds insult to injury.

J: Haha

K: Well, there is that too.

T: Yeah.

J: Kami, have you never been angry in your life? 

Kami: I have loads of times.

J: You have? haha. You don't like the idea of a Rage Room though? You'd hurt yourself so you wouldn't use it?

Kami: I wouldn't.

J: Ahh, I see.

T: It would hurt your muscles a bit throwing a big, heavy hammer around.

J: Yeah, if you are not used to it.

T: Its scary.

K: Yeah, if its someone who doesn't usually use hammers.

J: Yeah, if it comes as a surprise, it'll be tough.

Kami: Um, wouldn't it be good to make something to prevent road rage? Something small.

J: Ah, yeah.

T: Yeah, road rage annoys me.

J: Road rage, yeh. Well, its dangerous.

Kami: If you told the government about a rage room that you can put in cars to prevent road rage, they would get it for you, right?

J: Ahh, well, like a small compartment?

Kami: Yes

J: A small rage compartment.

Kami: Yeah.

J: Before you get angry at person in front's driving, you could let it all out next to you ???*3

Kami: Ah, thats a good idea.

J: Haha

T: They could also make a room in the highway service areas or something?

Kami: Yeah.

T: To prevent road rage.

J: That might actually be good.

Kami: Yeah, road rage would disappear.

K: But if the wrong person comes in, they'll get punched.

J: Haha, your right. Everyone is there is stressed and annoyed, right?

K: Yeah.

J: If its not organised properly, they might start fighting.

K: They could have a martial arts contest in there.

J: Hahaha. Well, thats like putting your anger into a fight? Ahh.

T: I also wanna shout really loudly, to get rid of stress.

J: Ahh, we're not doing that recently, are we?

K: Ah, I see.

J: We can't yell at lives and stuff.

K: Well, Joe, you still talk a lot, but I've been talking less than usual.

T: Yeah.

J: Well, the number of conversations we have has decreased, right? Like, we don't go out drinking with friends..it builds stress.

K: Drinking makes your voice louder too, right? Joe, you get really loud when you drink! haha.

J: I do! Im so noisy

K: Well, yeah, its because of covid, people can't get their stress out.

J: Yeah. Well, lets think of some fun ways to get rid of stress.

T: Ok, lets think of something.

J: Firstly...

Kami: Something where you are not gonna get hurt and regret it.

J: Yes. But this is only dangerous because its tvs and computers, right, Kami? What if it were straw dolls or something?

Kami: Ah, in that case you'd hit your hand under the doll with the hammer.

J: Ah, you would. haha

Kami: There's no need for hammers and stuff.

J: Haha

T: He's peaceful.

J: Yeah

T: Very godlike.

K: But thats him messing up, right?

J: Oh, I see, its not that he's peaceful, its just about him messing up and hitting his own hand with the hammer. Does that make him a bit cute?

Kami: How about when you are opening a box and you pull it open with all your might, you cut your hand, right?

Kami: Cutting your hand on a box..

K: Oh, on a box, yeah. That happens a lot. I've been ordering online a lot recently. It cuts your fingers. ???*4

T: Yeh yeh, haha.

J: Also, when you get a package delivered and leave it in the hallway, and then bash your little toe off it when you walk past. Its only a small thing, but it hurst so much, right? Like, 'Uaaghh', you don't know what to do, right?

T: Yeah, thats annoying.

J: It really is. It would be better to just unpack it, but when you leave it there and bash your toe, its so bad!

Kami: Do you get annoyed?

T: What?

Kami: Do you get annoyed? As for me, if I bashed my little toe, I would think, 'Oh, not again!'. I would just be fed up.

K: Cute.

J: Haha, yeah. Whats happened to Kami today?

T: But yeh, it is those little things that often cause the big outbursts of anger. Just cutting your hand a tiny bit or something.

Kami: What would you call being fed up? Its not anger, but what is it?

J: What do you call that? Yeah.

T: Sulky?

K: Depression?

Kami: A sulking room would be good.

J: Ah, haha. Yeah, a sulking room.

Kami: It looks like there'd only be me in it.

T: Kami seems a bit sad today.

J: He does. Kami, did something bad happen to you?

Kami: Uh, yes, daily. All the time.

J: Oh, I see. Well, maybe not a rage room, but lets comfort each other in a sulking room.

T: Yeah, next time.

Kami: Yes please.

T: Lets get rid of the stress.

J: Yeah, haha.

K: Ok, lets finish here for this week.

J: Yes, im a little worried about Kami, but..

K: Thank you very much.

*1,2,3,4 - Couldn't catch/wasn't sure.

To top page

[forestlingincorporated]

Bernard Dowd

DC made me do it. Fandom made me do it. So here it is, the character retrospective I never thought I’d ever write. 

Bernard Dowd was introduced on December 17th, 2003, in Robin #121. Tim has recently transferred to Louis E. Grieve Memorial High School, his fourth school since his introduction when he was 13; Tim is 16 now, and was recently forced to drop out of Brentwood due to his father’s bad investments loosing them their upper class status. Jack and Dana Drake are still alive. 

Bernard Dowd is the first person Tim meets when transferring to this new school. Bernard picks him out of the crowd as new, and immediate tries to determine what Tim’s clique is, only to determine, as we all know, Tim is pretty much impossible to cleanly box. 

Bernard thinks very highly of himself. He views himself as also being above cliques, and wants to give Tim the impression that he’s “runs the school.” He thinks of himself as a cool guy, and he doesn’t like to be called “Bernie.” 

His attempts to befriend Tim are rather presumptive in a way that comes off as rude. He treats Tim like a lost little lamb in need of guidance. 

So, Tim ends up casual friends with Bernard. In fact, at this point in time, Tim says he’s his only friend at school. 

Bernard has a crush on fellow classmate and lowkey daughter of a crime boss, Darla Aquista. (Yes, that Darla Aquista, of TimSteph relationship drama fame.) He is the one to introduce Tim to Darla, and Tim embarrasses him by calling his bluff over whether or not he’d actually ask her out if her jock friends were removed from the picture. This is when you start to get the feeling Bernard might be all talk and bravado. He’s not the cool, confident, popular guy he makes himself out to be. 

After Tim looses Robin, he invites Bernard over for dinner with his family. His and Tim’s relationship seems... complicated. On the one hand, Tim likes him enough to invite him over to his house, and he’s probably Tim’s closest friend during a period of time when his other relationships are distant (friends at other schools) or cut entirely (the hero community). That said, Bernard is CLEARLY depicted as... skeezy, and skeezy about people in Tim’s life, in a way Tim doesn’t appreciate. 

Months later, if the passing of seasons is to be believed, Bernard is the person to inform Tim that there’s a new Robin. Tim seems to have a larger friend group at Louis E. Grieve, he’s worked out a friendship with Darla even though she still seems to have a slight crush on him, and seems to be friends with several of the footballers, but he still has time for Bernard. 

Bernard believes wild conspiracies that Batman works for a shadow government and owns secret orphanages full of Robins that only last for about three days before they die and get buried in secret government graveyards. 

We don’t see Bernard for a while after this. Darla Aquista is shot at school, dying in Tim’s arms. Stephanie Brown’s death is faked. Tim’s father dies, and his stepmother is in such mentally bad shape she has to be checked into a special clinic in Bludhaven, so Tim transfers to John Wayne High School, his fifth school since he was 13. 

A lot of shit goes down between the school shooting and the next (and last) time we see Bernard in Robin #140. He’s meeting up with a girl named Linda, when his vehicle is destroyed by none other than Darla Aquista, back from the dead as Warlock’s Daughter, who is looking for Tim. 

After she scares the shit out of him, they go to Gotham Grille for age-appropriate drinks, and Bernard tells her that the high school closed down after the shooting and all the students’ families received settlement money. With that money, Bernard attended an unnamed private school. 

He offers to help her become a superhero, which she turns down. While he’s pretty rude to Linda over the phone, he’s depicted softer here, He seems earnest in his desire to help Darla, even if he still has an underlying bit a selfishness. I personally feel like he comes off a little less like the Annoying Try Hard he started out as, and has a bit more Booster Gold-esque charm to him. 

But, we never see him again, after he helps her track down Tim’s new address with his Fake Uncle, so he was lost to the pile of Tim’s former normal boy friends to be forgotten. 

UNTIL BATMAN: URBAN LEGENDS! 

Right now, everyone is excited because Batman: Urban Legends #4′s been released and Tim Drake has some strong Might End Up Coming Out As MLM Soon? vibes. He’s got this Discovering New Things About Himself arc in this comic that’s framed in a very Gay Coded way. Focusing on a gay male couple with the dialog box “like me” over it, Barbara talking about how he’s afraid looking too deeply at himself might “change” him, stuttering over how his old friend “looks,” and of course this pseudo date he’s goes on with Bernard. 

I cannot actually analyze the whole comic in depth, because I don’t own it; I ordered the trade, so I won’t be receiving it until December. This is what I’ve gathered from screen shots of this comic alone. I don’t think Urban Legends is technically in the main canon, but I would not be surprised if this was a test to see how audiences respond - like Joker shooting Barbara Gordon in The Killing Joke (which isn’t canon) resulting in Barbara Gordon’s very canon paralysis. 

There’s some speculation at the moment that Bernard himself might actually be evil, or working for the bad guys. I think it’s equally possible he might be targeted by the bad guys, and not necessarily evil himself. But neither scenario would particularly surprise me, it seems unlikely he would be reintroduced as solely a potential love interest for Tim, if that is indeed the route they’re going down. Consider old flames of Bruce’s that get reintroduced, they’re often connected to the plot in some way. 

I... have not exactly sugar coated that I don’t like Bernard. Honestly, I AM trying to be fair. THIS Bernard seems lovely, from the screen caps, but my most recent experience with Bernard was a recent reread of the Robin series, and I just don’t find him historically likable. Some people may disagree, but I personally think some of those some people are maybe going back after reading THIS comic and rereading him with rose-tinted glasses he hasn’t quite earned. 

So, I personally am not going to start shipping this, at least not right now, though I am putting on my clown make up getting my hopes up that Tim might come out as gay or bi. I’m personally hoping he’s gay, but that’s just me seeing a lot of myself in Tim, and projecting my own experience with compulsory heterosexuality onto him, and I think it would be interesting to explore that with an established character. I would still be happy with bi/pan Tim Drake, and I think that would probably make the most people happy - fans of Tim’s opposite-sex ships get to win, and fans of Tim’s queer ships get to win, and bi/pan people would get a big name character as representation. What would make the most people angry, is if this ends up as a queerbait during Pride Month of all things. 

I... have no hope they might make him demisexual, I don’t know if DC even knows what that word means. 

[lovelivingmydreams]

A story by heroes and villains

Virgil Anker: better together

Virgil learns to accept help from others.

“Ugh! I am done!” Virgil glanced up from his assignment to see Roman let himself fall back into his chair with relief. Their first study session had gone rather well. They should probably reserve one of the discussion booths next time. The poor librarian had needed to remind them to be quiet multiple times. They’d just had too much fun. But Virgil could understand Roman’s exhaustion. It was time they wrapped things up. “Give me a sec, I have to finish this thing for English,” he muttered absentmindedly as he focused once more.

“Want me to read it trough for you?”

Virgil looked up in surprise. “You don’t…” he started. He didn’t even know why he was feeling like he’d done something wrong right now. Picani might be able to help him figure it out during their session after Virgil got back from his trip to the zoo with uncle Thomas tomorrow.

“We’re here to help each other Virgil. If I didn’t want to help you I wouldn’t offer. I thrive on being of help to my friends. It’s no trouble.” Right. Roman was like that. For everyone, not just him. It was okay to let him help. Virgil found himself smiling a little sheepishly and nodded. “Alright. You can read it when I’m done,” he allowed quickly turning back to his work.

When he finished his essay he looked up to find Roman in the zone. Which was excellent. It made it easier to sneak up on him. Apparently those with ADHD were extra susceptible to his cloak. Did he have proof for that? Well it was more of a hypothesis, but he had no means to test it. It made sense though.

And Roman had yet to prove him wrong.

Virgil cloaked himself, moved to stand right next to Roman and looked over his shoulder. It looked like he was designing a fashion line. Trans girl dresses, Pansexual messenger bags… as well as formal clothing inspired by broadway and Disney characters it seemed. He dropped his cloak.

“Seems I’m not the only one who can draw up some clothes.” Virgil had to stifle his laughter when that observation nearly made Roman jump 4 feet in the air.

“Will you stop that!?” he hissed.

“Not a chance,” Virgil chuckled as he picked up Roman’s sketches.

“This looks good though… You ever thought of becoming a fashion designer?” he suggested casually, allowing himself to imagine starting a brand with Roman someday.

“You are a genius!” Roman exclaimed, making Virgil’s heart jump.

He played it cool though. He’d gotten good at that over the last two years. Pretending that Roman’s smile didn’t turn his insides upside down. “It’s the least I can do. I sent in the designs like you said… I’m kind of excited.” He was. He hoped to catch a glimpse when he went out tonight.

“I’m sure next time you see DreamPrince on the news he’ll be wearing your design.” It was nice, having someone believe in him like that. Other than his dads that is.

“We’ll see,” he smiled as he handed Roman his laptop.

“Well,” Roman announced after a while. “I think you can hand this in with confidence Virge.”

Virgil felt himself relax at that. Roman wouldn’t say that if he didn’t mean it.

“So… I recall something about pizza? I’m starving!”

Virgil chuckled and lead the hungry Hispanic to the restaurant he’d suggested.

Virgil reminded himself over and over that this wasn’t a date, but it was very hard. Especially when, near the end of their meal Roman suddenly started acting nervous. “So… Um… There’s this… Shoot wait a minute,” Roman got up and picked up his phone.

“Si mama…? Que?” Virgil watched Roman look at his watch and jump.

“Perdona! I’ll be there soon.” With that he hung up and took out his wallet. Rambling all the way.

“So sorry Virge! Time got away from us I’m afraid. I swear I intended to give you that ride… Can you call your dad… You know what? Just use the change to take the bus or a cab or something alright? My treat! I’ll call you later!” he promised as he tossed down a few bills before rushing away. Leaving Virgil behind a little stunned. Maybe it was a family thing? It looked urgent.

He took the bus as it was cheaper and there was a stop in his new street.

The house was nice. Though Virgil wasn’t used to it yet. Especially now, when his dads weren’t home, it felt weird being here. Luckily he didn’t plan on staying too long.

He texted his dad while getting dressed. By the time he left the house, he got a reply.

“Don’t wait up. Patton and Thomas say hi. Thomas wants to remind you of the trip to the zoo tomorrow.” Virgil smiled, he didn’t know uncle Thomas was going to be there too… Maybe these projects were just poker nights with the boys. He might have to ask them about it when they got home.

Regardless, duty called.

Virgil was starting to think that he might need to do take a break from turning in evidence for a bit. The criminals were getting agitated.

“I say we attack now! They are weak! We can take them down easily!” he heard one guy suggest. No, turf wars were a bad idea. Clearly he hadn’t thought about maintaining the power balance enough. Good thing he was about to even the playing field again. All these idiots had to do was get caught on his camera with something very illegal, preferably saying the bosses name or any clue the police could use for some kind of big bust.

The leader of this troupe seemed rather well respected. Virgil had learned to spot the difference between the ranks, and if this guy wasn’t answering to the big guy himself, then he was pretty close.

“Boss says we have a truce until the rat is found,” The big dude in question stated.

A truce? Was he that much of a threat? Should he feel flattered or scared?

The tugs argued back and forth a bit more and Virgil was seriously considering just getting out of here. Maybe he could trip up some lower tier members. Or go back to helping lost travelers for a while. Just enough to make the higher ups relax again. They wouldn’t rebuild their ranks too much if they thought it was an inside job or something. Right?

And if they’d realized someone was giving the cops everything they needed to stop them, they wouldn’t plan anything major for a while. Unless the boss was stupid.

Suddenly Virgil saw a figure descend from the roof. He made a hero landing, straight from a superhero movie.

Virgil’s eyes widened. It couldn’t be…

“Do you gentlemen have permits for those weapons?” Dream Prince asked with a deep, booming voice as he rose up, wearing the full costume Virgil had designed. Including the cape. What was he doing here? Stupid question. He was government sanctioned. The chief was on the news a few days ago claiming him as one of theirs.

Which meant she probably asked him to look for Virgil. Does that woman never give up?

The gang was confused by his appearance. One of them calling the young hero ‘prince clown’. Virgil was too far away to see it, but he was willing to bet the clown in question was not too pleased with that.

With a gesture from the leader the gang was silenced. “Sure kid,” he said in a voice that made Virgil stand on high alert. “Got mine right here.”

Or find the stories of Logan and Roman in the Master post

Before Virgil could react in any meaningful way, Prince had shielded himself with his cape and the leader fired at least four rounds at him. The hero was unharmed though. The sounds of bullets falling to the ground the only evidence that they had ever left the barrel in the first place.

“Well now you just pissed me off. This is brand new!” Prince complained as he dropped the cape. And Virgil had to admit, it looked very cool. “I suppose you won't surrender peacefully?” he deduced.

The sound of guns being armed was his only answer. Which was stupid. That was already shown not to work. But sure, shoot with more guns. Don’t actually use your brain or anything. Prince let out an annoyed sigh as he hung his cape from a water pipe. “Fine.” And just like that, he sped towards the criminals through a rain of bullets.

It seemed like he had it handled, and Virgil was pretty sure that he would notice he was there no matter how well he cloaked himself if he got involved. And if he was here to look for him and bring him in for whatever the chief had planned…

Still, he couldn’t make himself just stand by.

He jumped in and helped disarm the criminals and caught a few punches, Prince seemed unlikely to dodge. Pretty soon he felt like Prince was adapting his fighting to his presence which told him that he was in fact spotted.

Soon the gang was down on the ground and their disassembled guns were on a pile on the floor. Virgil returned to the shadows once the sirens lit up the alley.

Prince donned his cloak once more and walked up to where the leader laid, showing off his boot.

“So… how does it feel to get your butt kicked by a guy in heels?” Virgil’s eyes widened as he saw Prince show off the boot. He was wearing the heeled boots? Sure he pulled them off, but that wasn’t a smart move. He couldn’t have had that much time to practice with them yet. Virgil sent the design on Tuesday. Unless… Maybe he’d worn heels before? That was a possibility. Though crime fighting in heels couldn’t be comfortable… Still, it did make the whole thing extra cool, Virgil had to admit.

Suddenly Dream Prince looked up at him and gave a playful wink. So he had noticed him. And he could see him even though he was cloaked right now… Or not quite. He wasn’t looking directly at him. So he knew he was there, just not where exactly.

“Good job Dream Prince. We've got it from here,” one of the police officers who’d come to make the arrests told Prince. The young hero turned to him and bowed.

“It's my pleasure to be of assistance to the police of this fine city.” While he turned around he made a gesture with his hand. Virgil could tell he was being asked to follow.

Part of him wanted to run the other way. But he was curious.

He wanted to take a good look at the costume. He wanted to scold Prince. He wanted to give him a message for the chief. Maybe find out what she wanted from him.

So he followed him all the way to a rooftop.

The city lights illuminated Prince from the back, his cape floating in the wind.

Virgil wished he could take a picture. Roman would love this.

Prince took a step forward and bowed for him. He was really sticking to this Prince thing huh?

“Greetings Phantom. I must thank you for the assist now and three months ago. I am Dream Prince, he/him if you please. A pleasure to officially meet you.” So he had figured out when they’d met.

Virgil couldn’t help a chuckle. He was still cloaking himself. He’d never talked to someone like this before so he had no clue if and how that affected his voice.

“Phantom huh?” Hmm. He kind of liked it. Sure it confirmed that prince was here due to chief. But it was a cool nickname.

“Sure you can call me that. He/him… mind telling me what that was about? I thought you officials weren't let of your leash unless you could be responsible enough to not get yourself killed?” Did he sound a bit catty? Maybe. Was what Prince did idiotic? Absolutely.

Prince didn’t seem to agree. “Says the guy who has half the criminal underworld out for his blood.”

Virgil looked away. Damn. He’d hoped Prince was going to live up to Virgil’s original nickname for him. But he was no idiot.

“Do you have something against the program?” Prince pressed.

“No I…”  Virgil tried to steady himself. It wasn’t Prince’s fault that he was pissed at his boss. “Sorry I’m just pissed at the cops for sending you, I guess,” he admitted reluctantly.

“Yet you chose to follow me up here?” Okay, so he really should give this guy more credit.

“Um… Well… I just…” He couldn’t tell him he was curious about him. That would give away interest on his part and he was not ready to let anything personal slide. He hated being put on the spot like this. Damn, this was not helping the stoic, mysterious guy aura he was going for.

“You interrupted my stake out!” he recalled. Right, one of the reasons he was mad at Prince. The lecture he’d interrupted with his observations.

“Do you know how long it takes to work my way up the ranks? First I have to find a low level runner, then I follow him to his boss, that guy to his and so up the ladder I go. I was getting real close to the big guy of this group. And now…” Sure, he had been thinking about needing to go more low profile for a while to let the rumors simmer out. But still.

“I apologize,” Prince replied sincerely with another bow. It was hard to be mad with this guy. Perfect hero material. “I merely intended to help. They were talking about killing you.”

He appreciated the concern really. But he overlooked one crucial detail.

“And now there is a price on your head! The leader of that little club is like two steps away from the big boss. They won’t be happy with you taking him in.” He couldn’t let him get himself on the bad guys’ list. Not because he thought he needed to protect him. Or maybe a little. When had he started feeling responsible for Prince? Was this how his dad felt? Why he’d tried to keep him from being overly self-sacrificing as a kid?

“You got dirt on them?” Prince wondered.

Virgil rolled his eyes. “Yes… But that’s not the point. They have no clue about me. Not really,” just some guesses and rumors. “But you are out in the open.” They’d know who to go after with him. “This is not your kind of mission Royal pain. And now that you are out, you can’t expect me to hold your hand any longer…” Virgil got distracted when Prince crossed his arm and smirked smugly. “You’ve been looking out for me all summer huh?”

That smug little… Fine he got him there.

He rolled his eyes with a scoff, trying to dismiss the statement. “It’s not like I came looking for you.” He just… Did the right thing when they met up.

Prince was the one dreaming if he thought he felt any kind of responsibility towards him. He was just trying to… To be someone he could be proud of. That was why he was doing this. To not feel week and useless. To help people, even if he couldn’t always help those he felt closest to.

“Still… Thank you…” Prince said gently, about to step forward again. But then he cringed and clutched his head. “Ow!”

The young hero sounded more annoyed than in pain.

He pressed a finger to his ear. Communicating with whoever was on the other line no doubt. “One. Loud. Two. Rude! I am in the middle of something! And did you seriously remotely reactivate my com?” Virgil could hear him hiss in the communication device, dropping the regal persona completely. Virgil bit back his amusement.

“I am fine, not a scratch on me,” Prince replied annoyed. “I’ll call you when I’m done here.” And then he seemed to take something out of his ear. He was so lucky Virgil wasn’t a bad guy or he’d just made it a lot easier on him to take him out.

“Sorry,” Prince sighed. “My mentor is… intense at times.”

“Mentor?” Virgil wondered. He’d heard about the GTA program and it’s monitors in the past. But mentors… that sounded a bit more one on one than just people who told you what to do.

“One of the people helping me practice my powers, test my limits. Comes with the program. It’s not just a babysit and a nice suit,” Prince joked.

“Oh…” Virgil didn’t know what to say to that. It was… Something he’d been wanting for a while now. For a way to test all that he could do. To figure out the shield, push the limits of his cloak and try and use his healing for others. Someone to help him strategize, to talk with when he’d had a tough night. But unless he was ready to come clean with his dad, that was out of his reach.

“Listen, I admit I was sent by the chief. But I didn’t come here to recruit you. I wanted to thank you and tell you… If you ever need someone to talk to, to help you figure something out… I’d be more than happy to oblige. No need to tell me your name or anything about yourself.”

Virgil looked at the offered hand. Maybe, it wasn’t impossible after all.

He considered his options. But it seemed like there was no catch to this offer. So he closed the gap and shook his hand.

“I’ll see you next time,” Prince offered kindly before letting go and running straight of the rooftop as if there was a walkway just for him.

Virgil smirked. Maybe he should wrap it up for tonight. Prince and the other heroes had the area covered. He’d collect the information he had on the tugs that were arrested tonight. Next time he saw Dream Prince, he’d hand that information to him.

If things went well… This could be a good partnership.

End of this part. Meet Janus and learn his side

@cirishere​ @hestianerd1 @moonlightshow00 @naturallyunstablegamer @alias290 @meowthefluffy @frida0043 @angelic-cali @selenechris @theblackveilinreverse

[artificialqueens]

Galactica, Chapter 65 (Group Fic) - TheDane/Veronica

A/N: Chapter 65 seems like a good time to tell you that there’s nothing we love more than talking to you guys about this story! We are both on tumblr (@theartificialdane and @veronicasanders) and we’d love to hear from you!! We also have other Galactica content there under the “galactica” and “galactica wardrobe” tags. XOXO!! Click here if you’re looking for previous chapters (or here if you’d rather read on AO3). 💫

Last Chapter: Bianca threw a wrench in the annual holiday party when she brought Courtney as her date, and Katya tried to (not) deal with her surprise pregnancy.

This Chapter: Miss Fame and the team work on the final lineup for the spring runway, and Katya figures some things out.

***

It was Violet’s luck that she was a light sleeper, the first note of her alarm barely ringing before she had grabbed her phone from under her pillow and turned it off.

There really wasn't a need for Violet to wake up at 6, for her to start her day so early since she couldn’t go to the gym because of her ankle, but habits were hard to break, and she liked how quiet the world was in the morning, how it felt like she was the only one awake.

She wasn’t hungover, had barely had a drink because of her crutches, but she had a feeling all of her coworkers would be wearing sunglasses and asking each other to shut up, the Friday after the Christmas party always an experience.

Sutan’s bedroom was dark, his curtains swallowing the ever present lights of Harlem, the man asleep next to her, his head resting on his pillow.

It took everything in Violet not to reach out and run her fingers through his hair.

She had been so annoyed with him last night, so uncomfortable in the beautiful red dress she had bought with his money, the simmering anger not leaving her until she had felt Sutan’s clever fingers undo the zipper on her back, skin against skin finally freeing her from the smoldering fire.

“Stop staring at me.” Violet froze, Sutan’s voice deep with sleep.

“I’m not.”

“Oh?” Sutan cracked an eye open, a smile playing on his lips as he reached out, grabbing her hip on top of her blanket. “Could have fooled me.”

“Well,” Violet smiled back, allowing him to pull her in, “Maybe I was. A little bit.”

***

As her alarm sounded, Courtney groaned, burying her head into Bianca’s neck. Bianca laughed, reaching over to hit snooze, giving them a few more precious minutes in bed before Courtney had to get up.

Bianca had never been much of a morning person, but she’d discovered that, in many ways, this was her favorite part of the day. When the world was dark and still, and they were curled together under the covers, naked and warm. She trailed her fingers up and down Courtney’s back, pressed a kiss to her temple.

“You okay, sunshine?” Bianca asked.

“Mmmhmm...I just don’t want to go to work.”

Bianca smiled, one hand settling into the curve of Courtney’s waist, enjoying the way they fit so perfectly together.

“Then don’t,” she stated, warming up to the idea of taking a day off, just the two of them. “Call in sick.”

“I wish,” Courtney scoffed, a deep sigh leaving her. “But I can’t, so…”

“Why not?”

“The day after a party? Everyone will think I have some crazy hangover.”

“Yeah, so?” Bianca laughed.

“Plus, I’m pretty sure Miss Fame is less than pleased with me right now. I don’t want to give her any reason to be annoyed. And there’s a big meeting to decide on the spring runway, and I have to-”

“Alright, alright...forget I suggested it,” Bianca said, holding up her hands in surrender. “I just really liked the idea of spending all day in bed with you.”

Courtney raised herself up on her elbow, gazing down at Bianca with a dreamy smile on her face.

“Maybe, um...can we do that tomorrow?”

“You’re on, angel,” Bianca said, reaching up to run her fingers through her hair.

“And...we still have about seven minutes before the alarm goes off again.” Courtney brushed her lips against Bianca’s neck, murmuring, “You wanna go back to sleep, or…?”

“Hmmm...” Bianca cocked her head, pretending to think. “I may have some other ideas…”

Courtney let out a delighted squeal as Bianca flipped her onto her back with a wicked grin.

***

Maxwell groaned as a loud clatter sounded through the design floor.

“Sorry!” Kiara whisper-shouted, quickly picking up the pair of scissors she had dropped. Trixie had gone to the department head meeting about 20 minutes ago, which meant that everyone had given up the pretense that they were working. Alexis had gone straight for the couch to take a nap as soon as the door had closed behind him, April still nursing a terrible-looking green smoothie at her desk. “Sorry everyone!”

“Don’t even think about it girl!” Bob smiled, his phone pressed between his shoulder and his ear, and Maxwell groaned again, sliding down so he could rest his head on his arms, Bob chatting away.

He loved his boyfriend, he really did, but there were few things more annoying than when Bob had managed to get into any tabloid, the perceived fame of it always going directly to his head. And of course, it was made even worse by his friends and family back home in Georgia playing right into it, acting as if it meant anything at all.

“Listen, I didn’t ask to be born fabulous, but it’s my cross to bear, and I’m-” Bob laughed, adding, “Exactly!”

“He’s really getting into it, huh?” Maxwell looked up to see Violet standing next to his desk, looking over at Bob, Jovan at her side holding three cups of coffee.

“Here,” Jovan smiled, giving one of them to Maxwell, the scent filling his nose.

“Oh god I love you,” Maxwell grinned, taking the liquid magic. It was probably not healthy to be on his third cup already, but he didn’t care.

“Love you too boo,” Jovan grinned, taking a seat on the edge of his desk, Violet doing the same, balancing her crutch so she could take her own cup. They didn’t talk, and Maxwell loved that, Violet fitting so nicely into their little boys club that he barely even thought about the fact that she was a girl and straight most days.

***

“Pearl! Pay attention!”

Pearl snapped out of it, the wheels of her chair squeaking as she moved, her eyes wide open at the commanding tone in Fame’s voice.

“Sorry!” Pearl sat up straight, Bendela hiding a snicker behind a sketchbook, her brown eyes clearly filled with delight over Pearl getting reprimanded.

“God,” Fame rolled her eyes, her hand on her hip, her outfit of the day a white cropped cashmere sweater and white linen high waisted pants, her blonde hair in a high delicate updo, a golden belt snug around her waist. “Did anyone come to work today?”

If they had been alone, Pearl would have opened her mouth to point out that she was the one who always arranged for the Christmas party to be on a Thursday, but they weren’t, so Pearl kept her mouth shut.

“Fame,” Raja’s voice was warm, and it apparently functioned just as intended, her tone a soothing balm on whatever had Fame into such a tizzy. “We’re almost done.”

If Pearl had to make an educated guess, she’d say it was probably the whole Courtney and Bianca thing, though it could be anything from her breakfast grapefruit not being ripe to morning traffic to a photographer catching a bad angle of her last night.

“You’re right,” Fame sat back down, sliding her chair over to Trixie. “So, fourth look. What do you have?”

“I was thinking about these pants?” Trixie held out a sketch, and Pearl folded her hands over her stomach, watching her best friend do his job exceptionally well.

Fame tapped her fingers against the table, french tips hitting the wood and Pearl made a mental note to see if she could sneak in a visit to Fame’s office, providing their boss with an orgasm before lunch a great Christmas gift to everyone in the company.

***

V-List Alert: BDR’s Latest Blonde Bombshell

[Pictured: A large photo of Bianca and Courtney kissing on the red carpet, along with a few smaller shots of them looking giggly and affectionate. And lastly, a grainy, low-res photo of them on the street after the event, kissing while a driver is opening the car door.]

Well, well, well…

Okay, so to begin with, let’s all admit that BDR showing up on a red carpet with some sweet young thing is nothing new. In fact, it would be strange if she didn’t. But the shameless PDA last night at Galactica’s annual Christmas party—both on and off the carpet—had us wondering...who the hell is the new paramour?

We did a bit of digging and strap in kids, cause it gets juicy…

Turns out that this little darling is named Courtney Jenek. Sound familiar? No? Yeah it shouldn’t. But she happens to have two very interesting connections to BDR: 1, apparently she’s friends with B’s baby sister, princess of the underground punk scene Adore Delano. And 2, even more hilariously, Lil Courtney here is the Executive Assistant to none other than Miss Fame of Galactica.

Wonder what the illustrious and brand-conscious Miss Fame thinks of her bestie using her staff in what appears to be an extremely filthy unprofessional way? And how’s it all gonna play out?

We can’t wait to watch this drama unfold…

***

As Courtney slipped on her coat and grabbed her bag to head downstairs for yet another coffee run, she glanced at her personal phone, laughing to herself when she saw the 17 missed calls from Morgan. She scrolled through the text messages in the elevator.

MORGAN: COURTNEYYYYYYYY!!!

MORGAN: OMG PICK UP

MORGAN: WERE YOU PLANNING TO TELL US YOU’RE FUCKING BIANCA DEL RIO?????

TYRA: She’s WHAT

ADORE: You guys didn’t know? ;)

TATIANNA: Yawn, old news :p

MORGAN: BITCH

MORGAN: COURTNEY I SWEAR TO GOD IF YOU DON’T PICK UP

MORGAN: COURTNEYCOURTNEYCOURTNEYCOURTNEYCOURTNEY

Courtney called her back, laughing some more when she picked up even before the first ring.

“You know I’m working, right?”

“I am going to murder you,” Morgan announced.

“Wow Morgan. A hate crime? I really thought more highly of you,” Courtney replied with a giggle.

“Omigod, shut up! How could you not have told me already?!”

“Well...I don’t know, I wasn’t sure what it was at first-” she said.

“It’s still fucking major!” Morgan laughed. “I guess it makes sense, though. God, you always chose the worst men.”

Courtney chuckled, nodding as she exited the elevator and headed for the coffee shop.

“So what did your parents say?”

“Uhhh...I haven’t exactly told them yet.”

“Courtney!”

“What? It’s not gonna be dramatic or anything, you know my brother’s gay.”

“Omigod, Court, you absolute idiot. You have to-”

“One sec.” Courtney lowered her phone to give the orders for the meeting, then went back to the phone. “Sorry, I’m on a coffee run.”

“Yeah, I heard. Listen, Courtney, you have to tell them! Do you really want them to find out that you’re dating a woman who’s almost twice your age from a fucking tabloid?”

“I don’t think my parents subscribe to American fashion blogs.”

“Did you even read the link I sent you?! Someone’s gonna send it to them, trust me.”

“Alright, alright, I’ll tell them,” Courtney told her with an eye roll. She really didn’t see the big deal though; telling her parents was the last thing on her list of worries at the moment.

“Also…” Morgan’s voice lowered, taking on a sing-song, teasing tone now that the business was out of the way, “When are we hanging out? ‘Cause you know I absolutely need all the sordid details.”

“Soon, I promise.”

“Tomorrow night?”

“I’m kind of busy tomorrow,” Courtney admitted.

“Busy getting railed, you mean?”

“Maybe…”

“Ha, you slag.”

***

Maybe she was avoiding going home. That was certainly possible. But on Friday, Katya just seemed to keep finding things to do to prepare for the next week of school. It would be their last week before winter break, so she knew that any kind of serious learning would be difficult. Rather than spend her time fighting with the kids to focus when they just weren’t capable of it, she planned as many fun projects as possible, and though a lot of them were old hat for her by now, the prep work never seemed to end.

Which is why, when Jasmine, the woman who ran the afterschool program, came to her door at almost 6:45, she was still there.

“Hey, I’m sorry to bother you…”

“It’s no bother, come on in,” Katya said, a big smile on her face, especially when she saw that Jasmine had Grace with her--one of Katya’s favorite students.

“You know we close at 6, and Grace’s mom is running late today,” Jasmine said. Her tone of voice was light and cheerful, but her eyes told Katya a different story--that this wasn’t the first time it had happened, and that she was likely furious. “I gotta get home, and Dani’s out with the flu, so...do you mind keeping her here until Leslie shows up? It should be soon, she texted me ten minutes ago that she’s on the way.”

“No problem. We’ll have a great time, won’t we Grace?”

The little girl nodded, skipping into the classroom happily.

“You’re a lifesaver,” Jasmine said. “Thank you!”

Katya turned to Grace, who had dumped her jacket and backpack on the rug and was already prowling around the book bins, likely looking for her favorite Junie B. Jones stories. Soon, the two of them were settled into bean bag chairs in the comfy zone, Katya reading a few chapters out loud to her before realizing that she was probably hungry and suggesting a snack. Grace was just finishing her juice box and goldfish crackers when her young mother, Leslie, came rushing inside, harried and out of breath, apologizing profusely.

“Mama!” Grace jumped up from her seat at the little table, knocking the chair over in her excitement to leap into her mom’s arms. She hugged her tightly, face buried in her neck, and Katya could see some of the tension in Leslie’s face melt away.

Katya stood up from her own seat, picking up the book they’d been reading.

“I’m gonna put this book in Grace’s backpack so that you can finish it together this weekend,” she said, and Leslie shot her a look of pure gratitude, nodding.

“Grace, can you say thank you to Mrs. Zamo?”

“Thank you Mrs. Zamo!” she echoed cheerfully, taking the backpack and her jacket as Leslie dropped a kiss to the top of her head.

“Honey, can you go wait for me on the bench for a minute?” she asked, tugging gently on one of her pigtails.

“Okay!”

As Grace skipped into the hallway to wait, Leslie turned to Katya, tears filling her eyes.

“I’m really so sorry about being late, I-”

“It’s okay,” Katya said, head tilted sympathetically. “I get it, things happen.”

“It’s been happening all week. I got this new job, and the hours are so tough and the commute is shit, but it’s an extra two dollars an hour and I can’t say no to that. But I just feel like...I feel like I can’t do anything right.”

“I understand,” Katya nodded, putting a hand on her arm. The truth was, though, she didn’t understand. Not really. She’d never been in a position where an extra two dollars an hour would make such a big difference in her life--not even when her dad cut her off. She’d always had money, and by the time her trust fund was depleted, she was living with Trixie, whose generous salary more than covered what they needed, her meager teacher’s salary mostly paying for fun extras, keeping them entertained and living their best lives, or just going in the bank.

She knew she was lucky, but until that moment, seeing the pain in Leslie’s eyes, the fear that she was failing at life and failing her child, maybe she didn’t understand just how lucky.

“I was sitting on the bus thinking about her waiting and waiting, wondering where I was.”

“Can I tell you something?” she asked softly. “Grace didn’t care that you were late, she was just happy to see you when you got here, because it’s really obvious what a good mom you are.”

“Sometimes I feel like the worst mom ever,” Leslie admitted, tears spilling down her cheeks.

“No way. Grace is an amazing kid. She’s smart and kind and enthusiastic--and it’s totally okay if you need some more help. That’s what all of us are here for. I can talk to Jasmine about maybe extending the hours next week, until you can get your schedule sorted. Or maybe Grace can go home with Joey’s mom...don’t you all live in the same building?”

Leslie nodded, a deep sigh leaving her. “Thanks, that’s a good idea. I...I’ll figure it out.”

“Okay. Just remember that you’re not in this alone, you know?” Katya handed over a box of tissues from her desk.

“Yeah. Thanks. Sorry, I-” Leslie wiped her eyes.

“Don’t be sorry,” Katya said, giving her a warm hug.

***

“Oh god!” Gigi groaned, pushing the door to the modeling apartment open, her shoulders aching, her fingertips numb. “Finally!” She dumped her bags down in the hallway, slumping against the wall.

She had been around the town with Sutan all day, shopping for what he called a model wardrobe, Gigi trying on several pairs of heels and flats, her new backpack and purse stuffed with a newly printed book and her brand new phone, their last stop of the day Gigi’s new gym that was just around the corner.

“Gigi?” Bimini popped her head out of the kitchen door, the golden rim around her eyes and her crimped hair clear indicators that meant she had been shooting, Bimini rarely bothering with removing hair and makeup on set. “Welcome home sweetie! How did it go?”

“I’m exhausted!” Gigi pushed out from the wall and kicked her sneakers off. “Who knew shopping could be that hard?”

Gigi heard Symone giggle, her friend sitting at the table and painting her nails, the apartment's newest arrival chopping vegetables for whatever vegan crock pot Bimini was cooking for everyone. They had someone new arrive every couple of days, most girls only staying for a night or two in the bunk beds in what Naomi had dubbed the summer camp room before they were shipped off again if they didn’t interest any of the agents.

“I told you, didn’t I?”

“I know,” Gigi groaned, dumping down in a chair to rest her aching feet, “but I thought you were kidding.” Symone had gone on the trip two weeks ago, her Instagram exploding with content now that she had a brand new phone to post with.

“Did he give you the drink speech too?”

She had eaten lunch with Sutan at an awkwardly fancy restaurant, three sets of cutlery surrounding her plate, her manager going through each set as well as her wine glasses, explaining it to her. Gigi’s mom had always insisted on good manners, but it hadn’t been anything like that.

“The ‘never leave your drink unattended’ one, I mean.”

“Mmh,” Gigi nodded. “The whole entire speech.”

She hoped it’d be unnecessary, but Sutan had run her through what he called the basic safety procedures like putting a hand or a napkin over her glass when she wasn’t paying attention, her manager drilling it into her skull that she shouldn’t accept poured drinks or opened bottles from strangers in clubs unless she saw the bartender prepare it.

“Is he seriously doing all that?” Naomi raised an eyebrow. “So far, all my agent has told me is that if I showed up in any tabloid looking messy, he’d drop my ass.”

Suddenly, Sutan’s mothering didn’t feel as smothering, the attention and assistance the man had poured over her nothing compared to the terrifying thought of being left basically on her own like Naomi.

***

At first, Katya wasn’t sure why she stopped at Macy’s on the way home. Especially now, on a Friday night during the holiday season, when the sales clerks were at their most frazzled.

She wandered around, unable to get Grace and Leslie out of her mind...and in particular, the look of pure joy on Grace’s face when her mother appeared in the doorway. Leslie was a single mom, and by the look of her, she was pretty young, but she had managed to raise an exceptional kid who was sure how much she was loved.

Why was Katya so afraid of having a baby? It was like she’d told Leslie--she wouldn’t be doing it alone. Not by a long shot. No, she was fortunate to have the most wonderful man in the universe by her side. And lord knew, Trixie would make up for any maternal instincts she may lack herself. And plenty of people, people much less capable and loving than her, had babies every day.

She stopped, looking around, realizing that she’d found herself in the baby department. Specifically, in front of a shelf full of tiny little infant shoes. She smiled to herself, knowing exactly what she needed.

When she arrived home, she was thrilled to see that Trixie had prepared dinner, heating up some leftover chicken and mashed potatoes and throwing together a salad--exactly what she was in the mood for.

She smiled when she saw him, announcing, “I brought you a present.”

Trixie’s face lit up, and for a split second she could imagine that exact same expression of joy on a tiny child, the thought making her insides warm as she handed him the little bag.

He looked inside, where the two tiny pink moccasin slippers sat in their plastic box, his head then snapping up to look at her with an expression of amazement.

“Kat, are you-” His eyes were bright with tears, hopeful but still a bit tentative.

She shrugged slightly, self-consciously, afraid to say what she’s been thinking out loud, but Trixie seemed to know anyway.

He rushed forward and swept her up into the biggest, tightest hug she’d ever had, repeating over and over how wonderful she was going to be. She took his face in her hands, kissing his tear-stained cheeks, finally sure that as a team, they could do it.

[cakeandpi]

Parker!! spoilers abound

hm, so Harry (aka Lawyer) has been fired/let go and no one gave him the memo on it. Is his old job/boss going to be this episodes mark?

oof, Harry is bad at being subtle with his ‘okay look in [place]’ comm directions

ah okay so isn’t a legal firm that’s about representing their clients to the best of their ability. it’s a firm whose about smoothing bad things over for rich clients so that there’s little to no consequences.

“I remember when you wanted to change the world.”/“World did change. We just went along for the ride.” So the world changed the boss, the boss gave up on changing the world because he saw a way to profit from it and didn’t care that he hurt others along the way.

The way that car drove up onto the curve, I thought that was Sophie in a big hurry at first. (I would have thought Parker but there wasn’t enough time for her to crack the safe, get to the relevant files, get out, and then drive there.) But no, it’s Maxwell’s thugs because the man holds a grudge apparently. So I’m going to guess he’s going to be the season big bad? Or is he just a 2-episode bad guy and we’ll find out who the real big bad is later?

Hardison: listing various problems on various international efforts he’s helping with Eliot: let’s make this a restaurant metaphor Hardison: *very much regretting ever buying Eliot that brewpub*

Nuts and bolts about bad guy details

Also that bit about Hardison being distracted by problems is definitely a distraction, there’s no way he’d pause on making sure their safehouse was secure

Eliot is not so much pissed as insulted that the world is at the point of advertising the corruption rather than him needing to beat it out of someone.

drone!!

*snort* eliot's usually the grouchy one, and he’s carrying a trashcan right now. there’s no way hardison doesn’t make some oscar the grouch joke once he sees that.

“It’s like you never stopped.”/“Yeah. Quite the act.” Sophie slows down at Hardison’s comment, then sighs and sits. She’s finding this tiring now. Is it because she’s out of practice? Or because after so many years of retirement, her hearts not in it anymore? And Hardison notices. He doesn’t say anything concrete immediately, because Sophie hasn’t really elaborated on what’s going on with her. When she does - it’s her grief, and how its affecting her grift now - there’s this concern in Hardison’s face. There’s absolutely going to be a meeting between the OT3 about how to straddle not straining Sophie too much and not babying her should she stay on for another job after this.

“But I can’t work forever, can I?” There’s a defeated tone to this, and it’s true - Sophie’s just human, one day she too will pass on. Her grief for Nate (and how being back with the team keeps reopening that wound) is coloring her view on this for sure. (Did Nate work himself to death?) It’s also, very distantly, a remark on the OT3 - they too can’t work forever. They were Sophie’s and Nate’s proteges. And it’s not that the OT3 doesn’t have anything in place if they go down - they’ve got small teams running all over the world. But they don’t have their own personal proteges. Harry’s a decent start, but they’ll need to recruit and open up their circle to at least one, maybe two more before they’re ready to retire. Before they, too, burn too hot for too long.

“You hear that? That’s a very distinctive sound.” YES

Another Basil & Brick truck! This one has.... empanadas, ropa vieja, sancocho, and I think the last one is yuca frita. Mm, yuca fries.

BREANNA!!!

Parker! Taught Breanna to tail people! (Hardison in particular?) When she was 11! Wait does that mean Parker’s met Nana?! Also Parker is so smug and satisfied that Breanna paid attention to her lessons.

“I teach every kid I meet how to do crime.” <3 be gay do crime

This is a big ‘I’m telling mom!’ argument and I love it, especially the “I think she’s napping” LMAO

“How you saved Eliot’s life all those times” Oh man Hardison is sleeping on the metaphorical couch tonight. But also I need to come back to this later because honestly and really? Hardison has - as part of a group team effort - saved Eliot’s life from himself. By giving him a way to work through his anger issues, by caring for him, by showing Eliot he’s needed and that he’s more than just a hitter. The team saved Eliot’s life. (And there’s probably a bunch of erasing digital trails/etc where Hardison did more directly save Eliot’s life but that's besides the point.)

“But hacking’s kind of old school anyway.” And as she goes on, Eliot goes from aggrieved to ‘oh, a new best friend’ because now he has someone to help him annoy Hardison.

Parker pulls Hardison into a side room (by his ear, but he’s not protesting in pain so that’s got to be just for show). And then pushes him up against the wall and Hardison is like ‘okay whatever lecture is coming can it not be like this?’ If it weren’t for the glass walls that’d be some makeout stuff right here.

LOL at Parker’s standard for a ‘normal’ person being ‘uses Uber, pays taxes, and has a birth certificate’.

“Wait is this like that time in Paris?” I... don’t remember an episode set in Paris with a robot and explosions so this must be during the time skip. And - “... but you didn’t want to hurt Eliot’s feelings so you secretly wanted us to agree.” I’m going to scream if there’s no confirmed ot3 by the end of the season. And cry. And read a whole bunch of fic.

Look at these two being honest with each and communicating and respecting each others opinions, they’ve grown so much from pretzel metaphors.

“You’re not mad. You did the Picard tug.”/“I am mad.“/“Did the tug. You know I like that.” Parker might be mad (at Hardison? Breanna? Both?) but not so much that she’s completely shutting out Hardison, giving him a nonverbal signal that she’s not pissed, just needs some time to be upset before everything’s okay.

“One. Job.” Parker says. And we the viewers know it’ll be more than one. But really what that means by now is that this is an audition. Parker may have taught Breanna some things, but now Breanna has to show that they do better with her rather than without, that she’s an asset and not a liability or dead weight.

I laughed so hard that because this shit’s illegal, there’s no cutting corners on the paperwork.

“And you didn’t get tortured.”/“Not this time.” I can’t tell if Eliot wants Harry to get a little bit tortured or if he’s just reminding Harry that this time around people were in a good mood and showing off.

Breanna stops herself before suggesting something, and Hardison, for all that he isn’t delighted at her presence and protested her being here, encourages her to speak up. If she’s going to be part of the team, even for one job, she’s part of the team and that means speaking up and throwing ideas out there for others to bounce around, even if it winds up being a football that can’t be dribbled.

OT3 TEAM JUST GOT DUBBED ‘DRILL TEAM’. (why is that also somehow a dirty joke i’m dying here)

Oh one of the baddies is a Com4r4t fan... oh wait no this is the beginning of a plan backfiring.

Aww Breanna is so proud of what she’s done! It’s very much like season 1 Hardison. So Sophie and Hardison go to do their own thing, only that means the baddies are here to talk to Breanna and she doesn’t have backup.

THE 'LET ME GET MY BOSS’ THE SPIN AROUND AND THE ‘WHY ARE YOU BOTHERING MY STAFF’ I LOVE BREANNA.

“I’m your neighbor who runs a business built on discretion.” This is going to go very badly depending on how Breanna plays this. At least she gets the earbud in to call for help!

Another Brick&Basil truck! Etoufee and jambalaya, dammit eliot stop choosing delicious food to advertise. 

“I monkey-shamed the DJ” I. Love. Her. Also Sophie’s already read Breanna as having the skills to just need general guidelines for an impromptu grift rather than needing to be fed specific lines.

“Okay here’s the thing.” And there’s a pause, we’re thinking he’s about to come down real hard on Breanna, and then we get “I love Com4r4t.” he is a fanboy I guessed it right!! And then he does go through with the threat, but not as a ‘cancel it or die’ sort of threat, but a ‘if i’m disappointed you die’ way.

Breanna nails the impromptu grift though she’s understandably a bit shaken by the threat at the end. (What newcomer wouldn’t be?) But the threat is what pushes Parker into deciding Breanna should go home ASAP. This is Hardison’s family, from before the team, and Parker isn’t about to risk messing that up. If she pushes for Breanna to stay when Hardison doesn’t want Breanna to, and something goes wrong? Parker would never, ever forgive herself.

But as Sophie has pointed out, they’ve all been out of their depth at one point or another. That doesn’t mean that someone should be sent packing.

Lmao Eliot being possessive of the drill.

“Then you ain’t got no more problems ever again.” There’s a certain sense of morbid humor with the team, one that’s both necessary but also a reality. They deal with this level of danger on a semi-regular basis. Harry just hasn’t caught up to that fact yet.

I have a feeling this particular baddie is going to end up dead for managing to drive a 40% cut.

“I’m just saying dude.” I love that Eliot and Hardison don’t have to rehash their entire arguments anymore unless they’re really enjoying themselves, that they can just be all ‘you know I’ve said my piece’.

“Don’t get distracted by the side gig.”/“Is it a side gig?” For all that the team has been their main focus for so long, for all that they all have side projects and gigs, this has been eating up more and more of Hardison’s time. What I thought was him pretending to be distracted earlier may have been a real distraction. And Eliot’s noticed, and he’s noticed that Hardison hasn’t noticed, that Hardison needs to make a choice here.

“In our line of work, you’re one of the best. But in that line of work you’re the only one, man.” Eliot has a soft smile at the end of that, and it's a bit painful, even as I saw it coming, to hear Eliot suggest that Hardison begin to step away from the team’s day to day.

“It’s okay to grow up, to realize you’re not the person you used to be.” None of them are the person they used to be. Not Sophie, not Parker, not Hardison, and certainly not Eliot. They can see that in each other if not in themselves. (Eliot, being the most grounded of all of them, already knew he’d changed eight years ago.)

“You never grew up.”/“Yeah. I achieved perfection pretty early, huh?” Even as Eliot’s the most grounded, even though he’s the one saying that there’s no one else that could fill Hardison’s role in that other work, the idea that Hardison might actually choose to step away from the team is too raw to handle without turning to humor.

Harry’s a bit jumpy, but he’s learning to play it off. I like that he’s a very different character from Nate, that it’s not his anger or ego driving him so much as a desire to make restitution.

And a “Dammit Hardison”

Ooh, Eliot’s in the vents too, just in time to help Parker. (She doubtless has her beloved taser but that would take time away from getting into the vault.)

“I smell lasers” Ahahahahaha

“You’re going to compare me to Eliot right now?” (’over the comms, where others who aren’t Eliot can hear?’ Hardison did not say out loud.)

ouch, okay, Hardison hurting his back like that might be what actually makes him choose the other gig over the team, or at what makes him take a little vacation so he can heal from that. (back injuries are nothing to play around with!)

how did Maxwell get past Eliot? but it’s all good, Eliot’s right behind to disarm him. And Parker’s been doing her hitting lessons, she didn’t even need a taser or to stab anyone!

Oh Harry, the bomb will be used, it’s just not time yet.

New Orleans gumbo is its own food group.

Okay so Hardison’s done a lot of work getting this place in order... WAIT IS THAT A PUNCHING BAG? That’s a punching bag! It might not be the love-letter the brewpub was but it’s definitely a thing added specifically for Eliot.

Oh no, Eliot might realize what Hardison’s doing with this, but Parker hasn’t caught up yet that Hardison’s going to be taking a break from the team.

Parker’s blindsided by this, and she’s upset, but she’s not mad because why didn’t she see this coming she should have seen it, so she leaves to deal with her emotions alone. Hardison follows, naturally, she knew he would, but she can’t face him because then he’ll see her crying, and Parker doesn’t do emotions easily. She’s torn between wanting him to help people and wanting to be with him (and she can’t go with him, she needs to be helping people too).

And Parker doesn’t want Breanna there without Hardison. Again because it’d put Hardison’s family in danger and that’s a step too far for Parker if Hardison doesn’t okay it. And also because with Hardison leaving, Breanna’s just going to be reminders of what Parker’s missing. And Breanna doesn’t have Hardison’s skillset, can’t fill his shoes - not that she should but she can’t, and Parker, I think, is already mentally preparing herself to go it alone again. Because if this job needs Hardison so bad, then surely Eliot’s got some project that needs his specific attention, and it was just one job for Breanna, and Sophie’s been adamant that this is one last job for her, and Harry’s still new and will probably decide to do his own thing given time to think... I think that’s where her brain is at, at least for the next thirty seconds, before she catches up with herself and realizes that more like the time she busted her leg than the team dissolving around her. (This kind of went weird places but that’s stream of thought for me)

And as they come back in Parker’s already cheering up some, because that wave of despair has already blown over. Yeah, she’s not a parent, but she’s good at teaching when she tries.

“It could be a reunion tour.”/“No. I’m retired.” It’s very different from Nate’s old protestations. He was not a thief. Whereas with Sophie it’s not ready. And while they all point out that she’s been happier while doing cons, that they could use the help, it’s not forceful or overpowering. It’s still Sophie’s decision. They’re not going to make her house their new base and taunt her with it; they’re not the sort of people who’d do that anymore, and anyway that’d be cruel instead of a fun sort of goading.

And because they give Sophie space to make a decision, while she doesn’t want to make a long-term commitment, she’s willing to take on ‘just a few more’.

[flying-nightwing]

Act III: The First Date

Hey guys!!! Fist of all thank you for 300 followers, I know it might not be a lot to some of you but it’s more I ever thought I’d even get! With that out of the way, I finally got to write part 3! I’m happy with this one, I hope you do as well. It’s got a bit less action... Or does it? 🤔  haha you’ll see. Enjoy! 

Part 1 and 2 in Masterlist!

Part 4 out now!

Pairing: Time Drake x Reader

Word count: 3234

Warning: violence, language

Tim had called you if you were alright.

You had been surprised at first by his alarmed tone, remembering you were supposed to be by the pits when the race car had gone through. You had reassured him you were fine, startled but fine, and then you had talked for a while. The call had ended up on him asking you out on an official date, which you had obviously agreed on.

So there you were, following the waiter into the fancy restaurant. He had not believed you when you said you were there for Tim Drake, but after a death glare and veiled threat that made his smug face fall, he had invited you to come with him. He led you to a more intimate area, where you finally made eye contact with Tim.

You could have sworn his jaw dropped. 

He clumsily stood up and wiped his hands on his pants, making you smile. You ignored the waiter and whatever he said before leaving, taking in your date for the evening. He was wearing a probably expensive midnight blue suit and his hair was gelled back like the other day at the track. He finally shook out of his stupor and smiled, walking around the table to properly greet you. 

“Hi” He breathed out. “I’m glad you could make it”

“Wouldn’t miss it for anything” You winked, letting him pull your chair for you. What a gentleman. He sat back in front of you, the candle on the table reflecting in his bright eyes.

“You look stunning” He complimented, his cheeks reddening. Your outfit was black with a red accent, and it was like he couldn’t tear his eyes away from it. You actually put a lot of effort in it, as you didn’t have a lot of occasion to dress up for another reason than for a costume change. It felt good to pamper up. 

“Thank you” You inclined your head politely. “You’re not too bad yourself”

He chuckled, fidgeting with his fingers in a way that seemed restless. “Thanks”

“How are you?” You asked with a tilt of your head. “You seem stressed”

He blinked quickly, taken aback by your directness. But he knew you were right, and if he had learned anything from your few conversations so far, it was that you were just very forward. That’s kind of what he liked about you. He sighed. “It’s just… A lot is going on a work and to be honest, it’s kinda driving me nuts”

Your hand enveloped his in a reflex, giving him a concerned squeeze. “Oh my, if this isn’t a good time I swear I won’t be mad if you wanted to reschedule--”

“No, it’s fine” He shook his head with a small, grateful smile. “I think this is what I need, actually”

You grinned bright, and the sight alone made his heart melt. “Then let’s take your mind off of work”

Dinner went even smoother than you would have expected. The conversation barely had the time to die down to let you eat, so much that both of you had to finish your plates after the food went cold. It didn’t bother you much as Tim proved himself to be far more interesting than food. You learned a lot about him, especially after the first glass of wine kicked in. While he had been slightly awkward in a cute way and had trouble initiating the conversations at first, he had easily become chatty. He was quite the funny guy, and you could see why he had proclaimed himself the smartest of his siblings. His mind was quick and sharp, and he knew way too much about way too many things. But the way he kept babbling about his interests was quite endearing, you found out. 

“No but seriously” He said as he placed back his glass on the table. “You have some serious reflexes. The way you dodged the champagne? Like are you kidding me?”

“I told you” You shrugged lightly, barely hiding the smirk on your lips. “It’s always like that! The waiter could drop the bottle of wine and I’d catch it, I swear”

“Should we try?” 

“To make him drop it?” Your eyes widened. “Are you really ready to waste perfectly good wine?”

“You said you’d catch it” He challenged. “Are you saying you wouldn’t manage to catch it?”

“Of course I’d catch it” You scoffed playfully. “But the probability of me not catching it is never 0. While the internal factor is guaranteed, the external factor is not. I don’t control what happens around me. What if the waiter drops it outside of my reach? What if the fish tank explodes?”

Tim laughed heartily at that one. “Alright, alright, I’ll give this one to you”

“Thank you” You smiled, your chin high. “On that note, I need to go to the bathroom”

“Knock yourself out”

You chuckled and stood up, heading for the bathroom. You paused in front of the door and turned around to scan the room, making sure nobody was coming or looking in your direction. Your eyes paused on Tim, who was looking down at his cellphone. When you were sure the coast was clear, you swiftly turned around and went through the kitchens. You walked alongside the wall, avoiding the actual kitchen buzzing with staff, going past the pantries and freezers. You pushed the last door through the storage rooms, then paused and crouched behind a pile of potato sacks.

You really didn’t want to do this while on your date, but the reward was too good to ignore. Since it was a solo mission as well, you’d get the full pay to yourself. An entire million for a single bullet made you put your principles aside. You reached for your gloves first, slipping them on, then your handgun hidden in your outfit and the silent. You assembled it on the nozzle and made sure your magazine was full. The restaurant, while an actual high end and high rated place, was also a front for one of the ascending crime families of Gotham. Falcone wanted the patriarch dead, and you were glad to be of assistance in the matter. 

You lifted your left arm and folded your eyebrow, then rested your gun on it, aiming for the surveillance camera at the threshold of the other room. You needed it to be a precise shot to disable the camera without making it sparkle like a firework. You took a deep breath and set your sight on your target, then pressed the trigger. With a quiet sound of metal breaking, you observed a small, but barely noticeable spark and you knew you were clear to go. You moved into the next room, still hiding behind various piles of ingredients. There was one guard at the bottom of the staircase leading to the big boss hideout.

You grabbed a turnip from an open bag and threw it back in the room you were before, making sure to hit the spare pots piled up on a shelf. Like a dumbass, the startled guard left his post to go investigate, letting you more than enough time to slip in undetected. The stairs gave into a dark room clouded by cigar smoke and years of uncleaned grim on the walls, from which came a voice in a phone conversation. The man was yelling profanities on the phone, coughing every now and then. You waited in the shadows for the eventual click signalling he had hung up, then the sigh coming from him.

“Rough night?”

The man jumped at your question, his eyes widening at your presence. Then, a sneer twisted his already hard features and he reached for a red button on his desk. He never made it to the button. You were a fast shot, and before he could comprehend anything that was happening, his head was sent back with a bullet hole in between his eyebrows. 

“Carmine Falcone sends his regards” You took off the silent and hid the gun again, unbothered. “Should have said that before I shot him uh? Whatever”

You walked to the body, carefully folding the arms on the desk and lowering the head on them, careful not to spill blood everywhere, so it looked like he was sleeping. It wouldn’t fool anyone on the long haul, but it might buy enough time to delay the news stories and give you the time to put enough distance in between you and the crime scene. You then headed for the open window and sneaked out through the fire escape, rounding back to the merchandise entrance and sneaking back inside the restaurant as you took off your gloves. You returned to your table as if nothing happened, making Tim look up in concern.

“Is everything alright?” He asked as you sat back down. 

“Yes” You huffed, but gave him a smile nonetheless. “My mom kept blowing up my phone, so I took a moment to call her and politely requested her to stop asking me how to change her settings on her tablet. I’m so sorry to have made you wait”

“It’s okay, don’t worry” He chuckled. “I understand annoying family”

“Alright then, which one of your siblings is most likely to annoy you on a date?” 

“Are we playing 21 questions now?” He raised a playful eyebrow and you tilted your head. He pursed his lips, thinking. “Most obvious answer would be Grayson because he knows no boundaries”

You laughed. “Then what is the least obvious answer?”

“Huh, well, I’d say Damian” He replied. “He doesn’t even call often, but when he does, he doesn’t give a shit if he’s interrupting something”

“The youngest one, right?” You asked, and he nodded. You had gotten around to talk about family, and you managed to mostly remember the order of his siblings. You didn’t want to research them either--even though you knew you easily could--because you didn’t want to be that creep that googled their date.

“Is everything alright for you?”

Tim seemed surprised at the sudden interruption of the waiter. Like every other time he came by, he completely avoided looking in your general direction. He still was shaken up from your earlier threats, probably, and it made you smile internally. 

“Yes, actually, can we get the check?” Tim replied, then turned his glance to you. “What do you say we go, maybe take a walk outside?”

“Absolutely” Your smile widened.

“Very well, sir”

The waiter walked away, leaving you once again alone. You began reaching for your purse when you felt Tim’s unwavering stare on you. He looked a bit confused as to why you were taking out your card. 

“I’ll pay my half, I owe you that”

“No, no, I can take it” He shook his head. “It’s really no problem”

“That bottle of wine was expensive, let me at least--”

“(Y/N), I forbid you to even look at the tab”

You raised an eyebrow, your lips curling up slightly. You were surprised by his sudden display of authority, as you had been so far the most forward of the two. But he was a CEO after all, and you suspected he let this side of him take over just a little moment. Still, you couldn’t say you disliked it. “Bossy” You remarked. “Okay, fine. But rest assured I will make it up to you”

“You really don’t have too” Here came the shy side again.

“Oh, but I want to” You winked, and he blushed. He cleared his throat when he noticed the waiter coming back, then hurried to take the tab before you could snatch it. He was you in action already and he knew you had fast reflexes enough not to take any chances.

He paid for dinner, then pulled back your chair and offered you his arm. You gladly took it and exited the restaurant. You waited outside for the valet to fetch his car, and opened the door for you when it came to a stop in front of you. He then rounded up the car and took his place in the driver’s seat.

“Damn” You whistled as you looked around. “Nice ride”

“Thanks” He chuckled as he started the engine and left the restaurant. “Perks of being a CEO I guess”

“And here I thought my new Toyota was somewhat luxury” You joked, and he grinned.

“Not bad, you could have done way worse” He conceded. “Although, I would have pegged you for a Tesla kind of person”

“Would you now?” You raised a playful eyebrow. 

“I mean, don’t get me wrong” He began, shooting you a quick glance before his eyes returned to the road. “But you don’t seem to be the type to settle for anything less than the best"

Your lips curled up as your eyes travelled up and down his form. “I don’t, indeed” 

He shifted in his seat, well aware of your gaze on him. He truly looked like a work of art, sitting deep in his seat with one hand on the wheel and the other on the gear arm. He was visibly forcing himself to focus on the road and not on the distraction you caused, and it made you smirk. You definitely enjoyed seeing his reaction to you, how he would mostly shy away or blush at your obvious flirting. 

Tim pulled up in a private parking garage and stopped his car in his own designed spot. He turned off the engine, and once again, rounded up the car to open your door for you. You took his offered hand to get out, and with a press of a button, the doors closed and locked behind you. Arms in arms, you got outside under the clouded sky, a soft, warm wind caressing your skin. The building gave onto a small park lit up with fairy lights along the pathways, and you could hear a violin playing some tunes in the background. You sighed, content. 

“It’s a beautiful night” He commented after a moment. “It’s rare we have one like this”

“I had heard the city was gloomy all the time” You lied smoothly. You lived here, you knew. “I’m pleasantly surprised”

“It’s too bad you got to Gotham during such a bad weekend, crime wise” He began. “I mean, it’s like that most of the time, but it’s been a little intense in the last days”

“Yeah, it’s a bit concerning for outsiders” You agreed with a nod. “But tonight did make up for it pretty well, if you ask me”

A smile graced his lips as he looked at you. “It did”

You walked around the park, talking about nothing and everything. You stopped by a street musician, taking the time to dance for a moment despite his reluctance to do so. You could still see the timid smile threatening to widen as you swayed to the sound of the balad, though, even more so when you parted and left a hundred dollars bill in the little jar at the violinist's feet. The walk ended at the front of his apartment building, where he turned to face you without letting your hand go. He looked down to it, then back up to you.

“This was really nice,” He spoke. “I really did enjoy it”

“Me too” You smiled, squeezing his hand.

You watched as he slightly leaned in, then backed away, unsure of where to go from now. There was a doubt in his eyes, a calculation of boundaries he was hesitant to challenge. Yet, he didn’t make a move to get away from you either. You could see he was overthinking it way too much, so you decided to step in.

“This is the part where you kiss me” You pointed out, your smile not dropping. 

He cleared his throat like he was taken by surprise. Still, his hand cupped your cheek as he leaned down, pressing lightly his lips on yours. It started as a sweet little goodnight kiss, but he quickly let his restraint go when your eagerness got to him. He pressed you against him, caging you in strong arms as your lips moved in sync. You felt his hands grip your hips tight and let out a surprised squeal against his mouth. He parted from you, his breath ragged and pupils dilated. You definitely were interested in seeing more of this side of him.

“Come upstairs?”

“I thought you’d never ask”

----

Tim hadn’t had a morning this smooth in years. He still had a lazy smile from the night before, and he truly noticed how good he felt when he actually took the time to pour his coffee in a mug. He even surprised himself when he reached for a sugar cube and dropped it in the dark beverage; he couldn’t remember when was the last time he drank his coffee anything but black and bitter. The only thing that could have made this morning even better was if you had been there with him, wearing one of his shirts and holding your own mug.

You had seemed so heartbroken when you told him you couldn’t stay the night, he wasn’t even mad. A little disappointed, yes, but not mad. After all, it was only your first date together, it was to be expected. But he was whipped already. Your charm got to him so hard, and he was still amazed by how easy everything was with you. You were really expressive, but you didn’t make him feel inadequate for not being instantly as open as you. Instead, he felt like you bridged the gap for him and offered a hand. He had only met you a few days ago, but it was like you knew each other forever. Yup, definitely whipped. 

He hummed, walking to his living room and turning on the TV. It was set to a news channel, and right as he was about to change it for a less depressing morning programm, something caught his attention. He furrowed his eyebrows, listening intensely to the newscaster. They were talking about the restaurant you had your date at last evening, where it was shown footage of police tape and ambulances crowding the place. A bad feeling formed in his stomach as he waited for what he knew inside was to come.

The owner, and rising mafia boss Marco Rizzo, had been found dead in his office. 

Before he could even formulate his thoughts, his brain sent him pieces of the puzzle he had already ruled out. All he could think of was one’s an accident, two’s a coincidence and three’s a pattern.

The gala. The racetrack. The first date.

There was one person, beside himself, who he could without a doubt position in all three crime scenes, who had both the place and time suspiciously right. One person that had smoothly changed the subject, now that he thought about it, everytime he mentioned a job, a family, or the events that took place in Gotham. One person of whom he saw the scar on the left forearm when they were laying naked in bed, that gave a half assed explanation of how a fresh mark the size of his batarang ended up there. 

And that person was you.

He squeezed his mug so hard it broke in his hands, spilling coffee everywhere.

[deltaengineering]

What remains of Fall Anime 2020

You might have noticed that I haven’t been keeping up with my season impressions, mostly (but not exclusively) because it’s really boring to come up with new ways to say “it’s isekai, which means it’s garbage for stupids”. So here’s what I ended up finishing, in ascending order of goodinosity.

Hypnosis Mic -Division Rap Battle- Rhyme Anima

Ostentatious rap battles in an insanely stupid universe are very fun. The thing is that this doesn’t want to be a good anime, it wants to sell us on these characters, and the characters are pretty terrible on account of all of them being one-word gimmicks. So, let’s give them three rounds of introductions and have them solve lame, generic crimes for 8 episodes instead of setting up the rivalries that everyone suddenly has later, when the show gets good - because it does start delivering towards the end, and becomes really all I wanted. So I can’t even say I’m disappointed, but the first half of the show is almost entirely worthless. 4/10

Assault Lily Bouquet

I don’t want to be the guy that’s all “I’m mad at this show not catering to what I want”, but I do have to say that Salt Bucket is much better at being a goofy, lighthearted yuri comedy than it is at action (though there are a few choice cuts) and at having an engaging storyline. This is again just an ad for some game or other, so it’s no surprise it has about two dozen characters too many, but it also has quite a lot of superfluous plot - so much so that I suspect it was initially planned to be twice as long. Apart from that, it’s cool and all that some Gainax old hand got to make his own Gunbuster-like, but it’s just not very good at that and all I wanted was Kaede antics and bath scenes, of which 1 per episode is clearly too few. 5/10

The King's Avatar 2

King’s Avatar got a sequel and overall I have to say, I kinda like it more than the first season even though it looks much less ambitious and even the character designs were changed towards the bland. But I honestly don’t care much about the esports aspect of this and much of S2, especially in the back half, is more about schemes and social engineering - as close to an Eve Online anime as we’re ever going to get, I guess. It’s still very chinajank (why the hell does every episode come with a redundant chibi summary of itself, etc), and while I can’t call that “good” it does remind me of a time when I wasn’t filled with useless knowledge of anime tropes and was just enjoying the weirdness. Also, Ye God’s antics is as close to “looking for anime with OP MC” as I’m comfortable with getting. 6/10

Heaven Official's Blessing

Now how about some Chinimation that isn’t very janky? I only became aware of Heaven Official’s Blessing when it suddenly rocketed to the top of the MAL charts, so I gave it a looksie and oh boy. The first few episodes of this show are flat out gorgeous, quite funny and very very gay. So I was ready to agree with MAL for once, except it then launches into an arc that mostly consists of our dudes sitting in a dark pit telling each other stories that aren’t very interesting and seem barely related to the setup. Yeah, the back half of this just isn’t very good at all. And the subs are hot garbage. Still, the beginning is so impressive that I would recommend this show despite the middling rating it’s about to get. 6/10

Ochikobore Fruit Tart

You know the problem that these 5girls4koma stories have, where one of the characters is an annoying pervert, yeah? Well, in Fruit Tart every character is that character, and they’re rather cultured as well. Yes, it’s often of questionable taste and it has a terminal case of 4koma storytelling but dammit if I didn’t enjoy it. It certainly helps that this show’s greatest asset by far is Broko and it seems to be aware of this, because there’s a lot of Broko material. It would have probably have gotten a 6 but the last episode is just so... maximum Fruit Tart. I’m down for some trash if it’s as well made as this, and I do like my kiraralikes spicy, so thumbs up over here. YMM definitely V on this one. 7/10

Majo no Tabitabi

Speaking of things that are hard to recommend despite me liking them a lot, Elaina here challenges the very notion of what a TV show even is supposed to be. I assume most people tune in every week expecting to get something roughly similar. Not so with this one, you could get everything from slice of life antics to Higurashi-style gore, or reasonably deep character study to pervert comedy. I would say that the only unifying thread is the presence of Elaina, who is a very fun character, but there’s an episode she’s not in, so there you go. But I’m a connoisseur of the weird and I also have to say that I enjoyed every episode in its own way. Also, each episode stays remarkably consistent by itself, and in the end it wraps it all up with a sort of neat “life is like a box of chocolates” thematic bow, which isn’t earthshatteringly profound but hey, it’s there. Just don’t go in with expectations, especially not expectations based on the first episode. 7/10

Love Live! Nijigasaki

It’s Love Live. Good old reliable Love Live. Really not much to say about this one, any discussion of what makes this different from previous iterations is going to end up in minutiae only people who already watched this could possibly care about. I do have to say that while the musical numbers are as good as Sunshine’s were towards the end and there’s also a lot more of them, “looking budget deficient outside the CG” is the one thing I didn’t expect from something that’s ostensibly a Sunrise premium product. So boo on that one, apart from that it’s idols (an anagram of solid). 7/10

Garupa Pico Oomori

The chibi SD shorts based off Bang Dream are still better than the main show. Even if S3 was actually quite good, this is just the best thing you can do with 30+ characters that aren’t that deep. Garupa Pico specializes in absurd humor setpieces that at points is better at being Pop Team Epic than Pop Team Epic itself was. Take that, memelords. 7/10

Fire Force S2

Fire Force is just weird, man, and it’s sort of great. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a property of this magnitude show this much of the ol idgaf spirit. How about an episode where the A plot is the most evenhanded exploration of religion i’ve seen in anime, and the B plot is about blowing up a tryhard edgelord by exposing him to panties? How about a subplot where Batman and Thor infiltrate the vatican to kill the pope, only for that to lead into a gay rape backstory, only for that to be resolved by dank weed and dismemberment? It really is quite a thing, as they say. Now, Fire Force certainly delivers hard at points, but it’s also very scattershot, even if S2 is somewhat more consistent than S1. The weakest parts are unsurprisingly still the ones where it’s remembering its fighting shounen template, and that’s not only because I don’t like that, it’s also because it’s particularly and consistently bad at scheduling these huge, simultaneous multifight setpieces it often crescendoes with. But hey, at least these tend to look super cool. In short, Fire Force is a land of contrasts and still the only fighting shounen I give a damn about. 7/10

IDOLiSH7 Second Beat

Did you know that I think Idolshi7 is the best one of all of these huge-ass commercial idol franchises? Yeah, I think it’s better than Love Live, and as of Fall 2020 also the better looking one because Troyca still delivers where Sunrise apparently can’t. I guess still don’t like the music much, thankfully there isn’t a lot of that. It also still specializes in gigantic drama, and to its credit S2 is now much better at either getting to the point or at least making it silly and fun. You show that door who’s boss, Sou. Still fantastic Tsumugis all over the place as well, in fact I think I like all the characters now. Even Banri gets his big moment in this season! Yeah, this stuff is pretty cool. 8/10

Adachi and Shimamura

So here’s the AOTS, and it’s the lovechild of Bloom Into You and Tsuki ga Kirei. While it definitely isn’t as good as either of these two, because it lacks the “about more than just teenagers being hyperbolic about a crush” part from Bloom and the part where it has an actual ending from TgK, it carves out its own niche with its loopy, almost stoned tone that’s full of side weirdos and yuri hyperspace. It’s also uniquely focused, with a tiny core cast and even Shimamura doesn’t really matter all that much. This is all about Adachi, and thankfully Adachi is amazing. Amazingly awkward, that is. It’s very cute. So yeah, this is a bit too lacking in substance to aspire to classic status, but it’s a great time nonetheless. 8/10

[z3ld4]

Mercy Me - Part One

Summary: Jacqueline Laymore can’t really tell when it started to hurt to call Spencer her friend. But that didn’t really matter after she got kidnapped. Right now all that matters is getting home and getting Spencer Reid.

Warnings: Angsty? Mentions of self harm, suicidal ideation, death, kidnapping, is catholic guilt a warning? culty vibes, mentions of torture, and a very small mention of rape and gouging one’s eyes out.

Word Count: 1.3k (its a babey for the first part)

A/N: this is one of my first fanfictions on tumblr and in this fandom, so idk be nice or like really mean, criticize me, i don’t really mind. i used to write aphmau fanfiction nothing really hurts at this point. also this is an original female character fic because i for real can not write fic in the y/n format and i’ve had this idea for a while. it took a lot of effort to post this without puking in anxiety first but i hope it goes well ig.

If Jacqueline was going to die right then and there, she would have frankly been pissed. Sitting in the bathtub with blood seeping out of shallow cuts on her thighs would not be a great way to go. It’s especially stupid because they weren’t even new. Jacqueline knew better than to cut in the tub.

Especially since she’d been clean before the incident.

She wondered if that was the time to back up and take a second to think. Think about her wrongdoings.

Of course, Gabriel doesn’t give her the release of death and instead shot himself in the neck. Her eyes, always the worst part of her body, follow the arterial spray as it stains the yellowing ceilings. She almost wants to take the revolver and shoot herself in the head, but that would contaminate the crime scene.

Jacqueline is smarter than that. But the revolver is so close to her. Yet just out of reach. 

Everything seems to be just out of reach when you’re kidnapped. 

But everything is moot compared to the digging feeling in her stomach telling her that the gun still has five more rounds. 

She doesn’t. Of course, there is more to her life than being a martyr for another’s sins. That isn’t what Father Julien said when she was younger, but Father Julian also tried to gouge out her eyes in the town square.

Father Julian did a lot of things, talking about the grace of God wasn’t one of them. But what can you really expect from a man that creates a psychopath? Jacqueline dug the heels of her hands into her eyes, creating swirling patterns behind her eyelids. Phosphenes. She can hear him say it. Spencer always made sure to tell her the weirdest facts he could remember. She can’t remember most of them but sometimes his voice pops up in her head reminding her of them.

A lot of things pop up in Jacqueline’s head these days. She smoothed her hair back with the water on her hands and stepped awkwardly out of the tub. Taking two towels from the rack on the wall, she wrapped up her hair and body. Carefully stepping around Gabriel’s body and blood pool she enters the bedroom. For a cheap motel, it was quite clean. Frankly, it wouldn’t be half bad if the carpet wasn’t a brown color and she didn’t come with the guy who kidnapped her. She dug through Gabriel’s luggage until she found yet another, white cotton sundress. It wasn’t a bad dress, quite pretty in reality. It was the situation that made it the ugliest rag Jacqueline had ever seen. It fell to just below her knees and the bodice fit her waist perfectly, the spaghetti straps dug into her shoulders but it could have been much, much worse. 

Jacqueline would have liked the dress in another life. However, Gabriel had a thing for the whole ‘white equals purity’ thing and tortured her in a dress similar to the one she was putting on.

She stopped putting the dress on. Blinking through the tears forming in her line of sight, Jacqueline searches for a shirt and a pair of pants that could maybe fit her. She found Gabriel’s taupe button-up and slipped it over her shoulders, buttoning the front up to the third button. After digging a little more she finds a pair of army green pants, a little too high waisted for such a masculine man but she puts them on. Luckily Gabriel also had a pair of hiking boots which Jacqueline took the shoelace out of and used it as a belt.

The sandals that she wore when out with Gabriel would have to do, though it looked a little silly. Jacqueline took her hair out of the towel and ruffled it up a little, she always hated leaving her thick, wavy hair without product in it but it’s better than brushing it. The bangs brushing against the bridge of her nose are going to make her cry though. She used to hate how she looked in bangs but now, with Gabriel’s praises ringing in her ears, she almost likes the way they frame her face.

Almost.

Jacqueline grabbed Gabriel’s wallet on the way out of their hotel room.

The secretary looked at Jacqueline funny as she checked out. Granted, it was well deserved, Jacqueline looked like a mess of men’s clothing. She also was leaving without Gabriel, which sounded a little unheard of considering he didn’t even let her speak when they checked in.

Jacqueline wanted to call the police so the maid didn’t get a nasty surprise. She didn’t have a phone on her but she walked to the payphone on the street corner and quickly called 911. 

“Hi, Hello. Y-yes… I… I need to report a suicide at Maple Leaf Motel, room 3C. My… My p-partner shot himself in the neck!” She wailed into the phone before hanging up. She was always good at faking things. Right now, faking composure seems to be the only thing keeping her sane.

Time to catch a flight to Quantico, Virginia.

Or, more likely, hitchhike. If there was anything Jacqueline had learned in her nine years with the BAU is to not hitchhike. But she had about two hundred and fifty dollars and the clothes on her back. And if anything she could pay for some gas and maybe use the self-defense that Morgan taught her. She knew that from where she was it would be around twenty days by foot. A twenty-hour car ride. And maybe a five-hour flight depending on the airport. The closest 'big' town near Maple Leaf was Lexington. 

And deep down, Jacqueline really wanted to take a road trip. Nebraska is quite a pretty state. Though walking would be a little excessive considering she's technically been off for two months already.

The fact that she’d been with Gabriel for two months sent shivers down Jacqueline’s spine. The bureau wouldn't take her vacation days away for being kidnapped but you never really know with the government, do you? She started walking to the library when she realized that she could email Strauss and talk about her job and how fast she can be reinstated. Luckily the library was a few blocks down the street.

"Hello, dear! What can I help you with today?" The elderly woman behind the help desk smiled. Jacqueline figured that they didn't get that many people inside the small library. 

Jacqueline forced a smile and walked up to the desk, "Can I use one of the computers? I need to email my boss about my... vacation."

The librarian gives Jacqueline a sugary sweet smile. "May I, Deary," The librarian corrected.

"Right," Jacqueline drawls. The librarian walked her to a clunky old computer and logged on before shoving Jacqueline down into the seat. Jacqueline goes through google to find her email service and quickly write one to Strauss. Strauss responded quickly, a short email reading:

Dear Agent Laymore,

You're thought to be dead. I can not grant you the ability to step into your building for recertification and discussions of reinstating you until you prove otherwise.

Erin Strauss

Jacqueline responded:

Dear Erin,

You're supposed to be nicer to people who are held as a hostage. Anyways, I guess a way to prove my identity would be that I can sing 'On My Own' from Les Mis perfectly, I know you have heard me do it. And that your husband divorced you after he gave you half of his liver due to your liver cirrhosis. You told me this one night when I was crying over my brother killing himself and getting disowned. I am the only person on the current team (I assume, though I'm sure Rossi knows ;D) who has that information on you.

With love,

Dr. Jacqueline Laymore PsyD

Ps. Please don't give my job away because I made a joke.

Erin responded with a very annoyed emailing detailing what they will discuss once Jacqueline reaches Quantico. With a valid ID of course.

Now the hard part, finding someone who wasn't a serial killer to hitchhike with. For at least twenty-four hours. In a car.

Spencer's voice called out in the back of Jacqueline's head, reminding her that there is a 0.0000086% of being killed or raped while hitchhiking.

[dipplie]

Temporary list of my stories and OC’s until one day I make a comprehensive and well made list:

Blinded:

Polli: My oldest OC and fun fact was my persona till she become edgy and I wasn’t 12 anymore. Everyone’s favorite yes yes I’m aware. Yellow, energetic, eats dirt and bugs, I can’t tell if she’s evil because of a wisp possession or just crazy. Breaks the 4th wall. Is she a Mary Sue???????? Who knows.

Melody: NOT Polli’s girlfriend despite Polli’s delousions. Has an abusive mom :(. Only has one eye and then no eyes and then robot eyes or smthn idk she becomes a badass when she gets older. But otherwise trembling in her shoes all the time.

Melodys Mom/Sharren: Bitch. Okay well all I’ll say is she’s old and grumpy and probably smells bad.

Louise: Total hotty, rich kid, FtM, got bullied as a kid for his weight. Had a squad of fans basically in high school. Lived with his mom after his parents got a divorce but his mom was semi abusive, projected her femininity onto him, and wouldn’t have been supportive of his transition, so between middle and high school he went to live with his dad and got his sex change and testosterone. His best friend in elementary and middle school stopped talking to him after his transition, and became his competition for the most attractive and sought after boy in school (except Louise is a sweetheart while his friend Tommy is a dick and really gross) His dad runs a company that specializes in technology, and after meeting and falling in love with Melody (even after all her abusive trauma and losing both her eyes) he has his dad and some of the developers create a way to get her vision back and I mean honestly I love him how could you not love him he’s so perfect.

Watching:

Fick: Big nerd boy with thick glasses. I feel like he’d use Reddit but don’t quote me on that. Big crush on Vivinya. Boy don’t wander into the woods- oh look dead body with a curse on it don’t touch it- aaaand now he has a wisp that makes him kill people, way to go kid. Panic attack central.

Vivinya: True crime girl, yucky yucky. Probably had a knife collection. “uwu I’m insane” except she actually is and starts using Fick to kill people for her and treats him like her “Yandere boyfriend” or something cringe and gross oh god. She deserves jail. JAIL. Needs to learn guys need to give consent too. Just overall sucks 1/10.

Tommy: I mentioned him early to be Louises ex best friend and rival. He used to have a crush on Louise actually but that don’t excuse being a BITCH!!!! Also needs to learn people gotta give consent he is just as gross as Vivinya. Cheats on all the girls he gets with because he’s again, a bitch. Idk if he deserved to get murdered though I mean he was still a teenager but it’s fine. Thinks of the song Seventeen from Heathers actually this story does feel a tad reminiscent of heathers with vivinya being a crazy and wanting to off a bunch of students. Huh.

Suzannie: Tommy’s older sister who’s a detective. What a coincidence. Monotone and depressed. Probably because her little brother got murdered. Gets real awkward when she’s talking about her brothers murder(s) to Fick and Vivinya like “when I find who did this to him they’ll regret being born”. Kind of really pretty actually.

Adolescents (there isn’t actually a story here yet but don’t worry about it shhhh):

Nelson: HIMBO HIMBO H- Jock stupid idiot big dork god he’s so awkward and his main personality trait is having a crush on Naomi and being a dork when talking to her. Probably could benchpress you.

Naomi: Gamer or something and a nerd geek. Her main personality trait is having a crush on Nelson and also being a dork when talking to him. Probably a weeb and fandom dweller. Can’t draw but she commissions artists to draw. She does write copious amounts of fanfiction though.

Andrés: Ohhh the school bad boy babyyyy. Baseball bat with nails in it or something. There’s like... A thing between him in Charlotte and he wants to be a thing but she’s being difficult and makes it hard to talk to her or about her and ugh.

Charlotte: Princess, high school princess. She’s actually pretty nice when you get to know her- but she’s a diva. Ballerina after school. Best friends with Naomi and doesn’t know what she’s talking about when she mentions ships or OTPs but she listens anyways because she’s a good friend. There’s like... A thing between her and Andrés but she doesn’t know if she’s super into him but geez he’s really hot but she gets such mixed responses when she asks her friends about it and what if it doesn’t work outttt.

Marlon: They/Them but they’re okay with either pronouns they aren’t sure yet, he or she is okay... Box boy box boy. Autism... He doesn’t want to admit He’s attracted to men but he’s totally attracted to men. He lives alone which is probably illegal for his age but somehow he manages. Everyone thinks he’s “the quiet kid” and he’s really sad about it no don’t make jokes like that please guys ahh-

Sing for Me:

Kat: The color pink, addahadda(adhd), angry and loud and short. For being only like 10 and being an adorable little lesbian dressing in sparkly pink dresses she actually likes screaming a lot and would totally sing heavy metal if her producers let her. Loud and mad but gets so soft around her girlfriend. “If anything happens to Brie I’m killing everyone in this room and then myself”.

Brie: French... Birds and stuff. Loves her girlfriend even though she is so loud. So fast. So much. Likes to write pretty things. Is only like an inch taller than Kat. Filled with so much love for everything.

Elliot: The girls manager. Lots of coffee. Stressed out of his MIND please help this man. Probably gay. Seems like a smug dick but he is just a tall and lanky dork that loves puppies and wants nothing more than for Kat and Brie to be happy. Accidentally brands them as sisters and then Kat kisses Brie and- oh fuck oh shit oh no what has he done. Hides the fan and non fan responses from them. Poor guy.

Horror Hosts:

Ichabod: Hot demon who’s the son of the current ruler of hell or something. I mean he’s hot, smart, and royalty, what more do you want. I very specifically hear the dub voice of Kyoya Ootori from OHHC as his voice don’t @ me. Goat legs????? Yeah??? Don’t be rude.

Barnabie: Ohhhhhhhhh big orc teddy bear I’m crying I love him????? He puts up a more confident ploy and the given stereotypical personality orcs supposedly have but he’s just a shy boy that wants to give girls flowers and call boys pretty. Help him.

Garrison: Gary Burger. Fat hairy gay man. I mean werewolf. Wouldn’t it be funny if I made the whole werewolf thing backwards and made him transform into a HUMAN only on the full moon??? Party animal, pun absolutely intended. LOUD AND FUNNY he’s a dork. Bites. Horny on main Garrison please you’re supposed pamper and flirt with the guests but not quite that much.

Vincenzo: Token Vampire but he’s Italian because I felt like it. Talk and lanky of course. Bitch face. Blood coffee? Yeah lots of coffee. Tired. Let him sleep in Ichabod. Steps on people. Can summon and reanimate corpses but has a bitter attitude towards them because they get annoyed with him as much as he gets annoyed with- everyone else. He does have a soft spot but idk where it is. When he’s talking to guests he’s more suave and sexy though.

Kai: Genderfluid haha get it because slime fluid-... I’ll stop. Probably objectively the hottest because they can look anyway they want and shift their vocals to sound like almost anything, also probably objectively the best in bed (if you’re okay with the texture of Jell-o) and honestly come on save some for the rest of us it’s not fair. This boy can SING oh my god seranade me and whisper in my ear baby. Spunky and sassy.

Hallvor: BABY OCTOPOD BOY OHHHHH I LOVE HIM HE’S SO SWEET AND IS AN ANGEL DARLING BOY SO EMBARRASSED SO SHY SOFTEST VOICE OHHH- ohhh nooo he’s got a knife ohhhhh Hallvor baby don’t be like that ohhhh... Used to work in hentai actually (I wonder why) but quit because of immoral practices and good for him we love that. Okay he’s not actually a yandere or whatever but he DEFINITELY wants to squeeze you a little too hard and has those crazy eyes.

Carla: Main character of this OHHC monster clone. She sucks I don’t like her because listen listen she kills monsters as a living and when she tries to kill our boys here, Ichabod catches her and goes “no” but then the rest (not knowing her murderous intent) fall in love with her and Ichabod is like: “shoot well I’ll keep you alive and around but I’m watching you” and blah blah romance and feelings and character development and wow she seems like she’s grown to care about them... So Ichabod removes a curse he put to prevent her from harming them or leaving... AND THEN SHE STABS THEM ALL IN THE BACK IM CRYING. I mean she might have an extra reason for needing to kill them but I haven’t decided if I want to actually put it in the story yet so.

Fingertips:

Maria/Marianna: Was this goth angry chick and the head of these losers but after a failed heist, fire, and being betrayed and dropped from a window on a 3rd or 4th story down into flames, and going to the hospital and changing her name, she changed totally and become a soft pretty girl... And then the next three boys went “HEY BOSS WE FOUND YOU” and she went “oh no” and now she’s just an anxious wreck like “no no no no no I don’t shoot people in the face anymore no no no no no” And has a fear of hands. Also was Diamontés best friend in primary school and yes all these characters went to the K-12 school all the other characters do/did. Pretty voice. The story is mostly about her being anxious around all the other characters because who was it that betrayed her and dropped her into the flames below? Find out next week on th-

Nikki: He’s that character that you see and immediately go “oh he’s gross and is angry and is a bitch” and you’re right he is and has a cockney accent and screams a lot and probably swings a knife around a lot, but he’s got a sweet interior (somewhere in there... somewhere) Screamo heavy metal. Him and the rest of these character briefly talked about having a band and then they didn’t and then at the end of the story they do and although he plays guitar mostly, if he does do lead vocals he screams a lot. Bitch.

Anthony: Pretty boy but like the “was in the army” pretty boy vibe. Probably played football in highschool. Pyromaniac. Punches Nikki a lot. Almost gives himbo vibes sometimes, almost. Kind of likes the old timey cozy aesthetic. Plays the piano sometimes but “oh I’m not very good at it” Plays extremely well

Diamonté: TALL. Purple goth boy aesthetic hellll yeahhhh. CRAZY EYES AND THEY SPEAK VOLUMES WATCH OUT. Drums. The scary kind of quiet because he just smiles at you. Crowbar. Okay but he’s actually really sweet though. Secretly loves watching Anthony and Nikki get into fights so that’s why he rarely puts a stop to it. I think he’s a sadist. Can be a gentle giant, but can also be a not so gentle giant. The only time he’s really talkative is after copious amounts of booze.

Unnamed/Undesigned 1: Literally a pimp and he’s pretty gross. Blonde hair and pink and white clothes.

Unnamed/Undesigned 2: Chick that likes to throw knives and be angry and threatens Marianna a lot but in a quiet and monotone way, Marianna is pretty scared and hopes that these are just shallow threats uhhhhh.

Unnamed/Undesigned 3: Sells guns (without a lisence of course) and wears a bandana over his face a lot. Tired. Grumpy.

Unnamed/Undesigned 4: Like Marianna, was cold hearted and cool but then got caught in the fire and got all soft. He only has one eyes but how sweet his eyepatch is a heart. Recoved along side Marianna and they are good friends good friends tha- wait Marianna are you going back with them oh god you can’t do that oh dear oh no oh-

(I don’t have a story or name for these two but they’re my comfort ship OC’s and my current hyper fixaction right now):

Rodriquéz: I literally designed him with almost all the traits I find attractive in a guy other than freckles so as you can imagine I find him super HOT. I also designed his personality on what I find attractive from a guy so as you can imagine I find him super GREAT. But anyways he’s grumpy and closed off and monotone and smug. I really could go on for hours about how I want him to step on me I’m so sorry guys. Both him and Samantha give the “21 and having immature fun” vibes. They’re a thing but they like going to bars together and splitting off and doing their own thing (or doing someone else’s thing if you get what I mean haHhahHhahGahGhaha-) But so help them if anyone doesn’t oblige by the “no” from one of these two, someone’s gonna get beat up.

Samantha: (She literally just my personality shhhhh don’t tell anyone it’s a secret) Bubbly, energetic, a little shy by extroverted, bombshell blonde or something? It took me way too much time and effort to design her but I’m really happy with how I finally designed her, I love her outfit. She could kick me in the face and I’d say thank you. Girly drinks at the bar. Got that trauma and anxiety™️ secretly though. Skips and jumps a lot. As I’m typing this I keep looking up at the drawing of her and more and more I would want her to also step on me.

(Space Story I don’t have a nice title for):

Unnamed/Undesigned 1: So... Funny story this story originally was with me and uh... My ex I guess... So I gotta replace the MC’s... Whoops ahaha... Awkward. But anyways the MC is a robot and a girl and is a slight tsundere or smthn.

Unamed/Undesigned 2: Has a space ship, works for this organization in space that protects the galaxy. Is cocky, lazy, sly, oblivious, and an idiot. The love interest- obviously. Probably accidentally committing space crimes. (Like space pirating hAHAHA-) Kind of cool when he wants to be.

Dandelion/Dandy: CAT. WITH A JET PACK. Kind of an asshole. Fun fact used to be Polli’s cat but then when the Second MC crash landed on earth she was like “fuck this noise I’m going with space boy laterz” (okay she can’t talk but she thought it).

Zizii: Lesbian alien? Yeah???? Okay but I mean her main character trait is being a dorky back alley doctor and engineer obsessed with the MC because they’re a sentient robot with emotions and a lazer arm and rocket boots WOW!!!!!!!!

Story I want to revive:

So I had a story I started writing a long time ago about this tech theatre kid that had a crush on this other theatre kid character, but in a play that other character has to kiss another person for the show, and as the story progresses the MC convinces themselves that it isn’t just a play and that their crush actually loves and is kissing that other kid. And in the play, that other character is supposed to die. Show night comes along and they die, but like actually, and by the hands of the MC (Idk maybe like a light falls on em or smthn). So it’s a grotesque scene the audience sees as just an act. (Mutters I dunno I think my idea’s cool...) So I’ve been wanting to design these characters and work more on the story but I’m busy being obsessed with Rodriquez and Samantha so. (And the Horror Host Club too I love them too still).

Other Characters that either don’t have a specific story or are kind of like background characters:

Jacqueiliquinne Merril: Sara Berry vibes from 35mm (go look up The Ballad of Sara Berry, maybe like an animatic idk the first one that comes up is nice) But otherwise rich, pretty, popular, bitch. Tries to like, steal Louise from his squad and it’s like bro that’s unnecessary who hurt you that’s so rude. She gives Nui from Kill La Kill Vibes too. Oh she knows her name is long and annoying but you have to say the whole thing.

Brianna: Jaqueiliquinne’s sister. Big titty goth gf??? She’s pretty popular too and kind of a bitch too but to a much lesser degree. Her and he sister throw hands a lot when no one is around, you know, “THEY GIRLS ARE FIGHTINNGGGG”.

The Louise Fan Club: 4 characters I haven’t named yet. One writes fanfiction of Louise and shares it with the others and with him sometimes and although he thinks it’s a bit weird he also finds it a tad endearing and supports her. One is an aspiring photographer and is constantly asking Louise to model for him. One is an artist and draws Louise all the time. And one is an aspiring musician who writes songs based of Louise’s relationships which again he finds a little weird but endearing and supports her.

The Jacquiliquinne Merril Fan Club: Genderbent-ish (I say ish because one of the characters is a little bit less defined gender wise) versions of the Louise Fan Club. Yes I’m lazy, and no they don’t get along with them, infact they hate each others club with a passion. 

Unnamed/Undesigned: I wanna make some hacker kid just because I wanna have one.

Unnamed/Undesigned: I also really wanna have a super cutesy magical girl and then a really super duper generic boring character probably like star vs the forces of evil idk I never watched that show but it looks cute.

Me: I exist in the universe fukc you I can do what I want it’s my story and I get to chose the who also if you wanna be in the mess of a universe go ahead draw yourself with my OC’s I allow and encourage and appreciate it. I literally made the Horror Host Club as a sort of Harem story and you are absolutely allowed to make out with them if you’re a monster fucker DO it GO ahead it’s canon.

and that is ALL I have FOR now Knowing me I’ll make like 12 more characters by July, and I mean I need more characters for the high school anyways so...

[nouru-vi]

Headcanons for my AFK Arena gang buckle the f up

Disclaimer: I take canon lore/relationships and throw out what I don’t like thank you have a nice day

Starter pack: Estrilda, Mirael and Nemora

Nemora is sent by the Wilders to help out Ranhorn City and these three stick together going forward

Estrilda and Mirael are in idiot lesbians with each other. They constantly try to impress the other and Nemora is in the bg facepalming but she also ships them hard secretly

The gang is sent to hunt down Lucretia who is rampaging indiscriminately through the countryside and they manage to subdue and capture her. As they’re bringing her back to Ranhorn, Nemora keeps drawing info out of her through treating her kindly, and learns her story. Then they’re attacked by a large group of Maulers or sg, and Lucy demands that they unchain her if they want to live (lbr she has to be chained and not tied), adding that she also refuses to die tied up. Nemora chooses to trust her and she helps them make it out alive. Then they’re like “okay this Zaphrael dude sounds like a complete dick and we’ll help you confront him when we find him and also you can stay with us, we won’t bring you to Ranhorn to be imprisoned/executed. No more rampaging tho” and that’s how Lucy becomes the local goth mom

Silvina is sent to assassinate Estrilda, to finish off the job of destroying the Raynes, but when she sees her, memories come back to her from before her death, when she saw the young Estrilda as the girl she never got to be. She is like “fuck this I’m not doing this” and realises it’s time to stand up to Vedan’s exploitation of her and Isabella, if not for her own sake but her sister’s. She confronts Estrilda and pleads her to help remove Isabella from Vedan’s clutches. Her and the team go to do that and Isabella doesn’t really understand at first but when Vedan hurts Silvina she’s like “Back off. I made you what you are, don’t think I can’t unmake you just the same.” Now outclassed, Vedan is forced to let them go, and the sisters join the gang. Lucretia is immediately like “I’m your mom now”

Bonus: months later Vedan shows up to be like “Please forgive me. I never knew what I had until I lost it, I treated you two like crap even though you were the closest thing to family I had! Pls come back to me T_T” and although they don’t do that they agree to let him visit sometimes, so he becomes their weird weekend dad. Lucy watches him like a hawk every single time but he tries his best (I added this HC as an afterthought because the official comics with Vedan and the girls are just too fucking funny to be non-canon)

Wu Kong helps out the team on and off and Lucy hates him because he’s a FILTHY CELESTIAL while he’s just like, lady im am just leetl monky. I’m new to being a Celestial actually and don’t even know this Zaphirel or whatshisface. I’m just here to punch bad guys and have a good time. But he also annoys her for fun because he’s just like that

Lyca joins the team as a somewhat more competent co-leader to Mirael. To Nemora’s relief, because she’s the only other person so far who is not a mess or dumb or both. Silvina develops a mega gay crush on her because she’s the bouncy nerd prep to her emo jock goth. It probably takes a very long time for this to come to the surface because she is a Disgusting Graveborn and Lyca is a Beautiful and Ethereal Wilder, according to Silvina, that is. Her concerns turn out to be baseless, of course, and then they’re cute and gay, The End

Solise joins to swell the ranks of people who are both dumb and a mess. She’s powerful though and a great alchemist, and adorable and everyone else is sapphic so go figure

Flora also shows up often to help the group and Lucy is like HISS GRRR CELESTIAL HRRR GRRR at her too, while she’s just like, lady. It’s gonna be alright. You will find justice one day. Calm down. Here’s a flower bigger than your head. Have a nice day :) ~flies off on her gay little flower broom into the sunset gayly~

Certain groups catch wind of Lucretia travelling with the group and as a result, Cecilia is sent after them. Since Lucy is family by this point, they’re forced to fight and subdue Cecilia. She gets injured and they’re unwilling to leave her to her fate, so they bring her along as she recovers. For a long time, she keeps going on about heretics cavorting with Hypogean filth and whatnot, but what’s this? Lucy is around, and although Cecilia can’t see her, her voice is inexplicably pleasant to hear, and she’s just so nice to those two girls! But surely that is the insidious deception of a treacherous Hypogean, seeking to corrupt every innocent soul, right? Surely she is not a loving mother, nor a valiant woman who will do anything for the sake of justice? Right??? (yeah spoiler they end up in gays and the sisters now have two mothers and a dad. They deserve all the parents)

One day the gang stumbles upon Torne and they collectively adopt them immediately. They’re big and smad and in need of hugs and therapy so the group is happy to provide.

Nara joins from time to time, apparently because she just enjoys carnage, regardless of the target. She’s a gross and unhinged gremlin who’s somehow still hot, and her idea of humour is “bet I can kick a dead baby further than any of you”, but she’s pretty upbeat and more or less tolerated by the others. Things become awkward when the group finds out she used to be a crime boss and would-be slaver in life. She says something like “well, am I not allowed to make a new start?”, but she does have the decency to look embarrassed at least. Someone says “maybe she just wanted friends for once” and Nara throws them the most maybe so look of the century

There are some other heroes that I have yet to figure out how to work into the group dynamics and story, like Grezhul for example, as he’s one of my most used heroes now, or Oden, who has also become one of my faves. I do know Oden absolutely makes dad jokes, for a start.

That’s it so far, notice how all of these are wholesome and mostly gay? Yea that is how I roll. The AFK heroes have suffered enough in canon, only positive vibes around here and also I’m queer as shit bye

[userarchive]

Unexpected Circumstances Ch 11

Warnings: Language, talk of the job/sex trafficking. A/N: Y’all this took a fcking WEEK to work through cause there was so much detailing to pay attention to. Sue me if things aren’t accurate/canon/whatever. I think it turned out okay enough?!

**

To say you were practically exhausted would nearly be an understatement at this point. Living undercover was never easy, but with it being the Christmas season simply made things worse, parties were larger, filled with more people you needed to document, the drugs and alcohol moved freely through them, you dealt with more suppliers than any other time of year. You’d finally made your way past Christmas day, relishing in a couple of days of relaxation. Alejandro ordered a feast of delicacies, mimosa’s with breakfast and far too expensive wine with dinner, gifting you with the diamond bracelet you so ‘obviously deserved’ over lunch. While you had to admit, living the high life was something you did sometimes miss from your childhood, you were more than happy knowing there were only six days until SVU would make the bust, only six bullshit parties until you’d finally be free from this specific hell.

It was the evening of the 26th, you’d wrapped up Christmas, the penthouse returning to its normal decoration, prepping for the New Years Eve party. You’d set up a number of rooms for clients and girls, the top wing where your and Alejandro’s rooms were clearly off limits, but you had security placed at the top of that staircase. You traipsed down the stairs, heels in your hand, hair curled loosely around your shoulders, blue dress hugging every inch of your body like no tomorrow. The log book tucked under your arm, a smirk on your lips as you met Alejandro’s gaze.

“You ready?” You asked at the base of the stairs, slipping your feet into the heels, “Should be an easy night.”

“I’m just waiting for the 31st Chiquita.” He replied. You gave him a soft smile, happily indulging into the food he’d ordered for the two of you, gratefully accepting the glass of champagne he poured for you.

Slowly over the next couple of hours the girls started to arrive, escorted by their pimps/madams, you were quick to baby them, reminding them that when they were in your house, they didn’t need to do anything they didn’t want to. Anything unacceptable happens, they were to call you, and you’d fix the situation. You were quick to remind the pimps that it was, your house, your rules, you knew most of the girls that came through your parties were of age and willingly doing this, but there was always a limit of no. If they didn’t want it, you didn’t allow it and you were definitely going to kick a customer out and red list him from as many parties as possible.

A few hours later and the party was in full swing, you had a good handful of perps throughout the suite, everything was going smoothly, the money, booze and drugs were flowing smoothly. Alejandro kept a protective eye while you finished up the books, handing you a fresh glass of champagne when you flipped the book shut, letting out a hefty sigh. You passed it off to one of the nearby security guards, insisting he put it upstairs where you kept the others. 

“You okay Mija?” He questioned as you moved from the island, facing the extravagant living room.

“Yeah.” You ran a hand through your hair as you took a hefty gulp of the alcohol “I just have a bad feeling about tonight…” You glanced up at him,  “I think you should get out of here.”

“And what? Leave you to deal with the blow out on your own?” You tossed him a wicked grin,

“We both know all I have to do is shed a few tears and flip on a few of these idiots and I’ll be walking away with a misdemeanour. That last bust…wasn’t vice, sex crimes is onto us now. The target on our back is getting bigger.” Your words were quietly muttered into the rim of your champagne flute, eyes watching the room. 

“Well it sounds like you know the drill, do exactly that, and we run. How do you feel about the French Polynesia? Sure beats the New York winter.” You rolled your eyes at his comment. Sure, a tropical getaway of a vacation sounded fucking wonderful right about now, but the last thing you wanted was another year under. You took a swig of champagne, leaving the glass on the counter, muttering that you were going to do a quick round of the house, not that you would find any trouble upstairs. Oh no, the trouble was walking in the door while you made your way back down the staircase.

“You really think you can throw a party on my turf without me darlin’?” Fucking Declan.

“Last I checked you weren’t invited O’Rourke.” You strode towards him, hands settling on your hips, “Not to mention this isn’t your turf.”

“C’mon sweetheart, you forget what I have to offer?” You scoffed at that, noticing Alejandro cautiously moving towards the two of you.

“Oh, what!? Strung out sixteen year olds?!” A hand wildly gestured to the four girls behind him, obviously under age and obviously not sober. “You’re just here to pretend you’re fancy when you are in fact, a piece of trash. Get the fuck out of here.”  Your personal rage towards the man, knowing that he still had his bosses convinced that he was undercover when he was in fact a criminal, blinded you from noticing him pulling the gun from inside his coat. You yelped as he crashed the butt of it into the side of your head, yelling something about how you were no better than a stupid whore.

“HEY!” The shout came from Alejandro, he moved to push Declan against a wall but you were a hot second faster, a heel to the balls, you had the gun out of his hand and unloaded in a matter of seconds, tossing the magazine to the floor in the direction of the nearest security. Nonetheless he shoved his shoulders hard enough to send the other man stumbling in the direction of the elevator. You heard the all too familiar ‘gun!’ shout with just enough time to look up at Alejandro.

“Run!” Grasping your hand he tugged you towards the back entrance, you were halfway through the door when ESU caught you, coming from that entrance. The cops behind them were more than quick to wrench you and Alejandro apart, no doubt knowing exactly who you were, and catching the big fish was more important than trying to gather up minnows.

‘You have got to be fucking kidding me…’

***

You knew hours had passed, you’d been taken down to the 2-4 and very unceremoniously tossed into an interrogation room, at least they’d been generous enough to un-cuff you and give you an ice pack for the pistol whipping you’d taken. Whenever a bust happened with you and Alejandro they were always going to send in the big guns, and they usually let you wait it out while they started with him. You’d collapsed yourself against the cold metal table, legs dangling off the edge, you couldn’t believe this, five days, five fucking days until SVU was supposed to make the bust. You were livid with whatever dumb ass Captain approved the bust without communicating to other units, and on the 26th of all days?! It was your smallest party, aside from the added bonus of Declan in cuffs, there was no upside to this whatsoever.

With the sound of the door opening, you lolled your head to the side, annoyed expression on your face matching the one on man who walked in, clearly Alejandro wasn’t talking.

“Get up.” Shooting a glare at the way he kicked the leg of the table, you rolled your eyes. Stereotypical, send in the big burly guy to play bad cop with the Queen. You knew who he was, and if Elliot Stabler was questioning you, Organized Crime seemed to also be on your tail.

“Make me.” It slipped out before you stop yourself. It was late, way too late for you to be strapped into a too tight dress and stilettos, you knew you were either spending the night in a holding cell or heading back to your precinct to work the case, your attitude wasn’t exactly ideal. Stabler sighed heavily, grabbing the leg of the table by your head and giving it a hefty tug, pulling it out from under you causing you to nearly topple over as your heels met the floor. He moved back in front of you, a tilt of the head, smirk on his lips, sizing you up as he moved in closer.

“Your King’s not talking, figured maybe you’d be more up for it.”

“Am I supposed to be afraid of you?” You cocked a brow, “Cause it certainly isn’t working, this whole, bad cop thing? Hasn’t aged well.”

“Sit down.” 

“And I suppose you want me to not shut up this time.” The only reason you even considered obeying the order was the aching in your feet from being in heels all night, “What does Organized Crime want with us anyways. It’s usually Vice.” He stalled slightly at that, making you smirk, you loved having the upper hand on men like him.

“Someone let it slip on the way in?”

“Oh…no. Sergeant Stabler, you know who I am, why shouldn’t I know who you are?” Yeah…this was definitely Organized Crime’s first time dealing with the royalty of Manhattan. “Shame you didn’t run your little op past the other departments, would’ve heard New Year’s was the night to go in.”

“What, you got cops working for you? Letting you know the little secrets so you can evade arrest?”

“Am I under arrest Sergeant?” You gave a smirk at the sigh he released in response.

“Technically, we don’t have anything on you…yet.”

“That’s what I thought.” You stood from the table, eager to get the fuck out of the unfamiliar precinct and back to the confines of your own. You barely noticed Stabler moving faster than you could imagine behind you. The door never made it open, you were jerked backwards, his hand closed around your wrist, 

“I said yet.” You felt the cement of the wall hit your body, head ricocheting off it, his forearm pressing into your collarbone. Your hand shot up, fingers hitting his parotid, the reaction causing his elbow to slam into you mouth, you felt your lip split as he stumbled from you. You were done playing, and you were certainly done playing the good girl role.

“You touch me again and I’ll have IAB so fucking far up your ass you won’t be able to shit for a month. Do I make myself clear?”

“Playing the cop angle now? You just assaulted a police officer.” He shot back, still right up in your face, rubbing the spot behind his ear you’d hit.

“Oh wow, I’m so scared! A class C felony, mark yourself down for the same offence. I’m undercover you moron.” You growled at him, if there were this many different departments on your ass there was no way you were going to be able to hide for six months, much less restart the ring afterwards.

“Yeah, right.” He scoffed, “Colour of the day?”

“Gold.” You shot back. Your heart immediately dropping into your stomach when you saw the laugh on his lips. Fuck. Gold was the 31st, you’d been so focussed on the SVU bust you’d forgotten today’s.

“Nice try.” He smirked, “Now you can either sit your ass down in that chair and tell us everything you know about Alejandro Martinez, or you can go to jail for solicitation and that assault collar.”

“I don’t make deals with cops. I make deals with A.D.A’s.” You crossed your arms over your chest, “And you’ll never find the evidence you need in the penthouse even if I do flip on Alejandro.”

“What exactly is it you want then?”

“Take me back to the apartment, I’ll get you what you want, but you take me to A.D.A. Carisi at the 16th. And in the meantime you can call Rita Calhoun ‘cause I’m not saying another word without my lawyer.” He gave out a huff at that, 

“Fine.” You rolled your eyes when he pulled the cuffs from his belt, thankful at the very least that he cuffed your hands in the front, giving you a little bit more movement ability.

**

All you could do on the way to the 1-6 was pray that some amount of the squad was there, preferably Olivia or Fin, you knew Sonny would’ve been called, and honestly felt horrible for dragging Rita out of bed in the middle of the night for literally nothing. No matter what kind of facts you relayed to Stabler he wasn’t about to believe the fact that you were a cop. You’d spewed off your badge number so fast you’d accidentally swapped the last two numbers, the exhaustion and multiple glasses of champagne wearing on you by then. Thankfully you’d been able to retrieve what you needed from the penthouse, before being not so gently shoved into the back of the cop car on the way to your own workplace. 

The desk sergeant was nearly asleep as the three of you made your way into the precinct, not noticing that their apparent perp was someone he saw nearly every day. Elliot’s partner was carrying the books you’d grabbed from the house. It was when you finally made your way into the bullpen that he dropped the heavy books down onto an open desk, gaining the attention of the minimal people in the room.

“Doll..Oh ma god.” Sonny took one look at you before nearly freaking out, “Imma grab some ice.” His lips hit the unbruised side of your head lightning fast before Rita spoke up.

“Un cuff her now!” The outburst brought Olivia out of her office, and exhausted look on her face that mirrored yours.

“Why should I?” Stabler shot back,

“Because she’s one of mine! Jesus El.”

“She had the wrong colour of the day.” You rolled your eyes, thankful at the release of the metal on your wrists, rubbing at the reddened skin of your wrists.

“Montgomery, you okay?” Olivia asked softly, noticing the marks on your face.

“Yeah,” You murmured, “No thanks to your old partner.” You accepted the bag of ice from Sonny, alternating it between your lip and purpling eye, “Murphy showed up at the party, fucking pistol whipped me.” You turned back to Stabler, “Keep him in fucking custody, guy’s dirty, has been for years.” You felt Sonny’s arms wrap around you, the shaky exhale of his breath making you realize just how relived he was to have you in his arms again, how happy he was you were okay. You gave him a gentle squeeze with your free arm before pulling away, turning to Rita. “Sorry to drag you out at this hour, but you know how these guys won’t stop until they hear the word lawyer.”

“You sure you’re okay?” She asked, giving your arm a gentle squeeze as you nodded.

“Yeah, get outta here.” Rita was an old family friend, she was always your go to when you needed a lawyer over the years of undercover work, even if she never actually had to defend, you were always quick to buy her dinner for waking her up. You turned to Benson, “Cap, I’ve got the books, call in Kat and Fin if you wanna start working on the case.” You shot a glare back to Stabler, “And for the love of God, keep Martinez in custody this time, but do not mention anything about me being a cop, understand? On the rare chance he gets off or doesn’t have a reason for arrest, I don’t need him knowing I’m a UC.” He glanced up to Olivia for confirmation, who simply gave him the very obvious nod, 

“She’s been working this ring for nearly 8 years, I’d trust her if I were you.”

“Okay.” He held up his hands in defeat, “I’ll send the case your way.”

“Thank you.” You practically groaned, your eyes back on your Captain, “Please tell me I can at least power nap before the others get here?”

“Yes.” She gave you a soft smile, noticing how you grabbed Sonny’s hand, “Hey! No funny business.”

“Liv I’m too tired to even think about that right now.” You called over your shoulder as you dragged him into the bunk room. Even if it was only going to be twenty minutes, twenty minutes curled in your husbands arms was the only way you wanted to end today. 

[wispandwhispers]

Welcome to Monochromia!

Words: 2048

Previous | Next

Tw(s) : Cursing, Implied torture, getting disturbing commissions, talked about murder (Tell me if there is any to add)

Pairing(s) : Eventually Logicality, Dukeceit, Eventually Prinxiety.

Notes : I’ve had this idea on the back burner for so long and its finally here

"Zynx, how do you plan to secure the vote in the Fumi sector?"

"No comment."

"Zynx, how are you planning to make a comeback after Foster destroyed your chances of getting the majority ?"

"No comment."

"Zynx, is the rumours of you and Crownford sleeping together true?"

"I'm sorry but I'm not sure what you're talking about."

A limousine pulled up in front of the city hall and the chauffeur rolled down the window. A simple eye signal and he knew it was time to go.

"No more questions."

"Zynx a moment of your t-"

The chauffeur slammed the door of the limousine and started the planned safety-checked drive back to his boss' residence.

He looked in the mirror at his employer which a cheeky grin.

"I have a good feeling your sick of this question but how in fuck's name are you going to win this election? "

The passenger glared at his employee, clearly pissed.

"Do not test my patience Remy."

"Holy shit, you didn't say my full name, who are you and what have you done with Logan Zynx?"

"Just pass my yarn bag, I'm so fucking stressed."

Remy opened the compartment and chucked the medium sized light- blue pouch to the back.

"I don't understand why you don't you just go around firing people, snort crack, hate sex or whatever rich people do the wind down."

"I don't really know, this brings me peace for some reason."

The conversation died down and Logan got to work on stress knitting a new scarf/sock/ thing while Remy took the back route to his estate in the Prime sector with the sound of the radio in the background.

The usual daily announcements, the signal time, the weather update, the tired host annoying the news-

-Roman Crownford made headlines tonight when he was caught carrying election candidate, Logan Zynx in the bridal position . Rumours have emerged that the two are in a relationship and-

The driver's neck snapped back to stare at the person in the back seat.

"Spill."

"I don't speak slang."

"Fine, explain."

"I decided to go out for a drink, someone decided to spike it, woke up in my bed with this guy staring at me. That's what I can remember at least."

"Sounds like the start to some shitty rom-com."

-Footage can be seen of the actor carefully helping the politician get to his car to supposedly drive him home.

"Please turn that down, If I listen to that anymore I'll get a headache from the bullshit they are spewing. And I already have one from the debate so please."

Remy turn the dial anti-clockwise.

"Anyway, you need to be focusing on which is the best assassin in the area, I personally recommend Remus-"

In the mirror, the driver could see his employer's eyes sharpen in annoyance.

"I plan to win the election without murdering someone and even if I was to kill Patton, I would probably get caught anyway."

The limousine came to a halt.

"You better get inside, three minutes 'til the signal goes live."

Logan let himself out of the vehicle and faced the other

"I'm aware. That's why I wear a watch if you weren't aware."

Remy just shook his head.

"You're still the fucking antisocial nerd you were as a teen."

"And you were the same shade of black and white since you were twelve but I don't comment about it." Logan retorted as he started to walk to his door.

"Don't come for my kneecaps bitch, I'm being a queen in the colours I can see and I'm fucking proud of my basic bitch style."

"God you're so egotistical. Why am I friend with you again?"

"Your bad life decisions, not mine."

Logan heard the limousine drive off into the distance. He would assume the Remy would just listen to the signal in the car. And then promptly go and get a coffee to fuel his caffeine addiction that can never satisfied.

Logan walked into his house and sat down on his armchair. Cathrine climbed onto his lap but he's shooed her away. She always seemed to meow louder during the signal.

Your daily broadcast is about to begin, remember you can always t̙̰̖̲͔͈͚̱̞͙̐̇͋́̅̊̀̅̕͝ų̺̺̟͇͈͎̝̫̱̳̝͈̬͔̩̠̞̙͑̍͒̌̅͗̔͑̿̋̔͘̕̕̚̕͠͠͠r̡̧̧̛̟̺͍̘̘͉̞͔͇̭͍̮̒̋͆́̎̿̀̉́̏̊͘͘͜͠͡n̡̢̛̥̺̱̫͖̹̩̲̝̪͊̊̊͂̔̇͆̓̄̋̓̓ͅ i̢̱͕̮͎̺͓͂̒̊͂͒̏̍t̨̨̥̦̙̭̦̀̄̾̂̽̄͘ o̧̥̗͚̮͇̬̠̥̼̮̫͕̞̪̭̝̼̍͒̇̀̐̌̊͆́̐͂͒̀̋͌̌͐̕̚͜f̡̢̨̢̥̬̳͓̺̖͍͐͒̍̄̋̂̏͂̍̊̏̅͜f̛̹̱̜̥͇̜̥̙͇̻͍̙͈̱̈́̎͋̏̑̑͊́̌̓̓͗́́͟ ȧ̢̧̢̞̙̦͉̪͇̇̾̄̑̽̓̈́̾̓̌͟͜͝ͅẗ̜͎̖̰͖͉͇̦̥́̍̑̄̚͘͞͡͞ ä̡̫̰̪̰̖͕̲͙̲̝̘̤͎́̂̏̇̓̃̍̽̐́̚͘͢͞͡͡ǹ̢͇̙͇̙̯͎̬̟͖̪̥̹͔̙̿́̓̍̽̊͆̈̓̍̎̀̏͌͌͜͞ͅy͓̪̟̲̩̙͚̗̫͚̰̘̫͈͌̍̊̃̎̓͒̄̔͑͆̈̄͠ -

It cackled unholy sound, like the type static made but way worse and the device proceeded to go radio silent (no pun intended). Logan walked over to see if Cathrine had chewed through the wires again but she was curled up in a ball on the heater.

"I got this fixed not even a week ago, It can't be broken already.."

The box suddenly flickered back to life akin to a car engine. Logan sighed in relief, returning to his chair waiting for the-

Good evening lucky citizen, I am proud to interrupt your daily brainwashing in the hopes that you will heed my warning. Stop listening to the fucking signal or broadcast or wave or whatever you call it in your sector.This is probably the most idiotic thing that you have ever heard. I am fully aware. But also was that story our caregivers told us so we wouldn't cover our ears. So you listened through the hidden circle of hell that was the sound you heard. But you don't remember the pain and only the calm when it ended, don't you? In the very likely case you are currently at your mobile trying to report me., let me save you the hassle of trying to find a name. Call me-

Logan promptly ripped the radio cord out of the socket.

Pacing around his study slowly, trying to mentally recall a fact, he pulled out his phone and checked the time. The broadcast had ended the second he had pulled out the plug. He couldn't dwell on that. He typed in a number and let the waiting sound become his background noise until someone picked up.

"Patton, can I stay at yours for the night?"

*****

" Q.Quill. A twenty year old woman who grew up in godforsaken dump that is Fumi, clawed her way to the top and started to biggest drug empire in the city, who always has four weapons on her person at all times, the person whose body has never gotten more than a scratch before the person who dared to hurt her died was killed by her own hands and you killed her sneaking an acid bomb into her Big Mac. I'm surprised Duke. It's less creative than how you usually murder your target."

"You wound me Pip, when I joined this company I swore to myself that every single job I do , I would pour my hearty and soul into. There is no was in-"

"Let me guess, the acid is more than acid."

'Duke' gave a slick grin. "Wanna know what was in it?"

"Nah, I'm still traumatised from the hat job."

She passed a bag to the assassin.

"You know where to pick up your pay check from. Get the fuck out of my office..

Grabbing the sack, moonwalking on his hellys that Pip was convinced he was not wearing before, 'Duke' went to collect his earnings.

He rolled to the Shed, pick up the cash, stuffed a red hot poker into the eye of a guy who tried to mug him and continued on with his daily rout-

"Thomas!" Duke ran up to the named person and lifted him into the air. Then he slapped his face.

"Ow, what the fuck was that Re...," A frantic head shake for 'not the right time. "Duke .."

Thomas narrowed his eyebrows and pulled the Duke to the nearby alleyway. Thomas was going to speak but the other beat him to it.

"I slapped you, partially because I wanted to and because it's not safe to be around me at the moment because I kinda killed someone off duty so the Shed is probably after me and your dad will kill me if I get blood on your shirt and Janus is terrifying when pissed."

Thomas just stood back, taking a good moment to process the information.

"How did you get chosen to be an assassin?"

"Do you think I know?"

Duke perked his ears up. Footsteps. Very light and carefully planned ones as well.

"Ok Thomas, I'm got to play with people's intestines now, say hi to Janus for me and rennet that's nothing is illegal if you don't get caught!"Duke took out a sewing needle out of his pocket than had green thread.

Thomas felt sorry for the victims ,already starting to back out of the future crime scene.

"Sure!"

*********

Virgil stepped back from from his computer, questioning why he even decided to take commissions in the first place. And seeming from the email, this wasn't someone trying to fuck with him.

Time to get some moral support.

i'llburnifigointothesun: What would you do if a guy offered you one fucking million for a piece of fanart of them living out their romantic fantasies

FosterDawg: You don't need to do nsfw pieces. You're not a broke college student

i'llburnifigointothesun:Yeah, I've upgraded to a broke adult.

FosterDawg : So...Why are you nervous about this? You've drawn kisses before albeit it wasn't normally the most light hearted work but this isn't one of your triggers.

i'llburnifigointothesun: the condition is I have to hand paint this and they want it 'hyper-realistic'. i kinda don't want my hands to die.

FosterDawg : Kiddo, at the end of the day, it's your call if you want to do this or not.

i'llburnifigointothesun: it was such a dad thing to end that with an exclamation mark.

Virgil put down his phone, listened to the broadcast ,stared long and hard at his paintbrushes. After about half an hour he got out a canvas and pulled up reference images.

He gritted his teeth. "If they're lying, I'm about to going to sue."

*******

"Dad, I'm home!"

Thomas flung his backpack onto the floor, walking to the kitchen to partially look for his dad and partially to get the leftover pizza.

"Okay, he's still at work which means time for-"

"Thomas you can't watch Steven Universe re-runs until five in the morning again, you have your revision that you'll procrastinate and then panic a month before you the exam date in guilt of not studying."

The father had seemed to just manifest out of thin air, standing behind his son and the other couldn't tell if he had been there for an hour or two minutes.He rarely wore his emotions on his sleeve.

"Dad, I didn't ask you to peer into my soul.Also Remus says hi." He fiddled with the remote control, deciding what cartoon to binge watch .

The parent rushed to his son ,checking his face to see if was hurt. "Shit, you didn't see him kill or hurt anyone, right?"

"Yep!"

Janus let out a breath he wasn't aware he was holding. "Thank fuck, you can't be used as a witness."

Thomas walked over to the front door to retrieve his discarded backpack and took out his music theory notes. He scanned through the notes and then lowered his head in frustration."Why did I pick this class?"

"It seemed like a good decision at the time, for you and you just started your Hamilton phase." Janus saw his son staring over what he assumed was the homework. The due date was in a weeks time. He had an internal debate with himself and came to a decision.

"You know what, fuck that!," He chucked Thomas homework to the side. "Do what makes you happy tonight, you seem stressed and you should take time for yourself."

Thomas started at his dad for a few seconds and gave him a big hug. " Thanks, I kinda needed that.. This maybe a bad time but I kinda threw my tie-dye pride flag with your yellow dress shirts.

Janus stared at the other with a glare that could be sarcasm or could be anger. "Well, everything could be gayer."

The dad finally put down his hat on the coat stand and started to walk upstairs. "Remember to keep it down, I'll be live."

"Kay.."Thomas started his self care routine by microwaving the leftover pizza.

Taglist( Ask me if you want to be added):

@katlikethesword, @crinklesnuff