#and i'm honestly not doing justice to most of the banters i love

[jolyfics]

This is my first time requesting something uggghh I'm nervous.

Anyways, I think it would be so cute if your wrote how the jojos would confess to their crushes!

i love the way you write so ik you'll do them justice

𝙞 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙮𝙤𝙪

𝘫𝘰𝘫𝘰𝘴 𝘹 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳

summary: how the jojos confess

notes: THIS TOOK SO LONG MY HAND FELL ASLEEP 😭😭 but really i hope you enjoy it!! i swear i wasn’t being that lazy over easter break

jonathan joestar

i feel like jonathan is the most romantic out of all the jojos

he’d definitely bring you some place nice

like a tree on a hill during sunset

he’d also make it a picnic

after you two talk for a good bit is when he’d speak up

if you agree to his confession he’d let out a sigh of relief, as well as a big grin

6pm, he told you to meet you by the tree where you usually hang out, you adored that tree, it was rural. once you arrived you noticed he was there before you, sitting underneath the tree with a cute little picnic basket beside him. you sat down to his left, he took out some sandwiches you assumed he made and the two of you began eating, quickly falling into your usual banter.

after awhile, he cleared his throat, causing you to look up at him with confusion. “i.. have something i wish to tell you.” he spoke up, he sounded nervous, you had never heard him sound like that before. you perked up, signalling for him to continue. “i have feelings for you, (name). and i hope you’d accept them” you could feel your cheeks heat up, which caused his to do the same.

you nodded, “i do, jojo!” he grinned, a sigh escaping him as relief washed over his entire body. he placed his hand atop of yours, as you both gave eachother an adoring look

joseph joestar

joseph’s a smartass

it definitely starts with him teasing you

then when you ask him why he likes teasing you specifically is when he shuts up

he admits it quite casually

like its nothing

leaving you quite flustered

“c’mon, cutie! give me a smile!” he smirked, he adored the way your eyebrows looked as they furrowed when he spoke. he loved the way your face turned the slightest shade of red and how you tried to hide how he actually got a reaction out of you. he loved it all. “shut up, jojo!” you scoffed, trying to hide the blush that crept up onto your face

“why do you always tease me? why not suzie q?!” you spoke up, you weren’t angry, just genuinely confused. did he like seeing you so angry? he then playfully rolled his eyes. “because i love seeing that look on your face! i mean, who wouldn’t? you’re gorgeous yknow?” you scoffed once more before crossing your arms

“it’s because i love you, (name)! and i know you can’t resist me” he grinned, his usual stupid grin. you looked back over at him. it seemed he was waiting for you to say something to him, instead you placed a small kiss on his cheek. that seemed to finally shut him up

jotaro kujo

it honestly depends on which jotaro

part 3 jotaro isn’t the kinda guy to confess his feelings to you

he’d just hope and pray you had that confidence to speak up first

if you don’t though, and the feeling is getting too much for him to handle he’d trap you in a hotel room and force you to listen to him

very rare to hear more than a few words with him, let alone hear what he FEELS

you sat on the hotel bed, reading a cheap magazine you found in one of the drawers in the bedside table. you were sharing a room with jotaro, you only really shared with him or kakyoin, since you three were the only teenagers with the group. jotaro had just gotten back from being in the bathroom, he sat on the bed to your right.

“(name).” he spoke, his voice soft, yet still with the usual firmness that usually has a grasp over him. you looked over to him, closing the magazine over and placing it beside you on the bed. “yes, jotaro?” he paused, the air seemed different. not the usual feeling you had while rooming with him.

“you’re.. not awful.” his voice was now that of a mumble, as he used the brim of his hat to cover his face. at first you were confused, until it hit you, he was trying to tell you how he felt about you. he just couldn’t get the right words out of his mouth

josuke higashikata (4)

josukes confession is probably the most fun out of them all.

i feel like he’d take you somewhere fun like bowling

you’d be kicking his ass at it

and once you finished up your game and we’re walking home

thats when he’d tell you

and if its cold he might even lend you his coat

you shivered as the two of you walked home after a long day of bowling. you two played about 4 rounds, you won 3/4 of those games, which you were quite proud of. you felt something heavy land across your shoulders, you looked down. josukes coat? you then turned your gaze to him, he seemed to be looking in the opposite direction of you

“thanks, josuke” you spoke up, getting rid of the silence between you too. he hummed, kicking a rock as he walked. “hey, uhh” he paused before speaking up once more. “i gotta tell you something, and don’t get angry at me for saying this!” you chuckled at that, you couldn’t get angry at him

“i.. think i might like you. thats a lie. i know i like you” you pulled his coat closer around you as you grinned, this day seemed to be getting better and better..

giorno giovanna

giorno definitely took you to a fancy restaurant

he is the don, he has that kind of money

he’d probably buy you something fancy too.

he’d just say it outright, like it was something he said everyday

you two sat across from eachother at the fancy restaurant, both of you in your fanciest attire. you two stared at a menu, deciding what to get before the waiter arrived, notebook and pen in hand. once you ordered, and the waiter was gone, giorno looked over at you. he pulled out a tiny box placing it on the table and sliding it over to you

“giorno, no” “i insist, (name)” he interrupted. you sighed, picking up the box and opening it. a necklace lay inside, laced with what you could only assume were real diamonds. you looked up to him in shock. “giorno, i can’t take this..” he shook his head

“you must, you’re the only person i’d want to spend this kind of money on, so please. let me buy you things from now on” he gave a small, meaningful smile towards you, which only made you smile. you took the necklace out of the box, placing it around your neck. “you look stunning, mí amore”

jolyne cujoh

okay. we all know how lesbians are

she’d definitely confess buy playing a song for you, then saying that it reminds her of you

you two would just be in her bedroom

and she’d suggest listening to music

then she’d play the song and say it reminds her of you two

you two sat on jolynes bed, you’d been friends for years, so long in fact, you two had began to develop feelings for eachother. even though everyone around the two of you knew, you two didn’t. “hey.. let’s listen to some music!” jolyne suggested, you nodded. that could be fun, you always enjoyed her music

she grinned, standing up from the bed and heading towards her cd collection. she picked one up, then placed it into the cd player. it took a few seconds for the song to boot up but once it began she then hurried back over to sit beside you in her bed. “what song is it?” you asked, she only grinned at you. “you’ll see”

as the song began to play, it seemed like something jolyne never would’ve usually listened to. you began to recognise the song as time went on, ‘this kiss, by faith hill’ as you began to wonder why she picked this song, she spoke up. “this song, reminds me of us..” her face was slightly red as she spoke

Johnny Joestar

johnny and you were put on a ranch

yous were just together tending to your horses

it was silent, peaceful

that’s when johnny would admit to having feelings for you

it definitely took him awhile to do that

he’s not the most open when it comes to how he feels

you fed your horse, johnny stood beside you, doing the exact same to slow dancer, his horse. it was comfortable, you two enjoyed eachothers company and the silence between you wasn’t awkward in the slightest, at least for you anyways.

johnny was busy thinking about you, he wanted to tell you how he felt, he knew he owed it to you to be honest, but it was just scary. he was afraid of rejection from you. even though he knew deep, deep down that you most likely liked him too

“hey.. (name)?” he finally spoke up, he felt as if his heart was in his throat. you turned to look at him, giving him a hum to continue. “i just wanted to say that i.. like ya, i have for awhile now. i just.. wanted ya to know” he looked away, embarrassed

josuke higashikata (8)

josuke just blurts it out

like its NOTHING

he doesn’t get social cues tbh

it leaves you shocked

like really shocked

you two were probably just sitting in a part when he just says it

you sat on the park bench with josuke, you both had gotten an ice cream, it was a very warm day in morioh, so ice cream was the only solution the two of you had. as you both sat, enjoying your ice cream, you looked over to josuke, who seemed to be enjoying his delicious sweet treat

“isn’t this nice, josuke?” you spoke up, he only nodded enthusiastically, continuing to lick the cone. you chuckled at him, giving him a smile. which seemed to make him stop eating? he stared at you, in an almost creepy way. you’d be creeped out if you didn’t know him

“i’m in love with you” he says, before going back to his ice cream. you stared at him, in shock. “what?” you gave him a confused look, where you dreaming? hallucinating even? did he really just say that to you?

[sourbites]

do u write for jason? if so could you do a story where reader is a roadie on the damaged justice tour and she and jason get super close and eventually they both go to a party together and hook up ??? thank u :)

Whiskey and Coke

thanks for the request anon! this went a little off the rails (i got too excited by their dynamic, whoops), but i hope i did your vision justice! i hope you enjoy :)

The party wasn't as fun as promised.

Maybe that's because you're one of the few people here who aren't doped up on stuff. Honestly, even the beer is kind of awful. An after-party in the San Francisco area comes with a little prestige these days, but so far, it's been a drag. You weave through crowds of people, trying to get to the bathroom. You catch snippets of people's inebriated conversations. Some of the sentences you catch are quite amusing. You recognise a few half-lidded faces, too, some of your fellow crew members. Looks like you'll have to do most of the heavy lifting tomorrow, considering these princesses would rather spend tomorrow morning hurling up their three, four, or five shots of whiskey.

"Here to keep me company?" Jason dimples at the sight of you, his blue eyes catching on the warm lamplights throughout the main floor.

"Here to get away from you, actually," You joke, stepping towards him. Some band is in the corner attempting to play good music, and God, do you wish someone would turn their amps down. You lean closer into his bubble of space, trying to hear him better. Being around heavy metal concerts all the time hasn't been easy on your hearing. You know Jason's probably having a worse time of it than you, considering he's actually up there onstage.

"Told'ya you couldn't handle partying with the big kids, didn't I?" He riffs off of you, grinning. Jason's really good at bantering, and you know he likes it. He doesn't get many opportunities to do it with the other guys.

His body heat rolls onto you, also carrying over his scent. Clean, a little boozy and earthy. "So," You scooted closer, shuffling, dipping your voice into the warmth between the both of you. "What're you doing wandering around? Your prom date ditched you again?"

He laughs. Or chuckles, low and genuine. You catch a peek at his teeth, splitting his lips on a smile. "Just trying to find a drink."

You roll your eyes, amused. "They didn't set out any wine for his grace?"

"Doesn't seem like it," He frowns, his brows knitting together. God, he looks like a kicked puppy.

"How evil." You shake your head, sighing heavily with disappointment. Your breath ghosted down his clavicle, standing the hair on his neck up from the sensation.

Transfixed, Jason turns his shoulders sideways, leaning closer to you, arms brushing ever so slightly. Just giving you a taste. A mouth-watering taste. "I know." He agrees, wetting his lips. He watches you. Adjusts his pockets. "How'd you feel about cheering me up?"

⸻

Your hiding place is a loveseat in one of the powder rooms. Extravagant, yes. You wanted to go to the balcony, but the lingering thought of alcohol and heights not mixing well steered you otherwise.

Jason's knuckles brush your palm as he passes you the bottle of whiskey-coke you're sharing. The syrupy foam fizzes down your throat like butterflies in your stomach. Eat me, drink me, love me, it seems to say. Or maybe that's what you want to hear. The ceiling lights are warm and dimmed low, caressing the highlights of his nose and cheekbones. The bustle of the party seems to disappear behind the impenetrable, locked-from-the-inside door.

With the exchange of your drink, Jason leans closer into you. He tries to be subtle about it, hiding under the excuse that he doesn't feel like stretching every three seconds. But the way the drink sloshes in the glass tells you he uses a little more momentum than he needed.

"Y'know," He begins, propping up an ankle to rest on his knee. He turns to face you. You mirror his actions, falling into the plush cushion. "I'm really glad you decided to tag along tonight. It'd be an awful night without you."

Your heart stutters in your chest. Suddenly, looking into his pretty blue eyes all sincerely, is too overwhelming. You drum your fingertips on the cool glass neck of the bottle. "Is that why we're hiding in the ladies' powder room right now?"

He chuckles, interlacing his fingers that rest on his lap. His head tips back just a little. The warmth of the light catches on his brown hair, scattering through the strands like copper. "Exactly, honey. You're the only person worth being 'round right now."

You gulp, nervous. You mask it as thirst and take a sip of coke. Because you're nice, you give Jason the bottle. One hand curls around it. He places his mouth where yours was. His throat bobs as he gulps it down indulgently, his eyes forward, lashes fluttering. Fucking hell. He's got that cherub-sweetness like he can do no wrong, and yet, he indulges in every morsel of bought-in-bulk coke like it's not the ultra-processed, caffeinated caramel syrup he's savouring.

You could sit like this for hours. You just might.

Trying not to be weird, you try to think pure thoughts. "So why don't you just go to your hotel? Call it a night, you know?" You suggest.

Jason licks his lips. They shine in the light. Practically underlined. Looking so sweet, so delicious, peachy pink...

"Don't feel like it. I actually kind of like it here with you. It's really serene, don't you think?" He gives you a smile. Pushes the base of the bottle into your palm.

"Guess it's not about where you are, but the company you're with." You speak into the rim, barely sipping it. Just holding it makes you want to drink.

"Yeah." He agrees, speaking so softly that it unwinds that iron ball of anxiety within your guts. Spurred on by your silence, Jason talks again: "But seriously. I'm really glad you're here. You're a cool roadie."

You set the bottle down on the cold tile. You sit back up laughing. "Weirdo... Trust you to get all mushy at some random's party." You weave your words through giggles that bubble up your throat.

"Ow, watch it!" Jason places one hand over his heart. The other holds onto your knee. The heat from his palm sinks into you, tingling up your thigh. You hope your shudder was subtle. You suppose not, based on the way he tightens his (still gentle) hold on you.

Chasing the feeling that doesn't leave you feeling quite human, you lean into him. When your chest expands with an inhale, you brush against the side of his arm. He doesn't want barriers either it seems, because he moves that arm to drape over the edge of the loveseat, opening the metaphorical floodgates for you to pour into him.

"Cheer up, you big baby," You murmur, too aware of the suddenly tender atmosphere that you have no intention of shattering.

Jason gives you another gentle grin, reaching up to swipe your hair away from your face. No more hiding. You keen your cheek into his warm, sinking into his flesh. In the strangest way, Jason is familiar enough that you confuse him with the security that comes with being home. He is the threshold you cross where your shoulders finally relax and you lay on the warm frame of his chest.

Your fingertips are like an ocean against him, the shore. Constantly reaching and running away. You find purchase into his shirt and stare up at him, fascinated. You're stuck treading a thin line between wanting more and knowing that this should be more than enough. The question that seems to echo through your skull is, Should this feel so nice?

His fingertips brush against the edge of your jawline. "Can I kiss you?" His breath ghosts across your face, sweetening the air around you into something so hot you physically feel yourself melt.

With a brave inhale, you tip your weight forward. Both Jason's hands hook around the small of your back; your hands slide up, rounding out around his shoulders. It feels a little clumsy with the alcohol, a little intimate with nothing but the sounds of soft, hitching breaths in anticipation. The first thing you notice is that he's tense. And so warm that it feels as if he envelops you.

Mouths meet. In a slow, deliberate connection, all balmy and soft. Jason pours out a sigh, holding you by the hips, your breath shortening and closer to getting a taste of what heaven is painted of. It is between his lips, tucked under his tongue, and it glows and reaches down within you, tugging out all that bad and leaving you weightless, breathless, speechless. But not loveless. Your bones feel warm. Eyes closed to see that haze of colour behind your mind, your eyelashes flutter dreamily against the swells of your cheeks. Jason is just as hungry. Your hearts pound the same song. Beating that old hymn: I want, I want, I want. He breathes it into your lungs. A want that is sweet. It goes down your throat in a fiery burn.

Quite easily, Jason's lips slip down to kiss your chin. You giggle.

More than once, you'd imagined this. How Jason would cup your sides so cautiously as if he fears you'll spill out of the gaps of his hands. You've always wanted to unfold him from his seams; read the roadmaps of his skin. The idea is always the same: he'd scoop you into his chest and kiss you where it hurts — until it hurts. That part is very important in the scenario.

His kisses pool in your collar. His soft, wavy hair ghosts across your skin. "Is this okay?"

All the strength you had is turned into a weak, pleading nod. "More than okay." You confirm with enough clarity to surprise even yourself. He hums a bluesy purr, your personal siren song. That feeling— of bewitchment, fascination, so much want that you struggle to choke it all down, it soaks into you, beginning to take root.

You're rucked into his lap, your legs folded on themselves, kneeling around him. Something within you gives.

Jason's hair is in your hands, cupping the sides of his face, where you kiss him. On his cheek. Nose, lips, chin, throat. Jaw. Lips again. You don't know for how many nights you will be allowed to feel him like this. Maybe this is the only time. Anything could happen. You know that. The air around you is so intense that he quivers. Cock twitches in his jeans.

He makes a really hot noise: a rumbling, low groan of satisfaction. Still trying to be gentlemanly, he keeps his hands on your waist, though his fingertips itch to venture lower. Something within you squirms. You want more, more, more, always more, always hungry — starving for him. Jason excites you with his whole being. There's something wild beneath him that he's reluctant to peel away for you to gorge on.

You figure he'd stop you if he didn't enjoy this. And maybe that whiskey had more of an effect on you than you had originally suspected. Eager hands fumble beneath his shirt. Spurred on by you, Jason twists his fingers into the hem of your shirt. He glances up towards you, reading your expression.

Despite all the heat climbing in the locked room (and the fact that you can barely think through the smog of overflowing need in your brain), goosebumps prickle down your spine once you're shirtless. You kiss him again, grazing your teeth over his lower lip. Your hunger is entirely for him. Worn palms smooth up your spine, dutifully tracing along the methodical dips in your vertebrae. Jason rests a hand at the base of your neck, his fingers breaching into your hair from the back. With an open mouth, he glides his breath and the flat of his tongue over the swell of your tits still in your bra. You suck in a breath.

"Is this okay?" Jason immediately asks, again, caressing you as if you're something fragile. Something to be worshipped. You squirm against him, cagey, wanting the gritted sugar-sweetness of teeth and lips and tongue against you again.

"Jason," You begin, shifting restlessly, sat rigidly on the muscled curve of his thigh, "I appreciate it's the respectful thing to do — to keep asking — but come on." You urge, wanting to drag him down into the hazy smog with you. "Do whatever you want to me. I want it."

He wets his lips, no thoughts behind those swoon-worthy eyes. Then he grins. Pollutes any semblance of critical thinking left between you.

Clothes are palmed off. Gathered down or to the side. Pried from bodies as if it's suffocating.

Jason's hands guide your thighs closer, his jeans undone. The cold metal of his fly bites into you. You grasp at the carved-out shape of his bare shoulders, then tip your head back to take in a good breath. He slowly peels your panties away and off to the side, sticky with your ever-flowing arousal. A soft sigh escapes you. Jason leans to your neck. He presses his lips to your throat — wet and tingly with insistence. Those kisses snowball into something greater, climbing up to your jaw, glistening white teeth trapping your earlobe between his teeth. You tremble, pelvis pressing into his. Rough denim licks at the insides of your thighs, too close to your aching cunt for you to resist a shudder.

You coyly bump your hips forward, wanting to rock on him. You can feel the heat of his cock through his strained boxers. Your brows knit together.

"You wannit, don't you, gorgeous?" Jason hums. One hand scoops yours up from his shoulder, guiding it down to rest on the curve of his bulge. Overzealous, emboldened by the last dregs of liquor swirling around within you, you palm him. He grunts, which melds into a smoky chuckle that gets you giddy.

"Go on," He urges, "Take it out, baby."

You have to pause, because what the fuck? That is easily one of the hottest things you've ever heard. And the worst (or best) part is, you know in a few weeks from now, Jason will say those exact same words to you again. You'll be in front of the instruments, probably around a fellow roadie or worse: one of the members, and Jason will enquire about his bass. You'll point it out to him. You know, down to your very atoms, he'll give you this pant-dropping, sweetheart smile, and nod his head towards it, and utter the exact same words. Take it out.

Regardless, after you come back to planet Earth, you comply. You need both hands to gingerly unwrap him from his boxers. Hot and cock-heavy, he bites down on his bottom lip to keep from squirming. For a few moments, you just sit on his thigh, your legs bracketing his sides. His blushed tip leaks pearlescent precum, smearing onto your abdomen as it stands proudly tall. You have to swallow the drool in your mouth because he's handsome and funny and talented and honourable, and as if that wasn't enough, he has to have a pretty dick that's so deliciously girthy it has you wanting to squeeze your legs together.

Jason's palms scrape up your back, bathing you in heat, soaking up every naked inch of your skin that he's allowed. You fist his cock, the side of your hand connecting against his base. You inch down onto him, enveloping him in tingling, syrupy heat. He sinks into your cunt, you roll your hips experimentally across his lap, which is slick with you at this point. The moan at the top of your throat stutters out. Jason watches your pussy slowly take him in, swallow him whole, coaxing him with squeezes and velvet heat. The only word on his mind is pretty.

With his cock putting tender stars in your eyes, you let Jason guide your head to the juncture where his neck meets his shoulder. Your cheek smooshes into his trapezius muscle. He kisses your hairline, and you think you hear him cooing at you, but you barely hear anything over your own squeaks and the squelches of eager cunt falling into a rhythm that echoes off the tiles, no matter how hard you try to ignore said obscene sound. Your heart is thumping in your ears — it physically aches, sitting heavy against your ribcage.

Each time you press into him until his hilt is snug between your puffy sex, the air is rolled out of you, leaving you with nothing but breathy, high-pitched uh uh uh's as praise to feed him with. He makes do just fine, palming the soft globes of your ass, bracing his boots on the floor. Both strong arms curl around you, squeezing you into him.

The more you exchange inhales and exhales, moans and grunts, praises and compliments, the more something washes over you. A realisation. You'd been dying to feel this for weeks— months, even. You wanted his hands on you, you wanted to knit your bones over his, you wanted him to come teach you a gentler way to say your own name.

"Jason," You plead into the warm curve of his throat, muscles in your thighs burning, your hips wobbling against him. Your voice ripples through him, rides him hard.

He gathers all the breath in his lungs. "I gotcha, honey," He rumbles out. He locks you to him, lazily drawing the molten ache of your cunt flush against his base, stuffing you full of him. So full there's no room for slick, which bubbles out through the paper-thin seams of your tight-as-a-fist, pulsing sex in pornographically gushing dribbles, which seep and gather at the beginning of your ass, and his aching balls.

Your head is spinning. Moans leak out of your mouth. Jason half guides you and half bucks his hips up into you. Your chest bounces with each motion. Your eyes flutter closed, not unlike the way your heart trembles. Jason scoops you into his arms, and rocks you against his lap with so much velocity and viciousness that the tempo pounds within you, skin rippling on impact, and it's so powerful that you're genuinely stunned. As if he's been taking you apart brick by brick, and only now are you realising you are nothing but a wooden foundation of where everything once was.

With clammy skin, you bleed into him, breathless and crying praises around a frenzy of filthy moans. Your eyes roll around in their sockets, brainless with every bit of bliss that's bestowed unto you by each bite of Jason's cock bumping into your cervix. Your back arches, the soft shape of your tits pressing into his chest. Only skin separates your breaths. He could've gotten off on the sounds of your noises alone. But then he'd miss out on the tremble of your eyelashes, the wispy hairs that stick to your sweat-beaded temple.

You blur into him, the long muscles of his arms pin you by the hips into his own, taut with effort, just like his thighs. The sloppy, indulgently messy thrusts are fizzling into something breathtakingly good. It feels natural. Like home. Jason whispers how beautiful you are, how well you're taking him, how you're so sweet and so soft, and just like that, you're under his spell. Your orgasm bubbles up until it tips over.

You've got the moon in your eyes— just a bright flash of firey white that drives you mad with the craze of your tight heat squeezing and gushing and, and...

Jason's thrusts stop, his cock stilling inside you, yet he still persists. Pushing into you like there's any more unclaimed territory. You writhe. He cups the back of your head, stroking his fingertips into your hair. You can hear his heart pounding in your own ear that rests on his chest. His skin is as sweaty as yours with the effort, he smells so natural and salty. Your mouth fills with drool. In a long, unintelligible groan, Jason hits his high: filling what's left of your fucked-raw cunt with wave after wave of hot cum that you're half-sure leaks between the both of you. Probably got on the seats, too.

Those stars swirling in your head dissolve into tingles down your spine. You feel comfortably numb, proud of that satisfied ache deep within your belly. Jason, eager to continue his gentlemanly streak, rubs an open palm up and down your back to soothe you. His mind is put to ease as he feels your upper body expand with breath, shrinking with an exhale.

"Should've done that a long time ago," He murmurs, just wanting to speak to you. Although you have miles to go before you can crash at your hotel bed and dream. Probably about this exact moment.

You hum lazily in agreement, the low sound rolling and vibrating around in your throat. "If you want..." He shifts around, speaking up again. "We can, uh, make a habit of this...?"

Your chin rests on his collarbone as you look up at him through your lashes. Light bounces and reflects off of your eyes. You look almost impish. "Sure, farm boy." You grin.

[imagitory]

All right...for those of you who don't know my thoughts about Wish, yes, I wasn't happy with the finished result, but no, I'm not a hater. I'm mostly just disappointed that this project that had so many good ideas came out so half-baked, and THIS is a perfect example of what I mean.

No, it's not because "Star Boy" appears in it -- at least, not by itself. I do actually like Star's "himbo" personality in this, even if I also completely understand liking the idea of a mute version of the character. (The downside is that the mute Star from the finished film honestly doesn't have much personality outside of just being cute, in contrast to other mute magical Disney characters like Tinker Bell.)

No, the lost potential here is two-fold --

Firstly, I once again felt more emotion watching this storyboarded sequence than I did at any point in the finished film. I smiled hearing the fun banter between Star and Asha, insinuating that they're becoming closer despite their contrasting personalities; I felt some suspense in how Star and Asha were going to get away from evil!Queen Amaya; I even laughed pretty hard at the cat-and-yarn gag! I didn't laugh once while watching the finished movie.

Secondly -- and this point is actually the one I want to focus on more -- is the commentary given about why this scene was cut. I truly think another unspoken reason behind the decision was that this sequence was clearly inspired by the transforming chase scene in Nimona, which Disney of course infamously dropped when they closed Blue Sky Studios and later got picked up by Netflix, only to receive glowing reviews from just about everyone...but one of the core reasons that Head of Story Mark Kennedy cites for why they changed this scene (aside from wanting Star to be mute and not a shapeshifter like other Disney characters, which I'm a bit confused about because yeah, Disney's done cute, mute non-human characters before too -- what about Dopey, Pascal, Maximus, Dumbo, Bambi, Magic Carpet, Sven, and again Tinker Bell?) is that they wanted Asha to be the hero and be able to "solve all her problems" without Star's help.

Up to a point, I understand what Kennedy means -- the theme of the film is supposed to be that we all have the power inside of us to make a difference, and that's great. But by making it so that Asha doesn't need any help from Star, it takes something away from their relationship. No human is an island, and relationships, both in stories and real life, are often built on that fact. Just look at Ariel and Eric in the original Little Mermaid -- Ariel saves Eric from drowning and from Ursula zapping him with Triton's trident, and then Eric saves Ariel from Ursula by skewering her with the broken figurehead of a ship. Even in non-romantic examples, we have Judy and Nick having to help each other solve the case in Zootopia; Buzz and Woody helping each other get back to Andy in Toy Story; the Parr family and Frozone all fighting together against Syndrome's robot with their unique powers in The Incredibles; Jim Hawkins and Long John Silver working together to save themselves and everyone else at the end of Treasure Planet; even Anna helping Elsa learn how to control her magical abilities through an act of authentic, courageous, selfless love that only she can do in Frozen. These characters needing help and deep emotional connections with others is what creates a bond between them, helps the characters grow and change into stronger people, and makes us as an audience enjoy watching the two characters together. We become invested in both the two individual characters and the relationship forged between them. Because they all have their unique strengths and weaknesses, they supplement and complete each other. Even perfect paragon Superman in most DC properties isn't an island -- when he's in the Justice League, there are plenty of times where he needs help from Batman or other team members to save the day. Even Superman is a stronger character when he has people around him who can balance out his flaws.

If Asha never needs help, that runs the risk of the challenges she's facing seeming far less consequential, because no human can handle absolutely everything, all by themselves. Yes, perhaps in the finished film, Asha asks her friends to help her liberate the wishes (a task which ultimately fails, leaving Asha to confront Magnifico alone again and realize exactly what everyone has to do to defeat him on her own anyway)...but just in regards to Star and Asha's relationship -- which even the filmmakers have said is something like a "soulmate" relationship, though not in a romantic sense in the finished product -- these two can't have a meaningful connection if one of them is completely self-sufficient. This is also why quite a few Disney fans didn't like that the Little Mermaid remake changed Ursula's defeat to have it be Ariel who killed her, rather than Eric, because it hurt the "equal" dynamic between the main couple where they both helped and supported each other.

In short, "girl power" shouldn't have to mean never needing to rely on anyone else...and honestly, looking at this scene concept, we don't see Asha relying on Star too much! She's the brains of the outfit -- she's making plans; she's providing Star some much needed common sense; she's using Star's light as a distraction so they can get away...she even escapes Amaya at one point by sliding right under her horse! Asha in this storyboard is a bad-ass!

What we see in this sequence is these two characters having to help each other in order to succeed. And that would've been a great foundation on which to build more dramatic stakes and a relationship with actual pathos, whether romantic or not.

[thebramblewood]

For the ask game, what's your favourite moment from Helena Zhao is Dead so far? (You asked the HZID community recently but I'm curious to hear what yours is).

Oh, it's impossible to pick just one. They're all my children and I don't want to play favorites. 😭 There are a million different ways I could answer this. I started to pick out individual scenes and it quickly became an insanely long list. So I'll just say I'm most proud of the scenes that required wrangling a lot of moving parts at once (The Reapers, the vampire bash, almost every flashback to the Vatores' past) and also the "action" scenes (Helena being turned/transforming, the various vampire attacks) because at the beginning they were the most stressful and the sort of thing I was least confident about doing justice. I feel a lot better about those kinds of scenes now!

But I'm also really proud of the smaller character moments that aren't as dramatic or visually flashy. By comparison, they might seem "easier" to put together, but it's always important to me that the characters feel real and well-rounded, so I spend a lot of time finessing dialogue and thinking about expressions and body language. Things like Helena and Ulrike's relationship dynamic or the sisterly banter between Helena and Julia or the toxic back and forth between Lilith and Caleb are hard to reduce to specific moments because I feel like it's more about the bigger picture they come together to create. I really put my heart and soul into bringing them to life the best I can!

And I'm editing to add that honestly the most special part is getting to share it and see all of your reactions! I love being internally excited about something, but it's always even better when other people turn out to be excited about it too and take the time to tell you so. 💕

[ahoyimlosingmymind]

What's your take on a Fitz-Marella friendship/how would they become friends?

i've honestly never really thought about this hmmm

okay- you can interpret this as totally platonic or romantic, doesn't really matter, because it's funny either way (she did have a crush on him historically so do with that what you will.)

I can see them having a stupidly unserious flirty friendship. It starts with her trying to catch him off guard with random compliments in the middle of serious conversations, and it totally works. He gets all flustered and loses his train of thought and she just doesn't stop.

"Yeah, so the Neverseen-"

"Mhm. Has anyone ever told you you're really pretty?"

"I- what?"

it gets to the point where she's doing it in front of strangers and their friends. She's bolder than him, and sometimes the jokes are super unhinged "You're so sexy when you get all emotional about justice." (People's jaws are dropped)(Fitz is floundering) and other times she sounds sincere but she's got an ornery grin the whole time.

*He's baking*

"What's cooking good looking?"

"Nothing. I'm baking."

"For me? You shouldn't have <3"

Most people can't tell if she's joking or not except for Fitz, Linh and Biana.

One day, he answers back, completely deadpan without thinking.

They're preparing for battle or smth, Keefe and Sophie kiss beforehand, Marella turns to Fitz

"What? and I don't get one? I thought we had something."

"Come back alive and we'll see about it."

This is all surface level banter. They still aren't very close. Until one day, she's like "You're so hot- who wouldn't want you?" (He's just made cookies or something and offered her one.)

and if that doesn't open up a can of worms. They end up bonding about how lovable they are on a surface level, but how they have to keep so many parts of them hidden to be truly loved and accepted. Him, having to hide his imperfections. And her having to hide that she's a pyrokinetic.

The compliments are still jokes fairly often, but they make sure to sprinkle in some real praises for one another.

idk.

[starry-on-ao3]

Hi Starry (:

Just wondering, do you have any favorite acgas side characters? I've been growing quite fond of Margot and Hugh as I write Little Problem.

Ohh!!! I adore Mrs Pumphrey and Jenny probably the most!!!! And also Maggie :)

Mrs Pumphrey: I love her fiercely protective streak, and her sense of justice and fairness. I think we said it in ao3 comments once, she gives vibes of someone who didn't come from money, but who came across money later in life, and so has an understanding of hardship. Not making her staff work over Christmas, always being so generous with her gift baskets, and because I just rewatched the S2CS, the scene where she invites James in for a drink, he initially refuses, and she replies something like, "No, that was unfair of me to ask [you to stay for a drink on Christmas Day], you should be with family." She's just the total opposite of what you expect from the 'rich older lady in a mansion' character trope, and I adore that so much! (maybe I'm also a little biased here because I am such a sucker for the way you write her!! Her adopting Carmody in one of your last fics still lives rent free in my head 🥺🥺)

Jenny: aw what's not to love about Jenny! She's fun, playful, and sincere - she's very willing to stand up to her dad, especially when she doesn't agree with him - eg, about putting down the dog I think in S2 who scared a sheep and caused it to have a miscarriage. She really has an independent streak in her, and she's very observant too (thinking of the first time we see Jenny, Tristan and James interact together, I think in S1? It's a scene where they're all in the car together, and Jenny's talking about a conversation she had with Helen where Helen/James is hinted at!) - her banter with Tristan is so fun in that scene in particular!!

Maggie: awh I love Maggie (and I am so so in love with Maggie/Tristan too), for similar reasons to Jenny - she's funny, and independent, and also not afraid to speak out her mind when she knows it's the right moment! My favourite scene has to be her and Tristan's conversation in the S2CS, when they're cuddling in the pantry - (firstly hnnnggnngn they're so cute aakshsksj) - *breathes* secondly, Maggie is such a caring person! Even though she knows it will hurt Tristan, in the moment, to hear that all the girls in Darrowby think he's just a player, she knows that he needs to hear tough truths sometimes to grow as a person! She definitely seems like a person I could be besties with!

As for Margot and Hugh: I honestly don't know them well enough, tbh! (We don't see much of Margot, and what we see of Hugh is only from James's perspective, of course showing Hugh in not the most favourable light - but he is a character that has grown on me, following re-watches, and also because of how you write him!) I do adore how you write them both in the beginning of Little Problem though, so I'm really excited to see more! 🤗

Hope this helps :)) And always happy to chat more, or beta read, if you'd like! 🥰🫶 Aw and thank you for the ask!! 🥰

[eleanorbloom]

Home (Trystan Thorne x MC)

Book: Crimes of Passion Pairing: Trystan Thorne x F!MC (Amelia Rose)

Rating: Teen Warnings: Language. Words: 2,100.

Summary: What happens inside Trystan's head when Amelia found belladis for him (Book 1 Chapter 11).

A/N: I can't believe I'm doing this. I told myself I would only play some Choices books and not write any fics because life is messy enough, but I just fell in love with Trystan Thorne (hard not to) and loved the belladi scene so fucking much, that I had to write something about it. Honestly, that scene is one of the most beautiful things a MC has done for a LI. It was so sweet and considerate, I just needed to add the proper sappiness, as usual. This is my first fic outside Open Heart, and I haven't written something in English in about a year and a half, so I apologize for the rustiness. Whoever takes the time to read this, thank you so much! I can't wait to catch up with the content you have written for this gorgeous person ❤️

Tagging @choicesficwriterscreations to get some boost. I'm not sure who else wants to be tagged in future works, if there's any.

____

Home.

Even after eight years, New York has never felt like home. 

A penthouse crammed with people. With music, laughter, booze, men, women, sex, poker, gambles. Not even all the fun in the world has made Trystan feel it like home. 

Not even her sister. Mag’s the only thing he has left from both his family and Drakovia, and yet, even if he adores her, he can't remotely feel close to home when she’s around. She only evokes the melancholy of not being at home.

  The Agency, on the other hand, feels like a community to him. A place with an unusual sense of belonging. Where people appreciate him for him, not for what his title is or where he comes from. The banter, the shared coffees, the theories, the mutual help. It’s all a comfortable space that makes him feel useful for the first time in a long time. It has given him a purpose.

And Amelia… Amelia soon has started to feel like something he had never experienced before. A warm and enveloping sensation every time he sees her. And it’s not just because of the fire that lights up her eyes in every action she does seeking justice,  or because they have been spending an incalculable amount of time together in the past weeks, so it could be said he’s been getting accustomed to her presence.

No.

It's because of the sincerity in everything she does and says. The purpose in all she does. This is not just a job, it’s her true calling. And the confirmation just keeps appearing before his eyes day after day. With every theory she makes, with every risk she takes.

And it’s also in the sincerity she calls him out every day. The way she calls him annoying at least ten times a day and the ten times a day he silently agrees, but keeps doing it because he likes the way his brown eyes roll in weariness, but a moment later melt into subtle amusement, letting him know she actually likes how annoying he is. Her smirk confirms it.

Besides his sister, Trystan has never met a person who confronts him the way Amelia does, and much less that the same person who does it, still chooses to spend day after day with him. 

He has never met a person who had trusted him with her life. Even after telling her his fault in Juliana’s death.

Being around Amelia makes him be the closet he is at heart. What he truly is. Without pretending, without showing off to prove something. Without having to slow down to be taken seriously. Or having to do grand gestures just to fit in the Prince stereotype. Even if they bicker, even if Amelia groans at him every two seconds, he knows she appreciates him just for the way he is. Otherwise she would’ve gotten rid of him the very first day he hired the Agency.

That’s why Trystan prefers to take a walk by Central Park with her instead of resting at his penthouse, or partying with some ‘friends’.

That’s the reason why just strolling by her side is enough for him. Just walking and bantering about his million qualities and fancy abilities, or watching Amelia twirling around him while Fiera races behind her. It’s simple but it’s everything to him right now. 

And that’s why having a bagel with avocado and a fried egg sitting on a bench, is the best lunch he has had in a long while. Topping the most fancy shit he had ever had.

 “Do you ever miss it?” Amelias asks, seeing the subtle longing in his eyes as he talks about  Drakovia.

“It’s not worth thinking about”, he answers, shrugging.

“So, yes?” She insists.

“...Sometimes.” He confesses. He does miss it, but for once in his life the answer doesn’t sting like before. For once he prefers to be precisely right where he is instead of somewhere else. “This just reminded me we have a place like this in Drakkos. The People's Garden. I used to get belladi there as a child.”

“Belladi?” She inquires, curiously. 

“It's a Drakovian dessert. A bit like  a scone, with sort of a melty Cadbury egg in the middle, topped with a dusting of sugar.” Even if there have been years, he could taste the sweetness of that first bite every time he tried one. 

“Sounds delicious”. 

Trystan sighs wistfully, watching some kids racing a few feet from them. His feelings haven’t changed, he prefers to be right where he is, but he does wish to have a belladi right now in his hands. 

“They are. But I've never found them anywhere else. No sense brooding over it…”

Trystan can see from the corner of his eye how Amelia looks silently at him for a moment, thinking. 

“You know what? I agree,” Amelia says as she hops to her feet, “No sense brooding over it. I'm gonna get you that dessert.” 

Trystan turns to her, taken aback with her declaration. He would've expected a change in the topic to make him feel better, probably an invitation to try some new pastry to satiate his thirst for something sweet. But not this. 

“I’ve just told you. I have looked” Although he is surprised by her intention, it doesn’t crack the hopelessness he feels about it. There’s no way he will try a belladi ever again.

“If it exists, you can find it in New York. You’re just not looking hard enough,” she gives him a wink, “Lucky for you, you're in the presence of a detective” she adds playfully, pointing with her head towards the path that leads back to the food stands.

But the glint in her eyes tells him this is more than some detectivesque challenge, a treasure hunt. This is a different kind of fire than the one that drives her daily. There’s something else. And for some reason it makes his heart flutter.

Amelia makes him go back to the vendors and asks every single one of them if they have heard about a place where they could make drakovian food. For about half an hour, they only encounter shook heads and apologizing looks, until finally a woman at the end of the park, clues them in of a food truck in the 82nd. 

Trystan hadn't had his hopes high in all that time. He didn't want to be disappointed. Yet he was feeling very grateful to Amelia for trying. But the moment the woman tells them she had heard there was a truck with drakovian food but that had moved out of the park, something warmed up inside him just like when he was a kid. 

The sun is going down by the time they make it to 82nd Street. Trystan cannot contain his smile when the man behind the window recognizes him and then, after taking a selfie with him, starts to prepare the pastry.

“I must admit that, even if I have never doubted that you are an impressive detective, I really thought you wouldn't find it" he confesses somewhat regretfully, “You can add “dessert hunting” to your resume now”.

“I know, I'm truly impressive, am I?” Amelia says, almost only to herself, “I never doubted myself, but making this happen feels really, really amazing”. Suddenly, Amelia giggles, clapping her hands in excitement. “I'm so glad you are going to get that belladi you so much wanted”.

Trystan grins, amused, because he had never heard her laugh like that, like a child. And that sole view touches him deeply in his heart. To be able to see another side of Amelia. A side less tough and more effusive. And he feels somewhat more grateful than he already was.

A few minutes later, the man behind the window reaches to give them the belladis plus some bitter drink to enhance the flavor of the pastry. Both content with the food, take it to a quiet stoop a few feet away and take a seat to enjoy the much awaited delicacies. 

Trystan groans full of pleasure the moment the belladi melts in his tongue. 

“Oh my god, this is even better than I imagined”.

He feels shivers down his spine as the sweet flavor invades him along with some of his best childhood memories. 

Happy and truly thankful for the gesture, Trystan turns to thank Amelia for the crusade she put herself in just to get him a belladi, absolutely convinced she would be wolfing down the pastry just as he was. But instead, he caught her watching him with a wistful smile and warm eyes.

The moment their eyes meet, Amelia hurries to take the pastry and engulfs her mouth with it.

“Woow, yes, indeed, this is amazing,” she says, hastily, her cheeks evidently blushed. 

“Yeah”, he sighs, trying to contain a chuckle. 

That was just the confirmation he needed to convince himself that all that wasn’t just about proving herself being an amazing detective. A personal challenge.

This was for him.

Who would walk almost the whole damn Central Park just to prove a point? Well, she would. But no one offers to find it in the first place just to prove a point. She could prove herself with anything else. But something that seemed too personal for him? 

Only Amelia would take the challenge just to get him the damn belladi and calm his homesickness. 

She might look tough and cold, but she was the most considerate person when it came to the people she cared about. So, acting like that meant that she… Trystan stops himself right at that moment, trying not to jump out to conclusions. 

But he just cannot shake the idea off his head. So he searches for her hand and takes it in his.

“What?”

And then lifts it to his lips, as Amelia doesn't seem to oppose. 

“Thank you”, he says, staring directly into her chocolate eyes, charged with intention, meaning and candor. 

She blushes again, more profusely, then shakes her head, "It’s nothing". 

 “Uh-uh,”  Trystan stands up and turns her body to him, still holding her hand, “You know how difficult it is for me to be away from home. That I can’t go back there. You saw that I miss it, and when you found there was a tiny chance to make me feel like home, you took it and made it possible. It's not nothing, Amelia.”

She looks at him, serious, her eyes glistening. 

“I hate to see you sad, missing home, because you don’t deserve it, you don't deserve anything that has happened to you, so I had… I had to try at least, to find you this something that you were missing so much, even if it was a goddamn pastry”. 

He gives her the most dazzling smile she has ever seen, it was almost blinding.

“Thank you. Thank you, Amelia. I really mean it.”

And without giving it a second thought, he embraced her, tightly but delicately, his arms around the small of her back, his cheek pressed to her head, his nose feeling the critic scent of her chestnut hair. Amelia stands frozen for a few seconds, petrified, before giving in to the embrace, crossing both arms around his back, grasping the silk fabric of his shirt, smiling softly. 

“You're very welcome, Trystan,” she says in a tiny voice. 

What if he was wrong all along? Or maybe he was just looking in the wrong places. About home.

Maybe he thought home would always be the same place, that place in the past he couldn’t return. Drakovia. But even if someday there was a chance he could return, he knows it will never be the same. It was now tainted with bittersweet memories and grief.

Maybe home turns into something different once he finds a new place with happy memories.

Maybe home is not always a place but a person, or a pastry.

Maybe a truck with belladi.

Or maybe a person leading him to a truck with belladis.

Or maybe a person who would do anything to get him a belladi, just to see him happy. 

As the sun goes completely down and the purple sky reflects on the skyscrapers of 82nd Street, Trystan sighs happily, contendly, peacefully, for finally being home. 

The Detective Amelia Rose had helped him to find more than belladis that afternoon. 

She helped him find his home. 

Her. 

Amelia.

[skiplo-wave]

Rank the Batman cape episodes

Episode 1- first episode and pretty much drops you right into Gotham. Batman is just starting everyone thinks he’s a myth. We get Oswalda, the penguin. Very much highlight of episode. Overall 9/10. Def want see Mama penguin in s2

Episode 2- we get introduced to clayface. Out the line up I say this was most forgettable for me. Like his design but can’t say much else. 3/10

Episode 3- Catwoman episode! One of my favorites. Seeing Selina and Bruce hit off. Then banter as Batman and Catwoman 💕💕 I say it was funniest episode too with Selina maid being sassy 10/10.

Episode 4- New rogue aka firebug an arsonist. Dark episode. Not only corruption of Gotham cops and city being what it is. Honestly this episode would fit perfectly in BTAS for dark themes. 7/10 only cause I hate they killed off firebug at end of episode :/ fuck Flass and Bullock all homies hate them

Episode 5- New harley debate episode. Love the take on Harley, Babs gets here time to shine. Another favorite episode of mine. 10/10 Harley def will be back s2

Episode 6- Pretty eh on this one. Ghost factor felt like saturday morning cartoon. The witch guy was neat but that's about it 2/10

Episode 7- Like got another Babs focus episode but Onomatopiea man was hugh let down. Bro didn't do shit but say sound effects >:/ What a waste. 2/10 only because like twist on hit be on Babs than Gordon.

Episode 8- Adore this episode. Batman saving kids always banger episode. And seeing the baby robins 🥺🥺. Natilia reminds me of Ace from justice league. another favorite 9/10 Bruce getting jumped by circus folks was pretty funny.

Episode 9- Harvey becoming two face. The acid thrown at him because he wasn't gonna cave for govenor dude was dark. Tbh not fan of two face design because his face borderlines messing with my trypophobia. 8/10

Episode 10- It's part 2 episode but prefer this one over 9. Harvey and Babs dynamic very neat. Tbh he reminds me of Telltale Harvey/Two face. Batman having a gun had me nervous, raw scene for sure. Bruce finally calling Alfred by his name 🥺🥺🥺 Lastly shot of Batman on building with lighting 🔥. And of course teaser of Joker. The batjokes and joker stan in me is ready 10/10

Series as a whole I say is a good 8.5/10. If you loved batman the animated series this good successor. New voice actor for Bruce and Batman did real good job. Can't wait see how new Joker voice will do ( he's got deep voice too) I hope see how show handle other rogues: Ivy, Mr.Freeze, Mad hatter, Scarecrow, etc. New rogues too!

I'm glad Warner bros decided to sell series than write it off. This show could fit well in toonami line up. It's been long time seeing guns in animated series for teens+

Highly recommend giving show a watch :D

[gren-arlio]

For ONCE I cover a game with Madou Monogatari mechanics. Welcome to Episode 12 of (Waku) Puyo Extras.

(No Waku Puyo Manga page for you today. You get this instead, a photo for a calendar. Oddly, Suke is there despite not really being in the game.)

Hello everyone, it's the guy who likes talking about how silly Witch and Schezo are together, back at it again making (Waku) Puyo Extras. Wild to think that the art shown above was for a calendar. Wish SEGA did that more often. This was a little late because I've been focusing on school a little more, that and I wanted this to be really good, so my apologies.

This time around, the 12th go-around, I'll be covering... an actual Madou Monogatari game. It's taken us this many episodes to talk about one in full, but here we are guys. An actual episode about it.

And it's the really popular one too compared to every other game I've covered, besides maybe Serilly's Happy Birthday. That's right, we're covering Madou Monogatari: Tower of the Magician. AKA, the game that everyone knows stars Schezo and Witch.

Honestly, I've been wanting to cover this game for a long while, but I wanted to get better at translating before I covered it, and well, it's been enough time, I think. I wanna give this game justice, ya know?

But enough of that. Let's get into this, shall we? Hope you enjoy.

-----

So, What're the Origins/Characters?

Thankfully, because of how popular this game is compared to other Disc Station games, dates are a lot clearer for me. The release date of the game varies, but for Japan, it was released on September 6, 1997, for Windows 95, and a Korean version was released on September 20 of the same year.

(The cover of this game.)

The reason why this game exists... is a pretty interesting one to be honest. Compile held a popularity contest to see who the most popular characters were at the time, and the winners of that poll was Schezo and Witch. I mean Schezo is basically universally loved by the fanbase of Puyo at the time, and still sorta is, but Witch? I mean, I'm happy for her, but still, fascinating. Because they won, they got their own games.

As such, the game was put into development. The most notable part for me was the redesign for the characters, more specifically the main duo's design, and honestly? I rock with these designs so hard, these look amazing. The artstyle they went for is also just really pleasing to look at.

(I just wanna let people know I searched for 20 minutes for this image.)

As well, due to...well, I guess luck to be honest, we now also have some old artwork of what they were going to look like, along with Wish, Witch's grandmother... Oh, and Dark Matter, too.

(Also, the borders of the pages look great. Least IMO.)

Actually, about the characters, in this game, they're honestly really good.

For example:

Schezo is shown to have morals, and despite not exactly caring much about Witch at the start, to at least being kind enough to give back her magic after the final boss when she willingly gives it to him. He even accompanies Witch during the final floor and gives her the credit of beating Dark Matter when it was him, PLUS declining to take Wish's magic...though mostly because Dark Matter took most of it. It's a cool side of him.

Witch herself is honestly quite charming. She attacks Schezo first because she assumes he's an illusion, but realizes "Oh wait. That IS Schezo." and run into each other occasionally, though it's mostly banter and talking about Wish. When there's no jokes though, she's also shown to really care for her grandmother, Wish, as she brazenly rushes to her when Wish is collapsed before Schezo fights Dark Matter, and after the final boss.

Wish herself isn't given too much character but we do know that she was (and somewhat still is,) pretty dang powerful, and is at least shown to care for Witch, despite making her fail the test she was given due to outside help. Oddly enough, when Wish realizes that Schezo is there for her power and asks for it, she doesn't really protest at all, hoping it makes him stronger, confusing him and opting to leave so when she's back to her real strength, they'll have a fair fight.

Dark Matter...I mean he's fine, I guess. He wants revenge, which is fair enough. He did get beat by a 16 year old girl...though that's common in Madou.

...We don't talk about Gay the Whale. They're just...let's just say bad representation.

(Ah, the only story relevant characters...who's Dark Matter?)

-----

What's the Gameplay?

A first in Extras, it's literally Madou Monogatari gameplay. No wacky gimmicks, different gameplay, etc. We get... a pretty definitive Madou experience.

Madou Gameplay is thankfully straightforward enough. You're given options for attacks, using items, running away, the classic JRPG stuff.

(Yeah, Witch isn't actually playable. I'll explain later, but wow does she look really sad.)

It has it all. Random encounters, floor placements, treasure, the list goes on. It's probably the most refined gameplay for the franchise if I have to be honest. Plus, it looks pretty. That's half the battle.

Something to note is that this is an adventure with Schezo and later Tenori Zoh, Witch is of course, important to the story, but she's more of a roaming sidekick. She often appears because you came around at a good time and she needs help with something... which is so in-character for her, that or you two just run into each other. I will say though, the animations of this game are really good.

----

How About The Story?

The game starts off with Schezo reading a book from a library about a story made about 50 years before the game begins, with Wish, Witch's grandmother, defeating Dark Matter, unfortunately not the Kirby one, but some random other geezer, when she was just 16 years old, and the tower she rests at isn't too far away, so Schezo goes into said tower to get Wish's powers.

(So at the very least, she's about 66. Not exactly, but at least there. She doesn't look 66, that's for sure.)

Unfortunately for him, life isn't so easy. During his quest, he runs into Witch, who thinks he's an illusion created by Wish, and they fight. Since he's the protag of this game, she loses, but realizes that he's the real deal, and explains why she's here; To complete her trial that Wish gave her to become a real witch...but she can't stand being at the tower. She also jokingly mentions to not say "I want you," to Wish, her grandmother, or else Schezo will look even more like a pervert.

After that scuffle and a bit later, Schezo runs into Incubus...doing Incubus things, such as but not limited to:

Being a loser

So they fight, leading to Schezo's victory. His victory spoils are actually solid for once, as Incubus had Tenori Zoh, and Schezo just takes the little fella and goes on with his day. I like Tenori Zoh, t.hey're a little guy and that's all they sorta need to be.

As the story progresses, Schezo does run into Witch sometimes, usually just trying to solve a puzzle and him just so happening to help her out, with puzzles and the sort, and wondering if Wish is alright herself, considering that this trial has been kinda tough.

However, those claims are slowly getting more scary as both Schezo and Witch climb up the tower, as near the top, they find a broken wall.

(Now ain't this unusual?)

Witch (very obviously) starts getting concerned if her grandmother is alright, and Schezo... I mean he tries to calm her down, and it somewhat works before they reach the final floor. At that point, they're working together... and it only took the entire game.

After a bit, and on the final floor, Witch rushes to Wish, who's sorta on the ground. Is she dead? Nah, but something's up, since when you rush to get to her, she's all beaten up and such.

(Wow. Who knew the stakes could actually be high for once.)

SURPRISE, it's that guy Wish beat 50 years ago, Dark Matter. With the energy she does have left, Witch gives it to Schezo to fight...and he does indeed fight, because he squares up against Dark Matter and wins, which is kinda cool when you think about it.

That's just Round 1 though, as after defeat, Dark Matter decides to possess Wish to control her, leading to the REAL final battle.

...I like the music for it. More on that later.

(Honestly speaking, this fight is so cool. Though saying your final boss is a literal grandmother is kinda funny.)

After that whole... Debacle, Dark Matter is defeated for real, and Wish once again collapses, and after Schezo returns Witch's powers, she rushes right towards her grandmother. Thankfully, she's alright, and when she wakes up, Schezo says that Witch was the one who defeated Dark Matter, not him. He even decides against getting Wish's magic, even though that was his plan from the get-go, even when Wish said that she wouldn't protest to it. Though with everything...Wish says that Witch got outside help for the test, and thus, she doesn't exactly pass.

Thus concludes the story of this game. For once, it's small enough to fully cover. I frankly love this story mostly due to the fact that, not only does it show sides of Schezo and Witch we don't see often, but also takes itself seriously at the end, which is a surprise for Madou standards.

-----

Well...Uh, How's the Music?

Simply put, stellar. I usually just say "Listen to them on your spare time," but today, for once, I'll link some songs.

Battle Music:

Wish's Boss Theme:

I Forgot Where This Plays:

Fufufu: (and I think Momomo)

Forgot Where This Played Part 2:

They're so good. Trust me on this one.

-----

So, Final Verdict?

...If it wasn't obvious enough, I really like this game. It's really good. Honestly, if you ever get the chance to play the game, I'd say try it...if you can find a guide on it. But other than that, I'd say try it.

Though that'll be all for me.

Adios, and if I don't post again, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

[green4allseasons]

Green! I've been wanting to ask you this for a few days, but I'm too shy. Today is the day. When did you start shipping Jason with Tim, and what dynamic do you like the most between the two of them? Also, how did you come up with the idea of taking advantage of the YJ series to write about them?

Have a nice week!

Ahhhhh! Oh my goodness, I am SO glad you woke up and decided today was the day! Seeing this message in my inbox gave me all the fuzzies and happy feelings🥺💕! But I also completely get it; there are so many cool people in this space that I want to send asks to, but I am also shy and have yet to. This may be the thing that encourages me to do so!

As for your first question, I actually found out about the JayTim ship in kind of a roundabout way. I've been a DC fan for many years (particularly the animated movies and shows) but never really thought more about the other universe-wide ships than a casual "oh, that's nice" for most of them. But then, a few years ago, I came across a stunning fanart that was actually JayDick (If you can believe it!!), and my thoughts were, "OH! That's nice!!👀" Insert many Google searches later, a foray into Tumblr, and my first experience getting into Fandom spaces, and that's where I found a fanart for JayTim, and let's say my mind just spasmed "ahdfdfdsfsdf," and I was sold.

As for "what" exactly sold me on their dynamic? It's funny because I am not usually an enemies-to-lovers fan (friends-to-lovers is much more my jam). But for Tim and Jason?? It just works. I also am a sucker for angst, and pining, and good old fashion snarky banter. But honestly? I think what really got me was the absolute "ride or die" way that they care about each other when depicted in fandom and even platonically in canon. I know "ride or die" could be applied to a lot of ships, but I think that these two would go to far more extraordinary lengths to protect each other than, say, some other characters (particularly those of whom are hindered by their moral code). Both of these characters are consistently shown to be greyer than not, but just go about it in completely different ways. I've always been more attached to gray characters in fiction, so when there are TWO of them? It's just the chef's kiss. TL;DR They are both just MESSY and yet competent AF and I love it.

But even with my attachment to them, I never considered writing fanfiction! I've only ever written original stories. I don't even know why I didn't consider it because I've loved reading fanfiction since I was as old enough to navigate a computer (a LONG time😅). But suddenly, a little over a year ago, I was re-watching all of Young Justice while simultaneously watching the new season, and BAM! Two very specific scenes came up in my head (One that has already been written about in Part 1 and another that has yet to be shown in Part 2), and I could just Not. Stop. Thinking. About. It. I'm serious. Those two scenes kept me awake at night, the brain rot was all consuming, and I got that feeling that all writers have felt a time or two where if they didn't jot it down in that moment, they'd just implode!!

So, of course my totally normal person response was to immediately sign up for AO3, outline an entire ~40-chapter story around those two scenes right down to the nitty-gritty details, and start uploading.

100K words later and here we are! The rest was history!!! I know this is probably WAY longer than you ever anticipated 🤣 but THANK YOU for asking me! I hope I didn't scare you away with the essay. I have just loved these characters, the JayTim fandom, and my first experience writing fanfiction so much, and all it takes is a little question for me to go on a gush about it!!

[danganronpasurvivoraskblog]

Mods thoughts on latest DB?

//I'm not gonna make a habit of this because Death Battle, while it is trending with me right now, is not my main focus with this blog, so while I might do this with this episode and the next episode, I'm probably gonna halt it there.

//Anyway, Rick Vs The Doctor.

//Really good! Not amazing though, but still fitting in well with the trend of really good fights and by no means a disappointment.

//If I have any complaints about it, it's with the analysis, the death, and a few minor plot holes with Rick. The analysis really sold Rick more than the Doctor, and for a while I really thought Rick had it in the bag, even though I was fairly sure from the outset that the Doctor would win.

//Rick's Death made sense, but it was still pretty lame. Especially by the standards of Rick and Morty where there's no real filter to how disgusting the deaths can get, but Rick kind of just dissipates into space. The ending is pretty funny and honestly a little sad though.

//The part that made the least amount of sense to me though is that Rick let his guard down and kind of let the Doctor regenerate. While I wouldn't go so far as to call it character assassination, Rick evidently showed in the fight he was at least aware of who the Doctor was. He referred to him by his species race at the beginning of the fight and shot him in both his hearts at the climax, proving that he KNOWS how the Doctor's species functions, yet he didn't immediately try to stop the regeneration. Not enough to make the fight bad but...easily the most nonsensical part about it.

//Best part of the fight was the narrative and sequence of the fight, which was a big reason why Courage and Scooby's fight was so good to me, though that one still did it a tad better. I like how Rick and the Doctor banter off each other, and I think they did both characters some decent justice. Voice acting was pretty good too, especially the Doctors.

//Now...Goku Vs Superman 3...

//Let's be real, we WERE warned that this was going to be controversial. There are a few reasons why I'm really annoyed, and surprisingly, it's not for the reasons you'd expect. ]

//This is not only the third time these two have fought on Death Battle, and the two have a pretty poor track history on the channel for their previous two episodes. The reason I'M frustrated personally isn't because of this.

//I love this season of DB especially, especially the last 7 or so fights, in fact, it might be my favorite season of the show EVER. But my biggest issue with the season and what I find really stupid about it is that, now with Goku and Superman, 4 of the fights so far have been DC characters, 4 of the fights have been Marvel characters, and 3 of those fights have been Marvel Vs DC.

//I REALLY just want them to do something else and stop wasting slots to characters they use CONSTANTLY.

//And also, in the second video they straight up, said that Goku’s ride or die on his potential, but Superman‘s power is limitless by default, so I think even with what's been happening with Goku and the new power he's unlocked, Superman will STILL stomp him.

//But...I have to admit...Aside from everything I've just listed, I'm not COMPLETELY opposed to the matchup.

//The biggest issue with Goku and Superman on Death Battle is that their episodes have not aged well, or sit on the throne of the most controversial and disliked episodes of all time.

//That being said, it’s been around a decade since their second match and both characters have made a lot more appearances, and Goku especially has a new peak with Super Saiyan Blue and Ultra Instinct.

//And what matters to me most is that they A) Present both Goku and Superman in a respectful way and really detail their capabilities, and B) Make it at least a decent fight that shows off their capabilities as best as they can. I know it's possible and that the series has come a long way, and to reiterate, the last few episodes, from Bill Vs Discord to Rick Vs Doctor have been the absolute peak of the series for me.

//They CAN do it. And I'm trusting them to knock this one out of the park and redeem both of these characters.

-Mod

[walkingstackofbooks]

DS9 2x25 Tribunal thoughts (I'm re-watching, so there may be future spoilers)

Aww, Miles is so worried about the station

"Would you PLEASE go on vacation." Kira's had it, I wonder how long he's been fussing around for? XD

"He's been driving me crazy all day." Sisko joining in XD

Aha, I love the little face poking up through the turbolift, it was obvious he was going to return once Sisko had said that but still, a classic joke XD

"PLEASE disembark the station." I just love this crew banter

Oooh, this random guy's a baddie, but I can't remember how

"You talked to me for half an hour!" "No, there must have been someone else in bed with us." This sounds like Miles is just making excuses, but honestly, my housemate also does this - he can have a whole conversation while sleeping without me realising he isn't awake!

Keiko just sitting there waiting for him to make it up to her XD

Silly laughter <3 Love it when these two are just cute.

"You're an engineer. Do something about it." XD

Gul Evek... Why do I know the name? (*googles* > Miles asked him for help with the vole infestation, he was the overseer of the Cardassian takeover of Dorvan V in Journey's End, AND he was the Cardassian on Volan III that Sisko and Dukat found arguing with the Maquis.)

Keiko's "MILES" is heartbreaking

"--remove your clothes--" this is so disturbing.

Oh, this is so awful to watch. They really went for it, huh.

"My name is Miles O'Brien." The way he says it til he's woozy, my heart, these Starflett-trained guys

Ugh, torture via teeth always makes me wince the most

"You were told he was not to be harmed." Interesting, why does she care?

"Damn it, don't lie to me! They're torturing him as we sit here." "It is standard procedure for the Cardassians to use torture in their interrogations. You are correct, Mrs O'Brien." Although this sounds like Odo being more blunt than is socially acceptable, Keiko clearly already knows what's up and him confirming it is caring about her and validating her worries

"You don't know how many times Miles spoke to me about this." This line actually shows so much about their relationship, we don't see Miles talking that vulnerably on screen, but he does off-screen with Keiko <3

"If that sounds like a threat, it is." Sisko is marvellous

"I AM an officer of the court." YES, Odo!

It's so terrifying, this helplessness of not being able to find out what's happening or how to stop it

Julian's so ready to fight for O'Brien <3 I love how he won't even entertain the idea Miles had something to do with the Maquis.

"No! Are you here to interrogate me, Constable?" Odo I know you're trying your best but this isn't what Miles needs right now!

"I'm no angel, but I try to live every day as the best human being I know how to be. I need my little girl to wake up in the morning and look up at me and see a man she can respect." oh Miles <3

"You flatter me, sir, you flatter me, but we want justice, not chaos in this court." I kind of love this little guy, like he's awful but he's just trying his best at his job he's very proud of and he's so close to retiring and he just wants the best for Cardassia like he's always been taught.

Odo trying so so hard. It's so satisfying when he DOES interrupt and get his point across, even if my soul shrivels up every time it is eventually dismissed.

Ooh, her teacher voice is coming out. "And you, sir, do not try the patience of the Cardassian people."

What is Julian doiiing?

Oh, he's just being a prop for the plot to be solved XD

It's taken me all episode to realise that yes, the Cardassians who are sitting there looking like children ARE children, because that's a very Cardassian move. And God, it's chilling

The end is here, all is (mostly) well, and Miles is STILL reluctant to holiday, unbelievable. (But not really)

Well that's sure an episode, isn't it 😅

[erisenyo]

What are five of your most favorite scenes you've ever written in your fics?

This was really hard to pick! Which was a nice way to realize I like so much of my own writing haha, and that so much of it was so fun to write. But I will go with, in no particular order...

The First Azula-Sokka Scene in Ch 11 of To Open Every Door to Night, To Meet Each Rising Sun

This scene was such a blast to write and was so cinematic in my mind, complete with super zooms and lighting effects and backing soundtrack. Trying not to spoil anything but I'm really proud of the way the tension rose across it and finally broke, and the way all the misdirection and revelations started to become clear. And fights are always really hard for me and I was really pleased with the way this one came out.

The Last Scene of To Be Named, To Be Known (To Be Loved)

I am really happy with how this last scene of the 5+1 turned out with all the callbacks and threads of earlier parts coming together. Zuko hearing all his titles in order again on his way to getting his new one, his people all around him, and then the ceremony itself was so soft and fluffy and warm to write and think about and I loved the mix of teasing and love the two of them manage to bring even to their own wedding ceremony.

The Sokka-Katara Conversation in Ch 4 of To Cleave These Roots We've Made

It was REALLY hard for me to pick a single scene from this one because honestly, I am so happy and proud of basically this whole thing and how it came together. But Sokka finally hitting his breaking point and dumping all the angst he's been bottling up and realizing his own feelings, and the way Katara alternately supports him and challenges him and prods him along in the conversation, was so fun and so cathartic to write. And I love how this huge fic-hinging moment was also so much about their sibling bond and the ways they step up for each other.

The Conversation at the NWT Gates in These Things Written

It was so hard to pick one scene from this fic, let alone from the series, but I am really proud of how Sokka and Zuko's conversation turned out here. I think I wrote it four or five different ways and I really like the end result. They finally achieve some understanding of each other and get some of their hurt into the open, and it was really important to me that both of their POVs carry equal weight and feel equally valid. It's easy to write S1 Zuko as just needing to realize he's on the bad side and then everything will be fine, but I really wanted to do justice to how valid Zuko's view of the world is to him from where he stands and given his experiences, and for that to come through even though the scene is from Sokka's POV, and I'm really pleased with how it turned out and then set up Zuko's journey in These Things Known.

The Opening of (With Wonder and Care) Reach for Far-Flung Dreams

I really love how the dialogue came together here! There are five people talking, sometimes on top of each other, bantering and telling jokes and interrupting and also setting up the story and what's going on, and it was a lot to juggle but I think it turned out really well. I was really pleased with how the comedic timing translated into writing, how distinct everyone's voice felt, and how all the interpersonal setup came through in the way people were interacting with and reacting to each other. It ended up just being really fun, which is exactly what I wanted before walloping Sokka with an emotional overload of being cared for haha

[waynes-multiverse]

Aww, glad you enjoyed the first part of this! I tried to capture him as best as I could. I definitely had too much fun with all the twists 😂🤍

(A hot tub in the back, huh? Wayne, stop giving me ideas for ESC one-shots. 🥵🫠)

Yesssss, girl! Please write that!!! 🥵🔥🫠

Ooh yep! You really picked up on aspects of Russell's personality that I felt inherently when I was watching (studying) him, but hadn't consciously put into words. 👌🏽

He's for sure a little enigma 😏 (and a little shit lol) I found it interesting when I read the books that he was described as reclusive, and even though he comes off as charming and quirky in the show, I still get the feeling he's hiding the biggest stuff underneath the surface... I really wanted to showcase that his behavior and words don't always match his feelings and thoughts 👀

It's also so interesting (and crazy) how little Russ and Colter know about each other now as men. There's got to be shades of who they were when they were younger, but it's bittersweet in a sense. And now they're both trying to suss each other out like lone wolves that are kinda sorta friends. 😂

Yesss!!! That's always something I wanted the show to address, so I had to weave it in there! 😂 And considering they grew up pretty isolated and only had each other, it made sense to me they would've had a pretty close relationship as children (kinda like Sam and Dean if they'd ever been ripped apart for 20+ years 🥲)

But naturally, they wouldn't trust one another fully after all this time. I had a lot of fun writing their suspicion mixed in with brotherly banter 🤓

Okay, this whole thing with the reader is fascinating. Because why does he have to go through all this trouble to find her if they've been a thing for 10...12...14...20-something years?! (Love how the number in Russell's "memory" just kept getting longer. 🤣🤣)

Russell giving vague estimates of numbers actually became a running gag lol I used it first in the prequel before sprinkling it in here too 😂😂

Not the "we were on a break" gif 🤣🤣 (But the topic of how broken up they really were comes up in the next part lmao)

I'm full of questions, but I know you have a brilliant master plan for all of this. I've noticed this about the most recent stories you've created, but you're so very good at writing these law enforcement/military men paired with heroines that share their world, almost the "same foxhole" type of deal. Except for that his heroine partners usually outrank him. 😏

Haha thanks!! I honestly think I get hung up too much on details and then it escalates into a monstrosity 😂

And you already now I love all things SVU, crime etc. A year ago, I then got super into spy/CIA novels and media (Homeland, The Americans etc.), so I've been dreaming to write something like this for ages and jumped on the chance with Russell's background 🤓

Lol yes they always outrank him, don't they? I might go with the "tough love" approach a little too much, but I always feel like the Beaus, Deans, Soldier Boys, and Russells of this world need that 😂🫶

Also something about a little submission in a strong guy is a turn-on... 🫠

I tend to go the opposite route, partly because I'm interested in the dynamic between these kinds of men and a "civilian," but also because I don't think I'd be able to do the "same foxhole" trope justice. So that's something I really admire about you as a writer. 💜

Oh, I know! It's actually why I love your stories so much because you go the opposite route of me and I get a different experience. I usually struggle more with the "civilian" characters 😂 For fluffier fics, I go more civilian as well, but I clearly had an agenda for this one lmao

The push and pull banter between Colter and Russ in this chapter was also so fun to read lol. I could literally quote every moment because it was all so well-written and priceless. And it just kept building up the mystery of the reader and why Russell is doing all of this, right up until that awesome cliffhanger!!

Aww, thanks! That means a lot 🥰 I had so much fun writing those two. At some points, they even gave me Sam & Dean vibes 🥲❤️

Thanks so much for that sweet comment, Alex!!! 🤍

Btw, I'm so excited to read the last parts of ATW and the ESC one shots!! I so wanted to read them before the new year, thinking a week-long stay with baby's grandparents would get me some Mommy time, but... family. My husband actually sent me this after we left and I still feel it deeply 😂👇

The Exit Strategy – Part 1

Summary: Russell is ready to hang it all up and retire, open up a brewery, and enjoy the rest of his civilian life. However, there's one important thing missing before he can take the big plunge. Luckily, he knows just the right person to help him find it.

Pairing: Russell Shaw x Female!Reader

Warnings: +18, language, mystery, a tinge of angst, humor & brotherly banter, one tiny surprise 🤓

Word Count: 5.8k

A/N: Happy holidays, guys! Enjoy 🎄❤️

Main Masterlist || Series Masterlist || Tag List

Part 1: This Is Not a Pipe

The heavy truck door slammed shut behind him as Russell slid into the passenger seat with an exhaustive sigh. Colter’s big pickup was parked right next to his beautiful Chevelle in that same old motel parking lot in Virginia.

Russell hadn’t moved – yet. Well, sort of. He’d been away on assignment in some frosty region for a couple of weeks. He wasn’t allowed to say where exactly he’d been, and he knew better than to put it into writing, so let’s just agree he was at the North Pole looking for Santa Claus.

He could’ve ended up anywhere he wanted once he touched ground in the States again, but a very appreciated phone call from a former colleague made the decision for him. Besides, Russell knew this particular motel well. The coffee was more than decent and got the job done, the owner and employees were nice, comforting, and, most of all, trustworthy, and there were always fresh towels.

“Extra fluffy for you, Mr. Russell,” Rosa, the maid, would say every morning with the brightest smile.

Oh, and they had a hot tub in the back…

“Thanks for coming, man,” Russell extended his greeting without glancing at his younger brother once. He could feel Colter’s scrutinizing eyes on him, though, drilling for answers. Granted, his request had been rather unusual, so Russell understood where his younger brother’s ever-frozen furrowed brow stemmed from.

Providing answers didn’t come easy for the older Shaw, however. In fact, it had always been sort of a problem for him – even in the past. Especially in the past. Russell never lied, but he did omit things. Important things. On purpose.

“Yeah, uh, sure,” Colter replied with a polite smile as he started the car and rolled out of the lot.

Ah, yes, politeness…

That was what they were at, although it was progressively improving. It was only the third time the brothers were seeing each other since they had reconnected. And while the last two encounters had given the Shaws some well-needed time to talk things out and build trust, Colter was still naturally wary of his estranged sibling. As was Russell.

“So, what’s this about? You were pretty vague on the phone. You in trouble?”

That finally caught Russell’s full attention. He quickly shook his head, causing his hair to fall into his face. “What? No! No… No trouble,” he swiftly assuaged his brother with a dismissive hand gesture and a lighthearted chuckle. “Just need your help tracking down an old friend of mine, is all.”

Colter quirked an eyebrow at that. “Another Army buddy of yours?”

“Uh, something like that, yeah,” Russell replied rather mysteriously and didn’t even try to conceal the fact that he was hiding something more behind his ambiguous answer. But Colter only intensified his stare at him and wouldn’t let go that easily. Russell knew that. After all, they were related.

Persistence was a Shaw family trait. Another survival skill, if you will.

But this time, Russell wasn’t hiding a big government secret (or maybe he was). No lives depended on this particular mission (or so he thought). He wasn’t protecting a client, a company, or even his dubious employer (but someone else). He wasn’t choked by an NDA or about to save someone in grave danger (as far as he knew).

No, if anything, it was the fact that Russell didn’t know how much he could or should share with his brother. They were related, yes. But, technically, they hadn’t seen each other in decades, so they weren’t just considered merely estranged but strangers. Russell had always been aware of that fact, and Colter was beginning to catch on.

Especially during this mission.

See, once upon a time, the two hadn’t been just brothers. After moving to the cabin, societal contacts became scarce for the siblings. All they had was them. They were friends. Best friends. Always competitive, but friends nonetheless.

How much did they really know about each other now, though? How much of the old was still there?

“So, who are we looking for? What’s the guy’s name?” Colter asked, suddenly eager as he jumped into gear. He had always been restless, even as a kid, which fondly reminded Russell of their childhood.

But how much was he still the Russell that Colter once knew?

Well, Russell, on the other hand, remained calm and ruffled a casual hand through his beard. “Well, she’s, uh–”

Eyebrow cocked, Colter snapped his head to the passenger seat where his brother started to squirm. “Oh… Oh, so it’s a she,” he emphasized with a small grin. “Now I think I get it.”

There it is. I knew it, Russell thought with an internal sigh. In order for this mission to work, he knew he had to reveal some things. Private things. Things about himself and his life. Going in, Russell knew he couldn’t ask Colter for help without giving him something.

Their father had loved tests (and so did you – but that’s another story…). Russell always thought it had been the professor in him. So, Russell saw this as a test as well.

Could he trust Colter? And more pressingly, considering some long held accusations of murder, did Colter trust him?

A clear of Russell’s throat cut right through Colter’s chuckle. And then, the eldest tried his best to give no reaction at all. “Yes, she’s a… woman, but hold your horses. It’s not what you think, okay?” Colter lifted his eyebrow once more, causing Russell to heave another exhaustive sigh. “Fine, alright? It’s exactly what you think.”

Well, close enough, Russell thought. He knew Colter couldn’t even possibly imagine the reality in his wildest dreams.

Usually, Russell was an expert in avoiding uncomfortable questions. He was a pro at ditching answers and keeping secrets, even under torture and duress. However, there was just something entirely unique about dodging questions posed by little brothers.

And Russell saw it as a perfect bonding opportunity. He wanted to fill the chasm between them that their father’s death had caused – once and for all. But he couldn’t lie and say he wasn’t walking around on eggshells most of the time – something that reminded him of you again.

Learning from past mistakes, Russell wanted Colter to experience the fun side of him. The one that brewed his own beer, cared too much about his car, and had weird tastes in food. He chose to leave out the rest – the dark stuff and the very best stuff, too.

After all, Russell was good at omitting things.

Colter chuckled triumphantly. “Does this mean you’re finally giving up on Reenie?”

Amused, Russell let out a snort. “Ha! You wish… First things first, alright? Let’s just see how this thing pans out. It’s kind of a long shot. You know that exit plan I told you about?”

“Yeah, you wanna open your own brewery, right?”

“Yeah, well, let’s just say in an ideal world this, uh, woman would be part of that exit,” Russell said and sounded purposely casual as if he didn’t care the mission was successful or not in the end, omitting yet another thing – he did care.

He cared a fucking lot.

“Really? Okay.” Colter scratched his jaw and gave his words some thought. Then he offered a small, yet kind, smile. Honestly, Russell didn’t know what he had expected. “But, you know, if you want me to find the future Mrs. Shaw, I’m gonna need more information to go on. A name, last address, or a-, uh, a picture, maybe?”

“Well, name’s not gonna help you much in this case.” Your first name might’ve been shareable intel, but your last name was of the highest classification. “Her last address that I know of was in Berlin. And while I do have one photo of her, it’s not meant for your eyes, brother,” Russell said with a firmly territorial look that still carried a mischievous twinkle, revealing the exact nature of the photograph to be indeed inappropriate.

Russell had one naughty photo, yes. But he had a whole giant box of others, too.

Colter’s eyebrows met above his nose as he licked his lips. Customarily, people gave him more details when they needed him to find someone. But then again, those people usually weren’t his brother. “Do you know anything about this woman? How long have you two dated?”

“Uhm… not that long,” Russell supplied with a clear of his throat before mumbling the rest of his answer, hoping his beard would swallow most of his words. “Ten years. Give or take…”

What is time anyway if nothing but a concept, right?

Colter blinked at him and almost steered the vehicle off-road before gripping the wheel a little tighter. “I’m sorry… Did you just say ten years?”

“Well, might be more like twelve,” he admitted finally. “Well, anyways, saw her last three years ago.”

“Wow, okay, uhm…” Colter became quiet for a moment, speechless probably, the tiny bits of information running on a loop through his mind. He figured his brother still had lived a life while they hadn’t been speaking. Of course he had. He just never thought about what that life might have entailed, aside from classified military operations. “So, you’ve dated a woman for twelve years…”

“Fourteen.”

“…haven’t seen her in three, and know basically nothing about her?”

Russell snorted a laugh. “Yeah, I know. Ridiculous… Not even sure the name she did give me was her real one,” he said. It was a joke. He did know the name. He knew everything there was to know about you. So, maybe he did lie – sometimes. “But it’s the job, you know? It’s-, uh, it’s complicated.”

That part was true. Truer than he could ever possibly describe in words.

“I guess so…” Colter sighed, and Russell could hear the growing frustration. “So, she does what you do?”

Russell nodded. “In a way, yeah…” And Colter knew what that answer meant – he couldn’t say more. Again. “But don’t worry. We won’t have to turn over every stone on the face of this planet. I have a general idea of where she lives these days,” Russell provided. “One of my, uh, associates was working a job with her not that long ago. That’s how I found out she’s back in the States.”

Colter nodded in acceptance, knowing it was no use to try and prod more answers out of his brother. “Alright. Guess that’s something. So, where are we headed to?”

Russell then flashed him a grin with newfound determination sparkling in his green eyes. “Falls Church.”

The short drive had remained quiet for the most part. Colter refrained from asking more questions, knowing he wouldn’t be able to get straight answers out of his older brother in one form or the other. To accentuate Colter’s assumption of receiving non-answers, Russell mostly stared out the window with an intensity that had Colter believe his brother was counting trees when, in fact, Russell was pondering what he would, could, or should tell Colter.

Of course, Colter could also always ask more questions about their elusive father, but he didn’t do that either. Sure, one could say he was curious. More than that even.

What did Russell really know about his death? Their mother? Their family? Their work?

Another time, he kept telling himself throughout whenever he stole glances at his long-lost sibling. It was too soon. What was the point when Russell was so clearly reluctant to share anything at all?

Thus, there was nothing left but silence among peaceful woods and dense foliage till Colter pulled his truck over curbside in the idyllic town center of Falls Church.

Patiently, he waited a moment for Russell to open the floor and tell them their next logical steps. He tapped his fingers against the steering wheel, blew raspberries, clicked his tongue, and waited and waited and waited…

Nothing.

If Colter didn’t know any better, he would’ve thought someone carved a lifeless wax statue out of his brother and planted it on his passenger seat. Russell’s entire body stood motionless, only a set of green eyes flickered alive every once in a while and swayed out the windshield in search of something – or someone.

“So, what’s the plan here?” Colter asked with a clear of his throat. “You just wanna stay here and wait till she accidentally runs across the street?” It was meant as a joke, but to Colter’s dismay, Russell remained dead serious.

“That’s exactly what we’re doing,” the older Shaw confirmed and squinted his eyes at the busy street. Again, he had omitted a few things. In his mind, Colter didn’t need to know why Russell knew to be in front of the post office at exactly 15:03 (UTC–4) on a Tuesday.

Colter snorted a laugh. “What? C’mon, that can’t be the plan… Do you know how many people live in Falls Church? Or in the general Washington metropolitan area? We could be here for days. Weeks even…” The younger Shaw then switched fully into work mode, grabbing his phone from the Bluetooth car mount. “We’re never gonna find her like this. You got a phone number, maybe?” But before Russell could answer, Colter replied himself, shaking his head at his own silliness. “What am I even asking? Of course you don’t.”

Russell only smirked at that. Restless, he thought again.

“What about an old one? Maybe even that would help. I could call Bobby, Reenie… You got anything? Nothing?” But the younger Shaw’s questions apparently stumbled upon deaf ears. “Russell? Russ? Are you even listening to me? I’m trying to help you here. You could at least–”

“Found her!”

Russell almost jumped out of the car as his voice rang with sheer excitement. His heart was beating a mile a minute when his emerald eyes landed on the target. It felt like the very first time all over again.

Granted, the first meeting didn’t go so smoothly – there had definitely been some bumps (all on his part). Then again, he expected this next meeting to go a little roughly too (again, all on him).

“Wait, what?!”

Russell downright beamed. “Told you this would work.”

Colter only scoffed under his breath, the familiar competitiveness crawling back to the surface. “Yeah, well, beginner’s luck, okay?”

One boot had nearly touched asphalt before Russell remembered this wasn’t a situation that required him to storm in guns a-blazing – not even covert. Gentle hands, he reminded himself and swiftly closed the car door again, falling back into his seat. His lungs deflated.

Colter, on the other hand, was more confused than ever. “What-, uh, what are you doing?” Half-amused, his brow furrowed a bit more. “If you’ve found her, go talk to her. Where is she? Who is it?”

Curiosity could only be contained for so long. Colter wanted to know who had been a part of his brother’s life for almost as long as he had. He felt this was a key piece of information that would cause the first domino to fall. And then, revelation after revelation about Russell’s past would unravel.

Basically, Colter was waiting for the big epiphany. No pressure.

Russell vehemently shook his head. “Can’t. At least not like this. I need more intel first. You need to find out her name, and then we need your guy Bobby to get onto this.”

And yet again, guess what? Yes, Russell was, indeed, omitting things.

“Me? Why me?” Colter blinked at him. Surprise, surprise…

“‘Cause, obviously, she’d recognize me,” Russell pointed out. Again, omission. Like he had explained earlier, it was a real problem…

Colter exhaled a deep sigh. “Okay, and I’m guessing you’re still not gonna tell me why we’re doing all of this, right?”

“Nope.”

“Yup, thought so.” Still not convinced, Colter narrowed his eyes at his clearly paranoid brother. Maybe paranoia ran in the family. Not to point fingers – he recognized it in himself, too. “Do we really need to go through all that trouble? I mean, you’ve known that woman for, what, fourteen years, you said? Isn’t that a little extreme… even for you?”

Fifteen, Russell corrected in his mind. Close to sixteen. Nineteen max.

“Just trust me, okay? It’s necessary,” Russell reassured, knowing those words bore some weight. Hurriedly (he was getting antsy – this was a time-sensitive issue), he pointed a finger out the window to the sidewalk across the street. “You see that woman walking into the post office? That’s her.”

“What, the brunette in the flowery dress with the golden cross necklace? That’s her?”

“Yup.”

“Wow, okay…” Surprised didn’t come close to explain how Colter felt. He had expected… different. His brow almost met his hairline, but he still tried his best to conceal his wonder – to no avail.

Suspiciously, Russell leaned back in his seat and assessed his brother’s demeanor with a small glare. “What?”

“Nothing.” Colter threw his hands up in surrender, swallowing. “Just… She doesn’t really seem like your type.”

Amused, Russell stifled a chuckle. “And what exactly do you think is my type, little brother?”

“I don’t know…”

“What, you think some nice Christian girl is too good for me?” Russell deadpanned. Admittedly, he enjoyed bantering with his little brother. It reminded him of what he had missed out on for years. This was what he had wanted and longed for since he had left the family at eighteen.

Well, “left” wasn’t really the right word for it now, was it? It implied a voluntary act, and his leaving wasn’t so voluntary.

“That is exactly what I’m saying,” Colter countered, laughing. “It’s just, you know… dental hygienist in a motel hot tub springs to mind.”

“Okay, alright… You done?” Russell huffed, shaking his head. He refrained from showing his honest amusement. “You’re gonna follow her in or not?”

“Alright, I’ll go,” Colter finally agreed somewhat enthusiastically and jumped out of the car, swiftly following the woman inside. After all, he was curiouser and curiouser…

Russell kept his eyes trained on his younger brother until Colter vanished inside the post office. Now, it was out of his hands, only hoping his little brother wouldn’t blow it. Chances were high he would. Not that Russell didn’t have some faith.

He just had more faith in you.

Colter spotted you picking up mail from a PO box and decided on a plan of action in a matter of seconds. After all, he was quick thinking on his feet and the best at what he did. That’s why he was here. That’s why Russell had picked him for the job, right?

As you made your way back to the door, Colter eloquently intercepted you without disturbing the crowd. Another thing he had learned from his father.

He bumped straight into your shoulder and almost tackled you to the ground by the sheer force of his sneak attack. The mail in your hands scattered to the tiled floor like autumn leaves, and as Colter bent down to help you pick it up, he took a peek at your name on a postcard.

“Oh my God, would you look at that… I’m so sorry, Miss–,” the younger Shaw apologized clumsily, “Nora Laurier.” He uttered your name with a suave smile as he handed you back your pile of letters. The flirt in his eyes, however, he only added for Russell as revenge for Reenie. “Beautiful name.”

Your hands lingered on the letters between you for a moment as you took in his features and tall stature. It left you with a strange haunting of familiarity.

“Thank you,” you finally said with a hint of a smile as he let go of the mail. “Be more careful next time.”

“I will. Sorry again.” Colter chuckled with blushed cheeks and watched you leave. He waited till you had passed the row of windows before exiting himself.

He was a good actor, too.

Antsy, Russell almost bit his lip bloody as he stared the post office down till a migraine began to form. God, what he wouldn’t pay for some X-ray vision and super-hearing. He could be downright Superman with that – and the hero always got the girl.

His heart dithered anew with longing as you walked out – it took his breath away. You always did that, and you did it well. But then, you stopped short for a mere second, which wouldn’t have caused a civilian to raise a single brow. But Russell did.

“Shit…” he mumbled in the silence of the truck and lowered himself down to the dashboard. He watched you reach for your phone in your purse and call someone as you headed down the street.

Eventually, you stopped three houses east and finished your call in the shade of a tree next to a busy (and noisy) bus station. Russell caught your eyes drifting back to the doors of the post office, though, just as his little brother walked out and jogged towards the car.

“Shit, shit, shit!” Russell ducked even further down, hitting his head in several places. “What did that knucklehead do?”

The driver’s door opened as Colter casually slipped inside. “Got a name,” he announced victoriously. Part of his happiness emanated from gathering yet another puzzle piece of his mysterious brother – meeting you. “She goes by Nora Laurier now… And she seems nice. Way too nice for you, actually…” As he drifted off, his eyes searched for the elder one before finding him almost kissing the floor mat. “Russ, uh… What-, uh, what are you doing down there?”

“What the hell did you do?” Russell’s tone was both snappy and frustrated.

“Whoa, what d’you mean what did I do?” Colter waved off defensively. “I did what you told me to do!”

“She made you!”

“She did not make me,” Colter brushed off with a laugh, quite confident of his own skill set. They’d had the same teacher. He would know if you had suspected anything.

“Then why did she wait and look after you, huh?” Russell pointed out in annoyance.

Colter’s lips itched to break a smile. He couldn’t help it. It was the perfect opportunity to teach his flirt of a brother a well-needed lesson. “Well, maybe I caught her eye… piqued her interest, you know?”

Russell cocked a brow from below, his stare lethal. “Did you flirt with her?”

Colter hesitated for a moment. Mostly for dramatic effect. “I-, uh… You told me to get her name. ‘Sides, I told you Reenie was off limits.”

“Oh, so this is about revenge? Very mature.” Russell frowned. “She still there?”

“Where?” Colter stretched himself a bit as he looked out the windshield.

“Tree. Bus station.”

An amused smile formed on Colter’s lips as he spotted you. “Oh, yeah. I see her. I don’t think she suspects anything. She’s not even loo-… No, uh, wait… Yup.”

“What?” Russell’s brows drew together as he rose a little from his crouched position.

“Yeah, she’s definitely looking over here.”

“Well, stop looking down,” Russell hissed through gritted teeth. After a deep breath, he spoke in a calmer, more advising tone, “Pretend I’m not here.”

“Trying to, trust me… Should I wave at her? Smile?”

“Are you nuts?! Just look ahead. Pretend you’re getting a phone call.”

Colter did as he was told and held his phone to his ear. “She’s still looking,” he informed with a pressed smile, barely moving his mouth when he spoke.

“Okay, what’s she doing now?”

“There’s a-, uh, there’s a car coming and pulling over by the bus station. Dark gray Audi A6. Virginia Plates. Yankee-Papa-Charlie-5824,” Colter said as Russell hauled a pen from his pocket and began to jot down the plate numbers on his left palm.

“Copy that.”

He’d memorize them anyway, but one could never be too safe. He could get a concussion in the next hour or so (most likely because of you), and then what?

“Okay, she’s getting in,” Colter narrated. “Driver’s in his late-thirties. Male. Glasses. Medium height. Medium build… I think you could take him,” he added with a teasing grin.

“Shut up,” Russell retorted. “Are they gone now?”

“Pulling away from the curb and… Yep, they’re gone. Headed south down the road,” Colter affirmed.

“Alright.” Russell popped back into his seat with a sigh and some sore muscles. He had been sure he’d heard a few bones crack while he’d been cowering down there. He might be finally getting too old for these missions. But that was part of the reason why he was here in the first place – retirement was calling. And Russell wanted to fill the chair next to him on the porch.

“You good?” Colter checked and choked the small laugh that wanted to escape upon the ruffled sight of his older brother.

“Yeah, go ahead and follow them. Just keep a low profile,” Russell instructed. “On our way, you might wanna call your op analyst, too. See what he can find out.”

“Alright,” Colter agreed somewhat reluctantly but still tailed the sedan. “You sure this is a good idea?”

“What d’you mean?” Russell said mindlessly, keeping his eyes focused on the target vehicle.

“Us… stalking your ex-girlfriend?” Colter noted with a cocked brow. “And her potentially new boyfriend?”

Russell only laughed at that. “We’re good. Trust me.”

Admittedly, though, a small part of him wondered (and worried) if this was all real. Maybe Nora Laurier wasn’t your real name, but it might be your actual new one – one you’d adopted as a safety precaution after you’d left it all behind. Maybe you had finally done it and retired, found a perfectly normal guy, and settled down – just without him.

Or:

Maybe you were still in the game, after all.

Russell was hoping it was the latter. Otherwise, he could probably expect a hefty restraining order in his future, but he wasn’t about to tell Colter that. Not until he knew for sure.

The Audi parked in front of an organic grocery store a few blocks down. Colter chose a spot across the parking lot, keeping a reasonable distance with the perfect view. Russell watched as you and Unnamed Man #1 sauntered into the store, an arm slung tightly around your waist and a smile on your face.

While on the phone with Bobby, Colter could tell that the sight of you in another man’s arms stung. “Okay, uh, thanks, Bobby.”

“What’d he say?” Russell fired as soon as Colter had removed the phone even just an inch from his ear.

“Uh, well, there’s some bad news,” Colter revealed hesitantly and licked his lips, not knowing how he was supposed to break his brother’s heart. “Bobby ran the plate number through the DMV. It’s registered to an Aiden Laurier.”

“Laurier?” Undeniably, Russell’s heart flinched at the connection. “Maybe a brother. Cousin…”

Or a colleague, Russell’s mind stubbornly added.

Colter bit his lower lip hard before he spoke, “They’ve been married for two years. I’m sorry, Russ.”

A hand comfortingly patted Russell’s shoulder. A part of him wanted to scream heavenward, but something else inside was gnawing on him.

He clicked his tongue. “No… No.” Sure, one could argue that denial was always the first step of grief. “No. No way she married sweater-vest John Mulaney over there.”

“I’m pretty sure she did. Bobby sent me the marriage certificate,” Colter countered and showed him the screenshot on his phone.

Russell glanced at it for a short second, not even bothering to waste more time on fake news. He shook his head. He knew better.

“Nah. I’m not buying it. You need to go in there and tell me what you see.” He sealed his words with an encouraging pat on the shoulder.

Colter exhaled deeply. “Russ, I-, uh, I think you need to let this go, man. You’re starting to… Never mind.”

“No. Go ahead. Say it,” Russell prompted with some thunder in his voice. “I’m reminding you of Dad, don’t I?”

Colter only twitched his shoulders. “I mean, yeah. A little.”

Russell’s head bobbed in thought before he met his little brother’s eyes. “You really don’t see it?”

“See what?”

“The post office, the road crew over there, the-, the fake documents?”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“C’mon… Just think about everything Dad taught us, huh?”

Was Colter really not getting it? Russell found that quite hard to believe. He had known his little brother to be as sharp as a whip. While Russell didn’t always have the nicest things to say about their father, he could admit the old man had prepared them well for life. Well, one life at least. This one.

The nomad life, the odd jobs that required them to have a particular set of skills like Liam Neeson.

Colter shook his head. “I have no clue what you’re talking about, Russell.”

Russell let out a sigh and leaned back in his seat. “Alright, if you don’t see it, you don’t see it.” A smirk twitched in the corners of his lips. “It’s your funeral, brother…”

With narrowed eyes, Colter pursed his lips. “Alright, just tell me one thing, okay?”

“You know I can’t tell you anything,” Russell reiterated and brushed his beard.

“I know. I know… It’s not that kinda question,” the younger Shaw reassured.

“Go ahead,” Russell relented and curiously looked at his brother.

Within a second, Russell could think of a million questions Colter might want to ask him, but this hadn’t been one of them:

“In the past three years, how many times have you thought about her? And I don’t just mean ‘crossed your mind’ every couple of months. I mean ‘seriously thought’ about her?”

“Hmm.” Russell pondered for a moment before replying, “Every damn day.”

It wasn’t a lie, no omission of anything, and Colter could tell. You were the first thought that popped into Russell’s still groggy mind when he woke up and the last one every night that fluttered across his weary eyelids. Obviously, he didn’t give Colter the soppy answer, though.

“Fine. I’ll go,” Colter softened his stance. “You owe me,” he added with a pointed finger before setting foot outside the car.

“I do owe you. Anything you want, brother,” Russell agreed with a broad grin. “How about we start with a full case of my homebrew, huh?”

Colter danced gracefully through the aisles, spying through canned goods and boxes of cereal. He watched you carefully select fruit with your husband, move through the dairy talking about “organic” and “locally sourced” till you landed on a few choices of toothpaste and finally strolled to the cash register.

Everything seemed boringly normal and ordinary. You chatted with the cashier. They handed you a coupon, which you slipped into your purse. Your husband paid with his credit card (which carried the same name matching the DMV records), and both of you left the store with two paper bags in your arms.

Once through the sliding glass doors, you stopped and turned to your husband. “Darn, honey, I think we forgot the milk.”

“You want me to grab it?”

“No, I’ll do it.”

“Okay, I’ll wait by the car and load the rest of the groceries.”

Now, Colter found that odd. He had watched you spent at least five minutes in the dairy aisle. How could you forget something as basic as milk?

As you hushed inside, your husband sauntered back to the car, and Colter followed you back in. You passed right by the dairy and, with a few looks that resembled a scan of your surroundings, you slipped past the door that led to the restrooms.

Waiting a beat, Colter went in after you. But you were long gone – just not to the restroom. An ‘Employee Only’ door that led to a dumpster alley outside was just falling shut.

Granted, Colter had a bad feeling about this. It was the same feeling he always got shortly before walking into a trap. In his defense, though, you were not a seven-foot-tall, 300-pound kind of guy. He wasn’t about to be ambushed by Shaquille O’Neal, which is probably why Colter didn’t find it necessary to pull his gun.

In hindsight, he should have.

The narrow alley was quiet and empty, except for some trash littering the ground around the dumpsters. It was closed-off, too, wedged between buildings with no view to the parking lot or nearby streets.

And then, something hit him. Or better yet: You hit him. With an elbow to the face and a stiff, flat palm to his throat, Colter stumbled forward before you gave him the final blow and knocked him off balance, tackling him to the ground.

Pressing his cheek into the rough and unforgiving surface of the asphalt, you jumped on him and restrained his arms tightly behind his back. While he squirmed to get out of your hold, he didn’t use as much brutal force as you expected he would.

“Shit,” he muttered below you, his voice muffled by the gravel. A light chuckle escaped him. “Okay, you got me.”

“Sounds about right,” you agreed with a smirk and tightened your grip on his arm.

Then, Colter heard a gun click above him. Hoping to see his brother, he looked up – only to find your husband with a weapon in hand as he stared down the barrel.

“Ah, I think you broke my nose,” the younger Shaw mumbled with a groan.

“Good. You’ve been following me. Why?” you prompted sternly. “Who are you? Who are you working for? Jafari? Mueller?”

“Listen, I-I think you’ve got the wrong idea. I’m not who you think I am,” Colter argued with a strained voice. What the hell had Russell gotten him into? “This is just a big misunderstanding.”

“Uh-huh.” You could only roll your eyes at that. How many times had you heard that line before?

“Let’s hood him. Get him to the Market,” your partner suggested. “We’ll see if he talks then.”

“No, really,” Colter insisted, growing a bit more uneasy. He had no idea what the Market was, but it didn’t sound pleasant. “You know my brother.”

“Who’s your brother?” With your elbow, you put more pressure on his back.

“Ow, alright…” Colter groaned once more as the pain intensified. “Looks kinda like me. Think two decades younger. He was in the Army, so probably didn’t have long hair and a beard. Uh, kind… green eyes? No? Doesn’t ring a bell?”

Colter watched your brow furrow in his periphery as he squinted upwards. He could see the gears starting to turn in your head. You just needed one final push to put all the puzzle pieces together.

“If it helps, my name is Colter. Colter Sh–”

“Shaw,” you shot like a missile. Your jaw plummeted to the ground, your heart springing right out with it. Your grip on the man caught between your thighs loosened, hearing Colter’s sigh of relief before you heard his voice.

“Hiya, sweetheart.”

Your head darted up, the man beneath you long forgotten. You swallowed as your eyes landed on an all too familiar face – even when it was covered by a bunch of hair that had never been there before. The heart-crushing smile was still the same as if it had been ripped straight from an old photograph you had of him.

“Russell?!”

Part 2: This Is a Russell Mission

Quite the entrance! Writing Russell reminded me somewhat of Plastic Hearts Dean (minus the addiction problems unless you count lying) because of all the wild overthinking 😂

If you enjoyed this story, then I'll gladly keep working on its prequel. Was a bit nervous to post this since I filled in some family history gaps myself 😅 I also dove into the books a little and added some things that kinda fit their "show" personalities.

Please let me know what you think and if you'd be interested in a young soldier!Russell series 😉🤍

TAGS:

Forevers: @alwaystiredandconfused @xlynnbbyx @lyarr24 @deans-spinster-witch @blackcherrywhiskey

@deansbbyx @foxyjwls007 @ladysparkles78 @roseblue373 @zepskies

@agalliasi @yvonneeeee @hobby27 @iamsapphine @globetrotter28

@mxltifxnd0m @lacilou @feyresqueen @suckitands33 @onlyangel-444

@syrma-sensei @perpetualabsurdity @deans-baby-momma @yoobusgoobus @jessjad

@hunter-or-the-hunted @k-slla @just-levyy @mrsjenniferwinchester @illicithallways

@muhahaha303 @ultimatecin73 @nancymcl @leigh70 @brightlilith

@nesnejwritings @samslvrgirl @xx-spooky-little-vampire-xx @fromcaintodean @barewithme02

@thebiggerbear @star-yawnznn

@deansimpalababy

[oasologist]

For the AA ask meme: 15, 21, 23, 32, 52, 74

15. Random headcanon you can share?

edgeworth, apollo, trucy, athena, bobby, myriam, horace, ray, sebastian, herlock, kazuma, and maria are all neurodivergent. i could divulge more on this later if you want.

21. Did you ever read fanfictions? Which one is your personal recommendation?

yeah, i have. that's honestly a really difficult decision. there's so many phenomenal fanfics that i would consider recommending. if we're gonna go with my BEST recommendation?? that would probably be Vacation All I Ever Wanted. i enjoyed reading that one quite a bit from what i can remember. Made of Honor is also really good (even though i don't really care much for juniper and athena.) i have other ones that i really want to say but then i wouldn't want to stop listing them.

23. Your BROTP?

easily apollo and athena, their antics are just SO CUTE!! i'm genuinely never gonna get over that one time in spirit of justice where apollo was freaking out cause of his fear of heights and athena asks him "do you need me to hold your hand?" AND HE IMMEDIATELY ACCEPTS IT. also athena constantly trying to get free food out of apollo is just sooo good. they're so silly, i love their banter so much.

32. Character you wish to see return?

i really wish lana would come back, or at the very least, for ema to even mention her. kay and sebby would be really cool to see being brought to the mainline games. i want franzy to return, but only as the prosecution. i need her to meet the rest of the waa. umm also i GUESS i'd like to see blackquill make a return.

52. Funniest moment?

hands down the funniest moment in all of ace attorney is when ryuu and iris were gossiping about barok IN HIS OWN OFFICE RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIS FACE. the specific moment that got me the most was iris' slowed down surprised sprite as ryuu went on about barok storing bodies in his casks.

74. Character you would hug?

either katherine or athena. i feel like they'd both be good at giving hugs. on second thought, athena might be a little too strong, so uh, katherine for sure. vera deserves a hug the most out of everyone in the cast so i would consider her too.

(Ace Attorney: 100Q Ask Meme)

[starlitangels]

I'm sorry. I'm a bit shy to come out of Anon but I just wanna say that I really love your fics! I always look forward them whenever I drive to work in the mornings and it helps me calm down from whatever anxiety I'll be facing for that day. My fav works of yours will always be the one with Damien and Angel and everything that involves Darling and Sam. Speaking of which, 'The Pack Run' was so wholesome! Milo and Asher banter while gossiping about Tanker/Sam. The Wolf cubs too!!! I love it!

Hey, no pressure at all! If you want to stay on Anon, by all means, go ahead! Do whatever makes you most comfortable!

Thank you so much! That means a lot to me to hear. It's also very sweet of you to tell me. I really appreciate it.

Aw! I'm glad you liked the one with Damien and Angel! I rewrote several large portions of it like 3 times because it kept feeling unsatisfactory to me but I'm glad the final product made someone happy!

Darlin' and Sam really snuck up on me. Like, when I first started listening to Redacted, I wouldn't have said their story was my favorite (or even in my top 5 because Asher, the Elemental Bois, and Avior kinda took the cake), yet I keep coming back to them time and again because I just love their dynamic so much.

All that to say, I'm glad I'm doing it enough justice that you're enjoying them so much!

Funny enough I got this ask while working on another Sam/Darlin' one-shot—*wink*wink*look forward to that being posted at some point in the near future because it's almost done and going in the queue *wink*wink*

The Pack Run was such a blast to write. I had such a good time. I tend to prefer wholesome and fluffy because it gets me through my days—but Milo and Asher gossiping was too tempting for me to resist adding in there. I think it's funny.

And honestly, you can't tell me there aren't wolf cubs in that pack. I know they're never mentioned but until Redacted himself tells me otherwise, there are young teenage wolf cubs goofing off in that pack. I have so many cousins at that age—they're practically a wolf pack in their own right—and it's a dynamic I get to include as a writer that's easier for me to explore because I'm not voice acting them lol

Thank you for telling me you loved it! I know I rambled a lot on this reply but I get excited and just go off XD

I really do appreciate you being so kind to me! Thank you and much love!