#and we just swap them out any time he has an accident

[ineffablehogwash]

Doodled my stinky big dumb idiot cat, Takeo

[tadc-harlequin-au]

God your designs are so fucking good bro, I'd love to know how the design process went

lmfao, I can give some insights

Caine's design was mostly an accident. In the scrapped initial intro animatic for this AU, he had a placeholder design until I could finalize him when I went to clean up the frames

which became this, then this, then...

He literally got designed as the animatic went on, the coat on shoulders was a subconscious approach because I blame One Piece for making me a coat-on-shoulders whore. His final coat design is mostly taken from my own oc lol

up to this point, I had no idea how he would've been colored until I did this shitpost

Pomni's is weird too

She was partially inspired by both the Circus breach crack idea, Pauline from my Unexpected Reunion AU, and Mystery!Pomni because I do love women (in suits)

so if Caine was designed overtime within an animatic, Pomni's design spanned fucking AUs-

Ragatha was literally just me thinking, "hm. what if. hear me out. maid. but tattered skirt cus puppet revolution time"

this is her VERY first appearance and it hasn't changed much since leave me alone let me enjoy women being gay

Now, Kingr is actually the closest ANY design in this AU would come to it's base inspiration Lies of P, because AUGH King of Puppets my beloved

He started as a boss design from the get go then reverse engineered to look more friendly, because by the time I was designing him, I was already incorporating the idea of Pomni having to fight bosses so she could free them from these insane forms of theirs

This idea was recycled from my other AU for fnaf btw, the Eternal Eclipse AU where Freddy has to free the other Glamrocks from their "Primal forms" by fighting them WITH THE POWER OF ROCK AND ROLLLLLLLLLL (which are GIGANTIC and INSANE, sound familiar yet?)

back to the rest, I actually didn't really know what I wanted for Jax, aside from a Cheshire Cat motif from Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland because love that mofo and Jax's constant smile reminds me of him

I guess that's why his initial design was so unnecessarily cluttered and so hard to draw, because all I knew was that I wanted it to be loose, flowy, bouncy and airy, like an actual cartoon. But, still respecting the laws of reality somewhat

and then I had to switch the outfit out, because at around this time, The Patriarch's design was finalized, and I didn't want people to start to think Jax was associated with him purely due to similar palettes. So I sneakily swapped it out with an explorer's outfit (since I was thinking of Jax as the team's scout), and tried to play it off as simply a "oh it was hard to draw"

He was even supposed to have goggles in the newer design, but I scrapped it because I'm repeating the same mistake of making him too cluttered again.

Z is a pretty straightforward one, although they diverged from the initial idea. My first thought was making them a brawler of sorts because they were initially going to be Pomni's training buddy, so I looked up "Victorian brawler" and yoinked the outfit I liked.

The concept of Z being the training dummy was then recycled to be Kingr's role instead because Kingr was more of a tank character than Z, and in turn, she became the weaponsmith

Each part of Z was also inspired by something that randomly came to mind when I was trying to wrack my brain with what parts should they have:

the hook peg is from Hiccup, the other peg is from A series of Unfortunate Events, the antler is a reference to Mystery!Zooble but combined with the Minecraft Warden's palette, spiked chokers were taken from my own sona's eel tongue. The flexible arms are very much Doc ock

Gangle... She was the hardest to design that my brain is blocking me from remembering the process because it was so traumatizing /j

I just know that like Caine, her design was also mostly an accident. Iirc, she wasn't meant to have cat ears/motif in the first place, but after I finished the mask with the <:3 face I went like "fuck it we ball" and went furry mode

I think she was also meant to have painted whiskers, and the only reason why she doesn't is I forgor 💀

There was no inspo for her outfit except maybe Disney Cinderella because I was only putting what worked and discarded what didn't (not recommended)

The double ribbon arms was literally just me thinking the ends are her little fingies, and her "feet" is just me wanting to make her ribbons look like a part of her dress and looking flowy because ew feet

anyways if you can't tell, there's a pattern here: recycle ideas, take inspo, look it up or fuck it we ball when all else fails lol

the lesson here is to not follow in my footsteps because I keep stepping on shit /lh

[pascalispretty]

the feeling is mutual

Sonny Carisi x F!Reader

Rating: Explicit

Word Count: 4.9k

Tags: pining, idiots in love, cowgirl sex, Sonny's praise kink, only one bed trope

Summary: You've had a crush on your colleague for years. You go to a work conference with him, and fate fucks with you by making sure you get a room with just the one bed.

A/N: Soooooooo I started working on this back in October 2022, at the request of the lovely @misscharlielulu. Life intervened, and I kinda got the writing yips, but when I saw that @storiesofsvu's bingo had an 'Only One Bed' square I was determined to finish it. Unbeta'd like whoa, so please be gentle! (ao3).

You should have been suspicious of Benson’s offer to send you to the conference from the beginning. It had been presented to you nicely enough - a long weekend in Boston, paid for by the department so you could attend the Conference on Crimes Against Women. It hadn’t taken much persuading to get you to agree to go, especially when you found out Carisi was also going. 

That was before the drive from hell. The two of you had left as soon as you finished work for the day, only to almost immediately hit nasty traffic. What should have been a four-hour journey had taken almost seven thanks to an accident just past the Connecticut state line. After swapping driver duties with Sonny somewhere outside of Hartford, you’d found your eyelids starting to get heavy, but had resolved to stay awake. It wasn’t fair to Carisi for you to sleep while he drove. 

You have no idea how long you’ve been dozing when a gentle nudge to your arm wakes you. 

“Hey, I think we’re finally here,” Sonny says as you rub your eyes. So much for not sleeping. You’re relieved to see that he’s pulling into the parking garage below the hotel, but it's short-lived.

“God, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to fall asleep.” You roll your neck, wincing at the crick that’s developed from resting your head on the window. 

“It’s fine, I figured you could use it. The Spellman case has us all working late.” He’s right; the case was drawing plenty of media attention, and you’d all been racking up plenty of OT trying to solve it. The two of you had spent part of the drive debating it, and whether there was a way to get the stupid, invasive podcast taken down. 

You both grab your bags and make your way to the elevator. Pressing the button for the lobby, you try and fail to suppress a yawn. 

“Sorry,” you apologise again. “It’s been a while since I’ve had a good night’s sleep.” 

“The feeling is mutual, don’t worry. I can’t even remember the last time I woke up and actually felt rested,” Carisi says lightly, giving you a soft, understanding smile. You try not to think too deeply about the way it makes your stomach twist - or, for that matter, how good he looks in his new camel coat.  

“Tell me about it,” you groan. The elevator spills the two of you out into a deserted lobby, and you do a double-take when you look out of the enormous windows at the front of the building. 

“Oh, yeah. It started snowing about an hour ago,” Sonny says, cutting himself off with a yawn.  Outside, the snow is coming down thick and fast, already sticking to the ground. You can just about see the glow of a few headlights, but beyond that, the world has turned to a soft dove grey. 

There’s a harried-looking woman behind the concierge desk; the Conference attracts cops from all over the country, you wouldn’t be surprised if the hotel was booked out by the various agencies and precincts. 

“Hi, we have two rooms booked for us. Should be under the name Benson?” Sonny asks the concierge, searching on his phone for the confirmation email Liv had forwarded to you both. The concierge types something on the computer sitting on her desk and frowns. 

“I got one room under that name. Any other name you might have used?” 

“No, Liv definitely said she booked them under her name,” you tell her, glancing at Sonny as he turns his phone to show the woman behind the desk. 

“Our Lieutenant definitely booked us two rooms, look,” Sonny tries, and the two of you exchange a frown. The concierge scans the email, then her own screen again. 

“I don’t know what to tell you. The system only has one booking under Benson. It’s the only room left in the hotel; we’re booked solid because of this conference.” You and Sonny exchange another look. 

“I mean - I don’t mind sharing if you don’t?” You tug your lower lip between your teeth, trying to think of another solution that doesn’t involve sharing a bedroom with the colleague you have a very inappropriate crush on. Sonny taps his fingers on the desk and looks again at the concierge as though he’s hoping she’ll be able to conjure another room out of nowhere. 

“I wouldn’t wanna make you uncomfortable.” He sounds so earnest, and you want to pinch his cheeks and tell him he could never, but instead you shrug. 

“It’s fine, you won’t. Unless you snore, or sleepwalk or something,” you tease, and he grins. 

“I’ve never had any complaints,” he says, turning back to the concierge. Is it your imagination, or is he blushing slightly? “Can we get the keys, please?” The woman looks relieved that the two of you have resolved the situation between yourselves, and seemingly can’t press the keycards into your hands fast enough. 

“You’re in 2342; take the elevator to the fourth floor and turn right.” The two of you thank her and pick your bags up again. 

“Should we say something to the Lieutenant?” You offer as the two of you make your way upstairs. “She might be getting charged for both rooms or something.” 

“Yeah, probably. Maybe the hotel thought she meant two beds, not two rooms?” Sonny runs a hand through his hair; the product’s grip on his greying locks has relaxed, leaving it looking soft and touchable. 

“Maybe,” you say distractedly, stopping in front of door 2342. “I think this is us.” You try the keycard and are relieved when the light on the lock turns green. 

“I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to get some sleep.” Carisi takes your bag as you push open the door, and you smile quickly at him over your shoulder. 

“Oh no, the feeling is definitely mutual. I feel like I could sleep for a week-” You abruptly cut yourself off when you turn the light on and get a glimpse of the room. It’s a perfectly nice room–if anything slightly nicer than what you had been expecting on the department’s dime. It’s decently sized, with large windows and a flatscreen on the wall. There’s even a comfy-looking overstuffed armchair by one of the windows. 

The only problem is that there’s only one bed. 

Your cheeks burn as you realise your mistake. You had assumed that the hotel had accidentally put you in one room with two beds, instead of two rooms with one bed each. 

“Oh shit, Carisi, I’m sorry-” You start, walking deeper into the room so he has space to enter behind you and see what the problem is. The door clicks closed behind him, and you swallow thickly. 

“Oh. Uh-” he rakes his hand through his hair again. “You take the room. I’ll find somewhere else.” He offers, but you’re already shaking your head. 

“Where? The concierge said they were full, and there’s no way you can get a decent room on this short notice.” You worry your bottom lip between your teeth again, trying to walk the fine line between sounding considerate and desperate. As much as the thought of sharing a bed with Carisi makes you panic, you don’t want to kick him out into the cold. 

“No, it’s fine. I can sleep in the car if I can’t find anywhere; I don’t wanna make you uncomfortable or anything.” It’s so characteristically sweet that you roll your eyes. Crossing over to the window, you pull the drapes aside just enough to see the snow still falling thick and fast outside. 

“You are not sleeping in your car in a blizzard, Carisi. It’s fine, I’ll sleep on the armchair.” You grab a pillow from the bed before he can argue and throw it towards the chair. “Crank the thermostat up and lend me a blanket from the bed, and I’ll be fine.”

“I’m not letting you sleep in a chair,” he says, though he does move over to the thermostat to change it. “I’ll take the chair.”

“You’re like seven feet tall, there’s no way you’re sleeping in the chair.” 

“I’m six foot even, and a night sleeping there won’t kill me. In the morning, I’ll look for a room in a different hotel or something.” You open your mouth to argue with him again, but he cuts you off. “You’re not changing my mind. I have three sisters, I know how to be stubborn.” 

“Fine. Better than you trying to drive around in this storm, as tired as you are.” You throw your hands up in exaggerated defeat, before starting to tug one of the sheets off the bed. Carisi moves to the other side of the bed to help you, stripping the top sheet off and tossing it onto the armchair. 

“You wanna use the bathroom first?” Your bags are still sitting by the door, and you pick up your overnight bag and set it on the bed. For a brief moment you panic as you start to unzip it; what pyjamas did you pack in your hurry this morning? You can’t remember if they’re relatively normal looking, or the grotty but oh-so-cosy ones you usually reserve for being ill or on your period. 

“Nah, you go ahead.” Out of the corner of your eye, you can see him shaking the sheet out to drape it over the armchair. Your hands finally close on your pyjamas, and you take them and your toiletry bag into the bathroom. The bathroom is, just like the room, nicer than you had expected it to be. The little soaps and shampoos are brands you actually recognise, and you’re delighted to see that your room has a shower and a tub. Maybe tomorrow you can have a nice, long soak and pretend this mortifying night never happened. 

It doesn’t take you long to throw your hair up in a messy bun and wash the remains of your makeup off your face. You strip quickly out of your work clothes, hesitating a moment before deciding to keep your bra on. Slipping on the grey tank top you’d brought as a pyjama top, you’re a little relieved that the pyjamas you’d grabbed at random from the drawer were plain and not embarrassingly old or cutesy. 

Your relief is short-lived. When you go to shake out the folded-up black leggings, you realise with dawning horror that they’re not your leggings at all. In your hurry to pack this morning, you’d grabbed a pair of pyjama shorts, black jersey with a little lacy trim. Your face burns flaming hot again as you stare at them. You have no other choice - your only other bottoms are work clothes, and a pair of jeans - but they show off more of your leg than you’re really comfortable with your colleague seeing. 

Cursing yourself for leaving packing until this morning you reluctantly slide the shorts on, trying to tug them down to cover a little more of your thighs. Clutching your clothes to your chest, you take a deep breath before stepping out of the bathroom. 

Carisi has been busy while you’ve been gone. He’s made a makeshift bed for himself on the armchair, and moved the bags away from the door. Your purse is sitting beside your weekend bag, and his own bag is open on the desk. He’s currently searching through it, and you can't help staring a little. His coat, jacket and tie are gone and he’s rolled his shirt sleeves up, exposing his forearms. You swallow thickly and drag your eyes away with difficulty. You need to grow up. 

The bathroom door closes behind you, catching Sonny’s attention. He looks up from whatever he’s searching for in his bag and does a double-take when he sees you. 

“Why are you wearing shorts during a blizzard?” He teases, unable to help the laugh that escapes him. “Did you leave packing til the last minute again?” Your cheeks are probably hot enough to counter whatever cold you might feel from the weather, and you glare at him. 

“Shut up. They were folded, I thought they were leggings.” You dump the clothes in your arms into your open bag and dig around for your phone charger. Sonny chuckles again and shakes his head. 

“You sure you’re gonna be warm enough? You can borrow my hoodie if you want.” You’re sorely tempted to take him up on the offer. The burgundy hoodie he’s holding out to you looks cosy, and it undoubtedly smells amazing, but you can’t. You need to get over this, whatever this is. 

“I’ll be okay.” With your phone charger in hand, you move your bags onto the floor by the bed and set about plugging your phone in to charge overnight. Sonny quietly excuses himself to the bathroom, and you take advantage of having the room to yourself to clamber into bed without showing any more of your legs. You almost groan once you settle down under the blankets; this bed is comfortable. It’s almost enough to make you glad that Sonny insisted on sleeping on the armchair instead of you. Almost. Once you’re suitably snuggled in, you unlock your phone and type out a quick message to Benson explaining the room situation. 

It doesn’t take Carisi long to return from the bathroom, and you let out an inelegant snort when you see him. 

“Why are you wearing shorts during a blizzard?” You parrot teasingly, raising an eyebrow at him. Sonny’s wearing a Fordham tee and a pair of cotton boxer shorts. He has the good grace to flush, and he shrugs. 

“It’s what I usually sleep in. I run warm.” 

“You can turn the thermostat down if it’s gonna be too warm?” You offer. “I feel like a dick taking the bed and making you too hot.” He flashes you that soft smile again. 

“You’re still just in shorts. Sure you don’t want my hoodie?” Carisi sets his folded clothes on the desk by his bag and waits for your answer. 

“No, I’ll be fine. Turn the thermostat down a few degrees.” The room isn’t even that cold at the moment, and you’re sure you won’t feel it if the temperature drops a little while you sleep. Sonny obliges, fiddling with the thermostat again before settling down onto his armchair bed. 

“Is it okay with you if I set an alarm for half nine?” The conference kicks off at eleven; an hour and a half should be plenty of time to shower and find some breakfast before you have to go downstairs. 

“Yeah sure,” Carisi says, his reply trailing off into a yawn. “G’night.” You flip the switch by the bed, plunging the room into darkness. 

“Night, Carisi.” 

You really try to fall asleep. The bed is so comfortable, and you’re so tired. You had fallen asleep in the car, sitting up with the radio blaring. You’re not sure why it evades you now. The minutes tick by, and you can hear Sonny moving around in the chair, trying to find a comfortable position. Perhaps it's guilt keeping you awake, you reason. 

You’re not sure how much time has passed when you break the silence. 

“Carisi?” You half-whisper, not wanting to wake him if he’s asleep. 

“Yeah?” He sounds tired, and the guilt overrides any embarrassment you might feel. 

“Will you just come and sleep here?” The question hangs in the air, and there’s a long pause while you wait for Sonny’s answer. “I don’t have cooties, Carisi, you can sleep next to me.” 

“No, I know, but-” He pauses, and you hear him shift again. “Are you sure you don’t mind?” 

“Positive.” It’s so stupid of you. You’ve had a crush on Carisi since you first laid eyes on him; inviting him to sleep beside you is an unnecessary form of self-torture. But you know you’ll feel even worse tomorrow having to look at the deep shadows under his eyes from a sleepless and uncomfortable night in the chair. 

You hear him sigh softly. A moment later, the mattress dips as he settles into the bed. Sonny’s keeping his distance, but you’re still painfully aware of his body in bed beside you. It’s unbearably intimate, and if it wouldn’t make you look like a lunatic after telling him how fine you were with him getting in, you’d take a pillow and go and sleep in the tub. 

Annoyed with yourself, you roll over onto your side, facing away from him. As idiotic as you might be, at least you won’t have to deal with the guilt of depriving him of a good night’s sleep. Beside you, his breathing is evening out. Maybe at least one of you will sleep well. 

******

You wake up feeling confused. You have no idea how you managed to fall asleep, or how long you’ve slept for. You’re also very preoccupied with the fact that you and Carisi appear to be spooning. 

Sonny’s arm is slung over your waist and his body is curled around yours from behind, holding you close. His nose is pressed against the hinge of your jaw, his breath warm on your neck.  Your bare legs are tangled together, and you’re so overwhelmed by the feel of so much of his skin against yours that it takes you a moment to realise what woke you. 

Carisi is hard. 

The line of his erection is pressing against the curve of your ass, and you nearly choke on your own tongue at the feeling. You take a deep breath and try to make sense of what’s happening. The two of you must have rolled together at some point in the night, and Sonny’s reaction must just be morning wood. 

Not that being in Sonny’s arms is unpleasant. He’s warm and solid against you, and he smells good; something clean and masculine and him. Closing your eyes again, you try to figure out what to do. Before you can settle on an idea, Sonny’s arm briefly tightens around your waist, only to suddenly slide off. 

“Oh fuck-” Carisi practically throws himself backwards, away from you. Sitting up in bed, you turn to look at him as he tries to extricate himself from the sheets and scramble out of bed. “Oh fuck, I’m so sorry.” You follow him, managing to grab his hand before he can move away from the side of the bed. 

“Carisi, it’s okay. It’s okay, you were asleep-” You start, kneeling on the bed in front of him and holding his hand tightly within your own. He’s shaking his head before you even get the first few words out, those beautiful blue eyes of his wide and distraught. 

“It’s not okay,” he says, refusing to look down at you. “I was practically molesting you in your sleep-”

“Stop, you weren’t molesting me,” you try to argue, but Carisi ignores you. 

“I’ll call the Lieutenant on my way back to Manhattan, let her know. God, this isn’t how I wanted you to find out. But you never have to see me again, I promise,” he rambles, trying to free his hand from your grasp. You don’t let go, giving it a squeeze instead. 

“Calm down, take a breath. How you wanted me to find out what?” You adjust your position on your knees, barely able to breathe yourself. Sonny’s palm is hot and damp against yours, and you can see his Adam’s apple bob as he swallows thickly. 

“Find out that I liked you.” Carisi manages eventually, still steadfastly refusing to look down at you. Your heart is hammering against your ribcage, and your blood roars so loudly in your ears that you’re not sure you heard him right. You know he likes you, you’ve been friends for years. But he’s saying it in a way that conveys so much more than that, and you suck in a breath. 

“You like me?” 

“I- yeah. And now I’ve ruined it, and made you uncomfortable-” he starts again, and you roll your eyes. You bring your free hand up to his cheek, and the gentle touch is what finally makes him meet your eyes. 

“Dominick. You haven’t made me uncomfortable. Really, you haven’t.” That finally silences him, your use of his real name catching his attention, though it doesn’t stop his eyes from searching for any hint to the contrary in your face. You take a deep breath, choosing your next words carefully. “And…and you haven’t ruined anything either.” 

Before you can talk yourself out of it, you lean up to kiss him. 

It’s not much more than a peck, a soft brush of your lips against his own ones. You pull back just a little, your noses almost brushing. 

“I’m okay,” you whisper. “You have no idea how much I enjoyed waking up in your arms.” There’s a silence so deep that you’d swear you should be able to hear the snow falling outside. Those lovely eyes of his bore into yours, sending your heart hammering even harder. After a long pause, his free hand comes up to cup your jaw with deliberate slowness, giving you time to move away. 

Sonny’s thumb sweeps gently over your cheek as he lowers his head and kisses you. His lips are soft and full against yours, testing at first and deepening the kiss when you slide your free arm around him to pull him closer. A quiet sound of contentment escapes your throat as Sonny dips his tongue into your mouth, finally letting go of your hand so he can grasp your waist. 

You can’t seem to get close enough to him, even with your chests pressed flush against one another. The kiss turns from careful to desperate as years of pent-up attraction are finally given an outlet.

It’s impossible to tell who moves first to lie down on the bed, whether you pull him down or he pushes, but you end up lying parallel to the headboard with Sonny on top of you. Your mind can barely reconcile that your longtime crush reciprocates your feelings, much less the warm weight of his body pressed against you. 

Wanting to feel more of him, you slip one of your hands beneath the hem of his t-shirt and run your fingertips over his back. He shivers at the delicate touch, a sensitivity you mentally file away for later. Your legs fall open, and you choke back a whine when you feel the hard line of his cock press against you once more. 

It’s so much. You want to feel him everywhere, to keep exploring him with your hands and mouth. 

“Can I?” You ask, grabbing the hem of his t-shirt and pulling gently. He follows your lead, letting you pull the shirt over his head and discard it onto the floor. He was telling the truth earlier; he does run warm, his bare skin hot to the touch as your hands roam his back and sides. 

One of Sonny’s hands drops down to hitch your leg over his hip, his large hand squeezing your thigh. 

“I love your legs,” he murmurs. The kisses have left you breathless, but you still whine when he stops. Your hands sink into his soft hair as he shifts to press kisses down the column of your throat. You don’t mean to pull his hair when he kisses a particularly sensitive spot, but when he groans against the delicate skin you take it as your cue to do it again. 

“Want you, Dominick,” you sigh against his forehead, rocking your hips to grind against him. You feel his breath catch in his throat, his own hips stutter against yours. There are too many layers of clothes between the two of you, and you do your best to wriggle out of your t-shirt without displacing Carisi. 

Like the gentleman that he is, he helps you out. His hands cover yours to take over, pulling the soft cotton over your head. Your hands sink back into his hair almost immediately.

“Why’d you wear a bra to sleep in?” He asks, a soft smile playing on his lips. It’s so infuriatingly handsome that you want to drag him back down for more kisses, but you know that won’t get you out of your clothes any faster.

“Didn’t want to risk you seeing my nipples through my shirt,” you explain breathily as he ducks down to kiss over the tops of your breasts while his hands work at the clasp. 

“Think I’m about to see a lot more than that, doll,” he mumbles against your skin. It makes you giggle, in spite of yourself. The two of you shed your clothes as quickly as you can while still staying as close as possible, too focused on removing the remaining barriers between you to care too much about the undignified scramble to strip. 

“I wanna ride you,” you manage between kisses, and Sonny nearly falls off the bed in his eagerness to oblige you. He settles with his back against the headboard, watching you with hazy eyes as you grab a condom out of your purse. 

“C’mere,” he says softly, holding his hands out to help you get comfortable in his lap. He hisses when you roll the condom down over his cock, the hand he’s resting on your hip squeezing reflexively. 

“You’re so gorgeous,” you tell him, slowly pumping your hand down, then back up. He does look gorgeous out of his clothes, all lean and long-limbed. “You have no idea how long I’ve thought about this.” 

Sonny’s other arm loops around your waist, pulling you just a little closer. 

“I’ve been thinking about this since we met,” he admits, his voice breathless with arousal. You rest your free hand on his shoulder as you line him up with your entrance and slowly start to sink down. It pulls a loud moan out of both of you, the sound echoing around the room, so much louder than the whispers and gasps that had come before. 

“Oh God, so have I, Sonny-” you manage, screwing your eyes closed. It’s been a while, and the lack of foreplay probably wasn’t wise given the fact that Carisi was bigger than you’d imagined. Not that you’d made a habit of imagining this, in trying to deal with your crush. Instead of sliding down smoothly the rest of the way onto him, you roll your hips, taking a little more of his length on each pass. 

Sonny’s a mess under you. His hands clutch tight at your hips, and when you manage to open your eyes again, you see he has his head flung back against the headboard.

“You feel so good, Doll. Christ, you’re so fucking wet and we haven’t even done anything-” he cuts himself off with a shuddering groan as he finally bottoms out inside you. The tip of him is pressing up against that spot inside you that makes your toes curl, and it sends a swell of bliss coursing through you. 

“You have such a perfect dick,” you tell him, enjoying the flush that intensifies on his face as he registers what you said. You lift yourself up just a little, an inch at best, and sink slowly back down, your eyes rolling back in pleasure. 

You’re not sure if it’s the best adjective, but you need to tell him just how good he feels. 

In fact, the two of you can’t seem to shut up. Even when you start riding him in earnest, the headboard bumping against the wall with every stroke, neither of you can stop talking. It’s like every time you’ve wanted to tell him how hot he is over the last three years is spilling out, along with endless praise for how good he feels. He gives it right back, telling you how perfect and sexy and hot you are in between telling you how much he wants to eat you out. 

“I’d be so good at it, please doll, I just wanna show you how bad I want it,” he babbles, his hair damp with sweat at the temples. 

You’re panting with every breath. Sonny leans forward to nuzzle into your neck, kissing and licking and sucking at the delicate skin there. Your nails dig into his shoulders when he drags his teeth over a particularly sensitive spot, and the groan he makes vibrates through your skin and straight down to your core. 

“God, Dominick, yes,” you nearly sob. “So good with your mouth already, want you to kiss me everywhere…” You can’t finish the thought, but it wrenches another groan out of Sonny. You haven’t thought about a next time, whether this is a one-off or if cooler heads will prevail back in New York. 

Later, the two of you can talk for real. You’ll wake up feeling better rested than you have in years, naked in Sonny’s arms, and talk about what happened, you promise yourself. 

Right now, there’s just the two of you discovering how much you enjoy each other, how badly you’ve both wanted each other. The two of you just fit together, like it’s the easiest, most natural thing in the world. And all the pleasure you feel is magnified a thousandfold by the fact that your crush wasn’t unrequited at all, that Sonny wants you just as much as you want him. 

You sink your hand back into his soft hair and ride him faster, utterly drunk on the noises he’s making. Dominick’s mouth wanders, kissing lines up your neck and licking messily at your nipples and nipping gently at your earlobe. In between, he murmurs about how 

A real conversation can wait; right now, you want to see what it’ll take for you to leave him speechless. 

Taglist:

@avengersfan25 @misscharlielulu @apenny4thots @irishavengersassemble

[the-ace-with-spades]

Bradley and Natasha get platonically married a few years into service and confuse the crap out of everyone.

They do it for a multitude of convenient reasons - they've been friends since flight school, they both accidentally found out they're bi but leaning toward same-sex attraction more, and had been each other's cover any time someone would start to suspect something. It comes up after Bradley puts Natasha as his next of kin and pension beneficiary (in case of death) and Natasha is like, 'you know, people are going to start questioning why we're so close'

So they don't give people a reason for suspecting - they make it official before. Nat doesn't talk to her family anymore and also makes Bradley her next of kin, they get a tax rebate, their health insurance is cheaper, they can evoke spouse privilege and get prioritised for base locations, keeping together. Married couples qualify for better housing as well and no one questions if they get a two or three-bed house, because you know, they're young, maybe they're planning to have kids soon. No one can treaten them with a DADT because who is going to believe that they're gay if they're married to each other, they have enough space that they can bring whoever they're dating back home without feeling like they need to do everything in secret.

Maybe, you know, whenever they're both alone and feel like it, they have some platonic sex...

Sure, maybe they're a weird couple - not that affectionate, not that open, talk to each other more like bickering best friends than lovers, maybe years go by and they still have no kids, maybe Natasha kept her surname, etc etc but it all could be swiftly avoided. We tried for kids but it didn't work, don't mention it around Nat/Bradley, he/she still feels guilty. We're best friends first, spouses second. The surname swap is a stupid tradition anyways. PDA is awful to see so why would we do something we don't wanna see others do?

The only real downside is that they can't be deployed together anymore.

When Jake meets Bradley after he gets re-stationed, Natasha is on deployment. They get close and closer, there's some flirting going on, and Jake is like 90% sure Bradley is not straight and is somewhat interested in him.

Push comes to shove and Bradley and Jake get deployed together (while Nat comes back home) and things continue and Jake gets 99% sure because damn, Bradley is fucking brave with how open he is with flirting, given where they are.

Then something happens and Bradley has an accident while onboard the carrier and Jake is there in the treatment bay and their CO comes around and asks Bradley, "Do you want me to call your wife, Bradshaw?" and Jake's whole world gets swept from under his feet. Because, you know, he was this close to fucking a married man.

And the worst thing is when they come back ashore and he finds out who is Bradley's wife - because Jake and Nat knew each other pretty well in USNA and he's not going to come into the mess that is their marriage.

Scratch that - the worst thing is that he can see Bradley does love Nat and that Nat loves Bradley and he doesn't know if he should say something to either. (He just doesn't know they love each other platonically only.)

They do stay married, even after DADT gets revoked, just because they're used to it now, and because the benefits are good, and really, neither of them are dating anyone seriously enough to go through the hassle.

Jake only realizes when after the mission years later, he sees Phoenix and Halo making out at the Hard Deck and tells Bradley "I think your wife is cheating on you with a woman, Bradshaw" and Bradley is like, "Yes, that would make sense given that she is a lesbian and all that."

[alphajocklover]

You have to help me! I've been trying to get free of this... place for a long LONG time. After some time I've been able to gain back some free will, but it's really hard. Right now, as my "physicall" me picked his phone at the gym between reps, I've been able to log on here and I saw what you published about the Retsam Mirror. You have to help me. I've been stuck in it for years. I was a nerd when i first fell by accident on the mirror and i got sucked in. I can't do this anymore. The new me is a honry bastard and he spends his time getting fucked in front of mirrors, a lot and a lot of them. My reflections are exponentials and i feel every single one of them. Oh fuck he just got a notification from HungDomTop11in. Help m................

A Retsam mirror. You found a Retsam mirror. Another Retsam mirror. For those of you who didn’t see my earlier post, a Retsam mirror is an incredibly rare magical artifact that lets a person switch places with their reflection, which essentially traps the person in their reflection and leaves a very suggestable copy in their place. It was weird enough to hear that one guy had encountered one of those that hadn’t already been shattered, but if what you’re telling me is true… then whoever trapped that poor guy has been trapping people in mirrors for much longer than we thought. I can only guess, and hope, that you were one of his earliest victims. I know you said you fell in but… if that was true then your other self wouldn’t have acted any differently than you. Someone had to have pushed you in, and then used your reflections malleable state to change them. I have to say, as horrified as I am by all of this… I’m also kind of impressed. Not with the jerk who's been trapping people, but with you. It takes a lot of willpower to keep your mind intact while in a reflection. Most people lose themselves in it, not having the ability to choose their movements but still feeling everything. Yet what’s even more impressive is the fact you were actually able to take back control for a bit. From what I’ve heard, that's supposed to be impossible. For you to do that… It's truly incredible. I’m just sorry that it might not be able to help save you.  As far as I know, there isn’t a way to get out of a Retsam mirror, at least not on your own. Either your reflection would have to willingly swap back, which seems unlikely, or the guy who pushed you in would have to switch you again, which seems even less likely. I’ve been looking into ways to help get people out of Retsam mirrors since I first heard they were back, but I haven’t found much yet. So I’m afraid that, for the time being, you’re stuck there.

Don’t give up hope though! You’ve managed to do more than anyone else in your position has. Not to mention, the information you’ve given me may be invaluable to figuring out how to save and protect people from Retsam mirrors. I’ve been messing with a spell that might allow me to use my own Retsam mirror to help people stuck in reflections, or at least communicate with them, so there is light at the end of the tunnel.

I know this entire situation is horrible, but the reporter in me has to admit it’s kind of fascinating. It’s incredibly rare you get to talk to someone who's been inside a reflection, so I had no idea you could feel what was happening inside each and every reflection, even if you were reflected in multiple mirrors at once. That must be very overwhelming, especially if your other self is hooking up in front of mirrors. Feeling yourself get fucked by a a potentionally infinite amount of cocks all at once… As hot as that sounds it must be really intense.

Here's just hoping your other self doesn’t take advantage of it too much. 

[modernsuperhero]

Tbh as much as i love seablings i like the idea that lizzie's death has nothing to do with jimmy's curse more. Lizzie's death was her own. If we want to talk about jimmy's curse, instead of lizzie's tragedy, then let's talk about how it was broken on accident.

Consider this: every game has been the same except this one. Certain "curses" are attached to certain people - Jimmy the canary, Skizz the boogey, etc. But not this time - or, well.

Last game was the first time, according to martyn's canon, that two players were so damaged from the watchers' overfeeding on their significant traumas (pearl witnessing scott's suicide, cleo's own traumatic death) that the listeners were able to intervene and temporarily swap their souls out with, ofc, lizzie and gem, to give them reprieve to recover.

I like the perspective that instead of there being one death loop that restarts over and over, there are multiple happening all the time. They overlap. The watchers are of course constantly feeding - and perhaps this is why the members of each loop vary slightly over time. Adding ingredients, removing others, as time wears on. Lizzie was not actively in a loop during limited life - but that does not mean she hasn't been in death games in the meantime. Perhaps even gem has, too, though i believe possessing cleo was her first time.

Also last season, grian was yanked out of his body by the watchers, attempting to remove him from stunting the growth of their anguish farm (making it a game instead of a saw trap, as @stalarys so aptly put it). But he managed to keep his claws in the game, even going so far as to break beyond the literal borders of the game - "we're already dead," as he said, leading the nosy neighbors beyond the veil - because grian is nothing in any universe if not stubborn in the face of authority.

We know from last season that the games are already unstable. The listeners' influence is growing, and grian is proving to be more and more of a problem. (He definitely doesn't know about the listeners' existence, but he's likely unaware of how he may be helping them, and they him.)

Jimmy is not dead first. But he dies so soon after - the second body to fall.

The game, the watchers, the farm - it course corrects when things go wrong.

Grian, who has broken the rules this season not once but thrice - allowing an exception for scar to reroll, even allowing breaking of his own rule on helmets (for both scar and mumbo), and falsely rolling a success last session, is given a chaotic impossible task. (Grian tends to doom his allies - curse or simply bad choices, he is teamed with etho, and their rerolls are entwined. They seem personal, don't they? Etho ran from grian's wither once before. Grian died leading out a warden.) He succeeds, on one heart despite everything, only to be slain on top of the button itself.

He's stuck in spectator. Isn't that perfect? The game, HIS game, GLITCHED. His grip on his in-game body, the part of him he wedged into the mechanics of this death loop, slipped. He regained it, sure, but now he is forced to course correct: he comes back green when he should be yellow.

And grian has just seen the price of breaking too many rules. Jimmy's funeral was too soon. He switches back to yellow, rerolls for his deserved prizes at the cost of his own chances of victory.

(Because victory, while still a goal, is not the point. The point is to break the game.)

(Last season, tango watched one of his closest and most common allies sacrifice himself for his team. This season, he allies with him again. It's ironic that they're giving away their hearts to others - similar to giving away their time. Maybe skizz's death impacted tango too harshly. Maybe his pain fed a bit too much.)

(This is the first season since skizz, an angel, died so full of divine bloodlust that it manifested as the boogey curse, that he has been here and his curse has not. Two curses now, tentatively broken.)

(Martyn feeds the watchers more when he is an unguided hand, wandering and hurting, so ren has not been in this particular loop for a while now. He is available to replace tango, just for a bit, just like how gem and lizzie replaced cleo and pearl.)

Last season, the games finally started to break.

This season, we get to see the cracks.

(The watchers are more obvious this season. The keeper's symbol, grian's lack of achievement entering the end... They're grappling for control as it is slowly but surely dragged away from them.)

[momentomori24]

Keiji is a character that I'm pretty sure every one of us can recognize is an absolute weirdo (ok maybe some are too hard on copium for the "weirdo" part) and sketchy as hell, but thinking about everything he's done it really feels like he's so much shady and ruthless than we give him credit for. So here's me bulletpointing some the moments that I haven't seen too many talk about, a little theory throwing his status into question and addressing the massive elephant in the room that almost everyone refuses to acknowledge. If there's something else you feel I missed or wanted to evaluate on, do leave it in the comments.

[Also, disclaimer: I will be discussing Keiji and Sara in a romantic light near the end of this post, so if that makes you uncomfortable please proceed with caution or skip entirely. This should go without saying but for my own sake I will say it anyway-- No, I do not condone their relationship in real life. No, this is not meant to be "shippy" or endorsement of any kind. This will simply be pointing out their dynamic as another example to prove the whole point of this rant. But if someone else does ship them that's totally fine. Fiction doesn't equal reality and if you harass a real person over fictional characters you will not see the light of heaven. Be civil, please and thank you. My block button is rated E for Everyone and if anyone decides to ignore the warnings and be an asshole I won't hesitate to use it. Thanks for listening. Disclaimer over.]

*Being a murderer.

I feel like I should start with the most obvious and undeniable. I don't think this is debatable to anyone here. Mr. Policeman may have been an accident and kinda confirmed by Midori to have been set up, but he still shot and killed an unarmed man in a moment of panic and recklessness. Even putting that aside, there's no denying that he killed Megumi in cold blood to get out of his debt to her and covered it up to the group to preserve his credibility. Regardless of what you think of Megumi, he has no excuse here. Not only is he one more kill away from being a serial killer, he's the only participant in our group that has actually killed people directly aside from Alice. Another reason why I bring this up is cuz something that completely flew over my head is this:

At the start of the game he had the audacity to complain about not having a partner or someone he knows with him like Sara does as if he didn't literally let Megumi get ripped apart by chains probably not even an hour ago Keiji what the hell--

*Throwing Kanna under the bus repeatedly.

Despite positioning himself as a protector and someone to rely on, he's far from above putting their youngest members in danger. Next to voting for the fourteen year old girl to die, he had the great idea of letting said fourteen year old be the one to babysit their biggest liability. Up to the point where they would stay in the same room both day and night. While I absolutely 100% trust that Sou would never EVER do anything to her, Keiji had no guarantee of that when he send her off. Hell, he literally just got done accusing Sou of setting Joe up to die (which I don't believe almost solely based on the fact that he said it, more on that another time maybe). He knew Sou was bad news, and openly acknowledges how adults can be terrifying, but he did it anyway. The dubiety of throwing the already traumatised little girl to keep watch on what they thought to be the most dangerous adult that had manipulated her once before is not lost on me, and that he didn't take any responsibility for her afterwards isn't lost on me either. To be fair, the Sou and Kanna thing doesn't just fall on him, it falls on everybody (Alice gets a pass because he actually swapped out with Kanna to watch Sou for her), but he was the one with the final say on the matter and who encouraged her to take the role despite Reko's rightful protests. The fact that he also voted for her to die in the Main Game, and is the only adult to do so, doesn’t help his case.

*Attempting to frame Sou knowing Reko was actually responsible.

While you could argue he was trying to cover for her since he knew why she did what she did, trying to pin this act on Sou to cast more doubt on his is extremely shitty. Never mind the blatant corruption and the irony of a supposed man of the law abusing his power to knowingly frame an innocent person (in this situation at least), and him sowing more seeds of confusion and resentment within an already rattled group, and giving Sou legitimate reason to be suspicious of him (and by extension Sara)-- this makes it so difficult to trust him after realising he's done this. Literally every time he accuses someone of being or doing something suspicious (mostly Sou), I always have to think in the back of my head if he’s telling the truth or just telling a blatant lie. He's shown that he's willing to not only lie to cover for himself, but to lie to delegitimize someone else. And Sara never caught onto it (Sou and maybe even Nao likely did tho). She never openly acknowledged it-- No one did. The complete lack of mention of what he did here makes this action quite missable. Hell, I didn't even catch it the first time. Has he done this before? Who else has he lied about? Who else would he lie about? Who else would he knowingly pit against the group? You don't have to wait for that answer, because I will provide an example later. And with "later", I mean now.

*Casting suspicion on Gin before the vote while hiding the fact that he killed Megumi.

While it's not as blatant as with Kanna, there are two instances where Keiji shows a readiness to either put or leave Gin in harm's way. The biggest one for me is in the Main Game. Like, how dare you. That is a furry child, sir. This kid’s like TWELVE. Even though he makes a valid point about calling out suspicious actions to clear them up so we can all trust each other, casting doubt on Gin of all people right there feels pretty screwed to me. This was before the preliminary vote. His words could’ve very well gotten Gin voted for if he couldn’t disclose why he did what he did for whatever reason and therefore being unable to clear himself from suspicion. It’s even more fucked when you realise that Keiji has literally murdered his partner and is currently planning to get Sou killed while giving this whole spiel about doubting others so that we can believe them and pointing the finger at a little kid to make an example to the group. But when Nao, Sou and Sara call him out on his suspicious actions that could rightfully damage his credibility, he tries to shut them down completely. My brother in Christ, you brought it on FIRST (don’t get me wrong I’m very much aware he didn’t really mean the whole “trusting each other” bit but come on dude)--

Speaking about not meaning what he says:

*Letting the group think he’s Ok to vote for knowing he’s the Keymaster.

This kinda got to me because I thought this was Keiji actually being… vulnerable? Accepting the consequences of his actions and allowing them to vote for him in their distrust without protest even tho it could cost him his life, maybe. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I can’t remember a lot of times-- or any times, really-- where Keiji has willing put himself into the line of fire, at this point at least. He always finds a way to keep himself safe, give himself insurance, and I thought that this would be the one time he doesn’t do that. But this feels so ominous looking back knowing that he was the Keymaster the whole time. That our distrust and betrayal and his resignation to it all didn’t matter because he was going to be safe no matter what. That he knowingly allowed us to assume that he was a safe vote because he didn’t want his plan to kill Sou to be ruined, which narrowed down choice of people we can safely vote for even further. That this action is ultimately the reason why Sou and Kanna were our only options to kill off in the end. If he had admitted it there, we could’ve found someone else to vote for so our final options could consist of three people, not two. But he didn’t, and the rest is history. There’s a lot of things he’s done I can’t get over. This one ranks pretty high. The second Main Game is already a huge sore spot for me for obvious reasons; knowing that a lot of the things that happened were due to his inaction where it truly mattered and activity in all the wrong places doesn’t make me fee any better. He didn't say he was a safe vote-- he didn't lie-- but his words carefully omit that voting for him means a total party death, something he should've stated then (and before this, really).

*Leaving Sara with the sacrifice card.

Despite making a big show about “always being by her side” and being her “reliable policeman”, he chose to look away when she was in real danger. He attached himself to her as her right hand man, made her shoulder the responsibility of being the leader, constantly manipulated and flattered her to win her trust and gain her favour-- but when she needed him the most, he basically left her for dead because it was the most beneficial to him. Keep in mind that not only did he know about her getting the sacrifice (he was also the sage so he'd have seen the trade happen), but he had the tokens to help her get rid of it. But those tokens weren’t for her life. They were for his. He used them instead to give himself the Keymaster as insurance for the Main Game (the Keymaster he stole from Sou/Kanna most likely to buy Sara’s trust btw). His desperation for survival outweighed his sense of obligation to keep her safe, and that’s the most subtle yet transparent he’s been about his selfishness. What makes this so much worse is that Keiji is our support character. He’s an ally, and our closest one at that, to the point where Sara burned her hands in a futile attempt to rescue him and signed her life away to save his. And yet his loyalty and protectiveness pale in comparison to other characters. Compare his actions to Sou’s: one of their many parallels and similarities is that both their girls get hit with the sacrifice card. As we’ve established, Keiji was fully aware of Sara being send the sacrifice by Sou, had 50 tokens ready to go and chose to secure his own survival than save her life. Kanna ended up doing it instead, attempting to trade the card off Sara with Sou realising what happened immediately. And what does Sou do? Completely bend over backwards trying to keep her alive. He lied about being the Sacrifice so the others wouldn’t suspect Kanna of having that role, meaning he could try gathering vote for her without anyone seeing his true intentions. He tried to stop her about coming out with the truth of what she had done so she doesn’t sentence herself to death. After everything he did to survive-- after how much he lied, how much he schemed, how much he hurt, and how he had thrown himself away to replace everything that made him Shin with the man that had traumatised him years before the game began to scrape together even the tiniest chance to survive-- he threw it all to the wind and was willing to let it all be in vain if it meant she got to make it out of the Main Game alive. The worst part is that Sou had never intended to make it through that Main Game. He confessed to already knowing that Kanna would choose Sara over him if she truly had the Sacrifice card. Yet he still did what he did all in the hopes that she could win. Because it was all about her survival first, not about them surviving together.

It also gives a different context to Sou's panic and him stumbling over his words trying to come up with any argument to get them to stop. At first I thought that Sou was afraid for his life. Which would make sense-- Keiji and Q-taro set him up to die and seemed pretty adamant on having everyone voting for him to get it all over with. But he was already prepared to die the minute he realised Kanna traded with Sara. So it means it wasn’t his life he was fearing for here-- it was hers. To him, if they voted for him there, it wouldn’t have just been his end but hers too. But we know that Kanna isn’t the one who has the sacrifice. It’s Nao, and considering how the Main Game can end either or both of them dead, I wonder if he regrets not having given up there, not letting Keiji get away with that shitty stunt he pulled knowing it would’ve at least guaranteed her safety than leave her fate in hands of a girl with enough reason to kill her. Ignoring the sounds of my heart shattering into pieces for the 100th time thinking about the Greenblings, it’s so fascinating that our biggest rival and most distrusted member has a greater sense of loyalty and responsibility for his ally than Keiji has for his own. Sou can be a liar and manipulative and selfish, but for how unpredictable he is something I can always trust is his love for those he holds dear (Kanna) and general desire to protect our most vulnerable (Gin). Sou loves Kanna, and so he’s fine with protecting her even if it comes at a price he never wanted to pay. Keiji surely cares about Sara, but unfortunately that is something I can’t say about him-- at least at that time (also the fact that Sou ended up taking more care and responsibility for Kanna despite Keiji having been the one to throw her on him in the first is so ironic).

*Continuously pushing Sara to take on the role of leader.

I think one of Keiji's biggest failures in the game come from his treatment of Sara despite positioning himself as her most reliable ally and her partner. From the very get-go, he was very adamant of making Sara be the one to shoulder the responsibility of the group. He, along with Joe (he didn't do anything wrong here), pushed Sara to be the Challenger during the Russian Roulette, despite Q-taro and Kai being readily available. He made Sara be the one to interrogate the suspicious convict while distancing himself from the situation. And he encourages her to lead them through the Main Game, lets her make the choices that steer them all forward and as a consequence take the fall for them as well. Rather than take on the role himself, or let another adult take it, he places his full trust in her and makes her shoulder everyone's weight so he doesn't have to. And he can see the effect it has on her: having horrific hallucinations due to the immense guilt she feels. But having Sara as their leader gives him a greater shot at survival and helps his credibility, so even though he tries to provide her comfort he still continues to keep her in that role. Again, the high schooler taking responsibility for the adults falls on a lot of the older people here, but Keiji was the one who kickstarted it rather than just go along with it like everyone else had. Gin, Nao, Kanna, Reko and even fucking Sou to an extent all have moments where they take the burden off her and relieve her of that pain she shoulders all the time (or at least try to). I need Keiji to take more responsibility for both the group and for her.

*Pitting Sara and Joe against each other.

This is just another example of the previous point. This isn't as bad, and I could give him the benefit of the doubt that this might have not been intentional, but it's something I want to bring up regardless. I'll be the first to say that Keiji wasn't wrong here. Prying into everyone's votes is a very bad move, especially since no one knew that Mishima would actually die (it was introduced as a practice round, after all). I agree with him, Joe was being rash, but instead of leaving the conversation there, he decided to throw Sara into it to pick a side. Which is... not good. He already won the argument and already had Reko on his side. Bringing in Sara could not only make Joe feel worse and potentially strain their relationship (especially if she rightfully chooses Keiji's side like he was expecting and hoping for), but just puts Sara in the spotlight during something she doesn't want to be part of. While there's a chance he might've done this because he know Joe is more likely to listen to her than him, he should've known better than that. It again makes her take the responsibility of giving the final verdict that would've otherwise gone to him.

*Asking Sara to take responsibility for his life

I've got nothing other that the grown adult swearing his life to the grieving, unstable teenager to take responsibility for while asking her if she'd die along with him is weird as heck. Keiji's said weirder things prior to this, but this one is a different weird. I think Beanieman's post mostly echoes my thoughts on this on, so I'll link it here for this point. This part kinda bothers me:

He shouldn't be encouraging her taking on anymore responsibility than she already is. He knows that the deaths that happened under her leadership haunt her. He knows that she's very much unstable enough already, to the point where he takes baby-steps to avoid triggering her trauma over Joe. He positioned himself as her reliable partner, her rock to lean on (quite literally sometimes). We see first hand how emotionally dependent she is on him. If he died, it would destroy her-- she'd destroy herself over it. He knows this (or should) but he still does it. His disappointment and dismissiveness when she understandably rejects him makes it worse. The guilt of potentially not living up to his expectations is not what she needs.

*Potentially working for Asunaro

This is more ambiguous than everything else here and more a theory than anything but it's been on my mind for a long time that Ranmaru might actually be onto something here. We know that Asunaro has a strong hold on the police. Midori was able to infiltrate the force, and they were able to get rid of Mr. Policeman for looking into the corruption going on, first having Megumi fire him and secondly getting Keiji to kill him by planting false info about the suspect having a gun. Megumi was also able to get Keiji off the hook for murder, which I believe Asunaro had a hand in too (I theorize this might've been her wish). There's also Alice, who was arrested and sent to prison despite the fact that he (legally) didn't kill anyone since Midori was a doll. The police are connected to Asunaro-- by extension Megumi and extending further potentially Keiji.

Something I've seen someone rightfully point out is that neither of the options you're given to say in response to the accusation... actually deny it? Both choices dance around answering directly, which is suspect as fuck. If Keiji truly wasn't with Asunaro, why not shut that theory down immediately? There's no benefit to answering anything but "no" when he's innocent, and he's lied straight to people's faces for less. So why not just debunk it? I think it's cuz there might be some truth to what Ranmaru was saying here. The biggest reason I think this is because despite the fact that Keiji quit the force, he and Megumi were still associating with each other years later. They were kidnapped together and partnered up for their first trial. One missable piece of dialogue is Keiji admitting that he was with his partner-- or rather a "coworker"-- before getting knocked out.

That slip of the tongue and backtracking makes me believe this part to be true. Him switching from "my partner" to "a coworker", which is a lot more distant and impersonal, makes me think it's got to be Megumi. However, I don't believe that Keiji would wanna keep in touch with her after what happened willingly, so I can only imagine that it's due to that debt he has to her. My little game theory here is that after the shooting, the debt he owed her was a forced recruitment into Asunaro. It's the only thing I can imagine he meant by "the worst kind of debt", a debt he'd literally let her die for to get out of. And if this is true, then it could also explain away his instant attachment to Sara, since he'd know beforehand that she's someone he can depend on due to her having the highest chance at survival. Maybe he already knew about her beforehand, one way or the other. We know Hayasaka did (which I think we as a fandom moved on from way too fast btw). Kai and Sou did too. There's always a chance. And unlike Sou's victory rate and Midori's favourite number, it's not zero. One person made a comic about this idea I recommend checking it out, it's tastefully unsettling. But still very much unsetling and uncomfortale. Be warned that it's also Keisara-centred, so if that makes you even more uncomfortable they did the job right you can ignore it. Proceed with caution or don't read if you don't like.

*Being a predator

I have been waiting so long for this one XD For context: a while ago I made a longpost discussing the sanitisation of soushin and this kind of toxic attitudes in fandoms regarding "problematic content" (ships, characters, shows, you name it). In it, I mentioned that it's not only soushin that receives this treatment but a certain other dynamic too. It's not a rainy day, however this has been way overdue and if I don't get this done now I never will.

Something I've seen a lot, and I mean a LOT-LOT is this notion that Keiji acts "like a father" to Sara and that their relationship is a completely platonic father-daughter bond and that he's the resident dad of the group? Like, it's cute, but that's not at all what their relationship is. At all. Not even a little bit. We called Sou and Kanna siblings before the Greenblings reveal. The difference is that not only does half the fandom think this man is gay, but he's only ever been protective and caring and loving without any romantic intentions towards Kanna ever. His title as her brother was deserved, based on the genuine affection and platonic protectiveness similar to that of Alice's. Keiji has made advances tho, on many occasions, and his flirting is repeatedly acknowledged by other characters. Namely Sou and Reko.

(Sou grills him for being a creep every chance he gets I love him XD) But yeah, these are not the type of reactions and comments you receive when being a "father-figure" to the teenager. You get all this when you hit on the teenager. Which he does all the time by calling her "cute" every time she asks something and his "cute little detective", swearing himself to her by saying that "he's always on her side" or something like that, asking her if she'd die alongside him, repeatedly claiming or insinuating that they're on a date, or ""having a moment"" and going to ""take the next step"" when in private (*cough* groomer *cough*)-- you name it, he likely said it. He's a walking-talking ladykiller machine and teenage girls aren't safe, apparently.

(Quick note: The dialogue for the Russian Roulette one is a tad different now. In the new translation he says "cause you're so darn cute" now. I dunno if that makes it sound any less weird, but I felt like putting that out there. What I'm also putting out there is that according to the trivia he calls her cute 8 times throughout the game so. Yeah. *Cough* groomer *COUGH COUGH*)

Like, who tf says this?? Especially that last part 💀 Even if you wanna die on the hill that these are supposed to be "jokes" not to be taken seriously, we should all be able to agree that the (ex)police officer in his late 20s jokingly hitting on the high schooler he follows around is still weirdo behaviour at best and down right despicable at worst. The fandom seeing lowkey predatory/inappropriate behaviour from a figure of authority persistent for almost three entire chapters and dismissing it as "fatherly" and "platonic" is, well, concerning. It's very concerning. If your dad acts like Keiji, you should probably call the police. Unfortunately for Sara, Keiji is the police. And considering this guy got away with manslaughter, I don't think said police would do anything anywho. But yeah-- he uses flattery and flirting to distract her from prodding to much at him while simultaneously aiming to gain favour in her eyes. He showers her with reassurance of his loyalty and affirmation of his deeper attachment towards her and her alone every chance he gets to cement his position as her closest and most trustworthy ally. He insinuates a romantic partnership between them to others to mostly keep her to himself or the two of them alone (he always does that when they're investigating or going to investigate by themselves). There's such an obvious romantic undertone to their relationship and his actions that it going almost completely ignored in the fandom feels weird to me.

I want to make clear that there's nothing wrong with headcanoning Keiji as a father figure to Sara. It's cute. Keiji didn't have a dad himself, and the closest thing to a father figure he had was the man he shot dead. He's a damaged and hardened guy. But Sara's dad is involved with Asunaro and Gin's is an alcoholic, and in a situation where they both need guidence and protection he tries his best to grow and change, fumbling to become that decent father none of them got to have. It's nice, and a wholesome dynamic for our "characters with memorandum counterparts and only non-determined deaths" trio. But that's obviously not what their dynamic is. There's a difference between headcanoning something and erasing canon and the Yttd fandom leans heavily into the latter. Keiji's a creep, he always has been, yet 90% of people I see always portray him as a Mr. Dad Guy or completely sanitise him to hell when him being creepy and unnerving to be around is what made him such a fascinating character. Just like I said with Soushin, the sanitisation to make canon more digestible is one thing: harassing or insulting the people that explore canon is another. I'm gonna take a bullet, derail this rant and say it-- Keisara shippers get so much shit for literally being right it's so infuriating. Keiji does hit on Sara, a lot. He's creepy and weird like that. Him flirting with her isn't a "mistranslation" or a joke or anything like that; his dubious wording and antics are very much intentional. Yet the only people I see actually addressing and acknowledging that without adding fluff is keisara shippers and other ""proshippers"" only for them to get fucking sniped for it I cannot 💀💀 I have yet to meet a single eastern fan who calls this cop "fatherly". This really feels like such a western issue cuz the majority of the japanese fandom agrees that this man's a predator (correct me if i'm wrong but keisara is the most popular ship in the japanese side of the fandom, right?). Then again, eastern fandoms are more chill over there when it comes to separating fiction and reality in general anywho.

*Yeah, I think I'm done with the Keiji slander. Yay. Time to unceremoniously end this.

There's more to say about that, but this is a Keiji post, not another shipping discourse post (although it's hard discussing Keiji's predatory behaviour without bringing it up too). Before I do spiral from the original point, I'm going to try and reach some sort of conclusion here. While I did spent the majority of this post just reading Keiji to filth, and am very salty towards him in particular, this was not just to rake him through mud for my own sanity (tho it's part of it XD). Keiji's character is that he started off as someone who wanted to do the right thing, someone who wanted to be good and moral and protect others by joining the force only to kill all the progress he made along with the person who inspired him to become an officer in the first place. It heavily contrasts the Keiji we have now, a sleazy, unreliable and corrupt ex detective who flirts with underage girls and is willing to resort to the most bankrupt of decisions to save himself. A man that has long lost hope of his wounds healing that he lets them fester and his rot spread onto others. And while I headcanon Keiji to just inherently be a piece of shit, his former self tried his best to be genuinely good before he became so convinced he can never be better that he made peace with his shittiness in the end.

With all this I wanted to highlight some the shadier and bankrupt things he's done that I haven't seen much discussion around and refresh myself on them before the final part. Both so no matter how emotionally dependent and therefore rose-tinted Sara is about the man I don't forget what he's actually like and what he's done while also being able to appreciate how much he's changed for the better. Some of my favourite examples about how he's changed are these:

Before the second Main Game Keiji was willing to let Sara and Kanna die because it was the most beneficial option for him, but in Chapter 3 he takes the on the role of "it" from Kanna and refuses to tag Sara when he thought he was gonna die after failing to beat Midori.

Actually showing more sympathy towards Sou after the Main Game. He was very mean about dismantling his pretence of a cold front to Kanna's death, don't get me wrong, but he showed a lot more consideration and understanding for Sou's feelings and acknowledgement about his active role in it than he ever had beforehand.

He was genuinely fighting for everyone to survive the game, not just himself. While Keiji would prefer everyone making it out safely, he has a tendency to guarantee his own survival first through any means necessary. His plan to corner Midori in the banquet could've cost him his life if it weren't for Q-taro's final stunt, yet he still reassured Sara to save Gin even tho it could've resulted in his execution from Meister potentially finding him guilty of violating the rules.

Him hugging Mai and trying to be more cheerful was cute as heck. I'm sorry but him showing more vulnerability around his allies and being less closed off in a way he hasn't been before is something I'm very head empty about. That he was hugging and interacting with Mai without making any unwanted advances or ladykiller jokes and generally just having a more friendly vibe was nice. It makes his creeping on Sara more unfortunate, but I'll take what I can for now. The bar is in hell.

And that's it, I think. Overall, I hope they do address some of his actions here in the final part or make them have an impact on his and Sara's relationship. Especially that Asunaro part. The person who wished for Sara to join the death game is still unknown and so is Keiji's consent form wish (same goes for the Dummies, Hinako and Megumi), so I'm curious if they're related or not. If he's going to go down an even darker path or redeem himself as much as he can we'll see when the final part drops. He has the potential to go both ways. This is going to be kinda awkward if the next part reveals him to have been a decent guy all along, so hopefully that doesn't happen. Please be morally bankrupt, man. This post didn't end up the way I wanted it to, nor bring up as many points as I would've liked, but I know I won't finish it if I went full perfectionist on it (I already spent months on this writer's block do be a bitch) and it's looking kinda long already. Hopefully it's still decent enough as is right now. I'd like to say that this is my apology for the last longpost I made, but I brought up one of the most controversial and hated ships and traits of Keiji's character and defended them, so maybe I shouldn't 🙃 Anywho, hope you enjoyed and cheerio.

[yallemagne]

Fucking stupid notes app lost all my notes on this season I’m going to burn Apple to the ground. 

Episode 1 &2: The Phalanx Covenant

Chuck is so fuckin’ obsessed with fixing Sabretooth that the Phalanx saw that and impersonated Sabretooth to trigger the man’s saviour complex oh my god. 

Warlock!!! I love Warlock!!

Sinister: "THEY TOOK MY RESEARCH!! MY MUTANT TEST SUBJECTS!! MY SAMPLES!!" Beast: "Sinister, people are dying." Sinister: "ALL MY NOTES ON MORPH!!!" Beast: "You're making it so hard not to throw you to the Phalanx."

"Your friends cost me an arm and a leg." Who the fuck are you??

They visit Muir Island and NO ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF MORPH?? Bullshit.

(I'm headcanoning that Morph and Proteus ditched the island to get burgers and avoided getting assimilated. Because they're my silly little pumpkins, that's why.)

Every time Sinister shows up on screen I get angry iopjgerjio and he's here the whole time. The only positive contribution he's had to the mission was throwing Moira off the plane, lol.

Magneto's grown a beard in the interim to communicate he's lost to depression. Saying fuck it to existence until they tell him the Phalanx got Pietro awww.

"Did you lose your humanity when you were assimilated by the Phalanx?" lol yeah. "Or did you have any to begin with?" oh lol you right you right.

They need to stop doing this shit to Wolverine. My poor boy and his metal bones.

I love that Cyclops is so trigger-happy. He does not tolerate Sinister's presence one bit. "Including Sinister! WHERE IS HE?!” With Sinister in the back, skittering away like a fucking roach.

Episode 3 & 4: Storm Front

I hate this creep. Keep your hands off her, Arkon, put a damn shirt on.

Storm: “That cube is causing the bad weather just get rid of it.” Arkon: “NO! I need it.” Wow, wonder who the obvious villain is. They had to take so many braincells from Storm to force this romance. 

EDIT EDIT! I forgot this bullet point! One of the extras is voiced by Morph's voice actor, I can tell from the screams. Morph cameo!

Episode 5: The Fifth Horseman

I hate this new animation style. I was less harsh on it in my previous writeup, but like nah, this style sucks. They yassified Beast, he just has a dude’s face, I hate it. And they gave Jubilee a new haircut and I highly suspect the reasoning is that they didn't think she looked Girl enough.

Cortez shows up and I hate him! Big shocker. 

This episode wasn’t very good. 

Episode 6: Jubilee’s Fairytale Theatre

Jubilee is so responsible!!! Such a good older sibling-type. Also I love how everyone is reinterpreted in her story, it’s funny. Like Gambit’s accent is ten times thicker. 

Longshot cameo! And? Jubilee's foster parents?

There was a rat?? That turned into a guy?? Morph?? We never see them again so I have no clue, but I’m just gonna say Morph cameo. 

Oh no Magneto kinda slays.

The repeated line of Jubilee being able to get out of tight spots is a bit overdone… and then MAGNETO says it and we’re so back bc that’s so fucking funny.

Episode 7: Old Soldiers

You’re never gonna get me on board, show. I’m never gonna believe that Wolverine didn’t have bone claws. It’s stupider if he didn’t have the bone claws. 

(I have been informed that the bone claws are a retcon. Most based retcon ever because, what, you're telling me that just happened on accident?? bc the adamantium claws certainly weren't by design in the show, they were just like "huh, that's weird, didn't expect that". Like what, was Logan just reminiscing in the tube, thinking "if only I had those knuckle knives from that one mission" and fucking manifested claws to break out??? anyway)

Happy that this episode didn’t end with Wolverine swapping spit with that woman. They’re finally showing restraint. But maybe it should have ended with him swapping spit with the Cap. Just saying.

Episode 8: Hidden Agendas

Again: the new art style and designs are objectively worse, the anatomy is all over the place, Sam looks BIZARRE and I know that wasn’t the intent. Like he's not supposed to look like an alien but he does.

ROGUE CALLING HERSELF LEBEAU!!! "I'm taking a vacation from you." *cosplays as his wife* C'mon now, Rogue, make it official.

Love that Sam DIDN’T fall for the shitty creep claiming the X-Men are terrorists, AND he broke out before they could get him with sleeping gas. Dodging shitty clichés left and right.

Episode 9: Descent

Essex: "Would you say humans have escaped the influence of natural selection? And that we as humans should seize our fate and pursue the next stage in evolution?" Darwin: "That's not at all what I'm saying. That sounds very stupid. Next question."

I'm a bit disappointed... So doing research for my fic (yes I'm self-promoting, I'm a whore), I found that Rebecca was the one to call Essex "sinister" after finding out about his experiments... Here it's just kinda said off-hand by Dr. Xavier. It takes the power from the title.

Episode 10: Graduation Day

I really don't get Gyrich's bullshit here. "You defend mutants... YOU must be a mutant!!" Uh yeah, dude. Duh. If they're trying to establish that Charles has been a closeted mutant this whole time, they did a poor job, because nothing in previous episodes ever implied that he was hiding his mutation. I'm choosing to just interpret this as Gyrich being impossibly dumb, thinking he's worked out some mutant conspiracy, meanwhile, he's the last one to come across this very public knowledge about the Professor.

MOOOOORPH!!!!

Logan telling Scott to tell Jean what to do... dog, no one likes a chauvinist.

"Hey, it's a big island, bub. What, are you on the yearbook staff or something?"

"After what they did to Xavier, why do you still fight me?" << revealing his motivation

"Wait, I just realized something. How much do you love Charles Xavier?" "How dare you ask me such a question? He was my only equal. I owe him my life." "What would you do if you knew you were the only one on Earth who could save his life?" "DO NOT PLAY GAMES WITH ME!"

"Wouldn't he do it for you?" YOOOO "Though beware... If he should pass away while connected to you the psychic stress may destroy you, as well." YOOOOOOOOO

"Hello, Magnus. Surely, you have more pressing business to attend to than nursing an old friend." "Nothing more important."

Folks I am EATING this episode. Picture me at dinner with my mother frantically explaining to her that they invented gay marriage. And divorce.

"Morph, it's nice to see you home." YESS IT IS.

Xavier's speech to everyone on the team :,0 watch how hard I can cry.

"Were I your father, I would tell you that no truer son could ever be." Watch tears shoot from my eyes with the destructive power of Scott's eye blasts.

Honestly... so this is a plot twist for me, that they always knew Xavier was alive... I feel a little cheated?? It does ruin the impact of the goodbyes at least a little. If Lilandra had saved Xavier's life in secret or if it was uncertain that the Shi'ar could save him, so there's some plausible deniability, that would make more sense to me. Why do they treat it like he actually died in '97? Why do they enact his will? Couldn't they just say "screw off Magneto, you know Charles isn't actually dead, also you're a fucking criminal, so there's that"?

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

So that's over, huh? I guess y'all'll see me when I watch some other X-Men show. The only issue is that my enjoyment will be severely impaired by Morph not appearing.

[eye-may]

I noticed that in some of your text posts you use a different (three) Words for the cats than the ones they were assigned, so I have to ask—if you could change the Words of any cats of your choosing, what would you change them to an why?

interesting question! my divergence from the Three Words (tm) is definitely mostly due to my affinity for descriptors. I am simply a slut for adjectives. also I've frequented past casting calls on many a wiki page and I love how different companies expand upon the frameworks of the characters in different ways. these cats contain multitudes!

I'll just be extra ig and use this opportunity to run down the list, slapping on my annotations as I go.

Admetus / Plato - Friendly, Easygoing, Protective

I called Plato friendly and easygoing in many words on this post I made about him, although I guess I didn't touch on "protective." His being tall and strong, along with being (imo) an instinct-driven cat could be summed up niftily as protectiveness...so I do think that word works for him, although...

to me, a big part of Plato that he needs to overcome is the fact that his nonchalance, his apathy, make him too persuadable. if he doesn't feel impassioned about any particular thing, then he's more vulnerable to being manipulated...right?

I might replace "protective" with "tractable" or some such.

Alonzo - Vain, Uncertain, Bravado

I love these three words for Alonzo! I love the dichotomy inherent in the last two words especially; in my universe, Alonzo is rigid and goal-driven, always walking around with his shoulders back and his chest puffed out, a true militant. that's bravado for you. but, at the same time, he's young and had it rough before coming to the Junkyard. he's slow to trust and, deep down...is often anxious and even scared.

there's a GIF somewhere of one version of Alonzo appearing to look to Mistoffelees in the face of adversity (a Macavity scare I think), and then seems to mimic him, as if trying to appear as brave. I think, even if he doesn't want to admit it, he often has to look to others for courage.

Vain also, yes! He's very preoccupied with his image, both superficial and otherwise! Like Victoria, Cassandra, and Tugger he's very well-kept and on top of maintaining appearances. He also (again, like Tugger, but in a very different way) has impassioned pretenses about his "reputation."

Asparagus - Frail, Wise, Historied -or- Wistful, Imaginative, Frail

Assuming we're talking about the elder Asparagus, rather than the younger...sounds right to me! I personally would pluck out "wise" from the first version and replace it with "wistful" for the second. Not that he isn't "wise," but the versions of him that I've seen seem to indicate that he struggles with dementia in his advanced age, and I tend to think he's more prone to romantic recollections about his career than he is to dolling out grandfatherly aphorisms. (he may do just that, however, in his more lucid moments).

Bill Bailey - Chaotic, Imprudent, Funny

In my mind, Billy Bailey and Tumblebrutus are interchangeable, so I'm just going to annotate these three words as if they're an alternative set for Tumble lol.

I think I would swap out "Funny," for a word that references his eagerness to appear tough. Charitably it could be a word like "aspirational." less charitably it could be like "pugnacious" or "posturing."

Bombalurina Generous, Voluptuous, Frank

Take out voluptuous! That's not a personality trait lmao. I might replace it with something that actually references her nubile aura, like "sensual," or "alluring."

Bustopher Jones - Foppish, Gluttonous, Dapper

He sure is those three things! I could maybe see a world where we replace "dapper," because it's parasynonymous with "foppish." Perhaps with "patronly" or "parsimonious."

Carbucketty - Acrobatic, Energetic, Accident-prone

These three words seem to emphasize his physical prowess, his hyperness. which he definitely has! But maybe we can swap out "acrobatic" for something that expands a little more on his personality, like "good-natured," "goofy," "playful," or even "worshipful" to allude to how he looks up to the older cats.

Cassandra - Haughty, Disdainful, Aloof

Disdainful is a little harsh, but I don't disagree that she certainly harbors disdain lol. these three words don't indicate much of a flip side to her, however; I might replace "haughty" or "disdainful" with something a little more neutral, like "observant," "elegant," or "mysterious."

There's an alternative version where "lonely" replaces "aloof" ... but I think the latter suits her better. she may be a bit solitary, but being alone doesn't mean you're lonely.

Coricopat - Telepathic, Unruffled, Instinctive

I actually do stray pretty significantly with Coricopat...in my mind, I have his words almost reversed with Tantomile's. Between the two twins, it's Tantomile who's seemingly unflappable, and Coricopat who's more tentative, less surefooted. I'd take out "unruffled" and replace it with one of Tantomile's words, "sensitive."

Demeter - Skittish, Cautious, Paranoid -or- Nervous, Sensual, Secretive

I think the first set is a bit ludicrous because all of those words are parasynonymous lol. The second alternative set is definitely better. I don't know if I ever think of her as "secretive," per se, so much as "reticent," which has a comparable meaning but with a less conniving connotation. I might settle on the three words, "skittish," "sensual," and "reticent."

Although, as I think about it, I might take out "sensual" as well. I don't think that aspect of her as endemic to her core enough to make it one of her three archetypal descriptors. I might replace that word with something that indicates her overall eccentricity, like "offbeat."

Electra - Adolescent, Inquisitive, Daring

Two out of three of her words are identical to Pouncival's lmao. I think using "adolescent" for the younger cats is a bit of a copout; I see that word more as a superficial characteristic as opposed to a personality trait.

Replace "adolescent" with something like "intense," or "hyper."

Etcetera - n/a

She doesn't have her own set of words! (at least not on the wiki lmao) If I were to choose, I would say maybe "upbeat, excitable, eager"

George - n/a

George is so funny to me. in the grand scheme of CATS he just seems to be a wild card character with no established or accepted archetype. he's like...just a guy. sometime he's even another guy. sometimes, he's an alternate for Pouncival. in one instance, he's an alternate for Admetus (but NOT Plato...lmao)

sauurrr, for MY CATS universe, I have done with George what one is seemingly meant to do with George, and that is just invent a character from the ground up with only a rough visual of his appearance and his name just so happens to be George.

To me...George is in fact the one who played Rumpus Cat in the film. I personally peg him as a cat who's a peer to Munkustrap age-wise, maybe a little older, but who esteems himself something of a comedian and seems to act much younger than his actual age. He's a favorite amid kittens, because they see him as one of the "cool" adults, like that teacher in middle school who was particularly fun and easygoing.

I shall christen him with three adjectives of my own choosing!

"persuadable," "nonchalant," "comical"

Grizabella - Proud, Hurt, Indomitable

No notes!

Jellylorum -Practical, Busy, Cheery -or - Dour

well "dour" sure is a contrast to cheery! I think she's capable of being stern, but I wouldn't choose "dour" as an archetypal descriptor of hers. I think I'd replace the word "busy" with something that suggests her sternness/adherence without the dreary connotation of dour, and that also references how her hands always seem to be occupied by some task. maybe something like "regimented," or "painstaking," or "assiduous."

Jemima - Innocent, Compassionate, Young -or- Dreamy, Yearning, Curious

I'm not a fan of either set on their own! I have the same issue with "young," that I have with "adolescent"...young is a superficial characteristic, not a personality trait! "youthful" would be a more appropriate word, but it's like...of course she's youthful, she's a kitten! same thing with "innocent." we were all innocent at probably less than six months of age lmao.

For her I'd go with "compassionate," "curious," and "quirky" or suchlike. or maybe replace "compassionate," with "empathetic" or even "empathic."

Jennyanydots - Motherly, Controlling, Contented -or- Fastidious, Complacent, Bossy

I would maybe replace "controlling" with something like "militant," and then replace "contented" in the first set with "fastidious" from the alternative set. I think those who see Jennyanydots as "contented" are mostly her humans, who are used to seeing her somnolent daytime persona.

Macavity - Hypnotic, Jealous, Dangerous

No notes!

Mistoffelees - Competitive, Neat, Electric

I like all three of these words for him! I do think I'd tack on "impish" and/or "cryptic" or some such, mayyybbeeee as a replacement for competitive if we really have to stick with just three words in fear of dire consequences from the omnipotent CATS deities.

Mungojerrie -Mischievous, Rambunctious, Ne'er-do-well -or- Cheeky, Street-wise, Cocksure

I think the second set is a little better than the first. I like both sets, but "mischievous" and "rambunctious" are pretty similar, and ne'er-do-well is a bit harshly connotated, even if that's how a handful of cats do see him.

I think I'd replace "cheeky" in the second set with "mischievous" from the first. not to say that he isn't cheeky, but I think you're slightly more likely to hear some clever smarm from Rumpleteazer.

Munkustrap - Imposing, Energetic, Courageous -or- Integrity, Discipline, Dignity

shall I say it? shall I go ahead and submit to my impulse to be an insufferable grammarian on tumblr dot com? I just think it's funny that the alternative set are all nouns instead of adjectives XD

I woouuulldddd conflate the two lists (and use the right part of speech *dodges brick*)

"Disciplined, Courageous, Dignified"

Old Deuteronomy - Wise, Commanding, Spiritual -or- Wise, Loving, Commanding

You just tack on "loving" to the first set and we're golden. again tho if we have to abide by the rule of three...go with "Wise, Loving, Spiritual"

Pouncival - Adolescent, Inquisitive, Alert

I like the latter two words! replace "adolescent" with "admiring," or "impressionable"

Rum Tum Tugger - Vain, Perverse (cocky), Inconsequent -or- Perverse, Preening, Independent

The weird thing about Tugger's set is that "inconsequent" is noootttt...a word I'd ever think of to describe a person. I did a quick Google search to see if I had been simply mistaken about the meaning of the word, but all I got was corroboration that "inconsequent" is a form of the word "inconsequential," which means of little significance. I almost feel like the original author meant to find a word that suggested Tugger's lack of concern over consequences.

My final take: "Preening," "Imprudent" (a decent-ish alternative to what I think? was meant by "inconsequent"), "Charismatic."

Rumpleteazer - Mischievous, Rambunctious, Ne'er-do-well -or- Naughty, Impressionable, Effervescent

I dislike both sets!

My take: "Rambunctious," "Cheeky," "Animated"

Skimbleshanks - Caring, Bright, Self-regarding -or- (punctual, proud, energetic?)

My take: "Punctual," "Caring," "Energetic"

Tantomile - Telepathic, Suspicious, Sensitive

As I elucidated earlier, I conceptualize the twins differently, I suppose, than their initial canonical characterizations. My Tantomile is quieter and more confident than Coricopat, and seems to take the inherent oddities of mysticism more in stride than her brother does. she's also caring, of course, but less sentimental and expressive.

(this might be weird to say but my understanding of the twins stems heavily from one (1) very brief moment in the 1998 film, when the camera cuts to a close-up of their reactions to Mistoffelees. Coricopat looks mystified, outwardly impressed, in awe. Whereas Tantomile...she looks more subdued. still impressed, but unsurprised, like she was already well aware of the magnitude of Mistoffelees's capabilities. she even looks almost...proud?)

okay and I'm sure nobody on set or in the history of cats ever actually put much thought into those three-odd seconds, but given the chance, I will extrapolate. I will wring a fleeting moment dry. in so saying, to me the differences in their expressions in that moment speak volumes about how their personalities diverge. Tantomile is a little more mature, a little more attuned, and more reserved. she's more of a watchful and guiding figure, whereas Coricopat is more companionable.

so all that said! my take: "Telepathic," "Pragmatic," "Mindful"

Tumblebrutus - Tough, Buoyant, Touchy

I now realize that I should have just cut and pasted Bill Bailey's set here to address it as an alternative to this one lmao. so let's just pretend that's what we're doing.

my take: "Imprudent," "Pugnacious," (to combine "touchy" and "chaotic"), "Buoyant"

Victoria - Young, Inhibited, Inquisitive -or- Innocent, Romantic, Un-selfconscious

I take "inhibited" to be somewhat of an antonym for "un-self-conscious" (? what a...portmanteau...of sorts) and I do personally see Victoria as someone who errs on the side of timid, or hesitant. I get that "un-self-conscious" may be alluding to the fact that she uhhhhh was feeling some type of way very viewably, but to me it seems like she's letting herself being guided by her instincts, as a vehicle to overcome her inhibitions.

my take: "Inhibited," "Romantic," "Inquisitive"

[cal-daisies-and-briars]

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️

Damn okay! 165 for ☠️:

---

“How did people react?”

“While he could still talk, he told us,” Karen explains. “‘Epipen. Truck. Glove box.’ I remember him struggling to say that.”

“Tommy grabbed his keys and ran out to the truck,” Buck says. “He got the epipen while Eddie called 9-1-1.”

“Yep, I called 9-1-1,” Eddie says. “I was pretty buzzed, so I didn’t think I should do any medical intervention. Tommy and Buck had had less to drink.”

“Chimney and I helped Captain Gerrard to lay down flat on the floor,” Hen says. “Then Tommy came back inside and administered the epipen. It was only when we noticed it wasn’t having any effect that we checked the expiry date.”

“He just kept getting worse,” Buck explains. “Chim went to start CPR, but he was drunk. I offered to take over.”

“Even though there were three paramedics in the room?” Ransone asks.

“All drunk,” Buck says. “Plus, I’ve done CPR hundreds of times. I know what I’m doing. I did everything I could.” 

But he was dead before Athena arrived. 

▪️▪️▪️

“It still seems like just an accident to me,” Ransone tells her. “What do you think, Sergeant Grant? You know these people.”

Athena isn’t sure. She still feels uncomfortable about the whole thing. It seems like a big coincidence for swapped pitchers and an old-enough epipen to not work at all to overlap in such a fatal way. Her years on the job have certainly exposed her to the often banal tragedy of minor negligences. She knows it’s possible. But the other thing she knows? Coincidences are rare.

“What was the expiry date on the epipen?” She asks. 

“2019,” Ransone answers. 

“Five years,” Athena sighs. “Doesn’t that seem odd? Gerrard was a first responder. He ought to have seen enough of these sorts of deaths to know better.”

Ransone nods. “There is that.”

Before they can discuss further, Ransone’s phone rings. He takes the call and listens as someone on the other end provides an update. When he ends the call, he looks at Athena gravely. 

“What’s wrong, Lou?” She asks. 

“Gerrard’s truck was searched. There were two epipens in the glove compartment. Including one that was brand new.”

Athena feels cold. Tommy made the caesars. Tommy grabbed the epipen. This death just became officially suspicious.

ii.

The next morning, Athena gets the call that the coroner’s report has confirmed their understanding of events. The contents of Captain Gerrard’s stomach indeed contained clamato juice. He had not drunk the vegan option. Though everyone, including the actual vegan who drank from the same pitcher, believed that he had. So either Tommy made a mistake when making them, or Tommy intentionally switched them. And either Tommy accidentally grabbed the expired epipen rather than the functional one and failed to notice the functional one present, or it was on purpose. 

“That’s crazy,” Bobby says when Athena explains it all to him. “Tommy wouldn’t do that.”

“Do you know that for sure?” Athena asks. 

“Well, listen, I know he had a history with Gerrard and some of the guys at the 118 before I arrived,” Bobby says. “A history that doesn’t always reflect well on him. But I never had any reason to suspect anything violent! He’s not… I mean, he’s dating Buck!” 

“I know,” Athena sighs. “That might be the worst part of all this.”

Bobby’s shoulders sink. “I didn’t suspect anything about Jonah either. So… What do I know?”

Athena feels terrible. She hadn’t even thought of Jonah Greenway. She hopes they’re all wrong about this. Bobby doesn’t need to learn that anyone else under his command is a murderer. 

▪️▪️▪️

“There’s more evidence,” Ransone says when Athena arrives at the station. 

“More?” Athena frowns. 

He brings her over to a computer screen and shows her an opened Adobe Acrobat PDF. 

“This,” he says. 

Athena reads the title page of the document. 

10 Murder Mystery Party Plots to Entertain and Thrill! 

“What’s this?” She asks.

“The guide Kinnard used to plan his party,” Ransone says. “We got a warrant to search the condo.”

This is moving fast, then. 

“Okay,” Athena says. “Why is that significant?”

Ransone scrolls down to the table of contents. 

“He based his party on plot number six,” Ransone says. “One Last Strip Tease.” 

Right. In which Eddie was the slain exotic dancer, Chip N. Dale. 

“Read number seven,” Ransone prompts.

Athena reads aloud. “Comments from the Peanut Gallery?” 

Ransone clicks it, bringing up the proposed plot and how to execute it. Athena reads. It tells the story of a character allergic to peanuts who is fed sabotaged baked goods. Jesus. Is he stupid? The idea is all spelled out in front of them. Tommy must have read this, when he was planning the party. 

“I think that’s enough,” Athena says quietly. 

“I agree,” Ransone says. “I’ve already made some calls.” 

▪️▪️▪️

Ransone brings everyone back in, one by one, for more interviews. He doesn’t tell them why. 

Each person, individually, looks concerned to be asked back. They all thought it was an accident. They all thought it was a mistake. No one thought there’d be an investigation. Athena feels bad about that. The blindsided looks on her friends’ faces as they walk past her. She knows they’re confused. She knows they’re probably scared. They don’t need to be, though. 

Only Tommy should be scared today. 

Athena doesn’t participate in the questioning. Obviously. She’s not a detective and she has a conflict of interest. She does, however, watch through the two-way mirror. She needs to hear everything that’s said. She can’t miss any of this. 

With the exception of Tommy, Ransone starts by asking everyone the same question. 

“So, did you know Captain Gerrard had an allergy to shellfish?”

The answers are varied. 

“No,” Karen says. “I didn’t know anything personal about him, really. This was only the second time we’d even formally met.”

Matt and Mark didn’t know. Obviously. They’d never met the guy before either.

“No,” Eddie says. “Had no idea. We didn’t talk about personal stuff.”

“No,” Buck sighs. “Which is kind of insane, since I did a lot of the cooking. You think he’d mention it to me? Closest thing I think was him telling me he hated the idea of shrimp scampi.”

“Mmm, yes,” Hen says. “That’s familiar. But I’m not sure why I knew.”

“Oh, yeah,” Chim says. “I knew. Anyone who used to work with him back before he got transferred knew. B-Shift left a mess of coconut shrimp and he lost it.”

 Ransone latches onto this answer just as Athena suspects he will. 

“So Tommy probably knew about it too, then?” He asks. “He worked with you back then, right? That’s how you know him?”

Chim’s expression falls as he realizes what is really being asked. As he realizes the trap he’s been guided into. 

“Uh, yeah,” he says quietly. “Yeah, he probably knew. I mean, if he remembers. I don’t know how good his memory is.”

After that, the conversation with Chimney takes an interesting turn. 

“Wait… You guys don’t really think Tommy did this, do you?” He asks. “I mean, it was an accident.”

[lady-forest-1142]

I NEED to talk about how chloe or sam or sophia or marcus by taylor swift is a kevjean song, so settle in. I'm kinda running with the idea that the verses are v kevin coded and the chorus & bridge is jean. behold.

Your hologram stumbled into my apartment Hands in the hair of somebody in darkness named Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus And I just watched it happen not to start this off dark but with these two it's kinda hard to avoid - I don't remember if kevin knew about jean's abuse at the hands of the backliners/grayson, but he def knew about jean's reputation as a whore and pretty obviously didn't/couldn't stop it As the decade would play us for fools And you saw my bones out with somebody new Who seemed like he would've bullied you in school And you just watched it happen swap out 'he' for 'she' and you've got kevin leaving jean and dating thea, which I am still dying for more info on - how was thea affected by the nest? what part did she play in jean's treatment? I think it's fair to say that she couldn't have been entirely blameless. what does jean think about her actions in retrospect, and her connection to kevin?

If you want to break my cold, cold heart Just say, 'I loved you the way that you were' If you want to tear my world apart Just say you've always wondered this is v jean coded to me. I could be kinda projecting here, but I feel like it would be easier to imagine that kevin didn't feel as deeply for him as jean did for him (cause regardless of if you view them as romantic or platonic jean felt A Whole Lot), than to think that kevin did care for him, did feel something for that scared little boy whispering french in the darkness, and left him anyway.

You said some things that I can't unabsorb You turned me into an idea of sorts You needed me but you needed drugs more And I couldn't watch it happen okay I'll admit that I can't make the "you needed drugs more" line work, but! "you turned me into an idea of sorts" is a defensive shield a guilty person could throw up - jean turning kevin into an idea and then being hurt when he made the very human decision to run away and never look back I changed into goddesses, villains and fools Changed plans and lovers and outfits and rules All to outrun my desertion of you And you just watched it IF THIS IS NOT THE MOST KEVJEAN THING YOU'VE EVER SEEN HELLO I think it speaks for itself

If the glint in my eye traced the depths of your sigh Down that passage in time Back to the moment I crashed into you Like so many wrecks do Too impaired by my youth To know what to do they were both children in the nest, frightened and hurt, and even though kevin was older than jean he still was too young not to make mistakes, not to hurt him by accident, not to think of anything besides his own needs in his darkest moment

So if I sell my apartment And you have some kids with an internet starlet Will that make your memory fade from this scarlet maroon like it never happened Could it be enough to just float in your orbit Can we watch our phantoms like watching wild horses Cooler in theory but not if you force it To be, it just didn't happen here is where the jean perspective comes in again. I have so so many feelings about this but I'll try to be coherent - jean is still haunted by kevin, by his lingering attachment to him, by how he still cannot forgive kevin for leaving him. to see kevin living a relatively normal life outside the nest, while jean still can barely function day to day largely because of the consequences he received from kevin's actions, cuts him deeply. kevin has more concerns now than jean - jean has nothing other than his trauma and kevin (at least at the beginning of trc). if jean moves on, if he lets go of the nest, if he accepts his place on the outskirts of kevin's life, would that be enough? or will he always be pulled back, wondering what could have been?

I almost never write out my song analysis and most of this was thought of at 2am so idk if it makes any sense but I had to get it out

[keresnotceres]

MW2 CHARACTERS: School AU

[sfw] cw(s): none !!! As a girlie who has been reading fanfiction for god knows how long, it was inevitable that I came through with a High/Secondary School AU. As a reminder, I don’t know shit abt the British school system so we’re going with my experiences with the American public school system. enjoy dovies <3

Ghost is that one upperclassman in every single one of your co-grade classes that just sits there. He doesn’t say a damn word and you don’t even see him writing down any notes, but somehow, he has the best grades in the whole fucking school. Principal’s honor roll, scholarship recognization galore.

It takes so long for you to work up the courage to talk to him and ask him for help on an assignment and when he admits he doesn’t know they had an assignment to do, you’re a bit dumbfounded. You realize that he quite literally just sits there and vibes the entire time. He proceeds to turn back to the window and stare out of it.

Eventually he warms up to you, though. It takes, like, three months of pestering him until he actively begins conversations with you and you find yourself with a very stoic cheat sheet. He has kept all of his tests and is perfectly fine with just giving you them bc what are morals???

Gaz is the local “i know him but we aren’t friends” kid. Literally everybody knows his name, he’s on the school’s soccer (football, i guess) team and is relatively well known as a nice person, but he only has a few close friends. His grades are also insanely high, you don’t understand how he manages to ace every test while also spending most of his time practicing sports.

He’s the type of person to forget a pencil, however, and usually ends up leaning over to whoever is next to him and asking for one. He usually gives it back, unless it’s someone he doesn’t particularly like. When he tries to give it back to you and you just tell him to keep it, he likes you automatically.

He’s always inviting you to watch his games after the two of you get closer. He also sits with you during shared study halls or lunches regardless of if you or he has other friends in the lunch. Gaz is also the type of person to lean over and ask if you wanna share the copy of an assignment document or swap essays to proofread.

Soap is absolutely the really loud jock kid that people either really like or really hate, and there’s just no in-between (i’m so sorry Foap 😭). Despite this, he’s actually one of those really nice sport boys that will start punching if someone disrespects his friends. He’s also in an abundance of art classes.

In class you can see him scribbling down notes until he gets bored and starts just doodling in his notebook, tuning out the lecture. However, if your science teacher decides today is not a teaching day and puts on something like Bill Nye or The Magic School Bus, he is enraptured. Is also the person to quietly chant “Bill! Bill! Bill! Bill!” during the theme song. Used to hate the Amoeba Sisters until he binged their videos before his Biology final lol.

You start being friends with him on complete accident after you help him with a question on a pop quiz. He gave you puppy eyes! How could you refuse! He proceeds to talk to you the next day like the two of you are best friends and you are now stuck with him until graduation. But hey! You basically have a bodyguard now.

Price is an Honors English and AP Literature teacher through and through. He originally wanted to be a history teacher, but the English position was open and he took it with little complaint. He’s absolutely the teacher you can launch into tangents for the entire class and will take half a point off of your essays for misusing a comma.

If you're his favorite student, he tends to grade your FRQs and other assignments much harsher than he would others, but it ends with you having well rounded essay skills afterwards and acing your assignments later in the year. Will let you hang out in his room during your study halls and is always open to helping you on assignments if you ask.

Hangs thank you notes from students on his walls, has a wild collection of them and shows them off any time another teacher asks him about them. Has cried reading some from students he liked having in his classes.

Laswell is a Geometry, Pre-Calculus, and Calculus professor. Idc what u think she is absolutely a math teacher and would absolutely have a doctorate. People who don't like math probably go into her class also not liking her, but come out at the end of the year wanting to be in her class next year.

If you're one of her favorite students, she absolutely gives you little notes on your graded tests like 'good job :)' and always says she's proud of you if your grades improve during the year. She also lets you and your friends eat lunch in her room because she understands why you'd rather be in a math room than the cafeteria.

Has never been seen without a coffee during the first four periods of the day and a random beverage during the last three. She always has a drink with her and it's become a bit of a game between a few of her students. Sometimes she'll give someone who asks a drink as well. A student she particularly liked tried to pay her to bring them coffee; she gave them their money back and brought them a coffee.

Nikolai is a history teacher that also coaches the school golf team. And yes, golf team; that man radiates golf energy and I cannot be told otherwise. He doesn't understand the kids' obsession with things like Kahoot, but makes them because it keeps kids engaged with the class and mostly keeps grades up.

Being one of Nikolai's favorite students is hard if you don't golf, but if you are a favorite, he tends to give you extensions of assignments if you're struggling to find time/motivation. Also will give you candy under the table if you win a Kahoot, or if you visit him during a study hall he will also give you candy. He gives out Smarties (the American version) because he thinks the name is funny.

If you show interest in learning Russian and ask him how to roll your Rs or how to pronounce the Cyrillic letters, he will automatically like you more than the others. As long as he feels like you're earnestly learning it out of interest and not just to make him like you, that is. If you already know Russian he'll like you anyway. Sometimes it's nice to speak his native tongue.

[ya-killin-me-smalls]

A while ago you made some Deimos x Teammate headcanons, and they were all absolutely WONDERFUL

Would it be possible to get some Hank x Teammate headcanons? 👀

absolutely!!

headcanons under the cut

2BHank:

obviously gotta start with these two, respect for the elderly and all that

- divorced but it's complicated

- they started out as roommates while Doc was in college and Hank, unbeknownst to Doc at the time, was just getting started at being a menace to society

- they were close. a little too close. but nothing ever came of it aside from a mutual pining

- when Doc began working for the Agency/Nexus it drew a hard line between them. both believed they were doing what was right and that the other was a lost cause

- it turned into a physical fight and Hank did in fact leave Doc for dead

- he got better dw

- fast forward a few years, Doc has swapped sides and is incapable of admitting he was wrong

- Hank is not even a little bit sorry because in his mind it was deserved at the time

- they're different people now though and they both know that. the past is in the past. the world keeps turning

- their relationship has moved beyond platonic since but it's still complicated. they don't have the luxury of deep "what are we" conversations or quality time spent together unless Hank is injured

- regardless, Hank spends whatever downtime he does have in Doc's personal space. he's the type of guy that will just loom over you silently while you're working and patiently wait for Doc to pay attention to him

- Doc still keeps things professional for the sake of professionalism. his guard is only ever truly down when they've retired for the night and he can give Hank every drop of attention he craves

- Hank finds physical touch grounding so on days when his head is a mess and all his thoughts sound like they're underwater, he'll drape himself over Doc's shoulders and try to map out the sensation of him for a while

- "Wimbleton" is as close to a pet name as Doc will ever get. if he uses Hank's first name it's usually when he's mad/annoyed

- Hank doesn't necessarily bite Doc but he's got this weird form of cute aggression that makes him want to put his teeth on him

Hankmos:

yeah I already did this in the last post so what

- their first meeting was the equivalent of finding a wet kitten at the scene of a car accident

- Deimos hadn't yet made a name for himself but was well on his way, torching every stitch of AAHW property he could get his hands on (pyrokinesis Deimos my beloved)

- Hank was sent to raid a cloning facility when it happened. the entire place had gone up in flames and was little more than smoldering debris by the time he got there. he was there to kill everything that moved so of course he had to parse through said debris for any survivors

- what he found was a scrawny fucked up little dude passed out at the center of it all, completely unharmed, the only sign he'd been involved in the fire being the singed remains of his clothes

- interesting enough for Hank to not kill him despite being visibly a clone. instead he wraps Deimos's tiny ass up in his trenchcoat and brings him back to base

- Deimos still wears said trenchcoat because he's a fanboy and nothing will change that

- which also means he glues himself to Hank's hip from day one, not being a nuisance but always in the vicinity, tags along on whatever missions he can, asks Hank to train him in CQB

- and of course Hank grows fond of Deimos. how could he not? his rambling is pleasant background noise that helps keep Hank in the moment, he has a nice smile and laughs a lot, and it doesn't take long for him to become a worthy opponent for Hank

- a lot of their communication is done through body language and micro-expressions. Hank is incredibly perceptive of those subtle shifts and for Deimos it comes naturally

- Deimos goes out of his way to impress Hank. whether that means making stupid jokes to try and get a laugh out of him or showing off on the battlefield at every opportunity, his efforts know no bounds. it makes his heart flutter in a weird way whenever he gets those little signals of approval

- neither is keen on eye contact which works out perfectly, Hank because of the 'tism and Deimos because it feels like someone is trying to square up

- I feel like romantic cannibalism in the literal sense but as a metaphor would suit them so well. there's so much want between them and it's like they can't ever satisfy it. simply touching isn't enough. they need to grab. they need to hold. they need to squeeze. they could become each other and it still wouldn't be enough

- on the outside they play it cool for the most part obviously but the tension is always there. everyone can feel it

Hankford:

woefully underappreciated

- these two have the same vibe and demo and soldier tbh

- Sanford's whole thing is blowing shit up and setting things on fire

- Hank's thing is killing people in increasingly dramatic and violent ways

- combine the two, what more could you want out of a ship

- most of their initial bonding happens over explosions and combat tactics, as well as the inherently homoerotic act of patching each other up during battle

- after a particularly high risk/high reward mission, standing amongst the rubble of what was once a weapons factory and still high on adrenaline and dopamine, Sanford grabs Hank by the lapels of his coat and kisses him

- oh to make out with someone in the aftermath of an explosion

- these two lack a balancing factor. neither needs to be protected by the other. neither has ever been chill a day in their life. both are itching to destroy something at any given moment. they hype each other up and egg on every OSHA violation in the book

- Hank does feel protective towards Sanford because that's just in his nature, but he doesn't feel like he needs to hover or have eyes on him constantly. Sanford has dragged his sorry bleeding ass out of trouble more than once, after all

- Sanford is the king of PDA and they have to establish pretty early on that Hank isn't comfortable with others seeing that much of his private life. holding hands is as far as it goes if others are around

- alone? Sanford can't keep his hands to himself. his favorite thing is to dip Hank when he least expects it just to make him blush

- Hank isn't sure how to reciprocate at first. his hands are meant for crushing and tearing and Sanford is so gentle and tender. it's a learning curve and the way his hands shake when he's excited doesn't help

- they work it out over time together though, Sanford making an effort to lead affection and letting Hank sort out what he likes along the way

- Sanford is Hank's weighted blanket I take no criticism on this

- Sanford calls Hank "Doll". Hank incorrectly interprets this as sarcasm because he can't imagine someone associating him with something delicate or cute

- neither of them is allowed anywhere near the kitchen. not because they can't cook but because neither of them has any impulse control and the microwave will be blown up "for science"

- Sanford, ever observant and a little obsessive, begins mapping out Hank's behaviors and mental state as best as he can. he isn't surprised that Hank is a little fucked up, but there's a lot more going on in their than expected. and Hank, uncharacteristically, does open up to Sanford about the dissociation and memory problems

- Hank has outlawed the word babygirl because it makes him flustered angry

[malevolent-muse]

🌀DOCTOR WHO🌀

1. 👯‍♂️ If you could pick anyone from the show, who would be your bestie? 

Donna Noble (21.3% from 202 votes) - “Once upon a time... Once upon a Time Lord... I had a best friend, and her name was Donna Noble. A Time Lord and a human... and we travelled the stars together.”

2. 📞 You get kidnapped and your abductors are looking to hold you hostage for ransom. Who do you tell them to call?     

The Doctor (29.9% from 291 votes) - I’m surprised the Doctor didn’t get the majority of the vote. They still won though…

3. 🚔 You get pulled over for speeding. Who do you want riding shotgun?   

River Song (25.6% from 219 votes) - She’s going to tell you to floor it the second the cop gets out of his vehicle.  

4. 🤡 You find a framed photograph of a creepy clown on your desk at work. Who do you think would pull this office prank?    

Jack Harkness (29% from 138 votes) - He thinks he’s flirting…  

5. 😍 You have a secret crush. To whom do you confide your secret?     

Martha Jones (34.8% from 310 votes) - A solid choice. 

6. 🦎 If you had the ability to change any character from the show into a newt, who would you choose?     

The Doctor (27.3% from 150 votes) - He’d get better. 

7. 🏹 You have been given one of cupid’s arrows and you now have the ability to make one person fall in love with you. Who do you choose?     

River Song (27.6% from 254 votes) - Okay… So we’re all crushing on Melody Pond? (And I thought the Doctor would win this one.)

8. 🥃 You have acquired a cup of mysterious elixir that grants eternal life to the drinker. However, the elixir also destines them to become your mortal enemy. Which character from the show do you choose to take a sip?     

Rory William (19.2% from 151 votes) - I guess Rory isn’t vindictive enough to cause too much harm… I’m just glad it’s not his wife or his daughter. 

9. 🔁 You are being followed by a nefarious individual. You hide in a bathroom and bump into a character from the show. They suggest swapping outfits so you can slip past your pursuer unnoticed. Which character would you pick for the switch?     

The Doctor (18.6% from 161 votes) -There are so many outfits to choose from though! 

10. ⛓️You have been kidnapped and chained up in a basement! Who is the culprit?     

River Song (42.7% from 110 votes) - What did I do to deserve this?! (I guess the answer is not put The Master in the options for the poll.)

11. 🍽️ You are invited to a dinner party hosted by Hannibal Lecter at his home. Who is your plus one?     

The Doctor (32.9% from 146 votes) - Now are we thinking that the Doctor is somehow going to try and take down Hannibal and stop him from eating people? Or … is our favorite Time Lord going to sit down and enjoy the meal?

12. 🤡 You are pulling a prank and placing a framed photograph of a creepy clown on someone’s work desk. On which character’s desk do you place the photo?     

Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart (28.7% from 122 votes) -I have to throw in some Classic Who characters sometimes you know. 

13. 🦎  You have been turned into a newt! Which character from the show do you think is responsible?     

The Master (53.9% from 128 votes) - I feel like the Master would turn me into a newt on purpose… but the Doctor would do it on accident…

14. 📖  If transported to this universe, who would read dirty, dirty fan fics about themselves?     

Jack Harkness (57.1% from 205 votes) - LOL - So true!

15. 🏹 The Doctor has one of Cupid's arrows but (unbeknownst to them) it is tipped with lethal poison. Who do you want them to shoot with the arrow?  

Jack Harkness (51.8% from 85 votes) - Wow! Now if it were me, I’d have the Doctor shoot Clara but because I dislike her so much, she isn’t even in the poll. 

16. 🍸You find yourself in a drinking competition. Who do you want to face off against?   

The Doctor (26.8% from 127 votes) - I would not fare well… 

17. 👚You are doing laundry at a laundromat.  When you go to pull your clothes from the washer, you find that someone has stuck their red underwear in with your whites, turning everything PINK. Who is the culprit?   

Jack Harkness (32.8% from 119 votes)  - Great… now I’m thinking about the color of Jack underwear. 🙄

18. 🆘 You pass out and wake up to find someone giving you mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Who is most likely to step in and attempt to save your life?     

Rory Williams (29.2% from 161 votes) - Well, he’s a nurse so this makes sense. 

19. 🤒 One of the characters from the show becomes ill and you have to step in and cover their duties for the rest of the week. Which character gets sick?    

Donna Noble (20.4% from 98 votes) - I don’t know if I could match her level of sass (I assume she does it professionally)! 

20. 🦎Once again, you have been turned into a newt! (I don't know how this keeps happening.) Which character from the show do you trust to care for you while you are in your lizard-like state?   

Rose Tyler (30.6% from 160 votes) - aww man… Rose was my first companion so I’ll always have a soft spot in my heart for her…. She can take care of me <3

To Be Continued...

[vigilante-chase]

Summary: Part 4 of Every Rose Has its Thorn. Adrian has a misunderstanding about Rose and her "Team Bonding".

Word count: 1.8K Words

Warning: None, other than a few changes to the chapter

Pairing: Adrian Chase x Black!Rose Wilson

AO3, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

4. Let's Hang Out

The next day, the team gathered at HQ to get more intel on the venom that Governor Robinson had acquired. Everyone except Vigilante was present. Adrian, ever-determined to hide his secret identity while also attempting to befriend Rose, had swapped for an earlier shift at his real job. His plan was foolproof in theory, but as usual, reality had other plans.

When Rose and Leota walked in, Chris, Emilia, and Economos were already seated, with Eagly perched comfortably on a table.

“Um, is that legal?” Rose asked, pointing at the eagle.

“What, Eagly?” Leota replied casually. “Nope, but apparently he’s Chris’s best friend.”

“There should be nothing illegal about having Eagly as a best friend,” Chris interjected, looking offended. “What’s more American than an eagle sidekick?”

Rose gave him a skeptical look. “I’m sorry, did you say Eagly? The eagle’s name is Eagly?”

“Yup, we asked the same thing and he’s proud of it,” Economos added with a shrug, clearly resigned to the absurdity.

“Jesus Christ, can we start this meeting already?” Harcourt cut in, exasperated. “And where the hell is Chase?”

“Oh yeah,” Chris said, snapping his fingers as though just remembering. “He had to work an early shift. Weird time for him to have responsibilities.”

Rose raised an eyebrow, intrigued. “What kind of job does a guy like him even have?” she muttered to Leota, imagining some obscure, weirdo gig.

The team moved on to planning their next steps. Economos detailed the logistics of the venom shipments while Harcourt assigned roles for the upcoming stakeout. The meeting wrapped up smoothly, leaving the team to part ways for the day. Leota asked Rose if she needed a ride back to her hotel as she was going to visit her wife anyways. Rose declined, wanting to walk around for a bit.  Going into the back of the office, she found her wig still laying where she left it, putting her hair into a bun and placing it on her head. She had enough time to herself to walk around Evergreen and what little it had. So much for transportation being covered, fucking Waller, she thought.

After browsing through a few antique shops and grabbing coffee, Rose decided to grab dinner at a small restaurant called Fennel Fields. It looked like a low-key, knockoff Olive Garden, but she wasn’t picky after a long day.

Inside, the vibe was relaxed, with dim lighting and quiet chatter filling the air. The hostess, a bubbly teenager, greeted her cheerfully.

“How many in your party?”

“Just one,” Rose replied politely, following her to a booth near the back.

After placing her order, Rose absentmindedly scrolled through her phone while waiting for her food. The eggplant parmesan and garden salad were nothing to write home about, but she scarfed them down quickly.

That’s when she heard a loud crash. Looking up, she saw a familiar figure hunched over a pile of broken plates. Adrian Chase, clad in an apron and busboy uniform, looked up at her with wide eyes.

Rose smirked, taking her time as she waved at him. The awkward wave he gave in return was priceless.

Oh god, she saw him. Adrian caught a glimpse of her, dropping a plate by accident, and gaining the attention of the other patrons. If he didn’t know any better, he’d say she was following him. She’s definitely following me, Adrian thought, stacking the broken shards into his bin with trembling hands. Or maybe she wasn’t? He thought they had hit it off at the bar last night.   But what if it was all just an elaborate ruse to find out his identity and kill him? UGH! Adebayo was right, she is hella smart. How could they be sure she really was on their side? He’d be completely devastated if she really were going to kill him. Maybe this “Team bonding” thing was really just a ploy to kill them off one-by-one. Who was next? Adebayo? CHRIS!? He wouldn’t let that happen. Poor Adebayo, she doesn’t know “Best friend” was sent to murder her.

As he stacked the dishes, his thoughts spiraled. She’s definitely trying to kill me. She even has a disguise. That wig is too obvious. That’s such a rookie move. He snuck a glance at her, only to see her staring directly at him with an amused expression. She lifted her water glass in a mock toast, sending him into full-on panic mode.

Rose couldn’t help but be amused by Adrian’s deer-in-headlights reaction. He was a hot mess, stumbling over himself with the shattered plates. She snapped a quick picture and sent it to Leota.

RW: Didn’t know Vigilante worked as a busboy 🤯

LA: Oh god, is he being weird? Want me to pick you up?

RW: Nope. I’ve got a plan. TTYL.

Rose watched as Adrian shuffled around the restaurant, keeping an obvious eye on her. When her waiter, Taylor, brought her the bill and tried to make small talk by lightly flirting, she caught Adrian glaring from the kitchen.

She paid and left a generous tip before walking out, deciding to wait by the back exit where she’d noticed his car parked. Leaning casually against it, she scrolled through her phone while waiting for him to clock out.

When Adrian finally clocked out, his heart dropped seeing Rose leaning against the Vigilante-mobile. She swiped on her phone, not sparing him a glance as he cautiously walked over to her.

“So, Adrian Chase, huh? And here I thought Vigilante had a weird and obscure job like teaching kids Karate or some shit.”

His blood ran cold. “Are you stalking me? Who put you up to this? Economos? It was Economos, wasn’t it? That motherfucker!” He knew Economos could be a dick sometimes, and he also knew Economos had connections, but this was such a new low! Then he thought it over for just a second, the gears turning exponentially fast. “Holy shit! That fucker is a genius!” Could Economos really have answered his prayers by giving him a nemesis?

“What the hell are you talking about?” She asked, looking up at him in confusion. Playing dumb would get her nowhere with him.

Adrian wasn’t convinced. Looking around nervously, Adrian lunged towards her, pushing her against the side of the car. A cold blade of a knife pressed lightly against her throat as he loomed over her, his mismatched energy equal parts menacing and awkward. He leaned in,“You know, I’ve always dreamed of having an arch-nemesis, I’m glad Economos set this up!” he said, almost giddy despite the tension and her confusion. “Ok, I’ll let you live, maybe we could have this epic rivalry. Like Batman and the Joker. Or Batman and Catwoman if we decide to date. Ooh or He-Man and Skeletor, they kinda have a homoerotic thing going on…”

Rose’s expression didn’t shift, even with the knife at her throat. She was more amused than anything. Calmly, she exhaled, and grabbed his wrist in a fluid motion, twisting it expertly until the knife clattered to the ground. She spun him around, pinning him against his own car with his arm bent awkwardly behind his back. He squirmed and whimpered weakly, trying to break out of her old, and almost making her laugh. She barely exhorted an ounce of energy.

“Jesus Christ, do you just jump to murder when someone eats at your crappy restaurant?” she asked, leaning in close to his ear.

He took slight offense to that, “First of all, Fennel Fields is a quality establishment…kinda! And second…Ow, ow, ow! Okay, fine, maybe I overreacted! But I was suspicious of what you were doing!”

Rose squeezed his hand tighter, “I was eating food! I mean sure, I thought it’d be fun to mess with you, and I was right.” Letting out a dry laugh, she finally released his arm. He spun around to face her, rubbing his wrist. 

He narrowed his eyes, “You’re really not here to kill my friends or here to by nemesis?”

Rose rolled her eyes and smiled, “You and your friends are safe. For now.”

Before Adrian could respond, Taylor and another coworker appeared. “Hey, is he bothering you?” Taylor asked.

Rose rolled her eyes. “We’re fine. Thanks.”

“You sure? We can walk you to your car,” Taylor pressed.

Rose, growing irritated, looped an arm around Adrian’s. “My boyfriend here has got me covered.”

“He’s your boyfriend?” Taylor asked incredulously as Rose nodded with a smirk.

“Yep,” Rose said sweetly, pulling him closer. She leaned in, planting a kiss on his lips, leaving Adrian completely flustered. “Take me home, babe.” She caressed his cheek, then sauntered to the passenger side of his car and waited for him to unlock the door.

Clearing his throat, he shuffled after her and grinning towards Taylor. “Yeah, that’s my girlfriend. She’s extremely tired from…from giving birth. We put it up for adoption…Hot girl bummer.” Despite being confused, Rose hid the confusion by nodding sadly.

“Dude, what’s up with you getting your girlfriend pregnant?” Taylor asked, shaking his head and walking away with the other coworker in tow.

“Do I even want to know?” Rose asked as he unlocked and opened her door.

“My coworkers ask a lot of questions, I usually just say the first thing that comes to my mind,” he said while getting into the car. “So where to, m’lady?”

“Anywhere is fine. This town is boring as fuck.” She replied.

Pulling out of the parking lot, he had a great idea, “We could watch Fargo at my place, I finally have season 4 on DVD.” He suggested.

“Um, sure, I’ve never seen it.” She told him honestly. She listened to him enthusiastically recite everything he knew about the show, every character that he loved, what nights it came on, and how excited he was when season 5 premiered. “I’ve never really met a lot of people that still watch cable or DVDs really.”

Confused, he looked towards her momentarily, “No one watches cable? How do they watch tv? Do you think Aliens secretly broadcast different shows to people? It’d be really awesome if aliens could broadcast every season of Fargo in one sitting.” Rose genuinely laughed, confused on how they got to the topic of aliens. Adrian was quite the conversationalist.

“There are aliens that do that, they’re called Netflix and Hulu!” Rose joked in a mock spooky voice. Wide eyed, Adrian looked at her in shock.

“Really?” He asked with hope in his voice.

Laughing at his naivete, “No, I’m joking,” she told him, looking out the window. Sulking at the realization of lack of alien communication through tv shows, he took this time to glance at her — mentally taking a note to understand her humor.

[pluck-heartstrings]

Helloooo I'm new to your blog and medieval times au (absolutely love it, I just bindged the fic and can't wait for your next beautiful chapter 👀) so I don't know if this has been asked yet but what if it was swapped where sun liked the handler and moon liked the princess? Like would moon treat the princess how he treats the handler in the original au? Same with sun? I'm so curious lol

Hello Anon! Welcome to Castle Faz! Thanks so much for reading! You came in at a good time, this week's chapter is a real treat (imo). And nobody's asked that question to me yet! If Moon liked the Princess instead of the Handler he'd go right to the Knights for advice. Even before asking things like 'can we feel love' he'd dive headfirst into trying to be chivalrous. He'd be a bit more cautious in attempting to woo the Princess, his greatest fear is being decommissioned or a factory reset. He'd be subtle at first, bonding over their connection with music, but he'd freeze up before going any further. The Princess, of course, would just assume that's part of his personality. If Sun liked the Handler he'd be LOUD ABOUT IT. Cute names, funny jokes, lots of presents that he made himself. He'd constantly try to get them to stay after hours and spend extra special time with him, to the point of maybe going too far and making some accidents happen on purpose, leading to the Handler staying late/overnight. He'd be vocal about his affections, and the Handler would figure it out a lot faster. Lots of touching and holding. They're so small, after all.