#but . that video is almost 2 years old now and no sign of her anywhere

[sonknuxadow]

we still don't know who that random tailstube human is . man

[megan-loves-surveys]

#41.

The Last Person You Kissed What is their name? Will. Gender? Male. Age? 55.

Are you together? Yep. How did you meet? We live on the same street, I stopped outside his house during a jog, he was also outside at that time and said hello to me and we got chatting. The rest is history! LOL. Did anything else happen or just kissing? Just kissing, cos I was leaving his house haha. What do they do for fun? Watch sports, go to the gym, travel, read books, watch TV, play video games etc. How long have you known them? Over 2 years. Do you have feelings for them? I love him so, so much. What color eyes do they have? Blue. Do they have tattoos? Yep, he has a few on his arms. Race? He's white. Are you friends on FB? Yes. When is their birthday? May 1.

The Last Person You Texted What is their name? Ngawari. What did you say? "Are you feeling any better?" How did they respond? She said yes. Who started the conversation? Me. Do you text them often? Yep all the time. Were emojis involved? No. Are you related to them? No. When is the last time you saw them in person? About a week and a half ago. What do you do when you're hanging out? We mostly go to the gym, to dinner and shopping. How tall are they? About 5'6" I think. Have you ever hooked up with this person? No. Are you mad at them? No. Did you go to school together? Yes. What time did you text them? It was this morning around 8am. What color hair do they have? Black.

The Last Person You Saw In Person What is their name? Margaret, it's my Mum. Where were you? At home. Did you go anywhere together? No, I'd just come home from work lol. Do you live together? Yes. Do they have any piercings? She has her ears done twice. What kind of accent do they have? Kiwi. Are they ticklish? Dunno xD What is their best personality trait? She's so funny and kind. Are they single or in a relationship? Single. Have you known them more than 5 years? Well, it's my Mum, so what do you think? LOL. What's a strange quirk they have? Hmm... What is their sexual orientation? Straight. What is their favorite sport? Wrestling. And she likes football/soccer too. Do they play any instruments? No. What are their parents' names? My Grandma's name was Jean, and I'm gonna be honest and say I don't know what my Granddad's name was cos I never met him and don't really know much about him :( How old are they? 73. What's their sign? Pisces. What kind of car do they drive? None.

The Last Person You Were Mad At What is their name? I guess Will hahaha. What did they do to make you mad? It was dumb, I was texting him, he was reading them but not replying xD Then later on I asked him if he'd been busy and he said no, he was just sitting around, so why didn't he reply to me? LOL. Are they mad at you also? No. What is their middle name? Matthew. Male or female? Male. How often do you get mad at them? Hardly ever seriously, only about dumb stuff like the above. Are they your friend? Yes, and my boyfriend. Are they your friend now that they've made you mad? I was only mad at him for like half an hour lol. Did you go to school together? No. Before now, when was the last fight or falling out you had? Pffft, I can't remember. Are they attractive? So much, it hurts. How often do you see them? Almost everyday cos we live on the same street, so it's super easy to go to each other's houses. Do they have freckles? No. Are they overweight? No, he's in super good shape. Do they wear glasses? No. Are you close to any of their relatives? Not really, but I do get along really well with his son. Do they drink a lot? Some, but not a lot. How long have you known them? Over 2 years. Have you ever held hands with this person? Yes.

The Last Person You Got A Facebook Notification From What is their name? Robert. What is their profile pic? A car lol. Are you friends in real life also? Yes. What was the notification for? He liked one of my posts. What race are they? White. Age? I think he's 34 or 35. Will you see this person today? No. What is their favorite band/musician? No idea. Do you have their phone number? No. Have they ever given you a gift? Does buying my ticket for a wrestling show count cos he lost a bet against me count? HAHAHA. Are they old enough to drink? Yes. How did you meet? We're both wrestling fans and posted on a NZ wrestling page, I introduced him to one of our local companies and he came along to a show. Are they married or engaged? Neither. Do they have kids? No. What kind of stuff do they usually post on FB? He barely posts anything. What is their best physical quality? Dunno. Are they good at spelling? Not really. Have you ever heard them sing? No. What type of movies do they like? No clue.

First five songs on your shuffle.

Spice Girls - Last Time Lover

Little Mix - Not A Pop Song

Charli XCX - Set Me Free

Clea - Stuck In The Middle

Namie Amuro - Sexy Girl

Have you seen #1 in concert? I wish. Do you own any albums by #2? Which ones? I own them all! Which song is your favorite by #3? That song lol. I've played it over 500 times! Are #4 and #5 similar in genre or different? They're both pop songs, but otherwise nothing like - Clea is a ballad while Namie is upbeat. Which of these five would you most like to see live? The only one I could would be Charli cos Namie is retired, Clea split up close to 20 years ago now, Little Mix are on a long hiatus and Spice Girls tour rarely and when they do it's never outside the UK. But Charli will never tour NZ, so I guess none of them xD Which do you think has the most meaningful lyrics? Little Mix or Namie from what I've read of her translations. Does anyone else know you listen to #2? Definitely lol. Would you recommend any of these to other people? Sure, if they like the genres and would be interested. Which one is your favorite song? I love them all, but Last Time Lover is in my top 5 most played on last.fm so I pick that one.

Five pieces of clothing you have on.

Purple Seth Rollins sweatshirt

Blue shorts

Black tights

Grey winter socks

Grey ugg boots

Where did you purchase #1? WWEShop.com lol. I got for super cheap cos I bought it during the American summer when they were trying to get rid of them, which is good for me cos that's winter where I live. When did you buy #2? I have no idea what shop they're even from let alone when I got them lol. Is item #3 visible to the public typically? Yes. What is the most expensive item of the five? The sweatshirt even though it was on sale, cos originally it cost about 60 bucks. Second is the ugg boots, they were 40 bucks. Do any of your friends wear similar clothing? Yes.

What was the highlight of your week? The week just started cos today is Monday. So my highlight is getting the email that my Converse knee-hi's shipped YAYYYY.

Whose car were you in last? My Dad's.

When is the next time you will kiss someone? Next time I see my boyfriend, which likely will be tomorrow.

What color shirt are you wearing? Purple.

How long is your hair? Past my shoulders.

Are you good looking? Somewhat.

Last movie you watched? No idea.

Who were you with? -

Last thing you ate? Potato wedges and a muffin.

Last thing you drank? Water.

When was the last time you had your heart broken? Hmm...

Who came over last? My boyfriend.

Are you happy right now? Yes.

What did you say last? Not sure, but I was talking to my Mum.

Where is your phone? It's on the charger right now lol.

What color are your eyes? Green.

Are you left-handed? Yes.

Spell your name without vowels: Mgn.

Do you have any pets? No.

Favorite vacation? I can't decide, I love all of them xD

What do you dislike currently? My new glasses are leaving marks on my nose cos I'm not used to them yet. Grrrr.

What are you listening to? Charli XCX - Set Me Free

If you could have one thing right now what would it be? A billion dollars.

What is your favorite scent? Fresh bread or that smell after it rains.

Who makes you happiest? Lots of things.

What were you doing at midnight last night? Playing a video game.

When is your birthday? July 13. It's next weekend and I don't want to get another year older lol.

Who has the same phone as you? Nobody I know personally but I'm sure there's loads cos I have an iPhone 14 lol.

Last time you went swimming in a pool? Oh god, years ago.

Do you read your horoscope? On occasion, for fun.

Where was the last place you bought something? Online it was the Australian Converse store, in person it was Coffee Club when I bought lunch lol.

How do you feel about your hair right now? It's great.

Do you bite your nails? No.

Do you have any expensive jewelry? My Pandora charm bracelet has hundreds of dollars of charms on it by this point.

What is the best physical feature about the last person you kissed? His entire face, he's got that silver fox look going on, he's so handsome <3

How long have you had a Facebook, if you have one? I think since 2010.

How fast have you driven a car? -

Have you ever smoked? Yes.

What was or is your favorite subject in school? Computers/IT and Legal Studies.

Do you have Verizon? -

What type of boy or girl do you usually fall for? Guys who look like Jon Moxley cos my boyfriend looks like him if he was in his 50's LOL.

Do you have any hidden talents? Dunno.

Favorite song? LOADS.

Do you like to sing at all? Sure but I'm not good xD

Dream job? Traveling and reporting on it.

Where does most of your family live? Auckland and the UK.

Are you an only child or do you have siblings? Only child.

Would you consider yourself to be spoiled? Probably.

What was the first thing you thought when you woke up? "Wonder how long till my alarm goes off?" (it was about half an hour lol)

Do you drink alcohol? Yep.

Know any other languages? I wish.

Ever write a coded message? No.

Have you ever been IN a wedding? Yes, when my Dad got married - I was in the wedding party and was his witness when they signed the marriage license.

Do you like your handwriting? No, it's ugly.

Did you take a nap today? No.

Who has the same birthday as you? Loads of people lol. The best is my friend Logan, who is an hour older than me and we were born in the same hospital!

Ever met anyone famous before? Yep. The most famous is probably John Cena.

Do you want to be famous one day? Sure.

Any pet peeves? Loads.

Are you multitasking right now? Yes.

Do you like Britney Spears? Love her! Her discography fucking rules and I'm so glad she got free of her Dad. I hope she's happy and doing well.

What is your least favorite chore? Anything to do with the bathroom.

Last place you drove your car? -

Ever been out of the country? Yes.

Where were you born? Auckland.

Could you handle being in the military? Fuck no.

What is your average cell phone bill? I'm on a plan, it's the same price every month lol.

Who are you thinking about right now? Britney Spears, cos of that question before lmao.

When was the last time you laughed REALLY hard? Today at work, one of my coworkers was dealing with this ridiculous client and was telling the rest of us the details lol.

How many pairs of shoes do you own? I own almost 20 pairs of Converse, and a bunch of others.

Are your toes always painted? No.

How many piercings do you have? None.

What are you doing today? I had work, and now I'm at home.

Have you ever been gambling? Yes.

When was the last time you updated your theme? ?

Do you like rollercoasters? I both like and don't like them.

Have you ever been to Disneyland or World? No.

Do you have a favorite cartoon character? Mr Burns from The Simpsons.

Last thing you cooked? Haha me cooking, funny.

How’s the weather? It's dull AF, windy and cold.

Do you e-mail? Who doesn't?

What’s the stupidest thing you ever did with your cell phone? Forgot I was holding it when I went to lock the front door and it fell on the concrete and the screen completely smashed lmao. I felt so fucking stupid xD

Last time you were sick? In May, I had Covid. It fucking sucked.

What states have you lived in? -

Do you wish you could move? Kinda.

Where were you this time last year? In exactly the same place, lol.

What is your dream car? Dunno.

Have you ever wanted someone you can’t have? Oh, for sure.

If you could be anywhere right now where would it be? NYC.

Are you happy with your life? Mostly.

Does it annoy you when people make their default of them kissing someone? Who cares, they can put what they like. Are there any names you can think of that just go well together? Hmm. Do you enjoy museums? Love them. Have you ever met anyone famous? Yep. Can you describe the scariest dream you can remember? A toss-up between the one with the giant spider taking over my room, and the one where a huge tidal wave hit the building I was in and I drowned in it. Have you ever been to a mint where they make money? No. Do you ever get really, really hyper? I can. Are you left or right-handed or ambidextrous? Lefty. What's your favorite subject at school? - Do you ever use Yahoo! Answers, and for seriousness or for trolling? - Have you ever stepped on a thumb tack? Probably? Do you have a username you use for everything, or does it change for each site? I usually use Mox Girl or weatherwarden, depends when I signed up to the site lol. Are you in Miami, bitch? No lol. How did you break the last bone you broke? I got hit by a car. Joy. Have you ever used Nexopia? No. What's been the best year of school for you so far? My best year was... 2002. Do you have any disorders or disabilities? Kinda. Do you ever watch how-to videos? Depends. Do you enjoy trolling? No. Have you ever been to an emergency room and, if so, what for? Yep, see above about getting hit by a car. Also when I broke my femur as a kid. Which emoticon face do you use most often? xD Are you musically talented? No. How did you break the first phone you broke? None of my phones have ever broken, not even the one I mentioned above that fell on the concrete. The screen was smashed but it still worked, I used it till I could buy a new one LOL. Did you have a tree house when you were a kid? No. Have you ever been on vacation to a snow field? No. When you go on vacation, what mode of transport do you usually use? Planes cos I live on an island :P What's the worst show, in your opinion, on MTV? Don't watch it. What about the best? - Do you like Jason Derϋlo? I only like "Whatcha Say" lol. Are there any movies that just creep you out so much? Sure. Have you ever had a close encounter with a shark? No. Do you have any hotties on your walls? I have Mox, Seth & Roman on my walls, so yes definitely xD Do you ever wish dinosaurs came back to life? No, I've seen Jurassic Park lol. How many countries have you been to? 5 or 6 if layovers count lol. How many states have you been to in all the countries you've been to? In the USA I've been to... California, Nevada, Texas, Arizona, Illinois, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Florida, Washington DC, Maryland and Louisiana. 12! Not bad for a Kiwi lol. What's a song you heard long before it became popular and everyone liked it? Loads. Do you enjoy designing things? Not particularly. Do you know anyone who has gotten themselves into a serious accident? Yes. Can you play anything on the violin? No. Do you know what a rain check at stores is? Yes. Whose funeral was the last you went to? My Grandma's. Who got married at the last funeral you went to? ???? What do you think of excessively long names, and what about their shortenings? Who cares lol. Do you ever get hay fever? Yes. Do you know anyone with the last name Pilbeam? No. When you were little, did you have those magnet letters on your fridge? No. Have you seen the Techno Jeep video on YouTube? No. Does your house have a wood fire? No. Do you know what a Pibgorn is? No clue. Can you learn the lyrics of a song by ear, or do you have to search them up? By ear usually. Do you like the name Amy? Not really. Have you ever gotten an x-ray? Loads. How about a brain scan? No.

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 300: Days of Our Todorokis

Previously on BnHA: Hawks was all “hey Jeanist, wanna go on a road trip with me to my mom’s house?” Jeanist was all “you know it,” and so they hopped into Jeanist’s jercedes and took off. Hawks took a nap and had a flashback to his Dickensian childhood living in a abject poverty with his jerk mom and jerk dad, thinking heroes were make-believe until one day Endeavor arrested his dad and Baby Hawks was all “OH SHIT.” And then he saved a bunch of people, and the HPSC was all “what do we have here,” and blah blah blah, you know the rest. Back in the present, Hawks was all “well my life is currently in shambles, but on the plus side there’s no one bossing me around anymore so that’s pretty cool,” and then decided he was going to talk to Endeavor. Fandom was all “I can’t believe Hawks would side with his childhood hero over the man who burned his wings off and posted a video calling him a violent murderer who took after his abusive dad,” so that was fun and stuff. I can’t wait to see what piping fresh takes this new chapter will bring.

Today on BnHA: Our old friend Carbonation Carl tries to loot a Starbucks and gets his ass kicked by a senior citizen. Society is all “YEAH, WE’RE REALLY STARTING TO GET SICK OF THIS SHIT.” Old Man Samurai is all “this room won’t stop me because I can’t read it” and abruptly decides to retire, which, fun fact, is literally THE LEAST HELPFUL THING ANYONE HAS EVER DONE. Anyway so then a bunch of other punkasses follow suit, and while I won’t say that I’m actually starting to root for Stain to kill some peeps, just for the record I’m not not saying that either. Back in the hospital, Endeavor cries some tears because his life sucks, and then is confronted by his entire family, LED BY QUEEN REI, FIRST OF HER NAME, BACK IN BUSINESS AND LARGE AND IN CHARGE. Rei is all “fuck feeling sorry for yourself, we have a rogue Murder Son on the loose” and I swear to god I have never felt so alive.

so here we go! and just for the record, even though the last two chapters have been phenomenal, I don’t necessarily have any sky-high expectations for chapter 300, mostly because chapters 100 and 200 consisted of Mei Boobs, and Toadette and her horrific quirk lmao. so go ahead Horikoshi, what are you gonna pull out of your hat for this one

oh, back to this stuff again. sob

I guess there was only so much time we could spend having hospital antics and exploring Hawks’s past before we got back to dealing with the whole “the world has gone to absolute shit” issue huh, lol

omg

what’s with these bizarrely cute Noumus. why do I want to pet them

so the narrative text is going on about how people have been super paranoid about the Noumu ever since the USJ incident a year ago. so yeah, I guess the fact that there are now a bunch of them confirmed to be running around is really freaking people out even on top of everything else

wtf is happening here

what did this poor lil glass ever do to anyone. r.i.p.

OH MY FUCKING GOD

SODA SAM IS BACK ON THE LAM

tsk tsk tsk. my man has graduated from snatching purses to raiding cafes. going after that big money. this man has no business sense whatsoever lmao

OH BUT WATCH IT NOW!!

OH SNAP THE PEOPLE ARE FIGHTING BACK. WHATCHA GONNA DO NOW SAM

THIS MAN IS 172 YEARS OLD AND HE’S NOT HERE TO PLAY GAMES!!

WTF IS HE LIGHTING THIS THING ON FIRE OR SOME SHIT. GETTEM GRANDPA YEAHHHH HE’S CHARGING AT EM YEAHHHHHH

lmao so that was fun. and now we’re cutting to Wash!! omg. look at him

he’s so dedicated. too bad you don’t have a car like Best Jeanist. probably takes a while when you’re just running everywhere

you see?? you were too slow!!

NOOOO, GRANDPA. he defeated Pepsi Pete, but lost his life in the process. this is too tragic

anyway so the good news is that the cafe has been saved! but the bad news is, there really isn’t much of a cafe left. huh. I guess that’s one of the reasons why people are supposed to get a license to use their quirks like this

oh snap and now everyone is coming outside, and they’re none too happy to see poor old Wash over here

seriously Wash, get a bicycle or something. also the way this guy is gesturing so dramatically with his hand in this sort of “YOU SEE!! YOU SEE WHAT HAPPENS!!” manner is sending me

OH MY GOD

HE SPEAKS. DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS. IT MEANS JEANS PUNS ARE YESTERDAY’S NEWS, FOLKS!! MAKE WAY FOR THE LAUNDRY PUNS. CAN’T WAIT TO WATCH THIS ALL... UNFOLD

“the heroes had dwindled away” okay real talk you guys, it is literally only a matter of time before they press-gang the children into picking up their slack. I still don’t know how to feel about that, but it is happening one way or the other regardless. Child Soldiers 2 Electric Boogaloo. wonder if we’ll see a rise in vigilante action as well

OHO WHAT’S THIS? THIS IS A CHAPTER OF GRANDPAS HUH

-- no fucking way

WOW. WOW. WOWWWWWW

wow. so he didn’t do a fucking thing while the rest of the top ten were being turned into red mist in the previous arc, and now that it’s all over and they need his help more than ever, he decides... THAT IT’S TIME TO RETIRE. holy shit. “fuck you” doesn’t even begin to cover it my guy. you stand there and soak up those boos you coward

ohhhhhhh shiiiiit you guys. oh shit

the “I am not here” breaks my fucking heart for real though y’all. oh man. everything he worked for is gone just like that

(ETA: okay so a couple of the takes I’ve seen on this make it seem like All Might is somehow the bad guy here?? “this is what happens when society puts a bunch of glorified cops on a pedestal”, “finally the cracks in hero society are showing”, etc. etc. so, just a friendly reminder that this isn’t happening because of too much trust and a lack of critical thinking; this is happening because the villains killed all the heroes and broke a bunch of murderers out of jail. it’s happening because an organized league of terrorists succeeded in terrorizing, and so society is now understandably awash in fear and panic. like, it’s just wild to me that AFO is RIGHT FUCKING THERE, and yet week after week fandom still has their “IT’S ALL THE HEROES’ FAULT” signs still up on their lawns. BUT WHATEVER, MOVING ON.)

also though, so exactly how much time is passing here now? I wanted to go straight back to the hospital and see what happens with Deku and the Todorokis. please don’t tell me we’re jumping ahead sob. my aaaaangst

OH SHIT

STAIN. LISTEN UP BUDDY. I KNOW WE’VE HAD OUR DIFFERENCES, AND I STILL DESPISE YOU FOR CRIPPLING TENSEI AND TRYING TO KILL MY BEST BOY TENYA. BUT AS IT HAPPENS, THERE ARE ONE OR TWO OTHER HEROES OUT THERE NOW WHO I WOULDN’T MIND YOU PAYING A VISIT I’M JUST SAYING

LOL BUT IT ACTUALLY ISN’T THIS MAN, FFFFFF

sob. yeah I was talking about Old Man Samurai actually but YEAH. HEY THERE ENJI

also is this entire hospital actually run by characters from Super Mario Bros though. first Yoshi and now this guy, come the fuck on that is not a coincidence

lmao they stuck him in another one of these cavernous creepy hospital rooms

wtf is it with Horikoshi and these giant fucking rooms lately. Kacchan’s in chapter 298, then Tomie’s colossal house furnished with like one table and a TV, and now this. and the weirdest thing about it though is that “huge space with nothing to fill it up” is like the exact opposite of what you’ll usually find in Japanese homes lol

so now Enji is just sitting there thinking things like “my head is fuzzy” and “I’m alive” lmao okay. not quite all there yet, huh. I’ll give you a minute

I’m so fucking curious as to who his first visitor is going to be omg. either way it’s going to be interesting af, and either way fandom is probably going to feel some way about it but OH WELL

okay now his thoughts are getting more coherent! and he’s remembering Touya, and feeling regret for freezing up and forcing Shouto to deal with everything instead

!!! OH HERE GOES BRACE YOURSELVES Y’ALL IT’S ABOUT TO GET SPICY

NO TOUYA PLEASE DON’T CRY HONEY NO PLEASE

ohhhhhhh man

okay, I mean I didn’t expect you to, but so instead then you’re just going to do... what? lie there and wallow in regret and self-pity for the rest of your life? son you know that’s not how we deal with our problems here in Shounen

though also, I totally do get it though. honestly, thinking on it, I probably would have been disappointed with any other response. but so this is where the rest of his family (including his adopted son) come into play now though, because like it or not they’re all in this thing together. and so friends, I am once again asking you WHO IS GOING TO BE THE ONE TO VISIT ENJI FIRST

AHHHHHHH

KRANCH!!!! OMG AND THE OTHERS ARE SO TINY NEXT TO HIM THAT I ALMOST DIDN’T SEE THEM AT FIRST. IT’S BECAUSE THEY’RE TWENTY MILES AWAY ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THIS REGULATION HOCKEY RINK OF A ROOM

holy shit I’m so excited lkjlklhlglkasdsjldfk

SDKFJLSKHLKJL

the way she has him by his collar lmaoooo. “lol nah you’re not going anywhere pal.” damn straight, siblings have to be ride or die in situations like this. banding together for survival. strength in numbers

OH MY STARS I’M JUST WARNING YOU NOW THAT I’M ABOUT TO DISSECT EVERY LAST REMAINING PANEL OF THIS CHAPTER PROBABLY YOU GUYS. WE COULD BE HERE A WHILE

love how Fuyu has absolutely no idea how to segue into THE SINGLE MOST AWKWARD CONVERSATION SHE’S EVER HAD, so she just GOES FOR IT in pure small talk mode like they’re meeting up for brunch somewhere

I KNOW IT’S A SMALL THING, BUT I APPRECIATE THAT THE FIRST THING ENJI ASKS IS WHETHER THEY’RE OKAY

lastly while I can’t wait for more of this delicious Natsu angst, I also just have to say that Enji has as much reason to cry right now as anyone on the planet. you can’t deny that being confronted by your not-dead-but-you-thought-he-was-dead son who’s all “SURPRISE DAD I GREW UP TO BE A MASS MURDERER AND I HATE YOU AND EVERYTHING IS ALL YOUR FAULT AND NOW I’M GONNA MAIM YOUR OTHER KID” with a side order of “EVERYONE HATES YOU AND SOCIETY IS CRUMBLING AND NOTHING WILL EVER BE GOOD EVER AGAIN” is enough to bum pretty much anyone out. there’s a Pagliacci the Clown joke here somewhere. BUT DOCTOR, I AM THE NUMBER ONE HERO

oh man lol he is seriously falling apart

damn. like you guys, I’m sorry, go ahead and cancel me, but I do feel compassion for the man. it’s therapeutic for me to see an abuser actually feel remorse and be truly sorry and want to change and want to make it up to his family. and it’s also compelling as fuck to read a narrative about a family that’s trying to grapple with that, because let me tell you straight up, as someone who’s done a version of that song and dance -- it is exhausting. it is a piping hot mess. it’s a gigantic mishmosh of extremely volatile emotions that all somehow all contradict one another. love, hurt, hope, anger, betrayal, resentment, attachment, longing. it’s something you can both be desperate for and also want nothing at all to do with. and attempting to portray all of that and write about it is a monumental task, and one which Horikoshi has done so, so delicately thus far, and damn but I appreciate it. anyway, so I’m here and I’m ready for my latest helping of Todoroki Fam Feels you guys

GASP

oh man. OHMANOHMANOHMAN. CAN IT REALLY BE. IS THIS THE REDEMPTION ARC OF CHAPTERS 100 AND 200???

LMAO SHE’S ALL “WE ALL FEEL BAD YOU JACKASS STOP CRYING ABOUT IT”

LAY INTO HIM REI!! SORRY ENJI YOUR PITY PARTY HAS BEEN CANCELLED IN FAVOR OF A “SO WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU GONNA DO ABOUT IT” PARTY COURTESY OF QUEEN ELSA OVER HERE. THE PEOPLE TOOK A VOTE AND WE WANT LESS WHINING AND MORE ACTION

oh my god look at this lady folks

NOTE THE HAIR BLOWING IN THE NONEXISTENT WIND. NOW WE KNOW WHERE SHOUTO GOT THIS POWER FROM

(ETA: btw guys, seeing Rei handle this crisis like an absolute champ despite everything she’s been through is everything, though. I’m reminded of Hawks’s line last week about people sometimes unexpectedly finding liberation when they’re backed into a corner. like things may be shit but goddammit her kiddos need her.)

THE CHAPTER IS ALREADY ENDING SOB, IT’S ONLY A 17-PAGER THIS WEEK, BUT GODDAMN WHAT A WAY TO CLOSE

oh my god. oh my god oh my god. AND FUCK YOU HORIKOSHI FOR CUTTING IT OFF THERE sob. it’s like each week the wait for the next chapter becomes more painful. the Todofam is about to get real, and on top of that Hawks is gonna crash the party at some point down the line, and on top of that we’re still waiting for Kacchan to have his own heartfelt discussion about What The Fuck Are We Supposed To Do Next with his best friend who’s currently in a coma. all I want to do with my life is read about these three things, and all I can do is simply wait as they are portioned out in agonizing, addicting little installments every week

anyway! tune in next time as we answer the question of whether or not fandom will finally run its train of logic all the way through to its natural conclusion and somehow manage to cancel Noted Abuse Apologist Todoroki Fucking Rei. don’t act like it can’t happen. you all know nothing is sacred lol. anyways but I’m ready for anything lol, bring it

[wellthatwentbetterthanexpected]

We’re brothers now

“I don’t care Sam” Bucky said, placing a wet cloth over his shivering partner, “we’re brothers now, this is what we do”

Or - Sam and Bucky are on a mission when Sam comes down with a fever and Bucky takes care of him, and Sam whinges about being a grown ass man.

Set after the events of Falcon and the Winter Soldier

Nothing could ever be simple nowadays. This was meant to be a simple recon mission. In and out they said. No more than 48 hours they said.

Well it was now hour 49 and Bucky was still sat in a dodgy motel. Sam was sprawled out on the bed, blanket cocooning him whilst he shivered violently. They were meant to have left a few hours ago, but when Bucky woke up to his partner delirious from fever and coughing like a 90 year old asthmatic life long smoker he knew they weren’t going anywhere that day, except may the hospital if the said fever doesn’t break soon.

Bucky sighed for the hundredth time that morning as he got up to soak the towel in cold water again, returning to the bedside to carefully run the cooling towel over Sam’s sweat soaked brow and neck. Reaching for the thermometer again he checked his partners temperature, the same way he’s been doing every 30 minute for the last 4 hours.

103.8 - shit.

He knew he had to go and get something to bring Sam’s fever down, but he didn’t want to risk Sam waking up alone. Last time he woke up he had no idea where he was, who Bucky was, or what they were doing in a dingy motel together. It took Bucky nearly 45 minutes of batting of Sam’s feeble attempts to fight him and calm explanation for Sam to get with it enough to know who he was and that he was safe. And when that realisation occurred he’d simply collapsed into Bucky’s arms, his body finally feeling secure enough to pass out. That was 2 hours ago, when his fever was only 102.5, so God knows what he’d be like when he came round this time.

Glancing at the clock, it was now 9am. The motel staff would be around now, and Bucky decided the risk was worth the benefit. He slowly and quietly stood up and slid out of the door, glancing back to his still sleeping partners, before heading down to the main desk. A young woman sat there, no more than 24. She eyed him up and down, the usual mix of intrigue and wariness.

“Can I help you?”

“Yes ma’m. Where’s the nearest shop that should stock something for a fever?” Bucky asked, smiling politely and making himself look as non threatening as possible.

“Well that would be at Gordy’s corner shop, but I have some on me here if you’d like? Save you the trip. We can here your... fellow roommate coughing from down the hallway. He sounds like he needs it.”

She hands him a packet of pills, which he accepts gratefully, his smile now genuine.

“Thank you,” he looks at her name tag, “Isabella.”

He walks back to the room, by the end of the corridor he can hear Sam hacking up a lung. He sped up a little, and as he entered the room he was surprised to find that Sam wasn’t in bed. Shutting the door behind him he looked around for the location of the hacking, and his eyes landed on Sam, crouched in the corner of the room, gun aimed straight at Bucky’s head. Fuck, he should have removed the ammunition the minute Sam showed signs of delirium.

Bucky slowly raised his hands in the air in surrender, trying to make himself as small and un-threatening as possible when you’re a massive, muscular, super soldier with a less than inconspicuous metal arm.

“Sam.”

“Who are you? Where am I?”

“Sam, it’s Bucky.” He said, trying to make eye contact with Sam, who was now attempting to stand. As he wobbled dangerously Bucky took a step towards him. Wrong move. Sam trained the gun so the aim was directly between his eyes.

“Where am I?” Sam repeated, his voice breaking as he fights back a cough.

“In a motel. In Chicago. With me, Bucky. We’ve just finished a mission and we were going to leave earlier this morning but you’re sick.”

Sam looked at him with fever glasses eyes, the cogs in his head turning as he tried to follow what was being said.

“Buck?” He asked after a moment, lowering the gun.

“Yeah bud, it’s me.” He replied, stepping across the room and removing the gun from Sam’s hand, emptying the bullets into a dresser draw.

Bucky placed his hands on Sam’s shoulders, guiding him back to the bed.

“Back to bed with you Cap, you need to take these pills then go back to sleep.”

Sitting Sam on the edge of the bed he passed him the glass of water from the bedside table, and pulled the pills out of his pocket, popping two into Sam’s outstretched shaking hand. He downed them in one before collapsing into the bed. Bucky lay the blanket over him, just about refraining from tucking him in like a child.

Sam was asleep almost instantly, worn out from his little half arsed assassination attempt on Bucky. Bucky moved the desk chair back across the room and placed it beside Sam’s bed, taking up the position he’d sat in ever since Sam’s temp had gotten me over 103. He opened his phone and put his headphones in one ear, and continued watching the YouTube videos that Steve kept sending him now he had so much free time, being retired and all.

No more than half an hour later, Sam started coughing. There was no ease into it, he was suddenly spluttering and hacking. He tried to push himself upright but he was coughing too hard. Bucky grabbed his arm and pulled him into the sitting position, keeping his grip on him to stop Sam simply falling over. With his metal arm he gently rubbed circles on Sam’s back, hoping to both reassure and ground the newly titled Captain America. He didn’t fancy another delirious attempted murder scenario. It took a few minutes but Sam was able to take some ragged breaths without coughing. He looked to Bucky weekly.

“You know who I am?” He asked.

Sam have a weak smile, “the pain in my ass that won’t go away?” He rasped, his attempt at humour squashed by another round of coughing.

Bucky handed him the cup of water, which Sam sipped gratefully before flopping back down onto the pillows. Bucky took this as a chance to grab the thermometer and shove it in his ear, earning a feeble glare from Sam.

“101.8, well that’s better. Not great, but better.” Bucky said.

Sam hummed a response, already falling back to sleep. Bucky used this as his chance to cool his partner down further. He went to the bathroom and wet the towel with fresh cold water, before returning to his bedside vigil. He wiped the sweat off of Sam’s brow and neck again.

“Buck I’m a grown ass man.”

“You’re sick.”

“You don’t have to do this, I’m not dying, I’m just sick.”

“I want to help. And I’m not 100% sure on the not dying thing yet you know, best to have someone keeping an eye on you.”

Sam groaned, “ Please just leave me be, this’ll be super embarrassing when I’m with it again.”

“I don’t care Sam” Bucky said, placing a wet cloth over his shivering partner, “we’re brothers now, this is what we do”

Sam huffed a little, but it was completely void of true indignity, as the cooling of the towel pushed him back into sleep.

Bucky sighed, picking his phone up once again. Maybe no was the time to investigate the ebook app he’d downloaded, as it seemed like they wouldn’t be going anywhere for a while.

[jxxvvxxkcrack]

Lee Jae Wook Vlive 21 June 2021

Stats

Total vlive viewers: 35675 Total likes: 2072339 Length: 1 hr 01 minute T-shirt: Unlock your life by Pars Co. https://www.parspars.com/product/unlock-your-life-rainbow-white-short-t-shirt/

He's on a diet now.

He threatened to turn off the Vlive a few times because of all the people who said they were not studying for their exams to watch it :P

He's growing out his hair now for the next project.

He had to ban requests for him to say fans' names in the middle since too many requests were pouring in for him to say their name. Don’t blame them lol.

Talking with fans

What is your next project? You should see articles about it soon Will you do more vlogs? It's difficult to do vlogs in the pandemic period since you need to wear a mask everywhere. What do you do in your free time? I eat a lot, sleep a lot, and exercise a lot. Can you donate your Jordan shoes to me? No I can't, and then launched into some anecdote about something about high school, which is unsubbed. When will you hold a fan meeting? Probably after the pandemic. "You're watching me at hagwon (cram school)? I will scold you!" And he did lol it was so cute. What do you do when you first wake up? A hot water shower, and then..? [unsubbed] Do you like overseas fans? Of course I do, I love my overseas fans. I'll come for you after the pandemic is over. Current favourite song: Recently, ‘Lost’ by Maroon 5 was released. It's the best. Will you do an online fan-sign event? That would be interesting! What's your MBTI? I haven't done it yet! Please do the MBTI! OK I will definitely do it! Can you do a bear heart? What's a bear heart? There's so much I don't know. Teleport vs being able to tell the future? This is an interesting question. I would choose to teleport. I live in the Gangnam area, and the traffic there is so bad! So I would choose 'Teleport'. (I didn't know he lived in Gangnam). Do you have a driver's license? Of course I do. Shoe size: 285mm Can you speak English? No, I can barely speak Korean well :P

-but in the middle he did say "Say hi to global fan" LOL-

Your favourite late night snack? Fried chicken, jokbal, and bossam. I spend a lot of money on food :P Would you date someone 7 years younger? 7 years younger? It's not a bad idea. I’m thankful (that someone 7 years younger likes me.) Would you date someone 7 years older? (laughs) It's a funny question. Why haven't you been seen anywhere in public? I don't go to many places, only to the gym and back to my home. Favourite snack: Goguma (sweet potato). It's sad, right? (Implying he's on a diet.) And then he randomly said he's tall but doesn't have good proportions (possibly someone asking why he exercises so much :P)

Do you like cats and dogs? I love them. I have a friend who has a shiba-inu called Chadol. It was so cute I went to his house every day to see his dog. You should eat more: You may not like me then! D: I'm studying Korean, study with me? I'm also trying to get better at Korean. Shall we do it together? (so flirty) Did you remove the mole on your neck? No, I didn't remove it. I won't remove it. What's your handphone wallpaper? It's a white wall with an orange stripe, somewhat Rothko-esque. He said he took it at his house's parking lot, and "It's pretty, isn't it?" Which celebrity friends do you have? (Playfully) 비밀 Do you like mint chocolate? I love mint chocolate. My friend told me not to declare this, and said that saying that I like it is a matter of life or death :P People say it tastes like toothpaste but it tastes nice to me! What colors do you like? Blue. Blue and dark colors. Isn't long hair uncomfortable? It is, but I will cut it one day. Your long hair looks cool: (Teasingly) I'm going to cut it soon~ Do you get along well with your elder sister?  Yes, I really like my relationship with her. Which of your characters is most like you? Lee Jang Woo from When The Weather Is Fine. (Is he that good in his studies? Lol. And then he said something about a unicorn, which I do recall seeing in the drama, I think he used "___ unicorn" to brag about himself to his younger sister :P) Jjajangmyeon vs bibimbap? This is really hard. Do I get to have soup with bibimbap? Favourite perfume: Can I say the brand? I guess it doesn't matter. Slow Dance by Byredo. It's my favourite perfume. Today's TMI: I woke up early and went to the gym. Do you ride your bike often? About 3 times a week? Oppa because of you I'm going to Chung Ang University: So you'll be my junior huh. (laughs) Oppa, can you close your left eye and point to your right cheek? (he obediently follows the prompt.. he’s really an actor lol) "You!! I almost fell for it! Gosh, my mum will pass out if she sees this." He revealed a two string bracelet on his left hand while adjusting the camera. Favourite dessert: Croffle? Croffle. I really like croffle. Current body wash: I'm using a body wash by Lush (only he says it as Lush-ee, which is just adorable.) Can you speak Japanese? I love animes but Japanese is so hard. I will study hard! When will you do a rap? I may try it one day. (I wonder if he knows about that old rap video floating around lol.) Dimples vs. Eyes: Eyes? I think he might be talking about his forehead wrinkles instead of eyes actually, so the translation is wrong. What animes do you like? He didn't answer, but said there are many animes on Netflix that he watches. Eating chimaek while watching the world cup? Eating chicken and beer sounds good but, my agency probably wouldn't like it. Can you say a line of Baek Kyung since it's been a long time? (playfully) I won't do it~ Iced americano vs. hot coffee: Iced americano. He said 'eoljuga', which roughly means 'I’ll drink iced Americano even if I freeze to death'. :P What app do you use most often? Naver? I have many things I need to look up :P Which of your parents do you resemble? Sometimes my mum, but sometimes my dad. Do you like kalguksu (knife cut noodle soup)? Yes, I love kalguksu and sujebi. Favourite ice cream flavour: Mint chocolate. (Bursts into laughter) Who do you like better - your mum or your dad: Omma. You thought I wouldn't answer, didn't you. (He has thanked only his sister and his mum in an award ceremony before lol. Poor Jaewookie appa) Oppa I'll date you: I'll reject your offer. (bursts into laughter again). Are you at the agency now? Nope. Please name the fanclub: This is hard. It (the fanclub) should go on forever, shouldn't it? Send an email to the agency. 5 year old Jaewookie vs 5 copies of Jaewook?: Of course 5 copies of Jaewook. One to exercise, one to work, one to stay at home and eat.. Do you dip or pour sauce for tangsuyuk? But, why would you pour water on fried food? I'll say dip. Jjajang vs. jjampong: That's hard! When working, jjajang. When resting, jjambong. *Nods sagely to himself* (Although he instinctively said 'jjampong' first). When moving house, jjajang. What message from fans cheered you up the most? It was this letter I got. It said "you make us happy when you're working hard, but don't work too hard." It cheered me up a lot. Soju vs. beer: Soju Cider (Sprite/lemonade) vs cola: Cola Do you eat pineapple on pizza? I think it tastes nice! Hawaiian pizzas. I also really like pineapple. Fall or spring? Fall. I really like spring too, but there are too many bugs. Small but definite happiness? (He understood the abbreviation immediately, which is sooo different from when the Running Man cast are introduced to any new lingo lol) When I bike, I don't drink any water. I have a routine; after biking, I run for about 6km, then I drink water. That water at the midpoint mark is so delicious. Oppa I like you, please scold me: Why would I scold you. I would compliment you :P Good job. Favourite boy group: BTS. They're so cool (safe answer!) Ramen vs. kimbap? Don't you eat them together? How tall are you? 187cm tall. Which variety show would you like to appear on he most? "I have never been on a variety show yet. Have you seen Kokkomu? When I watched Kokkomu I cried a lot. My tears came out like diamonds." lol. In reference to an earlier question. No idea what Kokkomu is. https://newsbeezer.com/koreaeng/kokkomu-which-was-just-popular-is-controversial-due-to-the-copying-of-the-youtube-channel/ Possibly this? Beef or pork? Pork How long have you been tall? I've always been tall. Then he gives a cheeky wink! Oppa can you go on on Knowing Bros? I'll have a hard time talking in banmal in front of all the sunbaenim. I'll do more Vlive in the future. *compromise* lol. Oppa kajimayo: If I don't leave, the staff can't leave work either :P Can you fill an hour (of Vlive?): Shall we fill an hour? Do you want to be in a play or musical? Of course I do. Plays require the best form of acting. What's the first thing you want to do when the pandemic is over? I want to go to a pork belly bbq place and eat comfortably without a mask. What's the worst part about acting? Every moment is hard. It's not an easy job. Why do you always wear 2 T-shirts? I like T-shirts but, but my sweat changes their color. I don't like that, so. Favourite overseas country? Filming Alhambra was my first time overseas. I didn't even take many photos. I want to send you T-shirts: Don't, don't! while vigorously shaking his head. (worried that his fans will spend money) What is your life movie? I really love Robin Williams. It's not my life movie, but I love the Dead Poets' Society. Did you really go to Alhambra? Back then, my role was really small, so I didn't really know what was going on, but (I did go to the palace? is what it sounds like.) Would you rather be 3m tall or have a 400mm shoe size? Wouldn't it be better to be tall? (what’s the point of having big feet?) Oppa don't go to the army: I have to go someday.. I still have a lot of time, and will work hard When will be our wedding? Am I getting married? (laughs) Pepsi or Coca cola: I like any cola. I'll go to the army for you: Andwae it will be hard! Although apparently it's not as hard as it used to be. Are your family members all as tall as you? Yes my family members are all tall too. What do you do on your free days? I'm a freelancer so I don't have free days.  How do you keep your skin looking so young? Lancome (he's now promoting Lancome). I came here right after a Lancome event. I really like Lancome. Tell me about your bracelet: I'll ask my stylist later :P When you come to Pohang I'll guide you!: I love gwamegi! (half-dried Pacific saury) Do you like to cook? I really like to cook. I love it so much even when people tell me not to cook, I will still cook. Oppa come to my school!: Which school is that? Tell me. Although I probably won't be able to read it. (cheeky smile). I'm really mean now, aren’t I. Favourite side dish? I like them all. Mokpo: Dodosolsollalasol was filmed in Mokpo. I ate aehobak jjigae (zucchini stew) there and it was amazing. Do Vlive at home? I'll figure out how to do it! I'll learn everything today. You use black and white hearts a lot on IG, what does it mean? It's the color of my tee. Just kidding, I just choose a color of heart that goes best with the photo. How much can you drink? Should I bluff? If I'm bluffing, when I drink alone at home, about 3 bottles? Just kidding, I get drunk after about 1.5 bottles (of soju). Favourite sports: Skiing, swimming, bowling. Was it hard to use a dialect in the Battle of Jangsari? Using a dialect was really hard. Can you do an IG live? I'm scared to do live - you can't make a mistake when all of you are watching. I have to be careful. Why aren't you seen in public? I answered that earlier, you are late. LOL. Your best dish? Western food? Something like risotto? Plans to film a movie? I want to but I should get offered first. Joking. Lol. I was told off for being late (the commenter above): Haha sorry.

Best fan questions/comments:

Live as a hamster or a ham forever?

Your pimples are so cute (mistranslation, she meant 'dimples'): "I have 4 dimples."

Don't smile, you'll give me a heart attack: I'm also having a heart attack seeing so many fans. I like it (that there are many fans on the vlive) but it's also scary. So cute.

Are you a microwave? You melted my heart: You're all so witty, jjinjjaru..

I'll make money. You just cook: You're so funny..

[skellebonez]

Smoke, Flasks, and Unfinished Tasks

Hey. So. Remember THIS fill from like... a week and a half ago? Because of the comments I received I decided to rewrite it as a multi-chapter fic. The first chapter has the same premise but is completely written (barring a couple lines) and has many new scenes. Like a hint as to where the trio is maybe?

AO3 Link!

Summary: It had been over a year since MK had become the Monkie Kid. Months since Mei formed an unlikely bond with the Monkey King. Fewer months since Red Son had defected from his parents and was desperate to prove to everyone he could change a second time. In all that time a routine was set, communication alleys were formed, and agreements were made. Things had been going well.

Now the trio was missing without a single clue to where they had gone. And they weren't the only ones.

Warnings: None for this chapter, but perhaps mind the tags on AO3 for future ones.

Chapter 1: Thunder and Lightning

They were late. They had made sure to remind him of their plans multiple times last night... and they were late.

Sun Wukong, The Monkey King himself, would have been starting to get angry if he wasn't so worried. He wouldn't be surprised if Mei was late, it wasn't odd for her get distracted by some new thing she wanted to show him and take the time to get it before coming by. But Red Son and MK as well? That wasn't normal. MK had only been late to training once, that had been during the entire incident with Macaque training tricking him (they don't talk about that anymore), but even then he wasn't this late. Not to mention Red Son's thickheaded determination to show off just how serious he was about joining their side. He'd made promise after promise and did his best to keep his word in attempt to impress them, even going as far as going far over and earlier than what he promised.

The three of them were supposed to come to Flower Fruit Mountain for the day. Some training for MK, video games with Mei, and Red Son just tagging along so someone could keep an eye on the new comer (by Red Son's own insistence). They never showed. Didn't even send him an e-mail. He'd waited almost a hour, a personal record for patience, but not a peep from any of them. Something was wrong.

That was why he found himself standing outside of Pigsy's Noodles in the middle of the day disguised as a human, tail wrapped around his waist as a "stylish belt". Though, in retrospect, a mysterious man with flawless eyeliner falling from the sky without a single injury was not the most inconspicuous way to arrive. He didn't take the time to think about that, instead entering the noodle shop with a hastiness in his step he couldn't hide.

"Welcome to Pigsy's Noodles, home of the lon-oh..." The chipper greeting from the shop owner was cut off, a mix of annoyance and confusion taking over the tone. Pigsy looked over the counter at him and the ever present Tang turned around in suit. "It's just you. Ain't you supposed to be not here? With the trio?"

"Yeah," Wukong started, laughing oddly as he rubbing the back of his neck. There was an awkwardness he wished he could get rid of, something that didn't really belong on him. But things had always been tense between him and his once-younger brother and the tenseness had only grown since their separation after the journey. After he trapped the Demon Bull King. After he vanished for 500 years... after he came back. "See, funny story about that! I was waiting for them and you know how impatient I am but I was doing my best to not be so I waited for almost an hour and they kinda never... showed up?"

"What do you mean never showed up?" Pigsy questioned carefully, coming around he counter and brandishing a ladle in one hand.

"They did leave pretty late," Tang offered quickly, awkward smile showing he could sense the tension between the two old friends. "Red Son was fixing some of the equipment in the kitchen, maybe they ran into a demon and are on their way to the island right now! Maybe you just... missed them?"

"Yeah!" Wukong agreed immediately, laughing harder to hide his worry. Tang didn't seem convinced by his own explanation but Wukong as more willing to believe that without question than think about what the alternative could mean. "Yeah, that's probably it! I'm sure they're just fine, but if it makes you feel better I'm going to take a look around. If they make it there before I do they're sure to come home when they realize I didn't wait for them. Yup, totally sure of it. BYE!"

He ran out the door, jumping on his cloud faster than anyone could follow and took off in the direction of his home. He didn't miss the odd frown on Pigsy's face at his overly quick reaction.

----------

They weren't anywhere he could see on the way to Flower Fruit Mountain. They weren't on the island or in any of the surrounding areas. There were no boats or any sign of a pogo ride on the staff on the sandy beach. There was just... nothing.

He only waited for another 10 minutes before the concern (not worry, he was not worried the three were very capable adults despite him thinking of them as his kids kids, one was even an ancient demon who nearly bested him centuries ago for Heaven's sake) took over once again and his somersault cloud was getting more distance this day that it had in years. He zipped back and forth over the ocean, looking for any sign of bodies people, boats, anything, and he breathed a sigh of relief when he found absolutely nothing in the calm and clear water. But this only raised more questions. They had left Pigsy's, there were witnesses, but had they made it to- Sandy! He was so focused on them coming by that he forgot how they would get there!

----------

"I'm sorry, elder brother," Sandy said with a frown. "They weren't going to come by today, see?" He held up his phone, way too small for his massive hands, a text from Mei reading "Took ur boat yestday, srry! Will return tmm! *heart heart heart cat*" Well. That at least explained how they were supposed to get there without going to Sandy.

The Monkey King, changed back to his usual form, took a half shaky breath and sipped the tea the fish demon had offered him the moment he opened the door. Mo sat in his lap, purring softly as he no doubt sensed the tension in the air. "Then where are they..?" He wondered out loud. He hadn't seen one of Sandy's boats anywhere, they stuck out like a big blue sore thumb just like his still-younger brother.

"I don't know," Sandy answered, standing and stretching before giving the shorter man a wide smile. "But I'll do anything to help!"

----------

He'd returned to Pigsy's shop immediately after that, not bothering to change back into his human disguise. That took so little energy and time but it was still energy and time he didn't want to waste. It had just started to sprinkle rain, the weather station having planned this for some time now. He had sent Sandy out to check all the waterways in the area, just to be safe, and he hoped that his search would be fruitless. He really hoped he sent Sandy on a wild goose chase...

"Are they back?" He demanded the second he opened the door, startling the 2 customers in the shop in addition to Tang and Pigsy. "Pigsy, Tang, did they come back?"

The dawning worry on the two men's faces was enough of an answer for Wukong to immediately run out, ignoring the shouts that followed him as he flew off again.

----------

It was starting to rain harder. They weren't at Mei's house.

----------

It was starting to downpour. He didn't see them at any of the food stalls.

----------

The downpour worsened. They weren't at the anti-gravity arcade.

----------

It was a torrential downpour. Red Son's apartment was empty.

----------

There was electricity in the air. They hadn't been taken to the hospital.

----------

Thunder and lightning. He carefully flew around DBK and PIF's hideout. He heard them talking about their next plan to "knock sense" into their son. They weren't there.

----------

It was when he was nearly struck by lightning, nothing that would have actually caused him real harm but would have hurt like he'd been hit by a truck, that Sun Wukong finally decided that he wasn't going to find the trio. Not like this. Running around without a plan was not helping. He wouldn't find his kids like this.

So he made his way back to Pigsy's, soaked to the bone and brain fuzzy. Numb almost, not from the cold but in a mental exhaustion he couldn't explain. He walked in with his head down, dripping icy water from his fur, and was greeting with an almost as cold hiss before he could say anything.

"Where are my kids, Wukong?"

He looked up and took in the sight before him. Pigsy, Tang, Sandy, and Mo were all gathered in the shop. He hadn't even noticed it was closed until that moment. Sandy had a towel over his shoulders, as did the little blue cat, and they sat sipping a bowl of hot broth each.

"You said they'd come home. So, where are they?"

Wukong grit his teeth, continuing to avert his eyes from the furious gaze of his once-brother. "Idon'tknow..."

"What was that?" Pigsy almost yelled, stepping forward to grab he tails of his soaked cloak to drag hi down to eye level. "You said they'd come home! Where the FUCK are my kids, Sun Wukong!?"

"I don't know!" He grabbed Pigsy's hands, not gripping them or moving to remove them just holding them, grip shaking as he tried to keep his tone level. "I don't know, Pigsy, I looked everywhere but... I couldn't..."

For a split second there was nothing but disbelief and fear in the shorter ancient's eyes and it hurt Wukong more than he thought it would. Far more than he prepared himself for. Everything from the entire day came forth to hit him like the lightning truck he barely missed and he collapsed to his knees, mental exhaustion finally taking it's toll and tears began to mix with the rain water running down his fur as he looked off into nothing. He came to the horrifying realization that he really had no answer.

"I don't know where they are Pigsy..."

----------

"You ok, bud?"

MK groaned as the Monkey King grabbed him by his arms and stood him up, brushing all the dirt from his clothes. Training had been going well, Red Son and Mei battling each other in the new Monkey Mech game as he continued to have his butt handed to him. But he had gotten a single hit in on his mentor, matching his last training session, and he looked so proud of him! "Yeah, we gonna go again?"

"Nah, I think making a new crater with your own body twice in one day is more than enough," Monkey King laughed out, guiding MK toward the small house he called home now. "Besides, I want to kick your butt in Monkey Mech too!"

"Hey! I'll totally kick your butt!"

"Prove it Monkie Man!"

Despite the lighthearted banter between them something just felt... off. MK couldn't quite put his finger on it... now that he really gave it thought...

Didn't the weather station call for rain today?

[limjaeseven]

Don’t Wanna Know (5/8)

VERSE 2: PART 5 OF 8

Pairing: Jinyoung X Jaebeom ft Seulgi of Red Velvet

Genre: Fluff, Angst

Word Count: 2,064

Summary: Jinyoung gets casted in his first mainstream movie and he wants to tell Jaebeom about it. The elder never picks up his phone.

Warning(s): Mentioned cancer, sad JJP

Jinyoung had hoped that they would stop ghosting each other after their fight in high school but that didn’t really happen. They had always bickered and argued, being complete opposites but after that first fight, Jinyoung didn’t think he could take anything like that ever again. He remembered those four months of ignoring Jaebeom because looking at his face hurt.

The words tore him apart, but what was worse was the way Jinyoung could see Jaebeom beating himself up. From the dark circles to the short tempered attitude, he knew that Jaebeom was hurting just as much as he was but the things that he said held Jinyoung back from comforting him. He wondered when things would get better and though they eventually did, it was a painful journey.

Their next time they didn’t talk to each other for a while happened after they graduated from college. They had been living in the same apartment for almost four years and had gotten good jobs at respectable firms, Jinyoung having signed with a small acting company and Jaebeom with a production house. Things were going well till Jaebeom told him he was in love.

Seulgi was her name, she was an intern at the production house and the most beautiful woman Jaebeom had seen. He spoke of her endlessly to Jinyoung, who just felt the strong urge to bury himself alive. Jinyoung had known he was in love with Jaebeom for years. It wasn’t even that he liked men, he just knew that he wanted no one but Jaebeom.

He remembers the first time he got her home, she was one of the nicest people Jinyoung had ever met, making it impossible for Jinyoung to hate her, and most importantly, she made Jinyoung happy. Jinyoung had never seen Jaebeom smile like that, like the weight that he forever carried on his shoulders had vanished and been replaced with a cloud.

They went out a lot, Seulgi never staying over mostly for Jinyoung’s benefit. She lived alone so Jaebeom spent most of his time at her apartment. Shared breakfasts with Jinyoung became texts letting him know that he’d spent the night at her house and driving together to work became apologies about needing to drop her somewhere.

Jinyoung hoped that it would fade, despite the fact that Jaebeom was happy, a selfish part of him wanted them to breakup, sending Jaebeom rushing back to him. The other part of him weighed down with guilt over those thoughts. It was a vicious cycle of jealousy and self-hatred that made Jinyoung feel like he was drowning.

The world came crashing down on Jinyoung when Jaebeom announced that they were moving in together. Jaebeom was leaving him for good, Jinyoung thought. He knew that he wasn’t actually going anywhere, they were still best friends and nothing would ever come between them but for Jinyoung’s brain it was a big red signal telling him that he wasn’t needed anymore.

“Isn’t it too fast, hyung? You’ve only been dating for six months” Jinyoung didn’t know if he was trying to reason with Jaebeom or himself.

“I barely come here anymore, half my clothes are in her wardrobe. I know it’s faster than usual but I think she’s the one, Jinyoungie” And Jinyoung believed his words. The look in his eyes told him that this was it, the woman he was going to marry, he could already picture them with two little kids in his head. It took everything for him to not fall to the floor from the sheer emotional exhaustion.

Packing was much easier than Jinyoung thought it would be, he hadn’t noticed the way that most of Jaebeom’s possessions were already gone. He didn’t know if it was ignorance or denial on Jinyoung’s part but Jaebeom had found someone he wanted forever. He had known that it wouldn’t be just the two of them forever, he knew that eventually they’d have to find their own paths in life but this was all too soon.

Jinyoung cried that night, as he sat on the floor of Jaebeom’s empty room. He couldn’t imagine living alone, even when Jaebeom wasn’t at home, Jinyoung could at least walk in there, smell his perfume on the clothes, fell his presence in the space but now it just felt sad.

They met less and less as time passed by, their lives packed with work and love for Jaebeom. Jinyoung moved into a smaller apartment closer to his workplace, unable to sleep without Jaebeom across the hall from him in their old home. The housewarming party was just Jaebeom, Jinyoung and a bottle of wine, which was only for the younger since Jaebeom had sworn off alcohol.

Then came the day that Jinyoung got casted in his first movie, it was a medium budget rom-com and Jinyoung was only a supporting character but it was still a big deal to him. He had tried to call Jaebeom to tell him about it but the elder never picked up his call. Desperately wanting Jaebeom to come meet him on set once he called and called but it was never answered.

Months passed by and the shooting wrapped up, but there was still no contact from Jaebeom. He tried going to his apartment only to be told he had moved out months prior. That’s when the despair really kicked in, Jaebeom didn’t want him anymore, he didn’t even bother telling him he was moving out. As a last resort, Jinyoung went to Jaebeom’s workplace, just to talk to him once and he wasn’t there. He saw Seulgi but she looked uncomfortable as she spoke to him.

“Where is hyung?” He asked, desperate for answers.

“I’m sorry Jinyoung but Jaebeom can’t meet you right now, he’s been quite busy and wants no distractions” He could tell she was lying, Seulgi wasn’t a good liar.

“Can you just give these to him?” Jinyoung handed over two tickets for the premiere of his film to her before leaving. He still didn’t receive any calls from Jaebeom, things were over between them forever, he thought.

Jinyoung didn’t realise how quickly the day of the premiere came. He felt like he was dying as he donned on his brand new suit and walked down the red carpet with his co-stars. His smile didn’t reach his eyes as he looked into the cameras, his jokes not carrying any of the energy. The seat he had reserved for Jaebeom and Seulgi was just down the row and no matter how many times he checked, there was no one there. Even after the movie started, Jinyoung hoped that they would come in, apologising for being late and congratulate him afterward for his achievement.

He received compliments from his colleagues and critics alike who attended the screening but he didn’t hear any of them. He put up his act long enough for him to exit the building from a side exit, away from the public eye.

The tears welled up the moment he was alone, Jinyoung’s body growing weak as he let the events of the previous hours sink in. It had probably been the most important moment in Jinyoung’s life, and Jaebeom didn’t come. He tried to walk around outside the theatre a bit to get some air but his lungs felt like they were full of water. He struggled to breathe, his legs moments from giving away.

Every attempt at rationalising Jaebeom’s actions failed and Jinyoung realised that he was fighting a lost cause. Breathing deeply, he reached his hand out to hail a taxi. Just as he was stepping into the vehicle, he thought he heard his name being called out, it sounded like Jaebeom’s voice. He didn’t turn back though, he just scolded himself for fabricating his presence because there was no way Jaebeom was there.

It had been two days after Jinyoung’s housewarming party that Jaebeom collapsed at work. He was in the middle of directing a scene for a music video when he just crumbled and fell, fortunately one of his co-workers caught him before he could hit his head on the ground.

Seulgi had been nearby at the time and accompanied him as he was rushed into the hospital. Jaebeom had changed his emergency contact from his parents to her just to make sure Jinyoung wouldn’t find out about his condition. Seulgi knew, he had told her that early into them dating, letting her know that he wouldn’t be around for too long. He had also made her promise to never tell Jinyoung.

She had waited outside the ICU for nearly four hours before the doctor came out to tell her what was wrong but all she could hear was ‘worse’ and ‘not much time’ through the cloud of fear surrounding her. He had let her know that he was unconscious but she could meet him when she heard Jaebeom’s phone buzz next to her. She had received it from one of the nurses who had seen it fall out of his jacket pocket as he was wheeled in.

Seeing Jinyoung’s caller ID terrified her, what was she supposed to tell him? She hoped that if she didn’t answer he would not call again but the calls kept coming. Scared, she blocked his number, making a mental note to tell Jaebeom when he woke up.

But he didn’t wake up, not for a while. His body grew weaker in the days he was at the hospital, his body waiting to succumb to his condition. Their apartment was too far away from the hospital for Seulgi to travel back and forth everyday so with the help of her parents she moved into a place nearby after being informed that Jaebeom could easily be admitted for months.

And that he was, it was three months till he was discharged. It took another few weeks for him to finally come back to normal. He finally got a hold of his phone the day of the premiere but was surprised to see no calls from Jinyoung.

“Did Jinyoung not even call me once?” He mused. He asked Seulgi about it who had completely forgotten about blocking Jinyoung and she apologised profusely as he told her about what she had done. Though he tried to empathise with her actions he was mad beyond belief. He knew he would have hurt Jinyoung immensely by just disappearing off the face off the earth for months.

He tried to call Jinyoung but his phone was switched off. Dejected, he headed to bed to get some rest but just as he was about to turn the lights off he noticed two tickets on the bedside table. He had never heard of the movie mentioned on the tickets and was confused as to why they had premiere tickets to the show.

Looking up the name of the film on his phone, Jaebeom felt his entire world come crashing around himself. Park Jinyoung, his Jinyoungie was listed as one of the cast members. Jinyoung had finally been casted in a movie and Jaebeom had missed its premiere.

The screening started at 7 pm and it was nearly ten, Jaebeom cursed out loud as he rushed to throw on some clothes, he hoped Jinyoung was still caught up in the interviews so that he could at least show his face at the event. He ignored Seulgi as she asked him where he was going and hopped into his car, driving as fast as he could.

Parking his car outside the theatre, he noticed the press interviewing the main cast in the lobby of the theatre but Jinyoung was nowhere to be seen.

“Lim Jaebeom?” One of the staff members called out as they noticed his presence.

“Have you seen Park Jinyoung anywhere?” He asked them, panic rising in his body.

“He didn’t look very well, told me he was going home early. He just left so you might still be able to catch him” They pointed in the direction where Jinyoung had gone and Jaebeom thanked them before running full speed to catch up with Jinyoung.

“Jinyoung!” He shouted out as he saw Jinyoung step into a taxi. The younger hesitated for a moment and Jaebeom waited for him to turn around, but he never did. Jinyoung quietly climbed into the car and drove off, leaving Jaebeom panting on the sidewalk.

[twinklecheeks]

Friends With Benefits (Jeff Wittek Imagine) Part 6

Summary: Jeff and Y/N have been hooking up for a while. The whole vlog squad assumes they’re dating and Y/N does too but Jeff doesn’t like labels. He eventually starts to express interest in Natalie.

Note: Planning on making this a multiple part series, depending on how good it does.  You’re 21 & Latina in this (maybe) series. Also, I’d like to apologize for the typos, if there are any. I’m just illiterate lmao.  

-I’d also like to say that I am SO sorry about not updating the series in 8 months. I started writing this the week school started last semester. I attempted to do it during Thanksgiving & Christmas break but I didn’t have the energy to do it. I know that we’re all struggling in quarantine and going through withdrawal because David has only 1 video in almost 2 months. I’m going to *TRY* to update this 2 times a week.

Warnings! Pregnancy, smut, nsfw, 18+

Don't read this if you don't like smut

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

Word Count: 1.5k

You and David have practically been dating soon after the gender reveal and finally made it official but you don’t plan to announce it on social media anytime soon. He’s been helping you a lot. Since you’ve found out you were having twin girls, you went straight to planning on how the nursery would look like. Everytime David comes over, he brings stuff like baby toys, clothes, the whole shabang. I know that David isn’t the father but he’s very excited about the babies. You thought your first trimester was difficult and it was but there’s a big problem when in the second trimester…. You’ve become horny 24/7; before pregnancy, you had sex often and you loved it. But since being pregnant, you’ve been deprived of it! You bought a bunch of dildos and vibrators cause you just couldn’t handle it anymore. You would rub yourself, fuck yourself with the dildo or use the vibrator several times just to get through the day.

Texting Kylie:

Y/n: “why didn’t you tell me the second trimester makes you super horny”

Kylie: “GIRL STOOOP. Looking back on my pregnancy, that was the funniest part. Your hormones are just all over the place. I used toys and it helped but I also was with Travis”

Y/n: “I’ve been using them but it doesn’t feel the same as actually fucking someone.”

Kylie: “Why don’t you ask David? ;)”

Y/n: “Whaaat noo! I can’t”

Kylie: “Why not? Isn’t he your boyfriend? It’s not like he would turn you down and plus, it’s not like you can get more pregnant than you already are.”

Y/n: “I mean true but idk. I just feel weird. I’m fat and pregnant with twins. I love my girls already but why couldn’t they just be one baby”

Kylie: “blame Jeff’s super sperm”

Y/n: “I also blame myself. We were fucking all the time, anytime, anywhere”

Kylie: “Anywhere?”

Y/n: “Yeah… remember Zane’s earthquake challenge video at target? Jeff and I may have had a quickie in one of the dressing rooms…”

Kylie: “What the fuck”

Y/n: “Yeah. I know. Not my proudest moment”

Kylie: “but girl i’m serious, ASK DAVID”

Y/N: “Ugh fine. But if he says no, I’m moving away and changing my identity because this shit is embarrassing”

*On the phone with David*

Y/n: “Heyy, can I come over?”

David: “Yeah, of course. Are you okay?

Y/n: “Well… technically yes but… ummm…. I’d rather just discuss this in person”

David: “Sure”

*Y/n arrives at David’s house*

Y/n: *Gives David a quick kiss* “Hey Dave.” David: “Hey babe. You sounded a little weird on the phone.” Y/n: “I mean you’re not wrong… I just have a little tiny problem and I’m going to lose my mind if it isn’t resolved” David: “what’s the problem?” Y/n: “Ugh this is so awkward I don’t want to ask” David: *David wheeze laugh* “Dude just tell me”, Y/n: “Okay umm… i’msuperfuckinghornyandi’mwonderingifyoucanhavesexwithmeifnoticompletelyunderstand.” David: “Can you please say it slower cause I only understood like 2 words.” Y/n: “I said that I’m super fucking horny and I’m wondering if you can have sex with me if not, I completely understand…” David: “Like, how bad is it?” Y/n: “Ooo boy it’s baaad.” David: “Well, we’re technically together and I wasn’t sure if you were thinking about taking that step because you’re pregnant.” Y/n: “I’m open to ANYTHING rn. I just need to be fucked HARD.”

David: *Grabs y/n’s hand and leads her to his room* Y/n: “Is Natalie home? I don’t want her to hear us.” David: “Don’t worry. She’s at Todd’s.” Y/n: “At Todd’s?” David: “Yeah, Todd had a thing for her before Jeff did and he basically went for Natalie when Todd told him that he was going to ask her out.” Y/n: *pulls in David for a needy kiss and moans* David: “wow you really are horny.” *Pushes y/n on the bed and takes off her shirt* Y/n: *unclips her bra* “Do anything that’ll make me cum please.” David: *looks at y/n’s tits and sucks on the right nipple* “Wow. Your tits have gotten… wow.” You cry out in pleasure, letting your head fall back, your mouth open. They were so sensitive that every twirl of his tongue made your pussy even more wet. Y/n: *smirks* “You’ve noticed?” David: “okay... I may have had wet dreams about you.” Y/n: “good.” David: *gets undressed and pulls off your pants* “you have no idea how much I’ve dreamt about eating you out.” Y/n: “please. Do something.” David: *His fingers reach your clit.”  Y/n: *You gasp at the feeling of him pressing down on your clit* “mmmm oh my god. Please suck on my clit.” David: *David twirls his tongue around your clit and fingers you* “babe you’re so wet. I can’t wait to fuck you sensless.” *David sucks your clit and fingers you faster* Y/n: “please don’t stop. I NEED to cum.” David: *feels her walls pulsate and she squirts on him* Y/n: “oh my god. Please make me cum like that 10 more times tonight.” David: “are you sure you want to do this?” Y/n: “I haven’t been this sure about something in a long time.” David: *aligns himself with your center and slowly thrusted into you.*  Y/n: *moans, almost screams* “holy fuck. I know your going slow not to hurt me but Dave, I want you to fuck me until I can’t walk.” David: *he hears you out and the lust took over and started pounding into you fast and hard* Y/n: “DAVID OH MY GOD PLEASE KEEP FUCKING ME I’M SO CLOSE.” David: “Shit I’m close too babe” *pounds y/n as fast as he can and cums inside her.” Y/n: *cums right after* “oh...my…” David: *pulls out and sees his cums drip out* “Damn. I don’t think I’ve ever cummed that hard.” Y/n: “If you keep fucking me like that, it’s going to be hard for me to keep my hands off you haha.” David: “I would not have a problem w/ that at all.”

(it’s getting close to thanksgiving and Jeff decides to fly home to Staten Island early and the only people who kind of know about the situation are his siblings)

Jeff: “Hey ma.” Jeff’s mom: “Hello Jeffrey. Natalie couldn’t come?” Jeff: “yeah no. We’re kind of on a break rn.” Jeff’s mom: “Oh well that's too bad. Hopefully she’ll come for Christmas.” Karyn (Jeff’s older sister): “hey Jeff. Can you help me out w/ shopping? I have to go to Manhattan” Jeff: “Sure.”

*On the Staten Island Ferry*  

Karyn: “Okay so now that we’re alone, can you actually tell me what the fuck did you do.” Jeff: “Excuse me? The fuck you talking about?” Karyn: “I know that made up bullshit about y/n getting knocked up by a rando and Natalie asking for a break is a damn lie. Y/n was in love w/ you but you ignored all the signs and Natalie, she would only ask for a break if you were being a fucking idiot. I’m your older sister. I know when you’re lying.” Jeff: “Ugh fine… Y/n is knocked up w/ my kids and I basically said some horrible stuff that wasn’t true. As for Natalie, she was there to see me say all those horrible things and she dumped me on the spot, in front of the whole friend group…” Karyn: *stares at Jeff dumbfounded* “Excuse me did you say KIDS as in PLURAL??!” Jeff: “Yeah… She’s pregnant w/ twin girls…” Karyn: “Oh Jeffrey why the fuck did you act that way. You’re such an idiot. If mom and dad found out about this, they’d literally murder you.” Jeff: “I don’t know… I think it was because I got into something so serious less than a year after being dumped by Cierra; I panicked and I sabotaged myself. I know I’m wrong but I already fucked everything up. Everybody hates me.” Karyn: “I thought you changed Jeff when you got out of Prison.” Jeff: “What do you mean you *thought*” Karyn: “You have trouble w/ responsibility. When we were at your trial, you said you were not guilty, even when you got to prison, you still said you weren’t guilty but you were.” Jeff: “That’s different.” Karyn: “How?? You’re refusing to accept responsibility for those 2 babies. Jeff, you’re almost 30 years old. It took you 4 years after you got out to come to terms with what you did. Is it gonna take you until your 34 to realize you fucked y/n and those twin girls over? What is she gonna say when they ask for their dad huh? Sorry, daddy didn’t care about you? You either fix things with y/n ASAP or I’m gonna tell mom and dad.” Jeff: “what the fuck are you 5?! Why we gotta bring them into this?” Karyn: “so they fucking knock some sense into you Jeff and you know they are 100x worse than I am. I ain’t doin’ nothing to you rn because we’re in public. Imma give you until New Years... if you don’t tell them, then they gonna hear it from me...”

Karyn was never afraid to tell Jeff and their other brother how it is. Jeff knew that Karyn was right but he had no idea how he could possibly apologize for being a horrible human being to you. Will Jeff apologize before New Years? Will y/n forgive him?  

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Taglist: @elvlogsquad​ @siemprestan​ @zavidzobrik​ @galxydefender​ @iminlovewithenchilidadas​ @ilsolee​

[argylemnwrites]

Fight or Flight - Chapter 8: Regret

Pairing: Drake Walker x MC (Riley Liu)

Book: The Royal Heir (canon divergent from the end of book 2)

Word Count: ~3500

Rating: R (language only)

Summary: Thirty one hours since The Walker Absconding

Author’s Note: Shall we even pretend there is a posting schedule at this point? Oh well, another chapter has arrived. This series follows the Walkers, their friends, and Cordonia as a whole after they flee the country with their daughter during Barthelemy Beaumont’s attempted coup. To catch up on this series, check out it’s masterlist. (link can be found via my bio - sorry, Tumblr is once again not putting my posts with links in tag searches)

Drake popped his headphones in, trying not to wake up Bridget as he pulled open a video on his new phone. He was also supposed to be sleeping, at least theoretically. It’s why Riley had gone into the bathroom a couple of hours ago - so that he could turn off the lights and it would be relatively quiet. If he slept now, after all, he would be able to drive through the night. But he’d been wide awake for the past three hours, and at this point, he wasn’t even sure if attempting to sleep was worth it. So he just laid in the dark, his daughter sleeping peacefully next to him. Thank god she wasn’t doing that whole sleep reversal thing she’d been doing last month, where she’d been waking up maybe a dozen times over night. Her being a good sleeper was maybe the one saving grace here.

Today had just been stomach churning since he’d left to go track down a car and supplies. He hadn’t known whether to be grateful or freaked out when he’d returned to the hotel this afternoon, and Riley had a list of things they needed to do typed up on her phone. While he was glad she no longer seemed like she was about to sink into a pit of panic, seeing her planning with this much intensity was just… strange. He couldn’t think of a time she had ever made such a detailed list. She always just adapted to the situation at hand. She never tried to shape the situation herself.

But between what she’d found in her “fugitive research,” and what Hana had told them when she called after the hearing, they were starting to come up with a plan. Hana had told them that Rashad was going to be sworn in as regent tomorrow and that Olivia was technically “investigating” their location at the moment. That as soon as Rashad took on the powers of king-regent, Olivia was going to disclose that Bertrand and Maxwell hadn’t “found” them at Lythikos, so she’d sent Hana to “check” that they hadn’t returned to Valtoria, but that she hadn’t found them there either. They were all repeatedly calling their old phone numbers as well, hoping to make the story believable when Rashad undoubtedly opened an investigation into their disappearance with Bridget.

But all this meant that arrest warrants could be issued as soon as tomorrow morning. The hearing wouldn’t take long, and no one was sure if Rashad would see things as a sign of an attack on all three of them, or if he would correctly deduce that they had made a run for it and willingly left the country with Bridget. Either way, their financial and phone records were likely to be subject to review. And that meant they needed to not be anywhere near Ioannina by the time of the hearing.

The issue was, they wanted to withdraw more cash before the investigation froze their accounts. This meant using the same ATM they’d been using one more time, at 12:01 am when it was a new day and they could withdraw their daily max again without giving anyone a new location to investigate. Then, it would be time to get in the newly-purchased hatchback and drive on to Xanthi, the city they’d chosen as their next stop. Small enough that no one would predict it as their destination, big enough that Riley, a woman of East Asian heritage who only spoke English with a still-persistent New York accent wouldn’t be immediately noticeable. Drake liked that it was past Thessaloniki as well. No one would guess they drove hours further into Greece than a city with an American consulate.

So, in preparation for that drive, Drake needed to be sleeping. Even after several years out of Manhattan, Riley still hated driving, and in all honesty, the thought of her behind the wheel in a country where she couldn’t read the road signs was not reassuring to Drake in the slightest. He wanted to be the one solely responsible for the driving. But that meant he should be napping now. But how was he supposed to sleep at a time like this?

In the past day or so, he’d gone from a very stable existence to literally plotting how to hide out from law enforcement. He’d embezzled money and bribed a used car salesman to look the other way and not require him to register the car for official Greek or Cordonian papers. He’d left the only home he’d ever known, not knowing if he’d ever get to go back. How could anyone sleep after a day like that?

So instead of sleeping, he was watching news coverage of Liam’s speech that he’d given only a few hours earlier. Speculation was rampant as to both why the vote of no confidence was called and as to who the acting regent would be. Who his daughter’s regent would be. Because for the past few hours, the 10 month old sleeping on the mattress next to him had technically been the Queen-Regent of Cordonia.

It was a strange feeling, knowing that going forward, Bridget would be listed as Queen-Regent Bridget in history books, her rule starting today. Liam’s request had kind of always seemed like simple bookkeeping before. Although Liam told the press that Bridget would remain next in line for the throne even if he had children of his own, Drake had always kind of assumed they would readdress the whole situation when Liam actually got married. It had seemed highly likely to him that Bridget would end up just being a temporary placeholder, someone needed to convey stability of the Crown until Liam had a kid or two of his own. And even if she had remained next in line for the throne, Drake never really thought he’d see her take on the title. She was only supposed to rise to that position after Liam’s death.

It was probably something he should have put more thought into, to be honest. But he hadn’t, at least not anywhere near enough. And now there was no great way to undo it. She was the queen-regent now. Abdication for her, as a minor with the title, would be a nightmare at this point. Even if her title was just through the Conclave, the steps that they would have to take to change things now, the support they would need from the assholes who just voted against them and Liam, well… Drake wasn’t counting on that happening any time soon.

He opened up the CBC app to watch another site’s coverage of Liam’s speech, but his phone started buzzing in his hand. The number flashing across the screen had a Cordonian country code, but it wasn’t Olivia or Hana’s burner numbers, which they’d already added to their contact list. This had to be either Liam or Maxwell on a new number. Taking a deep breath, he popped out the headphones and swiped to accept the call.

“Hello?”

There was a brief pause before Liam’s voice came through the speaker. “Hello, Drake.”

Drake didn’t know what to say. It was his turn to speak, but what do you say to someone you’ve known almost your entire life when they lost everything? When you’d let them down? After too many seconds, he finally managed, “So, you… uh, got our new numbers?”

“Yes. Hana and Olivia provided me with them.”

“Right. Well… good. You, uh… you should have our numbers.” Drake ran his hand over his face. He couldn’t be more awkward about this if he tried.

“Indeed,” said Liam, after a beat, “So, how are you all doing?”

“We’re okay, I guess. How are you?”

The pause was longer this time. “It’s been a long couple of days, Drake.”

The weight of that sentence settled over Drake, the guilt he already carried multiplying in that moment. “I’m so sorry, Liam.”

All Liam gave in response was a little hum of acknowledgement, so Drake kept speaking, trying to find some words that would make this better, that would make Liam see how sorry he was.

“We just couldn’t wait around, you know? We didn’t know how things were going to go down, and when Barthelemy started talking about taking Bridget, we couldn’t just risk that, and so we had to do something, right? And I know this leaves you in a tricky spot, but you’ve gotta know, I wish… I don’t know, that we weren’t doing this to you, I guess? But… it’s just fucked up all around, isn’t it?” Drake knew he was rambling, that he'd basically spewed out a whole bunch of garbage, but he just didn’t know what else to do.

“What do you want me to say, Drake? You’re right; the decisions you and Riley made have made things much more complicated for me. Are you looking for me to say that I don’t blame you? That I support this course of action?”

“What else were we supposed to do?” Drake asked. He could hear his voice raising slightly, and he glanced down, checking that he hadn’t woken Bridget, but she was still passed out.

“I told you back when you were trying to have a child that if it ever became too much, to inform me, and we would reserve the proclamation.”

“Are you really trying to tell me that in the middle of everything that was happening yesterday, it would have been a good time to pull you aside and ask to undo all that shit?”

Liam let out a sigh before he answered, “It seems like that would have been preferable to you deciding to commit treason.”

Drake slammed his eyes shut, trying to keep his temper in check. Liam was already dealing with a lot, and he didn’t want to make things worse, but his words were so frustrating right now. “We didn’t even know if you would have the power to undo any of it after that vote.”

“You could have at least waited until we knew the results of that initial hearing. At that point-”

“What if the justice had decided you had no power last night instead of today?” Drake interrupted. He saw Riley coming out of the bathroom and back into their room. She obviously must have heard him on the phone. He just shook his head, trying to reassure her as he kept talking to Liam. “That’s a big fucking gamble to ask of us, Liam.”

“Fine, then some middle-ground or compromise still would have probably been better. You have to know how ill-conceived this scheme you’ve agreed to is, Drake.”

“What would you suggest, then? Sitting around, just waiting to see if we got to keep our kid?”

“Of course not. But if you get arrested and extradited back here, you will absolutely lose custody of your daughter. I would urge you to consider that fact. Additionally, Rashad is not going to be interested in becoming some sort of surrogate parent to Bridget over the next few months.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better? That the man you have lined up as my kid’s regent has no interest in caring for her?” Riley mouthed “What?” at him from across the room, but Drake just waved his hand and shook his head again. He’d have to fill her in later.

“My point, Drake, is that Rashad would likely be very amenable to you and Riley staying with Bridget in the role as her caretakers and-”

“Stop. I’m not going to listen to that shit, okay? You know that’s not the same. You fucking know it, Liam.”

There was a rough sigh before Liam spoke again. “Fair enough. But you have to understand that you have put me in an awful position. And I’m just trying to find a way to minimize the damage caused by your selfishness here.”

“How is looking out for my wife and kid selfish?” Bridget squirmed slightly next to him as his voice climbed louder yet again. Riley must have noticed, because she scurried over and tucked her against her chest, muttering soothing words against the top of her head, trying to keep her from waking up.

“Did you think about how fleeing the country would impact anyone? Your citizens in Valtoria who no longer have a regional leader? The people of Cordonia who no longer have an heir to the throne? Your friends who have advocated for you and your family time and time again? No. You just left. You only thought of yourselves. That is the dictionary definition of selfish, Drake.”

“I’m sorry, but my family comes first. This isn’t fucking up for debate.”

“Well, some of us don’t have that luxury.”

Both Drake and Liam were silent for several seconds. Drake took a shaky breath, trying to get his emotions back under control. “Liam. I’m sorry. I really am. I never wanted to do this to you, and I know you are left cleaning up the pieces here, but I am not going to come back just for Bridget to get trapped inside the country and possibly taken from us.”

“Drake, don’t be so-”

“She’s queen-regent now, so no way we don’t get stopped at the border if we came back and tried to leave again, right? In fact, I bet we wouldn’t be allowed outside the palace with her, and that’s if we’re allowed to be alone with her at all-”

“Now you’re just being dramatic-”

“Am I? Because to me, it feels like you want me to come back and hang my hat on the hopes that Rashad needs a couple of nannies. I get the risks we are taking here. But at least we have a shot of staying together as a family this way.”

“Look, I understand that this is upsetting and frustrating. I’m upset and frustrated, too. All I want is to try and create a united front here. If we are fractured and divided, it is worse for everyone in the long run. We all want what’s best for Bridget.”

“You aren’t part of any ‘we’ here. She’s not your kid. You don’t get a say.”

The silence on the other end of the line was awful. Riley climbed onto the bed and leaned up against the headboard. One arm still held Bridget tight to her chest, but her free hand snaked behind him and rubbed soothing circles between his shoulder blades. It just did little to calm him. He didn’t know if more of his anger was directed at Liam, for presuming he had any say here, or at himself, for getting defensive when he was the one who had hurt Liam and put him in this position.

“I have never interfered in any parenting decisions you or Riley have made with regards to Bridget. In fact, I have given you both an unprecedented amount of freedom and control, knowing that it was an unusual situation. But it seems to me like we have nothing further to say to each other at the moment. You are unwilling to discuss the bigger picture here.”

“Liam, don’t-” Drake started, but Liam just kept talking.

“I understand why you’ve taken this course of action. But it is apparent that your priorities are only your daughter, whereas I need to focus on Cordonia as a whole. So, I think at this point we both need to just devote ourselves to those tasks and not worry about each other.”

It was a dismissal. A line in the sand. Whatever inner circle Liam had, Drake was no longer a part of it. He let out a sigh and swallowed roughly. “I am sorry, Liam. I just don’t know what you expect me to do here.”

“I don’t expect anything of you, Drake. You should just do what you feel is best for your family, and I will do what’s needed for our country.”

“Come on, it doesn’t have to be this way. I still want to help-”

“No offense, but a couple of fugitives are not likely to be a great resource to me at this point. This isn’t a punishment, Drake; it’s just the reality. We’ve both made the choices we needed to make, and now we both need to deal with the consequences. I need to remain focused on campaigning to regain my title, and I’m not going to have the time or energy to devote to aiding your run.”

“I’m not asking for your help, dammit. I just want-”

“What do you want, Drake? You don’t get to have this both ways.”

“I want… I want us still to be friends.”

He heard a heavy sigh before Liam spoke again. “Of course we are still friends, Drake. We just are headed in separate directions at this time, it would seem. You now have this number, though. You can reach me if you need to, and I will do the same.”

“Liam, I-”

“I wish you and your family the best; I really do. And if you change your mind, you can come find us in Lythikos.”

Drake closed his eyes. There was no salvaging this. Liam was boxing him out and closing the door. He was pretty sure having Liam screaming at him would have stung less. “Alright, I get it. Good luck with everything, okay?”

“Same to you. I really hope you don’t regret your decisions here and that you all can remain safe.” And with that, Liam ended the call.

Drake placed his phone on the bed and leaned forward, dropping his head into both of his hands. He swallowed several times, trying to break up the lump in his throat. He was very aware that although Riley seemed to be in a better spot than she was the day before, watching him cry over Liam was not going to instill much confidence. No need to make things more unsettled.

After a few moments, he took a deep breath and sat back up. Riley was staring at him, head cocked and eyes full of worry. He just shrugged and shook his head. There wasn’t much to say, really.

“Here,” Riley said, shifting forward and passing Bridget to him.

“I don’t want to wake her,” he muttered, but Riley continued, sliding Bridget into his arms before leaning against his shoulder, her hand slipping along his neck and her fingers threading through his hair.

“She’ll fall asleep in the car,” she said. Drake watched as his daughter blinked up at him, her face scrunched up like she was going to start screaming, but she relaxed and started to drift back to sleep when he pulled her against his chest and tucked his head on top of hers.

He just held her for maybe a minute, not saying anything. Riley was quiet as well, her fingers continuing to trace little patterns across the base of his scalp. Eventually, she tilted her head against his shoulder and whispered, “Do you want to talk about it or not?”

“No,” he breathed out, “not… not now.”

He felt her nodding, and her other hand settled on his knee. “Okay. Thank you, by the way.”

“Walker, it’s-”

“You don’t need to say it’s nothing. And I know you don’t want to talk about it now. So just… thank you.”

Neither of them said anything for a long while. They just sat there, trying to brace themselves for the reality of the next 24 hours. They would officially be under investigation and likely be charged with kidnapping of the queen-regent. This was the point of no return, far more than any decisions they’d made up until this point.

Oddly enough, Drake felt more confident in their plan than he had even before. As upsetting as his talk with Liam was, it had somehow helped him see why Riley was so reluctant to rely on anyone outside their family. Something about hearing Liam discuss the risks they would be facing in Cordonia as if they were nothing. As if living under the same roof as Bridget should be enough. As if they had time to wait for things to unfold. Well, it made it very clear that they saw what could be compromised and what couldn’t very differently.  

He wasn’t sure how long they sat there, but eventually Riley sat up next to him. “Did you get any sleep at all?” she asked as he turned his head to look at her.

“No, not really.”

“Well, we better get going then so we can get some coffee before we hit the road.” And with that she slid off the bed and started gathering their few bags of belongings.

She was right. It was time to move on. So he gently clicked Bridget into her new car seat and did one last scan of the room, making sure they weren’t leaving anything they needed behind.

“You ready?” Riley asked.

“Yeah, Riley. Let’s go.”

Permatag:  @walkerswhiskeygirl   @riley--walker  @bebepac @ravenpuff02 @oofchoices @octobereighth @drakewalker04 @kimmiedoo5  @mfackenthal  @thequeenofcronuts  

The Royal Romance/The Royal Heir: @ao719 @mskaneko @katedrakeohd @jovialyouthmusic @marshmallowsandfire @axwalker @kingliam2019 @sirbeepsalot @texaskitten30 @princessleac1 @ladyangel70 @dcbbw @yaushie

Drake x MC: @drakeandcamilleofvaltoria  @iplaydrake @gibbles82 @drakewalkerisreal @notoriouscs  @drakesensworld @drake-colt-lover-99

Fight or Flight: @masterofbluff @burnsoslow @bobasheebaby @shz256 @iaminlovewithtrr​

[watchtower-feed]

Death Do We Part (Part 8)

SSA Spin-off ✧ Jason Todd ✧ Physical Link ✧ 1 ✧ 2 ✧ 3 ✧ 4 ✧ 5 ✧ 6 ✧ 7 ✧ 8 ✧ 9 ✧ 10 ✧ 11 ✧ 12 ✧ 13 ✧ 14 ✧ 15 ✧ Notes: Oh boy. This part and the next were supposed to be just one part. At the end of this fic, I’ll have enough words for a freaking novel! Please, though, tell me what you think of the story! Loving and violent reactions are welcome. Words: 2,800+

    You’re startled. You quickly scan the property for any movement but you just miss the figure retreating into the distance. Back into Gotham City.

     As soon as they get back to the cave, you’re waiting for them on your toes. “He was here!” you shout frantically. “He was at the manor!” You hover over them until they’re running towards the monitor where you have all of the surveillance cameras up and running.

     You all watch silently, hands leaning on the desk, eyes straining for the slightest movement in the darkness.

     “There he is!” you point at the camera placed directly in front of Jason’s room. Alfred replays the video like he has for the hundredth time that night. You wait as they watch the seemingly boring video, and then there it was, the slightest movement of the tip of a nearby hedge nearly off-camera, as if someone passed through it.

     “Are you sure it’s not the wind?” Dick asks in a serious tone. He believes you but he wants the details. Needs them before he brings his hopes up.

     You nod. “I knew something was different tonight. At the time I wasn’t feeling different temperatures. And I could hear…”

     “You could hear?” Tim tries to prompt you to keep going. What’s the point of keeping secrets now when it’s what got everyone in this mess in the first place?

     “I was talking to myself-- talking to Jason-- like I do every night. And I could almost hear myself in my own ears--”

     “Like he was listening to you,” Bruce interrupts, eyes wide.

     “That means he’s in Gotham! He was here! At the manor!” Dick says excitedly.

     You suddenly frown, making all three of them stare at you. “He was.”

     Alfred sighs, “That’s what Y/N has been trying to tell you, master Bruce. Before we came down to the cave, Y/N felt seasick again.”

     The sudden news greatly diminishes their spirit. Bruce wanted to be angry. He wanted to scold you and Alfred for not telling them about this sooner. Instead, Bruce turns around and enters the bat plane again, leaving his two partners behind. You know where he’s going. You know Bruce is going to spend all night tracking every boat, every ship, and every yacht that left Gotham docks until he finds Jason.

     But you also know he won’t find him. You’ve been at this for a year but it’s becoming very clear that you’ll only find Jason if he wants to be found. And maybe that’s for the best.

     In the meantime, your new life has to keep going, or in your case, it has to start.

     “Being dead for two years and a ghost for another has nothing to do with your education, Y/N,” Alfred argues with you for the tenth time this month, “We’re enrolling you into Gotham University. You start next week.”

     “Next week? That’s too soon!”

     Tim is the same age as you and Jason, biologically, but you always argue that you’re older than him and death just held you back two years. It bothers you that you’re both going to be freshmen at Gotham U but Tim is going to leave you three semesters behind.

     Tim chuckles, “You’ve been hiding in the manor for too long. It’s time to re-introduce you back into society, Y/N.”

     “Ew. You’re starting to sound like Dick.” 

     “Hey!” Dick yells out as he enters the kitchen. 

     Ever since Jason ran away from Gotham, you’ve gotten closer to Dick and Tim. You use each other to keep Jason’s presence alive, telling each other stories about him while Tim listens and chimes in whenever familiar Jason-Robin stories would come up. At some point, you stopped talking about Jason and just told each other about what life was like before. With friends. Your family.

     You decided not to return to your own family. You knew one day Bruce or Alfred would ask you but you prepared yourself to say no. Your family and friends have already mourned for you. Given what your life is now and who it’s linked to, you don’t want them to have to experience that kind of heartbreak again.

     “Welcome to Gotham University, Robin Wayne. Hmm,” The sophomore in charge of freshman orientation has set her sights on you and Tim, being Waynes and all. “Bruce can’t seem to stay in a stable relationship for more than a month but he sure does like to adopt kids.”

     “I’m 18,” you say frankly, trying to get this moving along.

     Tim snickers beside you. It was his and Dick’s bright idea to choose your name for you. They both think it’s a great inside joke but you think all that crime-fighting has seriously messed up their sense of humor.

     You’re thankful though that they don’t really call you that. They still call you by your real name.

     College and your new identity aren’t about starting a new life and closing the old one. Robin is your identity to the outside world and Y/N L/N is your secret identity. Much like how Robin is to Tim and Nightwing is to Dick and… Batman is to Bruce Wayne.

     Bruce.

     He’s the one who’s taking Jason’s absence much harder than all of you. He disappears all night doing his usual routine of keeping the city safe and then spends any downtime looking for any trace of Jason in Gotham or anywhere else in the world.

     He would catch you by surprise every now and then, asking you if you’ve felt anything about Jason. Anything at all. A change in temperature. The direction in the wind. Sudden hunger. And you always shake your head sadly.

     You actually saw Jason that night. You vividly saw his shadow leap over the property and back into Gotham. It took everything in you to not run after your soulmate.

     You didn’t tell Alfred or Bruce or anyone because you wanted to give Jason time to get away. If he heard you that night, you hope he followed your advice. That he’s living a better life and this time you won’t let Bruce mess it up.

     Even though you don’t talk about Jason as much, to Tim and Dick the search for Jason continues as well. At least once a week, they would join Bruce in his search and they always ask you to join them.

     They’re not forcing you to do it. You can say no if you don’t want to. But how will that look? Everyone wants Jason back except for you, the one person who can actually find him and knows where he is.

     You feel it. You feel the familiar wind in your hair and the flying sand in your face. You know he’s back at the fortress and it makes you angry. You thought he would choose a better life so why is he back there?

     But of course, whenever Tim or Dick asks you, you lie.

     “I haven’t felt anything new. It’s like he’s gone completely radio silent on me or something.”

     Tim chuckles and teases, “That’s not what radio silence means.”

     You roll your eyes. “Shut up,” you joke back.

     Dick stares at the two of you and then leans in close with a smirk, “What’s this? What’s going on here?”

     “Nothing!” you both snap at Dick. You shove him but it doesn’t really do anything. Regardless, he fakes being hurt to appease your feelings which only makes you more frustrated.

     Partly, because he’s right. After being sensitive to another person’s every sense and feeling, you’ve become adept at reading people. You know that Tim has been spending more time with you than Dick has and he always tries to talk to you about almost anything.

     You’re also aware that your body seems to find every excuse it can to touch Tim, to be close to him.

     And even more so, you’re aware that nothing can ever happen between the two of you.

     Tim is Jason’s replacement. Jason is your soulmate. The very existence of Tim in your life is due to the fact that Jason is your soulmate. You can’t even look at Tim without looking for a single trait of Jason’s, a sign that he’s the one standing in front of you.

     So then why? Why are you lying next to each other in the garden, staring up at the stars, sharing a blanket, and fingers twitching to touch the other? 

     You’re just talking about being Robin, the crime-fighting Robin that soars the Gotham skyline alongside the dark knight. You’re exasperated by the idea that the three of them would want to endanger their lives every single night.

     Tim half-agrees that you’re right and then he tells you about Batman’s training, how in-depth it is, and accurate, that it’s what keeps him going out there. Tim knows that the three of them never did it for the glory or the fame and infamy. Speaking on Jason and Dick’s behalf, Tim tells you that it was all about being able to stand next to Batman and help him in his mission to save the city.

     You listen in awe because you never thought of it that way. Boys. Children. Putting themselves on the front line for Batman. The savior of Gotham City. 

     You look at Tim and say, “He’s lucky to have you.” Then you look up again. “Gotham should really appreciate you more. Maybe a Robin signal would be just the thing,” you chuckle and Tim does too.

     But it’s quiet now. All you can hear is your breathing and Tim’s breathing. You turn to the side again, hoping to start another conversation, but you find Tim is looking at you as well. You watch as a red shade grows on his cheeks and his eyes dart away from your gaze.

     He’s surprised to find that you’re still staring at him when he looks back. Slowly and gently, Tim raises his head so he can lean down close to you but he stops only an inch from your lips, waiting and hoping for you to close the gap, to decide for yourself.

     You can feel his short breaths on your lips and you close your eyes before you lean in. His lips are soft and small. Neither of you move and it’s over so soon. Tim’s smiling and the redness on his face has gone up to the tips of his ears.

     “You’re so red,” you tease happily.

     Tim’s flustered but he teases back, “So are you, Y/N! You’re like a beetroot!”

     You laugh and smile. 

     Tim holds your hand when he walks you back to your room. He holds your fingers together while you walk side by side. There’s a warmth to them you can’t deny. You’re smiling the whole time and even you can feel the redness traveling to your ears.

     Tim walks you to your door and says goodnight. You wait for him to enter his own room before you close your door. You lie down on the bed and sleep comes to you easier than it ever has this past year.

     In the morning, you wake up with your name written on your arm.

     Y/N.

     Suddenly you can smell the scent of your bed and it smells like Jason. Everywhere you look you see every single item Jason has touched. You see his clothes peeking from the open door of your wardrobe. You see his picture on your nightstand.

     You feel sick to your stomach and you vomit on the floor. You’re crying as you’re heaving out acid yet again. Why? Why now? Why do you get to feel guilty over a kiss when Jason had sex with Talia? Why do you feel betrayed and guilty at the same time?

     “This isn’t fair, Jason!”

     Your sobs and retching start getting louder. Bruce quickly enters the room, followed by Tim and Alfred. “Y/N, what’s wrong?” Bruce asks and you know he’s not asking for you. He’s asking for Jason which makes you cry harder.

     “Get out!” you scream at them, making everyone flinch at the shrillness of your voice.

     “Y/N…” you know Tim is about to place his hands on your back and you quickly snap and slap his hand away.

     You glare at the ground, “Don’t touch me.” You refuse to look at the hurt expression on Tim’s face. But he sees the newly written mark on your arm. Defeated, Bruce gently leads him out of the room. 

     “Y/N,” Alfred’s stern voice gets through to you. You know you did something extremely wrong. You know it before you even did it. “One day you will come to understand that we are trying to help you. We care for you. Not just for master Jason, but you as well.”

     You wait until Alfred closes the door behind him before you crumple back onto the bed. You keep crying and massaging your coarse throat while staring at your name written on your arm.

     Jason never does write anything else. He also never rubbed off your name on his arm. You would stare at it and touch it every night and wonder why he wrote it.

     Absentmindedly, you would even touch it during the day. Tim sees you doing it during a lecture and you’re aware enough to turn and see the look of shock and then anguish pass over his face before it became stoic.

     You stop talking to Tim completely after that and you even find yourself distancing yourself from Dick. An easy feat considering, he’s only at the manor once a week. But you could never keep yourself away from Alfred. He wants you to apologize to Tim but you can’t, not just yet. And you know Tim doesn’t want that at the moment.

     You spend most of your time in the cave again. This time you’re actually helping Bruce find Jason.

     “I checked the fortress. There was no one there. Not a single assassin,” Bruce relays it to you over the comm while he’s in the bat plane.

     “How about the sacred city? I sensed the same feelings from the fortress. That might be the only other place Jason is familiar with.”

     “On my way now.”

     You wait and you watch but deep down you already know he’s not going to find him there. It has been a week since you last felt that, another week before you finally decided to help Bruce. But you didn’t feel seasick afterward so maybe Jason hasn’t gone far.

     “Still no sign of him, Y/N. Any other ideas?”

     “Any other cities in the area?”

     “Not for hundreds of miles.”

     You sigh and fold your knees close to your chest, “Come back, Batman. Let’s call it a night.”

     You’ve been spending a lot more time with Bruce at night and he doesn’t question you about it. The only things you talk about are the missions and Jason. Every little thing you feel, you try to relay to Bruce but you don’t really come up with anything useful. Nevertheless, Bruce always checks out your suggestions.

     “That’s the last of the League’s fortresses.”

     “And still no Jason.”

     “Hn,” Bruce grunts, “maybe. But it is a little odd,” he looks at the monitor, almost like he was talking to himself. “Every single fortress was empty and turned into rubble. It’s almost like someone’s been methodically attacking every known base of the League.”

     “You think someone has it out for them-- You think Jason is doing this?”

     Bruce looks at you, “Other than the weather and the environment, do you feel anything different about your body? Things you wouldn’t be feeling in relation to your own activities.”

     You think about it for a while. But your first thought is how strange it is that you would’ve lashed out at such a question just last month.

     “My body is still always fatigued even though I’m barely exercising. I feel them more on my arms, too.”

     “How about now?”

     Now you close your eyes and you numb your senses to your own body. You can feel an even steady wind hitting you in the face and noise coming from where the wind is coming from. “I feel a fan…” The wind isn’t that strong or the noise too loud but you’re disappointed to find out that that’s all you feel. “That’s it.”

     “Strange.” Bruce is already looking at the monitor. His elbows on the desk while his hands hold up his chin. “These past few weeks, whenever you try to tune in to Jason’s feelings, you always come up with nothing. But he’s obviously up to something.”

     You try to run through all of the implications in your head and only come up with one thing. “Do you think he found a way to figure out when I’m tuning in? And turns off his own senses?”

     Bruce turns around, eyes narrow. He stares at your worried face for a second before he puts on a pensive expression. “It’s not impossible.”

✧ 1 ✧ 2 ✧ 3 ✧ 4 ✧ 5 ✧ 6 ✧ 7 ✧ 8 ✧ 9 ✧ 10 ✧ 11 ✧ 12 ✧ 13 ✧ 14 ✧ 15 ✧

✧ Watchtower Masterlist ✧

[siren-queen-imagines]

I’m Not The Only One

Went through the Wayback Machine to find old imagines I wrote when I was imaginingwwesuperstars! This is the last wrestling related imagine fic I am posting for now (see pinned post on blog). I hope you enjoy!

This was based on Sam Smith’s song and music video! Be prepared for some bad guy Finn!

Masterlist

You and me, we made a vow

For better or for worse

I can’t believe you let me down

But the proof’s in the way it hurts

You had been married to Finn Balor for the last 5 years. Finn is currently a WWE Superstar and lives on the road majority of the year. Seeing as you’re a nurse, your job requires you to stay in one place. Finn’s been kind enough to bring you on the road with him when your job would permit it. You two enjoyed those times considering you only saw each other maybe 2 or 3 days a week in person.

Just last month, you had learned that Finn had been cheating on you. You were lying in bed while he was in the shower when you heard his phone jingle, signaling a text message: I miss you, babe. Can’t wait to see you again. And sent along with the text was a picture of the woman’s breasts.

The usual questions went through your mind: how could he do this to you? WHY would he do this to you? If he wasn’t happy, why didn’t he bother to say anything? You two had a very healthy and active sex life, is that not enough for him?

You had looked back at who could’ve sent it…but it was an unknown number. You had to give it to Finn…he knew how to cover his tracks. Apparently with texts like that, he knew who it was. Who else would be sending him texts like that if it’s not you?

Finn made you believe that he wasn’t capable of doing this before he proposed to you. You went into this marriage, believing that something like this wouldn’t happen to you guys. But here you were…how could he betray your trust like this? He married you, he promised to love you and made all these vows…and he broke them along with your heart.

You never believed in a million years that your husband would hurt you the way he has…it felt like he ripped your heart out from your chest, stomped on it and threw it into a roaring fire. It fucking hurt like hell.

You remembered getting the hell out of there. You took your keys and got into the car, driving to the middle of nowhere before you broke down into tears. You didn’t want Finn to see you cry, you felt that he didn’t deserve that.

For months on end I’ve had my doubts

Denying every tear

I wish this would be over now

But I know that I still need you here

Here you are now, one month later. Still with Finn.

Previously you had your suspicions over the past few months. And just as recent as the day before you even asked Finn about it, telling him to be honest because you needed to know. You promised him that you wouldn’t get mad and that if he was cheating on you, you would be okay with a divorce because clearly he wasn’t happy in this marriage anymore…he wouldn’t cheat on you if he was happy right?

“Y/N, come on, you’re being crazy.” Finn lightly teased, kneeling in front of you as you sat in your chair. He took your hands in his and gently rubbed his thumbs over the backs of your hands as a way of comfort. “I would never cheat on you. Ever. I love you too much to even think about being with another woman.”

Liar. Fucking Liar.

“If you did, you would tell me, right?”

“Of course, love. I couldn’t hide something like that from you.”

Liar, liar, pants on fucking fire. Why does he keep lying to you…but then again, you aren’t any better because you aren’t calling him out on it.

You knew he was cheating on you…why haven’t you done anything about it? It’s been a fucking month already…what’s the hold up? You know that you should confront him. You know that you should be crying, screaming and yelling at him, demanding answers. You know that you should be in the process of dissolving your marriage.

But you aren’t…and why is that?

You love him. Despite the fact that he continues to hurt you, you still love him. A huge part of you can’t let him go.

So what have you decided to do?

Go on about your life with Finn, putting on a front that you don’t know about what he’s been doing behind your back…what he will continue to do behind your back. You don’t want him to know that you know because that could be the end of you and him…you loved him way too much for it to end now.

You know you deserve better. But you didn’t know how to let him go…you were in too deep. All you wanted was for him to be with you and only you…you knew it wasn’t too much to ask, he did agree to it after all by marrying you…but again, why did you love him so much that you had a hard time in letting him go? Why did you feel so weak to dump him?

You say I’m crazy

Cause you don’t think I know what you’ve done

But when you call me baby

I know I’m not the only one

You couldn’t help but think back on yesterday. You and Finn had such an amazing day. It was a day off and he decided to take you to Disney World. Although, there was one moment in that day he checked his phone and replied to texts with a smile on his face.

“Who is that?” You asked as you guys walked, your smile slowly faded when he took a second to reply.

“Oh it’s just work.” Finn replied before locking his phone and putting it back in his pocket.

“Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, of course. I was just told that I’d have to leave a little early this week for a signing.”

You knew who he was really texting as you had subtly peered over towards his phone. He was texting her. You had still yet to find out who she was…but you had caught the number and managed to store it in your phone…it was easy considering that Finn was distracted by his own phone.

“Oh, okay.” You said with a nod, holding back your tears.

“I know, I’m sorry.” Finn said, stopping you and grabbing your hands. “I know things haven’t been easy since I was promoted to the main roster. But I promise you that I’ll make it up to you somehow.”

You swallowed the lump in your throat and nodded, offering him a small smile.

“I love you, Y/N. Nothing will ever change that. I swear I’ll make it up to you.” Finn continued.

“Okay. I love you too.” You smiled to hide the pain you felt deep in your heart.

Finn pulled you into his arms and kissed the top of your head. He held you for a few long moments before pulling away. He gently cupped you face and wiped your tears away from your cheeks with your thumb. He leaned forward once more to kiss your forehead, offering you a comforting smile.

“How about we sit for a bit and then go on Space Mountain?” Finn suggested, his comforting smile on his face.

=================================

Your eyes closed as Finn slowly thrust into you. You felt him bury his face in your neck as his hips moved against yours, your nails gently digging into his back.

Sex had been a little different for you since you found out about Finn’s affair. There were times where it wasn’t the same to you when you made love. But when you fucked, you always felt that you had something to prove…to prove to him that you have everything he needs here at home; that he doesn’t need to go anywhere else. But you tried anyway…you tried for…honestly, you weren’t too sure why you were trying.

“Feels so good, baby.” Finn breathed into your neck as he picked up his speed.

Baby…that was another thing that was different for you. Whenever he used to call you baby, you liked it because you were the only one he would call that…but now knowing that he had someone else on the side…how many times had he called her baby? Did he ever do it when they had sex? Who were you kidding, of course he did. It was Finn…he called you that almost always and most likely her too.

=================================

Now here you are pacing back and forth in the living room, phone in your hand. You were trying to decide if you should call the number Finn was texting. You had the number ready and had your number blocked…now all you had to do was hit that green call button.

Did you even want to know who it was? Would it make anything better? Well, most likely it would make things worse….especially if you knew who it was.

Dammit, you have to know…you needed to know who your husband was currently running to.

You pressed the call button and brought the phone to your ear. You heard the other line ringing when you heard a cheerful voice.

“Finn, I told you that it was room 208.” The Irish toned voice said. You could sense a smile by her happy tone. ”Hello?” She said when you hadn’t spoken.

You immediately hung up the phone when you recognized the voice.

Becky Lynch.

A sob escaped you as you realized that your friend was the one sleeping with your husband.

You’ve been so unavailable

Now sadly I know why

Your heart is unobtainable

Even though, lord knows you kept mine

Becky cried out as Finn brought her to orgasm. She worked to catch her breath as Finn pulled out, removed his condom and finished on her stomach. Sometimes Becky found herself wishing that he would go without the protection…feel all of him without anything between them and then finish inside her…most likely the way he does with Y/N. It’s not like she isn’t on the pill or can’t go get the morning after pill to be safe. Just once, she wanted to feel like Finn loved her the way he loved Y/N.

She remembered asking once when they had started their affair if Finn uses protection when he’s with Y/N. He sort of blew off her question and at the time, she didn’t think much of it. Time went on, of course, and it had begun to bother her…why couldn’t he treat her the way he treats Y/N, especially in bed?

Finn rolled off Becky before getting up from the bed. Becky sighed and looked over to see Finn walk into the bathroom to take care of the condom. She leaned off the side of the bed and put her shirt back on before laying back down. Finn came back out and put his briefs back on before getting back into the bed. Becky watched as he got settled in before turning to face him, moving closer to him.

“Sorry Becky, but I don’t really want to cuddle.” Finn said, stopping Becky from getting any closer.

“You mean with me?” Becky replied, feeling a little irritated. “I’m good enough to fuck but not cuddle with?”

“It has nothing to do with that. I don’t cuddle with my wife, either, it’s just a thing.”

Liar…he’s a liar. She knows he cuddles with you. She remembered talking about cuddling with you once and even mentioned that she enjoyed a good cuddle after sex. You agreed, mentioning that Finn was the same way. But Becky decided to let it go.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Yeah, sure.” Finn replied, his eyes closed.

“Does Y/N make you use protection with her?”

Finn’s eyes opened and his eyebrows furrowed.

“Why?”

“Just curious. I mean, it’d be kind of messed up to sleep with me and not offer her the same courtesy to wear protection.”

Finn paused for a moment and sighed, closing his eyes once more.

“No. And it’s not messed up. I wear protection with you because I have enough respect for my wife not to get you pregnant. That’s the last thing both of us need right now, hm?”

Becky knew what this ‘relationship’ was. She knew it was just something for Finn to have while he was away from Y/N…but it had gone on longer than even Becky expected. It’s been two years now. And in that two years, Becky had fallen in love with Finn.

Becky loved Y/N, of course. Y/N had become a great friend of hers, which is why she should never know about what Becky and Finn are doing; what they have been doing. She wanted to end it a few times but she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

She loved Finn too much to let him go…the worst part, is not like she couldn’t let Finn go, it’s more or so that she wouldn’t let him go. Again, Becky loved Finn too much. She knew she shouldn’t…she knew she deserved better than what Finn and her have.

Becky hated that she had to hide what she had with Finn…she hated being a secret; she hated that she couldn’t brag about the necklace Finn gave her for her birthday not too long ago. She’s spent the last two years struggling in being the other woman and not the only woman.

In the beginning, Finn made it out that they were just friends with benefits. But as time went on he acts and sometimes even treats Becky like he loves her. Behind closed doors at least, but still treats her like Becky’s seen him with you. But it’s still not the same way she had hoped. There’s always something different in the way he treated you than he does her.

She loved him…but love shouldn’t make her feel guilty. She shouldn’t feel guilty about betraying your trust because if she was a good friend, she wouldn’t have done it to begin with.

Becky and Finn had so much history and it wasn’t surprising to her that they ended up sleeping together. She just didn’t think that it would happen while he was married to Y/N.

But she knows with Finn still married to Y/N after starting their affair two years ago that he might not ever leave her. She’ll be destined to be Finn’s dirty little secret until she’s had enough…or until he’s had enough. She’s pretty sure that he doesn’t know that he’s breaking her heart, not like she’s ever told him any of this.

Becky knows that if she tells him the truth: actually vocalizing that she loves him, she risks losing him. He’s never told her that he loved her. He may be treating her like he loves her, but he may not actually love her. Care about her, sure, but not love her.

She broke out of her thoughts and looked over to the sleeping Finn next to her. He would be leaving her to go home to Y/N tomorrow. She hated knowing that he was going back to her when she felt like he should just get it over with and stay with her.

You say I’m crazy

Cause you don’t think I know what you’ve done

But when you call me baby

I know I’m not the only one

Becky got out of the shower and brushed her wet hair. Finn was leaving today to go back to his wife. She hated every time he left. She hated it so much that she had considered more than a few times to tell Y/N about their ‘relationship’. But then she never did.

She never did because she knew that it would burn her bridge with Y/N. She wanted her to know but didn’t at the same time. Becky loved her…so much. When this started, she never expected things to get to this point…hell, she never expected to have even slept with Finn. But it just happened one night and it continued for the next couple of years.

Becky couldn’t stress enough how much she hated that she’s Finn’s secret. If she wasn’t, he wouldn’t have to leave to go back to her. She would be the one waiting on Finn when he came home; she would be the one he slept next to and held close through the night, whispering how much he loved her…she could be the one to have kids with him and grow old with.

Why couldn’t he see that? Why did he have to keep breaking her heart like this? Why couldn’t she just tell him the truth about her feelings? Why does she feel like she’s being so stupid?

Becky wiped the stray tear that fell from her eye and placed her hairbrush down. With a sigh, she plugged in the hair dryer. Before she turned it on, Finn came inside.

“Hey, I’m taking off. I’ll see you next week.” Finn said, kissing her.

Finn went to pull away but Becky pulled him back to her, deepening the kiss. Finn’s right hand rested on Becky’s waist for a moment before he pulled away from her.

“I wish you didn’t have to go.” Becky whispered sadly.

“I know, but we’ll see each other next week, baby.” Finn assured, lightly smacking Becky’s butt with a smirk.

“Bye.”

Finn had gotten to the door before replying, “Bye.”

Becky sighed to herself once more, working to keep the tears at bay. She stared at her reflection in the mirror for a moment. She hated what she’s become.

But she knows at the end of the day, she’s gonna stick this out with Finn because having him in this way was better than not having him at all.

I have loved you for many years

Maybe I am just not enough

Every time Finn left home now, you always wondered how he could do this to you…it stays on your mind the entire time, on top of what he’s doing and if he’s with Becky at the moment. And then if you think he’s with Becky, your mind is bitchy enough to think about what he’s doing to her in bed…all you see is him pleasuring a woman that isn’t you.

How…how are you not enough for him? Again, you and Finn had a very healthy and active sex life…why does he feel the need to step out on you with Becky?

Ugh, and then there’s Becky. After learning about her involvement with Finn, you know that things would never be the same…as far as you were concerned, your friendship was over. So fucking over. The same question applies to her: How could she do this to you too?

You broke down into tears once more, crumpling to your knees as you sobbed. You took another swig from the bottle of Jack you were nursing, not even reacting to the burn in your throat anymore.

Finn was everything to you…he was everything you had left. Why couldn’t you be the same thing to him? He promised to love you and never lie to you but he does it everyday. Why wouldn’t you just leave? Or at the least do something about it?

That suddenly set you off. You grabbed your bottle of Jack and stormed upstairs. Taking another swig as you got to your bedroom, you went to the closet. You stared at Finn’s clothes hanging up before setting the bottle on the floor. You ripped Finn’s clothes from the hangers and stepped out of the room to throw them to the first floor before repeating the process with the clothes in his dresser drawers.

Once you were done, you picked up your bottle and chugged the rest of it. You caught your reflection in the full length mirror and you threw your empty bottle, shattering the glass from both the mirror and the bottle.

You were like a person possessed; you swept things off the dresser and knocked it over. Doing that felt so good that when you went downstairs to deal with Finn’s clothes, that you suddenly grabbed a fireplace poker and began to break everything in the living room. Once everything that could be broken was, you pushed over shelves and even the TV.

Suddenly your eyes found Finn’s pile of clothes once more. You grabbed the pile and went outside throwing it on the lawn before grabbing more. Once you were done, you went back inside and went into the kitchen, grabbing a bottle of vodka and some matches. Heading back outside, you opened the bottle and poured its contents all over Finn’s clothes, tossing the empty bottle on the top of the pile. You then pulled out your matches and lit it, staring at the small flame for a moment. Glancing back at the pile of clothes, you dropped the match on them, setting the clothes ablaze.

You stood there and watched the fire for a moment. You couldn’t help the smile that crossed your face.

You then snapped out of your thoughts. You realized that you were still on the living room floor crying with your bottle of Jack. You looked over to the clean and neat living room before looking over to the coffee table where Finn had just finished putting together another lego pirate ship before he left.

A sigh came out of your mouth as you wiped your tears away. A jingle came from your cell phone, catching your attention. You got up from the floor and saw that you had a text from Finn.

Hey love! I made it back alright. I’m headed home. I’ll see you in a bit!

You swallowed the lump in your throat and went into the kitchen. You closed your half empty bottle of Jack Daniels and put it back in the cabinet. You sighed once more, heading upstairs to clean up any traces of your day so far.

You made me realize my deepest fears

By lying and tearing us up

Becky sat on her couch, wiping the tears away from her eyes. She had just gotten off the phone with Finn and she had decided that maybe it was time to tell Y/N about their affair. The fact that she hurt every time she thought of herself as Finn’s secret trumped over her feelings about her and Y/N’s friendship ending…yes, that’s still gonna hurt her…but a part of her needed Finn in her life.

But then Finn came up with an excuse as to why he couldn’t tell her. In that moment that’s when she realized that all she would be to him is some action on the side…nothing more.

“Look, it’s not a good time, alright? I’m literally just about to walk through the door.” Finn told her.

“Finn, if you don’t tell her now, then there will never be a good time.”

“Then I won’t tell her! Stop pressuring me, Becky. I’ll tell her when I tell her.”

“So never then.”

“God dammit, Becky. We’ll talk about this later.”

Becky lightly scoffed when Finn hung up on her. Angrily, she threw her phone as she worked to keep her tears at bay.

Finn was never gonna tell Y/N…she could tell with how fast he got irritated when she asked. Why doesn’t he see what’s right in front of him? How could he not notice by now how much she loves him? Does he choose not to see it or what?

=================================

Once again, Becky found herself laying next to Finn after a round of lovemaking. He came over and apologized for their argument last week, bringing her some jewelry. Finn kissed Becky before he got up and got into the shower. He couldn’t stay long, as Y/N was waiting for him to come home.

Becky heard a jingle from Finn’s phone, which was in the pocket of his jeans on the floor. Curiously, she got up. She knew it must’ve been Y/N asking when he would be home. But she unlocked his phone (she was still wondering why he didn’t have a passcode on it) and saw a text from someone…and it wasn’t Y/N.

Hey babe. Can’t wait to see you tomorrow. I’ll show you exactly how much I missed you.

Then to end it, there was a winking emoji and a kiss emoji. Becky looked up towards her bedroom door, her heart breaking. Then another jingle sounded, causing Becky to look down at the screen. A picture was sent…it was a nude photo of…Charlotte?

What the hell was happening?

The photo didn’t show her face, but Becky knew those tattoos anywhere. How could he? He decided that it was a good idea to sleep with her fucking best friend? Becky locked Finn’s phone and put it back the way she found it.

You say I’m crazy

Cause you don’t think I know what you’ve done

But when you call me baby

I know I’m not the only one

Becky stood up straight and began to get dressed. She quickly wiped the tears in her eyes as she put on a t-shirt. God, all it seemed like she was doing lately, when it came to Finn, was crying.

Why did it feel like her heart was being ripped out, stomped on and thrown into a fire? Was this how Y/N would feel if she were to find out about her and Finn? Because if she could ever feel like this then maybe she doesn’t have to know about them. She doesn’t want Y/N to go through what she’s going through in this very moment. As much as she hated being a secret, she didn’t think it was worth putting someone else through the same thing she’s feeling…especially considering that they’re supposed to be friends.

Becky looked over towards the doorframe when she heard Finn coming out of the bathroom. She didn’t say a word as he began to get dressed. Once he was fully clothed, he checked his phone. Becky watched, her heart dropping when he smiled at the screen and began to reply.

“Is it Y/N?” Becky asked, pretending as she didn’t notice.

“Yeah. She wants me to get home. She made my favorite for dinner.” Finn replied, looking up at Becky.

Liar. Fucking liar.

Becky nodded as Finn gave her a kiss on the cheek, getting ready to leave. Becky pulled Finn back to her and kissed him deeply.

“Finn?” Becky whispered as the separated.

“Yeah?”

“This is probably a stupid thing to ask, but, you aren’t seeing anyone else, are you?”

Finn backed up to look Becky directly in the eyes.

“What?”

“I mean, you seem distracted today and I don’t know…like I said, I know it’s stupid.”

“You’re being crazy, Beck.” Finn assured with a smile. “I wouldn’t do that to you. It’s bad enough I’m doing it to Y/N, but I would never do that to you, baby. I love you.”

Becky’s heart shattered into millions of little pieces. Not only did he just lie to her, he finally told her that he loved her.

“Okay?” Finn continued, cupping her face and comfortingly brushing her cheeks with his thumbs.

“Okay.” Becky answered, lightly nodding.

“I’ll see you in a couple days.”

Finn leaned in to kiss her once more before leaving.

I know I’m not the only one

I know I’m not the only one

You stared out the window of the living room. You had been there ever since you left your doctor’s appointment a couple of hours ago.

You were pregnant.

And that meant that even if you found it in you to leave Finn, you definitely wouldn’t now. Now not only did you have to put on a brave face for yourself, you had to do it for your child. Finn still didn’t know that you knew about Becky and it was a for sure thing that it was gonna stay that way.

In a way, maybe this is what you deserved for not speaking up sooner. Don’t get it wrong, you knew you were gonna love this baby regardless of the piece of shit his or her father was…but again, his or her father was a piece of shit. He didn’t deserve the joy that this baby was going to bring to their lives because he can’t even enjoy the one he has with you.

He wanted more when it came to his sex/relationship life…what if he wanted more when it came to your future child? What if he wanted more kids and had some with Becky? Or even worse, what if he decided to pursue other women than Becky and have babies with them?

You shuddered to think that Finn would pursue other women outside of Becky. You were having a hard time enough as it is, the last thing you wanted was another one.

You paced back and forth, waiting for Finn to come home. Regardless of how you felt about things, you were having a baby and you were gonna have to suck it up. You needed him because not only did your future child deserve to have a father in its life, but because you weren’t sure you could raise a child by yourself.

You stopped when you heard Finn walk through the door. You immediately made the decision that your act of feigning ignorance towards Finn’s infidelity would have to become a permanent state of being if you wanted this to work for you and the baby. Despite how you feel about Finn’s actions, yes, you still loved him…this ignorant state of being would also make you and Finn work. Maybe one day he will realize what he has with you and he’ll stop.

He had to, right? Plus, you knew you couldn’t keep living your life the way you have been since you found out. It’s been killing you because you haven’t been sleeping too well, you having been eating much and you’ve been drinking more than usual. This is where you are now…and this is where you decided that this is the life you have to live with for now.

“Hey, love.” Finn greeted, smiling as he walked over to you.

“Hey.” You replied, your smile quite not reaching your eyes.

“Is everything okay?” His eyebrows furrowed curiously, clearly concerned.

“Yeah, everything’s fine. I just, I went to the doctor today cause I’ve still be super nauseous.”

“That’s right…” Finn drifted from you for a moment, clearly lost in his thoughts. “What’d they say?”

You paused for a moment…could you do this? Like really, because this constant second guessing yourself…you knew that you should follow your instincts and confront him about his cheating and dump his ass. But you also have a life of a child in your hands now. Could you live with yourself by letting him or her possibly growing up without a father? Could you financially handle that without Finn’s help?

No.

No, you couldn’t let your baby live without a father or financially support a child without Finn’s help.

No, you couldn’t do this.

But you knew you had to. You felt now that there was no choice…you were gonna swallow your pride and do all of this for your baby. This child had done nothing wrong to deserve a possibly crappy life because its mom couldn’t suck it up and let it go.

“I’m pregnant.” You told Finn, offering him a sheepish shrug and a small smile.

Finn froze for a moment as he stood there. He took a moment to register what exactly you told him before his eyes shone with unshed tears and a giant smile made its way to his face.

“You—we’re having a baby?” Finn asked, his smile never leaving his face.

“Yeah. In 6 months.”

Finn grabbed your hands and pulled you into his arms. He couldn’t help his laughter as he kissed your cheek, your nose, your lips and your forehead constantly. You had already wrapped your arms around him, but you tightened your hold on him. You looked up at him and shared a smile before you gently kissed him.

You want so badly to believe that he’ll stop seeing Becky and you’ll be the only woman in his life again, especially after this reaction to the baby. They say ignorance is bliss…and you hoped for that to be true.

For the baby and for you.

You hope that pretending to think that you’re the only woman in his life will make you happy again…even though in the back of your mind, you will always know the truth.

And I know, and I know

And I know, and I know

And I know

And I know, no

I know I’m not the only one

[heavenlysan]

Cruel Love [6]

Mafialeader!San | Detective!Reader | Soulmates | Choi San x female reader | NSFW!!! | Explicit language | T/W Harassment, Light violence and mentions of blood |

Words: 4,3k

Chapters:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |

(Y/N'S POV)

The last ray of dim light disappeared after closing the door I rest against the door holding my chest trying to control the unknown things happening inside of me I look through the peephole and he's still there he stares blankly into space while touching his lips he smiles so big and raises one of his hands in victory he's happy? 

I go to bed thinking about how San is nothing like Irene's report portrayed him or at least he hasn't showed that side yet. He is a caring man who blushes easily. I feel my old phone vibrating under the mattress and I hurry up to see who it is if it's Irene I'm doomed.

"Hello?"

"Hey y/n how is the fake life going?" I sigh relieved after hearing Dylan's voice.

"Are you drunk or dumb? We're not supposed to have contact"

"I know" He laughs loudly "I just don't know if you remember that I'm working on your last case and one of the papers is missing I wanted to know if you still have it or if I have to ask our boss"

"Really? I left everything organised it shouldn't be missing but I probably messed up without realising it probably is in my apartment" I scratch my head trying to remember.

"Can I go to your old apartment to pick it up then?" He asks.

"Sure ask the doorman to open the door for you I'll call to let them know you're passing by" It's completely okay it's not the first time he does it I've known Dylan for two years almost three and it's not the first time he's there without me being present.

"Okay I'll call you after getting them, take care y/n" He ends the call.

I feel so troubled I feel really tired but I have to stay up to write a report that I don't even know where to start. Tonight San didn't show a single sign of him being a criminal we talked about our life and the FBI is surely not interested in his childhood. He did showed signs of his wealth the earrings, his expensive car and renting a whole planetarium just for us. I search around on the Internet to find how much the earrings are and my jaw drops as soon as I see the price 14,995 dollars. He must have a lot of money if he can do that casually buying expensive jewelry like it's candy. Me being an average human getting an average paycheck can't understand how he can spend that much on a woman he just met? My phone rings again, it's Dylan but is just a message this time.

Damn you must have been on a huge rush to leave your apartment like that 😭 since you can't come back for idk how long I'll clean it and tidy this place up for you but you owe me one.

What is he talking about? I call him immediately but he doesn't answer. What is he doing? I try again but it sends me to voicemail his message was sent only seconds ago why can't he pick up? But I try not to worry and just send him a message.

What do you mean? you're so dramatic not all of us are perfectionists and clean as you are I left my apartment as it always is and answer your phone I called you twice!!

I go back to my report and I write the little information I have I know Irene is going to yell at me because she gave me specific instructions of writing an extremely detailed report but the only thing I have is evidence of his wealth besides I'm doing a good job San is opening up and the whole point is gaining his trust Irene said it herself San was hard to find and me getting this close is in fact more than she expected.

I rest my head on the desk just to close my eyes for a little moment the tiredness is a lot but I have to keep on writing.

…

The sun dazzled me and I straighten up in my seat fuck I was supposed to just rest my eyes for a moment but I fell asleep. I stretch my arms and legs and I feel good It's been a long time since I've slept so well. My heart starts beating fast when I hear a knock on the door and I get up so fast to open just to find Irene on the other side.

"You must have had a rough night you look…" She looks at me from head to toes and tries to find non-offensive words or at least that's what she looks like. "Anyways remember my instructions? I'm here to see your report"

I don't really say anything to her I just guide her to my desk and give her the report.

"This is just" She holds the bridge of her nose and laughs then breaks the paper in half and throws it away "You think this is a joke? We don't give a shit about his money we're losing time" She yells at me, she looks furious.

I would usually lower my head and be a good employee but today that's not the case. "Don't you see? This is useful for the case knowing about his wealth we can get an idea of what he's doing find his credit history and see what business he's involved in" I yell back at her and she looks surprised "At least I'm getting things done you along with the rest of the FBI have been trying for too long to reach him but you failed you should be thankful I was able to get this close"

She's about to leave but turns back to look at me "Show me what you recorded"

Fuck not again.

"I wasn't able to get much" I get the earrings and I connect them to her laptop.

She tenses when she sees his face. In the short video I was able to get there he was it only showed when he gave me the flowers and the diamond earrings and before the video ends it shows how he took off my detective earrings.

"Flowers and diamond rings? You had a date with him right after you guys had sex? Seriously? Isn't supposed to be date and then sex" She says with saltiness in her voice.

"Listen, I'm aware that you're my superior and I should show you some respect but if you want that I want respect back if I had or didn't have sex with him that is the point of the investigation get close gain his trust so I don't know what you're getting so mad for but if you're really itching to know no, I didn't have sex with San"

"San? So you’re that close now" She nods and laughs sarcastically "Sure whatever you say I'll be back in a couple of days" She gets up to finally leave and I couldn't be happier about it "And y/n next time make sure to write something actually useful"

I sit on the couch for a moment, letting out a big sigh of frustration and anger why was she so mad about all of this? from the beginning she knew this wasn't going to be easy. My head hurts because all of this and I just lay back on the couch. I stare at the ceiling for too long my mind completely blank the last words she said definitely hit a nerve make sure to write something actually useful it remind me of stuff from my childhood and I get mad again can't she see I'm trying my best?.

I get up again to the kitchen to finally eat something and see if that can stop my headache but my phone starts ringing. It's an unknown number.

"Hello?"

"Hi is this y/n?" Says a woman but there's a little bit of noise and I can't recognise her voice.

"Yeah it's me who is this?"

"Hi it's Lucy the tall girl from the bar I'm sorry if I catch you in a bad time but our boss isn't gonna be around for a few days and whenever he isn't around I'm in charge I was wondering if you could come to the bar earlier and help me with some stuff"

I think about it for a moment and I don't really want to go to that bar ever again but it's not like I have any other choice "Sure at what time do you want me there?"

"Around 4pm or earlier if you can, I hate being in charge here so if you can come earlier I'll really appreciate it"

"Okay I'll be there"

"Thank you new girl" She says and I end the call.

This is just fucking perfect the last time I was there, my confidence was left on the floor, I hated the way I had been treated. But I also wonder why the boss isn't gonna be around? He must be sick I guess.

I wonder if San is gonna be there tonight but that I remember he only goes there only once or twice per week so he might not be there tonight.

I take a shower and after that I finally eat something, but there's not much left to eat for the next week and there wasn't much food to begin with so I'm obligated to leave and get the groceries. I put on a hoodie some old jeans and I leave.

There's not many people in this neighbourhood it's nothing like my old one in my old building there was always noise always if it wasn't a couple fighting it was babies crying or if it wasn't that it was the same couple having loud sex in plain daylight. This neighbourhood it's nothing like that I've been walking and so far I've only seen one old lady taking out her trash.

"What are you doing outside gorgeous" Says a man but I don't even bother to turn around and I just keep walking. "Can't you see it's dangerous to be alone a girl with an ass like yours isn't safe anywhere" I feel disgusted and I just rush my steps. "Stop ignoring me dirty slut I've been observing you the other day you left with a short dress that made me so hard are you a whore beautiful? Because I'll gladly pay for your services"

I stop walking and I turn around to face him "Leave me alone or I'll scream"

"That won't do much honey have you seen this place? it's empty as fuck even if you scream for help nobody is gonna come and save you" He tries to get closer to me but I take a step back. "Come on gorgeous I just want a little taste of that pussy of yours you're a whore you want it too you're probably getting wet right now"

I've had enough of this man this time I'm the one that gets closer to him he probably thinks he got me, as soon as he lowers his guard I punch him in the face. He holds his nose and sees the blood in his hand and looks shocked "What did you call me? A whore? I'll show you what a whore can do then" I punch him again.

The man looks pissed but he doesn't stay for too long and runs away. He messed up with a good trained detective after all.

I finally get to the convenience store and get enough stuff for the next week.

"Your total would be" The cashier looks down at my hand "Are you okay!?" I get confused to what he means and I look at my hand and it's turning green and purple and there's some of my own blood I don't remember punching that man that much?.

"I'm okay thank you" I pay and I don't even bother to get my change I get out of there.

I hurry and I run as fast as I can to be safe, if that man appears again with this hand I won't be able to do much to defend myself. I get there and I close the door behind me completely breathless for running so much. I walk to the bathroom to wash and disinfect my hand, with eyes closed and itching pain I put a bandage on my hand. I've hit people before and my hand has never ended like this did I… punch him more than I remember?

I stay in the kitchen trying to rewind the tape but I only remember punching him twice and then he just ran away… But the blood on his face and my hand doesn't match up with my memories.

I glance at the clock 2pm I should start getting ready to head to the bar. I do my make up first a not so heavy smokey eye and red lipstick. I wear a short backless long sleeved black dress I'm gonna be cold at night but the other dresses are just as short and skin revealing as this one so there's no big difference. I eat something quickly before leaving and I just close the door.

With not so much enthusiasm I drive to the bar and I drive as slow as possible I don't want to be there and I don't want to be there this early. My hand still hurts I move the bandage a little and my hand still has a purple greenish color I knew it wasn't going to heal right away but I was hoping for a miracle because it's definitely going to draw attention.

I get there and in my head I definitely had thought that Lucy had called all the girls to help her too but we're all alone and as soon as she spots me Lucy gets so happy.

"y/n thank God you're here I was hoping to see you even earlier but it's okay, we're opening in a few hours and we need to get this place ready"

"You mean like clean and other stuff?" She nods "What happened to everyone doesn't this place already have another employees to get it ready?"

"Yes but I'm a woman and whenever I'm in charge not a single male employee does what I order they only listen to our boss and if he isn't around here they don't even bother to show up till it's time to open"

"Seriously? They sound pathetic" Lucy looks really stressed.

"I know right that's why I called you the other girls usually sleep all day to work all night so I got really glad we you picked up your phone I'll do most of the work inside but if you could wait outside for a delivery"

"Lucy, it's okay just breath for a moment" I hold her shoulders and she takes a deep breath "and relax we can do all the work on our own don't worry"

"Thank you y/n if you ever wanna go shopping or something, give me a call it'll be my treat"

I go outside as she asks me to but she didn't even mention what am I supposed to receive but I didn't want to give her more trouble.

I wait for a long time but there's no sign of any delivery the worst part is that it's a little bit cloudy it might rain in a few hours and I'm starting to get cold.

I sit on the edge of the sidewalk when I see a big truck parking next to the bar. Is that it? A man starts walking towards me and that confirms it.

"We got your boxes of Tequila Ley .925, Henri IV Dudognon Heritage Cognac Grande Champagne, Diva Vodka, Dalmore 62 that's a special one I've heard it's good ma'am and the last one is Penfold Ampoule just sign here please" Those are brand names? Even the names sound ridiculously expensive. I do as he says and he and another man start getting the boxes out of the truck.

"Now I know why Lucy preferred cleaning inside." I'm left with over forty boxes of expensive liquor that I'm supposed to move from the parking lot to the cellar. I take off my heels so I don't fall down the stairs and break the bottles and my ankles. This is definitely more tough that it looks like I keep going up and down till there's no more boxes on the parking lot I'm left exhausted with trembling legs and arms and I already want to go and take a long nap.

I lay on one of the red velvet sofas and Lucy sits in front of me

"Why you didn't call me to help you?" She was already so stressed and I didn't want to be a burden but I don't say anything "Our boss never makes such big orders unless a big event is coming I didn't know you'll be left with so many boxes and I also didn't see your injured hand I'm sorry" She sounds sincere and I just give her a smile.

"Don't worry about it I needed some exercise"

"But we can't stay here we're actually late to open so I need you to get up"

"What time is it? Did I already take that long?"

"It's 7pm we were supposed to open an hour ago but It's not your fault it was actually mine I took to long washing all the wine glasses"

She gets to the door and removes the lock and I just want the sofa to absorb me or something. It doesn't take too long for the other employees and the rest of the girls to finally get here and after around 30 min this place looks exactly like the first time I saw it. Men everywhere drinking and playing either darts or billiards.

I look around to find Lucy and she's already talking with a man.

So far I'm thankful nobody has asked me to have sex the only men who have approached me was just to flirt, invite me a drink and play billiards even if it was just so they could see my butt it's better than have sex with nasty drunk men.

I leave to the bathroom to get some air and stay away from the noise for a few minutes my knuckles hurt more than they did earlier. Carrying boxes all afternoon was obviously a terrible idea.

I go back and I see a familiar face it's San's friend Wooyoung and another man I don't know I try to avoid him seeing me but it's too late when I hear him calling me.

"You're the girl from the other night aren't you? What was your name" He closes his eyes "y/n! Right!" Shouts Wooyoung and I get closer so he doesn't have to be so loud.

"She's y/n? now I understand" Says the man next to Wooyoung even if they're sitting I can tell he is taller than him.

"Mingi don't be annoying" He tries not to laugh it looks like they're already drunk "By the way we couldn't convince San to come tonight but let me give him a quick call and let him know you're here"

"No no you don't have to" I try to stop him but he already has his phone out.

"San guess who's here she wants to see you" He laughs again he is definitely drunk but not a bad type of drunk. "He hung up on me I can't believe this bastard but don't worry y/n he's probably on his way"

A girl walks past Wooyoung and he forgets about my existence I think it's the same girl he was with last time but I can't remember her name. I look around and the other tall man Mingi left too.

Men keep inviting me drinks I definitely feel uncomfortable but again I rather this than sex. And I also start feeling a little dizzy.

"I can't believe San started liking another girl" I hear a deep voice that startles me I turn around to face him and it's Mingi. "After all he went through I thought this whole women thing was over for him but…"

One of the girls approaches me interrupting Mingi "A man paid for you he is waiting in the golden VIP room and please hurry we can't afford losing a client tonight" I look at Mingi and makes a gesture that indicates that it's okay.

I celebrated too early men not paying for me I jinxed it completely what am I gonna do? I don't want to do this. I walk through the green neoned hallway and I slowly open the door of the golden VIP room.

"I heard you wanted to see me"

A sigh of relief leaves my mouth when I see San. He looks so good he's wearing a black coat that makes him look so mysterious and elegant.

"Actually that was your friend Wooyoung" I say resting my back against the door.

"That's what I thought princess but I couldn't pass the opportunity to see you"

"Mr Choi San I don't know if you remember but the other night I got instructions to treat you like a God.”

He gets closer to me and the smell of whiskey fills the air. He wraps me with his arms and lifts me up I wrap my legs around his waist but he just looks at me with lust in his eyes I take the initiative and kiss him softly. And that feeling appears again it's unknown yet familiar and exciting. I remember where we are and if we're gonna do it I don't want it to be here.

"San let's go to another place." I say and San nods but before opening the door he pulls down my dress as it was before. He holds my non-injured hand and guides me outside where the rain takes us by surprise and we hurry to his car.

"Do you want to go to your house or my house" He asks and I smirk at him getting closer.

"Truth is I can't wait any longer" That's the alcohol talking for me. Those are enough words for San. We jump to the back seat and I sit on his lap he probably sees the desperation in my eyes because he tilts my chin up and kisses me. It’s rough but slow, he has his hands around my hips and I start teasing him grinding against his bulge.

"Princess…" He moans and that sounds so good.

It was obvious that both of us were drunk but none of that mattered right now. I desired him and he desired me. He switched positions resting my back on the seat, now he was on top. He takes off his coat he has a white shirt and black suspenders but my hands are faster than his and I unbutton his shirt revealing his abbs. I leave a trail of kisses first his lips and then his neck then his chest going lower and lower till I reach his pants I glance at him one last time he has his hands on my head caressing my hair. Without hesitation I unbuckle his belt and bring down his pants along with his boxers revealing how hard he is I kiss just the tip and he throws his head back I can feel how desperate he's getting.

"San you want me to keep going?" I whisper and he just nods. "What do you want me to do?"

"Princess please keep going I'm begging you" He sounds so desperate but I do as he says and I take it all at once. He moans aggressively and that makes me so wet, I can feel his legs twitching. He starts pushing my head and playing with my hair I go slow to tease him "You feel so good around me princess don't stop" I start going faster and faster I couldn’t get enough of him he felt so good. "Oh fuck" He groans and looks at me with a smile and kisses me right away. I couldn't believe all of this but I didn't want to stop either. He takes off my dress and I feel so exposed that I start blushing "You're beautiful princess" He's on top of me again I feel like my heart is gonna jump out of me anytime now. He kisses me roughly but there's tenderness in the way he does it. His hands go from my neck to my chest I feel like crying I'm desperate I want him inside of me.

"San please"

"I like that, keep doing that say my name princess" I feel the tip in my entrance God I can't do this anymore I want him inside of me now.

"San please fuck me" I wanted him in me, all at once I didn't care. His weight on top of me felt nice I wanted him even closer even deeper. "Hush" he said, and he kissed my eyelids, then my lips. His strong and gentle hands began to stroke me, his hands, his lips, his tongue this felt like heaven. He pushed further inside of me gentle. Knowing what he was doing. I felt my nipples rise, and it startled me, I felt like I was going to break in half. But it was worth it. He moved his hips faster and I was a moaning mess. I looked directly into his eyes and he held down both of my hands while leaving soft kisses on my lips. He was rhythmic, gentle, moving down my body.

San was making me feel yet another unknown feeling it felt strange and new but it felt extremely good. I throw my head back and let out one last moan there was a sharp brief pain It felt like a big explosion inside of me and then a sweet spasm went through me, no more pain just San's sweetness and tenderness.

[onisiondrama]

(Note: I’m not repeating stories he’s told before and just putting them in parenthesis. I have a lot more videos to go until I’m caught up so that would save me a lot of time. If he gives details I never heard from him before, I will type those.)

“Should I Get A Divorce?” Speaks,  Oct 6, 2020

- This video is weird. He’s trying to make himself seem smart and insightful about marriage because his marriage is “successful”, while most people complain about their marriage. - There’s one part where he says people don’t understand you don’t have to be lied to or cheated on in a relationship. Which is pretty ironic coming from him. He shows a clip of an upset wife asking her husband what he’s doing with a woman in a bedroom. The husband and the woman are getting dressed. The husband keeps asking “Who?” “What?”, pretending the woman isn’t there. Later he shows more of the clip where the wife is still questing him. He keeps pretending he doesn’t know what she’s talking about. She looks in the bedroom again and the woman is gone. The wife looks confused. Love that gaslighting. Just like when Jamsey boi cheats. “I didn’t cheat. It was the other person who cheated on you, my spouse” “You said I can’t have oral or vaginal sex with your friend. You didn’t say anything about anal.” - In another part he says there are people who constantly complain about their s/o and they hide away in a man cave.. he says this while in his garage man cave. 😑 Which we know he spends most of his time in. Like, way longer than normal working hours.  - He says he used to look angry in his old Speaks videos because of his marriage at the time. That’s total crap. He only shows clips from videos where he used his old militant persona for videos like his anti-meat videos. He made plenty of mushy Speaks videos talking about how happy he was with Skye back then too. 🙄 - I think he made this video during his short guru / advise phase.

“gotta say goodbye for a little bit” Speaks, October 8, 2020

- Tells his viewers they can listen to this video without watching it if they like to listen to people talk, like Kai used to do. [This is definitely meant to be another guru / advise type video. I can tell by his tone.] - Says he’s married to Kai for almost 8 years. (How Kai found James story) Says he married a fan and had children with them. He says they now have an awesome dynamic, but he knocks on wood because people who are together 18 years still get divorces. Says you never know, things can suddenly fall apart. - Says it’s cool because at the time he didn’t listen to social standards. Kai was 17 at the time, but lied about his age. Most people would have said don’t go for the relationship because Kai lied and the age gap, even though it was legal. He listened to the law and his heart and now he’s in the happiest marriage of his life. - “F society.” If he listened to society, he wouldn’t know where he’d be or what relationship he’d be in. Says you have to follow the legal system or your life is ruined. - Says he was an air force cop at one point because he believed in justice. He doesn’t think he wanted to shoot people, but he excelled in the cop program. He says he met Magic Johnson in the cafeteria at Lackland Air Force Base. He barely knew who Magic Johnson was, but he thought it was cool a famous basketball player was there. James asked him if he could take a picture and he said yes. He says he took a picture of him like a reporter and not a selfie. He still regrets that. - Says he wants to talk about the future of this channel. Some people appreciate he’s been uploading every day, but he wants to focus on sites that aren’t shadow banning people or algorithmically demoting people. He feels like Youtube is king in letting negative opinions prevail, even if it’s invalid. If the engagement shows people are mad at you, Youtube used to go the harsh truth route. He says that was nice. He says he once made a fake meltdown video in response to a video Leafy made about him. He says it’s fun for him to make fake meltdowns. - He says he and Kai took a quiz today and found out Kai’s IQ is 136 and his is 129, so Kai is smarter than him. - After the meltdown videos, Youtube algorithm didn’t favor him as much. He says maybe it was because he said they were fake. - He says he has been thinking about websites and how they treat users. Says Twitter is one the best because they don’t care about what your opinion is. They just care about their rules. Says if people don’t like you on other sites, they will shadow-ban you and you’re done for. He says his reaction video to Leafy’s video got 1/6th the views Leafy did, so there was a bleed over of traffic. Now when someone says something negative about you, YouTube will only promote videos that agree with that narrative. Says if you only want to hear negative stuff about Joe Biden, you’ll only see negative stuff. He says it’s financially productive, but it’s not ethically productive.

[I just want to pause here and vent a second. Yes, James fell out of the YouTube algorithm, but he’s had plenty of chances to sweep back into it. Like when he was getting tons of views on those fake meltdown videos in January. The reason those viewers didn’t stay is because there is nothing good for them to watch. His Speaks videos are boring, long, rambling messes. He repeats himself, contradicts himself, talks about the same topics over and over. These videos are mind-numbingly boring. His comedy videos are extremely outdated. The characters, topics, and humor he uses are not going to get him anywhere anymore. Like is the Death Note fandom really that strong in 2020? That anime came out 14 years ago for Christ sake. His music is not particularly good or interesting. On top of all this, his reputation is complete garbage.

People just don’t want to watch Onision. If the algorithm tried promoting his Speaks videos, I guarantee most people are actively choosing not to click on his videos. The non-subscribers that do click probably regret it. He’s made ZERO effort into making interesting or engaging content. He’s ONLY been making Speaks content that either fuels his ego or defends himself using the same old arguments he’s used 100+ times before. He’s got to be in some kind of deep denial if he thinks his Youtube views are down because of the algorithm. 

There used to be a saying that whenever Onision’s fans grow out of him, there will always be a crop of young teens that start watching him. That’s not happening anymore. It’s not cool for the alt / loner kids to watch edgy Youtube videos anymore.]

- Says people only want to hear things they agree with, people want to take what he says out of context, blah, blah. I’m only 1/4th of the way through this damn video. - He asks why he’s busting his butt when there’s no chance for him to prevail on Youtube or anywhere. He says he’s on TikTok, OnlyFans, Twitch. [This video was from before his partnership was taken away on Twitch.] He says those are slightly less problematic because they are driven by human beings and not drama. - He says when you see him posting less to Youtube in the future, you’ll understand why. He says he wants to wait you guys out, 2 years, 20 years. (He tried to call out Shane story.) He says he had to wait a year or two until people admitted he was right about Shane. He says he has conflicting feeling about Shane because they had a personal friendship. Says Shane told him they were friends. - He says you guys seem to drive your narrative and agendas by emotion rather than science and facts. He can’t reason with them unless he picked a greater evil and wages war on that. You would have to join forces with him because the enemy of my enemy is my friend. He says he wouldn’t do that because he’s not interested in being a professional wrestler and making fake drama. - In time you will feel passionately about other things. You don’t actually care about anyone involved because none of you are consuming yourself with anything that is not pop culture. You’re only interested in things other people are pretending to care about. None of you would care if someone found three bodies in a basement. If they were not celebrities you wouldn’t care. You only want justice for things that will get you attention. - If someone builds their whole platform about anti-person they might get bored and become anti-you. That’s why you don’t want to be friends with dramatic people. - He says he was dramatic about things, but that’s because he did care about those things. He wasn’t talking about 3 bodies in the basement either. - Says a long time ago when a celebrity died, he pointed out 30 people were murdered and washed ashore in another country. No one was talking about it because they probably didn’t hear about it. Nobody actually cares about human lives. If you did, every second that a human dies you’d be tweeting about it. - (Sarah blackmail story.) He says in a number of words Sarah said she wouldn’t ruin his life if she slept with him, then went back on it. [Wow. He really morphed his original story. It used to be: One time she jokingly said she could ruin our lives. Later we wanted her to sign an NDA and she said only if she gets something out of it, meaning sex. James said it was “good vibes” that day and he perceived that as her being kinky. She also said it was just a joke in the “proof” clip he always uses. They signed the NDA, then James pressured / tricked Kai into having sex with himself and Sarah. Then Sarah later came back and he decided they should have anal while Kai was out of town because Kai didn’t say no genital to butt. He only said no genital to genital and no genital to mouth before he left.] He says he decided to no longer sleep with Sarah because it was toxic and he decided he would rather be ruined than be with Sarah. [I have a theory he stopped sleeping with Sarah because he was afraid of Kai finding out. If he was truly afraid of Sarah ruining his life, why did he make those videos about weed smokers and BPD that would piss her off? She didn’t speak about their relationship publicly until he started bashing her through those videos.] Says Sarah went ahead and ruined his life and you fell for it. - He keeps mentioning Joe Rogan. - He says others have said he built an empire, uploaded thousands of videos. He gave so much of his life entertaining people and making them laugh. It was so important to him. He changed a lot of lives for the better. Says if you look on Twitter before the drama, you’ll see a lot of people thanking him. Says he was a positive influence to millions of people. That’s a fact. It all came crumbling down because people lied. They’re all criminals he kicked out of his life. He tries to play hero and he was only right with Kai. Kai wasn’t playing victim, he was on his way to college to be a surgeon. Once he was in the process of having kids, he lost the taste to be in a surgery room. Instead he got a bachelor’s in psychology. Kai’s diagnosis of James is aspects of narcissism, but says he doesn’t meet the qualifications to be a full blown narcissist. - He is investing a lot of time in people who don’t listen and don’t appreciate his content. Social media is a drug that tries to take up as much of your time as possible to make advertisers money. He doesn't create content that lies to you or brainwashing you into thinking your opinion is valid. He doesn’t pander to you to make money. Says when he says he’s one of the most honest people on Youtube, the bar is low. OnisionSpeaks is snake poison because snakes don’t survive on this channel. They aren’t going to have a voice that isn’t questioned. Most snakes on Youtube don’t even know how to activate charities on their channels. - Says he had a conversation with Kai about someone who said they vote for the economy over people. Humans are divided between helping their neighbor and helping themselves. - Says he was never taken to court because he never did anything. He’s still posting to places that he thinks is beneficial to himself and his family. Why would he stop because people have a bad idea of him? You shouldn’t alter your life just because people have an opinion of you. If you quit it makes you look guilty. If you quit you’re either guilty or incapable of dealing with it. He says he’s used to dealing with abuse since he began social media. - He wants to create content and help people and make them laugh. He wants to be socially capable and experienced. His ambitions are aligned with what he’s doing. - He says he can’t forgive his father if what people say about him is true. Everyone else he can forgive. If you are at odds with him, he doesn’t have any hate for you. He understands people can hear the wrong narrative and make mistakes. Says we are both imperfect people and have gone through different things. Says if we went through the same experiences, we’d think the same. Says we aren’t so different.  - Says he’s going away and he hopes you watch all his videos so you’ll know a little bit about who he is instead of listening to what Youtube manipulates you into watching. Says his advise is to quit social media. He wouldn’t quit because he’s passionate about it.

[caffeinetheory]

Crime Scene [Timari Week Day 4]

@maribat-2k20

told you I’d have it out today (don’t mind the time ;> )

(rewrote a few ties but it’s okay, it was a struggle but I think this is okay)

Big thank you to @theatreandcomicfreak bouncing ideas off with you really helped

///

Another break in had occurred at the jewelry store down the street from the studio MDC was working in. How Tim had convinced her to get a bigger place for her to work on her designs she wasn’t sure but he had that effect on her. She was already planning on leaving when she heard the alarm go off, no reason to rush now. Mari watched as shadows moved from the rooftops headed toward the blaring sound. The thought of running across the skyline brought back memories of a time best left in the past. 

About twenty minutes had past and Mari was getting quite bored. The Bats were efficient so they were surely done by now right? The red and blue flashing lights coming her way signed they were close enough to being done that she ventured down the street, her custom yo-yo (weapon) was hidden on her hip just in case, can’t be too careful in Gotham after all. 

Curiosity got the best of her as she passed, looks like 2 birds were there, maybe 3 if that shadow was anything to go by. Nightwing was talking to the commissioner, the robbers tied up by his leg. In the shadows, so there was definitely 3, was Robin. The black cape almost his the crimson of his uniform but years of being a hero herself, she was able to catch his eye. His split second flash of confusion of being seen was quickly dismissed when her eyes landed on Red Robin, or should she say Tim. She knew that stance anywhere, it was him alright. 

~~~~~~

Robin watched as Drake’s girlfriend walked passed the scene they had just finished cleaning up. Not unusual if he remembered correctly, her studio was on this street and she had the same tenancy to work late like Drake. What was unusual was how she easily made eye contact with him as he hid in the shadows how had she seen him? Before Robin could process that she could easily find him, he noticed her relaxed stance change when she spotted Drake. Like it was second nature, she made her way silently over to him. She didn’t make a sound as if she did it would ruin everything. Watching her move it was clear she had experience, like they all did, but why did she? 

~~~~~~

That couldn't be him could it? Making her way over to Red Robin Mari subconsciously went into Ladybug mode. It was second nature, moving silently and quickly. She took in everything at the scene, even more so than before, it was hard to shake the habit after so many years. The closer she got the more sure she was. That was absolutely her birdie, a perfect nickname in retrospect, from the way he stood to the messy raven hair. The slight jump when she touched his arm and the alarm that quickly melted into comfort when eye met eye under the domino mask to hide his identity, was the last nail in the coffin, that was her bird under there. 

"Birdie…?" Her voice was hardly above a whisper, only for the person in front of her to hear. The shock was clear as day, and he took her close. They should have known better to try to keep secrets from each other, they always found out.

Nuzzling into her hair she knew he trusted her enough to confirm, no words were needed. A call on the com link broke their moment, a hostage was in a warehouse, they needed help. Red Robin pulled away from her, "I need to go-"

"I'm coming too," Mari didn't let him finish, "no argument… trust me." 

Tim knew how to pick his battles and the determined look in her eyes told him it wasn't going to be a problem. The two rode to the warehouse Oracle had sent him, the lights and armed guards were a clear tip off. 

Tim was about to tell Mari to stay back but she was already scouting the doors. ‘You know what, this isn’t the weirdest thing,’ Tim thought to himself as he got into position. Four guards, one female hostage and plenty of cover. 

In the blink of an eye his wonderful girlfriend - how did she get as mask? - was deflecting bullets with what looked like a yo-yo. With an expertise he’s only seen in videos from what he thought was a tabloid she took everyone down without breaking a sweat. In seconds the hard calculating look she had was gone and a carrying one replaced it as she gently untied the women in the chair, offering reassurance that she would be okay. Hopefully Barbara caught that.

“Everything will be okay, I promise. No one else will hurt you while I’m here,” Mari was rubbing circles into the woman’s back. Luckily there got there before anything bad could happen. Instincts kicked in, but now that the threat was gone she realized Tim was there, staring at her catching flies. Thank Tikki she had her yo-yo and was able to get a mask quickly. This wasn’t ideal though, she wanted to leave this life behind. Looked like that was out the window. 

“Birdie, you’re going to catch flies.” the women had been picked up by the police finally, Tim however still hadn’t moved and it was getting concerning. 

By some miracle he snapped out of it, “I need to get you to the cave,” he didn’t elaborate as he got her on his bike and rode in what Mari believed was the direction of Wayne Manor. 

‘I should have guessed,’ Mari thought as they entered a cave though and entrance that was hidden behind a waterfall. Numerous vehicles lined the walls as they rode in, eventually he parked by a larger room. The stairs led up to a large open space with cases filled with old costumes that made her cringe the tiniest bit, a large training area was on the other side and in the center along a wall was a truly massive computer. Time felt still was she made her way slowly behind her boyfriend who still hadn’t said much. 

There were 5 other people in the room visible but she could reason there were a potential 2 more. A red head in a wheelchair sat at the computer, her typing had slowed when the pair made their way up the steps. The big Bat himself sat in a chair in front of the massive supercomputer, chair turned to watch the newcomers with a calculating eye. Mari had to fight the instinct to get out her yo-yo and get ready for a fight. The same small kid she had seen at the robbery was hiding in the shadows not far from the Bat, this time when they made eye contact he had a look of curiosity more than shock. Not reassuring if she was honest. By what looked like a training area was two older men who looked like they paused sparring. One was absolutely Nightwing, as she saw him earlier and was still in uniform, so by process of elimination the other muscular guy must have been Red Hood, no helmet but a crimson domino mask adored his face and the white streak in his hair reminded her of Jason - but didn’t he hate Batman? There’s no way this was real. 

She stopped mid-step, she was already tense but the feeling of eyes on her back was not welcome. Before she could think about it - there were how many people there after all ?! - she whipped out her yo-yo and stared into the darkness, seemingly at nothing. The movement was not lost on her and her yo-yo sped up, she was tense. Mari almost threw Tim across the cave when he touched her shoulder.

“It’s okay,” with a sigh he called out to what he hoped was Cass, “You can come out now Sis.”

Out of the shadows a 5’5” Asian women in a midnight turtleneck, black jeans and the blackest combat boots one could get came out. With her midnight short hair and domino mask it was astonishing anyone had seen her. She gave the pair a nod and silently made her way over to the others. How in the world Mari knew she was Tim wasn’t sure but it definitely didn’t put his girlfriend at ease. It took some reassurance but he was able to get Mari to be a little less tense, not much but it was a start. The yo-yo was at least by her side and she had caught up with him. Mari still shied away from his family, not that he could blame her. This was a lot to spring on her, but she had figured him out she might as well know about the rest - she’d figure it out anyway she was a genius. If her fighting style was anything to go by and her instincts, well he had an idea she knew the family business well herself. 

“This can’t be happening, Tim please tell me this is a stupid joke and I’m wrong,” Mari whispered to him. The only response he gave her was a tight squeeze to her hand. 

The pair stood in front of everyone, the silence was deafening. The only sound was the typing coming from what Mari assumed was Oracle, soon multiple videos, pictures and interviews were displayed on the screen of one Ladybug. The fight from earlier was also pulled up in the corner by the person typing. 

“You can’t be serious,” she Gave Red Robin a look of exacerbation, “I swear I didn’t want you to find out about this. Preferably ever- but definitely not like this! Tikki is going to kill me, oh god I did so well before and now I just slip up over something stupid! God I never should have stopped on my way home, then I wouldn’t have seen you and guess who you were - THAT WAS SO STUPID OF ME!” she was spiraling. Walking herself in circles as she gestured wildly as she spoke and pulled at her hair, “of course I end up dating a hero! What luck do I have?! And he brings me to what I assume is the famed Bat Cave.” she stopped to look at him, “Why would you do that?! Are they going to kill me? Oh Kawmi-” 

Tim grabbed her shoulders to ground her. “Batman has a no kill rule, don’t you B?” he was able to anchor her and he took off his mask. Blue eyes met blue eyes and she was breathing properly again.

Before Batman could reply, “An annoying one if you ask me,” the amusement in the man’s voice was already enough to get a smile out of Mari. She was no longer panicking but the look the big Bat gave him made her burst out laughing, it was so much like the look Bruce gave Jason after he made a joke about dying - WAIT!

“Jay Jay?” at his sideways grin Mari wanted to hurt him, “Of course… does that mean…?” The nod Tim gave her was all she needed to collapse on the ground, she wasn’t passed out but she was overwhelmed. 

Agent A walked in from what must have been an elevator, looked around and gave a disapproving scoff as he made his way over to Mari and Tim who had taken to sitting on the floor with her. He handed her a large mug filled with her favorite tea, “thanks Alfred,” she mumbled before it clicked. “Oh god it’s all of them isn’t it?”

“You always have a keen eye Miss Marinette,” the amusement in the old butler’s voice made a heavy sign leave her lips.

“Let me guess,” Mari leaned into Tim as she started to point. 

“The smiling one is Dick,” he gave a shit eating grin as he bowed dramatically. 

“Mr. Shooty is Jason as already noted,” Jay gave a halfhearted protest at the nick name.

“The one who gave me a heart attack must be Black Bat,” the woman gave a nod, “I’m really hoping that’s Cass,” a smile told her she was right.

“The brooding Robin must be Damian, it would explain a lot like the sword,” Damian gave a nod of affirmation. 

She looked hesitantly at Batman who was still watching her with intensity, “So by logic that must be Bruce,” she wanted to run. If looks could kill she was sure she would be dead  by his look right then. 

The girl in the wheelchair had turned around at this point, a proud smirk across her lips, “Right as usual Mari,” Mari ran to the open arms of one of her best friends. Of course one of the smartest women she knew ran the tech side of Batman, “Barbara!” 

This was a lot to take in, but then a video began to play on the screen, an early fight of Ladybug. “How’d you find me out?” 

“Between Tim and me, well it wasn’t hard, you have a distinctive fighting style. Yo-yo isn’t exactly common.” 

“You make a fair point,” Mari paused to look back at Tim, “why did you bring me here?”

“You up for joining this life again? I know this is out of nowhere but you did kinda figure it out…” he was trailing off. Why did he think this was a good idea, it was more spontaneous than anything he usually did. 

“Only if you promise you’ll tell me when you need help and no one else makes my suit,” she gave a look to everyone to let them know she would be there for them too. It was unorthodox but when did anything in this family happen in a normal way. 

~~~~~~

Nightingale made her first official appearance with Red Robin at a heist about a week later. They were a reliable duo, solving everything the Riddler sent at them in record time, her yo-yo leaving a nasty bruise on the green clad villains face when they were done. The city knew they had one more hero in the ranks.

[give-me-back-my-rhodey]

The Treasures of a Stark - AUgust Day 16

Title: The Treasures of a Stark

Author: Purple_ducky00

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Brief mention of background characters’ racism

Pairings: Sam/Bucky, Rhodey/Tony

Link: Read on AO3

Summary: Sam and Bucky are famous Youtube treasure hunters. When searching for treasure that may have part of insurance fraud, they don't expect the grandson of the accused to help out.

+++++++

“So, this time, we’re searching for the insurance fraud dump of Montgomery Stark.” Sam Wilson looks right at the camera. “Rumor is, about fifty years ago, Mr. Stark reported more than half of his heirlooms and precious jewels stolen, racking up millions in insurance money. No one ever knows because he died two months after he collected the money, but there are rumors that the man ‘stole’ the things and buried them somewhere off his property. We’re going to see if we can find it. Montgomery Stark was outlived by his son Howard Stark, who died about fifteen years go. Now, the face of the operation is his son, Tony Stark.” “But if we do find it, we’re not giving it to the insurance company because fuck them.” Bucky adds. “Also fuck Tony Stark, the asshole.” Sam motions to cut, and the camera turns off.

Anyone who watches their show knows that Bucky has a dislike for insurance companies. They have screwed him over too many times. He’s highly distrusting of any high power and is more likely to punch first and ask questions later when feeling threatened. But when it comes to doing things for the thrill or exploring anything haunted, he’s the first one to advocate for it.

 Sam, on the other hand, is a little more reasonable. He doesn’t exactly like people in power either, but he isn’t actively hating them. What he actively hates is horror, but he lets Bucky drag him into hunts for haunted treasure. He’s not sure why. Steve is. “Bucky, wasn’t Tony Stark the one who designed that awesome prosthetic?”

 “Yeah, but he’s a billionaire. Fuck him.”

 Sam shakes his head. “Ok, well, you can do that, but I’m going to research this a little more.” He gets up and doesn’t notice Bucky’s face behind him. Pulling out maps and the case files, Sam tries to figure out where the late Mr. Stark could have hidden his stash. Bucky sits at the table a few minutes later.

 “What do you want me to do?” He asks.

 Sam hands him the printed statements from everyone the police had interviewed while the case was open. “Here, read through these. See if anything looks useful.”

 Bucky gets to work, and Sam plots different coordinates into his maps. He’s not finding anything anywhere until Bucky slides over a paper that has the statement of Montgomery Stark’s housekeeper, a Madeline Foster. They first ask her if she was there the night of the robbery. She advised that no, she was not, as she starts work and 6am and leaves at 7pm each day. The robbery took place around 9pm. After clearing herself after a few more questions, they begin to interview her with the view of Montgomery Stark committing insurance fraud. She told them that she doubts he did because “Mr. Stark runs on a schedule that he hasn’t broken for the last fifty years.” Ms. Foster goes on to give the police Montgomery’s full schedule.

 “We can work with this. See where these places are. I wonder if any of these places has anywhere that he could have hidden it.” Sam grins.

 They both work on the case for a good five hours before they both call it a day. “We’ll get back to it tomorrow.” Bucky stretches. “Hey, Steve texted me, asking if I wanted to grab dinner. Wanna come?”

 “I don’t want to third-wheel if Steve wants it to be you two.” Sam isn’t sure why Bucky does this. Does he not want to be in a relationship with Steve, but he doesn’t know how to break up with him?

 Bucky’s eyes widen. “Sam, Steve and I, we’re like brothers. There is, never was, and never will be any romantic love between us. Only platonic and familial. Now, come on. I can even buy you dinner if that’s what you’re worried about.”

 “I can pay for my own.” Sam shoves him. “I’m not going to be your sugar baby.”

They meet Steve at their favorite local restaurant. He asks them about their newest project. When they tell him, he warns them, “The Starks can be pretty private. I knew Howard Stark before he died, and he was nice enough, but I didn’t really know anything about him.”

 Bucky swears. “It figures. If they hear anything about it, they’ll shut us down. Can’t stand to let us find out hidden family secrets.”

 “We’re not that big. I’m sure they won’t hear about it.” Sam tries to reassure them.

  ++++++++

Sam and Bucky try to find clues to help them figure out where Montgomery Stark might have hidden his treasure. After two weeks of no progress, they are wondering if they should just give up. They hear their secretary say something in a loud voice, and another voice answers her. “What’s going on out there?” Bucky wonders.

 “Sir, you can’t just walk back there! You need to book an appointment!” Darcy is getting closer.

 The other voice replies. “Relax. I just want to talk to them. I’m not going to hurt them. This door?” The door opens… and Tony Stark walks through.

 “Fuck.” Bucky mumbles. “Guess Steve was right.”

 Stark looks at them, then holds out his hand. “Hello, Mr. Wilson & Mr. Barnes, I presume? I’m Tony Stark, and I’m here to talk to you.”

 “Sam Wilson, sir. Nice to meet you.” Sam shakes it. “This is my colleague, Bucky Barnes.”

 “Ah, the first Stark Prosthetic. Does it meet your needs and expectations?”

 Surprised that Tony Stark would remember a name, Bucky stumbles over his words. “Y-yeah it works…. Um… pretty good, I I guess.”

 “Pretty good is not good enough. If we have time today (and you’d like), I would take a look at it for you. But that’s not why I’m here. I’m here because I heard wind that you were looking into Grampa Monty’s treasure.”

 “Do you have a problem with that?” Bucky challenges.

 Stark shakes his head. “No, I want to help you. The truth is, I fully believe that my grandfather committed insurance fraud. Which is kind of a dick move because 1.) my grandmother was so disturbed by the whole ordeal; she spent the rest of her life in bed. Not that he knew, I guess, because he died a few months after the robbery. Bad karma is my guess. Also, 2.) much of that stuff was my mother’s jewels from her family. He had no right to collect insurance on any of that, but he did. Now, I would like my mother’s belongings. I’m not sure how it works, but if I have to pay the insurance companies back, I will. If you have any clues, I will help you out in any way that I can.”

 “Are you ok with being videoed for the episode?” Sam asks. “We will have to get our lawyers to draw up a form for you to sign.”

 “Of course. I don’t want to be a bother. Take your time. Here’s my card. Please, give me a call when you can, and I will come down as soon as possible. Thank you for you time.” Stark nods and walks out the door. They can hear him thanking Darcy as he leaves.

  She comes in a few minutes later. “I’m sorry guys. He just wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

 “It’s ok Darcy. There was nothing you could do about it.” Bucky smiles at her. “Thanks for trying.”

 “I like what you do, and you guys pay me well.” She winks.

 When Darcy goes back to her desk, Bucky turns to Sam. “What do you think?”

 “I mean, he seems like he’s eager to help us.” Sam nods. “He can probably get us into different high-end things that we could not on our own. Want to call Matt and Foggy?”

 “Yes. I think they might have some good insight.”

 Sam calls their lawyers, Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson, explaining the situation. They advise to make a strict NDA for Tony to sign. If he’s ok with it or only requests small changes (to be okayed by them), they would advise to go forward with Stark’s help. An NDA is drawn up and forwarded to Stark. He arrives the next day with it and another man in hand.

 “Everything looks good. It is signed and noted. Shall we start?” He questions.

 “Tones.” The other guy gives him a look.

 Smacking his forehead, Stark looks embarrassed. “Fuck. I forgot. Gentlemen, this is my boyfriend, Colonel James Rhodes. I call him Rhodey. Rhodey, this is Mr. Sam Wilson and Mr. Bucky Barnes.”

 “Nice to meet you,” The colonel says, shaking their hands. “Call me Rhodey.”

 “Rhodey signed the NDA as well, so you don’t have to worry about me trying to loophole something with him. We are going to do this with integrity.”

 Bucky and Sam give each other a look, both seemingly swept up in Tony Stark’s big personality. Rhodey notices and gives him a small shove. “Tones, this is their show. We’re just in the background pulling strings to help them.”

 “That’s right. Tell us where we need to be and what we need to do.”

 Sam takes control. “Thank you, gentlemen. If you want to take a seat at the table, we are just going through these papers with a fine-toothed comb to see if there’s anything we missed.”

 The cameras roll, and the four men go through the papers. Tony finds Ms. Foster’s statement, and he holds it up. “This could be huge. Let’s see… the house was robbed on a Tuesday. He probably would have stashed the loot in the next two days, wouldn’t you think?” He looks to the others for confirmation. “Ok, so his Wednesday schedule. Come down for breakfast at 6:30. Go into the office by 7. He wouldn’t have kept the stuff at the office because police did a full sweep of SI as well. Wednesday lunches were spent at La Palova. That’s a pretty exclusive restaurant with plenty of cameras. Let’s just say for now that it’s probably not there. Back to office by one, wow, he kept a really tight schedule. Old Monty left the office at 230 to golf at Emerald Isle. Tons of open land there. Be home by 730 for dinner. I mean, there’s time, but not much. Sorry, am I taking over here?”

 “No, you’re the only one who knows about this stuff, so keep going.”

 “Ok. Thursday schedule, almost the same. Gives himself an hour for lunch, but after work, he likes to drive in the canyon. He was too old for much exercise, I’d bet, but maybe he likes to watch the sunset? The sunsets there are beautiful. Also, a great place to hide not-really-stolen treasure.”

 Rhodey speaks up, “There’s also that little bend where we used to go to make out away from the house, remember? For a guy who spent his whole life driving the canyon, he should know all the ins and outs.”

 “Are you saying that we might have had sex on top of my mother’s heirlooms?” Tony shudders. “That’s creepy.”

 Bucky and Sam share that look again.  Sam shakes his head and puts his hands up. “Okayyyy… we do not need to know more. Remember, the camera is rolling. So, you think that Montgomery Stark hid the stuff in the canyon?”

 “I honestly think he hid it somewhere on the golf course. He owned shares in the course and the club, so technically, no one could ask him why he’s on any part of the land. I wonder if that got passed down.” Tony hums. “I think Monty would’ve thought that people would be suspicious of the canyon.”

 “Well, when we actually get our resources, we can split up into two bands. Mr. Stark, you can take one of us to the golf course. Rhodey, you can take the other to the canyon. There will be a lot of exploring to be done.” Bucky advises.

 Sam tacks on. “Yea, and we have more than one camera so we can film both of us at the same time.”

 By the end of the week, Sam and Bucky think they have the resources they need to scope out both places. They banter back and forth like normal throughout the week. As they’re arguing about who’s going to the golf course and who’s going to the canyon, when Tony asks, “Hey, I meant to ask you. How long have you guys been dating?”

 Bucky chokes and Sam coughs. “We’re… not… dating.” He says and looks at Bucky.

 “Oh, just fucking? Like friends with benefits?” Tony raises an eyebrow.

 Rhodey admonishes. “Tony, language. Camera is rolling.”

 “Ah, they’ll edit it out. Listen boys, if you’re not dating or at least screwing, you should. You got some serious charisma. Kind of like my honeybear and me.” He smooches Rhodey on the cheek.

 “Well, we’re not. End of discussion.” Bucky knows his face is bright red. He really likes Sam, and he thinks Sam likes him. However, he’s too afraid to make the first move. He doesn’t want to mess up the team dynamic.

 Tony smirks. “Whatever. I think I can answer your question, though. Due to the fact that old elitist country clubs are still pretty fucking racist, it might be better if I take Bucky. Unfortunately, there will be less suspicion, and we can get through a lot faster without someone trailing us at all times. You should have seen the last time I took Rhodey somewhere like that. I refused to go back.” He shudders. “I’ll see what I can do if we have to go back a second day, but…” Tony trails off.

 Sam slings an arm around Rhodey’s shoulders. “Don’t worry. We’ll have fun exploring the canyon and talking about you white boys.”

 “If you’re sure. I’m sorry we had to make a decision that way, you know?” Tony smiles sadly.

 +++++++++

The next day, Tony takes Bucky to the Emerald Isle golf course. They talk about this and that, but Tony notices Bucky is a little withdrawn. “Hey, you ok?” He asks.

 “Yea, I’m just trying to figure out what my friend would say if he found out I was hanging out with a billionaire today.”

 “Eat the rich kind of guy?” Tony knows a few of those.

 Bucky grins. “Yea. I am, too.”

 “Well, you surely aren’t pulling any punches. Do you have any questions for me?” Tony is genuinely interested. Barnes seemed like a level-headed kind of guy. He might have some good ideas for Tony to try.

 “I do, actually. How do you feel about making a difference in the world?”

 “I am very strongly for it, but I don’t always need my name on things, contrary to popular belief. They call me a billionaire because I earn billions annually. However, I and the company pay most of our taxes without using loopholes. Other than voting and lobbying a little, I can’t convince the government to do the right thing with the money. Yes, I do have multiple houses and cars, and I even own an island, but much of my money is sunk into various charities and funds around the world. Some have my name backing them, like the September Grants, but plenty of them are given anonymously so my accountant can’t get mad at me for not taking the tax breaks. So, yes, I do want to help change the world for the better, but I don’t want it to seem like I, myself made the world better.”

 Bucky just nods. They make small talk again until Tony brings up Sam. “I think he’s a great guy. You have a great co-worker in him.”

 “Yea, and he’s the love of my life.” Bucky sighs.

 Tony turns to look at him, and Bucky warns. “Eyes on the road.”

“I will.” Tony turns back. “But you love him? Why don’t you tell him? Do you know amazing your life would be?”

 “I don’t want to mess up our already good thing. I mean, I think he likes me, but what if he doesn’t? What if we date and then break up, and we can’t do this anymore? It’s not easy to find a job with a prosthetic.”

 “You could start your own channel. People like you enough. They’ll watch you.” Tony suggests. “But if you want it to last, don’t think about what will happen if it doesn’t.”

 “I’ll think about it.” Bucky mutters.

 Tony pulls into the Emerald Isle valet parking area. “We’re here.” He hands the valet his keys and tips him. “Follow me.”

 He leads Bucky to the manager’s office where he tells the man at the desk that he just realized he inherited the shares from Howard, and he’s looking over the property to see if he should buy more shares, sell these, or stay where I’m at. Do you mind if I take my guy and look around?”

 The manager stammers and acquiesces. He gives Tony keys to a golf cart and a map of the property. They start scouting, the camera guy sitting in the back of the cart. “You know what you’re looking for more than me.” Tony tells Bucky. Let me know if you want me to pull over somewhere.”

 ++++++ “So, how long have you and Tony been together?” Sam asks as Rhodey drives him down the interstate towards the canyon.

 Rhodey shrugs. “Nineteen, twenty years? We started dating when he was nineteen. I was twenty-one.”

 “You guys seem to have what it takes. I’m happy for you.” He wishes he and Bucky could have that, but he knows that Bucky doesn’t like him that way.

 “Thanks. Yea, Tony can be a complete dumbass eighty percent of the time, but he’s a loveable one, you know?”

 Sam nods. He knows someone like that. He sighs. If Bucky’s not for him, Buck’s not for him. End of story. He’ll find someone else at some point. “So, how’s life as a colonel? That’s got to be rough on your relationship, especially before DADT was repealed.”

 “I am happy with my job. I do get more leave because I date Tony Stark, who supplies the military with hi-tech equipment that can’t be weaponized. He won’t make them weapons of any sort anymore.”

 “I don’t blame him. Weapons manufacturing is not a business I’d like to be in.” The two chat about whatever comes to mind until Rhodes pulls off the road at a bend in the canyon.

 “Ok here. There are caves just beyond this bend. Most of them have never been explored. I’ll show you the ones we have definitely been in.”

 “Oh yes, now I’ll be imagining your sexploits.” Sam groans and Rhodey chuckles. “Now, we have to think… Montgomery was an old man at this point. There’s no way he could have dug very deep.”

 Rhodey mans the camera, and Sam grabs a shovel. They head toward the caves. Cave after cave, Sam checks the ground for any areas that may have been dug up and replaced. Those he did find were too small to hold anything like the stash the late Stark would have had. Further and further back they go until Rhodey is worried about the wall stability. “We should probably stay closer to the cave openings.”

 After going through all the caves and finding nothing, Sam relaxes back against the cave wall. “Whew. Maybe Tony was right. There’s nothing here.” The wall moves a little, and he jumps out. Turning, he and Rhodey see a 10” by 10” hold in the wall. Looking inside, they see a small pile of jewels and gold bars!

Sam whips out his phone to call Bucky just as his phone starts ringing. “Hello?”

 “Sam! We found some of the treasure! It was in a secret room in a shed near the edge of the property. It was all overgrown because no one has been there for years!” Bucky sounds very excited.

 “We found the rest! It was in a secret wall in one of the caves! Are you taking it with you today? We’re going to grab this stuff.” Sam is smiling widely.

 Putting on gloves, Sam slides all the treasures into a knapsack. Once done, they walk out of the cave. Rhodey looks back at it, squinting. “Tony’s not going to be happy about this.” He grins.

“Don’t tell me.” Sam warns. “I don’t want to hear it.”

 Rhodey drops Sam off at home. “Put that in a safe or something til tomorrow.” He warns. “Hey Sam, also, I don’t want to tell you what to do, but Barnes likes you, too. He makes heart-eyes at you all day. If your fans can see it, it’s there.” Sam nods and Rhodey drives off.

 ++++++ “So, friends, that’s how we found treasure and solved a crime in the episode!” Sam grins.

 “Also, when Tony asked the question of how long we’ve been dating, we have an answer for him now.” Bucky adds in. “It has been a week ago today.” Sam and Bucky kiss in front of the camera as the screen fades to black.

 “Wow, this episode got a lot of love,” Tony comments. “I’d like to think it was all me. Also.” He turns to Rhodey. “I can’t believe we blew each other right beside my mother’s jewels. I think her ghost is attached to those things. I may have scarred her for her entire afterlife.”

 “Tell me, does ‘Bam’ or ‘Sucky’ sound better as a ship name?” Bucky speaks up. “Twitter made a poll.”

 Sam swats at Bucky’s shoulder. “Tell them Sambucky. They should learn how to name things correctly.” They share a kiss again. Sam is happy he had the courage to talk to Bucky. Spending the rest of his life with this man sounds like a good idea.

[radramblog]

Dear Swamp-Ass... (Pink Lemonade Pt.2)

I was tempted to give up on today and use some of my backup, but I suppose it’s too early to expose y’all to such cursed content. Let’s just wrap this one up. 

6. Dinosaur Boss Battle

Dear Swamp-Ass…

(huh? That’s how we’re starting this one?)

Dinosaur Boss Battle, as its name suggests, is about luddite dinosaurs in a war with cyborgs who are after their bones. Well, the name doesn’t suggest that much, but that’s actually what’s going on here, with the Fool just kinda having this explained to him and being told to get the hell out of dodge. It’s an alternate timeline neither he nor us were expecting, and he manages to escape just as a big ol’ bomb annihilates the last of the dinosaurs, sending him spiralling once again through dimensions.

Sonically, Dinosaur Boss Battle feels a lot like a somewhat chiller equivalent to Pink Lemonade or Neoprene Byzantine, with more use of backing vocals that works really well in its favour. The slower, quieter moments of the song work really well, in particular the…bridge? The bit where everything cuts off and we mostly just have reverb and vocals (“Wanna see my prized pterodactyl?”) that builds into one of the most energetic parts of the song, with the backing vocals at their peak. The last minute of the song is also excellent, with the instruments again cutting back to let the final, almost spoken word, lyrics settle in, before a big, swaggering finale with the bass maintaining a constant rhythm as the lead guitar just kinda goes apeshit.

7. Mauerbauertraurigkeit

I looked it up, and that’s not a real word. Rather, it’s a made-up phrase from the dictionary of obscure sorrows, describing “the inexplicable urge to push people away, even close friends you really like”. Fittingly, the song is a lament about the Fool’s relationship with Verina, realizing his mistake in pushing her away and his loneliness floating through the space between worlds. It’s the most emotional song on the album, feeling as out of place and stranded as the lyrics imply. The vocals are really carrying the track, a subtle echo lending them an emptiness that makes the regret feel all the more real. The instrumentation is sparce, a loose, with a strangely tempo’d percussion and light guitar that eventually crescendos into an outpouring of emotion, before the quiet riffs of the song return to clean everything up. A syncopated (I think that’s what that word means) drumbeat eventually is the only thing that remains, steadily becoming more synthetic and oppressive before fading away as the church bells introducing the next track.

8. Church of the Technochrist

The other single from the album, and probably a better representative of the whole deal than Seeds of Gold. Church of the Technochrist, despite the name, is not Christian Rock, and we’re all thankful for it.

 (I haven’t actually watched/listened to this video as of writing, but I understand it’s pretty different to the album version, so keep that in mind)

In fact, the tune is basically a rocking initiation to a cult that doesn’t exist, promising and seducing with a back and forth between the preacher and the Fool, who’s doubt is questioned by sinister backing vocals. Like many of the tracks on the album, Church of the Technochrist is a psychedelic energetic banger, that steadily builds into an explosive climax- in this case, the final ravings of the preacher- and does an excellent job of doing so. This build, however, is interrupted by a slow section, in this case representative of the Fool’s realisation that the Church isn’t quite what he thought he was getting into, aborting the upload process midway and sending him once again into isolation as he is rejected by the church he turned his back on. To be fair, brain uploading religions don’t tend to go well from the fiction I’ve seen. I don’t have as much to write on this one, but it’s a banger, and probably the track to listen to on its own if you want a taste of what this album sounds like as a whole.

9. Beckon Fire

Like Mauerbauertraurigkeit before it, Beckon Fire is a sombre track, easily the most downtempo tune in the package. It’s not really one I’d listen to outside of the context of the album at large, however. It’s mostly just fuzzed-out vocals over a simple repetitive loop, supported by what I assume are strings, and I will admit a soft spot for sad strings TM in my rock songs. Calling this a rock song my be a stretch, but despite this it doesn’t feel unnatural in the listing. Actually, as I listen to it while writing this, I find myself appreciating it more than ever, and I can’t quite explain why.

Plotwise, this is the Fool’s final lament. He’s stuck in a desert wasteland, wandering, realising the mistakes of his delusional quest for enlightenment, and finally accepting the death that the desert brings him. Just as he’s about to die, and his despair is replaced with elation, his eyes open again aaaaaaand-

10. Happy Days

Oh, that’s a good sign. Ok so the Fool finds himself in the alley all the way back from Pink Lemonade, everything between then and now being a whole-ass trip from the eponymous hallucinogen. Before him is Verina, who he’s realised is the enlightenment he was searching for all along and rejoices as his quest is over and he’s found a way to be truly happy. This song, therefore, is the happy ending to this whole trip of an album.

This song is just a ball, feeling like the light side of the edgy coin that is most of the bigger songs of the album. It’s unrelenting positivity, with backing vocals here supporting rather than questioning or tearing down, like something you’d hear out of a Meatloaf song. Parts of the bridge, where you get both lead and backing vocals coalescing into a swelling high note, sound downright divine (she’s coming on home and I’m kissing the face of infinityyyYYYY). It’s a powerful theme that feels earned, a stark contrast to the melancholy of the previous tracks, and it feels like the perfect way to close the album- especially as the song ends with the guitar fuckery that’s the trademark of the band, but like, in a major key or something, Iunno it just sounds more positive.

11. ピンク レモネード (Pink Lemonade, but in Japanese)

Psyche, the album’s not over yet. This, however, feels more like a bonus track than anything, and the band’s vocalist has described as like the credits rolling for the album. It’s completely different to anything else on the album, being a chiptune of all things, with guest singers going off in Japanese about…uh… the story, I think? I don’t speak the language, obviously. The song itself is pretty adorable and cheery, but again I wouldn’t really put it on outside of as the finisher to the album as a whole.

The eerie last minute of the track is apparently (again, it’s in Japanese) supposed to be a bit of last-minute horror, as the Brahmatron yawns once again, revealing that even this level of reality is subject to its whims, and as time loops in on itself the singers argue in confusion about what the fuck is going on, before a final yawn ends the album like an old TV being switched off. I’m sure this would work better if I understood the conversation, but I sure don’t and I haven’t been able to find a translation anywhere, so I’m just going based on what the writer has explained it as.

 As a whole, Pink Lemonade is an album that I think really represents a unique point in the genre, or clash of genres. I don’t think I’ve heard anything like it, even in Closure in Moscow’s previous work, and that would be merit enough on its own, but it helps that it’s really good. Like, I don’t know how well I communicated how much I adore this album. Top 10 for sure. Give it a listen if you think you’re up for it, and if you have already, I dunno, do it again? Or maybe listen to First Temple, their first album. They were supposed to have a new project out last year, but 2020 did 2020 things, so we’ll have to wait and see. Until then. Whenever that is.