#but also wow this has been such a long time ago I fully didn't remember some of the things that are in this DM dgffhgjk

[miabrown007]

i'm sorry if this was asked before already, but how did you come up with the premise of Heist AU and what made you want to write that at all?

-@cakemousse

oh, wow, what a question! this has been in like the beginning of 2021 so bear with me, but if I remember correctly, I just finished watching Mr Robot and I wanted to read a Mr Robot AU. big shock, we had no Mr Robot AU. so naturally I started to think about how cool would it be to have a story about hackers who did heists, but pretty soon got to the conclusion that reading about how people code might not be the most exciting thing, and also, hacking probably wouldn't be Marinette and Adrien's forte. but if heists, there's no one who does it better than Mr Oceans', and parkour and being the mastermind behind a convoluted scheme is exactly up Marinette's alley. also, spies and thieves and criminals are just so fun to write about!

but now I got curious and scrolled back to the place I remember brainstorming the idea first with a friend, and apparently--next to crying about characters' motivations being in shambles--this is the first thing I said:

...and you know what, that checks out

[zylophie]

🔮 .巫术 — pleasant surprise | featuring: robin

🪄 ★ ₊˚𝙎𝙔𝙉𝙊𝙋𝙎𝙄𝙎꒱ ₊˚⊹ Robin has always been looking into the crowd eagerly for [y/n]. However, due to their busy schedule, Robin could never find them in the crowd. Only to find a pleasant surprise one day..

🦋★ ₊˚𝘾𝙒꒱ ₊˚⊹ a little suggestive(?) 🔮 ★ ₊˚𝙂𝙀𝙉𝙍𝙀꒱ ₊˚⊹ fluff 💫 ★ ₊˚𝙉𝙊𝙏𝙀꒱ ₊˚⊹ I love robin so much, I was in literal tears(of joy) when I found out Chevy was her singer. I have been such a fan of Chevy for a long time skbdksndkdjd. Also, I can't believe I'm willingly writing fluff on my own record.. 💌 ★ ₊˚𝙄𝙉𝙁𝙊𝙍𝙈𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉꒱ ₊˚⊹ If you'd like to request click 'here!' and read the rules~ 🐈‍⬛ ★ ₊˚𝙇𝙄𝙉𝙆꒱ ₊˚⊹ hsr masterlist 🧹 ★ ₊˚𝙉𝙊𝙒 𝙋𝙇𝘼𝙔𝙄𝙉𝙂꒱ ₊˚⊹ pleasant surprise | featuring: robin

★ Whenever Robin was doing her shows, she would always desperately try to look for [y/n] in the crowd.

★ However, every single time Robins' eyes were darting eagerly around the crowd.. [y/n] was never there.

★ Robin slowly stopped trying to find [y/n] in the crowd eventually, but there's still a part of her that wishes that [y/n] would be there during one of her shows

★ Until one day.. She came across something which immediately brightens her mood for her upcoming performance..

'I didn't see [y/n] in the crowd again.. It's been a long time since they've been to my shows.'

Robin sighs as she dabs more makeup removal onto her cotton pads, before bringing it up to her face. She was feeling exhausted from performing for so long, as well as getting interviewed by her fans.

She remembered how she would always ask [y/n] if they are able to come to her shows, but was always left with a vague answer.

After she was done with removing most of her makeup. She tied her hair into a low lose bun, intending to take a bath afterwards. When suddenly..

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

Robin's wings perked up. Knowing who it is outside, Robin couldn't contain her smile. Already feeling more energized than before, she went to go and get the door for whoever was behind it.

"Robin~! I'm back, how was your performanc-"

Usually [y/n] would often visit Robin a few hours after her show is done, so that they could spend a bit of time together. Expecting Robin to still be in her performance outfit still, however, when [y/n] opened their eyes. They saw Robin with a completely new hairstyle. It was also the first time they saw Robin look so disheveled, not only that, [y/n] didn't expected to be greeted with Robin in her lingerie too! [Y/n] immediately closed their eyes and faced to the ground.

"A-ah, Robin! I bought y-your favourite f-food! P-please e-enjoy it!"

Before Robin could even reply, [y/n]'s figure could be seen getting smaller and smaller, as they ran through the hallway after leaving their things behind.

'Ah.. Did they not like what they see? I guess I did look pretty untidy..'

Robin sighed, before shaking her head. Before shutting the door to take a shower, she'll talk to reader later.

THUD!

"Huh? What was that sound?"

As Robin turned around, she saw a notebook had fallen from her desk in her room. Robin moved towards the item to pick it up.

'Strange.. I don't remember this in my room..'

Robin flipped to the first page to see a familiar handwriting of the name who the book belongs to. "[Y/n]'s personal sketchbook".

'Ah, so it is [y/n]'s! I'm a little bit curious of their work since the last time I saw their art it was a few months ago.. Maybe I'll just take a peek, surely they won't mind, right?'

She flipped to the next page. Robin's eyes widened when she saw a fully colored illustration of herself in her performance outfit today! Many thoughts went through her mind.

'Wow, [y/n]'s artworks are always so spectacular!'

'I'm really happy they drew me'

'Wait.. How did they see me in this outfit? It's my first time wearing it and all the details are drawn correctly.. Today's live hasn't been published publicly yet too..'

Robin continued to flip through the notebook, only to find drawings of her only in all of her past performance outfits, until a few pair of words on the back of her today's performance caught her eye.

'Dear diary..'

Oops! Robin realised she may have accidentally stumbled into the wrong area, however, her curiosity was peaked and wanted to continue reading to see if she can get answers from how [y/n] was able to get her outfits drawn to a tee.

'Robin's outfit today was really pretty. It was sparkling, but not as bright as she was! I wish I could talk to her after her performance asap, but whenever Robin is in a new outfit in general. I'll just be a blushing AND stuttering mess! I won't be able to talk to her properly.. I'm so glad I got a seat at the very back! Since the performance was 2 hours, I got plenty of time to ready myself before I see her. Gotta finish this drawing fast!'

Robin's wings flutter in joy. One, because she was glad that [y/n] does come to her shows. Secondly, she realised the reason why they looked towards the ground earlier, she giggled before playing the book down with an uncontrollable smile.

"I'll return it to them later~"

© zylophie 2024. do not steal, copy, repost, edit, translate or use my works.

[marshallpupfan]

Marshall Merchandise Update - Rescue Wheels Edition™

Slowly but surely, the Rescue Wheels merchandise has been popping up in stores here in the USA. Naturally, I've been keeping an eye out for them, so it's time to show off what I've found so far!

First off, I decided to put a background on my monitor again, just to spruce things up. I also attempted some better lighting by using a lamp instead of my camera's flash. Some pics still came out a bit iffy, so I apologize.

In any case, here's the first piece of Rescue Wheels merchandise I got! Nearly a whole month ago, in fact. I seen it listed on Amazon and figured why not go for it, since stores here in the USA were taking a long time to get them.

The vehicle, itself... it's not my favorite, I'll say that. It's just shaped a little too box-like, but the flame graphics are cool, even if they are just stickers. Strangely, the ladder water cannon on the back doesn't move at all. If anything, I do like the figurine. Not the best, but I still like it.

Next, the usual plush doll, which we always seem to get upon each new subseries or movie. They decided to go back to the old style, which is kind of a shame, since I liked what we got for The Mighty Movie and Jungle Pups better. It just looked cuter, imo. Ah well.

Now that's one cool-looking pup. Super cute! 😎

Next, a new "Pup Squad Racer" vehicle! With not-so-good lighting that I didn't notice until I upload these pics. I probably should've put it on something to get more of that background in the shot. Also, ignore the dust under the monitor... I forgot to get rid of that. 😅

As you can see, this is yet another one of those smaller vehicles. I'm fully convinced these are indeed meant to be replacements for those True Metal vehicles... which is perhaps for the best, since the last few we got were kind of cheap. These are a nice alternative.

Unlike the True Metal vehicles, the pup's head is a lot bigger, so it's a bit more detailed and nicer. I dare say it's pretty cute! And...

...Hey, wait a minute. Who's big tires are those? That doesn't look like Marshall's vehicle...

Wait...

Is it...?

BOOMER??

That's right! Boomer, the villain pup of Rescue Wheels, got his own figurine and vehicle! I'll admit, that's quite rare, since PAW Patrol villains rarely ever get merchandise of any kind. It's only happened a few times in the past.

If you remember that character spotlight post I made of Boomer, then you might also recall that I became quite a big fan of this pup after watching Rescue Wheels! Thus, when I heard he was getting his own toy, I knew I had to have it. Admittedly, I think his vehicle turned out a bit nicer than Marshall's. Don't tell anyone I said that.

His figurine's also nice, if you ask me. Even as a toy, this pup looks quite cool... and cute! I'll certainly have to add this somewhere to my Marshall collection. He'll go nicely next to Claw. Two of my favorite villains, hanging out. We just need this in the cartoon now! lol

Oh, by the way, if anyone's interested in one of these, know that they're exclusive to Walmart (at least, here in the USA). They also made one for Roxi, which I believe is exclusive to Target. Just an FYI.

But wait... that's not all! Even more surprising than the vehicle...

Boomer also got a plush doll! Wow, you really lucked out, Boomer! At this point, I'm hoping the kids asks their parents for these and his figurine & vehicle... that way, Spin Master will see him as popular and we'll see him again someday soon. Hey, let me dream. lol

That is also one cool-looking pup! Boomer! Boomer! Boomer!!! 😁

Alright, that's all for now. And a good thing, too... after all these purchases, my poor wallet is probably screaming at me again. Too bad I'll likely make one or two more soon, since Rescue Wheels got its own batch of mini-figurines in mystery boxes, of course. Sadly, Boomer didn't get included in that, else Marshall wouldn't be the only one I'd be tracking down. It's still crazy to see him get what he did though! Man, if only Claw got his own plush doll instead of Sweetie...

So... what's next? I wonder how much longer until we start to see merchandise of Air Rescue? Then again, the USA hasn't even aired Rescue Wheels yet, so no doubt it won't be until next year. Good... that gives my wallet plenty of time to recover. lol

[riacte]

i never really paid attention to it but wow false and ren. they really do hover around each other huh. they r like bugs

Hiii anon thanks for the ask <3 I'll use this to talk about them and them in fanon because I have thoughts woooo (and I'm vibrating with excitement because I'm listening to the HC Grand Prix at the same time)

You said it exactly— like we all know they're buddies and stick together, but most of the times, we don't really notice it because it's just natural. Nondescript even. Like of course their pixels are next to each other in the background. Of course they're hanging out. It's not flashy or anything, they're just there.

[long and winding analysis that goes off in a Direction, will definitely not be maintagged, mentions of shipping and the fandom's worst enemy (comphet / heteronormativity)]

Pairing up

They're like those anime characters who are fully fleshed out individually, but for some reason, their screentime is tied together and they're always shown next to each other. That was actually my first impression of them back when I only watched Grian in HC6 lmao, every time Grian flew over the fantasy district he would casually go "that's False and Ren's bases" and my brain was like "hmm new names :) idk who they are but they stick together :)". Like you know when you're new to an unknown cast of people so you try to comprehend and memorise them as efficiently as possible? And so you start sorting the cast into duos / groups so it's easier to remember them? That was me trying to compartmentalize the hermits in HC6. Grian + Mumbo. Iskall + Stress. Scar + Cub. Joe + Cleo. ZIT. False + Ren.

It did not help that from Grian's POV, there was a part in the civil war arc when he collabed with False to prank Ren because they thought he'd pranked her and so my brain was like "weeewoooo I still don't know who False and Ren are but they continue stick together, and that's convenient for my internal sorting :)))". And that mutual association genuinely never stopped lmao (it only got worse).

Shared audiences?

I've talked about this on privtwt: False+Ren as a fanon duo (like duo Duo as in desert duo) is strangely niche even though they do stuff together all the time and they're both fairly popular on their own. And there is so much intermingling between their audiences— I know this is the case for all hermits' audiences, but it seems especially obvious between their audiences. I know in a stream Ren said he met up with False and they had a discussion like years ago about the two of them hosting a meet and greet with fans in a restaurant (that didn't happen) and internally I was like "yeah, that'll only work if they have a solidly integrated fanbase so no one feels left out in the restaurant WAIT. That's literally what's going on here".

Funny how when I was writing this, an anon sent an ask about Ren's chat basically being full of False emotes LOL. Integrated audience kinda real <3 like, even if you only watch one of them and don't actively watch the other, you still know and think of the other fondly.

Different styles? And sticking together

Actually outside of yayyy fun minigames, to me at least they have quite different styles + ways of presentation? Which feels slightly different from the above duos I mentioned? So I totally understand why people only main one of them and don’t watch the other (but still aware of the other obviously). In terms of taste and personal preference, I’ve been here long enough to know what loyal False mains generally like and what loyal Ren mains generally like. (Like, very verrrry generally.) Ren’s the dramatic roleplay storyteller and False is like, sneaky and shifty and has a wry sense of humour. They’re both funny and charming in different ways. I would say Iskall and Stress have similar presentations (“aha? AHA?”) even though they excel at different things. Cub and False are also similar to me— competent and cool people who are nonchalantly chaotic. And we all know Ren and Martyn’s instant chemistry and their similarities. It’s why a lot of Ren fans gravitated to Renchanting and Rendoc for their dramatics and flirting in the way some False fans gravitate to Fress and Falseren for the fun/mildly hysterical/teasing/sweet/pranking moments.

BUT

False and Ren bounce off each other well— it’s the playful tension and the sudden mutual whiny energy like “noooo don’t leave me🥺” but they start hitting each other 0.5 seconds later. And of course the mutual clinginess. I know people have made jokes about how they’re both smart and competent people individually but when they get together they suddenly become the silliest sillies and share one braincell <3 and I know people (read: mutuals in my DMs) have joked about Ren’s currently extremely obvious bias for her (it's as big as the BRR sign I swear 😭) and the usual “orbiting around each other group recordings”. Compared to other duos, they don’t get paired together bc of similar presentations / style. They get paired together because of the chemistry and they share so many moments lol.

Tldr: they make for entertaining on-screen interactions. It’s fun watching them rotate around each other and punch each other off things. And they do this so much that 1) everyone’s aware of it 2) everyone’s used to it.

Branding? (Or the lack of it)

Last I checked, their tag has 46 fics on Ao3 and 16 of those fics are from me (I love being spiders georg). As with every pair that's not the juggernaut pair, realistically the actual number of fics that actually focus on them is less than what we see. And you know how sometimes for the "niche" pairs, there's more ship fic than platonic fic? (Actually I think for most pairs, there's more ship fic than platonic fic.) That's also not it, they don't even have 20 ship fics. Like clearly, the current fanon interest in them is not ship motivated versus *gestures to whatever is happening in the general shipping chaos post 2021*.

What I concluded is that they lack the kind of branding that for example Convex possesses. I think it's kind of because... they're an ubiquitous constant throughout the years. They don't need a storyline or a named group to tie themselves together. No matter what they're doing, no matter what characters they're playing, no matter which servers they're on— they just kind of stay in each other's orbits. But they don't play it up or anything like hashtag SHIPrendoc or Renskall or whatever. They don't even have a proper fanon name ffs (outside of fairy pirate grotto or whatever in HC6).

(Although imo this is likely to avoid comphet irl shipping because God forbid a man and a woman are friends :))))) heteronormative irl shipping / truthing was an annoyance for years (pre the HC6 boom). But strangely enough, modern anti hermitshippers on Twitter rarely bring up the real problem of truthing in public comments and instead target people making Scarian fanart in a small corner or whatever. When many cases of Compulsory Heterosexuality literally exist in YouTube comments. But I digress.)

Ren and False are just there, pranking each other and basing together and playing five million minigames and being casually supportive of each other. Like, their biggest shared "storyline" that left a strong impression on fans / converted fans was probably MCC9. We all still talk about it today the way Ren and Martyn still talk about 3L Renchanting. And MCC9 was in 2020 when they'd already done a lot of stuff together prior to that (eg. literally being neighbours in HC6).

And the thing is, they do collab semi-frequently. In like every Hermitcraft season. In recent memory, we've got the Blue River Raceway of course, but we also get those pranks and minigames and random silly interactions like Ren breaking into False's eagle and False pranking him at her elytra race. It doesn't need to be big and theatrical in classic Ren fashion (I remember the Renbob / Falsewell storyline in HC6; her nonchalance and confusion was so funny in contrast to Renbob's hippie demeanor).

And I kind of like the way they've kind of (?? or not???) escaped from the intense duo-ification from the fandom. Okay, to be fair, I know I am the worst offender of the duo-ification of them (with my desperate do not separate agenda), and maybe I've had a negative effect on the fandom, so feel free to throw me off my soap box. I remember how hermitblr as a collective suddenly lost it when they split in MCC17. We took them for granted, we all got to used to them being together, we got used to seeing them in the background, and then suddenly they’re not??

So we’re all kind of aware of them. But it’s not a terribly big thing…. until it is.

It's the same on the M/CC Reddit. Everyone knows they're iconic. But nobody makes a post about how we need more False and Ren duo interactions because they already interact a lot. It's just a natural constant. They don't really need a spotlight because they're just... here doing funky cute friendship stuff.

But if they ever, for some reason, become a mainstream duo on twt in its mainstream duo way with some [insert random noun] duo name, I will be so 🫠😒🔥💥🔥💥. But I literally cannot see this happening unless they team with Grian / Grian adjacent people in Life series. But even then I think they’re kinda exempt because everyone’s so used to them lol. It’s not like a shiny new uwu duo. It’s like how Stresskall is just Stresskall. Or Jleo.

(Actually, speaking of Stresskall, the entire Stress-Iskall-Ren-False group would make for an interesting fanon discussion bc it’s essentially made out of very solid and fan favourite duos. But not now. Team FRIS my absolute beloved though.)

Also, thinking about the ensemble HC fics I've read and how they're just casually kind of chilling in the background. Ren is usually paired with Doc (both platonic / romantic) but False is usually somehow mentioned in a passing comment. Same with False who's usually with the Hermitgals in ensemble fics, but there's also passing comments about her hanging out with Ren. Again, it's just a natural part of the background. Trivia that's sprinkled in between.

And that's why I think I'm so 🥺🥺🥺🥺 because it doesn't need to be big and grand... it's all the little moments <3 they have such a fun and playful dynamic and all the love for minigames <3

I don’t know if this is comprehensible or I’m just going crazy and overthinking things no one thinks about. But writing this was fun at least <3 If at least one person gets maybe 30% of this post (whatever it is), I'll be happy haha.

Post sponsored by the three people who liked my tweet from months ago 🥹

[chzdavmpr]

Delicious in Dungeon Reading Diary Vol 5

Spoilers below, obviously

Oh so we are getting right into Falin weirdness off rip.

I called it that this person was the mad mage.

Hmm. So they recognize Laios, but know it's from within a painting that they recognize him. I'm surprised but I think that actually fully explains how the painting work. I guess it's time for a big rant on my guess as to how living painting work. If you don't care skip this paragraph. Ok so the mad mage made the paintings to trap people and it seems like whenever someone enters them a scene starts playing like a tape, except that people trapped inside can interact with things. These recordings are of things that actually happened, and the people within them act roughly how they actually did. However the mad mage is the exception to this. It seems that they can either perceive through the scenes of their painting counterpart or just know everything that happens in the painting. It also seems that they can choose to override their painting counterpart's recorded actions and take control of them, allowing them to know that laios was in all the paintings. This I'm a bit iffy on because if I recall they seem to think Laios is some kind of kingdom infiltrator in the painting which wouldn't quite line up but it's the best I got. Additionally you can draw/paint extra stuff onto the painting and it will be sentient but won't be in the painting proper, just kinda in a plane on top of the painting, or maybe that's just because Laios drew bad. Either way that is a lot, but hopefully this is the last time I should spend way too long talking about living paintings.

Very funny how the label follows them. I also love Senshi's face of "what the hell man those are my hams"

Oh so since Falin was made with the dragon's flesh and blood she is the dragon. Wait does this mean Falin is dead forever? I sure hope not.

I'm skipping over most of the next 3 chapters, I'll get to them in my final thoughts.

Wow this samurai guy is having just an awful time.

So senshi probably got the cheese from the orcs. But I should mention I've also been watching the anime with some friends as it comes out. And one of them has a huge pet peeve about every time they have oil in the dish, since he says they should've run out forever ago. I'm not bothered by it at all, and find it very funny how he reacts every time oil is on screen. The reason I bring this up now is if this cheese is seen more then just this once he is gonna blow his gourd and it will be very funny.

Senshi giving Chilchuck "the talk" is so funny that I literally got light head from laughing.

It's very cool that Laios is learning magic. I feel a lot of stories wouldn't do that just because he's "the fighter" and Marcille is "the wizard" and they would have to stay as those archetypes.

The art in this whole series is great. I love the way the cockatrice is drawn here.

It may have been fine if it didn't come right after another whole chapter where Chilchuck recaps the story so far like there's been a hiatus and they wanna make sure you remember everything.

Man this chapter is on a roll with these A+ panels

I somehow only just now, while taking the above picture, that the chapter called cleaners has the characters dressed up as cleaners. That's cute and I may be a little stupid.

Ok so I was gonna say this this guy may be Delgal hiding, since we saw that the mad mage is looking for him.

But then I remembered; isn't the whole backstory for the golden city that it's king told of the mad mage and then died? Cause that would make it kinda hard to find him.

But then now when I'm composing this I'm remembering that the dungeon doesn't allow people to die, so either he died right outside or that story was wrong. Hmmm.

Seriously every panel with Shuro has him look like the worlds most depressed man.

He's practically sinking into the earth.

You know in retrospect, if the Dungeon Gormet Guide was a bunch of lies and guesses it's awfully lucky that it's happened to be right about what is and is not poisonous. (Or which tentacles' swelling can be reduced with vinegar)

To conclude my thoughts on this volume, that first chapter is great. I was a little worried about what the next plot hook would be but it delivered. They just show straight up that the elf is the lord of the dungeon. And they introduce the mystery of "what is going on with falin." But then it spends 2 whole chapters just telling us stuff we already know. Like it was kinda cool seeing the B Team piece together who A Team is with limited knowledge, but other then the stuff about Shuro there wasn't much new or interesting.

And then the party is just trapped on the 5th floor the entire volume, I imagine because next volume their plans will change and they won't want to go back to the surface and the author wanted to avoid too much backtracking. Which I get, but it ends up feeling like a bunch of these chapters are just kinda killing time until the B team shows up.

That being said, still a great volume of manga. Probably the weakest so far, but only because it's a like a 4.5 instead of a 4.75 or 5.

[arcplaysgames]

god i can't believe i only have 30 images. tumblr please just increase my image limit specifically and give me, like, 50. i'm dying.

There's zero chance there isn't going to be a two-parter.

Shido's Palace is the Diet Building, but it is a cruise ship that is gliding through a world already lost. Shido's perception of the world is that everything is already a lost cause and all he's concerned with is personal survival in luxury.

So he's your average billionaire, trying to build a lifeboat for himself and personally selecting the people he will allow to leave with him from his desperate sycophants.

For what I think is the first time, the Palace is regularly interrupted by little asides, back to Akechi in the real world.

No no that's flippant. Akechi is a fundamentally broken person. Like, the way he connect to people is by making himself necessary and that is it. He is the Black Mask

(which: the game reveals he's Black Mask in a little bit but I thought this was confirmed by Futaba's wiretapping, like, hours ago, but everyone acts shocked? eh whatever)

and has been doing the mental shutdown killings for Shido for years.

Anyway, while he's on air with the TV crew, someone innocuously mentions a phone, and he starts to remember Sae and the phone, and starts to suspect something's up.

A little bit later, Shido asks him to go on clean-up, taking out all remaining people he thinks might even possibly betray Shido. Akechi points out that uuuuuh why tf are we doing this now, it's really suspicious? why not wait until after the election?

So Shido is feeling extra paranoid. Akechi gets nervous about wtf might be happening.

Nice of you to drop in, Beige Boy.

Akechi figured out that the Thieves are infiltrating Shido's Palace and shows up to finally have a long-overdue mental breakdown at everyone.

yeah for real, you clearly needed someone to grab you by the back of your stupid hair and shake you until you decided not to murder people for your biological dad

OH YEAH, SHIDO IS AKECHI'S FATHER. which, okay, I didn't call that one at all. I was wondering why he had such a specific hate-on for Shido and that certainly explains it, but also wow they look nothing alike and Akechi really didn't even hint at that. Go fucking figure.

But if Shido's right and Akechi started volunteering to do this work in the Metaverse for him 2.5 years ago, that was right after/around Wakaba Isshiki's death. How the fuck did Akechi get into the Metaverse to begin with?

I'm fucking thrilled to bits that Akechi's plan all along was to kill Shido. I want that so bad for him honestly. It'd be mad sexy of him if he managed it.

Alas, Akechi is fully fracturing and goes off on the Thieves, deciding if he can finally kill them, his plan can still work.

AKECHI HAS MULTIPLE PERSONAS

AKECHI HAS THE WILD CARD ABILITY

HAS AKECHI MET NOTIGOR

Also his innate ability is to drive people insane with his persona. He demonstrates on two shadows, siccing them on the party. He's been using that on other people too, causes the psychotic episodes in the background of the game.

Bruh, wow. You are just the actual antagonist of this tale, huh?

Like, I really really wish Persona pulled a really rabbit out of the hat here. I can see how close they got to something fucking magical. Spend all this time building up Shido, do everything the same as if he were going to be the final boss...

then have Akechi step in, kill Shido, and take over as the True Villain of the game.

THAT WOULD HAVE FUCKING RIPPED, and justified all the effort put into building up Akechi. MAN.

But anyway.

Kismesissitude, folks.

GOD BLESS THEM THEY FUCKING TRY

THEY REALLY TRY

Akechi, I think Reverie was into your weird homoerotic rivalry thing from pretty early, if you just said, "Hey, want to make out and do some knifeplay" he would have been down. This was all you, buddy!

Again: easy to be flippant, but it's clear that Akechi has never once had a person he could rely on, and so has never learned the basic skills of how to rely on other people, and that isolation is his undoing. No matter how powerful you are singularly, people can still party up and take you down like a raid boss at the end of the day. You can't kill Reverie faster than Mona and Ann can Diarahan him.

"Dude, please, just chill. You are super going through it right now and we all say shit we don't mean when we're having a meltdown."

Alas, Akechi will not chill. he has a deficit of chill.

[xxwritemeastoryxx]

Updates and Announcements

Wow I haven't done one of these in a while so I think it might be best to do one, right?

First and foremost, welcome to the new followers! I haven't had a chance to welcome you guys in some time. But I appreciate you being here! I hope that whatever it was that helped you to decide that I was worth following continues to happen!

Lets talk about a few things. Remember when I said I was going to move all of my 18+ work over to an after dark page? Well that happened forever ago and I NEVER posted on it again. I made pretty banners and everything for my masterlist and nothing came from it. SO after thinking long and hard about it, I will be deleting that blog altogether and moving everything back over here.

But Dom, what about the Minors that follow you? You see, I thought about it. I thought about just deleting the few fics I have and just moving on, but that feels like a lot like book burning and I'd rather not. So while I can put up several warnings and tag the living crap out of that fic, I can't stop them from ignoring all that.

But to ease my conscious a bit, here are some tags that I'll be using for all things of age. #babies not included #18+ #Dom's trash If you are currently under age, I'd greatly appreciate you adding these to your filters! Thanks!

With that being said, fics like Business or Pleasure and What the Future Holds will be added to the Masterlist here. BoP was simply linked to the afterdark page and thankfully I don't have to repost that. Cause I would absolutely hate to lose all those notes. What the Future Holds will need to be reposted since I'll be deleting the blog it's currently attached to.

I'll be adding a legend to my masterlists. That way it's a little easier to figure out what's what before clicking on them. I used to do this in the very beginning but somehow managed to stop. So that will be starting back up again.

Let's talk fics, next! In case you haven't noticed, some fics have a '-discontinued-' notice right next to it. For the time being, I will NOT be completing those fics. Its not that I don't want to finish them-especially with some close to the end-its just i have no motivation to finish them. Maybe one day I will come back to them. ALSO! SEQUELS! Many requests and comments have been about sequels. Second parts don't always get the same attention as the first. I've been so grateful that Phantom has been getting as much interaction as it has been. But that's because of all of the interactions it had been getting. So what I'm getting at is that I won't be continuing a fic if the interaction is low on it. I'm always happy to make a second part of something, so long as its getting notes. So be sure to interact with your favorites if you want to see it get a second part to it.

Interest Posts will be happening at some point again. I of course want you guys to be enjoying the things I post. I know there has been some notice that I've fully been focusing on Phantom a lot more than anything else. It honestly goes back to the interaction it is getting that is fueling my writing muse for it. So again, be sure to interact with the fics you like.

Remember These Violent Delights? As much as I loved Adriana, she didn't seem to be accepted here on tumblr like I hoped she would and I had eventually taken down that series. So now I wanna give that series another shot as a reader insert. I've been working on it a bit behind the scenes and I hope that this fic will have a better comeback as a reader insert than an OC. Posting dates for that will come soon!

Requests are OPEN! So send in those requests! Incase you need a reminder on who and what I write for, here is a quick list!

Fandoms: The Vampire Diaries Universe Marvel Cinematic Universe

Characters I write for: Elijah Mikaelson * Klaus Mikaelson Kol Mikaelson Damon Salvatore Jackson Kenner Tony Stark Loki Steve Rogers Bucky Barnes* I can write for others if the inspiration is there as well! *Indicates most read/requested fics, along with a larger quantity of fics available to read

I believe that is all I have for now. If you stuck around this long, Thank you so much for doing so and I look forward to interacting more with you guys!

[explosionshark]

Okay so bs4/as1 has been a bit hit and miss for me so far (I've generally been watching one Buffy episode followed by one Angel episode whenever I sit down to watch and I've not often had a double bill of hits, but also never gotten a double miss so far so it's not I'm not having a good time even the misses have some stuff I like) but I watched I Will Remember You last night and it was such a banger I loooove the Bangel tragedy and it was such a good one. I watched Pangs right before and I was thinking wow they brought back Angel for this episode (this had so much baggage there was stuff I liked in it but oof)? But it was worth it I guess to get Buffy into Angel for the following one. I kinda wish In the Dark hadn't happened though cause it kinda cheapens the Angel being human in the sun thing by having him be in the sun already just four or five episodes ago and its way better in this one. I thought it was gonna just be hallucinations for a bit when he and Buffy hooked back up, there was no way that could be allowed in the timeline even if Angel vamped up again, but resetting the clock is way better, should've realised from all the clocks they were showing. It was just a real good Angel/Buffy power hour played all the hits, doing what they do best. I ship Bangel primarily in the sense that I love to see that tragedy aspect of it, no desire to see them together long term just burn bright, fast and break each other's hearts. And since it was a heavy crossover episode Buffy and Angel can share the crown of favourite episode yet across Buffy's s4 and Angel's s1.

Spike being fully into his loser era is great I can really get behind that. The Initiative at first glance I thought this is a bit goofy dunno if I'll buy this and then Walsh was the director of it as well as Buffy's psychology lecturer and I decided yes this is just goofy enough to get behind. Riley's alright he's not really got enough meat yet to get me into him yet but the duelling secret identities thing he'll have going with Buffy should be fun, I do find it kinda funny that now that we know who they are the Initiative goons just never wear masks anymore.

I thought Wild at Heart was real good but its wild to me that this feels like the first actual episode about Oz and its about him cheating on his girlfriend, killing the person he cheated on her with and then leaving forever (there's extenuating circumstances but still), wild, also kinda sad there's no more werewolf episodes cause somehow those costumes were getting even more ropey and I was interested to see how much worse they'd get. This was also a day where I got two hits with the Bachelor Party being just a really a fun Doyle episode.

Other hits I've had Room with a Vu, great Cordy episode her insisting to the ghost that she can't scare her cause she's from Sunnydale and refusing to give up on such a good place to live was incredible, and that scene with her talking about how she wants to stop being punished great stuff, and I Fall To Pieces, psychic limb detaching surgeon was wild and unsettling, I also really enjoyed Melissa's work as the victim. Admittedly, Angel is leaning very heavy into the damsel trope now that they don't have to write a show with a female lead. Oh yeah also it does feel a bit like they're playing fast and loose with the whole sunlight thing I feel like Angel's been in sunlight a fair few times this show.

Honourable mention to Fear, Itself, it's got some good stuff but largely it suffered from me thinking its not on the level of the s1 fear episode "Nightmares" and not as fun as the s2 "Halloween", but I didn't hate it by any means just didn't quite hit. And also its not fair to it but I thought going towards the climax it was either gonna be a that the Demon didn't want to be there either (hence saying "Release me" all the time) or that it was gonna be an Anya knowing him from her demon days thing so when it got to oh the demon's just tiny while fun felt like a bit of an anticlimax to what I wanted which isn't really the episode's fault.

Now Pangs, Sense and Sensitivity and Beer Bad those were hard misses. Pangs and Sense and Sensitivity, Pangs at least felt more like a fumble (Buffy sideplot about wanting a good Thanksgiving was also fun) while Sense and Sensitivity felt more intentional with it going hard into if only lawyers didn't get in the way of us beating suspects we could catch so many more criminals. Beer Bad on the other hand just not good (I was admittedly primed for this though I had my vague recollections of that great Sarah Z video essay on that time Buffy made government propaganda, so I knew going in it was not a well received episode) "My brother in law is a warlock" and then just moving past it is a GOAT explanation behind a plot and it was at least goofy and Buffy got to beat Parker with a stick.

Other minor things, Anya's just solid gold she's in the same vague area Cordy was for most of her Buffy run time (which is fitting considering she was introduced as someone who could steal Cordy's life and is now dating her ex) where she can just show up say anything, and its a winner. And I love the infrequent appearances of Harmony just redecorating in her lair she's basically inherited. Also feel like there's not been many cold opens of just slaying Vampires, which I guess fits with the Initiative capturing a bunch of them and storing them under the university. Also also I saw there's episode coming up where Cordelia is magically pregnant and I remember that Angel does not do well when its cast get pregnant so I'm filled with a sense of looming dread.

YESSSS okay. i will remember you is a great episode for folks who ship bangel in that particular way. for me - i love what they mean for each other and the role they play in each other's lives. i think they're just a fun, dramatic, supernatural version of the classic great first love. someone you outgrow, but you'll always love somehow. and i will remember you nails that so well because like - it shows them at their best, their passion and devotion to each other, and also why that's not enough to keep them together.

i'm definitely sympathetic to angel's choice at the end, his reason for undoing things and giving buffy up, but it's precisely why they don't work for me as a long term ship. his decision to protect her by making this choice for her, by taking the memories from her is just classic angel. it's something buffy would hate if she knew. for him, it's duty and selflessness. for her it would be a betrayal. it lays bare a kind of unavoidable paternalism that infects their dynamic from the beginning.

hard agree re: spike i always like him best when he's fully being the show's resident buttmonkey. put him in silly clothes! have him be a little pathetic and snarky! make him run around with that smoking blanket pulled over his head!

glad you're having fun so far and getting through it! the initiative will remain kind of weak, but there's still some really great stuff coming up in s4. hush, this years girl, and who are you remain series highlights imo.

[countessofravenclaw]

¡Sí! - La Trinidad del Amor: Chapter three

In life, nothing is sure... but you always count on one thing. True Love, the ones who have it are the luckiest people in the world. Not everyone does... but the people in our story do. They fought through Fire, They fought through an ocean, They fought through the sun and the moon. There are six of them, and they form a trinity, the trinity of true love

Wow, wow, what is this? A wedding before all three couples are engaged? Well, let me explain. This fic follows the chronological timeline that has been established in MOT. Simbar got married before Lutteo was even engaged so their proposal is not coming before it. Also, additional note: The wedding "chapter" will be in two parts, the first being about the planning and the preparations and the second one will be about the wedding itself, so enjoy.

Si alguna vez hubo una pareja perfecta, esta califica

"Ready to do this?" Simon stopped in front of his family home's door in Cancun. He and Ambar had come straight from England to Cancun to relay the news about their engagement to his family. It was something you couldn't just tell people on the phone, at least to his family.

"Ready as I'll ever be," Ambar, his fiancee now, smiled at him. She really was the most beautifull girl in the whole world, and soon she’d be officially his.

"They are gonna go crazy. This will be your family, so you still have time to turn back before we walk through that door." He joked. It was true, his family could be bit much. Simon still quite vividly remembered the moment Antonio Carcia had gotten down on one knee in front of his sister Maya almost eight years ago. His younger sisters Rika and Maria had almost knocked the ring out of Antonio’s hand before he had finished asking the question, they had been eight at the time, and now of course they were already 15. Honestly, Simon could not fully blame Ambar if she decided to back out, it would break his heart of course, but his family was quite crazy and the more he spent time away from them, the crazier they seemed

"I would not dream of it," Ambar smiled at him back. "You sure that they are all home?"

"Mom "forces" everyone, if you are in the country, to have family dinner every Saturday at 12 o'clock sharp. The is no ditching it. Last time Maya was allowed to miss it was when she was giving birth. I would not be half surprised if Mom would have forced me to travel back for the dinners for Buenos Aires." That had definitely been part of the discussion when he had decided on the whim to fly after Luna so long time ago. His mother had not been the biggest fan of the idea.

He took the keys out of his pocket and put them in the lock. "ready to crash the dinner?"

"I got my ring. Lets go."

Simon opened the door silently and he and Ambar tip-toed through the living room. It was completely empty. 

“Hey! We can look at my baby pictures later.” He saw Ambar’s eye linger on the pictures on the fireplace. He yanked her away from them and she gave him a small pretend pout.

So his family was definitely in the dining room. They could hear the talking coming from there. The dining room was on the side of the living room so two of them crept around the corner. Simon took a small peek around the corner and saw his parents and siblings sitting around the table. 

"Suprise!" they dashed into the dining room.

"Simon! Carla was the first one to get up from the table and came to hug her son. "We thought you said you would be in England."

"We were, but we decided to take a bit of a detour,” Simon answered his mother after he finished hugging both of his parents. “I hope we didn't interrupt your dinner."

"Don't try," Maya also got up from the table, "you interrupted on purpose..." they heard noises from the other room, "And I see you also woke Valeria.” Maya playfully punched Simon on the shoulder. He pretended to be hurt as he smiled at her. Maya had always been his favorite sibling and he adored his niece. “I'll be right back," she said as she went to check on her daughter.

"So why are you here?" Rico was next to speak. 

"Can't I just visit my lovely family?"

"You don't like us that much." Julio snarked from behind Rico. Simon guessed that he was back on vacation from school since he studied in the states.

"Well you got us," Simon shot Ambar a small look, "we have some news, but lets wait for Maya."

"Why do you need to wait for me?" Maya entered the room, walking the toddler Valeria by her hand.

"Well," Simon started and he kneeled down on the floor so Valeria could walk to him, "I was just saying that we should wait for you, so I can tell my goddaughter that she is going to have a godmother."

He looked back to Ambar and she lifted her hand showing off the ring to Simon's family who had turned to her. Simon had been right, they went crazy

“What?” His mother screamed after she had squeezed both Ambar and Simon in a huge hug. “Was this why you went to England? I thought you said it was for your friend’s graduation.”

“I knew he didn’t actually have friends at Oxford,” Rico scoffed. Simon smiled. Rico and Julio always liked to tease him, but he didn’t mind. They couldn’t bring his mood down, not today. 

“I do, two actually.”

“Simon this is beautiful,” Carla gushed over Ambar’s ring as they had settled in the living room after the commotion had died down. “Where did you get it?”

“From Joyería Ambarte. I think you know the place, Dad.”  

“I very much do.” His father answered, surprise on his face, “I got your mother’s ring from there over 30 years ago. How did you know?”

“Well, when I told them my name was Simon Alvarez, they asked if I was the son of Diego Alvarez,” Simon explained. He had not expected at all that the jewelry at the store would have kept a log of the clientele. When he thought about it now, he should have not been surprised since the store had been small. “It was not intentional by the way. Just happened to be the store where I found the right one. I went through a lot of stores, probably all of them.”

“Maybe this was a sign of a new family tradition,” Carla looked at her husband and then back to Simon and then turned towards Rico and Julio, “You heard that boys? I wouldn’t say no to more daughter-in-laws.”

“Huh?”

“Who knew Simon could pick out jewelry?” Maria and Rika —Actually her name was Rachael, but she had had such a hard time saying it as a toddler, so Rico had started to call her Rika after himself and Maria had picked it up so it had stuck— were examing the ring on Ambar’s finger “Simon? I mean you wear a guitar pick as a necklace and a beanie.” They got off the floor and sat on both sides of Ambar, Maria cramming herself in between her and Simon. “Do you have a dress already? How many tiers will be on the cake? Can we be bridesmaids?” They started asking questions at a super rapid pace.

“No, I don’t have a dress, yet. That’ll be my first priority as we get back to Buenos Aires, you’ll be the first to get the pictures. Neither do I know about the cake. I will have to talk about that with Monica. My cousin’s mother is a chef so she’ll have some ideas. And of course, you’ll get to be my bridesmaids! We can talk about that later after we have the whole wedding party sorted. I haven’t had much time to plan since a week ago I didn’t know I’d be engaged right now.” Simon had to hand it to her, Ambar was handling his sisters like a pro. Maria and Rika low-key idolized her, and always let Simon know how they didn’t get how he had found someone like her 

“Yep, we don’t have the whole wedding planned quite yet. Sorry I didn’t give her more notice” Simon laughed, “oh and before I forget, we got some pictures.” He opened the folder Gastón had sent him on his phone and handed it to his mother.

“These are amazing,” She said while scrolling through Simon’s phone, “Did you get a photographer to take these? You just said you planned it really fast. How did you find one with such a small notice?”

“No, actually. Gastón took these.” Simon gave a side-eye to Rico and Julio, “You, know that friend of mine who just graduated from Oxford. He and his girlfriend Nina really know how to work that camera, it has always been their thing. Actually, I think they are the only ones who you have not met since they already were at Oxford when Mom and Dad came to visit me. Well, you’ll meet them at the wedding.”

“And actually we have decided one thing,” Ambar started talking again, “We would want to have the wedding here, at Cancun.”

“It would make everything much more convenient,” Simon continued her explanation turning to his parents “Especially for all of you since we want people to be able to come as much as possible. We can’t expect all of your siblings and my cousins to pick up and travel to Buenos Aires.”

“And it just feels like it all started here,” Ambar said taking his hand, reaching over Maria, “even if we didn’t meet here.”

“Would your family be okay with that?” Diego asked after Simon and Ambar stopped their explanation. Simon knew that his family didn’t know the full details about Ambar’s upbringing. It was not his place to tell them, she would when and if she wanted to.

“I don’t have family,” Ambar answered, “Outside of my grandfather. And Luna, Monica and Miquel of course. I have been talking with my birth mother, but I don’t even know if I wanna tell her… I don’t think we are there quite yet.”

“I know that the Valentes would love the idea and I don’t think any of our friends would mind a destination wedding.”

“I think that is a wonderful idea,” Carla said, “Do you have any idea about the date yet?”

“We were thinking of next Summer, so we have nice 12 months to arrange everything.”

“We should maybe just look at some venues little bit while we are here,” Ambar pointed out. 

“That's a good idea—” Simon was interrupted by ding, not just on his, but on everyone’s phones. He looked at it and saw that his mother had sent a lengthy text to the Alvarez family group chat that had everyone from his extended family who held a smartphone.

“Mom, what did you do?”

“I just told everyone that we should have a big family gathering tomorrow. We need to celebrate… you weren’t going to go back to Buenos Aires tomorrow, right?”

Truth be told they had a flight back to Buenos Aires for the next day but before Simon was able to open his mouth.

“Of course, we aren’t,” Ambar swooped in, “I agree with you Carla. Family celebrations are the best.”

***

Simon and Ambar stepped on the escalator in Buenos Aires. They had finally managed to return from their trip which had turned from a one-week graduation trip to England to a bit of a round tour as they had spent five additional days in Mexico with Simon’s family.

“I should have known Mom would force us to stay.”

“I really loved it,” Ambar responded to Simon as they dragged their luggage next to them on the super long escalator. “plus we got a venue. That is definitely something, especially this early in the game. Now we can set the date.”

“Ambar! Ambar!” Someone was yelling her name from the level they were heading on the escalator. Ambar turned around and look down to see who was yelling.

“What are Delfi and Jazmin doing here?” Simon had also turned around to look down. 

“I don’t know.” She had of course already called and told Delfi and Jazmin the big news, almost immediately as it had happened, so they did know, but she had not told them the flight they were coming back on so she could surprise them as she came back, “I didn’t tell them the flight.”

“Oh, Pedro texted me asking that,” Simon suddenly said. Now Ambar understood everything. 

“I don’t think it was Pedro, or at least it was not him who really wanted to know.” Delfi must have broken into his phone to trick Simon into telling them. “Well brace yourself.”

“After my family, Delfi and Jazmin will be nothing.”

“Aaaaahhh” Delfi and Jazmin attacked Ambar as soon as they came off the escalator. Simon had apparently seen it coming so he did some evasive action so the girls only trapped Ambar into a crushing hug, but it was nothing after what Luna had put then through

“Is this real gold? How many carats is this?” Jazmin pretty much was pulling Ambar’s left ring finger off as she was examining the ring, “This is so much prettier in person.”

“Pedro knew, I can’t believe it” Delfi whined and shot a dirty look at Pedro who was talking with Simon on the side. He must have given the girls a ride “But please tell us everything. Do you have plans for the wedding already? Pedro can drive you to your place so you don’t need to get a taxi.”

“Well, we may or may not already have a date and a venue. We were very efficient in Cancun. Now I was thinking that I need to start looking for a dress.” Ambar told them as five of them started walking towards the airport exit.

“Oooh I can help with that,” Jazmin piped up, “Sarah is this very promising designer that I found over at Fundom. You should see the things she has made.”

“I’ll think about it. I’ll have to think about lot of things.”

“Don’t worry,” Delfi took her by the shoulders, “We are gonna help you.”

***

“Okay we need to take it in from here just a bit, but otherwise I think the fit is perfect. Do you have anything to add?” Sarah was pinning the dress that Ambar was wearing in multiple locations before helping it off her.

“I don’t think so,” Ambar said as she put her own clothes on as Sarah was putting the dress back on the mannequin, “You have done an amazing job, Sarah.”

Sarah Arya was a 20-year-old Chilean designer that Jazmin had discovered from the creator community she had founded. At first, Ambar had been a bit hesitant considering Sarah’s age and the fact that she was just starting out in the industry. But in the end, after going over many dress shops and growing fonder and fonder over the idea of a custom-made dress, and a lot of encouragement from Jazmin, she had decided to give Sarah a chance. And she was so glad she did. 

After Ambar had described what she wanted, Sarah produced a sketch that was exactly what Ambar had had in her head, but even more beautiful than she could have ever imagined. The dress looked like it was something a Greek goddess would wear. She didn’t even know how that was possible. 

Her wedding dress was going to be a mermaid fit with a tulle full skirt. It would also feature a lot of pearl and gold detailing. She had wanted a traditional white dress, but the additional gold, that Sarah had come up with did not bother her. The wedding colors were: Gold, pearl, and bronze for a reason. 

“Okay, so after I’ll do the last fit alterations, I can start working on the details,” Sarah said as they sat down on her desk. “First, I’ll do the pearls, the ones you chose.” She picked a couple of the pearls up from a drawer, “And now you should choose what kind of straps you’ll want. I have these three options.”

Ambar looked carefully at the golden strap options. One of them had some additional rhinestones that she didn’t want and the other ones were way too yellowish. “I think we should just do the lighter ones. I don’t want the straps to overpower everything.”

“That's a very good choice.” Sarah took the golden ribbons and placed them on the mannequin, “they will look like this… Oh, I almost forgot. I have an idea that I have been meaning to talk to you about.” She came back to the desk and got some tulle out from a shelf.  

“I have been experimenting with tulle dip-dyeing,” She showed Ambar some fabric swatched that had been dyed different colors in a gradient style, and then took her table out and opened the sketch of Ambar’s dress “And I thought, what would you think if we did that to the hem of your dress.” She switched over the sketch to an almost identical picture where the hem of the dress was golden. 

“It just came to me. I feel like it would really balance it all out, when the top is much more gold-heavy. It would look like this,” She handed Ambar the swatch with golden dye. “I know this a quite a big addition this late on, so I totally understand if don’t want to do it.”

Ambar took a close look at the fabric. The fact was that it was a bit of a gamble to add to the design. Time was not the issue, there still were five months to the wedding, but it still was a bit risky… but Sarah was also right. A gold trimming in the hem would definitely tie the look together. “Uhmm, lets do it.”

“You are sure?”

“Yes. I trust you Sarah. You will be able to make it in time?”

“Of course, I will. Well, I gonna get on these and I’ll text you the next fitting time. It will probably be next week.”

“I’ll see you then.” Ambar got up and walked to the door, “We are going bridesmaid dress shopping next week. Do you have any tips?”

“Only that make sure that they work with your dress. I'd go with V-necks. And go with something light, since you are going to be on the beach.”

***

Ambar was sitting in her hotel room in Cancun on her computer going over some last minuted details for the wedding. They had already been at Cancun for two days and the wedding would be happening within the week. 

Everything seemed to be in order. All the flowers had been ordered and her bridal bouquet and bouquets for the bridesmaids would be delivered the day before the wedding. Sarah was bringing the dress personally on Wednesday and her make-up and hairstylists would be coming over the day after that… everything was in order. 

On Saturday she’d no longer be Ms. Ambar Smith, she’d be Mrs. Ambar Alvarez, forever and always. Simon had at no point expected her to change her name, but she wanted to. During her childhood she didn’t know what she was…was she a Smith? Was she a Benson? Was she something else she didn’t even know? Now she knew, she was neither… she was going to be an Alvarez. 

She closed her laptop as Simon came in and flobbed onto the bed. Technically this was her hotel room, which was and big suite for her and her bridesmaids to get ready on the day and Simon had another room —at the other end of the hotel— for himself and his groomsmen, but it was not like they were going to use it until the day before the wedding. Of course, after the wedding, they’d move to a wedding suite. 

“I am pretty sure I just met every extended relative I didn’t even know I had,” Simon mumbled from the bed, “I am done with getting hugs… my lungs can’t take it anymore.”

“Well, you better recover, since Luna is going to be squeezing us to death after the ceremony. You remember when you proposed,” Ambar laughed, “Matteo said that he can’t make any promises about keeping her in check. Why didn’t you let me come with you to meet all of your relatives?”

Simon had been meeting all his family who were flying in from other parts of Mexico.

“I told you, they can be a whole lot of crazy, more than my family. I don’t wanna spook you off.”

“Nothing can spook me off,” Ambar got up from the armchair and sat down on the bed, “After Saturday, you are going to be stuck with me.”

“And I am looking forward to that immensely. Hmm, you have nothing to do today anymore right? Because I was thinking…”

Simon was interrupted by a knock on the door.

“Hello, Hello,” Luna came through the door, Delfi following her right behind, “We came to get the Bride.”

“For what?”

“Can’t tell you,” Luna smirked and Ambar saw that she was holding a blindfold in her hands. “But you have to come with us, Maid of Honor’s orders, so you better obey.”

“But… we were—”

“Oh pipe down Simon,” Luna jokingly said as she shot down Simon’s protests, “If you want something to do, go talk to Matteo. He can fix something up. We are kidnapping your Bride, like it or not.”

Then Luna put the blindfold on Ambar’s eyes and took her hand leading her out of the door. 

“Now watch out we are getting in a car,” Delfi’s voice explained after they had gotten out of the hotel. So they were driving somewhere. That's why Delfi had come with Luna, since Luna couldn’t drive.

Ambar sat in the car with a blindfold on and wondered where on earth they were going. There was no doubt that this was going to be a bachelorette party. She had never explicitly said that she needed one and had left it to the Maid of Honor to decide what was the best course of action. She should have known that Luna would never pass up an opportunity to party. 

“Okay, here’s a small step and then we’ll go down on the beach so the ground will get much less solid” Delfi had taken the lead of leading Ambar after they had driven what felt like 30 minutes and now they were walking somewhere. 

“How long are we doing this for? Where are we going?”

“Not far… here we are.” they stopped and someone pulled the blindfold off Ambar’s eyes. She looked around confused. They were on the beach but she didn’t recognize the place. It was covered with threes on the sides with a gorgeous view of the beach and the sunset. 

“Suprise!” everyone yelled as the blindfold was lifted. Then Ambar was squeezed into a big group hug. Finally, after she was released she took a look of the people who were there. All of her bridesmaids were present: Jazmin, Delfi, Nina, Jim, and Yam. Maya was also there. Ambar had also asked her to be her bridesmaid but Maya had politely declined saying that it would be easier to supervise Valeria, who was going to be a flower girl if she wasn’t one, she was also six months pregnant so Ambar had also wondered if that had something to do with it. Maya had been having some severe cases of morning sickness.

“Mom didn’t let Maria and Rika to come,” Maya said to her as she handed a glass of sparkling wine to her. “You can imagine the whining that took place.”

They all sat on a picnic blanket that had been spread on the sand. There were twinkle lights hung on the trees and on the blanket was a wide variety of different desserts.

“Luna, what is this place?”

“This is the place that I and Simon found once upon a time when we were learning to skate and kind of got lost in Cancun. It has kind of been our little hiding place ever since,” Luna sat down next to Ambar, “and I thought, it is time for you to know it too.”

“How did you manage all of this?” Ambar wondered out loud. She had been overworking Luna, ever since they had arrived from Buenos Aires. Well, she was the maid of honor so it was kind of her job, plus Luna knew Cancun so Ambar had needed her expertise. 

“Maya lend me a helping hand,” Luna smirked looking at Maya.

“Sometimes there are perks with the fact that my husband is a cook,” Maya laughed, “Plus my father is the owner of a restaurant so that helped too. I got everything organized after Luna called two days ago.”

“Yeah, sorry about the lack of notice.”

Then Luna got up and started jingle her glass and got up standing. “Okay, so it is my great honor, get it, since I am the Maid of Honor. Anyways, we are here to celebrate Ambar who will in a matter of days be the great honorable Ms. Alvarez. And lets be real, none of us thought this would ever happen six years ago.”

Everyone laughed at Luna and Ambar gave her pretend annoyed look.

“But after everything, here we are. And… And… I AM SO HAPPY FOR YOU! So, for our Bride, Ambar!”

Everyone raised their glasses and Jazmin came over and placed a tiara on Ambar’s head.  

“For Ambar!”

Well, that is how you prepare for a wedding am I right? Are you all excited, because I am.

[deadricslover]

I'm super new to your blog and you write incredibly !!! Your bruce wayne fics are by far my favorite. Im not sure if your requests are open, but if they are, could I request suitors trying to get with reader thinking they have a chance with her, not knowing shes married to bruce and he gets jealous? i think it would be interesting seeing that dynamic! if you dont want to take this request it's absolutely no problem, wishing you a happy day! <3

the jealous type

here's my Masterlist!

I'm so bad at coming up with names💀

a/n: my god, you're so nice ilysm <3. But yes! I would love to write that, it's a great idea:) also, You didn't specify which actor so I'll try make it as neutral as possible. I hope you like it but personally I feel like I could have done better:/ MY REQUESTS ARE ALWAYS OPEN <3 unless I say they're not 😭💀wishing you a happy day life too😘

summary: ^^^ in the request

warnings: not proofread! strong language, some cringe 'flirting' even after the reader saying no, nonconsensual touching of the reader/tw SA, mentions of alcohol, petnames. please tell me if I missed anything!

pairings: fem!reader X actor neutral!Bruce Wayne

wow I hate people like these strangers. who doesn't?

----------------------------------

Overlapping talk and loud music floods your ears to the point that you can't focus your senses on any sound in particular; it's absolutely overwhelming, but in an exhilarating, euphoric way. You hadn't felt like this in a long time, and you'd been missing this rush of pure adrenaline and joy.

You got a call from your old college girl friends a few hours ago, asking if you and Bruce wanted to go out because you hadn't seen each other in what seems like an eternity. You were worried because Bruce had lately been on patrol as Batman so goddamn much and you hadn't spent a night with him in weeks, but once you told your spouse about the plan, he was immediately on board. Showering, changing, and getting dressed took neither of you long, and you were both out of the house and in the car in under an hour.

Once the car is parked, you exit the vehicle and proceed into the bar, grabbing Bruce's hand. Your engagement and marriage rings shimmer and sparkle in the changing colorful lights of the club crowded with people celebrating 21st birthdays and getting the Friday night buzz as you stroll inside. Before you can locate your friends, their voices reach your ears, so you follow the familiar voices and giggles until you find who you're looking for. One of your friends notices you and is immediately all over you.

"I haven't seen you in ages!" She exclaims as she squeezes you into a bone-crushing hug, which you gratefully accept and reciprocate. "You did extremely well with the Mr., didn't you?" When she mentions your husband, she returns her gaze to Bruce, as you do as well. He's smiling and running his hands through his hair as he introduces himself to your pals, instantly making them like him due to his attractive demeanor. You basically drool over him even just at his sight, still after this long being Mrs. Wayne.

"oh, you have no idea" you reply smiling with your eyebrows raised.

You quickly say hi to the rest of the group with Bruce's hand around your waist and begin to catch up on events from the previous few years. Bruce learns some embarrassing anecdotes about you being drunk in college that he will never let you live down.

"Just guess where we found her," another acquaintance, who was your old roommate, says

"The last place I'd think?" he speculates, slightly side eyeing you in a curious manner as to what the answer might be.

"just that. We came home to find her fully dressed and passed out in the empty bath." She remembers laughing her head off at the memories, and you remember laughing with her because it was such a hilarious story.

Before he lets out a breath and asks, giggling lightly, "why were you in the bath?!" he has a puzzled yet delighted expression on his face.

"Hey, I'm the wrong person to ask, I was pissed," you remark, removing a finger from your drink to point at him to add drama to the situation.

"Who's up for another round?" When your ex-roommate's boyfriend notices that most of our glasses are empty, he questions the group. You all agree to the request, and volunteer to order them because you hadn't done so yet, and your legs were in desperate need of a stretch after standing in one position all night.

You collect the empty glasses off a few people ending with Bruce's who was standing next to you.

"thanks, my love. do you need some help?" he asks placing a little kiss into your hair to which you decline and depart to your destination. You order the round and sit on a stool waiting patiently trying not to stratch off the baby blue nail polish you had applied days before. Instead you fiddle with the cool metal of the ring on your ring finger, twisting it round and round waiting.

"Can I buy your drink?" a stranger asks you drawing you out of your daydream.

"No, thank you. I'm getting my friends drinks" you reply trying to be as kind as possible

"oh, come on. Surely you would let me if I rated you out of ten" he suggests. That's an even bigger no, thank you very much.

"like I said it's ok, I don't want you to buy my drink" you say slightly less kind turning slightly away towards the wood surface Infront of you.

"hmm. You get a nine out of 10 from me" After a brief period of thought, he says. Why is he still in this place? also, why nine? You continue to ignore his remarks and stare at the enormous array of bottles containing alcoholic beverages that will give many people headaches and hangovers the next day.

"...because I'm the one you need" ......wow.... so lame. he's really getting on your nerves now.

"come on ,baby, just one drink I promise you will want more aft-" you cut him off

"I'm taken, but it shouldn't matter. I said no."

"stubborn. I like that in a female...why don't I just..." his hand starts to crawl up your thigh and your heart starts to race, before you get to push it away a comforting presence makes their way to your side.

"hey, darling. Everything ok?" he asks 'innocently' and 'not knowing what's going on'. grateful he came over when he did you look at the man in front of you and say

"yeah. everything's fine, Bruce" you lie smiling, wrapping your hands around his forearm swiveling back around to the bar as the stranger walks away.

"everything wasn't ok, was it?" he enquires concerned.

"he's just trying to get in my pants, that's all. No big deal." you reply shaking it off. Bruce doesn't seem to be convinced that it's all ok so he states with slightly sad and concerned eyes

"it is a big deal, petal."

"it would be, but nothing happened" you reply to which he doesn't seem convinced but goes with it anyways. He tried to propose the idea of him going over but you shut the idea down.

When the drinks are ready, you thank the bartender and grab them and return to the gathering, with Bruce keeping a careful eye on you. You two swiftly distribute them and get back into the spirit. The chatter continues, and people soon find themselves having to get into each other's ears to say something because the volume of music and chatter is so high. Bruce turns to you and says something into your ear but speaks louder than normal so you can hear him.

"I'm gonna to the bathroom. I'll be back in a second, you sure you will be ok?" you loved that he was concerned but there was no need to be.

"of course I will. there's loads of people around" you assure with a smile and he promises you he won't be two minutes. The second Bruce departed your friends go to the dance floor and tell you if anything happens to go straight to them and yet again you assure them you will be ok.

soon after, the same thing happens and a guy stands next to you with a drink in hand and starts trying to chat you up. You thought it would be something gross like the last guy but he seemed genuine about what he was saying.

"I really like your dress"

"uhm..thank you." you reply uncomfortable Im the situation

"oh my days. I'm sorry that sounded awful, uhm I didn't mean it like that. I have a girlfriend...and I just wanted to ask where you got it. She has been wanting a dress like this and her birthday is soon." He seemed really sweet but you didn't trust him straight away. you told him where you purchased your outfit and he reveals his plans of proposing too soon into the conversation. You are confused as to why he is sharing this information to a total stranger but your glad he trusts you?

"Actually... as I'm over here. My friend over there thought you were were as he said ' a fine piece of ass' and wanted to talk to you." he says as the other guy starts walking over. There goes your liking for the stranger.

"hey, doll. wanna dance?"

"no" you reply dryly

"come on one dance." he insists

"I said no."

"fine. we can take it slow if that's what you want." he adds a wink to the end of the sentence making it even more revolting to you.

"what's a fine lady like you doing here all alone anyways?"

"waiting for her husband" you reply

"ahh that's one of those schemes that girls use to make guys try harder, right?" he asks completely wrong also.

"what scheme?"

"you know. girl code or something" either he is pissed of his game from alcohol or you're missing something about being a girl but you lean towards the first option because that's more reasonable.

"yeah, I think you've got the wrong idea of what girl code is" Bruce says returning and placing his head on your shoulder and arms around your waist from behind. Him showing up is a weight lifted off your shoulders and he can sense this. he always arrives at the right time doesn't he?

"no I think it's right. the lady will confirm" stranger number three states confidently

"'the lady' has a name and would also much rather come back over to me --her husband-- and have a good time. okay? good." he says as he drags you away, ....anger? radiating off his form.

"I could have handled it." you state the truth.

"I don't doubt that. You're a strong woman" he compliments continuing to walk holding your hand.

"why are you mad then?" you ask innocently wanting the answer

"I'm not. He's just a douche"

then it clicks.

"Bruce... Are you jealous?!" you exclaim not believing it.

"why would I be jealous?" he asks glancing to you quickly, clearly lying but hiding it suspiciously well.

You knew why. he thought you would leave him for them. as if. Bruce is way better than them and he knows it but can't help the thought of loosing you flickering inside his brain. "I don't know. You're THE Bruce Wayne. I don't see why any woman would leave you for some sweaty shit face that hit on them at the club. Bruce, you're so much better and surely you can see that too, because I'm sure all the girls and guys here would leave their partners for you. But I wouldn't let that happen, I'd go full dad protective mode. That's how amazing you are and how much you mean to me. Id be a really shitty wife if I let them say all that to me, wouldn't I?" you needed to reassure him and you think you succeeded.

"That was so sappy and cute, and I loved it. But I'm not jealous." he replies

"that's what a jealous person would say" you state back which earns a look from him before an idea pops into his head.

"wanna go home?"

honestly he couldn't have said anything better right at this moment. That's all you wanted to do right now, go home and get into bed with Bruce and That's what you were going to do.

"mmhhmm yes that sounds good" you reply. getting out of here and alerting your friends about your departure. The ride home was quieter than the drive here and the air was thick. You knew why and it was because Bruce was jealous wheather he would admit it or not. He was. It didn't take long to get home and to get ready for bed so the next thing you knew you and Bruce were wrapped up in eachother's embrace drifting to sleep.

"have you calmed down?" you inquire hoping that his sleepy state would make him more vulnerable to the truth.

"there's nothing to calm down from" be says sleepily

"there is. You were jealous and got all protective, it was cute."

"stop" he says whining with his eyes closed

"only if you admit it." you toy with the hair on the back of his head making it hard for him to resist.

"fine, I was jealous but with good reason. I didn't want the possibility of another man stealing you from me. Because you're my everything, sweetheart" his little speech makes you radiate joy and love for him. As he drifts to sleep you continue to stare at his perfect features and take it all in as if it was the last time you were going to see him. He was so pretty and handsome; why he thought you would leave him for some bozo you meet at the club was beyond you but it would never happen so he had nothing to worry about, you were here in his arms and that's all that mattered to him right now. that's all that mattered to him ever. you and just you.

-------------------------------------------------

keep the requests coming!

[youbloodymadgenius]

Ivarello (Modern!Ivar x reader) Chapter 1

Moodboard by @quantumlocked310

Ivarello’s masterpost here

A/N: This is my entry for @deans-ch-ch-cherrypie 500 Followers Fairy Tale Challenge. It's a retelling of Cinderella. Congrats again, darling 💖

A huge thank you to @mrsalwayswrite, who's a great beta reader and an even greater cheerleader 😂

A massive thank you to @quantumlocked310, @vikingstrash and @serasvictoria. Thank you for agreeing to collaborate and for sharing your talent with me. Your moodboards are beyond amazing 🤩

In this story, Sigurd is alive. Ragnar and Aslaug are dead, but Lagertha didn't kill her. I took a lot of liberties with the show, I hope you won't mind.

Unlike the tale, there will be no magic involved. Not everything will be realistic, however. It's a fayritale, after all!

Let me know if you want to be tagged 😊

Summary: Orphaned five years ago, Ivar and his brothers have been living with Lagertha ever since. Now 16 years old, he wants to attend Harald's traditional Midsummer party, but obstacles stand in his way.

Warnings: description of car crash; orphaned kids; Sigurd being Sigurd; OOC characters.

Words: 1806

Additional note: I'm afraid I'll disappoint some of you. No more newspapers... The articles defined the setting of the story. From now on, it'll be a regular fic.

Hope you enjoy it nevertheless 🙂

🛡⚔️🛡

June 2021

Ivar yawns, rubbing his eyes, when he suddenly hears the front door open. The next moment, Ubbe shouts, "Hey baby bro, we're home!"

Slightly confused, Ivar looks at the time on his computer. Stunned, he blinks repeatedly, shakes his head and checks the time again, now looking at his watch. "Guess I lost track of time," he mumbles as he realizes it's really 5:30 pm. He clears his throat. "I'm coming!"

Yawning once more, he wheels to the kitchen. Hvitserk waves at him with one hand as Ubbe greets him with a grin and Sigurd... Well, Sigurd ignores him, as usual.

"Hello boys!" Lagertha smiles as she also enters the kitchen. "Did you go to the beach this afternoon?" It's a rethorical question, since sand can be seen on the tanned skin of his brothers, shirtless and wearing only swimming shorts.

When she looks down at him, her smile becomes softer. "Ivar, you seem tired. Did you work all day long?"

He nods, glad that for once she called him by his first name and not by one of those stupid nicknames that she likes but that make his skin crawl.

"Yep," he shrugs without smiling back, "I made good progress. The new version of your website is almost done. It could probably be online by the end of the week."

His stepmom flashes him a beaming smile. "Great, thanks!"

The conversation then moves on to the subject that everyone in Kattegat has been talking about for the last few days: the midsummer party thrown by their neighbor Harald Hårfager. Every June, it is Kattegat's not-to-be-missed event, to which every resident hopes to be invited.

Lagertha is invited every year, yet rarely attends; his brothers wouldn't miss it, not in a million years; Ivar never went.

He listens with half an ear as his brothers prattle on about the upcoming party, while taking a seat at the large, wooden kitchen table on which Lagertha has just put cakes and drinks.

"What are you going to wear?"

"Do you think Marit will attend this year?"

"Hopefully the music will be better than last year."

"Can't be as bad! What was the name of that reggae band?"

For a fleeting moment, Ivar entertains the thought of attending as well. Not that he's dying to, but… Sometimes, he feels a little bit like Cinderella in this house.

Don't get him wrong, it's not that bad.

First, his stepmom is not–

Wait, wait, wait, is Lagertha technically his stepmom? He's not sure. After all, she wasn't when his parents were alive, she was just his father's first wife. Anyway, she may be his guardian now, but he sees her as his stepmom and he honestly doesn’t give a shit if it's a little weird.

Where was he? Oh yes, Cinderella.

So obviously, Lagertha is not a wicked, haughty and abusive stepmom like this Lady Tremaine of the fairytale.

Actually, even if it pisses him off to admit it, she's pretty nice, patient and composed. Does he love her? Let's not exaggerate – he doesn't. She may love him though, which is a little bit uncanny, if he's being honest. He was the favorite son of her nemesis. Shouldn't she hate him? He would, if the situation was reversed.

The truth is, when he was younger, he tried, he really tried to hate her, blaming her for everything and anything. When too much pain prevented him from sleeping, he let his imagination run wild. There, bound to his bed of suffering, he could see Lagertha cutting the brakes on his mother's car, causing her crash, causing her death.

Of course, even then, he knew deep down that Lagertha had not killed his mother; that the story he told himself was just the product of his endless nights of insomnia. But what can he say? He needed this. Because blaming Lagertha rather than admitting that his beloved mother was at fault – by being distracted, or by falling asleep, he'll never know – was easier for the heartbroken boy he was.

Anyway... So yes, Lagertha is definitely not an evil stepmother like Cinderella's.

Also, he doesn't sleep on a sorry garret, on a wretched straw bed either.

Actually, he has a very large room on the main floor, with a king-size memory foam bed, a walk-in – well, a wheel-in for his case – closet and his own, huge bathroom, fully equipped for his special needs.

Sure, the bathroom and the dressing room were already there when his parents were alive; however, the memory foam mattress had been Lagertha's idea.

Anyway... So yes, he can't exactly complain about his sleeping conditions, unlike Cinderella.

And obviously, he's not forced into servitude.

Actually, one might think so, but no, he's not. Sure, sometimes he works for his stepmom, like today. But so do his brothers. When she had taken them in, she was a powerful businesswoman, working twelve to fourteen hours a day. Once she had become their guardian, she had rearranged her working time and learned to delegate; but even so, she had often run out of time. Therefore, it had seemed normal to them – yes, even to him – to help her out, each of them according to their skills and abilities.

So, while Hvitserk almost always does the grocery shopping, while Sigurd vacuums and does the laundry, while Ubbe mows the lawn and trim the bushes, he, Ivar, runs her company's website and sometimes even does the accounting. And since he loves computers and numbers, it's not exactly a problem.

Anyway... So yes, he's not a slave in this house. Unlike Cinderella.

So, yes, to sum it up, he can't really complain and he's by far not Cinderella. And he knows it.

But... Yes, there's a but...

Sometimes, he feels trapped, as poor Cinderella must have felt.

Sometimes he feels like a spectator of a life he doesn't belong to.

Sure, he doesn't have to be homeschooled – but gods, he's glad he is. The reasons for him to be continuously bullied by classmates are endless. The simplest ones being: he is a cripple, an orphan, the son of a dead mob boss, the smartest one in the whole damn school, let alone his class. Take your pick. It's no fun, no fun at all. Being home alone is preferable to that alternative.

Therefore, barely leaving the house except for medical appointments, he has no friends. He doesn't do sports either – obviously – and yeah, he lives a lonely life, filled with video games and Netflix series. And he's okay with that. Well, most of the time.

Sure, his brothers, or at least Ubbe and Hvitserk, always try to include him as much as possible. But the truth is that because of his legs, there are many, many things he just can't do.

And the other truth, the less pleasant one, is that he partially did that to himself. He cut himself off from a world that hurt him, yet he still misses this world sometimes. At times, he blames himself. Because his life, honestly, is hardly what you would call a life, is it? Not when you're sixteen.

That's why sometimes, like now, he feels this longing, almost a need, to live. To really, truly, fully live. And that's why, for a brief moment, lulled by the light chitchat of his brothers, he considers attending Harald's midsummer party.

But he knows better. This life is not for him, never has been, never will be.

And so, shaking his head, he chases the thought away and, placing his hands on his push rims, he's about to leave the kitchen while the incessant babbling of his brothers goes on.

"I can't wait."

"Don't tell me! As every year, the most beautiful girls of Kattegat will be there."

"Remember that burger food truck? Best burgers ever!"

"I've heard Y/N would be attending this year."

"There'll be booze and girls! Sounds like Valh–"

Wait. His mind goes blank.

Fuck.

What? Did he hear right?

As he replays his brother's words in his head, it's like there's an earthquake happening inside of him.

Fuck.

He stops breathing. Blinks, then clamps his eyes shut.

Fuck.

When he finally manages to draw air into his lungs, he swallows loudly before asking in a weird, high-pitched voice, his heart pounding in his chest, "What– What did you say, brother?"

Hvitserk turns his head toward him and shrugs. "I just said there'll be boo–"

"No, not you!" Ivar snaps at his brother, pointing his pointer finger at Ubbe. "You, what did you fucking say?" Out of the corner of his eye, he can see Lagertha frowning – 'no curse words in this house, boys'– and even if he barely contains an eye roll, he still mouths a quick 'sorry' at her before rewording his question, impatience coursing through him. "What did you say, dear brother? Who did you say would attend?"

Stunned, Ubbe looks at him with wide eyes. "Y/N? I said Y/N would come. That's what I heard anyway. She's Harald's niece. She was here once, right? Remember her, baby bro, huh?"

But Ivar is no longer listening, the blood draining from his face. Y/N... Y/N... Fuck. Finally. Fucking finally. After so long... He may see you again. Wow.

I'll go! I'll fucking go!

He barely contains the words, suddenly acutely aware of the deafening silence in the room, his brothers shamelessly staring at him.

With her brows furrowed and her lips turned downward in a slight frown, Lagertha takes two steps forwards before crouching down in front of him. "Are you all right, sweetie? You're a little pale."

He barely hears when Sigurd giggles, "A little pale? He's greener than an alien!"

Lagertha shoots Sigurd a dirty look and then gently cups Ivar's cheek. "Do you know her, Ivar? Do you know Y/N?"

Overwhelmed, self-conscious, freaked out, caught off-guard, he doesn't know how to respond. Should he tell the truth? Should he lie? His brothers will mock him, for sure. What is the point of telling the truth? What good would it do? On the other hand, he could really use some advice. Yeah. Sure. Advice from Sigurd. Just the thought of it is enough to make him sick. Fuck, what is he going to do?

Rushed words are out of his mouth before he can even gather his thoughts. "No. No. I don't. I mean, yes, I think I do but–" He's being pathetic and he hates it. So after a sharp intake of breath, he shakes his head and eventually replies in a flat, calm voice, the white lie rolling off his tongue. "I know her, but I thought Ubbe was talking about someone else. Sorry."

With these words, he hastily leaves the room, his eyes riveted on his knees, his heart still drumming in his chest.

Y/N. Fuck.

🛡⚔️🛡

Ivar's taglist: @waiting4inspiration @honestsycrets @lisinfleur @saldelys @gearhead66 @inforapound @readsalot73 @milkkygirls @xbellaxcarolinax @shannygoatgruff @zuxiezendler @hecohansen31 @lonewolf471 @fuckindiva @tgrrose @didiintheblog @peachyboneless @pieces-by-me @funmadnessandbadassvikings @ethereallysimple @destynelseclipsa @cocovikings23 @xceafh @mrsalwayswrite @deans-ch-ch-cherrypie @pomegranates-and-blood @jadelynlace @grimeundglow @quantumlocked310 @alexhandersen-marcoilsoe-fandom

Ivarello's taglist: @not-another-viking-fanfic-blog @hashimily @prepare4trouble @supernaturalvikingwhore @funmadnessandbadassvikings

[darlington-v]

I know different interpretations of a work are generally enriching and cool... but c!dream villan interpretations is like how to tell me you only watch Tommy without saying you only watch tommy.... which would be fine but its not a great place to be making statements about the whole nature of the dsmp lol

Wild speculation, but sometimes I wonder if like, because the dsmp didn't really start as a narrative, and a lot of fans don't nessecarily enter it expecting a narrative, but then there is one and the fandom is really discourse heavy and everyone is sort of excpeted to have an opinion while maybe not expecting to form one from the begining or not having a ton of experience with narrative in a way that would "expect" them to have an opinion or not take things at face value??, I don't know if I explained that well at all... and I don't really even think thats right nessecarily... but like wow sometimes some of the takes about power and government and villany...

Honestly, it makes sense!!!

I think something interesting is like.... looking at how animatics have shaped the like tone and culture of the fandom essentially. Like, an interesting fact that I didn't really fully grasp until SUPER recently is like...

c!Wilbur out the gate admits he is manipulating c!Tommy. Like his first youtube video on the Dream SMP he admits his goal is to manipulate c!Tommy and people like c!Tommy into helping him achieve a potion ("drug") empire to monopolize on potions because there were a lot of people on the server who like to min-max, which is to put all of your effort into this one specific skill essentially. so like... i know minecraft doesnt have a skill tree but if it did, it would be putting all your points into that one specific branch of a skill tree. So he wanted to exploit the labor of all the TommyInnits to.... maintain a Potion Empire.

THIS IS A LONG POST BC I GOT CARRIED AWAY SO BUCKLE UP

And I don't think a lot of the fandom who joined later on knows this. I certainly didn't until like a week or so ago? Like... I knew c!Wilbur had been manipulative from the start because I'm a mod of (shameless self promo incoming) @dsmpanalysis and we have a lot of different POVs in that mod team and discord and we talk about it really frequently. I joined the fandom as someone who was really big on L'manburg ESPECIALLY crimeboys, and have turned into.... *gestures vaguely to my blog*

And ngl I owe a lot of it to @1-michibiki-1 in terms of c!Dream "Apologism" but all of the mods there have expanded my thoughts and views on the storylines of this narrative.

My application consisted of like largely essays about like... how I think Dream was the villain but he was meant to be the villain because you don't get any insight into his character WHICH.... IS A FAIR ASSUMPTION AT FIRST GLANCE. People are easily villainized when you cannot get a glimpse into their thought process. It's easy to dwindle someone down into this flat character and starting out I knew Dream didn't stream the SMP on purpose.

And I personally came to the conclusion of "Oh! So Dream is supposed to be the villain." However as the story continued and I learned more about what Dream went through I began to realize that... it's more than likely a form of a red herring. My opinions on this were immediately solidified when I watched Ranboo's 2 MIL stream because both Ranboo AND Dream agree on enjoying red herrings.

There have been MANY times were Dream has said that c!Dream is a complex character and he's not a wholly evil guy and there have been times where the narrative has honestly just proved that.

Anyways, what's important though was that... I learned most of this from other people who were more focused on c!Dream rather than myself. Eventually I shifted from c!Tommy to c!Ranboo and c!Techno after c!Tommy betrayed c!Techno and I began to realize.... everything I learned before hopping in wasn't exactly what it seemed.

Part of this is because I'm older, I heavily identify with c!Techno's sense of loyalty and philosophies on government, but I especially identify with the anguish c!Techno voiced in... a lot of lore but especially the lore around Doomsday.

I'm not 16 anymore. I don't always feel wronged by adults, or older people in my case, whenever they absolutely have done something wrong by me, but I do feel wronged by my close friends. I also felt like c!Tommy's sense of loyalty didn't line up with mine after what felt like him constantly flip-flopping and refusing to understand c!Techno's morals on government didn't line up with his.

In short, it was easier to identify with Tommy in these animatics versus in the actual stream content because c!Tommy is played by a 16 year old. I'm not a teenager and my line of thinking doesn't entirely line up with people that age anymore. It's harder to place myself in the same shoes of someone's OC who is played closer to their actual age, because I'm not that age.

Regardless, I was still on the c!Dream is a villain train. I wasn't ever like... c!Dream is repulsive I hate him, but I was like omg hot villain lad go brrr.

Even when the first like... mellohi, panic room, Ranboo lore stream popped up I thought "Oh! c!Ranboo corruption arc?"

And I was excited because I really wanted this shy, nervous character to turn into villain buddies with his good pal c!Dream. I'm a total sucker for villains and corruption arcs and all that good shit.

SO I STARTED GETTING REALLY INTERESTED IN ENDERSMILE. I'VE BEEN ON ENDERSMILE SQUAD OUT THE GATE. NOT THE SAME WAY I AM NOW, BUT I'VE ALWAYS WANTED THEM TO TEAM UP.

So... upon not really keeping up with c!Dream and being relatively??? indifferent? I don't think I started arguments on c!Dream back then, but I might have. But I remember like... starting to participate more whenever c!Dream came up and looking more into Dream's character BUT ESPECIALLY TALKING WITH OUR SERVER'S C!DREAM SPECIALIST MICHI ABOUT DREAM A LOT MORE.

And because Michi has been a watcher since day one and was a DTeam fan rather than a SBI fan, she was able to provide me with more information on how the server worked pre-Tommy but especially pre-Wilbur.

Now, you could definitely argue well Michi probably has clear bias but it made sense to me when I looked back on how the storyline had been constructed and was going along, and everyone in the server talks a lot about our own biases and how we want people to maybe not lean so hard on them. Michi would also provide like anecdotes on what had happened and I'm sure links were probably provided at one point but the point was I felt like Michi had no reason to lie or manipulate how the story was told and if she did, eventually someone would have pointed it out because... Group of like... right now it's around 20 or more analysts but I don't remember how many at the time there were. POINT BEING, WE'VE ALL GOT POINTS TO PROVE AND IN MY EXPERIENCE NOT MANY OF US HAVE BEEN SHY TO PROVE THEM.

So if anyone ever had any differing opinions they would be talked about and we literally had and still have discussions.

REGARDLESS.... I DIDN'T FACT CHECK IN DEPTH BECAUSE I THOUGHT PEER REVIEW WAS ENOUGH WHEN YOU HAVE LIKE HOURS UPON HOURS OF STREAMS TO WATCH.

Anyways. Eventually I started paying closer attention and looking more into c!Dream lore but only recently have I started to triple check before speaking about c!Wilbur lore because I know everyone has biases and while I did trust everyone's thoughts and analysis in the discord, whenever I make essays I typically like it to be largely air tight and if theres a mistake, I want it to be because I forgot not because I just trusted what was said. Plus, I wanted to get down to the specifics of how Wilbur had always started with manipulation on the mind.

SO I WATCHED HIS FIRST VIDEO ON THE DREAM SMP.

AND WHAT I WAS NOT BY ANY MEANS EXPECTING WAS WILBUR TO SAY WORD FOR WORD, VERBATIM,

"SO WHY DON'T I START AN INDUSTRY WHERE I USE THE TOMMYINNITS OF THE WORLD TO WORK FOR ME, TO CREATE THINGS THAT THE MIN-MAXERS OF THE WORLD WILL WANT."

Like... this is in no way an attempt to like hardcore villainize c!Wilbur like everyone does Dream, it's just more so to like REALLY outline how far off a lot of fandom interpretation of c!Wilbur is....

Because of SBI focused animatics.

Now, when I joined I watched A LOT of animatics that really highlighted like... Wilbur being this self-loathing JD-esque, "I destroyed it because I had to because the world was against me because no one loved us, Tommy" type of character. At least... that's what it came across as.

And it definitely highlighted the fact that Tommy was a victim, which he is. He is undoubtedly a victim and no not even any dream apologist can change my mind otherwise. Tommy, despite being an instigator sometimes, didn't deserve the abuse he received.

But these animatics never shown the fact that c!Wilbur started L'manburg as a shady ploy to exploit people like c!Tommy and vilify c!Dream so he could have power.

And that was easy because Dream and Tommy had wars before. They had spars and pranks and here's the plan to take back my disks and here's the plan to out smart the thieving little child etc etc.

And all of the animatics I watched never mentioned this. Neither did the recaps though. The recaps gave the events flat out, there didn't sound like there was bias, and honestly I don't really know if there was rather than like... a lack of nuance. And it's hard to provide a recap with that much nuance in a short period of time for a youtube video, to be perfectly fair.

However, this creates a perfect formula for entirely rewriting the history of a server. c!Wilbur quite literally fucking succeeded TO A META LEVEL. He slandered and ran smear campaigns against Dream and like he even does that with Sapnap in the beginning. But what's crazy is that it transferred over into the meta! Most of this fandom understands Wilbur as a victim of mental illness, and yeah maybe? He definitely wasn't mentally well by the end of pogtopia, but he never started out with honorable intentions. L'manburg was never a victim, only its citizens. The TommyInnits of the world.

I just think it's like... such an interesting case study. Because this is like... an opinion like shared by at least half of the fandom, but the vilifying of c!Dream is shared by MOST of the fandom I would argue. Which is like even more crazy for me because that was c!Wilbur's goal!!!

LIKE I GO INSANE WHEN I THINK OF THIS BECAUSE HIS REACH IS JUST TOO POWERFUL. HE'S NOT EVEN ENTIRELY REAL, JUST A MANIPULATIVE PERSONA OF SOME BRITISH GUY.

And I mean... maybe people who have watched Wilbur's video on the SMP still maintain this idea that Wilbur wasn't always the bad guy, but honestly... I wouldn't be surprised if their introduction was still an animatic. Like bias is hard to check and I'm not going to lie I could have sworn I watched both Wilbur's AND Tommy's video on the SMP in the beginning and yet I STILL was a ride or die for tragic yet on some level still honorable Wilbur and a resilient Tommy.

Like... upon watching Wilbur's first video... possibly again I was surprised because I thought I did watch it like right before I even started watching the streams and yet I was still so invested in c!Wilbur as this tortured anti-hero.

It took 6 months of... not being in an echo chamber, full of multiple different people of different ages, different stream POVS, and people who joined the fandom at different points in time.

IDK IF THIS WAS EVEN ENTIRELY RELEVANT IT JUST FELT TANGENTIALLY RELEVANT AND THIS WAS SOMETHING I'VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT FOR A HOT MINUTE AFTER LIKE WATCHING WILBUR'S FIRST VIDEO AGAIN.

TLDR;

SBI CENTRIC ANIMATICS HAD A LASTING AFFECT ON THIS FANDOM AS IT'S HARD TO GO BACK AND ACTUALLY CHECK THE NARRATIVE FOR SOLID FACTS FOR YOUR OWN INTERPRETATION BASED ON THE FACT THAT THIS NARRATIVE SPANS OVER HUNDREDS OF HOURS WORTH OF TWITCH STREAMS.

[lovingcorleone]

“The Deal That Never Happened” — Sonny Corleone x Reader x Tom Hagen

Summary: Tom and Sonny need Y/N's help to help them out.

Pairing: platonic!Sonny Corleone x Lawyer!Fem!Reader x ex!Tom Hagen

Author's note: (English is my second language.) ; First of all, I'm not a lawyer, I don't have any degree in area of law, I have no idea how these things work, but I had fun while writing it and doing some research! I don't know how did I come up with this plot ...but enjoy!

Author's note 2: Reader is Tom's ex girlfriend and events take place after Michael killed Sollozzo and McCluskey, but could not escape to Sicily. also, I was thinking about part. 2?

Warning: strong language, mentions of murder

THE DEAL THAT NEVER HAPPENED

The very original plan of the Corleone's revenge didn't turn out as one would expected. Michael Corleone did, in fact, kill both Sollozzo and McCluskey, but he was not able to catch a flight to Sicily. This was a key moment, which led to nothing but more trouble. While he was hiding, Tom and Sonny were thinking about the next step. The oldest Corleone boy wasn't entirely innocent either. Santino was guilty just as much as Michael, though he wasn't the one holding a gun. Michael, their brother was in grave danger, and that was the other reason they needed to react quickly. Violence was not an option anymore. The legal and diplomatical work of white-collared person was a necessity at that time. Luckily for them, Tom had this specific person in his mind. Y/N L/N. The greatest lawyer he ever met...and dated. When he told Sonny about his idea, he thought that Tom was joking, but eventually he changed his mind and was willing to ask her for help.

Y/N was always very busy, but never too busy to help her friend. Even though, she and Tom were not a couple anymore, she told him to always count on her when his world will fall apart. She was fully aware of an affair that recently happened with murdering Sollozzo and the police officer. She even knew that it had something to do with the Corleone family. In her field she was the best. That kind of person you really want to have on your side. Don Corleone himself once wanted to put her on his list of people he hoped that would help him one day. These people would get extra money and that was hell of a motivation. But Tom strongly disagreed with his adoptive father and said that he wanted Y/N keep far away from their family business. Don wasn't surprised by Tom's reaction, because he knew that Tom still cared about Y/N.

Their meeting held a place in their house, right in Don's office. When Y/N stepped out of a car, Sonny and Tom were already waiting for her. Tom was nervous as hell, but just like always he hid it quite nicely but not completely. Sonny smirked at Tom. „When was the last time you two saw each other?“ „Long time ago. Anyway. We're gonna talk business, so no unnecessary comments. Do you think you can do that, Sonny?“ Tom shot a glance to his brother and Sonny rolled eyes. „For a moment I thought I was hearing our father. I still don't like this idea, but it's the best thing we have now.“ When Tom saw Y/N coming to them, he immediately ran to welcome her. They politely shaked hands and Y/N gave him a faint smile. „Thank you for coming here so quickly. We- I appreciate it.“ Tom said a low voice and Y/N nodded. „Sure. No problem. I'm glad you called.“

Before falling in endless pit of awkwardness, Sonny jumped between them and welcomed her as well. „Let's go inside before this will get suspicious.“ he said with warm smile and all three disappeared behind the closed doors.

While Y/N was preparing her things, neither of Tom or Sonny dared to start a conversation. After 5 minutes, Y/N looked at Sonny, who suddenly started to feel not very cooperative. „Alright, Mr. Corleone. Take a chair and sit right in front of me. Don't ask, just do as I said. It will be more effective.“ Y/N stated as Sonny sat down with a grumpy look on his face. All of a sudden he felt less confident as usual. Their eyes met and both of them stared at each other more than it is appropriate. Y/N leaned back in big chair and put her hands on the desk in front of her. „If looks could kill.“ she smirked. Sonny frowned and Tom just quietly chuckled. „Let's take a look into your file, shall we?“ „Wait, I have a file? How's that possible?“ „Everyone who commited some kind of crime, has a file. But you have just one, because your father made sure that you have all your files destroyed. This one is considered as your first and only one, so let's act like it.“ Sonny's facial expression changed from being grumpy to being surprised to being a bit upset. He took out a cigarette from a little box and lit it. Y/N let out a sigh and opened the file. Then she looked at man in front of her with a sympathy, but it wasn't completely sincere. „You're upset, yeah, I get it. You are really someone– Don's first born.“ Sonny, well-known hothead, angrily pointed a finger at Y/N. „Watch your next words!“ „Sonny...“ Tom warned him.

After what happened to Don, Sonny was extra cautious what people were talking about his father. Y/N knew that Santino was kind of hard to work with, but she did not plan to give up on him. „Look, I'm just trying to do my job here.“ she smiled, „So..shall we get started?“ A smoke left Sonny's mouth as he nodded. Y/N started to pulling out bunch of papers from her bag and handed him a pen. „For the very start, please, uh, sign this...this..aaaand this.“ The oldest Don's son's jaw dropped a bit while looking at what he had to sign. He really thought that they are gonna just talk without doing the boring part. But still, without any more words, he signed everything. „Good, perfect! Such a nice handwriting you have.“ Y/N enthusiastically remarked while putting away signed papers. She could swear that Sonny's cheeks flushed with a pink color for a second. Tom watched them from his own desk in the office, and he felt so proud that Y/N agreed to take their case. Meanwhile, Sonny felt almost intimidated by her presence. „Ahh, sorry. I forgot about these papers...Here. I need another your signature. Just three more and we're done..for now.“ Sonny looked at Y/N like she was crazy, but signed it anyway. What else he could do. „You done? Perfect! You know, the bureaucrats...They always want their paperwork.“ Y/N giggled and shrugged her shoulders like it was normal thing. And for her it was. She loved doing her job, being a lawyer. Sonny finished his cigarette and after a few minutes of complete quietness, Y/N voice's echoed again. „Okay, listen. Let's get into your case..“ „Fucking finally.“ „Don't interupt me, Santino.“ „ ...Sorry.“ „I know what you are thinking. 'This is a mistake! I shouldn't be sitting here!' Well, they don't think that.“ she said that in high-pitched voice accompanied by wide smile on her face. Tom couldn't help but snorted and earned himself an annoyed look from Sonny, who certainly didn't find it amusing. „Thanks for the sympathy, but can we get into that case? We are kinda running out of time. I already signed those fucking papers, what more those dickheads want? I know this is a part of your job, I get it, but! Can we move on?“ the hothead miserably throwed hands into the air. Y/N eyes were fixed on him, not saying a word. She clicked her tongue and put her hands together. „Good. So you understand that I'm just doing my job here. The job you asked me to do.“ she whispered but her face was unreadable. „I was thinking. Your situation is pretty bad at the moment. But I think I have a solution of some kind. Listen, I'm here to strike a possible deal with you, but we will soon get to that part, okay?“ Sonny nodded and his eyes got a bit brighter when the part with a deal was mentioned. „Suddenly how excited you got. Wow.“ she chuckled for herself and shaked her head. „Uhm, so... How about take a look at your crime? You've been charged with Criminal Conspiracy with code 479. Okaaay. Let's see what it says here.. Yikes. Ordering and attempting a murder. But if I remember it correctly..You wanted to avenge your father, so you sent your brother, Michael Corleone, to kill Virgil Sollozzo and also police officer Mark McCluskey. Michael was supposed to make a deal. But that deal never happened. Are you following me?“ „ Yeah. I mean..all correct. So far. Continue.“ Y/N looked at Tom and he approvingly nodded. „You did what you did, and now we're having this conversation. But without Michael, because... we don't know his whereabouts. Too bad, because he was the one who killed them, not you. You only prepared it. Sounds like this is all your work. Oops.“ she raised her eyebrows, pulled her lips into a thin line and then let out a deep sigh. „Tom, are you familiar with criminal conspiracy, mostly when it comes to participation in it?“ she shot a quick glance at man sitting afar from them. He nodded. „In most states, those who have helped plan a crime but have not participated in the actual crime may be given the same sentence as the person who committed the crime himself.“ he responded and Y/N faintly smiled at his

correct answer. He did not forget these things and Y/N was genuinely happy about it. He may have been a consigliere at that time, but deep inside there was an amazing lawyer hidden in him. She stayed silent for a moment thinking about words what she was about to say and then quickly licked her lower lip. „I may or may have not a deal for you. It just depends on you. And on your cooperation.“ Sonny sat on the edge on his chair and looked into her eyes listening carefully. His anger disappeared. „Alright. What do I need to do then?“ A smug smile flashed on her lips and she shook her head. „This is not about you, Mr. Corleone.“

Silence. Sonny frowned at what she just said, but still confidently smiled like he understood. He was taken back. And Tom was too, but not as much as his brother. So far Sonny did not meet a woman that would have behavior like Y/N had. But in the end, it was her job. However, Sonny must have admitted that Y/N was super smart with lots of courage. Tom was right about her. However, Santino needed to think straight, he needed to focus. Y/N shrugged her shoulders. „Listen, if it was up to me, which is not up to me, it's up to the authorities above me, and they say that you are a criminal. But, if it was up to me...I would like your family to get out of this mess and continue living your lives.“

[qianoir]

IT3D 1 - Hua Mulan

𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: college students!WayV x Chinese fem!reader

𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: non-idol au, college au

𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 18+ (Do not interact if you are under 18)

𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: heavy cursing (censored), mentions of sex, nudity, love octogon, foreign humor, overbearing parents

♡ 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 1.3k

𝐓𝐚𝐠 𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐭: @eggbutnotyolk @d1nne @fanficbitchwhowriteskpop @staysstrays

Preview < 1 < 2 < 3

"I've only been in New York City for 15 hours, Xuejiao. And it's huge! I don't know these streets you're telling me!" You shout, ignoring the side-eyes from the passerby city slickers that give New York it’s bad stereotype.

"You're going down 96th Street right? I told you to keep going down. It's a long a.ss street. You'll find the campus eventually- look for the dome!"

The connection breaks as Xuejiao finishes the call, "I gotta go now, I’m trying to get in my astrology professor’s pants after class!" The line goes silent and you huff, opening up GPS to lead you down the forsaken 96th Street. Distracted with directions, some guy crashes into you with his bike.

"What the hell!? Watch where you're going!" You yell picking up your fallen bag- which scattered all of my weeaboo s.hit.

"Maybe if you didn't stand in the middle of the street, you wouldn't have wrecked my bike! You're lucky you didn't get killed by a real car!" You looked up at the ignorant voice and found a young, orange-haired Asian boy. Maybe Chinese, like me?

"I wrecked your bike!? You're really unbelievable.." You placed everything back into the bag and took out your wallet. "Look, I don't have time for this. I'm sorry for damaging your tricycle, or whatever- here." You threw a fully punched Xing Fu Tang loyalty card at the kid’s dumbfounded face and walked off.

It's 9:57 AM, your o-chem class starts at 10 and you still can't find the campus. Why did my parents even make me leave Hong Kong? Because of the government, the pollution? Both countries are f.ucked. I choke there and I choke here.

Finally, I'm here.

You ran to the STEM building and up the stairs to land in a spacious lab room. You hurried to an empty seat near the top row. 9:59 AM.. Thank goodness.

In the midst of the lesson, the door opened to reveal the same clumsy jerk you had encountered a few minutes ago. He rushed to an empty seat, you going unnoticed by him.

Your first 50 minutes of college went by pretty quick. Nothing more than a syllabus review and a small question/answer session.

"I know it is the first day, but you are all in big kid school now, so I am assigning a semester project you will work on for all of this first term with a partner." Each array of your peers groaned at this announcement.

"You will use your knowledge from high school chemistry or an equivalent to complete it." The professor continued, "I will choose your partners and you are both expected to be responsible with it all semester."

"Remember your partner's name so that when I'm done, you can come down to get each other's contact information."

"Man Wol and Ji An.. Ha Jin and Hae Soo.."

The professor continued to call out names as you were caught up in texting Xuejiao about the kid who crashed into you earlier this morning being in your class, only half listening until you heard your name being called.

“Y/N and Yangyang.." Did I miss a racist joke or something? What the hell is a Yang Yang?

You kept texting Xuejiao, deciding to deal with it after class.

"I know it's a lot to take in on the first day, but on the bright side, you don't have to do the project," Some idiots celebrated, "but know that I will judge you harshly on it and I will be teaching at an Ivy League while you get kicked out of an Ivy League, never achieving your dreams." He fakes a sad face and the same idiots fuss.

"Now come meet your partners and have a good rest of your first day!" Your first professor dismissed the first class.

You put your phone in your pocket and stumbled to the bottom of the classroom, calling out for "Yangyang," the name feeling awkward as it rolled off your tongue.

"That's me." You spun around and were met with the trike guy from earlier.

"IT'S YOU!" You exclaimed in unison with him, the space between you two silencing for a second, before you spoke again.

"Oh my God I can't believe I got such a d!ck as a partner." You rolled your eyes with crossed arms.

"Hey! It takes two to d!ck!" Yangyang argues back. You stared at the fellow Asian boy in disgust and dismay.

"What the f.uck!?"

Both of you suddenly broke down laughing, your huddled classmates peeking at you with judgemental stares.

Yangyang calmed down and talked more comfortably with you, "Thanks for the boba by the way. I drank it deliciously.. before I dropped it because I crashed again."

"That's what you get for being a pr!ck to me." You scoffed.

"Oh baby that wasn't being a pr!ck. That was simply getting you warmed up to want me." He tapped your chin to bop your head back while giving a creepy stare.

...

"You're a f.ucking crazy person."

"Like it or not, Mulan, you're stuck with me for an entire semester." He stuck his tongue out at you.

"Mulan?" You questioned.

"Yeah. You're a Chinese b!tch, right?" You glared at him, but had to nod ‘yes’ anyway.

"Cool. I'm Taiwanese.. I need to get to the other side of campus so give me your number so we can work out the details on the project. You wanna meet up at the library tonight?" You agreed and gave him your number.

"Great. See you tonight, Mulan." He winked and jumped out of the room.

Shaking your head at the ironic situation, you walked to the next class with a little over 10 minutes to spare, so you stopped for coffee at the Starbucks on campus.

The shop was pretty small and there weren't a lot of people inside. As you were about to enter, another Asian boy held the door open. "Thank you." You smiled, bowing your head in gratitude.

"Anything for a girl with such a charming smile. Can I buy you a coffee?" He asked.

"No, that's ok!" You replied, not wanting to inconvenience this guy- and besides, he might just be trying to get in my pants.

"Please I insist! Get anything you want!" You decided to take his offer because in the end, it’s free coffee. He was also pretty charming himself, and seemingly harmless.

"Could I get an iced Americano, please?" You ordered. "I'll have the same." The boy told the barista.

You both stood to the side of the bar, talking while the identical drinks were being made. "Thank you for paying, you really didn't have to." "No no it's really fine. I wanted to.. I'm Dejun Xiao by the way, I think I'm in your chemistry class. What's your name?"

"I'm Y/N." "Oh are you Chinese!?" You nodded. "I'm Chinese as well. Are you from China?" "I'm from Hong Kong." "That's so cool! I'm from Guangdong." "Oh nice, nice.." The drinks were handed to you and you walked out together, strolling into the center of the campus.

"What class do you have next?" Dejun asked, sipping at his coffee. You took out a crumpled paper to examine the schedule printed on it. "I have biochem next." "Oh we have the same class!" Dejun announced. "That's crazy! Are you premed?" You asked him. "No, I'm studying forensic science. I want to be a homicide detective.”

Wow this guy is impressive. "Wow, that's awesome.. I want to be a heart surgeon.”

“That’s so cool!” "Thank you." You laughed at his energy. The two of you walked in the direction of your next shared class, conversing and giggling with each other along the way.

You reached your next classroom and found empty seats next to one another. “You can call me Xiaojun, by the way. I think it’s cooler than Dejun.”

“If you have to say your name is cool, then it’s not cool.” Another Asian man walked up to your row.

"Hey man! You're in here, too?" Xiaojun asked. "Yeah! It was a lucky draw." Xiaojun then motioned over to you, "This is Y/N. She's my new.. friend?" He smiled at you, looking for confirmation. Returning his smile, "Yes I am. Nice to meet you." The other male shook your hand and introduced himself. "Nice to meet you, too. I'm Kun."

"She's from China, like us!" Kun was surprised. "Really? Why did you come to America?" "My parents made me." You shrugged. "Wow mine did, too." Kun chuckled and sat down in the row of you and Xiaojun.

I left China, but China came to me. Maybe this year is destined to be good..

To be continued…

𝘲𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘳

[guigz1-coldwar]

'Lines of our work' : New chapter for "Redemption in a Spirit in a Cold War" is out !

"Lines of our work"

"I'm just very happy to know how much my love is unbreakable with you, Park !"

Chapter Summary : As her days in Laos are finally done, Yirina and the others are flying to the city where Adler is in Stitch hands : Verdansk.....

To read it on AO3, click here !

Words : +3200

------------------------------------------------------------------

Our days in Laos was finally over, we were able to know where was Adler now and everyone didn't really lose time to prepare their bags as Hudson ordered. This place...it was like if I was living those fake memories for real but I hope I will not put my feets down on these jungles for an long time, it's bringing back bad thoughts after everything that happened in an few days in this country : we lost an friend, we were almost killed because of an trap made by Stitch and the Nova-6 threat was non-existant. We were almost out of options until Naga talked : Adler is in Verdansk, the capital of the Kastovian SSR...in the USSR.

After the briefing, everyone moved back to their former workplaces to prepare their bags as Hudson was making calls to the agents that was positioned in Verdansk to announce our arrival in Russia for the next day thanks to the flight we will have to do, surely arriving at the early morning of the 31th of May at the hideout we are going to use in an safe place located around the city because of Perseus high presence in it. We just all want to not be another trap from Stitch.

As the flight was going to take almost half of an day and that we took our plane at the beginning of the evening, an sleep was obliged for me & everyone as we know for sure that the moment we will put our feets on the Kastovian ground, we will have to be focused on our work, feeling obligated by Hudson. I tried to find anything that could make me relive an memory during my sleep but the plane engines and the noises of people sleeping around me wasn't really helping at all.

When I woke up, everyone were fully awake...except Woods for the moment : Sims & Wolf were chatting silently at their side as Hudson was standing up & watching everyone like an dad making sure that his kids doesn't fool around in the plane while the others were mostly in their thoughts. As I wasn't willing to open my mouth for the moment, I decided to write the last memories I did have for the past few days in my diary.

"Didn't know that you were an writer, Grigoriev." I heard Wolf's voice adressing to me while I was writing down the last memory I had with Freya.

"Uhm...yeah." I muttered, peaking my eyes for one seconds before looking back at what I was writing, not wanting to screw up.

"How long have you been writing ?" He demanded from me as I was just finished to write, causing me to close my book but keeping it in my hands.

"It's been 2 months now actually." I replied, looking at him fully, knowing that he wasn't going to stop his questions towards me.

"It is like an diary ?" Sims was instead the one to ask the question and I nodded to him.

"It help me to remember myself of what I did." I responded but it look like my words was meaning something else for Wolf.

"Wait, you're losing your memories ?" He questioned me.

"No." I breathed, before looking at Hudson, whose eys was on me. "I'm regaining them." I stated, giving him an serious look and he did look away in an kind of shame.

"It's hard to tell, Wolf." Sims expressed, knowing that this book was something for my memories like I told him days ago.

"And I'm sure that you don't want to know." I was surprised when I heard Woods talk next to me, awakening from his sleep.

"Why not ? It could be interesting !" Wolf protested, raising his shoulders to look at Woods. "Right ?" He added, turning to Sims.

"I don't know, I'm like following Woods in his statement." Sims told him, joining Woods as the two know about me but not Wolf. They should think that in this book, I'm talking about an lot of things including what happened to me.

"What do you think about it, Grigoriev ?" Wolf asked me.

"I'm like them, there's things that is troubling in it." I exclaimed, sure of my words.

"Nothing is troubling for us." Rivas claimed, stepping inside the conversation to talk to me directly, she was just sit next to Wolf. "Isn't it our line of work after all ?" She said rhetorically.

"Come on, show it." Wolf suggested as Sims rolled his eyes, understanding that his friend won't back down on me.

"Wolf..." I heard Woods muttering in an annoyed voice.

"Why are you so tempting to read her diary ?" Park broke out of her thoughts to defend me, sending an feeling of relief in me. "An diary is supposed to be personal, not to be shared." She continued, sounding very serious.

"Yeah but...I heard that you read it too." Wolf chuckled to her before slowly getting up from his seat to face me. "Please...as an friend." He handed his hands towards me, making some weird puppy eyes, he really want to read my personal diary and he will not be going away from me until I comply and took an deep breath.

"Fine...but at one condition." I resigned myself, slowly giving the book in his hands. It was that or he will stay in front of me forever. "You only read one page and you leave me alone for the rest of the flight." I proposed, still holding the book as he start to took it in his hands.

"Okay, I will." He whispered, having the book in his hands as everyone was curious to see what he was going to read, fear taking over me on which page he is going to fall, same for Park, Woods, Sims & Hudson, looking by their faces.

"Hope it's an good page." I thought to myself in an very low voice, even crossing my fingers to hope better.

"Well, that's...incredible !" He exclaimed as he looked at me...& Park, meaning that he has maybe fall on an page with her. "You two are an thing ?" He demanded, very surprised.

"Oh my god." I moaned, putting my head in my hands as I was blushing, he did say it loudly and everyone except those who already know were astonished. "Yes." I decided, like that, to answer his question and when I removed my hands from my face, eyes all around were going wide.

"Wow, that's an revelation." Rivas expressed, slowly nodding towards me & Park

"I'm surprised, it was under my very eyes during the beginning of when I meet you two." Wolf scoffed, sounding like he was the only one to know that.

"Wolf...you're not the only one to know." Woods put him down, with an little smile on his face.

"Oh." Wolf simply said before looking back at me. "Can I just read another one ?" He demanded but I shook my head.

"An deal is an deal, remember ?" I make him recall our little deal we did just moment earlier, going up from my seat to grab my book back in his hands. "Give me that." I added as I put my hands back on the book and took it away before going back to my seat.

"She's right, you said that you will only read one page." Park defended me, making me smile as she joined her right hand on my left one.

"You did say that !" Hudson spoke up, still at the same position from before and his eyes focused on Wolf. "Now, it's better that you go back to your seat and enjoy the free moment until we land in Verdansk." He ordered, causing Wolf to go back to his seat.

After that little embarrassing moment for me, hoping at every moment that he will not fall on an page where I'm writing about my brainwashing, no one else was bothering me about trying to peak their eyes to look at my book as I put it back well in my bag, deeply in it and the rest of the flight went well, still not opening my mouth to talk to the others as they were having their own discussions, Park was also in the same mood as me.

2 hours after that moment, we were finally landing at the supposed CIA clandestine runway in the region of Verdansk that was supposely located at 10 km from the city. When I stepped outside the plane, carrying my bag with me, I was wondering if I did actually came to this place before all of this because I never had any memory about that place and Verdansk wasn't something familiar to me, having heard the name only two days ago for the first time.

Our hideout was like I thought, an old warehouse like the one we used to live in Moscow...CIA safehouses are never going to change. By the look of it in the inside, the place was already setting up for us, an dashboard near the desk that Hudson was going to use and it was already filled of intels...all for us. Me & Park...we took the desks where the equipment about intercepting upcoming transmissions from Perseus was.

"So, this is the place we're going to be until we got Adler ?" Woods exclaimed after he checked out every part of the warehouse.

"If you're not happy, you sleep outside, Woods." Hudson replied, sounding an bit joking to him.

"At least, I will not be able to punch you in case." Woods retorted, this time, laughing as Hudson rolled his eyes behind his glasses, already looking annoyed to be here. "If you're not tempting me..." Woods added in an low voice, meaning it.

"Anyway."  Hudson spoke up to broke the laugh of Woods as I got near the dashboard with the others. "Here's the intels our agents prepared for us." He pointed at the dashboard, showing us the multiples things on it : maps, pictures, everything.

"They managed to find who was Knight ?" I demanded, making Hudson look at the file with 'Knight' written on it.

"Yes." He answered, taking the file in his hands to hand it to Park herself. "I suppose that you maybe know him." He suggested to her as Park was looking in the file with me next to it.

"Roman Gray ?" I whispered, my eyes focused on discovering who was 'Knight'.

"He was an ex-MI6 assassin that enlisted in 1965." Park replied, apparently knowing the man but her voice wasn't so deep unlike when she was talking about Stone. "He was dismissed by us in 1980 due to 'conduct unbecoming' in Afghanistan." She continued, giving us details about the man that wasn't in that file.

"It said that he joined Perseus because he was promised the chaos he like ?" I questioned, looking at the writings about him, an little troubled about that.

"Seems like an serious threat to say." Wolf expressed but he wasn't sure of the veracity of that statement about Knight by hearing his voice.

"And what this dashboard told us, he's been working with Wraith." Sims moved in front of me, his finger pointing to an picture where we could see Freya & Knight discussing, dressed in miltary outift. "We will have to watch out for the two." He added as in me, I couldn't know how to feel that Freya was in Verdansk too.

"For now, we have only that." Hudson told us, scratching the back of his head before looking around. "Get yourself to work, we need to find Adler very fast."

"Understood." We all said in unison, my voice more lower than the other before we split up.

Before actually getting myself to start working, I decided to take an big shower to destress myself and to also clean myself up after that long flight we did since we left Laos...shit, Freya is also in Verdansk, I will have to be ready at any occasions in case we see each other...Bell will have to step in each time to faint to not know her. It's been an week and some days that I didn't speak to her by phone and since I'm working to get Adler back, I couldn't take anymore risk to do that....

After taking that good shower and took something to eat as I didn't eat something since we left, I was finally ready to work and been the only cryptographer in the entire team, I was almost the only one that could bring in some news informations about Perseus moves in Verdansk. Hudson was also there to do that but it was mainly calls from the CIA agents in the city. Of course I wasn't alone thanks to me teaching Park how to decrypt like me.

I was an bit surprised when the first messages we were able to intercept with Park were using my own code, meaning that someone inside the Perseus Collective was either been teached my code thanks to Portnova or they were still using it despite learning that the creator of it was still alive. These messages were minor like things to keep an eye on only but enough to send people investigate with me & Park staying in here to continue decrypt all the transmissions all day.

"I hope this one is interesting." I muttered as I was almost at my fifteenth message decrypted in an day, the evening closing by as it was only me, Park, Woods & Hudson in the warehouse, the others having left to check up with the agents in town.

"It's been fifteenth time that you want an message to be interesting." Park scoffed silently to me, working on her own intercepted transmissions, making me laugh an little.

"It give me hope." I defended myself before she nudged me at my shoulder in an lovely way, knowing that it would destress me. "What about you ?" I demanded back to her.

"Nothing interesting at my side." She responded in an low voice with me looking at her paperworks, her messages weren't important and it was mostly talks between Perseus agents ordering to 'stay put' but nothing to track them down. "I think that they will soon stop their transmissions." She said.

"Maybe but...." I started to say before stopping myself, hearing an transmission coming by through my headset. "Wait, let me check that." I told her, listening to the message before writing down in an piece of paper while Park was looking at me. "Now to the decryption part." I whispered, putting myself ready to decrypt the things I just wrote down....it took me 5 minutes to do so.... "That's interesting !" I exclaimed, holding the paper in my hands.

"What do this say ?" Park asked me as I got up from my chair.

"Follow me, had to say it to Hudson like he ordered." I ordered to her, making her getting up from her seat to follow me to join Hudson at his desk. "Excuse me ?" I chuckled as Hudson was in an talk with Woods himself.

"Yes ?" Hudson breathed at my sight as Woods removed himself to look at me.

"You found something important ?" Woods demanded and I nodded.

"Yes, something useful...and it's about Wraith & Knight." I answered, pointing my hand towards the picture of the two on the dashboard. "Apparently, they're planning an move in the following days."

"Where ?" Hudson asked, curious.

"As I have decrypted, it's at the Mount Yamantau in an hidden soviet base." I replied and when the two heard me saying that place, their eyes went wide.

"Wait, did you said 'Yamantau' ?" Woods moved to grab the paper in my hands to look at it. "I thought it was done with this place." He added before showing the paper to Hudson himself.

"Wraith & Knight...In road to Mount Yamantau...collect the necessary data...hidden soviet base....Stitch." Hudson repeated the message he was holding in his hands. "Like you said, I thought this place was brought to the ground years ago."

"Wasn't the place you & Mason did go 3 years ago ?" I said, remembering that mission that they did at that time.

"Yeah but Hudson did also get in that place too." Woods told us, looking back at Hudson.

"It was in 1968, we needed to find intels about the Nova-6 program leaded by Dragovich, the base was destroyed in an avalanche in the mission." Hudson expressed, looking at me & Park. "Woods & Mason did go back to get the super computer of the base but that base was abandoned for good after that mission."

"Meaning that they're talking about another hidden base in here, right ?" Park suggested and he nodded to her.

"If it's hidden, that means what the soviets got inside is interesting Perseus by an lot." Woods spoke up, thinking about it in my head. "Do you have an idea of what this 'necessary data' could be ?" He demanded to Hudson.

"No, it could anything that could help them." He sniffed, looking at the dashboard.

"Maybe but if we send an team at that place to see what Perseus and maybe if we can steal that data for us to check it, it could help us insteand." Woods proposed but Hudson wasn't so okay with that idea.

"I don't know, we need everyone in here to get Adler." Hudson told him before he looked back at Woods. "In fact, you are maybe right, Woods." Then, back at me & Park. "I think that you two will be going to Yamantau." He suggested.

"Wait, what ?" I proclaimed, sounding shocked to hear that.

"Only the two of us ?" Park stepped in, also offusqued by him.

"Yes, only the two of you." Hudson affirmed in an clear voice.

"Hudson, they're going to need help, let me go with them." Woods protested, even sounding ready to take our places instead and going alone.

"I can't, Woods." Hudson countered him harshly. "Grigoriev & Park are going to the Yamantau while you are leading the others to save Adler." He continued, sounding very sure of his words as I was frozed in place. "Even with all the words in the world, I'm not changing my mind, these two are going." He reaffirmed.

"Just...the two of us ?" Park pointed at me & herself and Hudson nodded in approval.

"It's better that we don't send too many persons in that place." He breathed before looking away from us. "You will be leaving tomorrow, I'll make some calls to arrange your travel to the Yamantau." He added before he got up from his chair, grabbing an cigarette before going outside, leaving us alone in front of his desk.

"Is he serious ?" I demanded to Woods.

"Hudson been Hudson, Yirina." He scoffed, removing himself from leaning on Hudson's desk. "I can't counter him right now, I'm sorry." He admitted, sounding defeated before he left too, going instead into the dorm of the safehouse.

"So, it's all going to be the two of us." Park whispered, leaning herself on Hudson's desk. "I don't know what's on Hudson's mind but I don't like it." She confessed and I nodded.

"Guess we can't do nothing about it and like Woods said, Hudson is always weird." I joked at the end, thinking about Woods's words on Hudson...I wonder if he actually punched him after when I was the one to call him at the beginning of the month. I then refocused myself on the situation, getting next to Park, thinking about what we will have to do next day....

"Seems that we're going to hike in the Yamantau."

[omgsomeonesomewhereonearth]

Okay, so a while ago I saw a (very true) post about how Deceit absolutely deserves to be carried princess style and then I spent two hours on pinterest looking at lolita style dresses that reminded me of him and as usual I am very obsessed with moceit and I may have accidentally fallen in love with the idea of prince Deceit and commoner Patton.

Deceit is a prince who is known throughout several lands for being very beautiful and has no shortage of suitors seeking his hand.

But he also has a reputation for being super harsh with said suitors and many a reknowned knight has been crushed by his harsh commentary

So it's sort of a thing, across the kingdom that he's incredibly gorgeous and highly desired, but no one seems to stand a chance because he's rejected everyone who's ever tried.

Enter Patton

We all love Patton as a baker. I also tend to like him as gardener, and he's seeking a job at the palace

So he's the new garden hand, he tends to the palace gardens, he's incredibly good with the plants, often to the point of irritating the people who work along side him

(His special trick is that he talks to the plants. They appreciate his jokes and regard him as a friend)

And maybe Deceit is taking a stroll in the palace gardens, he's admiring the lovely flowers and he hears Patton chattering away, joking around with the plants as he's watering them, as one does.

The jokes are ridiculous, ofcourse. As is the the fact that the man is talking to plants.

But also...kind of funny?

And then he turns a corner and actually catches sight of Patton, and...well.

He's not incredibly handsome.

He definitely isn't staring

He wouldn't even think to notice that his shirt sleeves have been rolled up

Or that his ands and forearms look incredibly strong, presumably from hours working in the garden (he wouldn't know; he's a prince, his keeps his hands nice and soft and covered in gloves in all times if he can help it, thank you)

The way Patton's hair is falling in eyes a little bit and the fact that he has a bit of dirt in his nose is kind of endearing was exactly the kind of thing he might have sent a desperate suitor packing for

(Look, it's nothing personal, he just doesn't particularly want to get married and no one ever gave him the option to just...not have suitors. So instead he has to find other excuses to be rid of them)

Anyway, so here's Deceit, not staring at the garden hand busy at work, and trying to come up with a suitably clever remark to make the boy look up from his work

Why is that something he wants, you ask? How dare you question the prince.

Anyway, so as Deceit is standing here trying to think of something cool to say and wondering why it's so hard all of a sudden

Patton makes a funny joke, and Deceit laughs

Which is frankly, mortifying, but it does get Patton's notice

It's a very cute laugh. And it's definitely not a laugh that Patton has heard before

Seriously, about three people working at the palace laugh at his jokes and he knows what they sound like

So he turns around, and he's face to face with the prince and...wow

Patton has heard the rumors, he knows, as a fact, that the prince is handsome

And he's seen Deceit from what's considered a respectable distance, considering the disparity in their social status

But this is his first time really seeing him, and the rumours do not do Deceit justice.

He's the prettiest man Patton has ever laid eyes upon

He's quite a bit taller than Patton, but he looks so...sweet, and delicate, with his fine clothes, and the way his face has gone all pink from being caught watching the gardener

Patton knows, he's fully aware that if a member of the royal family comes across him while he's working, he's supposed to bow respectfully, and greet them by their title, and not say anything else until they ask him a question

Instead, he decides to risk his job and his head by outright grinning at the one of the most feared nobles in the land, and ask him what he thinks of the the flowers that he's been hard at work planting

Look, he couldn't help it okay!

It's not his fault, you try looking into those eyes and still being able to remember protocol!

Deceit is taken aback, obviously

Not only is his behaviour wildly inappropriate, no one's ever talked to him in such a casual manner before!

...No one has ever talked to him like this before

He might actually kind of like it

Patton's accent is not what he's used to hearing, and he knows he's meant to scoff at the frank manner of speech, and all the slang that he doesn't understand

But he doesn't want to

It's kind of cute, he decides, and it's doing things to his insides that he wasn't aware was possible

And even if Patton's voice is a little rough around the edges, the way he's gazing at the young prince is anything but

And even when he decides to be cheeky and overstep his bounds even further by suggesting that prettiest flower in the garden certainly hadn't been planted by him, or anyone else for that matter-

Well.

It's certainly not the first time Deceit's received a compliment like that, but the way Patton says it, while biting back a grin, as if he knows he shouldn't but he couldn't help himself anyways-

It's different, it's so very different to every other time he's heard it

And as for Pattton, if he thought Deceit's laugh was cute, he's far gone by the time the prince opens his mouth

His voice is just so lovely and smooth, and gosh, he just sounds like royalty, Patton is convinced that he'd do anything Deceit asked of him in a heartbeat, and it's not just because he literally works for the royal family

They end up talking for far too long, about the garden, about the weather, and how the weather is affecting the garden, until someone calls for Patton and he's forced to scurry away, and Deceit looks at his watch and realises that he's incredibly late for a meeting with another tiresome noble come to win him over (things do not go well for that guy)

When Patton is asked about why he took so long on one area of the garden, he tries to come up with a convincing excuse

Ultimately, it doesn't really matter how convincing his excuse is, because it doesn't change the fact that he is bringht pink and keeps quietly giggling to himself throughout the course of the evening

Eventually, a few of his friends manage to coax the truth out of his

They are (not unfairly) terrified when Patton shyly admits that he's been spending talking to the prince

They're even more horrified when Patton tells them he flirted with the guy

"I couldn't help it! He was just so cute, I spoke without thinking!"

"This isn't funny, Pat, you know it'll only end badly"

Patton does know, very well.

It doesn't change the fact that he goes to bed thinking about the prince all day.

(And possibly all night)

(At this point he doesn't knownif he can ever stop thinking about the prince)

Meanwhile, if Deceit thought his noble suitors were irritating before, now that he's talked to Patton, they've become downright unbearable

He can't stop replaying the casual way that Patton greeted him, as if he either didn't know or really, really, didn't care that society considered him to be far lower than the noble

It was kind of hot

It was incredibly hot

The lord currently attempting to sweet talk him is dismissed in record time and Deceit resolves to start going walking more frequently

Okay, wow, that ended up way longer than I thought it might, and I somehow still have more ideas. Should I continue this?