#but the story didn't moved a full year jet

[occudo]

Would anyone like to send me suggestions on what the Archive Assistants should wear this Halloween? Last year they looked like this:

Jon and Gerry are also needs costumes 👁👁

[anniebeemine]

laid- s.r. x fem!reader

this bed is on fire with passionate love/the neighbors complain about the noises above

warnings: minors dni, unprotected sex, slight voyeurism, Spencer being a bad neighbor

Based on Laid by James (I'm currently working on the eyeliner part)

Spencer's apartment is usually quiet. He's been an exemplary neighbor for the most part. But tonight, it was anything but.

The bed in his bedroom creaked rhythmically, the sounds of passionate love echoing through the thin walls. Spencer was lost in the moment, his usually methodical mind overtaken by the sheer intensity of his emotions. You can feel his fingers digging into your hips, pulling you back down onto him with such force that you can feel him hitting every part of you.

"Spence," you pant, forearms crossed over your head as you bounce on him.

He moans your name back. "Stop talking."

You laugh. "Okay."

Your relationship with Spencer was never what anyone would call ordinary. From the outside, you were both composed, thoughtful, and serious about your work. You lived and breathed the intricacies of your cases, and to most of the world, that’s all they ever saw. But behind closed doors, it was a different story altogether. The nights you spent together were like a whirlwind, unpredictable and consuming. The first time it happened, it was completely unexpected, a moment of raw emotion and undeniable chemistry that neither of you could resist. One second you were discussing a case, the next you were tearing each other’s clothes off, lost in the heat of the moment.

It was chaotic, intense, and completely exhilarating. Just like tonight.

You had both flown back on the jet, sitting on opposite ends as to not raise suspicion. What the rest of the team didn't know, was that neither of you were really trying to get ahead on paperwork, but you were both waiting until they left so they wouldn't see you two leave together.

Spencer had always seemed so controlled, so measured in everything he did. But when you were together like this, it was like something inside him snapped, and all that control went out the window. He was passionate, wild, and unafraid to take what he wanted. And you? You were right there with him, matching his intensity, letting yourself get swept away by the storm that was Spencer Reid.

He hadn’t planned for this, hadn’t anticipated that this night would turn into something so fervent, so utterly consuming. But here he was, tangled in the sheets with you, his body pressed against yours, moving together in a dance that neither of you wanted to end. The intensity between you was undeniable, a chemistry that had been building for months, perhaps even years. Sometimes he would apologize for the soaked sheets and sore muscles, his voice breathless and a bit sheepish as he surveyed the wreckage of your clothes strewn across the room, the sheets tangled and twisted around you both. You’d laugh, a sound full of satisfaction and lingering desire, and pull him back down to you.

The mess didn’t matter, not when the moments leading up to it were so electric. Tonight's mess is similar to those nights. Your shoes are left at the door, jacket on the floor. You can see your underwear hung on the door handle. You can feel the slick mess between your bodies, aiding your movements. You let your hands fall, holding your chest as you slow down. He lets out a whimper, stopping himself from bucking into you.

"Need a break?" He teased.

You nodded, reaching for the water bottle you left a few days ago. You let your body fall over his, taking in his scent as your sweat-slick bodies came to a halt. You take a long drink from the bottle. Spencer hummed, opening his mouth. You poured some, watching him swallow it down. You pressed a kiss to his lips, tossing the now empty bottle onto the floor.

It wasn’t just the physical connection, though that was certainly a huge part of it. It was the way you two connected on a deeper level, understanding each other in ways no one else did. Spencer had always been the kind of man who paid attention to details, who noticed the little things. And in bed, that attention to detail took on a whole new meaning. He knew exactly what to do to drive you wild, the precise way to touch you, the perfect words to whisper in your ear to push you over the edge. It was like he had studied you, memorized every reaction, and used that knowledge to make you come undone in the best possible way.

You begin to smile against his chest, rolling your hips gently. He hissed at the movement, his eyes rolling back in his head.

But it wasn’t just about the passion and the heat, though there was plenty of that. It was also about the laughter, the way you’d collapse into each other afterward, breathless and giddy, high on the adrenaline and the sheer joy of being with someone who got you in every way. The nights were wild, sure, but they were also filled with so much fun, so much genuine enjoyment of each other.

“Don’t think I’ve ever laughed this much in bed,” you’d tease him, your words punctuated by giggles as you sprawled out next to him, limbs tangled together.

“Glad I can be of service,” he’d reply, a smirk tugging at his lips, his fingers lazily tracing patterns on your skin.

The unpredictability of your relationship was what made it so exciting. You never knew where things were going to go, how one innocent touch or look could escalate into something much more. It was thrilling, addicting even, and you couldn’t get enough of it. Some nights, it was slow and tender, a gentle exploration of each other’s bodies that left you both breathless in a different way. Other nights, it was frantic, desperate, as if you couldn’t get close enough fast enough. And every time, no matter how it started or how it ended, it left you both completely and utterly satisfied. But it wasn’t just about the sex, wild as it was.

The world outside might see you and Spencer as serious, composed individuals, but behind closed doors, you were anything but. And that was just the way you liked it. Because in those moments, when it was just the two of you, nothing else mattered. Not the cases, not the stress, not the outside world. It was just you and Spencer, lost in each other, living for the thrill of the moment, and loving every second of it.

Spencer helps you lean up. Your arms are shaky on either side of his head as you smile, pressing a kiss to his nose. You roll your hips again, the tip of his cock catching your most sensitive part in a way that makes you yelp. You pick up pace, aided by Spencer's strong hands on your ass, guiding you in little circles.

Spencer’s lips found yours in a heated kiss, his thoughts scattered, reduced to nothing more than a primal need to be closer to you, to keep this moment alive for as long as possible. The usual worries that plagued his mind were gone, replaced by a singular focus on you, on this connection that felt like it could consume him whole.

The bed groaned under the weight of your combined movements, the headboard thudding rhythmically against the wall. The sounds grew louder, more urgent, but the noise wasn’t just coming from you. The passion was almost palpable, as if the very room had come alive with the energy you were generating.

The neighbors in the apartment next door had started complaining, their irritated voices barely audible over the sounds coming from Spencer’s room. But he couldn’t bring himself to care. He was too far gone, too wrapped up in the feel of your skin against his, the way your fingers dug into his back as you pulled him closer, urging him on.

He held you down to his chest, arms wrapping around your waist as he took control. You were screaming into his ear. You turned, reaching for a pillow before he loosed his grip.

"I want them to know how much I love you," he breathed.

His words sent you over the edge, vocal cords burning as you cried your way through your orgasm. He stilled, groaning loudly into your ear as he finished, filling you to the brim. The bed, once a symphony of creaks and groans, fell silent as you both lay there, spent and breathless. The fire that had consumed you slowly ebbed, leaving behind a warmth that settled deep in your bones. Spencer held you close, his breathing finally starting to steady as the reality of the night began to sink in. He pressed a gentle kiss to your forehead, his mind still reeling from the experience

Spencer laughed, letting his fingernails lightly drag over the skin on your back. "I don't think they like us."

You didn't move, only running a hand through his hair idly as you came down. "When do you think you'll get an official noise complaint?"

They didn’t know what went on in your apartment, but they had seen (and heard) enough to know that they didn’t want to get involved. And you and Spencer, wrapped up in your own little world, didn’t mind one bit.

Because for all the stares, all the whispered rumors, all the avoidance, there was something exhilarating about knowing that what you had was yours and yours alone. It was intense, it was wild, and it was real in a way that few people could understand. And as you glanced at Spencer, you knew that you wouldn’t trade it for anything. Because in this world, in this life, he was yours, and you were his, and that was all that mattered.

[deadhands69]

Something More [than each other]

Katsuki Bakugo x gn reader

MDNI

Setting: fuckboy!Bakugo, mid-time skip, Senior Year of College. Reader did not attend UA high, just joined for university. Enemies to lovers (with a lot in between.)

Warnings, etc: smut, angst!!!, light violence/injuries, drinking/intoxication, vomiting, swearing.

[sorry, you’re a mess in this one - i'll make it up in the next one, i promise!]

part 1  -  part 2  -  part 3  -  part 4 -  part 5  -  part 6  -  this is part 7 - part 8

“[y/n]”

“[y/n]”

“[y/n]”

Your name in his voice haunted your dreams and followed you through the day well after you’d woken-up. Such a small thing to mean so much. Maybe you’re overthinking it, you have to be. People say things they don't mean to during sex all the time. Especially when they've had a bit to drink.

It's not like that though, this is different.

Katsuki Bakugo had never used your real name before, opting to call you ‘Backfire’ based on your quirk or some other rude nickname he came up with on the spot. If he hadn't added it to the top of a project the two of you submitted together, you could have assumed he didn't even know your full name. Even after sleeping with him for a month you still weren’t on a first name basis.

That is, until last night.

The memory is etched into your mind. Living rent free, playing on repeat.

“[y/n],” he moaned in your ear moments before whimpering into your neck as he finished. His face lingered on your shoulder, soft lips grazing your skin while he panted to catch his breath. Typically, he moved quickly. One of you being out the door of the other's room within five minutes. Last night he took his time, arms wrapped around you even after you'd both recovered. Eventually, he kissed the back of your neck, cleaned himself up a bit, and left - forgetting his hoodie on your bed.

(Like someone who is normal and totally not obsessed,) you've picked apart every detail of the night for signs of meaning. It all comes back to your name. Over and over and over again.

Nothing else exists. 

Of course, you want to ask someone for advice but you haven't told anyone yet. When you tried to, it felt too personal. Also, with your friends reminiscing about their cute dates it felt weird asking them to decipher the significance of your friend with benefit’s moans. A friend they'd known since high school. Too awkward. 

You couldn't even talk to Bakugo for a reaction, because he left this morning. His part time side-kick job requires him to travel sometimes. He'll be in another country the whole week and you don't think he even has cell service. It's just you now. You, here alone in your room with his voice stuck in your head. 

You want to text him every time you're thinking of him, but don't want him to be overwhelmed when his flight lands and the messages come flooding in. 

This is a totally normal way to feel about a friend you tell yourself while laying face down, clutching his sweatshirt in the bed he fucked you in last night. 

A week later, and you still can't get him out of your head. Your closest friends have been keeping an eye on you more than usual, although they don't know the whole story. Being the only people (as far as you know) who know about your "situation" with him, they both assume you're distant this week because of his absence.

If only they knew.

In any case, Jiro and Mina are heading to a party tonight and you decide to tag along. It'll be good to get out for a bit. Quickly throwing on something cute, you don't make too much of an effort because Bakugo only just returned so he's likely jet lagged and going to bed early. You saw him out your window a bit earlier, looking tired and pretty roughed up. Tomorrow you'll reach out. For now, let him rest for the night. He needs it.

In the lobby, you meet up with your friends before leaving. Kiri texted Mina that Bakugo would be there as well. Your heart jumps more than you'd like to admit at that. The three of you almost wait for them but Kaminari wants to make a beer stop on the way so you agree you'll see them all there shortly. Everyone seems to be preparing to go harder than most nights.

There will be no crazy partying for you though.

Professor Aizawa was nice enough to offer to train with you in the morning, making space in his busy schedule. You’ve been struggling with expanding the reach of your quirk and mentioned it to him in passing. Much to your surprise, he’d offered to help. In spite of what Katsuki Bakugo believes, you absolutely do not have a crush on your teacher but he’s been your favorite hero since you were a little kid and you can’t pass the opportunity.

Speaking of Bakugo, you see Sero and Kaminari. Where is he?

This house is massive. You begin wandering around the party in search of a tall blonde, he should stand out. The living room is dimly lit but you finally spot his messy hair. And he's-

Suddenly, you wish you hadn't seen him. In a dark corner, he's letting himself be pressed into the wall by a random girl you'd never seen before. His hand on her shoulder, staring down into her eyes making that awful lovesick face.

Fuck.  

Being stabbed in the heart might have felt better. You stumble out the door of the house, the contents of your stomach begging to escape. A quick visit to the bushes gains the attention of a very worried Jiro, but you're determined to get out of there. You can explain it to her later (considering how hesitant she still is of your situation, she'll completely understand.)

Carelessly, you slam straight into Shinso. His purple gaze looking you over to make sure you’re okay. There’s some unspoken communication between him and your friend before he decides to get you home safely. You know you’re completely sober but by the way you’re behaving, eyes glazed over and stumbling, no one else does. Nor would they believe it if you pressed the issue. You don’t fuss about it, simply following him on autopilot.

You’re not here though, your brain is a million miles away being forcefully wrenched from some universe where you and Bakugo had any chance together.

He’s not yours, you know that.

He’s not anyone’s. He doesn’t do that sort of thing.

You know it was just physical. Just for fun.

You know it shouldn’t be a big deal.

You know. 

You know. 

You know.

Then why does this hurt so bad?

Shinso grabs your wrist, helping you narrowly avoid tripping over a curb. Still, you can’t be bothered to pay attention to your surroundings.

Your heart hurts. You just want to be home in bed, but even that doesn't sound comfortable. Nothing and nowhere will make you feel better. And what's worse, you let this happen. You shouldn't have spent the last week daydreaming about someone you should have known doesn't care about you like that.

You told him you wanted more fun in your life and, feeling guilty, he gave you that. What was it he said at the beginning of the term, that you needed to get laid but no one pitied you enough to? Then he had reason to feel bad and proceeded to sleep with you. Maybe you should have listened to him when he told you who he was. Let's face it: you chose the wrong person to care for.

The boy with his hand around your arm is so fucking nice, why can’t you just like him?

Or anyone else? Or better yet, no one?

Before you know it, you’re sobbing. Concern creeps over the violet haired boy’s face, having been prepared to keep you safe physically, not knowing to expect this. He brings his face level with yours and asks if you’re okay. You don’t respond.

Because you’re not okay. 

You want your life to go back to when you were happy just being alone. Before you knew what it was like to be close to Katsuki Bakugo. Before you let him get too close.

[sorry this one is so short! it made the most sense to end this part here. i won't leave you hanging too long though - part 8 will be up very soon. it's the final part, switching between Bakugo’s perspective and yours]

part 8 m.list

Taglist: @anonymity-222 @k1tk4tkatsuki @arsonfrogger @dragonscribble @kalulakunundrum

@screaming-dough @rikislove @gold24fish @ita606 @arc6021

@pikachuzhc @jeanbabygirl @nemisimp

[darkstarofchaos]

Well. I said I didn't want to watch TF One, but I did. Spoiler-free thoughts: I actually enjoyed the first half, but after a certain point, it collapsed under the weight of the status quo. Much better than the trailers suggested, though, I'll give it that. Whoever made the marketing decisions needed to be fired.

Spoilery thoughts from here on out.

I guess I'll start with the little technical things and work up to the characters. So:

Music was great. Animation was pretty good. Was very much not a fan of the few shots where their faces move in really exaggerated ways after being hit or subjected to high velocity, with the flappy lips and stuff. But I also don't like shots like those when the characters are human and not made of metal, so that's a personal thing, really.

Voice acting could have been better. The main cast was fine (yes, even Elita. I loved her line delivery, actually), but you could tell me the background characters shared one actor and I'd believe it. Except Darkwing, Shockwave, and Soundwave are considerably deeper, so maybe two actors doing all the background characters.

Getting into the worldbuilding, I want to know what the mechanism is for those self-producing roads and train tracks. Like, how do they work. Why does this world have magic. I don't necessarily object, but how and why, and why do they use it specifically for roads? It's a delightfully mundane use of magic, but where did it come from. What happens to the roads after the vehicle is gone. I need answers.

Also, why do only some sections of the planet move independently like that? It can't be the entire planet or things like vegetation wouldn't be able to grow anywhere, so is it like areas of elevated seismic activity? Are these Cybertronian fault lines? I am less in need of answers than I was with the roads, but still want to know more. Also want to see more fauna, because I was hoping for more than just the ungulates (unguloids? Deer bots).

Getting into some of the worldbuilding that irked me a bit, um... Why are all of the miners and civilians Autobots and the Decepticons are all part of the High Guard? Why do we already have the factions segregated from each other? Why is Megatron the only exception? Okay, that last one isn't a mystery, I know why he's an exception. But in universe, why is Iacon full of jets and cars, and Megatron is just a random tank hanging around? I'll talk more about it when I get to him, but why?

For that matter, if the High Guard had been working against Sentinel and knew he betrayed the Primes, why did none of them go back to the other Cybertronians and tell them the truth of things? Even in the present day, why do they just assume strangers in their midst are working with Sentinel and not that he's been lying to them for years to keep his crimes hidden? Did any of them ever think, "you know what, Sentinel was a traitor to our kind, I bet the rest of our species would turn on him if they knew"? It seems like Sentinel had been hunting them - probably *because* he knew they knew the truth - so why did they never reveal it? If they tried and failed, why not say as much?

Characters and story are kinda wrapped up in each other, so I'll start with the characters who had less impact on the story and go from there.

Bee: he was actually not that annoying, and not as much of a comedy relief character as the trailers made him look. He is still there mainly as comedy relief - he has like, one scene where he's of any relevance to the plot - but his behavior is a lot less annoying in context. And, not gonna lie, I love how he got knife hands and immediately went murder-hobo. He's just so happy and excited to cut things (and people). Only thing that kinda bothered me was him hitting on Elita, but I'm honestly not sure if he was supposed to be hitting on her or if his "I have been alone for so long, please talk to me" thing just hit differently with her than with Orion and D-16 because she's a she.

Elita: She was okay. She plays a key role, but there's nothing special about her that makes her qualified for that role. She could have been replaced by any other character who went from disliking Orion to believing in him, and we'd have gotten the same results (would have preferred if it was Jazz, tbh. Or Ironhide. Actually, I would have preferred a Decepticon to balance out our main group instead of a third Autobot, but I really thought maybe the fourth bot was Jazz when I first saw everyone's silhouettes in early promotional material).

Starscream: Starscream contributed nothing to this story. His one reason for existing was to get beat up so Megatron could take over the Decepticons High Guard. The only reason I put him above the other two is because he's relevant to Megatron's personal arc. Barely. You couldn't swap him out and put someone else in charge of the High Guard, but only because we need to meet our quota of Megatron pounding on him. And I guess because someone thought it would be clever if Megatron was the usurper in their relationship this time around. And it could have been, if anything was done with it.

I'll go into this more when I talk about Megatron, because it's really about his arc. So for now, I'll just say that I liked that Starscream's voice actually sounded damaged and like it was a struggle to speak. It allows me to set aside any sort of "this was supposed to explain why his voice is Like That" intentions, because even if that *was* the intent, his voice in other continuities actually sounds, y'know. Not damaged. On the other hand, I can't imagine him having very many *lines* sounding like that, so he's been basically relegated to forever be a mere background presence if there's a sequel. Unless they handle his new impairment far more respectfully than I have any reason to expect.

Sentinel: Um. What exactly were his motives again? I'll freely admit that I might be forgetting something important (the problem with theaters is there's no rewind button), but I don't understand why he did... Anything. Take betraying the Primes: was he just bored? Power hungry? A coward who was approached by the Quintessons and made a deal with them? Was the war against the Quintessons going so badly he believed it necessary? What was his motive for taking new bots' T-cogs away? Was it to keep them weak? How did he explain why the new bots didn't have them when it's implied everyone did before he came into power? It's reasonable to assume the loss of the Matrix was blamed, since its loss already meant energon had stopped flowing, but there's just too much we don't know.

Motives aside, he was a fine villain. I guess he was supposed to be a charismatic manipulator type, but I have trouble seeing it? He lacks presence somehow, and never actually feels powerful except for a brief moment during the climax. Which is appropriate in a way, since he obtained his place through betrayal, but I just have trouble taking him seriously.

Orion/Optimus: Yep, we're getting to Orion before D-16. He may have been vital to the plot (which wouldn't have happened if not for him), but in the end, it wasn't his actions or decisions that brought us to where the story ended (well. Not directly. But we'll get to that).

Orion actually won me over pretty quickly. As soon as D-16 asked him if ancient data was worth dying for and Orion cheerfully replied, "Yes it is!", I decided, "you're an idiot. I like you". And then by the time of the Iacon 5000 I was left wondering why D-16 put up with him, because it was implied that he pulled stupid stunts constantly, and either pulled D-16 into trouble with him, or had to be bailed out by him constantly. Like, don't get me wrong, I'm here for Orion having flaws. He was incredibly selfish and kinda manipulative, and I love that for him. But I'm not the one who had to put up with him every day of my life.

He also doesn't really get any incentive to change that? Like, he drags D-16 into the Iacon 5000, getting them both injured and making D-16 worry about punishment, and then Sentinel is thrilled. He convinces D-16 to join him on a cross-country adventure and they learn a vitally important truth. For most of the movie, Orion is being rewarded for his impulsive, arguably selfish decisions. Elita calls it "optimism" and "being inspiring", and yeah, he did want to inspire others to believe they could be more. But he did so without regard for the feelings or physical safety of the one closest to him, and he never left room for D-16 to be content with the life he already had. And that ultimately costs him. But hey, he gets to be a Prime now, named after the "optimism" that cost him his friend. Hope it was worth it.

(Yes, I said friend. I *almost* decided MegOp was canon in this world when Orion brought D-16 to the Iacon 5000's starting line and D-16 asked, "You did this for me?" But then Orion replied, "I did this for us", which might sound romantic to some. But I was just like, "You're supposed to say yes. Stop thinking about yourself for five minutes, geez." And then oh, look at that, "this" was not front row seats to watch the start of the race, "this" was "I'm entering us in that race you explicitly didn't agree to be part of". You do not spring that sort of surprise on your partner, Orion. Let your autistic friend have his routines and think about how your actions affect the people who aren't just watching you from a safe distance. Primus).

D-16/Megatron: On that note, yes: TF One Megatron has been added to my list of autistic headcanons. My army grows.

So. I like corruption arcs, when the villains aren't evil just because. But this arc was... Painful. And not in the tragic "he's turning on his closest friend" way. I mean painful like, "Okay, why is murder how you choose to handle things? You are becoming a completely different character, can we please keep to existing traits for this corruption?" Like, yes, D-16 punched Orion once, and threatened to kill him several times (though never in a context where it would read as a serious threat). Yes, he yells when he's angry. It's been established that he has a temper.

But there was nothing mean in him. There was no sign of violence towards anyone but Orion, and the only thing that suggests he believes in corporeal punishment is a remark that Darkwing was right to hit him because he was being insubordinate. We needed more remarks like that. More fragments of the outlook that allowed him to decide someone deserved to die. I cannot look at D-16 as he was before they find Alpha Trion and see the seed of darkness that led him to become Megatron. What makes him so different from the others that he's the only one angry enough to literally kill?

Unfortunately, things do not get better after the initial anger sparks. I can understand D-16 being mad at the High Guard because they knew the truth about Sentinel but didn't do anything with it (at least as far as he was concerned), and I know why he fought Starscream. I know he had to take control of the Decepticons. But he is an untried novice, and Starscream has presumably been fighting longer than he's been alive. Even if Starscream wasn't taking him seriously (which is likely, considering how he kept goading him), there is no reason why Megatron should have won that fight. Back down when you have a giant gun in your face? Absolutely! Then get up and shoot him in the back, and call it a lesson in claiming victory without making sure your enemy is truly defeated. I cannot believe I need to complain that Starscream didn't do the most opportunistic thing.

You could have done something with this role reversal. You could have kept Starscream being impressed after D-16 stands up to and kills Sentinel, and had him decide to take this powerful young mech under his wing. But no, we had to get the entire status quo in place by the end of the movie, even if that means handing Megatron victories that feel unearned. I don't even like the dynamic of Starscream being the bigger, older, more experienced one in their relationship, why am I the one complaining that that's not what we got?

Ah, right. Because what we got reduced Starscream's role in the plot to "punching bag". Jazz got a more meaningful role in the plot, and I'm pretty sure he had less screentime.

(Look, just because I decided to watch the movie doesn't mean how Starscream was handled stopped bothering me. That "fight" with D-16 was the most uncomfortable and frankly unnecessary part of the movie. I thought D-16 was going to have an "Oh fuck" moment and back off when he suddenly had a cannon on his arm, but no, I guess we're already in too deep. We don't get any brief, painful reminders of who he used to be along his way to damnation, he's just gonna march straight into hell).

On that note! I actually loved the moment when he accidentally shoots Orion. Because it was the last glimpse of his old self before he officially becomes Megatron, but also because it was an unexpected callback to G1, where Orion becomes Optimus as a lifesaving measure after Megatron shoots him. Also, the way all the sound and music just stops. Beautiful sound design. Interspersing clips of Orion becoming Optimus and D-16 killing Sentinel and becoming Megatron was also very nice. Only problem was Megatron declaring an end to Primes and calling them "false prophets", where did that come from. Sentinel was the one who killed them all and lied to you your whole life, the others didn't do anything that we're aware of.

Also not really a fan of D-16 going from "I just want to be a good miner" to "I will rule Iacon" in like... Two days. Wanting to kill Sentinel, fine. Not trusting authority figures anymore, sure. But the leadership thing is... Quite a change in the scale of one's ambitions. Another thing that could have used more foreshadowing.

(Also also, I have seen people suggest that if he hadn't been interrupted, D-16 would have followed up his remark about not trusting leaders by telling Orion he still trusts him. I think otherwise: I think the moment D-16 takes the map from Orion and refuses to give it back is the moment that shows he's stopped trusting him. He wants to kill Sentinel and Orion doesn't: their goals are at odds and Orion does what Orion wants, so D-16 can't count on him to have his back this time).

And finally. Optimus banishing the Decepticons. Sir, you have had the Matrix for five minutes. Why is your first official act as Prime to divide your people. Fine, punish Megatron, he's the one who killed Sentinel, but ignoring the battle that you partook in, the worst the High Guard did was property damage. Maybe it would be a good idea to... I don't know, talk to a few of them and try to understand their anger at Sentinel's regime instead of exiling them because they like the mech who killed him? No? We're doing the exile thing?

Okay then, good luck fighting the Quintessons, I guess. Not like unifying your people would make you stronger or anything.

Becoming a Prime does not necessarily mean you are qualified to be a leader. But we've already made Megatron a leader despite his barely doing anything to prove himself, so sure, give them both positions of power. Why not.

[galaxysharks]

HSMTMTS Maddox Autism Analysis

I had to use my laptop for this one, cause I'm not about to write all this shit on mobile. However, I shall not be adding gifs and pics to this one, cause i don't have those on my laptop, and i think there is a limit to those anyway. This one's long, and not guaranteed exhaustive cause my memory is Meh, at best.

Anyways, Onward!

General Info

So just from Promotional Material for Season 3

Maddox:

Techie Who always follows the rules.

The most excited person for Camp.

Hates Change

Comes to the same camp every year

From these, we already can see the building blocks of a targeted interest and a need for routines. The always following the rules is reminiscent of Autistics not breaking rules due to simply not thinking to.

Once the show itself aired, Maddox pretty quickly showed multiple indicators as well. For the sake of organization, I'm going to break these down as Tics and Tendencies and give a few examples, rather than by episode.

Irritation/Panic at unexpected changes in schedule

Saylor mentions frequently that Maddox is really struggling in Season 3 because for the first time, something is drastically disrupting this yearly escape. Unlike Ricky who, while panicking at the change, is able to actively work against it, Maddox struggles with fighting the change and usually must physically remove herself to prevent a more extreme reaction.

Maddox begins already thrown off due to Jet being sent with her to camp.

Dislikes when the Auditions is interrupted by Jet arriving an hour late.

She isn't hanging out with EJ this summer, likely due to feeling thrown off that he brought an entire troupe of friends.

Literally everything in Woman in the Woods - and going to her hiding spot to avoid a full meltdown.

RCOSL changes how she normally does the set direction in order to cause drama - again runs off after her and Jet's fight.

Really struggles with Madison's initial appearance at camp.

Realizes she signed to go to NZ before getting with Ash, and completely removes herself from the post-production celebration that LITERALLY every other character attended.

Very Literal Speaking

Several times when Maddox accidentally gets herself in trouble its because she says something that doubles as a pointed metaphor, even though she was being literal.

"...that kind of bond is....Forever"

"...you just got to commit to one side, of the boat....or else you'll fall in..."

"You have two minutes" - and actually timing it

"....and well, life has other plans..." - not realizing Ash could take this as an attack on her relationship.

"...Yeah my crystals haven't charged in like a month" - thinking Jet is literally taking about what she was actively doing.

Scripting

Maddox has multiple moments where she communicates using a clearly practiced script, and a few where she struggles once someone doesn't react how she expected and she did not have a response ready.

Shallow Lake Welcome Song

Introducing herself in the Honeycomb

The automatic little Thank yous when that one kid compliments her at a few points in the season.

The safety information on Newbie Night

The Woman in the Woods story is scripted - she gets interrupted and starts mixing up scripts when trying to get back on track.

Truly awful improvised scripting during RCOSL. Also not having the words to tell Carlos to lay off the whole 'hot for Jet' thing.

Memorizing all the lines she would need as a PA on the flight.

We literally see her scripting her confession to Ash.

Fumbling through talking to Ash about the NZ move, as she didn't think it was a conversation she was going to need to have.

Info Dumping

When Maddox gets excited, she frequently starts info dumping without thinking about it, usually while also kind of tuning out whats happening around her.

Several times in 3x03

Talking about her favorite nigh before she realizes no one is listening.

again when leading the group to the tents, when she is giving the rules and safety information.

Info dumps about rising signs before Ash gets upset and leaves.

general tips for color wars with Gina in 3x06

Snapping

Maddox tends to snap when deciding what to say to someone.

When she calls out Carlos for changing the cast list

We can hear a snap when she first asks Ashlyn if she was a Leo rising

She snaps when getting annoyed at Jet and Ricky when she directs them

She snaps after finishing her script for confessing to Ashlyn

Tapping/Clapping

Maddox claps and taps things when idling or when she is in between actions. Generally, if she's not got her hands in her pockets and isn't holding something, then she's doing this.

Maddox taps her hands together after Ashlyn catches her attention about the letter.

Clapping hands together as she talks when entering the honeycomb.

Taps on the set pieces when not using the drill.

Claps her hands with the paper star when Carlos suggests she likes Jet.

Taps on the bunk beds while talking to the girls after Camp Prom.

Taps on the broom while cleaning after Opening Night.

Claps her hands while talking to Ash in the hallway when walking to set.

Taps the tree stump that Ash hands her.

Shaking Things

Not as common as the tapping, but if Maddie is only using one hand she tends to shake the object she's holding.

The Letter to Big Red

The Markers after signing the wall.

The pamphlet on PA barking

Facial Expressions

Maddox's face tends to either be way more expressive than expected for the response she is giving, or way less. When she is alone, or with friends/Jet, her expressions are more free. she spends less time guessing and just lets her face to whatever its going to.

During RCOSL, her expression is almost unchanged, probably due to having to think about it constantly.

Once Newbie Night started going downhill, she paid more attention to seeming fine.

She is a lot more open in the fourth season, except with Quinn, where she remains professional.

Special Interests

More than pretty much everyone, Maddox has clearly defined interests

Camping

Set Design

Production

Possibly 80's style Camp Humor/Horror

Avoiding Adverse Stimuli

Okay so Maddox has exactly ONE coping mechanism, and its removing/Distancing herself from the situation.

Stands by the stage instead of joining the crowd on Welcome Day.

Does not return to the Bunks until very late.

Sits alone brooding when Jet takes off

Goes to hiding spot after scary story is interrupted

Stays by the wall for much of movie night

Building set/Managing costumes alone, instead of adjusting to help.

Operates more or less ALL of stage alone using a switchboard. Including in Season 4, when we know she has stagehands available.

Goes to hiding spot after argument with Jet.

Goes to probably commit balloon homicide before Jet stops her.

Hides from Ash to avoid NZ conversation.

Mentions that she doesn't actually attend Camp Prom all that often and normally goes to prank the boy's bunks.

Its okay, she'll probably get better about this with her now robust support system.

Anyway, there is definitely more, but this is what i can remember without immediately re watching the show again and going episode by episode.

[waitingandwishing]

Chapter 8: Burning Pile 🩸

Prev - Next Chapter

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Steve brought the Quinjet to land beside a caterpillar truck (Probably Zemo's. How did he get it up to here?) on the remote icy mountaintop. The jet's wings fold up beside the fuselage.

On board, Bucky pulled out a rack of guns labeled 'Romanoff'. He took a light machine gun and handed Roan an AR-15-style rifle.

They stood together, waiting for the exit ramp to descend. "You remember that time we had to ride back from Rockaway Beach in the back of that freezer truck?" Steve asks both of them with a slight smile.

"Was that the time you guys used our train money to buy hot dogs?" Roan asked, recalling the fuzzy memory.

"You blew three bucks trying to win that stuffed bear for a redhead," Steve tells Bucky.

"What was her name again?"

"Dolores. You called her Doll. After that, Roan didn't talk to you for a week." Steve grinned at Roan, who rolled her eyes affectionately,

"She's gotta be a hundred years old right now."

"So are we." Roan pointed out as Steve clamped his hand on Bucky's shoulder.

Now wearing his helmet, Steve walks with Bucky up to the entrance set in rock. The door is still open. "He can't have been here more than a few hours." Roan analyzed.

"Long enough to wake them up," Bucky said.

Steve led them into the cast bunker. They traveled down into the depths inside a caged elevator. It stopped in the bowels of the bunker, and the doors slid open.

Steve nodded to Bucky and heaved up the cage door. Bucky readied his heavy-duty machine gun, Roan raised her gun slightly, and walked along a corridor, keeping close to a wall.

Bucky looked into an alcove full of junk then he and Steve moved on up some stairs. At the sound of a loud thud they spun around, aiming down the corridor. "You ready?"

"Yeah." Bucky nods.

"Born ready," Roan smirked.

Double doors part, forced open by Iron Man. Steve stares in surprise. Tony walks towards Steve and Bucky and retracts the suit's helmet. "You seem a little defensive."

They kept their guns up while Steve walked to meet Tony with his shield covering his body. "It's been a long day."

"At ease, Soldier. I'm not currently after you."

"Then why are you here?" Steve said, ignoring my question.

"Are you after us?" Roan asked.

"Could be your story's not so crazy. Maybe. Ross has no idea I'm here. I'd like to keep it that way. Otherwise, I gotta arrest myself." Stark said. Roan scrutinized the man in suspicion.

"Well, that sounds like a lot of paperwork," He lowers his shield, "It's good to see you, Tony."

"You too, Cap," He said and looked up to Roan and Bucky, "Hey, Manchurian Candidate, Miss Super Soldier. You're killing me. There's a truce here. You can drop…"

Steve signed Bucky to lower his weapon and he did. Roan kept hers up until Bucky flicked the gun. She grumbled something along the lines of ‘He’s gonna try to kill us’ before strapping the gun around herself.

They cautiously walked along a corridor. With his helmet and face plate reengaged Stark led them towards the enormous chamber with the capsules standing in it. "I got heat signatures." He told the three.

"How many?" Roan asked.

"Uh, one."

As they entered the vast chamber, the lights came on. A hazy, yellow mist descends within the capsules. Each one contains an enhanced soldier from the 1991 experiment. Steve and the others look around, bewildered, while Roan’s eyes search for one person in particular.

"If it's any comfort, they died in their sleep," All of the enhanced soldiers have been shot in the head. Bucky stares at Josef's corpse, "Did you really think I wanted more of you?"

"What the hell?" Roan muttered.

"I'm grateful to them, though. They brought you here," Zemo appeared in a control room. Steve hurled his shield but it flew back, "Please, Captain. The Soviets built this chamber to withstand the launch blast of UR-100 rockets."

"I'm betting I could beat that," Stark said cockily.

"Oh, I'm sure you could, Mr. Stark. Given time. But then you'd never know why you came."

"You killed innocent people in Vienna just to bring us here?" Steve looks at Zemo through a window.

"I thought about nothing else for over a year. I studied you. I followed you. But now that you're standing here, I just realized… There's a bit of green in the blue of your eyes. How nice to find a flaw."

"You're Sokovian. Is that what this is about?"

"Sokovia was a failed state long before you blew it to hell. No. I'm here because I made a promise."

"You lost someone?" Steve asks as he studies Zemo.

He looks grave and clicks his tongue. "I lost everyone. And so will you," He said and played surveillance footage from December 16th, 1991. Steve stepped over to the screen, "An empire toppled by its enemies can rise again. But one which crumples from within? That's dead… Forever."

Stark looked at the freeze frame of a secluded road and the date, December 16, 1991. His eyes rove, anxiously. "I know that road. What is this?" He asks.

The video played. That car that the Winter Soldier forced off the road crashes into a tree. Tony watched intently as the Winter Soldier rode up and got off his motorbike. 

Steve watched Tony's increasing unease. The driver lay on the ground beside the car. It's Tony's father, Howard. "Help my wife. Please. Help." Howard pleaded.

The Winter Soldier walked over and hoisted him up by his hair. He stared at Howard's bloody face. Howard stared back. "Sergeant Barnes?"

"Howard!" Maria yelled.

Tony glared at Bucky. In the video, the Winter Soldier pounded Howard hard in the face with his metal fist. "Howard!"

In grief, Roan watched as Tony closed his eyes for a moment. On-screen, his father slumped dead. The Winter Soldier put him in the driver's seat with his face against the steering wheel.

Tony stared in horror. Maria's in the passenger seat with blood streaked down her face. The Winter Soldier walked around and gripped her throat. Expressionless, he strangled the woman.

Tony watched the screen, stunned. The Winter Soldier walked up and aimed a gun at the surveillance camera. Tony lunged towards Bucky but Roan stopped and shoved him off.

"Tony. Tony." Steve said.

"Don't you fucking dare." Roan gritted her teeth.

Consumed with grief and tears glistening in his eyes, Tony turned and looked at Steve. "Did you know?"

"I didn't know it was him."

"Don't bullshit me, Rogers! Did you know?"

"Yes."

Tony stepped back, his chin jutting upwards twitchy. Tony reengaged the Iron Man helmet. He punched Steve to the floor and deflected gunfire from Bucky, disarming him.

He grabbed Bucky and flew across the chamber. He slammed him onto the floor, then jumped on his arms. Steve's shield hits Iron Man, distracting him.

Roan barged him backward, Iron Man shoulders her to the floor and shackles her ankles. Bucky punched Iron Man, who just lifted him and slammed him against a machine.

Iron Man raises a fist but Bucky twists it. A rocket shoots out of Iron Man's arm, and a fireball explodes. Steve sliced Roan’s shackles as a towering structure of pipework collapsed.

Tony and Bucky are thrown down a level as twisted metal falls around them, showering sparks. "Get out of here!" Steve yells at Roan and Bucky.

As they bolted, Iron Man fired but missed. Steve landed in front of him. Bucky hit a control panel and the silo-styled door overhead started to open.

"It wasn't him, Tony. Hydra had control of his mind!"

"Move!"

"It wasn't him!"

Roan spotted Zemo leave and quickly went after him, gun in hand as she gripped it tightly.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Zemo is outside, listening to a phone message. Roan slowed her pace after him and hid against the snow. "You should've seen his little face. Just try, okay? I'm going to bed. I love you."

"I almost killed the wrong man." T'Challa walked out of nowhere.

"Hardly an innocent one."

"This is all you wanted? To see them rip each other apart."

"My father lived outside the city. I thought we would be safe there. My son was excited. He could see Iron Man from the car window. I told my wife, "Don't worry. They are fighting in the city. We're miles from harm." When the dust cleared… And the screaming stopped. It took me two days until I found their bodies. My father… Still holding my wife and son in his arms."

'Pain and suffering has gotten us nowhere. The fighting, the pain, the...the sadness. What was it all for?' Roan thought, her grip loosening on the gun in her arms.

"And the Avengers? They went home. I knew I couldn't kill them. More powerful men than me have tried. But, if I could get them to kill each other… I'm sorry about your father. He seemed like a good man. With a dutiful son." He apologized.

"Vengeance has consumed you. It's consuming them." He blinks ruefully and retracts the claws in his gloves, "I am done letting it consume me. Justice will come soon enough."

Zemo smiled thinly. "Tell that to the dead." He tries to shoot himself but T'Challa grabs him just as he fires.

"The living is not done with you yet." He says as his claws sink deep into him, he lays him down in the snow. There's silence before T'Challa speaks again. "I know you are there." He says. 

Roan let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and stood beside him. "I'm sorry for your loss, you haven't deserved such a horrible thing to have happened to you. You're a very honorable prince.” She said quietly.

"I am now an honorable king," He smiles sadly, "You are an honorable person as well. You protected your friend and decided to save the world when it went against you, something that isn't easily done."

"Yes. What will happen to him is what I think. After the chaos, after the fighting, what will happen to Earth's Mightiest Heroes?" Roan asked herself quietly.

"Justice will come and… What is the word again? Oh yes. Karma is a dish best served cold." He smiles.

"Pain and mistakes are what got us to this moment. I think the one thing everyone can agree on is that we don't want that to happen anymore." Roan whispered.

[sebstanaddict]

Too Good To Be True

Sebastian Stan x Reader Story

Summary: A romantic comedy story where Sebastian Stan falls in love with reader but she is not who he thinks she is.

Bad luck has fallen at her again and she lost her chance to be Sebastian Stan's personal assistant. But Sebastian being the nice man that he is offered reader a chance to become his girlfriend's personal assistant instead. Will she accept the job? More importantly, will his girlfriend hire her?

Pairings : Sebastian Stan x Female!Reader

Chapters : 5/20 (Might add more)

Chapter List >

Warning : a slight animal abuse

Word count : 7.9k words

This story is inspired loosely by Sebastian's love life so it will have characters from his real life but I will not name their real names. I will only use Sebastian's real name in the story.

---

Chapter 5 - Aurora

13320 Mulholland Drive, LA, California

—

Aurora Watson was everything that Y/n wasn't. Everything about her was 180 degrees so different from Y/n, from her physical features, her family background, her occupation, down to her dating history.

Aurora was an actress, model and influencer. She had been acting since she was a teenager and had a somewhat successful acting career. She once had a part in a critically acclaimed criminal drama and made her name known mostly from that show. Over the years however she had expanded her career into more of modeling and being brand ambassadors rather than being an actress. Using her Instagram presence, which had more than 5 million followers, she had built a career out of becoming influencers and promoting fashion and beauty products on her account.

The list of actors and celebrities she had dated over the years was enough to make a woman's heart filled with envy. A rock star, Hollywood A listers, a sports star, rich CEOs, she had dated all types of successful and handsome men. 

As if that wasn't enough, she was also born into a rich family. She was the only child of one of the richest hedge fund managers, entrepreneurs and investors in the US, Richard Watson. Y/n couldn't help but feel intimidated by her.

Y/n continued to stare at Aurora as she went down the stairs. Her long smooth blonde hair flowed behind her back. The silver dress shimmered as she moved, accentuating her slim figure. Her pointed nose turned upward. Her red painted full lips could even be seen from down below. And she was sure she could see her sparkling blue eyes that seemed to enchant anyone who sees them.

Aurora went down the staircase slowly, taking one step at a time. It felt like watching a movie in slow motion. It seemed she was wearing ten inch high heels and that was why she moved so slowly. It was clear that she tried to be elegant coming down the stairs, but instead she looked like an old lady going slowly down the stairs, afraid of falling down as her hand held onto the railing tightly.

Behind her three people followed her. A woman with glasses and long wavy brunette hair, a short Chinese man with jet black hair pulled up into a ponytail, and a man with glasses and short blonde hair styled in a high fade buzz cut. They all followed Aurora down the stairs and moved as slow as she was.

The sight was somewhat comical and Y/n tried hard not to laugh. She covered her mouth with her hand to hide a smile her mouth involuntarily formed.

She glanced at Sebastian and found him glancing at her and giving her a side smile, as if telling her he knew how funny the sight was.

"Hey Aurora. Sorry if we're a bit late. I literally ran into Y/n with my car earlier." Sebastian said as he turned to look at Aurora.

"What?! You hit her with your car?!" Aurora's eyes widened as she finally arrived downstairs and gave Sebastian a brief hug and kisses on both his cheeks, to which Sebastian seemed uncomfortable with, which confused Y/n.

"Yeah, I did. She was crossing the road on a sharp bend so I didn't see her." Sebastian explained, stepping back from her.

"Oh wow. I hope you're okay?" Aurora turned to look at her and stared at her, her eyes judging her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thank you for asking Aurora. I'm Y/n, by the way." She smiled and extended her hand.

Aurora took her hand and shook it as she looked at her with a condescending look, making her smile vanish into thin air. Aurora released her hand quickly and wiped it on her dress as if she just made contact with a filthy homeless person. She immediately felt dislike towards her.

"Well, I'm glad you're okay." Aurora said and smiled at her though she could clearly see the smile didn't reach her eyes.

"Aurora darling, I'm sorry but we don't have much time. Can we do the shoot now?" The man with the short blonde hair suddenly chimed in.

"Oh yes, of course Leo. Come. Let's do the shoot by the pool." Aurora said, turning to look at the blonde man and smiled wide at him. She beckoned for all three of them to walk first and they headed towards the living room where there was a door leading to the back patio.

"Aurora.. I thought we were supposed to have a meeting." Sebastian pulled Aurora back by her arm and said to her in a low voice but Y/n could still hear it.

"Yeah, I know. But I have to do this shoot for Amore first and then we'll have the meeting. It won't take long. I promise." She said as she flashed him a bright smile.

"Well.. okay. I wish you would have told me though about the shoot. If you told me, Y/n probably wouldn't get hit by me." He protested.

"What do you mean?" Aurora asked in confusion.

"Her car broke down and she ran from where it broke down to about a mile from here so she wouldn't be late. If you told me about the shoot I would've asked her to come later and she could've taken a taxi or an Uber or something instead of running all the way here." He explained.

"Well, I'm sorry but I thought you could just wait for a bit. The shoot won't take long anyway." She defended herself.

"Yeah yeah, I just wish you would've been more empathetic." He grumbled.

"Seb.. I don't need this right now. I have a photoshoot to do. We'll talk about this later." She said sternly and she turned around, whipping her hair behind her and stormed off towards the back patio where the photographer and the three people she was with were already waiting. 

"I'm sorry you have to witness that, and I'm sorry that you have to wait." Sebastian said as he turned to look at her.

"It's okay, Sebastian. I can wait. It's no big deal. I don't have anything else to do today anyway." She smiled and he smiled back.

"Okay. While we wait, maybe I can give you a little tour of the house. As Aurora's PA you will spend a lot of time here so it's a good idea to get you more familiar with the place." He said and she nodded.

Sebastian took her to the living rooms first. Yes, the house had three living rooms and five fireplaces! All of them were completed with expensive white and gray sofas as well as huge coffee tables and large flat screen TVs. There was a formal dining area next to the living room in the middle of the house and another separate informal dining room at the back of the kitchen with curved French windows facing the backyard. The kitchen was spacious with white cabinets and light gray marble countertops. It was of course fitted with top-of-the-line and most expensive appliances. She could imagine how comfortable it was to cook there.

There was someone in the kitchen when they entered it. A middle aged Latin woman was standing over the stone island, her hands busy chopping vegetables.

“Hello, Rosa.” Sebastian called out and walked towards the woman, a big smile on his face.

“Oh hello Mr.Stan." Rosa looked up and smiled upon seeing him.

"How are you today?" Sebastian asked as he gave Rosa a brief hug and kissed both her cheeks.

"Good thank you Mr.Stan. My daughter just called me this morning and she said she is going to come and visit me this weekend." Rosa replied.

"Oh that's good. Did she tell you about her college experience yet?" He asked.

"Oh yes, just a little. She just mentioned that she met some new friends. She sounded happy about it." Rosa replied.

"Oh good. Glad to hear that." He smiled as he took a seat on a stool in front of her. "By the way, Rosa this is Y/n, Y/n this is Rosa."

"Hi, nice to meet you." Y/n said as she extended her hand to Rosa.

"Oh hello, nice to meet you too." Rosa smiled and shook her hand.

"Y/n is going to be Aurora's PA." Sebastian explained.

"Oh, that's interesting. PA means Personal Assistant, right?" She asked.

"Yes. That's right." Sebastian nodded.

"Oh, good luck then." Rosa said, giving her a meaningful look. 

"Thank you." She said, wondering why it seemed like Rosa was mocking her instead of actually wishing her luck.

"Rosa here is the boss of this house." Sebastian explained, chuckling.

"Oh Mr.Stan. I'm not the boss. You know who the boss is." She chuckled.

"Yeah, there's the boss." He said as he gestured outside towards the backyard where she could see Aurora posing by the pool, her white teeth flashing bright for the camera. "Then there's the real boss." He gestured towards Rosa, making Rosa blush.

"You don't want to mess with her, Y/n. If you see a speck of dust on a countertop, she's going to make sure someone cleans it." Sebastian said, chuckling.

"And that someone is me." A female voice suddenly chimed in.

A Latin girl with long braided hair entered the kitchen looking tired as she carried a mop in her hand.

"Gabriella, my dear. Cleaning is your job." Rosa commented, chuckling.

"Yeah it is, but it would be much easier if no one is hounding me to make sure a tiny spot on the floor isn't missed." She protested as she opened a nearby cupboard and put the mop inside. Rosa and Sebastian laughed upon hearing her answer. She just smiled as she guessed Gabriella was most likely a maid in the house and Rosa was the head maid.

"Hello Gabriella. How are you today?" Sebastian greeted her.

"Hi Sebastian. Oh same old same old. I'm just lucky I still have a job and a roof over my head." She commented sarcastically as she walked closer to them.

"So, we have a new girl in the house?" Gabriella asked, looking at her and extending her hand.

"Hi, I'm Y/n. Nice to meet you." She smiled and Gabriella smiled back.

"Finally! I have someone to help me clean the windows." Gabriella commented gleefully and shook her hand.

Clean the windows? Oh no. She was going to be a maid after all.

"No, Gabriella, as much as you want it, Y/n won't become another maid. She's going to be Aurora's PA." Sebastian corrected her and she felt relieved at that.

"Huh? Well, good luck with that." Gabriella said sarcastically, giving her another meaningful look.

"Uh.. thank you. I guess." She responded, looking at Sebastian, trying to see if he could explain Gabriella's statement but he didn't say anything.

"Oh, do you want something to drink Y/n?" Sebastian hopped off the stool and headed towards a huge refrigerator and opened it. He picked up a plain bottle with orange liquid in it and brought it back towards the stone island.

"Rosa here makes fresh juice everyday, a mix of apples, carrots, oranges, celery and some secret ingredient she wouldn't tell me. I promise you it will be the best juice you'll ever taste." He said as he went to a cupboard and picked up two tall glasses.

"Oh, that does look delicious." She said, looking at the juice as Sebastian started to pour some of it into the two glasses.

"Hey Rosa, Gabriella, do you guys want some?" He asked.

"No thank you, Sebastian. I had a glass of it this morning." Gabriella replied.

"How about you Rosa?" He asked, turning to Rosa.

"No thank you, Mr.Stan. I'm good." Rosa smiled as she finished chopping the vegetables and started to clean up.

"Okay." Sebastian nodded. He offered a glass to Y/n and she accepted it.

"Thank you." She said.

"Cheers." Sebastian said and he clinked his glass to hers.

"Cheers." She smiled.

She took a sip and immediately liked it. The juice was sweet, sour and fresh and had a certain tang to it that made it different. She gulped more of it, realizing how thirsty she was.

"It's good isn't it?" Sebastian winked as he placed his empty glass down.

"It is. You're right, Sebastian. It's the best juice I've ever tasted." She smiled and took more gulps until she finished the whole glass.

"You have to let me know the recipe one day, Rosa. Who knows, with the correct people behind you, you could launch a juice business!" Sebastian said excitedly, making Rosa blush.

"Oh Mr.Stan. It's just juice. It's no big deal." She shrugged.

"Are you kidding? People are making a fortune opening juice bars or juice factories. Especially here in LA where people are more health conscious." He commented.

"Oh I don't know Mr.Stan. Launching a business is not easy. I don't feel like I have the gut, the patience and determination for it." Rosa responded.

"Well, in case one day you change your mind, let me know and I'll be the first one to invest." He winked.

"Sure thing Mr.Stan." Rosa smiled.

Sebastian looked out the window towards the backyard and saw that Aurora was still out there doing some poses.

"Well, since she's not done yet, why don't I give you a tour upstairs." He said, turning to look at her.

"Okay." She nodded then she followed him out of the kitchen after saying goodbye to Rosa and Gabriella.

They took the beautiful winding staircase leading up to the second floor. Once they arrived on the second floor she couldn't help but admire the beautiful and luxurious interior of the second floor. The floor was shiny cream marble and the walls were bright white and decorated with many beautiful nature paintings each surrounded with gilded frames.

There were 5 rooms on the second floor. A living room, 3 bedrooms and a game room. Sebastian took her touring the comfortable living room first, which was equipped with comfortable white sofas, a flat screen TV and a fireplace. He then took her to the game room where there was a pool table.

"Can you play?" He asked as he picked up a cue stick from the table and started to set up fifteen balls inside a triangular rack right in the middle of the table.

"Not really." She shook her head shyly.

"Well, I can teach you." He winked and she couldn't help but blush at that.

He started explaining the rules of the game but she couldn't focus much as he approached her and stood next to her. 

"So, yeah, the winner is the one who can pocket eight balls first." He concluded his explanation and picked up the triangular rack from the table then set it aside.

"Okay." She nodded and looked up at him. Her heart beat faster as she realized how close he was standing in front of her.

"Here." He gave her the cue stick and she accepted it in surprise.

"You want me to start first?" She asked.

"No, we'll do it together." He smiled and her heart skipped a beat.

He placed his left hand gently on her right hand and directed it to hold the handle of the cue stick. Then he turned her around by the waist so she stood facing the table while he stood behind her. 

"Put your right hand by your waist." He said as he gently pulled her right elbow so her right hand held the cue by her waist.

"Good. And now lean over the table and place the tip of the cue stick on the table. You want to make sure your hand makes a 90 degree angle with the cue stick." He said.

She nodded as she leaned over the table. She felt a light touch on her back and realized he had touched her back gently and guided her to lean over. Her heart beat even faster at that.

"See the white cue ball?" He asked, pointing to the white ball placed outside of the fifteen balls. She nodded at his question.

"Make sure your body is aligned with it." He said as leaned over the table next to her, his face inches from hers, making butterflies fly around in her stomach.

"Now place your thumb and index finger between the tip of the cue stick like this, make a loop around it." He said as he gently directed her left fingers with his so she held the cue tip properly. Her heart felt like it was going to burst out of her chest as she felt his touch on her fingers. She couldn't believe how close he was to her. 

"Okay. Now take a deep breath and let me guide you on how to strike it." He said.

She took a deep breath and froze as she felt his right hand holding her right hand and he started to move it back and forth.

"Steady." He said gently as her left fingers had started to tremble and she was sure her face had reddened yet again.

His left hand helped steady her left fingers, making her heart leapt out of her chest. Then his right hand directed hers to the front hard and the cue tip struck on the white ball sending all fifteen balls in the middle of the table scattering all over the table. Her eyes widened as she watched four balls dropped into the pockets on the side of the tables.

"We got four in already!" She shouted gleefully as they straightened their bodies up and continued to watch the remaining balls rolling on the table.

"We did!" He chuckled and he gave her a high five.

"That wasn't so hard." She commented.

"Well.. you got a good teacher." He winked, making her laugh.

"I sure did!" She smiled and he smiled warmly at her, making her heart skip a beat.

Once again she couldn't believe what just happened. It felt very intimate being guided to play pool by him. Now that she thought about it, he was the first man that had ever touched her so much even if the way he touched her were non-sexual. She never thought Sebastian Stan would be the first man that ever touched her! The thought made her so excited yet nervous at the same time. Then she realized she was being pathetic and she tried hard not to make a big deal of it again.

"Let me show you how to hold the tip of the cue stick another way so we can hit that ball." He said, pointing to a ball with the number 8 on it.

"Okay." She nodded, happy that he had another excuse to touch her no matter how pathetic it might be.

They ended up spending several minutes playing together, although they didn't really play against each other. They just wanted to pocket eight balls to finish the game. He guided her less and less as time went on and she got better at the game. They were just trying to finish the game by pocketing the eight ball when the sound of a dog barking and yapping reached their ears.

She turned to look towards the door and saw a cream and white long haired Chihuahua, barking loudly at them.

"Paris! Calm down! It's just me." Sebastian said as he walked towards the door and leaned down at the Chihuahua, stretching his hand at the dog. Paris stopped barking and sniffed at Sebastian's outstretched hand. 

"It's okay, Paris. I just brought a friend." Sebastian said, glancing back at her.

"Yes, I'm a friend, Paris, it's okay." She cooed as she walked slowly towards them, but Paris continued to bark again as she stopped next to Sebastian.

"Sorry, she's always like this with new people." Sebastian straightened his body up and looked at her apologetically.

"It's okay.. maybe we should just go." She suggested. Stepping back as Paris barked and continued to look at her angrily.

"Yeah. But you two need to get along if you're going to be Aurora's PA. She's most likely going to ask you to deal with her one way or another." He said.

"Oh.. okay." She said as her heart plummeted down her stomach. She wasn't much of a dog person. Neither was she a cat person. She never even had pets at all. So having to deal with a dog was quite nerve wrecking for her.

"Come on. Let me show you her room." Sebastian said, beckoning his head towards the outside of the game room.

"She has her own room?" She asked in awe.

"Yeah, she does. Aurora spoils her a lot." He shrugged.

They walked out of the game room with Paris following them and still barking and yapping at their feet. At times she was afraid that the dog was going to bite her leg but thankfully she didn't.

Sebastian guided her to walk to a room facing the front of the house. The room's door was closed and she could see there was a small door at the bottom of it which dogs or cats could use to get in and out of the room.

Sebastian opened the door of the room and her eyes widened as she looked at the inside of the room. At first glance it looked like a room of a little girl. There were murals of a huge fairy tale castle decorating the walls and a huge literal golden castle in the middle of the room which, after a more detailed look, was actually a huge dog house in the form of a castle. The room was bright with huge windows facing the front of the house. The ceiling was painted with white and light blue clouds and the remaining walls were decorated with frames and frames of pictures of Paris.

Paris barked again as they entered the room and stood in front of the door of the castle.

"Paris.. it's okay. We're not going to bother you. I know it's your castle." Sebastian shrugged and he walked towards a golden painted cupboard at the right side of the room and opened it.

"Hmm.. I wonder where it is." Sebastian said as his eyes raked the inside of the cupboard.

"What are you looking for?" She asked as she walked to approach him.

"Her treats. We need to make her more friendly to you and treats are one way to do that." He explained.

"Oh, I see." She nodded.

"Ah.. there it is." Sebastian exclaimed and picked up a small package of dog treats.

Paris barked again and stood at his feet but this time her barks seemed different. She started wagging her tail and looked up at Sebastian, giving him literal puppy dog eyes.

Sebastian opened the package of treats and gave a piece to her. 

"Here. See if she softened at you if you give her this." He suggested.

"Okay." She picked up the piece of treat from him and slowly leaned down and stretched her hand at Paris.

"Here you go, Paris. Have some treat." She cooed.

However, instead of taking the treat from her, Paris looked up at her and barked again. Her expression and posture clearly showed dislike.

"Paris, it's okay, she's a friend." Sebastian said gently and he picked up another piece of treat and offered it to her. This time Paris took the treat happily from him and even allowed him to pet her head.

"Sorry, it takes time for her to warm up to a new person." He said.

"It's okay. I get it." She said as she placed the treat in her hand on the floor near Paris and the Chihuahua immediately ate it.

"I'm sure you two will get along soon enough." Sebastian encouraged her.

"Yeah. I hope so." She said as she looked down and Paris started to bark at her again.

"I think she wants more treats." She commented.

Paris wagged her tail at that and Sebastian chuckled.

"I guess so." He responded as he gave the package of treats to her.

"I think it's best if you give it to her. See how she reacts." He suggested.

"Right." She nodded and she picked up another piece of treat and offered it to Paris.

Paris barked at her and looked at her cautiously.

"It's okay Paris, I'm a friend." She cooed as she squatted down in front of Paris and stretched her hand out even closer to the Chihuahua.

Paris barked again and stepped back a little from her.

"I guess it really will take some time for her to warm up to me." She said as she placed the treat on the floor and stood back up. As soon as she stood up Paris immediately ate the treat on the floor.

"Yeah. It's normal behavior from her. Don't worry about it." Sebastian said. 

"Okay." She said, hoping in her heart that Paris really will get along with her eventually.

"Here, let me return the treats back." He said as he picked up the package of treats in her hand and put it back into the cupboard.

"Let's go check out other rooms and then go back downstairs. Hopefully Aurora is already done with the shoot." He suggested.

"Okay." She nodded and Sebastian turned around and walked out of the room.

Just as she was about to follow Sebastian out of the room, she felt something dragging her foot, preventing her from walking.

She looked down and saw Paris biting her shoes.

"No.. no.. Paris. Let me go." She said as she wiggled her foot but Paris kept on biting it.

"Paris.. No! Let.. me.. go!" She said more sternly this time and she moved her foot even harder as she felt Paris' teeth started to puncture her sneaker.

Worried that Paris would end up really hurting her foot, she moved her foot around even harder, effectively kicking Paris off her foot, sending her across the room and the Chihuahua hit the castle and dropped onto the floor. Her heart plummeted as she watched Paris whimpered and ran away from her. The Chihuahua ran into the castle and hid inside it.

Hoping that Paris was alright, she walked closer to the castle to check Paris' condition but stopped as she heard Sebastian's voice.

"Y/n? Is everything okay?" Sebastian came back into the room and his eyes scanned the room.

"Uh.. yeah.. yeah.. Everything is fine. I was just admiring this beautiful castle shaped dog house." She lied. She didn't want Sebastian to know she had kicked Paris.

"Oh yeah. It's beautiful but a little over the top isn't it?" He commented.

"Well.. yeah.. a little." She said slowly, unsure how to respond.

"Sebastian?! Seb?! Where are you?" Suddenly Aurora's voice could be heard from outside of the room.

"In here, Aurora!" Sebastian called out and moments later Aurora entered the room. She had changed out of her silver strapless dress and was wearing tight light wash jeans and a black off shoulder crop top which showed her smooth shoulders and lean and bare midriff. Her make up had also changed. Her red painted lips were gone and she had applied a light pink shimmering lip gloss on her lips instead.

She watched as Sebastian stared at Aurora's body and visibly swallowed hard. He looked like he was slightly in a trance as Aurora walked closer to them.

"Oh there you are." Aurora smiled as soon as she saw him but her face turned impassive as she glanced at Y/n.

Hearing Aurora's voice, Paris ran out of her castle and immediately ran towards her, barking repeatedly. Sebastian blinked several times and shook his head as he heard Paris' barks and he snapped out of the trance.

Men. They're all the same. Y/n grumbled internally. Well, she couldn't blame him. He was ogling over his own girlfriend. There was nothing wrong with that. Aurora did have an enviable slim body. Something she didn't have, she thought sadly.

"Paris, my baby. What's wrong?" Aurora scooped the Chihuahua into her arms and Paris immediately barked continuously at her.

If Paris could talk it seemed like she was telling on how Y/n had kicked her. She was glad dogs couldn't talk. Kicking a potential employer's dog really wouldn't make a good impression.

"She probably just wants more treats. I'm sorry but I took some from the cupboard and we gave some to her." Sebastian explained.

"Oh, maybe you're hungry huh? Let's go downstairs and give you your lunch." Aurora said as she stroked Paris' fur.

"As it happens, Rosa was just done preparing lunch. We can have the meeting while having lunch." Aurora continued, looking up at Sebastian while her hand continued to stroke Paris' fur gently.

"Oh that's a good idea. I am kind of hungry. Come on Y/n, let's go and have some lunch. I'm sure you're hungry after all that has happened." Sebastian said and smiled at her.

"Uh.. yeah. Okay." Her stomach made a rumbling sound at the exact moment, making Sebastian laugh out loud.

"Guess I was right." He chuckled and she couldn't help but blush. She was so embarrassed but at the same time she was happy that she could make Sebastian laugh like that. 

Sebastian walked out of the room and she was just about to follow him when she noticed Aurora glancing at her in dislike. Aurora's eyes furrowed in annoyance but as soon as she noticed that Y/n was looking at her, she immediately smiled at her even though her smile didn't reach her eyes. She smiled back and made a mental note at her reaction. It was clear Aurora was kind of jealous and she was kind of happy about that. She never made anyone jealous of her through all these years and the fact made her confidence level raised. Who would've thought she could make Sebastian Stan's girlfriend jealous of her. Her of all people. She thought in disbelief.

When they entered the kitchen she could smell a delicious smell of grilled beef, making her stomach rumble again.

"Rosa, is lunch ready yet?" Aurora called out.

"Oh yes, Miss Watson. I've prepared them at the table by the window, as usual." Rosa said, turning around from where she was standing by the stove.

"Paris is also hungry, Rosa. Have you finished preparing her lunch?" Aurora asked.

"I'm almost done Miss Watson. Just a few seconds more." Rosa replied as she turned her attention back to the stove in front of her.

She watched as Rosa picked up a frying pan from the stove and carefully picked up a piece of what seemed to be a rib eye steak. Rosa placed the steak onto a golden dog bowl and carried it towards Aurora. Paris barked in excitement in Aurora's arms as she saw Rosa coming at her with the mouthwatering steak. 

"Come Paris. Let's eat at your usual place." Rosa said as she picked up Paris from Aurora's arms and carried the dog to a corner of the kitchen.

The steak Rosa had prepared smelled so good that Y/n secretly hoped it was also going to be served for their lunch. But when she saw the circular dining table by the French window where Rosa had prepared their lunch, her heart plummeted at the sight. There was only a big bowl of what seemed to be green salad, a plate of sliced baguette, a plate of shredded chicken and a bowl of creamy white salad dressing. Rosa had also prepared three empty plates with forks and knives as well as empty glasses and a pitcher filled with iced water.

"Oh great! Rosa had prepared her signature chicken salad sandwich." Sebastian said excitedly as he pulled out a chair and sat down.

"Come Y/n, sit. Don't be fooled by how it looks. It tastes better than it looks." Sebastian smiled and she smiled back.

"Okay." She nodded and pulled up a chair in front of him while Aurora took a seat next to Sebastian.

"Let me show you how to arrange this so it tastes best." Sebastian said as he picked up a baguette, took a spoonful of the white salad dressing and spread it onto the baguette. He then picked several spoonfuls of the chicken, topped it off with some green salad and then took another spoonful of the salad dressing and poured it on top of the green salad. He then picked up another baguette and put it at the very top. He pressed the baguette down, causing some dressing to drop onto the plate and he laughed.

"That always happens." He chuckled.

He then took a bite and closed his eyes as he savored the sandwich.

"Mm.. mm.. this is so good." He said in between munching the sandwich.

"It looks delicious now that I've seen you eat it." She chuckled but she quickly stopped as she looked at how Aurora stared at her with daggers.

"Let me show you how I do it. Personally, I like my way better. It's much healthier." Aurora said as she picked an empty plate, picked some lettuce from the salad bowl and filled the lettuce with some shredded chicken and a little bit of the salad dressing then rolled the lettuce neatly so all the fillings were trapped inside it. She didn't touch the baguette at all. 

She made four rolls of the chicken salad filled lettuce and finally took a bite. 

"Mm.. mm.." she munched in delight.

"Go on.. try it." Aurora offered her lettuce rolls to both, Sebastian and her.

Sebastian picked up one roll and she followed suit. She took a bite and tried hard not to grimace. Aurora's option really wasn't delicious to her. She was a sucker for carbs, so not using the baguette was wrong in her mind. But then again, that was probably why she didn't have the slim body like Aurora. She wasn't sure she could keep being disciplined in eating healthy and exercising to keep her body looking like Barbie all the time.

"So, what do you think?" Aurora asked, turning to Sebastian.

"It's.. mm.. interesting." He said as he finished the whole roll and swallowed it.

"It is, isn't it? What do you think, Y/n?" Aurora asked as she turned to her.

She was still chewing the last bite of the roll when Aurora asked her and she swallowed it too fast in an effort to answer Aurora that she choked on it and coughed loudly.

"Y/n.. are you okay?" Sebastian asked, looking at her in concern as she continued to cough and tears started to fall from her eyes.

"Wow. She loves it so much that she's crying over it." Aurora said in delight.

"She's choking, Aurora." Sebastian immediately stood up and went over to her but she raised her hand up to hold him back as she finally succeeded in swallowing the whole thing and the urge to cough had lessened.

"Here, have some water." Sebastian said as he sat back down and poured a glass of water to an empty glass for her and placed it in front of her.

She nodded and immediately took a sip. 

"Ahem… I'm sorry about that." She finally croaked.

"It's okay. I guess it wasn't exactly your taste?" Sebastian laughed, making her smile but her smile was quickly gone as she looked at Aurora giving her a death stare.

"It was good actually. I just.. ahem.. swallowed it too fast. Sorry." She explained.

"Yeah. It is good. And much healthier too." Aurora said as she picked up the last roll and ate it, giving her a haughty look.

"So, Y/n. Which one do you like more? My way or her way?" Sebastian asked with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Mm.. my way." She said after thinking for a moment and Sebastian laughed out loud.

"Don't get me wrong. I can understand why you both did what you did. But I have a different way." She said, smiling mischievously.

"Okay. Let's see it then." Aurora challenged her.

She picked up an empty plate, mixed in some green salad and shredded chicken on it then added a dollop of the salad dressing. She mixed the whole thing and once the dressing had evenly mixed with the chicken and salad, she spread the whole thing onto a baguette. She made three of the chicken salad spread baguette and when done offered them to both Sebastian and Aurora.

Aurora was hesitant to pick it up but Sebastian immediately picked one up and bit it. She followed along and picked one up then took a bite and immediately felt satisfaction.

"Mm.. hmm.. this is by far the best one." Sebastian said in between munching and she smiled, earning her another look of daggers from Aurora.

"It's more like a bruschetta." Aurora commented. "Not a sandwich."

"Whatever it is, I like it." Sebastian commented as he proceeded to make one just like the one she had made.

"You should try one, Aurora." Sebastian suggested.

"Feed me." Aurora said and Sebastian coughed. She also almost choked again upon hearing Aurora's request.

"What?" He asked, flabbergasted.

"You want me to try it? Then feed it to me." She commanded.

"Not in front of someone else, Aurora." Sebastian warned her.

"What? It's just an innocent act of feeding." Aurora said, batting her long eyelashes and smiling seductively at him.

Sebastian shook his head as she saw his cheeks start to redden. Despite his misgivings, he picked up the 'bruschetta' - as Aurora called it - that he just made, picked it up and directed it slowly towards Aurora's mouth.

Aurora took her time to bite the 'bruschetta', her eyes gazed at him seductively and Y/n could see how uncomfortable Sebastian was with the way Aurora was looking at him. She made some satisfied moaning sounds as she chewed the 'bruschetta' and Y/n swore she could see Sebastian's face reddened even more. Once she had swallowed it she licked her lips slowly. Y/n watched how Sebastian reacted to that. Again, he visibly swallowed hard and she couldn't help but feel like she had witnessed something so personal that she felt like she should just drown into the floor and vanish.

"You guys were right. That was the best one." Aurora remarked after finishing her first bite. 

Sebastian fed her the rest of the 'bruschetta' and in doing so, he made some of the dressing fall onto his fingers. Aurora swallowed the last bite then slowly licked his fingers clean. This time Sebastian's face really turned as red as a tomato and Y/n leaned back, really wishing the floor would open wide and swallow her whole.

"I need to use the restroom." She blurted out and quickly stood up, startling both Aurora and Sebastian who were staring at each other with.. well.. lust. That was all she could make out from them.

"Oh. Yeah. You know where the bathroom is, right?" Sebastian asked, looking up at her, the lust on his face gone.

"Yeah. I know. You showed me before." She nodded.

"Okay." He smiled and she turned around, not even bothering to smile back at him.

She left the kitchen feeling weird. There was a heaviness in her heart she didn't recognize. What was she feeling? She pondered as she finally arrived at the bathroom and opened the bathroom door.

Jealousy. She suddenly realized as she stared at herself in the mirror in the bathroom. She was jealous of Aurora. She hated watching their intimate interaction. But.. she shouldn't feel this way. Sebastian belonged to Aurora, not her, and the way they looked at each other really was normal behavior between a couple. It was her who was being weird. 

Although, at times she could feel how Sebastian cared for her. More than he should care towards a stranger like her. The image of him being close to her during the pool game flooded her mind and she couldn't help but blush again at that.

She shook her head vigorously. He was just being nice. She tried to convince herself. Surely he wouldn't dare being flirty with someone else in his own girlfriend's house. She was certain he was not that kind of person. Besides, who was she but an ugly thirty year old girl who never had a boyfriend. The possibility of someone like Sebastian Stan falling in love with someone like her was slim to none. She should try harder to have a level head and come back to the table being a professional employee-to-be to the both of them. 

Yes. No matter how nice or caring he behaved to her she should just treat him professionally. She wouldn't let her personal feelings for him win over her. It wasn't healthy and would serve her no good.

Satisfied with her decision, she took off her glasses, set it aside and decided to wash her face to freshen up. After witnessing the interaction between Sebastian and Aurora she felt rather hot and bothered. Water should help cool her down.

A couple of minutes later she returned to the kitchen and found both Aurora and Sebastian still sitting on the circular dining table, finishing their chicken salad sandwich. The air between them had completely changed. It was like watching two strangers eating side by side. The sight baffled her but she decided to brush it off. She wondered if they had a fight while she was gone. Although she couldn't imagine for what reason they would fight.

"Hey, you're back." Sebastian looked up as she took a seat in front of him and his face brightened as he looked at her. 

Her heart melted at how he smiled at her but she kicked herself mentally and succeeded in stopping herself from smiling back at him.

"Yeah. So, about the job." She said, deciding that she should start the conversation. She didn't want the meeting to turn into something weird again.

"Oh yeah. The PA job. What do you think, Aurora?" He asked, turning to look at Aurora who had just finished sipping a glass of water.

"Well, like I told you before, Seb. I actually don't need a PA at this moment." Aurora said and her heart plummeted at that. Despite her initial misgivings at working for Aurora, she couldn't deny that she really needed a job and rejection from Aurora was not something she could apparently take at that moment.

"But you most likely will in the near future. You can't take Gabriella or Rosa with you on set." Sebastian reminded her.

"Are you telling me I got the part?" Aurora asked gleefully.

"No, not yet. But I'm trying my best to persuade Maya to cast you. You fit what the producers are looking for but Maya is still hesitant." Sebastian responded.

"Oh, okay. Well, if I get cast, then I'll hire her as my PA. Otherwise, like I said, I don't need a PA." Aurora said as she glanced at Y/n with a condescending look.

"Aurora.. hire her now and I'll make sure you'll get cast." Sebastian insisted.

"Promise? If I don't get cast, I'll fire her." She said, challenging him.

Sebastian looked at her apologetically and turned to look back at Aurora. 

"Fine. I promise." He finally said.

"Alright, you're hired." Aurora said, turning to look at her and gave her the fakest smile she had ever seen.

"How much are you going to pay me?" She asked as she was suddenly reminded of Sebastian's advice to her a few days before. She glanced at Sebastian and saw him smiling a little at her, as if silently congratulating her.

"How much do you want?" Aurora asked, staring at her in surprise.

"Well, Sebastian promised me 4 thousand a month." She said and Aurora's eyebrows raised.

"That much? You pay your PAs that much?" Aurora turned to look at Sebastian in disbelief.

"Yeah. They deserve way more and I would give more if I could. To be honest, with her degree and work experience, she deserves more. Have I told you she used to work at an IT company as a software developer?" Sebastian said and she could feel her cheeks reddened at that.

"Hmm.. okay. Your degree and work experience unfortunately doesn't apply here. You'll need a completely different set of skills to be my PA. So unfortunately, I can't pay you more." She said as she continued to stare at her haughtily.

"Okay.. that's fine." She said, realizing she didn't have much bargaining power. She needed the job while Aurora didn't need her.

"So, what would be my job description?" She continued to ask.

"Well.. your main job is to assist me. In anything and everything that I ask you to do." Aurora said with an evil glint in her eyes.

Her heart plummeted at her answer and she felt dread filling her stomach. She couldn't help having the image in her mind of Cinderella working hard at cleaning a big house, sweeping the floor, cleaning the windows, then preparing breakfast for the stepmother and stepsisters and being told off for not working fast enough. 

She had a feeling that it was exactly what was going to happen to her. As much as she didn't like it, she felt like she didn't have any other option. She could of course say no and refuse to work for Aurora. But she didn't want to disappoint Sebastian who had defended her and even made a bargain for her. The least she could do to repay all his kindness was to accept the job. 

"Okay." She finally nodded. "When do you need me to start?"

"Tomorrow will be great. Oh, I have a spare room by the garage. It would be great if you could move in and stay here so you can assist me 24/7." Aurora said.

"What?!" She said, flabbergasted.

"Aurora, if you're going to hire her around the clock you need to pay her more. I promised to give her 4 thousand to work from 9 to 5, not for 24 hours." Sebastian protested.

"Okay, fine. I'll pay you 5 thousand a month." Aurora said.

"Seven." Sebastian bargained and her jaw dropped at that.

"Six and that's final. Take it or leave it." Aurora said, leaning back on the chair and folding her arms in front of her.

"Y/n?" Sebastian looked up at her expectantly.

"Okay. I'll take it." She finally said.

Six thousand dollars a month!? She could just work for Aurora for a month and bail and find another job. That would be enough to cover at least another three months without work. Surely by then she could find another job or get cast in something. She would still try to audition during her spare time. Yes, that would work. She thought in satisfaction.

"Good." Aurora smiled and this time her smile reached her eyes. Although it was looking somewhat like an evil smile.

Dread seeped into her stomach once again as she realized that having Aurora as her boss would most likely be challenging. Little did she know that challenging was an understatement.

Chapter 6 >

Taglist

@dhoruwolfie

[bettercauliflowersaul]

Rooting for the Anti-Hero: How Taylor Swift and The Once-ler Are Incredibly Similar

I know this is a very cursed post, but bear with me here.

Along with the rest of the world, I've grown obsessed with Taylor Swift's new album, Midnights. By my third or fourth (or hundredth) listen, I found myself connecting songs to The Once-ler. You know, from the 2012 animated movie The Lorax. Starring Taylor Swift. Lead single Anti-Hero stuck out to me the most, with lines like “Did you hear my covert narcissism I disguise as altruism, like some kind of congressman,” and “One day I’ll watch as you’re leaving, ‘cause you got tired of my scheming for the last time,” stuck out to me. Naturally, once I get something in my head I can't let it go, so I was sent down a rabbit hole of connecting Swift’s music to The Once-ler.  What I discovered is the two share very similar backgrounds and career trajectories.

Both Once-ler and Taylor grew up on farms. Taylor was born and raised in rural Pennsylvania, moving to Nashville mid-childhood. The Once-ler's location is unspecified, but appears to be in the Midwest or deep south. Since they were young, they were strong-willed and focused on success. Taking pride in their individualism, Swift and Once-ler didn't let their many naysayers stop their dreams of their "product" taking off. For Swift, it was her music. For Once-ler, it was the Thneed. Both were strong business people who would stop at nothing to get exposure.

Upon moving to Nashville, Taylor walked up and down record label's offices, with a CD and a pitch. Throughout high school, she was bullied by peers for wanting to be afamous singer. Eventually, she signed with Sony Records in 2004. Likewise, after arriving in Greenville, Once-ler played his jingle in the center of town everyday. He was faced with ridicule by townsfolk, yet he kept coming back until the Thneed gained popularity. After that initial push, both were propelled into stardom. As is the case with most celebrities, soon their image became larger than life. Their fame grew unmanageable as they slowly became a brand, a product, rather than human. Greed became a motivator in every step they took. Taylor put forth constant merch drops with high prices, slow shipping, and low quality. Then the Ticketmaster controversy occurred. Similarly, over the course of the movie, Once-ler slowly becomes corrupted by greed. He needs to keep "biggering"; expanding his factory and making as much money as possible.

Both Taylor Swift and The Once-ler have a desire to outdo themselves. They want to set records and beat them, they want to be the ones on top. However, with fame comes carelessness. For Once-ler and Taylor, this manifested in environmental degradation. Once-ler destroyed the ecosystem in the Truffula Valley, ignoring objections from The Lorax. On a smaller scale, Swift has recently been called out for her use of her private jet. It was reported that she had the worst Co2 emissions this past year. She totaled 170 flights in just 7 months.

Taylor reflects on her feelings about being famous and the stressors that come with it in her documentary Miss Americana. She recalls her journey to fame and what it's like being under the public eye. The Once-ler tells a similar story throughout The Lorax to Ted. He tells the full story of his journey to success and warns young Ted to not make the same mistakes he did. Both stories are politically focused to a degree, Once-ler focusing on environmentalism and Taylor on lgbt rights. Overall, the two share a similar upbringing, rise to fame, and mindset.

Thank you for reading if you made it this far. I could do a whole other post on analyzing Taylor songs and how they relate to the Once-ler so if you want that let me know. Again I hope any of this makes sense I wrote it in a frenzy.

[zot3-flopped]

I watched AOTV on a leaked link and damn it was one boring documentary. Literally. The only part that made me emotional was the part about his mom.

He talked about 1d tooooo much. The first 10 to 15 minutes of the movie was about 1d and his time there and a whole pity story of how he didn't get those parts to sing etc. And then he bragged about having the most writing credits in the band. And when I thought he stopped talking about 1d and move on with the rest of the story, he starts to talk about 1d all over again to show how he had a tough time. If I put a $ each time I heard him mention the band or the members I would have gone bankrupt.

From 1d he moved to Jay and Fizzy's death which was fine bcz it was a tragedy that happened in his life. It was the only part in the documentary that felt like it needed to told to let everyone know how he felt. He was a bit condescending though during that part thinking he deserve a career in music bcz that was his mom's wish and she didn't want her death to stop him from going forward in his music career. The Tomlinson sisters makes an appearance multiple times during that part. And so does Olli and the homophobe Nizam.

From there he shifted to Freddie and talked about him fondly and lovingly with a lot of content about him. Freddie appeared in 2 stages in the documentary. 1. Louis becoming a father story with the beach scenes and etc. And 2. Freddie being at his solo shows part.

And then it was the same boring story we've heard him speak for the last 7 years. He had the same footage from the Away from home documentary released in 2021 in there as well. Then a few footage from his latam shows bcz why not? Those are the biggest venues he played and probably ever be able to sell out. So he was showing off the crowds in those footage to make others think he was doing a full arena tour saying he never thought he could sell these big venues. Liam and Niall made another appearance there when he talked about that Coca cola festival he did where Liam also played and the Mexico festival he did where Niall also played.

HE WAS SMOKING IN EVERY SCENE I kid you not!! Smoking in the recording booth, chainsmoking in his hotel rooms, venues, inside cars, private jets, even there was a clip of Liam vaping while he smokes during the coca cola festival. It was just endless amount of glorifying his smoking kink. It was disgusting. He was talking about his mom and sister's death and saying how much it affected him but had no problem glorifying drinking and smoking throughout the film. Even the instances where he wasn't physically holding a cigarette, you can still see smoke leaving his mouth meaning he was smoking then too. All the other times he had a glass or a cup full of whatever he loves drinking.

Then on he talked about Walls and FITF process. But emphasized more on FITF for obvious reasons. And how he found success and thinking he deserves it. That's when he showed those latam crowds as if to prove a point. There was only 1 clip of him in the recording studio and even there he was singing out of tune. There was a couple of clips of him doing vocal training with Helene like the one we saw in the AFHF documentary. He was complaining how he thinks he nailed the vocals during the training sessions with Helene but once he does the performance and watch the performance video he can hear him singing out of tune. Then he brushed it off by saying it was probably his head messing with him and Helene then boosted his ego by saying he did a good job and he should be proud of himself. She encouraged him by saying he sang Walls the song so well live acoustically somewhere which according to her is a tough song to sing.🤣

And then.... that's it!!! The movie started with him holding the UK #1 trophy and the movie ended with him holding it in the video we saw him share with the Official Charts as if to show he made it. But in reality it was his only achievement he could show off.

There was no substance or depth to the documentary and I wasn't impressed by Charlie's directing there. It looked so cheaply made. Even the filters used were meh. It seems like he had nothing interesting show or say about his life throughout the documentary so it dragged on boringly for 2 hours with the audience ending up knowing nothing new about him.

Thank you for this thoughtful, detailed review. 💜

Shame Louis couldn't restrain himself from smoking in every scene - it's such an abominable example to set to his young fans. I bet he spends a fortune on private jets just so he can suck on those cancer sticks. He's disgusting.

He really does need to find some new talking points, doesn't he? He's not the only person to lose his mother in his mid 20s, and he still has five siblings who all seem to adore him. He has enormous wealth privilege and this victim narrative he's spinning out isn't convincing.

[fiddler-sticks]

I posted 10,873 times in 2022

That's 7,093 more posts than 2021!

1,230 posts created (11%)

9,643 posts reblogged (89%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@carryingthebanner

@your-skeletons-extended-warrenty

@theopalescent1

@cloudofbutterflies

@the-crypid-magpie

I tagged 3,010 of my posts in 2022

#thanks for the ask :)) - 279 posts

#spotify - 159 posts

#newsies - 152 posts

#unreality - 79 posts

#thanks for the tag :)) - 75 posts

#will never not reblog - 42 posts

#youtube - 41 posts

#prev tags - 40 posts

#a very berry christmas - 36 posts

#feel free to reblog - 36 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#who knew the positive impacts memorizing the names ages likes dislikes lines and backstories of ensemble characters could be so fulfilling-

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

West Endsies rehearsal pics

See the full post

161 notes - Posted November 15, 2022

#4

I'm not in both the starkid and firebringer tumblr fandoms enough to know if this has been done before, but I'm having fun with these, so y'all are getting this

171 notes - Posted March 4, 2022

#3

West Side Story Fans: Your Attention Please

Since the new West Side Story come out, especially since it's come out on Disney+, there's been an increase of new WSS fans. And normally that would be good, except that most of these new fans are very racist, most of them without even realizing it. Everyone is just focusing on Jets, Jets, Jets, and trying to justify their bad actions towards the Sharks, and thinking 'oh, you know, they've been told they're gonna be nothing all their lives, so that automatically makes them better people'. No. Just, no. The Jets were transphobic for most of the movie, racist for all of it, and did a bunch of other things that you absolutely cannot justify by saying that people told them they would be nothing. Yes, the Sharks also did bad things, but they weren't the ones who started it. They moved to America because they genuinely thought they would have a better life. And while that's partially true for physical things, they certainly did not expect to be tormented by white people just for the color of their skin and their accents. The Sharks did bad things because they were trying to defend themselves, while the Jets did bad things because they were racist and didn't have any other outlet.

Y'all can try and justify the Jets' actions with anything you want, but you can't just ignore that they were shitty to the Sharks and Puerto Ricans in general.

How many Jets can you name? Alright, and now how many Sharks can you name?

My point exactly.

Thank you for your time.

@sxrrynotsxrry

174 notes - Posted March 4, 2022

#2

Happy Pride to Racetrack Higgins who is CANONICALLY TRANS THANK YOU VERY MUCH

257 notes - Posted June 1, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Hmmm, I wonder who that's for

315 notes - Posted January 14, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[mosylufanfic]

Ooooh! I have a NaNo prompt. Cisco discovers Caitlyn has a collection of pretty, smooth rocks, and Cait discovers Cisco really likes moss. Together, they create some awesome terrariums to commemorate moments and to give as gifts.

This was an adorable idea! 

Assembling Our Ecosystem

For as long as he'd known her, Caitlin shouldn't have any surprises left for Cisco. Which was why, the weekend he came to visit Central City and help her re-paint her living room, he was taken aback to lift a box and find it nearly rip his arms out.  

He hadn't been that lazy about arm day, had he?

“Caitlin,” he called out. “Why is this box so heavy? Is it full of rocks or what?"

"Which box?" She tacked the last sheet of plastic over the couch and went over to peer at his box. "Oh. Yes."

"Yes, what?"

"That's all my rocks."

He set it down with a grunt. "Literal rocks."

She opened the box to show him. "Yes."

He blinked at the plastic boxes with neatly arranged, colorful rocks, some glossy and angular, some smooth and matte. Then he blinked at her. "This new?"

He kept discovering stuff like that, since moving away. Caitlin would mention that she'd started taking piano lessons, or that Starbucks was trying to move in on Jitters territory. Which got the Jet Song from West Side Story stuck in his head for a day. Now that he'd been gone a few years, it felt a little like Central City was evolving away from the place that had been his home for decades into . . . someplace else.

But she shook her head. "I always liked picking up rocks here and there. Sometimes I'd save them to put on gravestones, you know, but sometimes I just like to keep them." She ran a finger over a pink crystal. "They're pretty. And nice to touch."

Huh. He'd never noticed her doing that. "Okay," he said. "Fair enough. But do I have to move them to the other room?"

She tried to pick up the box and yelped. "Okay, that's a lot heavier than I remember. Yes, shove it under the couch and I'll pull the plastic over it."

Later on, when they were both sweaty and paint spattered, she kissed him for the first time, and he wondered if this was something that had changed, or something that had always been there. He kissed her back and decided that whichever one it was, he liked it.

-

The first time she came to visit his apartment in Starling City, she came back from washing her hands and said rather sternly, "Please tell you intend to have moss in the bathroom."

"Yes," he said, checking the food in the saucepan. "Yes, I intend to have moss in the bathroom, that is intentional moss."

"Okay, next question, why do you have intentional moss in the bathroom?"

"I read this book," he said. "And the lady was like, a moss scientist, and actually moss is kind of interesting - okay, don't look at me like that. It was really cool and she was a good writer. She had another book on the bestseller list for weeks. But you know how you get weird obsessions when you're going through a breakup. Even one that was a long time coming."

She nodded. "So you've had a moss garden in your guest bathroom for the past three years?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess, kinda." When he pictured it, he actually had a lot of moss in the bathroom right now. They were getting into Hanging Moss Gardens of Babylon territory, to tell the truth. No wonder she was so surprised. 

"And you never mentioned it."

"It didn't come up!" He turned down the heat and reached out to tug her close. "Changing your mind about dating me?"

"Mmmm," she said, leaning in to kiss him. "Not so far."

-

Caitlin knew she got overly tense about some things. But if you asked her, Cisco was rather too laissez faire about the same things. Which in theory meant they should balance out, but mostly meant bickering. 

"Correct me if I'm wrong," he said, which meant he was going to be so wrong, "but we're putting on a wedding, right? Not a child's birthday party? Why do we need party favors?"

"They're centerpieces," she said grumpily. "And they also function as gifts for the guests."

"Aren't they supposed to bring us gifts? And do people actually take the party favors?"

"I mean . . . some people. Yes."

"Uh-huh," he said doubtfully. "And what's the purpose of them other than to be party favors and to be something else you get all crazy about?"

She glared at him. He cleared his throat. "I mean, my darling and the love of my life, something else that gives you stress and trouble which I am here to relieve because, as mentioned, you are my sweetheart and my chosen partner?"

She allowed him to snuggle her, because that had been actually very sweet, and she'd been sweating over this for the past hour and wanted snuggles. "They're supposed to represent us. What we're all about. As a couple."

He opened his mouth.

"Do not say just our initials etched on a plaque or something. Please."

"I was gonna 3-D print them," he muttered. "It would have been fine." He frowned into the distance. "Hey, I can 3-D print some bowls or something."

"What? Just to be bowls?"

-

They didn't wind up using 3-d printed bowls, because apparently glass was much better for this. 

"Terrariums!" Barry said, picking one  up and turning it around. 

The collection of glass boxes, layered with gravel and soil, each one decorated with a particularly nice rock out of Caitlin's collection and filled with some of Cisco's moss, had taken them most of a weekend to assemble. But Caitlin thought they'd turned out really nice.

Barry seemed to agree. "Our turtle will love this."

"You still have a turtle?" Cisco asked. They were taking a break from setting up the reception hall to snarf down some pre-rehearsal, day-before-the-wedding sandwiches.

"Dude, they live forever."

"I know, I just haven't seen him in years."

"I thought it would be something a little more scientific," Iris said to Caitlin. "Like. Erlenmeyer flasks with your initials."

"Well, that is something we share, but it's not the only thing we share," Caitlin said. "This is made up of something we both just collected for fun, because we liked it, not because it's our job. And it's pretty, and with proper care, it'll grow and last."

Cisco blew her a kiss. "Just like us."

FINIS

[cru5h-cascades]

2023: A Year That Existed (Wrapping Up the Year)

Hey everyone! Now with xmas outta the way practically nothing else is really happening this year except for New Year's Eve, which means 2023 is another year in the books!

Here's a highlight reel of the year in order (sort of idk):

January - My track Blissful Ecstacy gets frontpaged on Newgrounds and a month later gets noticed by luminoghost himself!

February - The Splatoon 3 Expansion Pass gets revealed to the world, launching me as well as others into speculation on whatever the hell Side Order's plot is gonna be, a state of insanity that would last until Spetember (unless if you're like me and found out about the leaked Side Order files that were datamined sometime in the summer!)

March - Wave 1 of Splatoon 3's Expansion Pass comes out alongside Fresh Season 2023. Anyways, Cereza and the Lost Demon came out and boy was it hella fun to play!

April - My birthday was on the 13th and we also had the Zelda splatfest that month, which was pretty neat :D. Also, Cult of the Lamb's first major content update came out. I wouldn't be able to actually play this thing until a few months later because of some bug connected to the reclics room.

May - Tears of the Kingdom came out and I'd end up spending a month plus away from S3 trying to finish the game.

June - The disapointment of a season known as Sizzle Season 2023 comes out and I'm still working on TotK, only finishing it halfway through the month and then finally experiencing Sizzle Season myself shortly after finishing TotK. Also, school went out for me that month :D

July - It was either this month or August where we got the summer nintendo direct. Still no Side Order, but we got the announcement of Princess Peach Showtime tho!

August - School started up again and it felt like being dragged back to hell. Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, formerly known as the Jet Set Radio 3 that never was, came out but I didn't get to play until September.

September - A bombshell hits the Splatoon community shortly after the catastrophe known as the fallout after Shiver v Frye v Big Man as a full trailer for Side Order comes out in the September direct, revealing that Agent 8 would be returning to the game, Pearl has been turned into a drone, the Inkopolis Square we play in isn't the actual Inkopolis Square but a replica of it, and most importaintly DEDF1SH WOULD BE AN IMPORTAINT CHARACTER IN THE DLC. Also I consumed as much media related to Dear Evan Hansen this month for some reason.

October - Spooky month. Nothing much happened this month besides me ending my long running Hellbent Concept OST series tbh so moving on...

November - My track Hellfish Heretic would get frontpaged on Newgrounds and Scott Pilgrim Takes Off released on Netflix.

December - To cap off the entire year I basically turned into a full fledged victim (the Killers fan) by listening to a bunch of their music & listening to video essays on folks tryna piece together the story of the Murder Trilogy, even doing so myself over here on tumblr some time ago. Also I finally played Deltarune and I'm currently starting Undertale (now I have to unlearn everything I did in Deltarune just so I can play Undertale lmao).

This year didn't start off that great for me, but it eventually improved as the months went by, to be honest. Got two more tracks on the front page of Newgrounds, my art improved a bunch over the past year for the most part, and I've gotten a few more followers across all my socials (not a lot but it's something!), so this year wasn't too bad.

Now, what am I gonna do in the next year when it comes to my own content? Well, of course I'm gonna continue with my usual writing pieces, art, music, ect., but I'm also gonna throw in some extra bigger projects into the mix as well! Because Side Order comes out next year, I'll be starting finally writing my Splatoon OCs' Side Order arc stories (I've been teasing the arc for a while now), as well as reworking and finally writing other stories about my OCs as well. Also, I plan on starting a seperate blog for a story surrounding Ribbon & WD sometime next year! The story is being worked on right now and I plan on structuring the blog as part ask blog for Ribbon & WD and part comic sorta thing, so something similar to that one fannmade Splatoon comic #14 crush.

Anyways, hope y'all had a great year and I hope y'all have a greater 2024. If you've been sticking around my blog this entire time, thanks for being there to see my stuff. If you're just finding out about my existence via this post you should give me a follow if ya want :D

See y'all on the flip side (of order)!

Can't wait to finally play Side Order in a few months yay!!!

[atangledfate]

Sonic gave Surge a deadpan stare at the comments about Jet and how annoyed he was. She didn't really know the full story and honestly not many people did. It wasn't like he advertised his relationships or, how badly they ended to everyone. The fact Jet never acknowledged it or brushed it off the way he did honestly didn't help at all. But it still got under his quills and made him want to knock Jet on his ass some days. It didn't help that anytime there was a grandprix the two were practically flirting the whole way. It wasn't intentional it just happened.

" ... Eh, Lots of people want to kill me Surge. You wanting me dead isn't anything new. Jet on the other hand is my Ex, now can we focus on the task at hand... "

He really didn't want to go into anymore detail then that. The how, and Why was so much less important right now!

" Oh yea, guess the wisps can just pop into the engine room... Guess this is why i'm not the ideas guy of the team. I'm usually just rushing into things and making it up as i go along... "

Truthfully he just had so much on his mind right now he wasn't thinking straight. Between what was going on with Surge, and Jet's badgering him in just the right way. It made him want to curl into a ball and hibernate for a year! Still he was glad Surge suggested it, not that he couldn't just run in there and grab Tails and be out in a flash! still probably safer this way.

" We should still do a sweep of the ship make sure nobody got left behind... even the security idiots. Like i'm sure they are just doing there job ya know? not bad people ... least i want to believe that..."

Sonic wouldn't leave anyone behind, even the Clean Sweep Security guys. He'd make sure everyone was off the ship even if Surge decided to bail right now. They could sweep the ship before anyone could blink and be done with it just as fast!

" thanks again Big Mom! i owe you several at this point! "

He yelled out the hatch before giving Surge a glance not sure if she'd follow but he was off to scour the ship for anyone who got left behind! Hopefully was still an escape pod or two he could dump them in fore heading to the exit himself!

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

Miles fur stood on end seeing the Shadowy Wisp of energy out the corner of his eyes. He wasn't sure if it was an enemy, or not but seeing the Wisp he relaxed. The Lemur he didn't recognize but any friendly face was a good face in his book. The young Hero gripped the controls and looked rather sour at Rowan as he wasn't sure he could just leave the controls just yet. Not until he was sure the ship had cleared the base and was a safe distance away.

" Yea i wish it were that simple--- Clutch destroyed the auto pilot, and disabled the controls connected to the bridge. Basically only way to steer this thing away from HQ is for someone to drive this thing manually... Until we hit the all clear mark, i can't just dip. the ship could veer off or worse... "

he explained to the ring tailed Lemur as he as holding the controls steady. He had no idea there was a giant wisp outside, as there was no windows and a very basic display on where he was going.

" But thanks, this can still work--- We just are gonna cut this REAL close! i'll stay here till the last second and jump through the shadow gate... yea that can work! I got this... just need to calculate the area of the explosion and adjust distance .... all in my head. "

Miles hated stress like this, it was bad enough this hunk of junk barely moved. But now he had to do a complex math problem in his head while guessing how big HQ was and just how far they needed to be to avoid damage to HQ. Though negating the damage was probably impossible minimizing it was as good as they were gonna get.

"Oh, me trying to kill you doesn't get you to hate me, though being an annoying extreme gear racer does? Wish I would've known that's all it took to piss you off," Surge said, though knew that had to be more than just that yet couldn't help pointing it out. Whatever, it wasn't the tenrec's business on what Jet did to piss off Sonic so much to actually say he hated someone.

"Geez, it's almost like I used my fucking brain before throwing that shot, though it's not like I pointed out it was one of those private shuttles and going AWAY from everything." Was Surge being petty? A little, though this was one of the few times where the tenrec used her instincts AND thinking before doing something. "Whatever, I'm sure he's screwed enough as it is." The speedster was still pissed, though couldn't do anything about it now.

"Wow, I can't believe I never killed you in any of our pervious fights. I have a faster and better idea," Surge said, walking over to the hole. "HEY, ONE OF SONIC'S FRIENDS NEEDS A QUICK ESCAPE TOO! HIS NAME IS TAILS, MOST LIKELY HELPED SAVE THE WISPS AS WELL!" The tenrec yelled at the Mother Wisp who had let go of the ship by this point when it began moving on it's own.

"I only got a little bit of that, though I heard the important parts." The Mother Wisp was having a hard time hearing with all the gunfire. "I'll have one of my children open a portal for him." She did recall a lot of them mentioning a fox by the name of Tails. "Here is your exit." She opened up two portals to let Sonic and Surge get back into the Shadow Void.

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

The Wisp had written several words on Mimic's face by this point, though it was in their native language so it was anyone's guess to what it actually said. Though they stopped sensing their mother's request. At least they've had time to gather some energy back and it seemed all of their siblings were too scared to help. Before Rowan they would be as well. It whistled to the lemur getting his attention before starting to fly up.

Rowan was laying on one of the platforms before hearing Shade whistle at him before flying up. "Alright, I'm coming," the lemur said, starting to jump his way up as more platforms appeared which meant more shadows. He did stop at Mimic. "Eh, might as well." He pulled out a red marker and wrote 'Rowan was here' right on his forehead before continuing to jump up.

Rowan then watched as Shade opened a portal which he walked into. "Okay, guessing you want me to step through." The lemur walked through and saw he was on the airship. He then turned and saw Miles. "Yo. Guess I'm your way off this airship. Hope you don't mind feeling your bones compressing slightly, though it just feels weird."

[mortal-kombat13]

Let the research begin (+story time)!

For this new game that I wanted to make I felt that I wanted to truly cater to old fans more so than new ones. Mortal Kombat has a stable fan-base, but the fans of this current generation would have not played older iterations of the franchise. By solely bringing back and reviving old characters from a dead era it attracts the old fan-base whilst still creating the ruse of being 'new' characters to rope in new players. ​

The reason behind me taking this direction with the game and trying to win over old fans is because every couple years when a new Mortal Kombat game releases I will buy it and as a tradition I play the game with my brother. We've been playing Mortal Kombat since I was able to hold a controller, (don't worry I turned out normal). I have so many fond memories attached to Mortal Kombat. I used to steal my brother's copies of the games because my mum was not always able to buy me games. Eventually on my 9th birthday my mum had just re-wrapped my brother's copy of Shaolin Monks thinking I wouldn't notice but I did because his cover of Shaolin Monks (I still remember) had a slight little tear but I didn't care I still played the hell out of the game. I also remember taking his copy of Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe and my Xbox 360 kept scratching discs for some reason so when I returned it to him he got mad that it was all scratched and his Xbox wouldn't read the disc but worked fine for me (I got a free game, and a couple punches). I was surprisingly good for a child at Mortal Kombat. I mean maybe my brother just sucked because every time I kicked his ass at Mortal Kombat Deception he would get mad and never let me do a fatality. It took me forever to remember those fatalities down too because they weren't integrated into the move list in that era so I re-call going on our intel Celeron powered Compaq that sounded like a jet engine starting up just to write down the fatalities on a piece of paper Another fond memory of Mortal Kombat was me forcing my mum to sew me a sub-zero and scorpion outfit it was so fun running around cosplaying and beating up my sister (I had to fight someone and she was always around).

Anyway, nostalgic rant aside, returning to my initial point, I'm doing this for the old fans and also because in recent years I played Mortal Kombat X and Mortal Kombat 11 with my brother and he would constantly remark how terrible some of the new characters would be and would always nit-pick at any character that were not an original roster character. With the release of Mortal Kombat 1 (2023) it was the first time I saw him compliment the roster and appreciate the re-designs which got me thinking, scrap new characters and let's revive old characters, it's such a lucrative demographic (old-fans) that isn't been tapped into enough and utilising it's full potential in Mortal Kombat games. This is the best way to rope back in older fans whilst keeping new fans interested. ​

[davidpwilson2564]

Bloglet

Monday, September 11, 2023

It's quiet this morning. The names of the Twin Towers victims are being read. The dread event occurred twenty two years ago. And we recall how Rudy, now disgraced, came off a hero. And how a man leaping from a window fell on Father Judge, crushing him. So many memories of that day. My son phoning me to tell me to stay out of tall buildings (we didn't know; this could be a full-scale attack). Later, people lining up to give blood and finding it would not be necessary. Trump (troublemaker) promoting the story that Muslims in New Jersey were celebrating. Much more... The aftermath: those suburban commuter lots filled with unclaimed cars.

Evening: Jets play Bills in New Jersey (the two "New York" teams). Aaron Rodgers, vet QB meant to turn things around for the Boys in Green lasts all of eleven minutes and is out for the season.

Tuesday, September 12, 2023

Putin, in his slow moving bulletproof train, makes the trip to North Korea to see King Jung Un to discuss, among other things, a weapons deal. North Korea has an arsenal that it is willing to share (sell). All the better, it is believed, for Putin to crush Ukraine.

I see Roger rehearse his band at the Union. Astonishingly good. The best show in town. See a few friendly faces. (Don't get around much anymore.) Great music. No gigs. No call for a seventeen piece jazz band. (Frank Zappa is supposed to have said jazz is the music of unemployment.) Sapp, great drummer, enjoying his semi-retirement, sips a beer, plays beautifully.

to be continued

[morganalatina21]

Manipulating Death

(not my gif but i don’t know how to give credits, soo....

(Series?) Summary: When Harry discovers he has a twin sister that was hiding for years, he wants to know all about her, specially about her ability to bring people back to life.

Warnings: possible trigger for Sirius death (but it will pass, trust the process), tiny angst and my trash writing

a/n: So I decided to write a story abt Harry having a sister and her having a special connection with Regulus so I just decided to do it and transform it into a possible series cause I don’t think it would fit in a one shot.

(Also, english isn’t my first language so I’m sorry in advance lol)

*******************************************************

Solely one pair continued to fight, apparently not noticing Dumbledore's arrival. Harry watched Sirius dodging a red lightning coming from Bellatrix's wand: he was laughing at her.

"Come on, you can do better than this!" He screamed, the voice echoing through the cavernous room.

The second jet of light hit him right on the chest. The smile still didn't vanish from his face, but the eyes were wide open.

Harry let go of Neville, even though he had no conscious what he was doing. Yet again started to jump down the steps, pulling the wand, at the same time Dumbledore was also looking at the bed frame.

Sirius took an eternity to fall, it seemed; his body described a gracious arc and he dived with his back in the ragged veil. Harry saw the fearful and surprised expression on his devastated and once pretty face when he went through the arc and disappeared beyond the veil, that fluttered for a moment like a strong wind was blowing, and then became static once more.

Harry continued looking at the arc, ignoring Bellatrix's exaggerated screams, waiting for his figure to come back triumphant, a playful smile on his lips.

What finally got him out of that state was the shoving that almost led him to the ground; someone came running and pushed him out of the way, desperately trying to get to the arc and leaned forward, one hand only on the outside, but the body was fully taken by the veil.

"What the..." Harry heard, very close, only then realizing he only didn't fell because Lupin's hands stopped him.

With one big thrust, two people came out. The one that shoved him, carrying the heavy and pale body of his godfather.

The boy felt like he could finally breathe again, stumbling to get closer to Sirius, being followed by Remus.

Making sure that the Black was there, he really came back, now he could finally look at the person that had dived into the veil to save him. It was a girl, with dark clothing and shaky hands that adjusted Sirius on the floor.

Throwing himself right by the man's side, Harry tried to pronunciante a thankful sentence, anything, but the words were choked on his throat.

Looking back, the girl noticed Bellatrix became angry, so she put a hand on Sirius shoulder and held out the other one in Lupin's direction, which he took by reflex, and they were transported.

Harry fell on his knees on a carpet, in an ample but dark living room that reminded him of the house on Grimmauld Place, with upholstered chairs and paintings in the walls.

"Are you... Who I think you are?" Lupin asked, taking two steps behind and looking at the girl with a question mark on his face.

"Now's not the time, Remus." She answered simply, taking off Sirius' coat. "I need you to get me that second drawer." She instructed, pointing at a small closet in the corner of the room.

"Will he be okay?" Harry questioned, noticing how pale he looked like. Plus, he hadn't moved since.

"Yes. But I need to act quick, he came back from the dead way too fast, his body didn't had time to get used to it."

The boy felt his stomach drop, he really would've died. And he couldn't have done anything to stop it.

Lupin came back with a drawer full of potions glasses for the girl that, without even looking, pulled three different and layed them right beside her.

"How are you alive?" The professor asked, kneeling down and looking at her like she was the one that resurrected.

"I could ask you the same thing, godfather." Commented, looking at him with a sided smirk while opening one bottle and pouring half its content inside Sirius' nostrils with the help of a medicine dropper.

"Godfather?"

"Nice to meet you, Harry." She said, her smile expanding. "I'm your twin sister."

His eyes went wide. She did, actually, looked like the pictures he'd seen from his mother..

But still...

The girl kept herself nonchalant with her own words and continued the process of healing Sirius, whispering spells she knew like the back of her hand and using potions whenever was needed.

"My... what?"

"It's a really long story." She shrugged, cupping Sirius' face, fingers touching his temples, shaking ans murmuring phrases in Latin the boy did not knew.

After a few seconds in silence, where the two of them tried to understand what was happening, Sirius started squirming, his body trying to raise from the floor but giving up right on cue.

The Black's eyes started rolling and his mouth hanged open in a silent scream, the lights started flashing and the entire house seemed to shake.

The glasses in the drawer jingled and the windows knocking, making Harry feel like he was in one of those thrillers Dudley used to watch and wasn't able to sleep after.

The girl held his shoulders, making the spasms stop and got him to lay on his sides, opening his mouth and keeping his hair away from the face. Sirius started forcing his throat, choking and spitting as if he was about to throw up.

Harry expected some sort of sticky liquid to come out of his mouth, the normal in times like this; however nothing til that point seemed normal, so why would that?

What looked like the longs and dark legs of a huge spiders started so stretch out of Sirius lips, as if he had swallowed Aragorn. A black and fluttering form came out his body and stood up, one pair of red glowing eyes looking at Harry.

"Don't worry, it won't hurt you." The girl assured. "Just can't let it escape."

Right on schedule, the figure trotted off the door and the Potter grunted in frustration.

"Let it be." Sighed, nesting Sirius on her lap as he was catching his breath. "The house is sealed anyway."

"What was that?"

"A death possessor." Explained, gesturing Harry into handing her another bottle. "When someone dies very suddenly, a possessor invades their body and it has to do quickly turn off the five senses from when you're alive to when you're dead." Continued, opening the orange glass from her brother.

"After some time it starts do bend to your soul, so you can't return to the living layer of the world, cause it will be completely attached to you and won't let you have your life back. That's why most resurrection plans don't work out." She concluded, holding Sirius chin to make him drink, when the man started to mumble.

"Lily?"

Remus held his breath, the Black was still very shaken and couldn't realize that wasn't his friend.

"Hey Sirius."

"Is it really you? Where's- Where's James?"

"James' busy right now." She replied, keeping her face slightly turned so he couldn't really see her. "But come on, speak to me. It's been quite some time. Remember that time we talked by the Black Lake?"

Sirius' breath hitched and everyone in the room could see the tears staring to run from the corner of his eyes to his ears.

"I was trying to convince you to give James a chance." He told, a faint smile on the lips. "That he had sheltered me from my parents, and that he's a good person." His voice was just above a whisper, choking mid-sentence because of the crying.

"And you remember what I answered?"

Remus frowned. Why was she doing that? Leading Sirius to believe he was really talking to Lily, instead of bringing him back to reality?

"You said it made sense. And a week later said yes to a date with him." Sirius sniffed and coughed, his body shaking weakly. "That's why you two started dating."

"And I owe you for that one, Sirius." The man smiled through the tears. "But now you need to wake up." And turned the bottle on his mouth, the fluid escaping on the edges and the Black's eyes shut at the same time.

His body went numb on her arms, but the chest still rising and lowering lightly, indicating he as alive.

"Why did you do that?" The marauder asked, having the girl's eyes on him. "You're not Lily."

"I know" She nodded, carefully living Sirius asleep on the carpet with a pillow on his head and started standing. "But it's easier for him to believe he almost died and then saw his childhood friend than that he died and his best friend's daughter who is supposed to be dead saved him and now he's here."

Harry shook his head. Even he still didn't knew what was going on.

"He'll have a lot of things to get used to, and his body need some rest. So many changes in short time can cause damage. Last time something like this happened, he spent twelve years in Azkaban, so..."

A loud banging was heard coming from above and she sighed.

"You really couldn't handle that for me?" Questioned out loud, looking at the stairs.

"I'm busy." Someone replied, muffled because of the distance and a door closed.

Remus and Harry stared at each other, there was someone else?

"Well so am I, saving your brother by the way, you little fop." Countered, rolling her eyes.

A latch noise and hurried steps coming downstairs led to the reveal of a slender man, a little older than both Harry and the girl, black curls falling on his forehead leading to dark but pretty eyes.

Looking between the man lying on the floor and the new figure, the resemblance was clear, but if Sirius was the last Black alive...?

"Regulus Black?"

The man's eyes lifted from the sleeping human and finally took in the other two in the room, nodding to the older one. "Lupin."

"Seems like today's the day of coming back from the dead..." He spoke slowly, one brow arched at the younger Black while viewing every inch of him.

"Well, now that you're here I can go and deal with the possessor and you can deal with this." The girl said, gesturing in circles to them before sprinting upstairs.

"She was never really good at handling people." Regulus said after some time, trying to break the ice between them.

Harry took a step forward, for what his godfather had said, his little brother was a Death Eater and even though, allegedly he had died trying to leave the Dark Lord, there was no guarantee he would be gentle.

"Sirius said you were dead." He pronounced, his hand itching to reach for his wand. "Murdered on Voldemort's orders."

"You died." Lupin added, but the boy remained silent. "I remember it. It was right after Lily and James got married."

"That's... a long story." Regulus sighed, looking with the corner of his eyes to the stairs, almost wishing the girl would be done soon so he wouldn't have to explain it all by himself, but he knew better.

Then, an idea popped on his mind.

"And I think Sirius would like to hear it." Watched his brother sleeping, perhaps peacefully for the first time in the last fifteen years. "So why don't you tell Harry about his sister, I'm pretty sure you have no clue what's going on."

The boy looked at his professor, but spoke before him.

"Why would I trust anything you say? You were a Death Eater last time I checked."

"You're not trusting me by staying here or listening to me, you're trusting your sister." Regulus replied, his hands were on his back, standing up straight and looking nonchalant. "And if you think Y/n Potter would be evil, she wouldn't have saved Sirius in the first place."

"But she saved you." Remus countered. "I'm assuming you didn't faked your death to escape Voldemort, otherwise you would've asked for Dumbledore's help when he returned. And I don't see any reason why choosing to raise James' daughter would be good to you. Plus, she having saved you before explains why she seemed so calm handling Sirius."

The Black boy sighed, "Would you like a cup of tea so we can talk about it? I'm pretty sure you're tired. And when he wakes up, he will need some food." And without letting room for response, he started leading the way to the kitchen.

Harry breathed deeply, what the hell was happening?

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