#but. seriously? this guy took her for granted for so long and now that she's (almost literally) shining...

[harrowscore]

so, basically it's a ~I Didn't Know I Loved Her (girl who's had feelings for me that i neglected to notice for years) Until I Lost Her~ thing. until mal saw her "happy with him (the darkling)" - until she didn't belong to him anymore, but to another world. a world where she didn't make herself small, didn't repress her powers, wasn't sickly and plagued by weakness and insomnia. where she thrived.

great! i hate it

oh shut up mal.

[barefoot-joker]

Snake in the Garden Pt 5~Yandere!Lucifer X Reader

Hey, guys! Welcome back to Snake in the Garden! I do apologize for my long absence. College has started back up; my depression has been kicking my butt and writing block for this chapter were just a few reasons for the delay. However, I'm back with a bang! I highly recommend reading the warnings on this chapter as it does get a bit intense. Oh, and from the bottom of my heart: thank you all so much for supporting this fanfiction! I cherish every like, reblog and read every comment posted on each chapter. I plan to have multiple parts after this one, so I hope you stay. Also, the taglist is open, so if you'd like to be added don't hesitate to comment! As always, have a great day/night and enjoy part five!

Words: 9626

Warnings: Swearing (more than usual), Non-Con Touching, Non-Con Kissing, Non-Con Sexual Advances/Harassment, Reader is forced to wear skimpy clothes, Graphic Depictions of Violence, Body Horror, Lots of Blood, Various Characters gain Trauma from Lucifer, Lucifer goes into Beast Mode, Lucifer's Obsession goes off the rails, Possessive treatment to Reader, Talk of hanging by snake, Kidnapping, Talk of watching someone die, Major Yandere Behavior from Lucifer, Reader gets Pushed Around, Reader gets put in a Cell, Degrading Name Calling-mainly to Reader, Talk of Cannibalism, Reference to Disturbing use of Body Parts, Talk of Sexual Actions, Talk of Drinking Blood, Reader Suffers Abundantly in this Chapter, Seriously who gave Lucifer a Sword

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

I gasped and my eyes widened as I stared at the two beings in my living room. The one who spoke was a larger man. He appeared to have a dad bod underneath his white, purple and gold robe. The black mask he wore had two large horns attached and his golden facial features held a smug look. Behind him stood a female. She too wore a black mask, her horns curled inwards. She appeared to be wearing a black tunic with black skin tight pants and light gray thigh high boots to match. The crude white stitched mouth scowled at me, almost acting like I was wasting her time. I gulped, both sets of eyes watching me like a hawk. “W-who are you? What do you want?”

The masked man set down his bag of Doritos (which I realized were from my cupboard) and offered a hand. “The name’s Adam, sweetheart. I’m the First Man.”

I looked down at his hand and then back at him. He wiggled his eyebrows at me. “If you’re the First Man, does that mean that Lucifer sent you to come get me?”

I stepped back in fear as he cackled, holding his stomach. “Heavens no! I hate that son of a bitch!”

I lowered my guard a bit. “If you’re not with him, why are you here?”

Adam stopped laughing and brushed his robe. “I’ve come to take you to Heaven with me.”

“But I have no business there. I’m not even dead!”

“I can grant you permission. Let’s say it's one of the perks of being a celebrity.”

He pointed his fingers at me as if they were guns and he clicked his tongue. I looked between him and his companion. She tilted her head towards her master as if to say take his hand. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Come on! Lucifer can’t touch you while you’re on Holy ground. And I have a funny feeling he’d like to get his claws on you, if you know what I’m saying.”

I cringed in disgust at what he was implying. “Besides, I can be your bodyguard! I have special privileges being famous after all. And my wingspan is bigger than Lucifers!”

I looked down at my engagement ring. The snake seemed to coil tight around my finger as the eye glimmered, daring me to trust in the Heavenly man’s words. I bit my lip and looked up at him, his female companion now by his side. The sword at her side glinted and I could picture it ramming into my fiance. I could see the light leave his eyes and blood spill down his snow white skin. The betrayal would show on his face as it had mine when he took me to Hell. I felt my lips twitch into a smile as I realized that maybe, just maybe, these two were my allies. My eyes met Adam’s and I gave a quick nod. “I’ll go with you.”

His smile curled up by his eyes. “Good choice, babe. Lute prepare the portal.”

“Yes, sir.”

The woman stepped forward and raised her sword to the sky. She began to draw a symbol that looked like a cross and chanted under her breath. “In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, let these three souls enter Heaven freely.”

As soon as she finished, gold mist began to circle the ceiling. It began to sprinkle down around us, causing me to sneeze. “Bless you.”

“Thanks.”

I looked up and was amazed to see a bright blue sky and fluffy white clouds. Sunlight streamed down and it felt warm on my skin. “It’s ready, sir.”

“C’mon, babe! Let’s blow this popsicle stand!”

“Wait!”

I brought my fingers around my ring and forced it off. Relief flooded my body as I set it on the coffee table and I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I was finally free. “I’m ready now.”

I let out a squeak as he hoisted me up by my waist, his hand traveling a bit low to my butt. I didn’t have much time to think about it because his golden wings opened up and pushed us upwards. The wind from the angel’s wings swept my hair and I couldn’t help but let out a gasp. Even on a bright sunny day on Earth that sky couldn’t compare to Heaven’s. The blue of the sky was a bright baby blue and the clouds were the purest of white. I reached out a hand and laughed at how light the cloud felt passing through my fingers. “Beautiful isn’t it,” Adam questioned.

“It’s better than I could have ever imagined!”

“This isn’t even the best part.”

I focused my gaze ahead of us and my eyes widened. I could see a patch of clouds with bright pastel colored buildings, almost too bright to stare at. We landed on said patch and the mist surrounding the area brushed away, bowing to the First Man. Adam set me down and I was hesitant to place my full weight down. The cloud itself was soft and yet I didn’t fall through. Casting my eyes up, I saw a golden fence stretching a long distance that I couldn’t even begin to see the end of. In the middle was a set of golden doors creating a gate, pearls and diamonds adorning the bars. I gasped as I realized these were the Pearly Gates that people claimed to see as they passed on. As soon as it clicked, a short, blonde haired man with lightly saturated clothes and white wings appeared behind a podium. He flashed a smile with his pearly whites and beckoned us over. “Hiya! Welcome to Heaven! Can I get your name please?”

“Oh, um, Y/n L/n.”

He flipped to the appropriate page in his large book and when he found it he used his index finger to skim through all the names. He muttered under his breath as he searched, his eyebrows wrinkling after a few seconds. “Um, I’m not seeing you on my list. Perhaps you’re in the wrong place-”

“She’s with me, pretty boy.”

Adam crossed his arms and tapped his foot impatiently. “I told you not to call me that. It’s Saint Peter. Besides, she has to be on my list if she’s passed on. She’s dead, right?”

“No, but-”

“Adam, you can’t just bring living people here! It’s against the rules! Oh my goodness, what if He finds out-”

“He won’t! Now let us in, jackass!”

“I’m afraid I can’t allow that. I will not get in trouble again for your shenanigans!”

“You listen here-”

“What is going on here?”

All of us looked up to see two females flying down towards us. The one on the left was much taller than the one on the right. Both had gray dresses with purple and white accents. They landed in front of us and I could see them clearly. The one on the left appeared to be an adult woman with dark grayish brown skin. She had gray scaleras with white irises, long winged eyelashes and white freckles below her eyes. Her gray hair was long and was twisted into thick curls. A glowing white crown with blue jewels floated above her head as her black lips set in a frown. The one on the right looked like a child, her skin a lighter grayish brown tone. She too had white freckles under her blue eyes, the irises being an ombre of purple. Her light purple hair reached the hem of her dress and her black lips formed a pout. Both of their six white wings relaxed at their sides. “Sera, tell this dickhead to let us in! He has no right to keep us out here!”

“Sera, he brought in a human! One that has not yet passed on!”

The taller woman, Sera I assumed, raised her hand. “Enough. Let the girl speak on her own terms.”

Everyone turned their gaze towards me and I could feel my stomach twist in knots. My fingers fiddled with the fabric of my nightgown and I found my eyes were more interested in my bare feet. “Um, I’m Y-Y/n. I lived on Earth but Lucifer kidnapped me. He wants me to be his bride.”

I glanced back up at Sera and a shocked expression graced her features. In a second she flipped back to a more relaxed face, her black lips smiling at me. “My child, you have had quite the journey. Come.”

She moved to the side and gestured her hand towards the gate. I looked at Adam and he pushed me forward. “But, Sera-”

“It’s alright, Saint Peter. This is the one exception I will make.”

“Alright.”

He waved his hand and the gate opened, sunlight streaming through. I took a few hesitant steps forward and the four angels followed behind me. The buildings that I saw before glowed in the sunlight and the golden paved road appeared like marble. The two females stepped in front of me, calm smiles on their faces. “How rude of us to not introduce ourselves. I am Sera, the high Seraphim.” 

She bowed her head as the child-like angel giggled. She bounced in front of me and was quick to take my hand, shaking it ferociously. ��I’m Emily, the other Seraphim! But you can call me Emmy, Em, E, whatever. Welcome to Heaven!”

I smiled and pulled my hand away from her light grip. “Thank you. It feels so surreal being here honestly. I didn’t picture Heaven to look like this.”

“We are quite the close knit community. Everyone is friendly, polite and the nicest of the nice. We pride ourselves on being the best and most innocent of creatures,” Sera said. 

“Oh you’re going to like it here, Y/n! We’ve got the most delicious food you’ll ever taste and the beds are like you’re sleeping on a cloud, they’re so soft! You can indulge in any hobby you like and we even have ice cream with rainbow sprinkles!”

I chuckled at Emily’s enthusiasm. “Sounds like fun. Where might I be staying, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“You’ll be with me, toots. I have several bedrooms in my bachelor pad.”

Adam wrapped an arm around my shoulder. His fingers played with the strap to my nightgown and I felt a pit in my stomach as he slid it down my shoulder. His black fingers caressed the skin and I couldn’t help the shiver that ran down my spine. I didn’t know what was worse: Lucifer’s gentle touch or Adam’s commanding one. “How about we get you something new to wear. Lute, take Y/n and get her some new clothes. While I enjoy seeing those pretty shins of yours Y/n, I prefer to see them just for myself.”

His fingers slightly dug into my shoulder and I gulped. Was he being possessive or was it just my imagination from being around Lucifer? Lute signaled for me to follow her and as we walked the golden road I wondered if I truly was in a better place. I thought back to Earth and how I longed to be there with S/o. I wondered if he was looking for me or if somehow the Devil made him forget all about me. I held onto the hope that he was searching everywhere, calling everyone he knew and scouring every town in our state. “Hey, pay attention! We’re here.”

“Sorry.”

I hadn’t noticed Lute had opened a wooden oak door and was pointing at it. I walked in and she shut it behind us. I looked around the room as she rummaged through a closet. The purple floor was made to look like tiled marble and the light blue walls were a pastel version of the sky. The bed itself was King size and had purple sheets and blankets to match. A white knit duvet laid over top and the whole thing looked so soft. A nightstand with a purple based lamp stood on either side of the oak headboard, a wooden oak desk stood under a stained glass window, a purple wooden dresser stood next to the door, and the purple closet was next to another wooden door. Lute walked over and threw a pile of clothes at my chest. I looked up at her and could feel the anger behind her mask. “This will be your room. Bathroom is behind that door. Change and roam around as you like. Just don’t disturb Adam or myself. We’re busy people, got it?”

I blinked in shock at her tone. Why was she so displeased with me? It was Adam’s idea to bring me here. When I didn’t answer, she grabbed me by the hair and pulled. I shrieked as searing pain tugged at my scalp. “I said, got it?”

It sounded like she was gritting her teeth. I nodded my head rapidly. “Yes, yes! I got it!”

As she let go, she pushed me and I landed on the edge of the bed. “Just because you're in Heaven doesn’t mean you’ll get Heavenly treatment. You’re only here because Adam said so. If it was my choice, you would still be rotting in Hell being Lucifer’s bitch.”

She scoffed and turned, her heeled boots clicking against the tiled floor. I sat in disbelief even as the door slammed behind Lute. Clearly she despised me. The question was why. It took me a few minutes to get over the awkward exchange, finally looking down at the pile of clothes. Lute had chosen a boring arrangement: a white tank top, a golden jacket that was just the neck, shoulders and puffy sleeves, dark purple puffy harem pants, and black gladiator sandals. While I matched Adam's color scheme, Lute made it so I didn't stand out. I sighed and walked to the other wooden door. Opening it, it did house a bathroom like she said. I stepped in and locked the door behind me. Sure, everyone is supposed to be friendly, but with the way Adam made me feel uncomfortable I was not risking my safety. The bathroom held a toilet, shower, and a white marble counter with a sink. Silently I stripped down and put on the angelic garments. I had to admit while the clothes Lucifer gave me were soft, these felt, well, heavenly. I looked at myself in the mirror above the counter. I looked so pale from receiving no sun down in Hell and my eyebags matched the purple of my pants. I sighed and turned the faucet onto cold water. The frigidness felt nice against my fingertips as I tested the temperature. Satisfied, I splashed water onto my face and rubbed it in thoroughly. I breathed in deep and looked at myself in the mirror once more. My cheeks felt a bit warm from the cool contact, but I felt a bit better nonetheless. Drying my hands on a towel hanging on a metal bar behind me, I unlocked the bathroom door and headed back into the bedroom. As I was trying to figure out where I was going to explore first, I heard two voices. Curious, I stepped to my bedroom door and opened it slowly. Nobody was in the hallway, but I could hear the muffled conversation taking place next to me. Hesitantly, I walked into the hall and to the golden door next to mine. I put my ear up close to the wood. I couldn’t tell exactly who was talking to one another, but from what I knew it sounded like Adam and Sera. “-can’t believe you would bring her here, Adam! Do you know how dangerous your actions are?!”

“Chill out, drama queen. Nothing is going to fucking happen, okay.”

“You don’t know what Lucifer is capable of.”

“The motherfucker hides during the exterminations. You really think he’d try and come up here?”

“Yes! When Lucifer desires something he won’t stop till it’s in his grasp. I fear he will make quite the grand entrance to come and retrieve his beloved.”

“Oh please. Even if he does come, I’ll have her wrapped around my finger to the point she’ll obey my every order.”

My eyebrows scrunched together. I could only assume they were talking about me. But why would Adam want me to comply with him? It’s not like I found him attractive or was even remotely interested in him. My ears caught onto light footsteps headed for the door, so I quickly rushed around a corner. I watched as Sera entered the hall, a look of disappointment gracing her features. She sighed and floated the opposite direction of me, Adam soon following after. I let my hands slip down to my sides and decided to take a walk to mull over the whole situation.

I didn’t really pay attention to where I was going, just focusing on my feet lifting up and down as I walked. It wasn’t till I heard ocean waves that made me stop. I looked to my left to see a gorgeous beach sitting in the distance. How odd.

I felt myself drawn to the calming sound of the tide seeping in and out as I made my way over. The wooden steps below my feet squeaked a bit and soon the white sand seeped around my sandals. I stopped at the water’s edge and closed my eyes. The breeze off the sea brushed against my flesh, the warmth feeling like a hug from a loved one. The smell of the salt reminded me of when S/o and I traveled a few towns over from ours to visit an aquarium. The animals were held in their natural waters behind glass panes, but the smell of rich salt permeated the air wherever you went. “Enjoying your freedom?”

My eyes shot open and I spun around. Laying on a long white beach chair was a taller woman. Her long blonde hair blew a bit in the breeze and caressed the top of the sand. She wore a dark purple sun hat with a lighter purple band, a dark purple bikini set, and purple rimmed sunglasses. Even though I couldn’t see her eyes, her aura wasn’t threatening. “W-what did you say?”

“I said enjoying your freedom, dearie?”

“Um, I guess. I mean I just got here so I wouldn’t know-”

“Come closer.”

I was taken aback by her tone. Though she was in a relaxed position, her voice was commanding, authoritative. I gulped and did as she requested. I stopped by her bare feet and could feel her eyes scanning me up and down. She hummed and her lips twitched into a small smile. “So you’re the one Lucifer is obsessed with now. I’ll admit I can see why. A pretty thing like you probably reminds him of the swans he would keep in gilded cages. While they weren’t ducks per say he found their beauty and grace appealing.”

I could feel my cheeks heat up at her compliment. “T-thank you?”

She chuckled and leaned back, soaking up the sun. “Your wedding will be the talk of Hell for quite a few months, I reckon. It’s not often that the King lends out his heart. You must be very special to him.”

“I found him as a snake. He was wounded and I patched him up. God, if only I hadn’t touched him I wouldn’t be in this mess.”

The woman scooted her feet over and patted the empty space on her chair. I sat sideways so I was able to glance at her. “So he took the form of a snake, eh? He hasn’t done that since he offered the apple to Eve. I always did find it interesting how slippery he could be, even when not in his snake form.”

“He’s so clingy. I hardly have any time to myself, he is always by my side. His claws touch me tenderly and when I look into his eyes all I can see is adoration. It’s disturbing.”

“Possessive as always. Perhaps your presence eases his depression.” 

“I guess. I just don’t understand why he can’t get it through his head that I don’t want to be with him.”

“It’s called ego, darling. His pride gets the better of him. It doesn’t help that he’s the sin of it either.”

I brought my hand up to sit in my lap and found myself fidgeting with the finger my engagement ring had been on. “Apparently he’s so in love with me that he forgets he was married before. I realize his wife, Lilith I think her name was, left him seven years ago but he acts like I’m his first love.”

The woman was silent for a moment, the calm of the tide being the only sound between us. “Sounds like he’s just trying to find someone who makes him happy.”

“Yes, but at the expense of my own happiness.”

The woman opened her mouth to say something, but a familiar voice made us both look up at the wooden stairs. Emily stood waving her arm, a giant smile on her face. “Adam said you’d be out wandering so I thought I’d catch up and show you the ropes!”

“Sounds like fun.”

“Come on! I have so much stuff to show you!”

I chuckled and stood up from the chair. Just as I started to walk away, the woman’s hand clung to my wrist. Her grip was firm but gentle, making me turn back towards her. With her free hand she slid her sunglasses down her nose just enough to see her eyes. My eyes widened to see her light purple irises gleaming at me. “Please take care of him for me, Y/n. I can tell he truly loves and adores you.”

She raised my hand to her lips and left a light kiss on my knuckles. “Y/n, come on!”

The woman let me slip my hand from her grasp and as I slowly walked away she pushed her sunglasses back up. I was dazed as I reached Emily on the stairs, still reeling from what the woman had said. “Oh I’m so excited to show you everything! I think I’ll take you to the park first, ooo! Or I could take you to the zoo! We’ve got all of the animals Noah had on the Ark and more!”

I didn’t say anything as she grabbed my hand and pulled me away. Before we got too far I looked back at the woman, her hair blowing in the breeze.

I didn’t really pay much attention to what Emily was showing me or what she was saying. I was too focused on my conversation with the woman on the beach. Her eyes felt so familiar to me and yet I couldn’t place where I had seen them before. “/n? Y/n? Are you listening?”

I shook my head to see the young Seraphim looking at me concerned. “Huh?”

“I asked what you thought of the sunset. Isn’t it pretty?”

I followed her arm to see her pointing ahead of us. The clouds around us had turned pink, orange and light purple while the Sun had been cast to be a golden orange. “Yeah, it’s cool.”

“Are you okay? You seem distracted.”

“It’s nothing.”

“You can tell me anything. I’m here for you.”

Emily placed a hand on my shoulder, her thumb rubbing light circles. While the offer was tempting I didn’t know if I should tell her anything. I mean what did she know about Lucifer? Would she understand how the woman and I had connected while talking of the Devil? I looked over at her and could feel a wave of calm hit. Emily had this aura of trust and care surrounding her; her eyes sparkled and a friendly smile was placed on her black lips. I let out a sigh. “The woman I was with on the beach. Who is she?”

The angel looked puzzled, holding her chin in between her index finger and thumb. “I’m not entirely sure. She just showed up one day with Adam and Lute. I tried to talk to her but she brushed me off. Come to think of it, she only really talks to Adam. Why do you ask?”

“It’s just that she knew about Lucifer and I are to be wed soon. She also had information that isn’t known to the general public.”

“Maybe she heard it somewhere? I’ve heard Sera talk about Down Below every once in a while.”

“No, she knew too many details to have heard it in passing. Besides, she told me to take care of him, almost like she knew him personally. It was like she was giving me her blessing.”

“How mysterious.”

The two of us stood watching the sky slowly paint itself to night. It was refreshing to see something that S/o and I would watch any chance we got. “Y/n, may I ask you a question?”

“Sure.”

“What’s it like on Earth?”

I blinked a few times, stunned by her question. “You’ve never been?”

“No. I was created way after Lucifer fell. My only purpose is to make the winners happy and enjoy their eternal life here in Heaven. Sera doesn’t view my position as something needed in everyday human life.”

I hummed and stared at the night sky. A shooting star passed by and I smiled in wonder. “I find it to be a lovely place. The town I live in is a nice community. Everyone knows their neighbors and it was the kind of place where if someone had a barbeque, everyone in the neighborhood was invited. I live by myself in a small house. It was kind of like an apartment but with no roommates. I even have my own little garden out back. It is my pride and joy.”

“That sounds amazing. Do you have any significant others?”

“I do. His name is S/o and he’s my world. Before I was kidnapped we didn’t have much time to spend with one another due to our work schedules. But when we were together, my god those were the best times. He made me feel like the most special girl in the universe.”

I smiled upon remembering my dear boyfriend. The memories of us on dates or him telling a stupid joke that I’d laugh way too hard at flooded my head. Tears gathered in the corners of my eyes and I was quick to wipe them away. I choked back a sob and tried to focus on the stars. I didn’t want to become a crying mess in front of Emily. “Hiya, toots~”

The young angel and I turned to see the First Man standing behind us, his arms crossed in front of him. “It’s getting late, babe. Hows about you and I get to bed, hm?”

I looked at Emily, who gave me a curt nod. “I suppose.”

I walked up to him, only for him to snuggle me up to his side. “Thanks for watching her, Em! Go get yourself an ice cream or some shit.”

Before I could even say goodbye, Adam was dragging me back to my bedroom. He threw open the door and lightly pushed me inside. I stumbled and turned to look at him. “Alright, sweetheart. I’ll see you in the morning. If you need anything, and I mean anything, give me a holler. I’m right next door. Night, babe!”

He threw up a rock symbol on his right hand before slamming the door shut. What is with angels and slamming doors?

I shook my head and went to the closet. I looked in disgust at the pajama choice: a light pink babydoll nightgown with ruffles around the chest area and hem. I searched to see if there were any other options. Unfortunately, there were none. I headed to the bathroom with my pj’s and locked the door behind me. Stripping down, I slid on the nightdress. Looking in the mirror, I cringed at how short it was. I tried to pull the hem down but it stayed around my upper thigh. Growling in frustration, I unlocked the door and headed to the bed. I flipped back the covers and climbed in. I shifted around a bit to try and get comfortable. Even though the mattress was like a cloud, I preferred my bed back home. There I could have S/o’s arms wrapped around me as we cuddled. My homemade quilt and weighted blanket would keep us warm in the Queen sized bed. I could feel the tears from earlier gather in my eyes and slide down onto the pillowcase. I wrapped my arms around my midsection and curled into a ball. I ended up crying myself to sleep.

Over the next few days I found myself next to Adam’s side nearly all the time. The only time I was separated was when I was in the bathroom or when I was sleeping. Even being in the supposed happiest place for death I found myself very uncomfortable. Adam constantly had his hands on me: playing with the straps of my tops, smacking my butt, massaging my shoulders and hips, and his fingertips “accidentally” scraping my boobs. It didn’t help that Lute would constantly glare at me and her face would be pulled into a snarl. I suppose she thought I was disobeying her order to stay away from her master. 

I thought about my interactions with the two as I pulled back the covers, getting ready to go to bed. A knock on my door made me pause. It was pretty late so I was confused as to who could be there. “Come in.”

The door slowly opened to reveal Adam. I gagged at how strong his cologne was as I could smell it all the way to where I was. “Um, hey Adam. What can I do for you?”

His footsteps sounded heavy on the tiled floor and the door shutting behind him felt like a blade stabbing into my heart. He lifted his hand and my breath caught in my throat when I heard the lock. I backed up but I felt the bed behind my knees. The First Man stopped right in front of me and allowed his lips to quirk into a deep grin. His hands came up and started to slide the nightgown straps down. Disgusted, I slapped his hands away and went to shove him. As my hands pushed on him, he was quick to grab my wrists and hold them to his chest. “You look so hot, babe. I was right to pick out this pj set. You fill it out perfectly.”

“Let go of me!”

I struggled to pull my hands away but his grip didn’t falter. “Adam, let go! Y-you’re scaring me!”

“Just go with the flow, sweetie. Can’t you see this was meant to be?”

He pushed me onto the bed and before I could get up he pounced on top of me. I was about to hit him but he pinned my wrists on either side of my head. He leaned down and began to kiss my neck. His lips were sloppy and he brought his tongue to lick against my vein. “I’m going to make you forget all about that fucking Morningstar. All that you’re going to have on your mind is the original Dickmaster.”

As he brought his lips down to kiss mine, I let out a growl and threw my leg upwards. I heard him let out a cry of pain before he fell onto the floor clutching his privates. “My balls! My fucking balls! God dammit, Y/n!”

With fear guiding me, I stumbled to the door and fumbled with the lock. “Come on, come on, come on, come on!”

My fingers shook as I heard Adam rise, a groan leaving his lips. “I was going to play nice, toots. I really was. But it seems you want to play hard to get!”

I heard the lock click and I quickly threw the door open. I sprinted down the hall as I heard Adam yell after me. Adrenaline coursed through my veins as I ran faster than I ever had. My escape was futile though as I slammed into a muscular body. I looked up to see Lute, her mask off to reveal a white bob and yellow eyes. I was frozen as I heard Adam huffing behind us. “Good job catching her, Lute!”

“What would you like me to do with the bitch?”

“Lock her in a cell.”

“Anything else?”

“Hit her or something for kicking my balls. That shit hurt.”

“Of course, sir.”

I cried out as Lute grabbed my hair and pulled me down the hall. I tried to pull her hand off but she just tightened her hold. With the pace we were going, the two of us ended up at a dark wooden door. Lute opened it and walked me to the middle of the dimly lit room. She opened the black metal door to the cell and threw me inside. I groaned as I felt my knee scrape against the cold cobblestone floor. I looked up at the angel who sent daggers into my soul with her gaze. “I told Adam you were trouble, but he insisted we bring you here. And after all the hospitality he showed you…you go back on his trust.”

“By hospitality do you mean perverted-” I growled out.

Lute brought her leg up and kicked my cheek. I landed harshly on my side and spit out some blood that oozed from my teeth. “Don’t speak of him like that.”

“Why? It’s not like he’s a saint!”

She growled and drove her foot into my stomach. I howled as sharp pain blossomed. “He’s better than you could ever be! I mean look at you. While he’s up here in Heaven you’re Down Below sucking Lucifer’s cock.”

Her foot hit my stomach again and I could feel bile rise in my throat. “How does it feel to know you’ll never achieve anything? Your legacy will be known as the Devil’s little whore and that’s all you're good for.”

I gave her a smirk before I coughed. “At least I probably give better head than you.”

Her eyes widened before they returned to slits. With her teeth clenched, she brought her right fist into my mouth. I felt my bottom lip split as some blood came shooting out. “Oh, triggered are we? Is this because you have pent up sexual frustration for your leader? Is that some kind of kink you’re into: master and servant?”

“Shut the hell up!”

Grabbing my hair, she slammed my head into the stone floor with a warrior cry. My vision blurred and the room felt like it was spinning. With her hand still tangled in my locks, Lute brought my head up and down several times to meet the floor. My cheekbone felt like it was on fire and I figured the bone was probably shattered with the force of me hitting the ground. “Think you’re tough shit, huh? I can tell you’re just a scared little girl. You were never meant for Heaven, even if you weren’t branded as Lucifer’s slut.”

I could feel my anger boiling. How dare she call me such vile names. “You think I chose this life? Hell no! I was fine being on Earth with my boyfriend!”

“Yeah right. You probably summoned that dirty retch. Why’d you do it? Did you want fame? Money? The glory of saying you fucked the King of Hell?”

“I didn’t do any of that shit! If I had it my way I would have never helped that stupid snake in my garden! Then maybe I wouldn’t be forced to be a bride against my will! Or better yet, then maybe I wouldn’t have met you or your motherfucking boss!”

She yelled in fury and brought her foot up to meet my chest. I landed on my back and the air left my lungs. I heaved in oxygen as she kept kicking me. I swear I heard ribs cracking under pressure. Lute didn’t stop there. She slammed her gray heeled boot onto my fingers and I couldn’t help but let out a scream. “That’s it! Scream, little girl! Pray that your hellish Daddy comes to save you!”

“S-shut up!”

I felt whiplash as her foot dug into my cheek, blood spilling down my bruised lips. “You know what we consider people like you? Fallen. Maybe I should cut your wings like we do all the others?”

“N-no!”

She roughly turned me over so that my back was facing her. I attempted to stand when I heard the sound of fabric ripping and cool air hitting my back. Lute however stomped me into the ground, her heel digging into my flesh. I heard her sword being unsheathed and saw its angelic light bounce off the cell wall. “I-I’m sorry! I didn’t mean anything I said! Lute, p-please!”

She let out a cruel laugh and I yelped at her heel digging in further. “You’re pathetic, you know that? If you were half the woman that Adam claimed you to be, you wouldn’t go back on your word. Some advice for you, sweetie. If you say a threat, really mean it.”

I screamed as her sword pierced into the left side of my back. There had to be some kind of special angelic powers attached because this hurt way worse than when I would accidentally slice my finger while cooking. Lute reveled in my cries as she dragged the blade around forming some shape. Tears fell rapidly from my eyes as I slammed my fist down into the cold floor, trying to focus on something other than the pain radiating in my back. I was relieved when I felt the weapon retract, but the relief was short lived. A blood curdling shriek ripped through my throat as the sword entered the right side and began drawing a similar shape to its predecessor. Lute seemed to take her time, enjoying my wails bouncing off the walls. She harshly pulled the sword out and resheathed it. “While I would love to carry on my tradition of licking the blood of my enemies off my blade, I don’t want to taint my Holy body with your sin.”

“W-what did you d-do,” I stuttered under my breath.

I could sense a smirk gracing her features as she rounded in front of me. Reaching under my armpits, she hoisted me up and threw me against the wall. I cried out as the rough stone dug into my newly acquired wounds. “I just cut the wings off the fallen, dare I say, angel. Oh who am I kidding? You’re no angel. You’re not even as worthy as the dirt beneath my feet.”

“F-fuck you.”

I grit my teeth as she harshly gripped my chin, forcing me to look into her eyes. “What did I say about empty threats, sweetie? Or do I need to remind you?”

I shook my head as a dangerous smile overtook her face. “No, I think you need the reminder.”

Her hand moved to my throat and she made sure to drag my back up the wall as she let me hang. I weakly kicked my legs as I tried to get her to release me. I could feel my body shutting down as Lute squeezed. I was pretty sure I’d have bruises where her fingers lay. My hands started to slide off of hers as my vision began to get a black haze around the edges. “What is going on here?”

Lute let go of me in her haste and my butt collided hard with the ground. I couldn’t see who had entered as I heaved in deep breaths. “Miss Emily, what are you doing up? It’s late. You should get to bed. Here, let me escort you.”

“What were you doing, Lute?”

“Oh, um, I was taking care of a prisoner.”

I could see a familiar head peek around my attacker’s body, a gasp leaving the young Seraphim’s lips. “Oh my goodness! Y/n!”

Emily rushed past and cradled me in her arms, her hand gently rubbing my bruised cheek. “What have you done?! Y/n didn’t do anything to you!”

“On the contrary Miss Emily, Y/n here has committed a major sin. She rejected the orders of the First Man and I was told to punish her in any way I saw fit.”

“I rejected him because he wanted sex. You left that part out,” I hissed, my throat raw from screaming. 

Lute bit her lip and I could see she was dying to cuss me out. “I could forgive Adam’s behavior up until now, but this, this is unforgivable! I need to talk to Sera about this. Violence isn’t the answer and neither is attacking innocent people!”

I could see a shadow cast over the white haired angel’s face and her hand reached for her sword. “There’s no need to discuss this with Sera.”

My eyes widened as her sword was unsheathed next to her side. Emily must have sensed something was off as well because her arms trembled around me. “Lute, w-what are you doing? Put your sword away n-now!”

“I can’t risk you running and tattling to Sera. Who knows what she’ll do to us. Adam and I belong here in Heaven! We’re doing good in God’s name! We will not be cast Down Below!”

She raised the blade and brought it down quickly towards Emily’s head. She screamed and with a newly found inner strength I forced myself up. I let out a warrior cry as I brought my arm up to protect my face, the sharp weapon making contact with my left shoulder. I heard fabric ripping and a glass shattering shriek from the young Seraphim. Glancing down I saw my arm was missing, it lying discarded on the dungeon floor. I let out a shaky gasp and stumbled into the wall. “Y/N!”

I went to go to Emily’s side but Lute stabbed her sword into my right shoulder, effectively pinning me to the wall. I screeched and realized there was nothing I could do. I helplessly watched as the evil angel went for the younger girl’s throat. However, a punch to her face made her drop Emily. She grunted as her head smacked the wall next to me and her body slid down to the floor. I looked towards our savior and felt the color drain from my face. There stood Lucifer, six red and white wings displayed behind him. His eyes were completely red as tall, curvy, red horns grew from his forehead. A flame hovered between them and the snake that usually rested on his hat was now wrapped around the tip of his horns. From this distance it looked like his sharp teeth had grown longer, his canines more prevalent. Lute grunted as she sat up holding her cheek, golden blood trickling from a cut. “You BASTARD! You can’t hurt an angel on Holy ground!”

“The rules don’t apply to FUCKING SCUM LIKE YOU! How DARE you lay your filthy hands on MY BRIDE!”

He rushed forwards and sent a hard punch to her gut. Lute let out a cry of pain before Lucifer grabbed her by the feathers around her throat. Her muscular legs kicked violently, her white gloved hands digging into black hands. I could hear the crunch of her neck bones breaking, golden blood flying out her mouth onto the Devil’s claws. “I can think of so many ways I can torture you with. What should I start with first, hm? I could pluck those white and black feathers from your wings and have them decorate a cape for my darling; Or I could have my snakes bite you all over your body as you screamed and writhed in agony. Oh yes, their venom would enter your bloodstream and there would be nothing you could do as it slowly overtook you, boiling your insides to ash; Or I could break each bone in your body beginning with your fingers and leaving your neck. After everything was broken and you felt that pain, I could slowly saw off each limb, starting with the tops of your fingers and going down each joint. I think I would like that! And after every vein, tendon, muscle and bone was cut off your body I could give them to Cannibal Town to feed the residents as a treat from their King. Just before you died, I could cut out your tongue, eyes and ears and give them to Alastor. I don’t know what the Radio Demon would do with them, but I know he’d find a way to make them useful. And as you would crash from blood loss, I would place your head on a spike outside my palace. It would be a reminder to not mess with me or my fucking bride! Oh, I’d have fun torturing your soul as surely Heaven wouldn’t want you as my hellish hands corrupted your purity!”

Lute bared her teeth and her legs started to slow down to a small wiggle. I watched on in horror as he threw her at the wall on the opposite side of the room. As he stomped towards her, Emily ran to my side. She took off the shawl around her shoulders and wrapped it around my left shoulder. She pulled it tight to try and staunch the bleeding. I hissed as the pressure sent shooting pain to my remaining nerves. Lucifer’s black tail flicked up and down, acting like a scorpion's. My pupils shrunk as I watched him wrap his fist around one of Lute’s wings. She scratched at him as he tugged, a scream ripping from her throat. “That! Is for even bringing my dear apple up here!”

He gripped her other wing and tugged, more bloodied feathers in his fist. “That! Is for throwing her around!”

He went back and forth ripping more and more feathers from each wing, a pile growing behind Lucifer as he called out something harmful Lute had done to me. “Get off me, you motherfucker!”

The Devil brought up one of his feet, slamming the heel of his black leather boot into her eye socket. I shrieked as he kept at it, more golden blood dripping down as her face was slowly being caved in. I couldn’t watch this any longer.

“LUCIFER, STOP!”

His foot was in midair as it froze. He looked over his shoulder at me. I scrunched my eyebrows together and let pleas slip past my bruised lips and raw throat. 

“PLEASE, STOP! Just stop! You’ve done enough damage!”

He scowled and brought his foot down, turning to face me completely. White irises surfaced on top of his red scaleras, softening as they stared at me. “Y/n, she could have killed you! By God, your arm has been lobbed off! Why do you plead mercy for a disgusting soul like hers? She and Adam should suffer for what they have done to you!”

“It’s not worth it! Killing her won’t rewind time or heal me. Just, just let her be.”

He sighed and looked down at Lute’s crumpled body. I could hear her labored breathing so I knew she was still alive, just in a fatal condition. He walked over and crouched before me. Those white eyes of his were filled with rage and determination, but not directed towards me. He brought his hands up to my cheeks, tenderly rubbing them with his thumbs. “Okay. But I need to remove this weapon from your shoulder. I’m not going to lie, this’ll hurt like hell. Emily, stabilize her.”

“O-of course.”

The young girl moved her hands from my missing arm to underneath my armpits and Lucifer grabbed the hilt of the sword. “I apologize for the pain this’ll bring, my dear. I’ll go as fast as I can without the risk of damaging your nerves.”

I nodded and with that he pulled. I cried out in pure agony. Emily hushed me in an effort to make me feel better but all I could focus on was the pain. When the sword was fully out of my shoulder, Lucifer patted the top of my head and gave it a gentle kiss. He stood and turned back towards Lute, who had pushed herself up so she was in a sitting position. With the sword by his side, my fiance slowly stalked forward until he stopped in front of the fallen angel. I couldn’t see her due to Lucifer’s wings spread out but maybe he had done that on purpose. “You should thank my dear apple. She has shown you mercy in a time when she shouldn’t be so kind. But her kindness is one of the reasons I fell for her.”

I felt a sudden tension in my body. He had agreed to not do anything so why did I feel so uneasy? Suddenly he thrust forward and from the feminine scream that bounced off the walls I could tell he had stabbed her. “But on the other hand, I’m not so merciful. I am the King of Hell after all. What is it that you angels say about me? That I’m a rotten, purely evil, husk of a man who should have choked on his own apple while a snake hung me from a tree in the Garden of Eden? Well let me live up to my title. Let me show you how rotten and purely evil I can be!”

“Lucifer, no,” I cried.

He pulled the sword out of wherever he had stabbed it and lifted it above his head. He brought it down with a yell of fury and I screamed as golden blood sprayed everywhere. I squirmed as some of it had splattered across the room onto Emily and I. It was warm and sticky against my legs and face. I wondered if Lute was even alive after that blow. “You. Sick. Fuck! You’re a monster, you know that?!”

I was shocked to hear the female sidekick, even if her voice was shaky. “I don’t care! I don’t care what others think of me! The only one I need is Y/n! She’s MY darling! MY little apple! MY light! And no one, not even the fucker up here who calls himself Father, CAN TAKE HER AWAY FROM ME!”

My eyes widened and I couldn’t tell if it was Emily or I who was trembling the hardest. 

He was crazy.

Absolutely batshit insane.

I finally realized how deep his obsession for me ran. 

He cackled like a lunatic, throwing his head back. His whole body shook with how hard he was laughing. He brought the angelic weapon up again and swung down-

"LUCIFER!”

All of us froze. There in the doorway stood Sera, a multitude of eyes surrounding her gray curls. Her fists were balled at her sides as she walked in. “What is the meaning of this?!”

Lucifer didn’t even look at her, too focused on his prey in front of him. “I’m acting in self defense. Aren’t I, Emily?”

Sera looked at the two of us and Emily squeaked. “Is this true, Emily?”

“I-I-I-”

“Be truthful, my child. I don’t want you scorned for siding with the embodiment of evil.”

“...He saved us, Sera! Lute, she, she, she was going to kill me! If Mister Morningstar hadn’t stepped in both Y/n and I would be dead!”

The High Seraphim was taken aback, her eyes fading from her hair. “What?”

“Hey, what’s with all the commotion? Some people are trying to sleep-”

My gaze saw Adam walk in behind Sera, his mouth allowing a yawn to pass. The pit in my stomach grew as I feared how he would react when he saw the state of his right hand woman. Sure enough his eyes landed on her and his body tensed. “Holy shit…Lute.”

His hands balled up next to his sides and his eyebrows scrunched over the top of the golden eyes on his mask. “You, motherfucker! You, son of a bitch! You could have killed her-”

A screech ripped my throat as Lucifer whipped around and sliced through Adam’s arm. It flopped to the floor and a chorus of fear filled the air. The First Man was quick to grab his open wound, liquid gold coating his fingers. “What the fuck. What the fuck! WHAT THE FUCK! YOU CUT OFF MY ARM, YOU ASSHOLE!”

With Lucifer turned I could see the fire burning in his eyes. He was scaring even Sera, her taking a step back. “What is it they say? An eye for an eye? Well in this case it’s an arm for an arm.”

“YOU, DICKBAG! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!”

“Why don’t you ask your little whore when she wakes up? I’m sure she’d love to tell you in great detail while she’s in between your thighs sucking you off about what happened.”

Adam growled and released his shoulder, his bloodied hand pointing at Emily and I. His index finger started to glow with a bright white light and I feared he’d shoot me. With the threat in the air, Lucifer brought the tip of the sword to the masked man’s throat. He pushed it in, not enough to draw blood but enough to make the consequence known. “Don’t. Even. Think. About. It. You’re lucky that my dearest told me not to kill anybody. Because believe me, my limit has been passed and I’m hanging by a fucking thread.”

Adam gulped and the blade moved with the bob of his adams apple. I could see fear in the egotistical man’s eyes and even his stance had changed to try and protect himself. “Say, how about I cut off the other hand to join its partner on the floor? I could make them into a pair of cup holders for my beloved and I to use as we sip your thick rich blood from bejeweled goblets.”

“W-why would you want to do that? My blood doesn’t even taste that good!”

“Let’s see, I could name a million reasons. But the first one that comes to mind is to punish you for assaulting my fiance! Did you really think I wouldn’t know about you constantly putting your wretched paws all over her?”

“L-look, you stole two of my wives. I was only returning the favor!”

Lucifer grit his teeth and I swear with how hard he pushed them together they would shatter. The glare that he sent towards Adam was lethal as his eyes turned completely red once more. His black knuckles turned white with how hard he gripped the hilt of the sword. “Those two were just to show how superior I am to you. Y/n is different. She is my true love! She’ll remain by my side for the rest of her eternal life and together we will rule Hell as King and Queen! And if you think you can take that away I’ll cause my own extermination! Any and all winners will be subject to my wrath! They will be slaughtered one by one and their souls forced to burn beneath my hooved feet! I’ll torture every last one of them as I send them to each ring of Hell, the Cardinal Sins and Overlords free to do whatever the fuck they want! UNDERSTOOD?!”

The sword was pushed a bit further into Adam’s neck, a light trail of blood sliding down from the small gash. The tension was so thick that the weapon in Lucifer’s hands wouldn’t be able to cut through it. “Y-you got it, man! Just don’t hurt me!”

The Devil chuckled and pulled away. “Oh, Adam. So above it all until your whole existence is threatened. Then you turn into a pussy and cower away.”

Throwing the sword into Lute’s left wing with a huff, he used his now open hands to conjure a red misty portal. When Lucifer turned to face Emily and I his white irises had returned to his red eyes and a soft smile reached his lips. He walked over, his bloodied boots clicking against the cobblestone. Slowly, as if to not scare me further, he crouched in front of us. His arms reached for me and as he got close Emily hugged me tight to her frame. Tears ran down my cheeks and wet their previously dry tracks. I shook my head and curled my legs into my torso, trying to get as far away from my fiance. “Please don’t hurt her, Mister Morningstar!”

His face dropped and he shook his head side to side. “You honestly think that I’d hurt my darling? I’m hurt, Emily.”

He reached for me again and before the young girl could put up a fight, he wrapped his arms around me. Standing up, he hoisted me bridal style and brought our foreheads together. He closed his eyes and nuzzled me close. A purr rumbled in his throat and he opened his eyes. That frightening look of adoration had returned, his pupils almost looking like little hearts. He gave my forehead a kiss and then turned towards the other angels. “Goodbye, cunts. Hopefully we never see you again.”

His presence commanded the room as he walked us towards the portal, the familiar dark red sky of Hell peeking through. “Let’s go home, my dearest Y/n. We deserve some alone time together.”

A sob wracked my body as he flew forward, the portal closing immediately behind us.

~~~~~~~~

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[rip-quizilla]

Heartbreaker (Eddie Does Drag for Charity)

@corrodedcoffinfest Day 10: Pride

Tags: supportive band mates, gay Jeff, drag queen Eddie Munson, brief Rockie reference

WC: 994

Divider was created by @strangergraphics

“When does he go on?” Grant asked Gareth, leaning over Jeff from where they stood around a table in the crowded club. The music was loud enough that Grant had to practically yell for Gareth to hear him. 

“He told me he’d be going third!” Gareth yelled back to him, eyes alight with anticipation. Admittedly, Gareth had never in his life thought he’d ever be excited to be in a gay bar, but stranger things had certainly happened. 

Weirdly enough, Jeff seemed to be the least comfortable one at the table. His smile seemed a bit more forced than usual as his eyes darted around the room.

“Jeff, you good buddy?” Gareth asked, “I would’ve thought you’d feel right at home here.”

“Being gay doesn’t mean I suddenly want to hang out at dance clubs, you know.” A cringe took up residence on Jeff’s face as he took note of a nearly naked man in shiny boyshorts swiveling his hips to some upbeat song that played through the speakers. “No judgment to the people who enjoy this stuff, but it’s just not my scene.” Pink and purple spotlights illuminated the stage then, signaling that the show was about to begin. 

“God, it was nuts back there. Pun intended.” Robin sighed when she joined the boys at their table. “Do you guys know what tucking is? I didn’t. I do now. Could have gone my whole life without that mental image but now it’s burned into my brain.” 

Grant’s confusion was evident on his face, to which Gareth subtly shook his head in a silent  Later, buddy. Don’t get her started. 

“Any issues though?” Gareth asked, “ With Eddie, I mean.” Robin was about to answer before a tall, beautiful drag queen took the stage and introduced themself as the host for tonight’s charity drag show.

Robin waited about twenty seconds into the host’s introduction before discreetly whispering her answer to Gareth. “Vickie said Eddie’s look is some of her best work, if that answers your question. She’s been working with Eddie every day for at least a week; apparently he’s taking this really seriously!” 

“On behalf of the Indy Pride committee, I want to sincerely thank all of you for coming out tonight!” The host continued, “100% of tips collected tonight will be donated to local charities benefitting LGBTQ+ youth, so let’s give all our performers a round of applause!”

Grant, Gareth and Jeff may all have originally shown up tonight to bear witness to what may very well be their frontman’s most blackmailable performance to date, but at this moment they couldn’t help but feel a swell of pride for Eddie as they cheered. He took his preparations for tonight seriously because he believed in why he was doing it. He had built his friends a refuge from those that judged them, bullied them, called them freaks- Eddie Munson had always been in the business of giving outsiders a place to call their own; same show, different stage.

The host went on to introduce the first queen- a dentist who, for tonight only, had dubbed himself ‘Ruta Canal’. After the dentist was a high school theater teacher whom the host introduced as ‘Apple Bottoms’. Judging by the sheer amount of ear-splitting screams, it was safe to assume that a large group of his students had shown in support of their teacher. 

“Now folks,” the host began, “Our next queen is no stranger to the stage. For tonight only, the leading man of local metal band Corroded Coffin is… M&M!”

Gareth tilted his head toward Robin as he applauded. “Why M&M?”

Robin gave him a withering smile. “He said it stood for Munson Magic.” Gareth replied with a snort as the applause faded away to reveal a familiar progression of drums and guitar. When Eddie emerged, the boys could hardly believe their eyes.

In his unflinching commitment to the song he’d chosen to lip sync to (it hadn’t taken long for the boys to recognize it as Heartbreaker by Pat Benatar), Eddie had donned a skin-tight unitard that practically painted his every curve with purple zebra print, bright red heels and a red belt to match. He hadn’t needed a wig, since his hair was already long and luscious enough to be the envy of any popstar. Now that his locks framed a face painted with lipstick, eyeshadow, and penciled thin eyebrows that had been drawn atop his glued-down natural brows, Eddie’s haircut suddenly looked more feminine than it usually did. 

Eddie, ever the showman, left everything on the stage from beginning to end for the entire performance. His facial expressions were larger than life, bringing his infectious energy into every word Pat sang through the speakers. The audience ate up every second of it, tossing bill after bill onto the stage for Eddie to collect- each one was teasingly stashed into the fake breasts he wore under his unitard. By the time he was only halfway through his performance, his entire neckline was fringed in green.

He was only onstage for the beginning and the end of the song, spending the rest of the performance strutting amidst tables where patrons stood. Eddie saved his bandmates’ table for last, making sure to embarrass them the most- grinding up on Gareth one second and hiking a leg up on Grant the next. He didn’t subject poor Jeff to the same treatment, but he certainly couldn’t help himself from blowing him a kiss before returning to the stage just in time for Vickie to emerge from backstage with- to everyone’s surprise- his electric guitar. Eddie finished the final few bars of the song on his warlock, shredding through the notes live as the entire bar went absolutely wild. As the song drew to a close, he slid to his knees at the front and center of the stage, face contorted with focus and exhilaration until the final note rang out into the crowd’s thunderous applause.

[bonefall]

How does Fallenleaf feel about how Ivypool and Dovewing were treated? And what do the latter think about her (Dovewing especially, since i imagine she was compared to her a lot when it came to the prophecy. I can definetely see an exasperated Jayfeather going 'Well Hollyleaf took the prophecy seriously before- when we thought she was part of it). Come to think of it, I can see Dovewing resenting Fallenleaf not only for the comparisons made about her, but also the fact that Jayfeather and Lionblaze let their sister know but she can't tell Ivypool even as they grow more distant. (Granted, Hollyleaf was told BEFORE they realized she wasn't part of the prophecy, but who knows if Dovewing is privy to that. >:3c)

Their relationship is, uh...

Skip back 100 years ago, Holly Leaves the Tyrant ruining ancient society.

She killed Jay Wing with her own two paws, drove Lion Roar out through grief, and then tried to stop Dove Wing from taking the survivors to the mountain

Dove Wing beat her ass. Handed it to her on a silver platter. Folly Leaves could break her brothers, but NOT Dove Wing.

Fallen Leaves for 1,000 seasons in a tunnel: "thank god i never have to see that random person who mcfuckin wrecked me ever again i think i would die of embarassment and/or fear"

Lionblaze, modern day: "we missed you so much... we were terrified when you acted like that, I thought I killed you when we... well... it's time to put that behind us. Are you prepared to meet your nieces? ...i raised them. If you hurt them I'll never forgive you."

Dovewing: (IS THAT RANDOM GUY WHO KICKED HER ASS)

And then Fallen learns Cinderheart went through with the plan to raise them with Lionblaze so Poppyfrost could have access

But that Poppyfrost did not TAKE that access.

So basically Cinderheart went through all this for nothing

AND on top of all the other new information (and she can't entirely remember where she "left off." Was that one's name ALWAYS Honeysnake??)

One of those things is the prophecy. That was only revealed shortly before the Fire Scene in BB, and then the Fire Reveal, Firestar dying, the Gathering Reveal, uhh... what was the gray guy she killed's name again? Asterfall??

Her freakout before getting time travelled is the fuzziest part of her life, she can barely remember half of it and the order of events is totally scrambles egged. Did the fire happen before or after her grandpaw died??

But meanwhile Dovewing's been raised her whole life with Fallenleaf as like, this big missing piece in everyone's lives, she wanted to know the truth about her for her entire existence. Hollyleaf was an impossible standard to live up to, her mother's true love and her Firekin's prodigal child before her.

And now she can't. Because this is obviously not Hollyleaf. This is a big, confused shadow. That's FRUSTRATING. Dovewing is trying really hard at this point to not show how upset she is about this. You mean to say the sad ghost she could hear shuffling around in the tunnels her whole life was her long lost aunt all along?!

THIS is what she was being held up to, all her life? This is why she could never take a break? This is the fuss? Some Fucking Guy?!

Meanwhile Ivypool is trying to mimic the feelings her parents feel. She takes a lot from Lionblaze, desperate to signal to them that she's in the family and cares about the same things they do. I don't think she really feels much of anything towards Fallenleaf at first-- but if they all care together then it feels like they've "come together"

And Dovewing's lack of enthusiasm, or even desperately veiled frustration, is like betrayal. CARE with me, we're supposed to FEEL GOOD about this AS A FAMILY. And if you can't then WELL WELL WELL look who's WINNING AT CARING ABOUT THIS, something very NORMAL and POSSIBLE to do! Surely, I am the better daughter, actually.

And while all that's playing out, Fallenleaf is still like, absolutely haunted by Dovewing being that random person who kicked her ass. She deserved it but like... she killed her brother in an ancient epoch and it turns out his sister in another lifetime is now his daughter in this one. What the fuck. And she looks at her negatively EXTRA what the fuck

I want them all to have a few good scenes together, but I don't think their relationship to Fallenleaf is... strong.

She ends up marrying their mom, Cinderheart. I think for Dovewing, she DOES actually think that's nice for them.

But Ivypool feels threatened. She feels she's going to get replaced.

This is while Lionblaze also ends up moving on with Toadstep, mind you. Both parents are finding new mates and having new kits

Ivypool takes it especially poorly, Dovewing has complicated feelings.

Isn't it just peachy that Cinderheart and Lionblaze COULD have been good parents all along? They just weren't, for you?

Hollylark is their half-sib through CinderxHolly, and Snaptooth and Flywhisker are adopted half-sibs through ToadxLion

When Fallenleaf learns the full story, she feels sorry for how the two were treated. She would controversially support Dovewing's leave; but she isn't the type to do huge confrontations anymore. Since her time as a Tyrant, she has a sort of godly, detatched air about her.

So there wouldn't be any chewings-out of her brothers. She doesn't have that sort of confidence in her own judgement anymore. Trying to control others and tell them how they should sort out their problems caused the Kitty Bronze Age Collapse lmao

[rimunagenius]

fic idea Hannah Stuelke gets a girlfriend

Flowers

ʚ pairing: Hannah Stuelke x reader

ʚ word count: 2.3k words

ʚ warnings: RPF!! , language, nothing else other than ‘y/n’ being used once.

ʚ rimunagenius speaks: thank you anon for requesting!! sorry it took so long to get this out, i started from the bottom of my inbox and i’m going to work my way up, and yours was my first one!! I hope you like this, enjoy!!

| Masterlist | Women’s Basketball Masterlist |

You had been sick the last couple of days, being waited on hand and foot by your best friend Hannah. When she wasn’t at basketball practice or playing games, she was at your apartment, helping you recover to get you right again for your track season.

You had missed the last two meets and several practices, feeling so drained and weak, you couldn’t even get out of bed to support from the sidelines. So, you layed in bed, rotting away and watching movies and shows with Hannah.

“Are you seriously going to stay here with me all night long?” You looked at your friend, scoffing at her while she took amusement in your nasally voice, and the tissue hanging out of your nose.

“Yes. You need to rest, so whatever you want, i’ll help.” You could literally kiss her. You’ve never had a friend who did stuff like this for you before. Who was willing to risk getting sick to help you and make sure you got better.

“Oh my god. Hannah Stuelke, I could marry you.”

“Oh, yeah? When’s the wedding?” She smiled, as she got up to get another bottle of water for the both of you.

“Right now. Come kiss your bride.” You thought she was the cutest little giant to ever grace this planet. It didn’t help that Kate accidentally outed Hannah’s secret crush to you a week ago while you guys had been at the baseball game for Iowa—when you had inherently taken being not sick, for granted—It slipped. She didn’t mean to. You had confided in her, her being your cousin and all, and you mentioned that you thought Hannah was cute but didn’t know if she liked girls.

You were overjoyed to find out that she indeed, did like girls. Ever since then, you have been more flirty and so has she.

“Alright, bet.” She pretended to turn heel and make her way back to you, but then turned around, cheeks red, and wandered into the kitchen. You could barely see her through the open bedroom door.

“Booo! Hannah!! I hope you miss your layups tomorrow, and I hope the other team wins!” they don’t. You shouted, hearing her chuckle at your exclamations.

“How about you shut up, and get some sleep, grinch!” She shouted back, you gasped dramatically.

“I told you that in confidence, asshole!” You laughed before turning off the bedside lamp next to you. You shut the tv off, your LED lights being the only way you could see the look on Hannah’s face.

“You’re right, I’m sorry. I won’t bring up the grinch thing again.” She handed you the bottle of water, before she grabbed her blanket and turned towards the door.

“You’re not staying?” You asked meekly. You both agreed to have a sleepover tonight. Even though you were sick, she couldn’t say no. This was the fourth one this week.

“I am. I just don’t want to lay next to you, you’re dying. I don’t choose death, I choose basketball.” She wrapped the blanket around her, the ac making your apartment feel like the midst of antarctica.

“Oh, so you love basketball more than me? Okay.” You plopped down, throwing the comforter over your head.

“Yes. I actually want to play in the Big 10 tournament, not be sick as a dog in bed. Sorry, babe.”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Go sleep on the couch then. Goodnight, love you.” You said, already drowsy.

“Goodnight drama queen, love you.” She closed the door, laughing as she heard you gasp at the playful insult.

The next morning, you felt better. Great even. The last four days of lying in bed, consistently taking medicine, and letting your body recover from the sickness worked. Hannah worked.

You got up, walking into the bathroom, finding a small note taped to the mirror. ‘Hope you feel better! I’ll see you later tonight after the game. Love you!’. You truly didn’t deserve this girl.

You sent her a quick text, thanking her for the note, and hopped in the shower. You decided you were going to crash the track practice today. You still weren’t up for running the whole practice, but a light warmup and maybe some of the conditioning would be okay. Plus, you’d attend the game at Carver, but you didn’t buy tickets on time and now they were sold out.

Before leaving, you had about two hours, so you threw all your blankets and sheets into the washer and dryer, ridding your room of any sickness. You opened the blinds, letting light in, cracking the window even.

You made yourself breakfast, and started to get ready. You didn’t know if it was the four days that she spent at your house, or just the recent closeness between you and Hannah, lack of separation thereof, but you couldn’t stop thinking about her. You already missed her and she’s only been away for three hours.

You wanted to tell her that you loved having her over all the time, all the hugs she gives you, the comfort and security she provides by just being near you. You wanted to make flirty jokes without having to pretend your joking. You wished you could just tell her how you feel since you know she feels the same way. You just wanted her.

You even told your teammate about it. You figured you should definitely ask her about trying to make the first move on Hannah since she made the first move on her girlfriend, Maya. Plus, she was the only one on the team that new about your infatuation with the 6’2” forward.

As you and Camila walked to your designated stretching and conditioning spot, you told her your situation.

“I don’t know what to do. I like her so much, but I have no idea how to tell her or show her without totally freaking her the fuck out.”

Kate and Camila listened to you and Hannah express the confusion and frustration of not knowing how to make the first move.

Kate and Hannah had mentioned it briefly in the locker room. Hannah shutting it down when the other girls walked in.

During stretching and pregame, Hannah and Kate were secluded and that’s when she voiced her frustration. Kate knew what it was like. She went through the same thing with her ex girlfriend, Sydney.

“Just be cool, and calm. Give her flowers, and be straight. Trust me, I know my cousin and she loves flowers. She loves the small but thoughtful gesture. Then, just ask her to be your girlfriend, I guarantee you, she won’t say no.” Kate reassured Hannah. Kate knew you best, and she knew that you didn’t need a grand gesture to express the love you had to share. Hannah nodded, taking the idea and saving it for after practice.

“Go straight for it. Definitely be straight up. Be like ‘Hey, I like you. Then bam, kiss her.” Camila was way too enthusiastic and unserious. You gave her an incredulous look, as you both stretched, instantly regretting asking her.

“Uh…how about I don’t..do that.” You continued to stretch your legs, balancing trying to do the flamingo.

“It worked for me.” Camila shrugged her shoulders. “Assert your dominance, it’ll work.” She nodded her head, a big grin on her face. She totally wasn’t joking.

“I’m not a damn dog, Camila. I don’t need to assert anything. What about if I give her flowers and just ask her to be my girlfriend? That would work, right?” You scrunched your eyebrows, hoping to hear a yes so you didn’t actually have to go with Camila’s plan.

“Oh, yeah. That could work too. Didn’t think about that one.” Camila looked at the ground, before giggling to herself.

“Of course you didn’t.” You shook your head and continued on with your practice. You were going to stop at trader joe’s later, buy Hannah flowers, and make her your girlfriend.

You didn’t know if it was the nerves or just the total blindsidedness of watching Hannah’s car pull into the parking lot, but you suddenly started to panic. You had been sitting by the window, on the phone with Kate. You were showing her the arrangement of flowers you were putting together for Hannah. Red and Blue tulips, signifying love and her being one of a kind, with some baby’s breath accents, for happiness. Tulips were her favorite so it was a no brainer.

“Oh my god, Kate! She just pulled into the parking lot.” You gasped as you looked out the window, dropping the freshly put together bouquet on the small coffee table.

“Are you spying on her?” Kate asked, laughing at your nervousness.

“No! You idiot! I’m just sitting by the window and she just so happened to park in the spot right in my view! I’m not crazy.” You pulled the curtain back a little, watching the car still run.

“Are you sure? You look a little crazy.” Kate asked, laughing silently while taking a facetime photo, the flashing catching your attention.

“Kate, i’m serious! Why hasn’t she turned the car off?” You looked through one more time, catching her car lights shut off, and the drivers side door open. “Oh shit! She’s getting out.” You grabbed your phone, walking over to the mirror hanging above the couch.

“How do I look?” You asked your cousin, after adjusting the crop top and shorts you were wearing, along with your hair.

“Like your about to not be single.” Kate winked, telling you to grab the flowers and call her back when you two were official.

“Okay, I love you, bye!” You shouted before hanging up the phone just in time to hear the lock turning. Hannah had been given a key to your place when you moved in a couple months ago.

You set your phone down, running to your room, and sitting on the bed. You didn’t want her to see you with the flowers right when she walked in, not wanting to be forced to ambush her with the question right away.

“Hey? I’m here!” Hannah shouted, putting her keys on the counter and sliding her shoes off at the door.

“I’m in the room! How was the game? Sorry I didn’t make it, I didn’t buy the tickets on time.” You were anxiously staring at the doorway, seeing her shadow move about the living room.

“No it’s okay, I know you’ll be at the next one,” You could hear her setting down her bag, as she was staying over again. Then you hear paper crinkling and was suddenly confused. What did she have that was making all that noise? “I need to talk to you, are you decent?” She asked, her shadow getting closer.

“Yeah, come in!” That’s when you saw her Hawkeye team jacket fill the doorway, noticing brown paper in her hand. That’s when you saw a bouquet of flowers.

Your hands tightened on her flowers, the anxiousness rising in the both of you. She stopped in her tracks, the sight of you and the flowers you were holding taking her by surprise.

“What are those for?” You both asked, questioning looks being exchanged between the two of you. “You first.” You said in unison again.

“Hannah.” You motioned for her to go first. You noticed the blush rising in her cheeks. She moved from side to side, not being able to stand still now that she was on the spot.

“Uh, I got these for you, obviously. Your favorite.” Pink roses and baby’s breath. You loved pink roses, as they resembled gentleness and love. Two things you prided yourself on in your social and romantic life. Plus you just loved the romantic aspect of roses. She handed you the bouquet, her nerves relaxing when she saw the awestruck look on your face. The small smile she loved now taking home on your lips.

“What for Hannah? They’re beautiful, thank you.” You smiled at her widely, your admiration for her only growing by the second. Hoping that she’d ask you what you wanted her to.

“Because a pretty girl like you deserves pretty flowers and someone who will always buy them for her, no matter the reason. I wanted to know if you’d be my girlfriend, y/n.” Her voice steady, her stance stilling, and her sincerity concrete.

You looked at her in awe. You had no words for how she made you feel in this moment. You couldn’t believe that this was your life. “Are you serious?” Your face was hot, and you were for sure that your face was turning pink by the second.

“Yes. Will you be my girlfriend?” Hannah’s nerves now coming back as you took a while to answer her question while you held the flowers she bought you.

“That’s so not fair!” You said as you set your flowers on the bed, still holding Hannah’s. Her face dropped, suddenly worried that she misread this whole thing and you did infact not want to date her. “I wanted to ask you first, dammit.” You laughed softly, still smiling wideyed at the tall girl in front of you.

She visibly relaxed, before relieved chuckling. You handed her the flowers, making sure she took them before you grabbed her face gently, rose slowly on your tippy toes, amd kissed her softly. “Of course I’ll be your girlfriend, Hannah Stuelke. I was beginning to think you’d never ask.” You smiled before you picked your flowers back up, and led you both into your kitchen.

She followed behind you, not saying anything. Starstruck at how you said yes to her, kissed her, and walked away like it was so normal. “Wait, youre my girlfriend?” Hannah asked, disbelief written all over her face.

“Yes, Stuelke. I am indeed, your very happy girlfriend.” You walked over, putting your flowers down on the counter, grabbing hers from her hands and putting them down right next to yours, and you grabbed her face again.

You stood in between her legs while she was seated at the island barstool in your kitchen, smiling stupidly wide at you. “Kiss me.” You whispered, smiling softly when her hands grabbed your hips, pulling you closer towards her.

She kissed you gently, the kiss itself being foreign to the both of you, but feeling so natural like you’ve been doing it forever.

[winchesterdreamgirl88]

A Future Without Betrayal

Pairing: Grant Ward/Skye

Warnings: None

Summary: In this universe Grant was able to redeem himself and he's back working for Shield and he and Skye just want to have their happy ending together.

Word Count:992

A/n: This is my first story for this fandom so let me know if it's good or bad. Reblogs and feedback is always appreciated:)

In the world of SHIELD, things rarely stayed calm for long. The constant battle between right and wrong, the grey area where nothing was ever truly black or white, tested the very core of its agents. But for once, there was a flicker of peace — a delicate and hard-earned peace.

Grant Ward stood by the Quinn jet, watching the sun dip below the horizon, casting a fiery glow over the base. The hum of the aircrafts, the sounds of agents prepping for their next missions — all of it felt normal. But for Ward, it felt different this time. He wasn’t staring out at the world with the weight of a past full of betrayal and secrets. He wasn’t plotting how to bring SHIELD to its knees. For once, Grant Ward was where he belonged, fighting for the same cause as the people he cared about most.

The world had changed. And so had he.

It wasn’t an easy road. He had spent years struggling with the duality of his nature — his loyalty to SHIELD constantly battling against the dark pull of HYDRA, the organization that had twisted his very identity. But with each passing day, each mission completed with a sense of purpose, Ward had found his way back to who he truly was: an agent, fighting for the good that had once been his guiding light.

And there was someone who had always believed in him. Skye.

Skye, the hacker-turned-agent who had never given up on him. The woman who had seen his potential even when he was lost, even when he had made mistakes he couldn’t undo. She had stood by his side through thick and thin, showing him the possibility of redemption. The way she looked at him, with eyes full of hope, was the light that had guided him through the darkest moments of his life.

Ward glanced over to where she stood near the command center, talking with Coulson and May. Her laugh — that sound he had come to cherish — floated over to him. He couldn’t help but smile. They had been through so much, the two of them. But now, they were building something real, something that neither of them had thought possible.

"Hey, you’re staring again," a voice said, and Ward turned to see Jemma walking towards him. She smirked at him, crossing her arms.

"Am I?" he asked, his voice teasing.

"Yeah, and I know that look," Jemma said, grinning. "She’s over there, and you’re thinking you got lucky."

Ward chuckled. "I’m thinking I’m the lucky one."

Jemma raised an eyebrow. "Well, don’t mess it up this time, big guy."

He nodded seriously. "I won’t."

Jemma nodded, seemingly satisfied with his answer, and then left him to his thoughts. Ward took a deep breath and approached Skye, who had just finished speaking with Coulson. She caught sight of him and smiled, her eyes soft and warm. She didn’t need to ask; she could tell he was lost in thought.

"Everything okay?" she asked, her voice gentle.

"Yeah," Ward replied, walking closer. "Just thinking about how far we’ve come."

Skye tilted her head. "Far, huh? You mean the whole ‘ex-HYDRA agent trying to redeem himself’ thing?"

"Exactly that," he said with a smile. "It feels like a lifetime ago."

"It kind of was," she said, her smile becoming more thoughtful. "But you’re here now. And I’m here, too."

His heart skipped a beat, and he couldn’t help but reach for her hand. "We made it, Skye. Together."

She nodded, squeezing his hand in return. "We did. And we’re not done yet."

Ward looked at her, the woman who had given him something to fight for. In her, he saw a future — one without the weight of betrayal, without the lies and the bloodshed. He saw hope. He saw love.

“I’ve been thinking,” Ward said, his voice suddenly serious. “I don’t need the redemption anymore. I don’t need to prove anything. I just want... this. I want you, Skye. I want our future.”

Her eyes softened, and a small, knowing smile tugged at her lips. “I want that too,” she said quietly, then raised an eyebrow. “But we’re not talking about just our future as agents, are we?”

Ward’s smile widened as he pulled her closer. “No, not just that.”

The sound of footsteps approaching interrupted them. May and Coulson stood just a few feet away, watching the exchange with subtle smiles.

“Well, I suppose it’s about time,” Coulson said, his tone dry but warm.

"Time for what?" Skye asked, confused.

"For you two to admit it," May added, crossing her arms. "I think everyone’s been waiting for you to catch up."

Skye blushed but didn’t pull away from Ward’s embrace. "Catch up? We’re just trying to get through each day."

"One day at a time," Coulson agreed. "But there’s no reason why you shouldn’t have happiness along the way."

May nodded. "Exactly."

Ward glanced at the two of them and then back at Skye. "I think we’re doing just that."

As they all stood there, the sun finally set, leaving behind a sky full of stars — a symbol of hope for the future. The future that Ward had once believed was beyond reach. But now, with Skye by his side and SHIELD as his ally, he had everything he needed.

For the first time in a long time, Grant Ward felt like he was home.

And this time, there would be no betrayals. Just a chance to build a life — together.

---

As they walked off into the base together, hands clasped tightly, it wasn’t just the mission that held their attention. It was the quiet moments that mattered now. The ones they could finally share without fear.

The road ahead was still uncertain. There would always be threats, dangers, and difficult choices to face. But as long as they had each other, they knew they could face anything — together.

[1-800anklebully]

Mood - Trent Alexander Arnold x black female reader

Summary: In which you and Trent were sneaky links at one point in life and he got sick of you. You’ve now returned back to Liverpool and old feelings resurface.

Warning: Angst, fluff, Asshole!Trent, swearing, smut if you squint a little,Toxic!Trent, and probably more that I can’t think off the top my head.

Excuse any errors!

—

The second you touched down in Liverpool and was met with the icy breeze weather, you instantly wanted to turn your ass around and go back on the next flight to San Francisco. Where the sun was out and you could where booty shorts freely. Now if you tried wearing shorts now you would surely freeze of hyperthermia.

Anyways; back to San Francisco. It’s where you now resided. 4 years ago you received a new job offer to work there. It was extremely more excellent pay than Liverpool could do for you. So you took the chance and couldn’t have did a better option.

And top of that life had gotten to the best of you, the freedom you had yearned and craved for years was finally granted. So you took every opportunity you could and never looked back.

You can only imagine the priceless look on your families face when you come back after disappearing. As you can imagine your parents never really liked the idea of you being out there.

All alone without them. You had relatives down there so you were chilling.

But they wanted to shield you from anything and everything. Quite frankly it was quite overbearing and now their overprotectiveness and strict attitude has shaped you into the woman that you are today.

“Agnes, where are you? I’m freezing my tits off I didn’t know Liverpool was so cold like this. Call me.” You hung up and could feel a piercing stare on you, finally you glanced up to see a couple staring at you funnily. They were middle aged and looked like the type to spend a grand on Louis Vuitton.

“What?” Your bitchy face must have scared them off because they instantly scurried off and you just shook your head. How are you gonna gawk then get scared when confronted. You never liked when people stared at you it made you uncomfortable.

Unfortunately for you, Agnes was a slow person so it would take her a good 10-20 minutes to get to the airport. Even though she lived a good 20 minutes away, she was a princess when it came to taking time. That’s why you knew that in a crisis shes the wrong person to call. However she’s your only ride.

“I’m here, I’m here.” She rushed over to you as you stood up from the chair. Bottom sore from how long you waited for her. Agnes engulfed you in a tight hug, the both of you screaming loud in the packed airport.

You guys hadn’t seen each other in 2 years since she came down to the Bay Area for a vacation other than that, she remained in Liverpool. She begged you to not go to the Bay Area. But being the strong minded woman you were no one was able to convince you.

“Girl look at you. You look so good.” She says pulling away, her hands still interlocked with yours, she spun you around seizing your body. Eyes capturing every detail of you.

Your oufit consists of a blue puffer jacket with some leggings that hugged your curves in all the right places, a black champion shirt with some boots. However you took them off due to them hurting your feet, so you stuck with crocs.

The way your body use to be was extremely petite. Once upon a time you were a picky eater but on top of that Trent was stressing you out. So you failed to look after you health. However once you surrounded yourself with the right food and started working out. Going to the gym from once a week to 4 times a week.

It was game over for everyone. You weren’t on the slim side but you weren’t on the thick side either. Slim thick would be you. You also turned to a sport. Volleyball. Ironically enough you use to do Volleyball in high school.

You never really took it seriously until your neighbour who was a professional volleyball player got you into and you haven’t stopped since.

“Stop it. I’ve just been hitting the gym you feel me.” You shrugged as she eyed your behind.” I can tell.” This made you laugh at how she wasn’t hiding the fact that she was checking you out at all.

“Whatever your eating did miracles. Because now we Twinems.” She then began explaining how she also started hitting the gym and basically caught you on up on her life.

Until yous arrived at her apartment. Her apartment was cute and petite and matched her entirely, she was still obsessed with her anime. Album’s of summer Walker and Kendrick Lamar on her walls. You adored the set up of her house.

In a way it resembled you accept your apartment was full of Frank Ocean and Adele.

“So how’s your family?” You ask her getting comfortable on the couch. You crossed your legs putting your braids into a bun and wrapping it up.

The Arnold family was like your second family. You always came to them when you were dealing with difficulties in your own houshold. At times when your father had became verbally abuse you always go to them for help and guidance. They practically raised you.

Dianne was like the mother you had but wished for, she was angel and was supportive of your decision of you choosing to move to San Francisco. Didn’t humiliate you or laugh at your decision unlike your actual mother who was cackling for a good hour when you informed her.

Sure it broke her heart to see her daughter’ leave her but it had to be done in order for you to escape your parents. You needed that break and god made the way

Now Trent, the two of you guys always had a love and hate relationship. Sometimes it could go from you cussing and dissing each to him falling asleep on your shoulder while family guy played on the tv.

The two of you were confusing, you knew that you had developed feelings for him unintentionally but to him it was a game. He knew deep down he liked you but he was a player. Never had these feelings before so he hid it by avoiding any questions about a relationship.

Instead of addressing you about his fear of rejection. Sleeping around was what he kept doing. He didn’t wanna shoot his shot unless it ended with you being his girl. If not then he didn’t wanna hear it.

He didn’t wanna settle down and it pissed you off but you learnt to accept that and move on. Or at least you tried to. Trent was posseeive and wanted you to himself. Like for instance, you went on a date with a guy and he dressed up as waitress’s and spiked your dates drink. Causing him to get alcohol poisoning.

And he was in the hospital for a good week or two thanks to your jealous- possessive ex sneaky link that was greedy and didn’t wanna share you.

You could never forget the look on his face as he watched you board on that flight to San Francisco never to return again.

It was like seeing a lost puppy.Of course you reminded him that you weren’t moving because of him more so because of your job offer and he completely understood hopefully. But knowing Trent it probably all went out the other ear.

He was too busy clenching his jaw at nobody in particular and sucking his teeth while chewing gum every 5 seconds. Didn’t even probably greet you goodbye.

Due to how grumpy he was.

Although, Trent he never reached out again and it was like all of a sudden the once upon a time friendship or intimate relationship never mattered. And that high key fucked you up when you came to that realisation.

“My family is good. Trent’s just been so involved with football it’s almost as if he doesn’t even live with my folks.” Your face instantly changed at the mention of his name. These so called scars were meant to be healed. But they weren’t.

You didn’t expect her to bring it up so soon. You have avoided his name for 4 years. It was only until that the ice breaker was broken.

“Have you and Trent even spoken?” She shifted so that she was facing you and you shook your head. Even talking about him made you miss him. He was just so memorable.

But you doubt that even knows that you exist anymore. He has way more important things in his life now.

“Nope. He doesn’t know im here. And besides it would be strange to reach out to someone that doesn’t wanna be spoken with.” You reasoned biting your lip. You admit you were being petty right now but it was all for the accurate reasons.

Agnes sent you a strange look almost as if you were speaking alien to her.” What do you mean? You’re telling me that Trent hasn’t constantly reached out to you claiming you never answer his phone calls or texts.”

Now it was your turn to scrunch your face up.

“Is Trent mad?! That dickhead never messaged nor called me once since I went to the bay. He blocked my number as if I was some side piece that he got sick of. So I don’t know why he’s going around telling fibs that aren’t true.” You projected your voice and it was prominent that Trent had awoken the bear inside of you.

It drove you bonkers knowing that he was telling his family complete lies and a whole different story to the original plot. When in reality he just couldn’t grow the balls to contact you because he knew he was in the wrong. So he stuck with his story of you ignoring him which everyone had eat up.

Classic Trent.

Lying to cover up his own ass. He’s always been a liar since you guys were “together.” First it started off with little thing like him forgetting about your sneaky link dates. But being the naive girl love sick girl you were at the time.

You payed him no mind and never questioned him. That was until the following event had occurred that drove you to the edge. And you had wished that you hadn’t been so naive in the past.

“Oh.” Agnes scrunched up her face in discomfort. To think that her younger brother was feeding her entire family with false accusations made her blood pressure skyrocket. Especially since you’re so near and dear to her family. He caused such a bad reputation on your name.

She spent months hating your guts for causing unspeakable damage to her younger brother. He almost left his whole career behind because his mental health just took a turn for the worst.

“My brother is such a liar.” Agnes spoke in disbelief flabbergasted but what she had been told.

“That he is.” You chimed taking a sip of your wine glass.

It was about 6:40 pm. And it was just becoming dark outside thanks to now day light savings. The neighbours were silent as if they aren’t even present.

And the birds had paused their exasperating chirping. Agnes and Y/N had paused out on the couch modern family played on the tv. Agnes was hanging off the couch with her mouth wide open. Meanwhile you laid there asleep facing the couch. You two very opposite.

Agnes slept like a child and you slept like a old woman. Something that Trent use to constantly pick on you about. The sound of a phone dinging multiples times made the two groan. You guys decided to ignore it but when noticed that it wasn’t gonna stop.

Agnes blindly grabbed her phone, her eyes sour than lemon as she attempted to read the messages on her phone. But it was all blurry and a bunch of words on a screen.

“Who was it?” You faced her laying on your side as you rubbed the sleep from your eyes. That had to be best nap you had in years. You were all alone in your flat in San Francisco.

Just having knowing that you have someone on your presence is so reassuring. Whether it was a friend or a loved one.

“My mum.” She says still scrolling through the texts. Her eyes had scanned through the paragraphs. Her mum loved speaking in a such big paragraphs.

You instantly tensed completely forgetting that Dianne knew everything and she possibly knew that you snuck back to Liverpool. Without telling her and there was no way she was going to let that slide without you coming to her home to visit her and her husband.

That’s the only reason why you go to her house. Not because of her son Trent. But because you love her enough to respect her.

“What does she want?” Your heart hammers against your ribcage like crazy and your breathing had quickened so rapidly.

“Just checking up on me. And she knows that you’re here and she said to tell you that you aren’t getting away that easy and basically she invited you to dinner.” Agnes non enthusiastically explains. Because she knew her mother was big on family time. Which meant that everybody was going to be there.

You groan grabbing a pillow and screaming into in frustration. Why out of all the days did she have to choose tomorrow. She could’ve found out a week but nope.

God was definitely not on your side as of right now.

“Can I cancel?” You meekly peer up at Agnes from the pillow and she had a un impressed look on her face.

“Be so for real.You know my mother Y/n. She’ll murder the both of us if we don’t attend. So you’re gonna have to put on your big girl panties and suck it up.” She stands up closing the tv and stretching her achy limbs.

Agnes knew the reason why you were all worked up was because having dinner with the Alexander-Arnold family meant that all the brothers were expected to attend.

Yes including the 5’9 right back that plays football for England and Liverpool team. Trent Alexander Arnold.

“But I don’t wanna see him. I’m not ready!” You nagged chasing Agnes up the stairs. However she ignored you slamming the door in your face. Leaving you stand there hopelessly like a child that just got declined a treat.

You spent the rest of the night yapping Agnes’s ear off about how unhappy you were that you had to face the devil himself. After years of no communication quite frankly you felt like you were going to explode.

Fuming was not even the word that could describe how you were feeling you were beyond fuming. But you should’ve known better than to think you could visit Liverpool without having to see him.

Let’s just see how it all plays out I guess.

_

This is my first Trent imagine/ actual imagine that I’ve taken the time to write that Lonzo one doesn’t count. I know shocker so if it’s not the best please don’t mind me. 😭

Also my knowledge of football is so little so don’t come at me alright I just got into it late last year.

I’m new to all this I just started getting into tumblr like since 2021, but only started writing last year, but enough about me rambling.

Hope you enjoyed this and stay tuned for part 2! 🤎��🏽

[angelhotchner]

roze & twine

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Style: Multi-part Fic Pairing: Aaron Hotchner x [named] Fem!Reader [non-descriptive OC] Timeline: Post ep100 Fic Content: Pining, eventual friends to lovers, smut Chapter Warnings: None

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Prologue

Everyone had their own outlet. Morgan loved to renovate houses - he was on his sixth property now, each one different from the others but all built with the same fervour: every wall holding secrets of the sight of the agent breaking down, letting his anger leave him, allowing hope to enter his soul once again. Garcia had literally everything. Knitting, ukulele, clay models - you name it, Penelope had tried it and created something adorably loud and vibrant, then displayed it in her cave if she could. The goodness of the world penetrated the disgust and heartbreak that she saw on her screens every day and it kept her outlook fresh. Reid was similar to Garcia...his interests were seemingly endless, but specific. As long as it was knowledge that he hadn’t gained yet, he was interested in it. Magic seemed to be his number one though - if it had been a particularly bad week, he’d arrive on Monday morning with a set of new tricks he’d learned. Prentiss...she had weekends away. No-one really knew what she was doing, although JJ had the best idea, but she always came back refreshed and focused. Her outlet usually landed her in Atlanta for two days - that’s all she’d ever given away to the team. JJ had her family - most importantly, Henry’s Sunday soccer games. Watching her son run around the field, dribbling the ball between his feet with his little face scrunched in concentration warmed her heart so much that she could forget the week she’d just had and the week that was waiting for her the next day.

Hotch shared the same outlet - his son was the light of his life and the only thing that really kept him going. Raising his son in the shadow of his passed wife was a hard feat, but when the little guy said something so pure and innocent it touched Hotch’s heart deeper than he’d let on, pulling the dark clouds in his mind away for a little while. Rossi had company. Whether it was hosting a dinner party for old time friends or enjoying himself at another charity banquet, he found solace in the people around him and their stories. Meeting new faces, listening to their own wisdom - it granted him a better outlook on life, a more peppered perspective on the world. The team teased that his outlet was finding another wife, but they knew that Rossi had almost given up hope on marrying again. Harris had bracelets. Seriously. Ever since third grade queen Lola Grey had taught her how to braid tiny strings of wool and what the best colour combinations for beads were, Harris was obsessed...even when Lola rejected the bracelet that she’d spent hours creating for her. When Lola’s friends threw it into the muddy puddles on the playground and laughed, Harris saw that as a challenge to do better. That kind of thinking followed her as she grew up, straight into the FBI Academy and into the hands of the Behavioural Analysis Unit. Never quit, do better.

It was no surprise that this case had taken a toll on her. The unsub had suffered the same upbringing as her - the only difference was their responses to it. Harris had channeled all of her hurt and frustration into making her life better, the unsub had channeled his into ending other lives. She had been the one to know the most, to understand him the best, and ultimately tackle him into an arrest with just a small scratch on the side of her cheek. Now, she sat quietly at the back of the plane, her hands twirling and knotting the burgundy yarn until it began to take shape. She didn’t need to look down and concentrate, the muscle memory of her fingers took over as she gazed out of the window. Hotch glanced over. He studied her face for a few seconds, ready to focus his attention back to the file in front of him but his eyes drifted down to her hands, catching the movement. He watched with curious amusement, flickering his gaze between her face and her hands, noticing how her eyes seemed to droop a little further with every twist of the wool. Her shoulders were beginning to relax, her mind becoming easy. He smiled gently, although he wasn’t sure why, and turned his attention back to the paperwork. “Aaron Hotchner, did you just smile?” Hotch’s cheeks felt flushed as he dipped his head slightly, realising he’d been caught out. Of course he had. Harris never missed anything. He raised his head and looked at her, finding her still twirling the wool but looking directly at him. Her cheeks were lifted with a small smirk, her eyes shining with devilment. She seemed cool and mischievous, but Harris’ mind was freaking out like a teenage girl. Hotch just smiled at you, she thought. For no reason. He never smiles. He smiled at you. He cares...no, no. Hotch doesn’t care about you like that. Maybe it wasn’t a good smile. Maybe he was laughing at you. The bracelets. He thinks you’re childish. He- “It happens,” He shrugged, knocking Harris from being locked in a battle of her own thoughts. “Your work on this case was exemplary, Roze,” She felt giddy with hearing the praise, but maintained her cool expression. “Thanks, Hotchy,” The nickname awarded her with another small smile. Hotch wasn’t sure when she started calling him that, but he welcomed the playful nature. He knew he shouldn’t be revelling in the fact that she hadn’t given any of the other team members a nickname, it probably didn’t even much to her, but he savoured the idea of being someone that stood out more than anyone else to her. She nodded at him and turned back towards the window, her brain dangerously close to overdrive. God damn praise kink. ══ ⋆☆⋆ ══════ ⋆★⋆ ══════ ⋆☆⋆ ══

[norcalbruja]

The Ocean Crew just coming up and freaking me out again

Around Thanksgiving / Colonizer-Celebration day, I had a dream where I was in the sequel to Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Then me and Tenoch Huerta found out after a party that our shit-for-brains friends took both our cars to ferry the drunk folks home without asking first, so that means two POC got stranded at midnight in the suburbs, trying to walk an hour back to my place. (It wouldn’t be overtly dangerous, but my town DOES have a Ku Klux Klan history and only really tolerates the “good/respectable” minorities, so a Brown Mexican AND a Brown Asian may not have been able to flag down anyone for help.)

I didn't think much about it because I'm a writer who has REALLY coherent dreams, in which Dream-Me also can't seem to get her shit together (seriously, she gets into some escapades!). I laughed about it and I just thought it was me being bitter about my new day-job until Namor/Kukulkan showed up in one of my meditations going, "Hello, love. Did you like the dream?"

And I was like "uhhhhhhhhhhhh yes??? Hello sir—I mean Your Majesty! Or are you actually some form of Tenoch Huerta?"

As noted with the pop-culture spirits when Eric Draven came around on Undas, I never know whether these guys are the CHARACTERS or the ACTORS. I've actually encountered Marvel-Namor a couple of times, but he is extremely high-minded and insistent on getting his way, so while he’s usually pretty civil, he’s still exhausting for my introvert commoner self to deal with.

Long story short, he is not the Feathered Serpent, but he is Mexican/Mayan and is A FUCKING BIG SNAKE (like 40-foot Titanoboa levels of Big Snake!!!). Like most of the other colonized water-spirits, Kukulkan seems to know MY Water-Spirit/Giant-Squid from... you know, Spanish colonization.

Also I’ve noticed a small but distinct pattern where indigenous reptile spirits (Ulupong the spitting cobra, Lola Buwaya the crocodile, and now Namor/Kukulkan the goddamn Titanoboa) just don’t have any fucking chill. For species that are seen as cold-blooded/uncaring and often cowardly by Westerners, the difference is really surprising.

Insert “reptile spirits with metaphorical snake-tongues” jokes here.

--

So Kukulkan refused to leave and demanded of the Water-Spirit, "What have you been doing all this time?! Are you just her attack dog and a bedwarmer?! You act like a mortal now! As if you know nothing of our kinsmen! The only thing left of you is your eyes!"

The Water-Spirit kind of flinched like they’ve talked about it before, and he told Kukulkan, “I couldn’t grant wishes even at my peak. I don’t know how much you expect me to do now.”

Kukulkan just seethed and went, “You can do more than grant wishes. You do yourself and your wife evil to think otherwise. You act like the Spanish won, but she clings to the scraps of you like a starving creature. Perhaps she should be the water-spirit. And you the young man who knows nothing of your people.”

Dionysus came over and said, “Sir, trash-talking a traumatized guy about how he acts like a squishy human might not be that motivating. Maybe tone it down a little?”

Kukulkan then snapped at him, “GODLING, LEAVE THE WATER-SPIRITS TO OUR OWN MATTERS! Your power is from your father! My power is from myself!”

So Dionysus clearly got pissed and just... left entirely. This is the second time an Extremely Old nature-spirit brushed him off as a "godling," and I think the added jab of 'you only got a job at Mount Olympus because your daddy runs the place' was another issue.

This is why Kukulkan is exhausting for me. He essentially acts like Marvel's Kukulkan--he's very capable and cares deeply about people, but he also has unnecessary shit to say if he doesn't consider YOU capable. Active/feudalistic nobility: Fun to watch/read in stories, not fun to deal with in real life, especially with my commoner ass. :/

Anyway, he took a while to stop demanding that the Water-Spirit just Get Better Already, but this morning he finally came up and admitted, "I am no idiot. I know the Spanish broke your husband's spirit. He is not the first or the last of our kin to become so."

And I'm like, "Okay, sir. Thank you for chilling out. I wish you did that a LITTLE bit earlier."

And as for their relationship dynamics, this is another instance of "these marginalized spirits are clearly Not Straight." Kukulkan and the Water-Spirit are this weird blend of "friends who lost touch" and "ex-boyfriends who had a falling out," because Kukulkan is polite to me but WAY more intense with the Water-Spirit, who also gets distinctly hurt when Kukulkan goes on his "I remember you used to be on fucking beast-mode all the time" rants.

Also, "Otherworldly Terror that doesn't fit anywhere else" note: You know how the Water-Spirit can turn into water-shaped-like-a-man, a wave, or a waterspout? I can't remember if I posted this here, but he can use his water-form to "sprint" long distances or to dissipate through various non-waterproof things.

He doesn't do it a lot because it wears him out and it also tends to freak me out as a solid-bodied human, but Kukulkan does it ALL THE TIME. He just disintegrates into a stream of water that is much bigger than an Average Human Body could hold, and then he fucking flies/teleports(???) wherever he needs to go.

[readingwiththereids]

yanda! speaks: hello my loves! i’m so sorry that it took so long for this chapter to come out, i realised that i just really hated my outlines for the next three chapters and decided to scrap everything and change it lol. but nonetheless, it’s here now and i hope you like it! don't forget to like and reblog! lots of love and light! 🤎

masterlist

notes: i pictured blake as grant show from dynasty but imagine whoever you want :)

night rain ; chapter 6

2022

The wind ruffled the fabric of her dress as she climbed out of the limousine and stared up at Carmen’s apartment building. His figure stalked out of the door in a crisp, all-black suit before stopping in the middle of the doorway once he finally looked at her. Camila looked beautiful, devastatingly at that. The setting sun illuminated her skin perfectly, making her look similar to some type of fairy-like being. Carmy thought that the dress she wore fit her gorgeously and took note of how the slit of it ran all the way up her alluring, bronze legs. Her smile glowed the same as a million suns as she took him in too, looking him up and down.

“You look…” he trailed off, in shock.

“You look handsome too, Carm.” Camila giggled back before beckoning him over to the vehicle behind her and getting in.

Carmen followed apprehensively before shutting the car door as he got in.

“This is Mel, he’ll be our driver tonight.”

“Hello, Mr Berzatto,” an old man quipped from the front seat.

“Cut the crap, Melman.” Camila said, rolling her eyes.

“You’re a pain in the ass, Ms Ivy.”

Bewilderedly watching the exchange between the chauffeur and the woman to his right, Carmy spoke up.

“Do you normally get to places in a limo?”

“No, of course not. My boss just insists on it any time that there’s a semi-special event going on.” she laughed.

“It’s because he’s in love with her.” Mel cut in from the front as he made a turn.

“He?” Carmy looked at Camila.

“That’s not true!” she exclaimed, avoiding eye contact with him.

As the car then slowed to a red light, Melman turned to look at Carmen with a mischievous smile on his face.

“Trust me, every single employee at La Fame knows that it’s true. Even the drivers.”

As Carmy opened his mouth to say something, which probably would have been entirely reckless as a mix of frustration and jealousy had started to bubble in his chest, Camila interrupted the two men’s conversation.

“Can we please just listen to some music?” 

Mel smirked from the front, “Yes, Ms Ivy.”

“Oh, fuck off.”

^^^^^^^^^

Just as Carmen was helping Camila out of the car, a small red-headed woman in a sapphire knee-length dress and black heels, briskly walked up to the pair carrying a clipboard.

“Cam, I made sure that they brought over your cakes in one of those refrigerated trucks but when I checked one of the boxes, I saw that three were missing and that the delivery guy had crumbs all over his face. So I fired him.”

“Noelle! Why would you do that?”

“I just explained why, did you not hear?”

“I heard you but that’s not-”

“Hey, you!” Noelle shouted at one of the workers setting up the venue before striding towards them. “That doesn’t go there!”

“That’s my assistant, Noelle. She’s a little intense right now but I promise she’ll be a pleasure to be around in a couple of hours.” Camila whispered in Carmen’s ear, her warm breath and tone sending goosebumps up his spine.

“Okay! I’m back,” the shorter woman returned. “Oh! Oh. You must be Carm.”

“You and Mel are seriously getting on my nerves tonight. I swear to God-”

“Melman drove you? What fun.” she laughed before turning to Carmy as he introduced himself properly.

“Yeah. Uh, yes. I’m Carmen, nice to meet you.” He stuttered, shaking her hand.

“He’s cute,” she whispered to Camila before turning around and walking into the venue, signalling for the pair to follow before continuing to speak.

“Jess said that you’re overseeing the caterers tonight but it shouldn’t be anything hectic. We’ve used them before and they’re pretty professional, all you need to do is check in with them every couple of hours.”

“Can I go chat with them now?” Cam asked.

“Of course. Also for your peace of mind, Blake isn’t here yet.”

“Who’s Blake?” Carmy finally spoke up from a few steps behind the pair.

“Her stalk-” Noelle started before noticing the pointed look that her superior was giving her. “Her boss. Come on, the kitchen is this way.”

^^^^^^^^^

“And so, I just wanted to say how much we really appreciate you all being here. Not that you had a choice, but even as an outsider, I know first-hand how difficult your job is so thank you for working with us this evening. If you need anything at all, do not hesitate to come find me.” Camila finished as the workers of the catering company clapped and got back to work. 

“Alright, a bunch of the guests just pulled in. You two ready?” Noelle asked the pair.

“Never better.” Carmen breathed anxiously as they walked into the gala hall, packed with dozens of guests that immediately turned their attention to Cam and her unknown date.

The slight shake in his hands and the pickup in his breathing must have alerted the brown-skinned woman because she immediately moved to come to his side and slid her arm through his. 

“You alright, Bear?”

Carmy chose not to point out the use of the nickname, instead opting to nod his head as Noelle led them towards the crowd.

^^^^^^^^^

Camila was in her element. Swift and elegant as she moved from group to group, the same was said about her ability to shift from each conversation. Carmen noticed as each person always became entranced by her as soon as she entered their view, everyone suddenly became so willing to open up to her and keep the conversation going that they ended up telling her secrets they hadn’t anticipated telling a single soul. She had always had that magnetically welcoming quality to her. It was one of his favourite things about her, that she was always able to get anything out of him and even when she couldn’t, she already knew. Without words, she could already anticipate and be ready to comfort every one of his emotions and feelings before he even realised that he had them. It was also one of the things that he missed most about her. Since her sudden absence in his life, Carmy found it even more difficult to express himself to anyone else. Hell, he even had a hard time understanding himself without her to guide him through it. She was one of his greatest comforts and it was because of her that he knew he was capable of functioning internally in such an orderly way. But at the same time, in a way, she had ruined him.

“Oh, my God! Camila, you are always such a joy to talk to.” A blonde woman by the name of Jessica laughed. 

“By the way, Blake’s asking everyone if they’ve seen you,” she added, wiggling her brows at the younger woman.

“Oh, really?” Cam awkwardly laughed before seeing said man, walking towards her from across the hall.

Turning to Noelle and Carmy behind her who had been simply spectating her extraordinary interactions with the guests in attendance, she whispered, “mátame ahora.” [kill me now.]

“Hun, you know I have no idea what you’re saying right now,” Noelle mumbled, turning the girl back in the direction of the older man who now stood before her.

From where Carmy was standing, he could barely hear Camila’s conversation with Blake but after they exchanged what seemed to be pleasantries, Blake made a little bit of a show while kissing her hand. Carmen could have sworn that he made eye contact with the man as he did it but maybe he was just imagining it. Nevertheless, it still pissed him off, which he thought could be easily pointed out by his clenched jaw had anyone been looking. Coincidentally, Noelle had been looking his way right at that moment.

“Hey. Don’t even worry about him,” she started before looking back at the two still speaking in front of them. “Unfortunately, it’s just part of the job.”

Just then, Camila turned back to the pair with wide eyes, waving them (particularly Carmy) over. 

“Carm, darling. I’d like you to meet my boss, Blake.”

“Oh, no, don’t call me that. No such thing as ‘ranks’ here. We’re just one big happy family.” Blake laughed while reaching for Carmen’s hand.

“And yet, I haven’t gotten a raise in 2 years and you still call me Nina.” Noelle mumbled under her breath behind them, prompting him to stifle a laugh before speaking.

“Carmen, sir. Nice to meet you.” 

“Baby, I was just about to tell Blake here about how we might have to leave early.”

When the curly-haired boy only looked back at her with confusion, Camila continued.

“We have an early morning tomorrow. We’re taking a drive up to Lake Michigan for the weekend, just a little getaway.

This caused Blake’s face to drop. 

“Oh. A couple’s getaway, that is?”

Finally, Carmy caught on, rushing to answer to not force Cam to speak to this man much longer.

“Yes. We’re celebrating our anniversary.”

“Wow,” the older man chuckled bitterly through gritted teeth. “Sounds great. How long have you two been-”

Thankfully, one of the catering staff interrupted the conversation to let Camila know that two of their stagiaires had disappeared from the kitchen and now there was no one to prep the onions for the appetiser. Humbly, and also looking for any excuse to leave, Cam and Carm offered their services. And so now, here they were. Sat side by side, on crates in the corner of the scullery, peeling onions by hand and dropping them into a container that rested at their feet.

“I feel like I haven’t done this in decades.” Carmen chuckled as he dropped a freshly peeled one into the container. His jacket was long forgotten, his top button undone and his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. His curls fell into his eyes as his skilled, inked hands worked on the husk of another. Even in such a dishevelled and humbling circumstance, he still looked breathtaking.

“I doubt decades, but yeah. It takes you back.” Camila agreed as she threw another layer into the makeshift pile next to her. Respectively, her heels stood carelessly in the corner next to Carmy, her hair had been messily unclipped and her jewellery sat in the darkness of her purse. Had you asked the boy next to her, however, he would have said that she’d never looked more perfect. Granted, he used to say the same thing when she was leaking mucus and phlegm cause she had the flu, so no one could really say how true that statement was.

“Hey, I’m really sorry about what I did back there. Blake was really laying in on suggesting that I spend the weekend going over strategy with him at his house in Aspen and I, uh, I just needed a way out of it. But thank you for going along with it, so much.”

“Of course, Cam. I’d do anything for you,” that had come out slightly more romantic than he intended, so Carmen continued. “Can I ask why you put up with it though? From what I’ve heard tonight, it sounds like it’s pretty much an everyday occurrence.”

A beat. 

From the deep breath that she took, he feared that he might have offended her before she finally muttered, “I don’t know. I think I just, I just like it here? I mean, I love my job. I love that I get to be part of giving shine to small chefs who are just like I was, just trying to get some type of recognition. I even love doing shit like this stupid gala because I know it keeps everyone motivated to do this job. Also, it’s already so hard for women to get this far in this field, especially at this age. I mean, I know that everyone just thinks I slept my way to an executive position, that there’s lists that go around the office about who’s most ‘smashable’ and that I’ve been top 3 for almost three years straight.”

“But I also know how many girls feel inspired that I’ve gotten this far,” she continued. “That they have someone in their corner when Blake doesn’t want to make another woman ‘Chef of the Moment’ two months in a row because he ‘doesn’t want them to get a big head’. I know that they count on me to be their voice and as much as I might hate the things that come with it, I have to keep going.”

Carmy had no idea what to say, how to express how deeply he understood and empathised with her words. So he said the only word that he knew would get the point, at least partly, across.

“Heard.”

However, this only forced a giggle to bubble out of Camila as she looked at him with shock.

“Heard? I just poured my deepest thoughts out to you and you said ‘heard’?” 

She was laughing harder now, clutching onto his bicep to stay upright. Carmen felt bad and didn’t think it was entirely that funny but her smile was contagious, as was her laugh and so he began to chuckle too. The pair looked insane, giggling their asses off as they sat in a dimmed corner of the event hall’s kitchen, surrounded by the husks of onions. But they didn’t care, because for a second it felt like the old them and they would do anything to feel that again.

Finally, they came down.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” Carmy halfheartedly chuckled. “I, uh, what I meant to say is that I’m proud of you. As much as it might suck, I always knew that you’d end up doing big things one day and now you are, so I’m proud of you.”

“Yeah?” 

“Yeah.”

The girl quickly made a move to hug him before he could avoid it, enveloping her arms around his shoulders. Hesitantly, he returned it before settling into the familiar warmth of her embrace.

“I’m really proud of you too, Carm. I hope you know that. After everything that you’ve gone through, that you’ve achieved, I always knew you could do it.” 

Carmy shook his head as she continued.

“Even now, that restaurant is in the best shape that it’s been in a long time and that’s all thanks to you. My mom actually likes going to work now and with a little more pushing, I’m pretty sure we can get her to put on the apron.” Camila laughed as he let out a chuckle. Her hands moved to cup his cheeks so that they would make eye contact. 

“You are so special, Carmen. You never fail to impress me, not that you need it. I swear you deserve the world.”

“Then why did you leave?” he finally whispered back, bright blue eyes boring piercing into her own.

His words caught Camila by surprise, her mouth slightly agape. Before she could get another word out, however, Noelle was dropping a plate of the desserts that they made earlier, in front of them.

“Guys, holy shit. These are fire, you have to eat one. They’re amazing.”

Sensing the tense energy between the two she paused, eyes bouncing between them before continuing.

“Okay…I’m not even going to ask. Try them. Also, Blake is pissed! During entrées, he was fully ranting at Garrett that he’s gonna scrap the whole bringing your partners' thing. Just employees.” she laughed.

“Really? That’s uh…great.” Camila muttered quietly, her eyes still flicking to the man next to her.

Still sensing the awkwardness, Noelle stood up, “You two are killing my buzz.” before walking away and leaving the pair alone again.

They sat in silence for a second, glumly staring down at their hands until both tried to speak at the same time.

“Cam, listen, I’m sor-”

“Carmy. I don’t know what to-”

“No, no. Let me finish, okay. I’m sorry that I said that. It was uncalled for and a little cruel. I just, it feels like you’ve just reappeared in my life and it’s as if you never left. You still feel the same. I’m just scared, I think. Of what happens if we do this again, take that chance. But I know that you don’t owe me an explanation until you’re ready. I can wait.”

When he was only met with a longing stare and silence, he cleared his throat and changed the subject.

“If they’re on dessert now, I doubt that they still need us on this. You wanna go back out?”

Camila shook her head slowly.

“You wanna go back home?”

Another shake.

“What then?”

After pretending to think for a second, she finally spoke up.

“You wanna go roller skating?”

“Roller skating? In these clothes?” Carmen laughed, watching her stand and reach her hand down for him to grab.

“Who cares? Let it rip, right?”

“Let it rip.”

yanda! speaks (again): so since i really just changed the entire direction of which this fic was going, the chapters were cut down to 10 instead of 12 so we’re just over halfway now 😛 also, i’ll be offline for the next couple of days so i made this one a little longer to make up for it! alright, bye!

🏷️ list: @rexorangecouny @louderfortheback @janoskiansecondsofdirection @thatonedogwithablog @kravitzwhore @iiheartbowie @doodlebob-mp3 @rainerax

[quite-right-too]

Dona Nobis Pacem (Grant Us Peace) - Chapter Six

Summary: After preparing for the arrival of her new housemates, the last thing Rose expected was for one of them to be the man whose flat she had snuck out of the night before. Hey guys, I'm sorry this took so long to get finished. I had to put this on the back burner while I deal with my grandmother hospitalized, my new job, and some medical issues with one of my dogs. It got done, however, and @demdifferentstories-29 is a wonderful beta for waiting patiently for over a month for me to actually sit down and get this chapter written. Also, a shoutout to @raz-writes-the-thing for helping me figure out some of the scenes to add into this chapter. I had a lot of little ideas and Raz seriously helped me narrow them down and get the best snippets to put in here. If you enjoy, let me know! The more engagement keeps me writing!

Read here on AO3

Rose’s laughter at their shared mortification echoed throughout the dark room. While she had found the entire situation hilarious, it was obvious that James’ pride was a bit hurt. However, she could confidently say that she was no longer in the mood she had been in two minutes prior while she was climbing into his lap. 

She wasn’t sure what was worse: The fact that James’ sister — who also happened to be her housemate — just caught them in the act? Or the fact that she knew Jack was about to hear all about it.

Rose watched as James stood up on shaky legs and made sure the door was closed. He untangled himself from the pyjama bottoms that had wrapped around his lower legs and tossed the offending garment to the side near his laundry basket. Rose couldn’t help but admire his bare form as he made his way back to the bed, the slight moonlight offering a clear silhouette. 

He turned on a lamp on the bedside table, illuminating the room in a soft amber glow. Happy with the low light in the room, James plopped onto the bed with a huff, his legs sprawled out over the dishevelled sheets. “I’m sorry,” he began, rubbing his hands over his face. “I didn’t even think to lock the door.”

“It’s okay, James,” Rose reassured, still holding the duvet against her chest. Her failed attempt to stifle a yawn caught James’ attention as he glanced up at her.

“You’re tired, aren’t you?” The satisfied smirk on his face quickly melted into a warm smile. “It’s okay, really. I’m pretty knackered myself.” He matched her yawn and stretched before his eyes met hers. “You could stay here with me tonight?”

Rose could feel her stomach flip. On one hand, she so desperately wanted to stay with him. Fall asleep in his bed and just enjoy being next to him through the night. On the other hand, he may not feel the same way. 

What if she’s misunderstanding this whole thing?

It seemed like James had sensed her hesitation, quickly adding to his offer, “If you don’t want to, it’s okay — I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable.” He rolled over fully so he was properly facing her in the semi-darkness. “I wouldn’t mind the company of a friend, though.”

A friend.

With fake exasperation, Rose sighed. “Okay, I suppose I could stay. I definitely don’t want to run into Donna right now.” She couldn’t help but smile as a grin crossed his face.

“Brilliant!” James exclaimed, bouncing up and making his way over to the dresser she had barely seen earlier.

As she followed him and moved to grab her knickers, Rose nabbed the t-shirt that he had been wearing, not realising it wasn’t hers in the darkness of the room.

James began to pull on a pair of pants, grunting as he hopped on one foot while fighting the other. As soon as he was able to get his underwear properly on, he turned to head back over to the bed. He was met with a sight that left him slack-jawed.

Rose Tyler was standing before him, hair beautifully tousled from sex, wearing nothing but a t-shirt and knickers. 

His t-shirt.

“You okay, Doctor?” Rose teased, walking over to grab his hand. She so badly wanted to pull him down for a kiss, but thought better of it. ‘ Just friends ,’ she reminded herself.

“Yeah, I’m okay,” he coughed. The dim light allowed Rose to watch as he swallowed thickly before letting out a whoosh of air. She could nearly feel his eyes roving over her body. The slightest pressure of his hand squeezing hers, almost imperceptible, further tempted her desire.

As she pulled the covers back enough to comfortably slide to the other side of the bed, Rose smiled and got comfortable in the soft, warm bed. It seemed more plush than hers — the thick duvet was a very welcomed weight and the sheets were so smooth.

Rose figured that she could get used to this, and that was a very dangerous thought to have.

As James slipped under the sheets to join her, he reached over to turn the lamp off, which offered Rose another unobstructed view of his naked torso before he rolled over to face her. Though the moonlight offered barely any illumination, Rose could still make out the dark chocolate eyes she loved so much. The eyes that had her absolutely smitten with this wonderful man.

James smiled as he moved onto his back, holding his right arm out. An invitation — he wanted her to lay with him. Not just with him, but against him. In a cuddle. A nearly naked, post-sex cuddle. And he wanted her to go to sleep with him while they cuddled.

The level of domesticity that he was offering was more than she could have ever dreamed of. The intimacy wasn’t lost on her either — cuddling in his bed after mind-blowing sex was very different than just laying against him while sharing a blanket during a movie. 

Before she could even think, she was in his arms. James had wrapped around her instinctively, pulling her even further onto him — her arm over his bare chest and her leg draped over his. Rose catalogued every sensation that she could process. How his fingers traced circular patterns on her arm while his heart thundered under her ear. 

It was fast enough to match her own.

James gave her a light squeeze, quickly pulling the blankets up over them fully before readjusting his arms to fit perfectly around her again. “Good night, Rose,” he murmured, voice thick with sleep as he pressed his nose into her hair.

“Good night, James,” she echoed, whispering into his naked chest. Rose could feel his breathing even out, and she realised that there was no better feeling than this. Here she was — laying in James Noble’s arms, in his bed, while they went to sleep together. 

She had never felt more safe in her life.

—

Sunlight filtered through the blinds, pulling Rose out of her sleep. She had been having an amazing dream — that she and James had spent the night together.

But then she was suddenly aware of the warm body that she was currently pressed against. Oh, god, it wasn’t a dream. She was in James’ bed and wearing nothing but a pair of knickers and a shirt. His arms were tight around her, and she could feel his heartbeat quicken as she stirred. 

‘ He’s awake ,’ she realised, warmth filling her chest. ‘ He’s awake and he stayed in bed with me in his arms .’ She stretched lightly, just enough to indicate that she was beginning to rouse from her sleep.  

“Hi,” she groaned as her eyes adjusted to the morning light. She made no effort to move from his arms, choosing to instead crane her neck up to meet his gaze.

“Hello,” James responded with a smile.

Rose couldn’t help but admire the way the sun shone through the room, illuminating his face. His rich, soft eyes — like warm espresso — looked at her with an emotion she couldn’t quite place. His arms wrapped around her tightly, not like a vice, but rather protectively and intimately. The lighting accentuated his freckles, allowing Rose to truly count each one like she had longed to do.

He was absolutely beautiful.

“Earth to Rose? Are you alright?” His voice pulled her from her reverie. 

“Oh, yeah, I’m okay,” she lied, trying to suppress the heat pooling in her stomach at the situation. “‘M just wondering what time it is.” James turned, trying not to jostle their positions, and grabbed his phone. 

“Ah, it’s about nine o’clock.” Almost on cue, his stomach let out a loud growl. He sheepishly winced at the noise.

“So, it’s breakfast time, then,” Rose teased. In an attempt to make things not awkward, she moved on to another topic. “I think it’s about time for me to have a shower. I’ll meet you downstairs?”

As he nodded, she reluctantly pulled himself from his arms. Leaving the warm covers was hard, but not as hard as looking back at James — shirtless with a soft grin on his face, the very tips of scratch marks on his shoulders that surely left angry red streaks down his back from the night before.

Grabbing her sleep shorts off the floor, Rose made sure to open the door quietly and peeked around the hallway to make sure it was clear. She offered James a brief smile before closing the door and briskly walking to her own bedroom, closing the door once she made it in.

Immediately going to her en suite, she turned the shower on and waited impatiently for the water to heat up. Her thoughts continued to morph into memories of the night before — his teeth on her shoulder, arm wrapped around her to keep her as close as he could while he buried himself inside her.

Steam began to fill the room as Rose let out a desperate sigh, moving to strip her few remaining clothes off. As she pulled her shirt off and went to toss it to the side, she stopped. In her hands, pulled off her body, was not her shirt.

It was James’.

The t-shirt was a simple maroon, soft and worn. Very obviously well-loved. Everything about it was so very James.

Rose brought the shirt up to her nose and deeply inhaled. She was immediately surrounded by the scent that was growing familiar to her. James smelled warm — woodsy and comforting. She wanted to be greeted by it every day. By him every day. She clutched it close to her chest, smiling as she kept her face buried in the cosy fabric.

She decided to keep it for now.

As she pulled her knickers off, Rose reminisced about the intimacy she had shared with the man she had fallen so hard for. The way he kissed her — hot and passionate. How his tongue felt against hers. She found herself fantasising about his tongue a lot. Not wanting to wait any longer, she stepped into the hot shower. Her hand wandered down to her clit as she let her desire overtake her. She was already so wound up that it didn’t take long for her to get close to the edge.

“Mmm, fuck, James ,” she whispered, imagining her fingers were his as she reached down and felt how wet she was. ‘ All for him, ’ she thought as she remembered how his hand trailed down her body, slipping his fingers inside her. His words echoed through her head as she approached her orgasm.

“ What I would do to taste you properly. ”

It only took a few more circles over her clit before the waves of pleasure crashed over her. She quietly moaned his name like a prayer, doing her best to keep herself standing.

Remembering that she was supposed to meet James for breakfast, Rose washed her hair and finished up her shower. As she stepped out onto her bathmat, she grabbed a fluffy pink towel that was hanging on the rack next to her.

She grabbed James’ shirt from the counter where she had set it before her shower and made her way into her bedroom. Rose slipped the garment under her pillow and turned to grab a pair of knickers from her dresser.

As soon as she dropped her towel to the floor, the familiar creak of her door opening reached her ears.

Of course she forgot to lock the door.

Standing just past the doorway in her room was James, who sported a bright red blush. “Shit, sorry. I didn’t realise— Fuck, I should’ve knocked. I’m sorry,” he spluttered. 

Rose quickly grabbed her towel as he spoke, covering herself as she found herself with a matching blush.

In reality, it shouldn’t be this awkward. They had both seen each other naked. Less than twelve hours ago, she had been in his bed while he moaned into her neck, slamming his cock into her as they came together.

But naturally, things had to get weird now.

James kept his gaze averted. “I, erm,” he muttered. “I came in to tell you that I also showered and that I’m heading downstairs.” It came out in a rush, his tongue desperately trying to keep up with his brain. “Again, I’m so sorry.” With that, he closed the door and scurried off.

The chance to see her starkers and he ran away ? What happened to the cocky bloke who had been whispering all the dirty words in the darkness of his bedroom? Rose found that she was utterly stunned, frozen in place at the fact that this man with two doctorates could be so bloody thick.

As Rose put her knickers on, she grabbed a simple t-shirt and jeans with a sigh. Just as she thought that maybe, just maybe, her feelings were reciprocated, James acted like last night hadn’t even happened. 

By the time Rose made it downstairs, everyone had already found their places in the kitchen. Jack and Donna were chatting away at the table, Donna’s hands flailing around during her conversation while Jack listened intently. James, however, was leaning against the counter when she walked in, gaze overly focused on the cuppa he had in his hands.

As soon as she was noticed, the room fell quiet. Jack and Donna’s eyes met hers and she felt her breath catch in her throat. James moved to take a sip of his tea, only sparing her a nervous glance. Though it was only a few seconds, the silence was deafening.

That was until Jack broke it.

“So, was it as earth-shattering as I figured it would be, Rosie?”

James choked, quickly turning to move to the sink to set down the cup in his hands. Rose groaned, burying her face in her hands and went to sit next to Donna at the table as Jack smirked at her. 

“God, Jack, don’t even start.” Jack turned to Donna and held his hand out expectantly. 

“Told you,” he laughed as the ginger woman moved to dig through her purse.

As she pulled out a bank note, Donna sent a pointed glance at James. “You,” she grumbled as her brother turned around, “made me lose ten quid, you prat.” She slapped the note into Jack’s outstretched hand with a huff.

The American quickly pocketed the money. “Good doing business with you.” 

“Yeah, whatever,” Donna scoffed. She grabbed her purse and pushed the chair out, standing and moving towards the doorway. “Anyways, I’m going to Tesco. I’ll be back eventually.”

Jack also stood to leave. “How convenient, I also have to go to Tesco. Mind if I join you?” he asked, sending a subtle wink Rose’s way. Before he followed Donna out, he made his way over to James, leaning in and smacking him square in the centre of his back.

James winced, turning to glare at Jack. “Ow!”

“Make sure to lock your door next time. If I see you two having, I may have to join in.” With that, Jack made his way out.

You could hear a pin drop with the silence that blanketed the room. Rose bit her lip as she sat at the table, an anxious habit she had picked up as a child.

“So, uh…” James said awkwardly, looking up at Rose sheepishly. “That was…”

“Yeah.”

“Are you okay?” Rose’s brow furrowed. 

“Am I okay? Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I be?” The man in front of her shrugged, pushing himself off from the counter. 

“I don’t know,” James breathed as he took a couple steps over to where Rose was sitting. “Just… Didn’t want things to be weird after everything, you know?”

“You didn’t want things to be weird?” Rose let out a laugh. “You’re the one making things weird!”

“Me?” James asked incredulously as he placed his hands on his hips.

“Yeah, you!” She stood up abruptly as she attempted to mirror the man towering over her. Blimey, he was tall.

“How am I making things weird?” James cocked his head. “I thought I’ve been perfectly normal. I mean… there isn’t really a manual for what to do when you shag your best mate, is there?”

It was like a record scratch. Rose was shocked at his admission.

“I’m your best mate?” she asked. James looked at her like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“I mean,” James stammered, “if you’d like to be? We’ve been nearly inseparable since we sat down for chips. I know it hasn’t been very long but…” He swallowed thickly. “I don’t know, there’s just this thing about you. I feel like I’ve known you forever.” His eyes searched hers desperately. She could tell he was looking for any sign of discomfort or apprehension, but there was none. She felt it was like a weight being lifted off of her shoulders. 

“Me too,” she breathed, a smile forming on her face. Still, she couldn’t help but feel the disappointment at the fact that he saw them as ‘best mates’. Rose took a deep breath, meeting his intense gaze with a smile. “We’re okay, yeah? You and me?”

James grinned as he moved to grab her hand, his thumb moving softly over hers. The soft, domestic gesture was a stark contrast to their earlier interaction when she was fresh out of the shower. 

“Yeah, we’re okay,” he murmured.

[magnumdays]

Magnum PI 5.12 - Three Bridges review

Little bit late this week because I had trouble finding the ep and well this new mid-week airing time, it's at a pretty inconvenient time of the week for me.

Anyways...

The promo for this episode was misleading as (when is it not) but in this case it was a really good misleading. We did get funny sting-ray case but that was just a side plot for laughs.

And for me it worked so well because it gave us more Miggy scenes and man, do I love how they're doing Magnum and Higgins as a couple now. It's established, comfortable but still sweet with that hint of sexy they always had and IDK, why can't we just have 10 seasons more of this?

The Case

Seems like a semi-straightforward "trusted the wrong person and got my money stolen" case. But this being Magnum PI, there is of course a huge trafficking ring behind it and the bad guy is actually a good guy and everyone (except for the Triad) gets a happy ending. (Brushing over the trauma of trafficking and being used as a human sheild at and also sort of betrayal of trust and stealing lots of money from people, and all that jazz. Because goodness will win out and happiness reign supreme -that's just how we roll in Magnum PI land.)

I liked it, even if finding the hotel (which granted took the combined power of Kumu and Higgy) and then just getting walked straight into the heart of the Evil Overlords organization was a bit convenient. Like if I was a boss bad-guy I would have just told my underlings to walk potential spies and cops and other interested parties off the property. And then just moved my operation.

Just saying, a bit sloppy for a 97-million-dollar operation...

The end bit with findning Haun (Han?) after he'd been sold off again, maybe that should have ended sadder or more dramatic. Like Haun could at least have gotten shot in the arm or something... just a little suggestion.

Or Higgy should have gotten shot because she was just walking straight into the path of this guy's bullets...

The Miggy

What took you so long?

I was about to ask you the same thing.

They are so adorable and just maybe the ultimate modern battle couple of all time.

Seriously was there one Miggy moment when the banter was not on point?

"Get where it's going and intercept it!"

Side note: does someone on this show have like a drowning kink? I feel like waterboarding is the to-go torture method of choice for all bad guys. I mean Nuzo was water-boarded before he died, Higgy was, then she almost drowned and now we got TM getting all drown-y.

And love the look Magnum gives the guy when the bad guy is all "This ain't gonna work - go get his friend". Like from mildly smug (above) because hey, Mr. Navy Seal "I can hold my breath for five minutes" isn't worried about anything to 'not amused' in like a second.

(I mean of course Higgy being all kick-ass going to get her Hubby, also lovely.)

TC - Sometimes you just need your mom

So TC pushing everyone away after last week when he seemed to be opening up and doing a bit better with Shammy and Kumu felt like a step back, but also very real. Because rehab and progress is not linear nor does it "make sense" for most people in a logical way.

Mommy-TC showing up and both showing him that she not leaving because she loves him and wants to be there for him and talking to him about weakness and stubbornness, was the right play. Because when life sucks sometimes you just need your mom right?

It's also a nice call back to last "season" which they've been so good at during season 5. Like with Higgy and the Mandarin and just little references to stuff (still waiting on the tattoo though...)

Rick and Love

So I guess Piper was only in the picture to push Rick and Suzy together then? Maybe? I kind of hope she sticks around and has some other nefarious purpose. But if she's not in the next episode or 14, I guess she was just there to get the Suzy/Rick ship to sail.

Which, I mean, we did all want that and it is sooo very cute and I'd want to see happy-family feels! Let Suzy or Rick have a birthday and we can end with a surprise party or something this season (and bring a real baby this time).

Overall + I'm on a break next week

I enjoyed this episode so much, possibly a bit more than last week's ep even, and I'm a bit annoyed with myself it took me like 4 days until I could watch it. I guess, part of why I postponing watching is because each week means one episode closer to the last one. Urg, why did they end our show!!! It's such a freaking shame because it absolutely feels like they've found their groove with the Miggy relationship and just the whole vibe of 5a and so far 5b!

Next week I'll be traveling so I might not be able to get access to the episode at all before I return home, which sucks because it's my favorite plot-device: my faves going undercover.

But yeah, 13+14 might end up being a double episode for me (+ double review!) in two weeks but we shall see!

[matchalilly]

This gaming series has always had a special place in my heart for more reasons than one.

In middle school and high-school it was my shit played more co op than campaign in college cause I had a solid group of friends I'd hop on with.

But as a military brat I got the biggest crush on Mactavish when I was a tween, irritated the hell out of my bf at the time to the point he'd start snarky arguments about how I gush over a scottsman when his Irish ass is right there granted we'd laugh about it cause I'd point out how stupid it was that he's getting bent over a video game character, his ma would even join in saying just wait maybe an actual Scottish boy will swipe me from him.

As much as he gave me shit over Soap certain parts of the game hit him hard too.

We mutually broke up before high school, still hung out and gamed together but he decided he was going to join the army after graduating and didn't want me stuck worrying constantly, even though I expressed my interest in joining the marines like my dad.

That started up a whole new 'dig at each other' playfully of course both of us came from military families him strictly army me a mix of marine, army, and navy.

Dad was against his only baby girl joining the military and I just said alright ill just do some form of art than, ended up taking international culinary courses and cosplay ended up unironacally making military friends regardless.

You'd be surprised how many service men and women I've met in the cosplay community not to mention lawyers and doctors, even dentists it's wild honestly but it's neat, and some of them would play with me on CoD just to keep in touch. We'd joke and shit on each other and shit on the occasional teams that would be toxic in the lobby after losing the match to a team mixed with chicks and guys and would scream hacks.

Long and short of it this game is a staple in many special memories for me. It isn't just a game I play for the fun of it, I've made friends, connections and sometimes we all hop on just to chat in the lobby not even going into game. We would just sit cracking jokes and go back and forth if we wanted to hop in a match and go naaaaaaaaaah not tonight, got work or nah I have morning classes or mmm gotta be at base early or I would, ect you get the idea life stuff.

Now I'm back in it watching my friend that's never played a shooter in her life enjoying co op and the campaign and its the best thing to see.

She's a Konig girl and gets shitty that he's not in it much and me and my other pal just laugh and tell her he wasn't in the old games much either, nothing new better get used to relying on the simping fandom for her Konig material.

She even went and started a fanfiction and asks me all kinds of questions, although she had the audacity to call Ghost mean and I'm just like girl how dare 😤

Seriously don't know why people think he's mean, clearly they haven't heard his glorious dad jokes dudes just a hardened soldier.

But she adores Soap too so we chat often about him or she'll gush about Konig or send me mass GhostSoap pictures and I'm just like wow you found that side of the Fandom took you long enough 😆

Even my military hubby joins us cause he grew up playing the games too. Imagine his suprise one year when he came home from a deployment catching his wife playing CoD not knowing I even had an interest in the game.

That was a fun conversation our first year married.

Sat and watched him start the new campaign last night and I was so frustrated that he purposely would get Price killed just to rile me up (even detonated himself at one point) before restarting the mission and say 'imma do it again' only for me to tell him to leave the old man alone and actually do the damn mission.

Sorry not sorry felt like reminiscing, tis the season of recalling fond memories.

[a-hell-of-a-time-archive]

((Drabble time, featuring Andre, Caim, and some bad decisions that would make Vassago and Stolas proud-

Under a read more for length.))

"I assume you already know why I'm here?" Andre and Caim were currently in the dining area of his mansion, the air between them tense.

"I know he wants me gone, and he sent you to do it, right?"

"It was either myself, or the king resorting to less than ideal means. Not that you can't handle yourself."

"Damn right, though honestly all of this is needless. You and I both know I never wanted this life, or anything pertaining to it; I took on my role and place because my father had no other choice or option. If I could give it away, I could."

"Then why not do so? I was sent here to strip you of your title, property, and everything that ties you to us. In doing so you would be excommunicated and be free to live on Earth with Yui and do as you please."

"...so you're saying that you will take it all on, while I never have to set foot in Hell again?" It sounded too good to be true, but there was a problem. "...and what of you? If I can no longer enter Hell, I will be unable to see you."

Andre paused. "...that is true, and is the price to be paid from this arrangement. However, no one said that I cannot come to you."

"Won't this put you at risk of incurring Paimon's wrath?"

"Perhaps, but have we not been doing so this entire time already? The visits will simply be less frequent."

Caim, upon hearing this, lightly shook her head. "To think that you would go to such lengths, even after I...broke off our engagement."

She let out a sigh. "I had never intended to hurt you, and had I known that it would-"

Andre held up a hand. "We've already went over this, and I forgave you, did I not? Our friendship remains intact, so we need not rehash old matters."

"No, we do. I know you're still hurting, Andre, and no amount of words will convince me otherwise. I know what I did broke your heart, and is the reason why you have avoided others for so long." This prompted a surprised look from the marquis, but she continued. "I know you've forgiven me and that we continue to remain close, but that doesn't excuse things. Had I known, I would have went through with it."

"But you would have been miserable," Andre said quietly. "You would not have been happy with me, not when you had Yui waiting for you. To go through with the arrangement just to spare my feelings would have ruined us, not unlike my sister and the Prince." Granted the pair didn't care for each other from the start, but they tried to fake it, only for it to blow up on them both. He never wanted that for himself, or for Caim.

"...I won't deny that it hurts, and that there aren't issues that need to be addressed, but I have come to accept it."

She remained quiet as he spoke, her eyes closing as she thought about what to say next. "If you have, then promise me you won't let that pain sabotage your happiness. You may be an asshole at times, and a scheming one built for the bullshit that is Goetian politics, but even you deserve to be happy." Opening her eyes, Caim fixed him with a stare. "If you can promise me that, I will hand over everything to you."

"Weren't you going to do so anyway?" he asked with a slightly cheeky grin that earned him an eye roll. "But in all seriousness, I will promise you that. In fact, I have already acted upon it."

"So I've heard~ This guy seems to be legit, but if he ever hurts you, or you do something stupid to ruin this, I will kick both your asses."

"Alright, alright. Nothing is going to happen."

"Good."

A moment of comfortable silence fell on the pair, broken only by a sigh as Caim reached for a pen. "Now is there any paperwork for this, or will verbal consent work."

Andrealphus gave a wave of his hand, and a small portal opened to dump a hefty stack of papers onto the dining table. "Paperwork, as per custom."

"Because why would it be anything else?" she asked with a roll of her eyes.

As she signed the documents one by one, Andrealphus spoke. "Though, you know, I have another idea in mind."

This caught her attention, her pen hovering just above another dotted line. "Do go on."

"You mentioned before that yourself and Yui wished for a child."

"...yes, I did. Unfortunately we couldn't find a suitable donor that wasn't a complete asshole."

"What if I said I had a solution to that issue?"

Caim's eyes widened. "You don't mean-"

"I will be the father, if that is agreeable to both of you."

"...Of course, but why-?"

"You know that I do not have an heir, and that was the whole point of our previous engagement. As it stands I have no one to pass my title and property onto aside from my niece. However, she will bear the burden of Stolas's legacy, and I do not wish to add my own to it. This is especially so since relations between Via and my sister are...not great.

Therefore, it would be best for me to have an heir of my own." He paused for a moment. "Of course I do not intend to marry or reproduce with another goetian woman anytime soon, and if I had to, I would prefer it be you."

Caim said nothing at first, staring at Andre with wide eyes. Eventually, she spoke up. "And how would this work, exactly? If this heir is to be legitimate, it would require marriage, and Paimon does not want me around in any capacity. Furthermore, this child would have our blood, which would further anger him. Besides, I am signing away all my ties to the goetia."

"With regard to the ties, once the paperwork is complete you will be an outsider. The marriage would be a private affair and in name only, to reduce the chance of it getting out.

As for the child, we could raise them jointly across both realms."

"And if Paimon finds out?"

"I'll deal with that as it arises. For now, simply having this paperwork done will be enough to appease him, for it is exactly as he wishes; you are being stripped of everything and will be sent back to the human world to do as you please. Everything you own will then come to me, and I shall hang onto it until the child is old enough to get it. Or I could give it to another.

The marriage and child arrangement is separate from this and will be carried out on the side."

As she listened, a smirk crossed her beak. "And here I thought you wouldn't have the balls to go against the hierarchy. What changed?"

Andrealphus shrugged. "I do not wish to be tied down to another goetia, or have marriage candidates chosen for me. I will decide for myself who I shall be with, and who my heir will be." He knew being with Vassago would cause an uproar, but Andre was happy and had no desire to marry another just to save face.

"...very well, then I accept. But let's wait a while until this," she gestured to the paperwork, "is taken care of. We can talk later."

"Then it is done."

Once the last paper was signed, Andrealphus collected the stack before opening a portal to her home. "You are now free. I wish you well."

Caim rose from her chair, smiling to Andre. "I do have one last request."

"Which is?"

"Let my old man continue to live in the manor. I've been letting him stay there since I took over, and he need not be homeless." She paused for a moment. "Paimon left the decision of who to give it all to, correct?"

"Yes."

"You could always give it back to him, or to a relative of his if they are trustworthy. I think our child will be just fine with your inheritance." With that Caim left through the portal, leaving Andrealphus alone.

[dragonflight203]

Mass effect 3, Normandy post Menae:

-What are the turian reinforcements even going to do on Earth?

Shepard keeps seeking reinforcements, but their purpose is unclear. This war will not be won by fighting the Reapers directly. The entire might of the galaxy could descend on Earth and that won’t save it.

I suppose the logic could be the same as the krogans on Palaven – evacuate as many people as possible until the Crucible is ready.

Kind of shitty to ask other species to abandon their people to save Earth’s though.

-In most backgrounds, Shepard has no reason to be attached to Earth. Or negative reason. So why does the game insist leaving was hard?

This would have been an excellent opportunity to let the player, you know, pick what Shepard says.

I’ll go with Shepard had a hard time abandoning civilians to die since I’m paragon. For renegades – hard time letting the Reapers have a victory?

-I’m fond of Victus. Seems like a good guy. He’d probably be an awful politician in peace, but he’s just what the Hierarchy needs in war.

-According to the email he sent, the spectre Jondum Bau is skeptical of Shepard’s ties with Cerberus.

I suspect many people feel that way, especially now that Cerberus is openly attacking so many people and places.

How much did working for Cerberus in ME2 hurt Shepard’s credibility? Many spectres apparently took Shepard’s claims about the Reapers seriously, but did others blow them off because of it?

(Also, the spectres taking Shepard’s Reapers claims seriously can be a hint that the Council did as well. The spectres work for them.)

-Aria sent me two emails to see her ASAP. One is from the base game, one for the Omega DLC.

That’s very poor execution on Bioware’s part. The DLC email should have been sent after the base game’s email. It could have come after meeting Aria the first time.

-First conversation with Garrus on the Normandy and he’s already mentioning “old times”. The writers love that phrase.

-If you go paragon, Shepard mentions the boy they watched die on Earth.

The writers really leaned on you caring about him. If only they had put some effort into giving the player a reason to.

Yes, yes, symbolism but you still have to earn your readers’ attachment. Don’t take it for granted.

-Garrus: It’s something I learned long ago in C-Sec: An imminent and painful death has a way of motivating people.

Garrus, would you care to explain how you learned that in C-Sec?

Garrus was a terrible C-Sec Officer, wasn’t he.

-Garrus’ father was a friend of the former primarch.

Garrus has lived a very privileged life. Probably why he takes crime so personally – he did not grow up expecting it.

-Garrus won’t say his current rank in the Hierarchy. Presumably he’s quite up there, to be advising the Palaven Primarch personally.

-The first meeting with Edi in her new body is a reversal of norms: Renegade is far more supportive of her than paragon. Usually it’s vice versa.

Renegade, you congratulate her on saving the data about the Crucible and will let her know when you’re ready to take her on a mission.

Paragon, you stress the dangers she risked acting on her own and want her to test the new body thoroughly before taking it out.

-I’ve seen people insist that Edi’s body is not intended to be sexy, but it blatantly is. Edi comments on it (Joker will want to see it), Chakwas comments on it, Dianna comments on it, and Joker won’t shut up about it.

(How fascinating, that it’s all women except for the love interest.)

I’m disappointed in it; I would have preferred for Edi to have an “ambiguous” or blatantly robot body and to still become Joker’s partner. That would have been a more powerful story about a man and an ai falling in love.

Still, compared to what Bioware did to Ashley in ME3 this is a minor quibble.

-That aside, in-universe I think it’s a terrible idea to take Edi on missions. If you go too far out of Normandy’s range she’ll lose control of the body. Why risk that when you can take an organic squad mate?

-Oddly enough, Adams has nothing to say about Edi gaining a body despite the fact he was there.

-Why is Ceberus incapable of successfully faking a turian signal?

Traynor says they made the same mistake they made in ME2. That’s just inexcusable. At least fail differently.

-If you go renegade with Edi, it’s rather amusing. Change the core programming that prevents you from harming humans? Nope, it’s perfect leave it be.

-Your next conversation with Edi emphasizes that she has personality traits. She’s curious, enjoys learning, has preferences, can lie…

This is so odd. We know Edi has a personality. We saw this throughout ME2. Why state it outright state it now like it’s something Shepard is just discovering?

I think ME3’s writers struggled with the concept that machine life can exist on its own terms. Hence why Edi got a body and the geth need to “evolve” into full AI in the Rannoch arc to be alive.

So even though EDI has been a person since ME2, they emphasize how she’s just like a human here because that’s the only way they can conceive personhood.

Disappointing, but that will be an ongoing theme throughout ME3. It has many good points, but on the whole the narrative does not work for me.

[heinzpilsner]

Okay, I'm back, and this is another part of 'Overanalyzing beach Maiko' series! ... Which means we'll try and focus on overanalyzing beach Maiko goddamit as opposed to all the other tempting beach psychological stuff. Yay.

Anyway, today we're going to find out who of the pair actually screwed up the most. Isn't it exciting?

(Spoiler: the answer can be a bit unexpected.)

So, in the last part, Mai broke up with Zuko, and now they're about to meet again in the company of Azula and Ty Lee after... some time (somewhat between twenty minutes and a couple of hours, really).

The pair had an opportunity to calm down and reflect on what happened (and in Mai's case, probably to hear the other girls' opinions), so I'm sure they are different people now!

They both have analyzed their wrong attitudes and relationship mistakes, and now they are wiser, and stronger, and fre...

Zuko: "Where is your new boyfriend?"

Zuko: "My life hasn't been that easy either, Mai." Mai: "Whatever!"

...Nevermind.

But let's not get ahead of events here.

The scene begins with the royal siblings approaching the girls. Zuko walks past Mai with sad expression on his face while she is glaring at his back. Then she looks away with resentment. But then...

Mai: "Hey."

Well, it was very... minimalistic. But it's good to know that Mai reevaluated at least some things here!

...Which ones exactly is an important question though. What if among them was the belief that nice butt is not a reason enough to stay with a guy who can innocently ask you one evening whether you prayed tonight or not?

Okay, okay, I know.

This butt joke was not very minimalistic.

Seriously though, if we leave alone the fact that Zuko is not exactly in the best state for romancing anyone due to him being a cringe-worthy disaster his major inner crisis...

And the fact that Mai clearly should try and find for herself some sources of endorphins which wouldn't depend on how far from a mental breakdown or a high treason her trainwreck of a prince currently is...

And the fact that this whole relationship wasn't such a great idea from the point of compatibility in the first place...

Who of the pair should've made a first move towards reconciliation in the perfect scenario?

Yep, that's a really important question here

I mean, at first it seemed obvious to me that it must be Zuko - since he was acting like an idiot and screwed up the loudest, but...

When I actually tried to analyze the situation through this paradigm, something in the picture didn't really add up. This pesky elusive something kept breaking the general logic, and I couldn't quite put my finger on it for quite some time, you know.

But I think I finally managed to figure out what it was about.

Mai's reluctant little "hey" is the key here, actually.

(It will be a long way, but I hope it will worth it)

Let's look at the totality of facts:

For the whole day, Mai's behavior indicated she doesn't value Zuko all that much.

On this background, he showed her all his ugly sides and gave her not just one, but several good reasons for a break-up.

Just now, he walked past her without stopping to apologize for his words or behavior.

She is clearly still angry at him.

And after all this, Mai, an egocentrical girl with perhaps a bit too much pride, still initiates contact with Zuko.

Doesn't it seem at least a little bit weird to you? It sure does to me.

And, in my opinion, it most likely means one thing...

It was really freaking cold on that beach at night.

... Okay, okay, sorry.

Azula was also a firebender, bad hypothesis.

It means that as soon as Mai got the opportunity to look at her life without Zuko, she suddenly felt that she needs him much more than she thought previously. Like, much more. So much, in fact, that even her pride, resentment and common sense couldn't really beat it.

And yet, she was treating him like a gum that stuck to her shoe. She wasn't grateful for that he gave her nearly enough and took his affection for granted.

So, you wanna know how badly Mai screwed up exactly?

Take the intensity of all cringe-worthy shit Zuko demonstrated today, add to it a little 'hey' multiplied by Mai's pride - and that will be your answer.

Math is so fun.

I always was bad at it though.

I doubt though that Mai herself realized even half of it - otherwise she wouldn't look that angry. I suspect it was mostly her need in itself that made her forget how to be "smart and proud" for once and make a first move.

Except that she probably rationalized it as "Since I'm feeling very generous tonight, I'll give this idiot another chance."

And she is still hoping for Zuko's apologies, so she could graciously forgive him and accept him back.

...Pfffft.

Good luck with this one.

Even though Zuko chilled out quite a bit since the party, until he sees the central belief on which his whole course of actions was based as misconception, he can't apologize for his behavior.

Well, technically he can, but...

"Hello, Mai, Zuko's here. Of course, you treated me like dirt and tried to freaking cheat on me on top after I fed you all the stuff you wanted and almost broke my brain by trying to find at least something about your negativistic ass to compliment... but I a little bit overreacted here. Calling you a big blah was a bit too much, I guess. You're only a small blah. So, yep. It's all I wanted to say. Take care here."

The thing is, Mai didn't really make it clear that she's loyal to Zuko when he doubted it. She only yelled at him for "blowing up over every little thing" without addressing the topic of jealousy directly, and then everything just gone to shit.

And as far as Zuko's knowledge goes, Mai could call her cheating "a little thing". So how exactly he's supposed to understand his mistake if Mai refuses to talk to him properly?

"He could simply use his brain", I can hear someone thinking loudly. Well, it doesn't really seem to be an option at the moment, does it?

You can thank the writer for this.

Mai here is smart though, and smart girls don't explain themselves to their stupid boyfriends even when it actively harms their relationship, apparently.

Fortunately for Mai though, this stupid boy is also lonely as heck. And despite Zuko's "Where is your new boyfriend?" line (which indicates he still resents Mai for her "infidelity" and probably has been imagining in all vivid details how she and Ruon-Jian feed each other fruit tarts since he left the party), he all but runs to her in response to a slightest hint he is still wanted.

Damn, I clearly need to think of some new Mai-related stuff to crack bad jokes about, don't I?

Zuko: "Are you cold?"

So... You're a good caring boy here, Zuko, there's no question about it. But... goddamit.

Is it physically possible to be more love-starved? You could take a leaf out of Mai's book about how to be proud, you know.

I mean, the hell are you doing getting all cozy with her? She just broke up with you! Oficially! After she supposedly tried to cheat on you! Yes, you were an idiot for believing so, but you don't know it yet (otherwise you'd be ashamed of your previous stupidity and wouldn't accuse her again like this).

Even if your reaction was... unnecessary scandalous that's one way to put it, cheating attempt is still a serious transgression (just like breaking up with a partner is a serious act). You can forgive her if you like, but you can't just 'are you cold' it off! You're supposed to talk about it, goddamit!

Perhaps if Zuko just waited a little bit longer instead of moving towards her, Mai would actually overcome her pride and explain the situation to him.

But when his relationship needed it most, Zuko's self-respect vanished. Again.

And now Mai knows that she can whistle at any moment and he'll run to her no matter what (not as fast as she'd prefer, admittedly, but they can work on it). Yep, that's exactly the message you need to give a girl who supposedly looks at other guys and believes it's okay to use you as a free service.

(No.)

How do you think you ended up in such a situation with her in the first place, boy? Give this girl an inch and she'll take a mile!

Ugh, whatever. I guess it doesn't make much sense to expect such an awareness from a lonely 16-year-old in his first relationship.

Naturally, getting in response to her huge gracious 'hey' just a pathetic show of care and forgiveness (as opposed to expected tearful repentance), Mai pushes Zuko away again, and thus concludes this segment of beach Maiko interactions. Yay.

The next dialogue of the pair centers around Mai's personality and demeanor, so I guess this is what we'll talk about next time. And... Mai fans, I warn you: it's not gonna be pleasant~ (when it ever was with me though, lol?)

Thanks for your attention!

(By the way, all you've just read could be  total bullshit, because the topic is quite complex and that in fact was my third attempt to analyze the situation, muhahaha! Take it or leave it.)

I ignore all notifications.

P. S.: I just realized something. Why it's zutara but Maiko for me? It's kinda contr-intuitive given my preferences, I suppose.  But I just feel like this. Maybe it's about difference between something familiar and alien. I'm not gonna change anything anyway - it would be too stressful for my autistic brain right now, lol.

R.I.P., Akira Toriyama.