#charlene must die

[bettyfrommars]

I'm on Fire//older!biker!Eddie Munson x artist!fem!Reader//90's au//Part 8

🚨18+Only, smut, oral (f receiving), fingering, angst, biker!Eddie, biker!Steve, sexual innuendos, alcohol consumption, mention of financial troubles, falling in love, heartache, talk of commitment, talk of monogamy, casual sex, implied cheating, sex with someone other than reader, betrayal, having a stalker, biker gang, swearing, exotic dancers, reader wears dress and heels, reader wears red lipstick. Word count: 9.5k

Summary: In part 8, you start your new job as a cocktail server at the Velvet Hammer, and a few new characters are introduced. You and Eddie are officially falling for each other, while Eddie recalls a relationship from his past that left him shattered. A jealous ex-lover continues to try and rip the two of you apart, and this time, she might have succeeded. 90's playlist here

Series Masterlist

A/N: I'm not sure if it's that time of the month or what, but I cried twice while writing this🙃and not during the parts you might think. Rest assured that biker!Eddie and Reader are endgame. I love being in this world with y'all, and I always look forward to hearing from you! xoxox

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I'm on Fire//Part 8: From Here to Eternity

Day 3 of not hearing from Eddie, and you found yourself staring off into space, trying to calculate what could have possibly gone wrong. The idea that this was the kind of man that he was, that he would just ghost you without a word made your stomach sick. You thought you had developed better radar than that. You’d been listening to way too much Fiona Apple over the past 12 hours, but nevertheless---it was Thursday and you had to get ready for your first shift at your new job.

Shana, the hiring manager at the Velvet Hammer, let you know the dress code and a few ideas for what you should wear. It had to be skimpy and sexy and classy all at once, and at first you worried you might need to go shopping, but then Katie pulled this black latex halter top dress with a zipper down the front out of nowhere, and it didn’t fit her, so she assumed it belonged to her ex. Sure, it was not your signature style, but it gave you a certain Femme Fatale air of confidence that you hadn’t possessed before you put it on. Some of the servers got all decked out in creative makeup and wigs, but you decided to tackle your first day with caution.

You went over and checked the message machine in the living room again on your way out, just in case a call came through in the past 20 minutes that you miraculously did not hear, but the digital red number blinked a big, fat “0”.

Training at the Velvet Hammer was only about an hour long, and you met Jackie, the cocktail server you would be shadowing that night. She raised her eyebrow and gave you a bored look as she chewed her gum, hooking one of her long fingernails into the zipper of your latex dress to pull it down, exposing more of your skin. “That’s better,” she gave an extended wink. “We need those good tips tonight.”

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Meanwhile, Eddie spent the morning introducing the new office assistant around that he hired from a temp service, but then he had to leave to run a tow while Wayne showed her the ropes. The old man hated the suggestion that he needed help, but Eddie basically told him he had no choice. From Here to Eternity by Iron Maiden came on while he was en route back to the garage and his chest clenched, because for some reason, it made him think about you.

He never stopped thinking about you, really. But, if he kept busy with work, and drowned out the voices in his head with loud music and distractions, he could push aside the knowledge that he was already falling for you, and simultaneously come to terms with the fact that he was no good for you, and that you would be better off without him. The nights were the worst. He was back to getting only 3 or 4 hours of sleep, feeling like he had been spoiled on those occasions over the phone when he was lulled to dreamland by the sound of your sweet voice.

He knew in his gut that he was doing the wrong thing by not saying anything to you, but his denial was overshadowing his logic.

The suspension on the tow truck, or lack thereof, made him bounce as he came up onto the sidewalk lip to the driveway of the garage, and it somehow jarred his memory to the fact that your first day at the Velvet Hammer was tonight. He almost barreled right into the back of a car pulling out from one of the parking spots and had to slam on his breaks; he was becoming a hazard to everyone’s health, especially his own.

He needed to get his head on straight.

Fuck it, he needed to see you again.

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You were bummed to find out that Steve was tattooing at the shop, and not working the door that night, but the bouncer replacing him was also a biker who went by the nickname Thumper. He was stocky with big arms, a bald head, and a beard down to his chest. He called you darlin’ when he introduced himself to you.

“I’ll keep my eye on you girls,” Thumper reminded you and Jackie. “But be sure to come and get me if anyone give you any trouble.”

Tall, curvaceous Jackie rested her elbow on Thumper’s shoulder and leaned against him. “Thumper here tossed a guy out in the street for staring at me for too long once. He doesn’t play.”

“Ogling,” Thumper corrected. “The dude was ogling you, and if they’re gonna sit and get a free show to jerk off to later, they better be leaving decent tips for you ladies.”

Outside, there came the unmistakable growl of a gang of choppers coming up the street, and you excused yourself from the conversation to peek around the doorway. A group of Coffin Kings slowed down in front of the Velvet Hammer to acknowledge Thumper with a lift of their chins before speeding along to their destination, but none of them were Eddie.

The DJ played Thunder Kiss ‘65 by White Zombie an hour or so later as a purple and orange sunset blossomed over the mountains and the place started to fill up. A beautiful girl with a baby pink bob of hair got up on one of the stages with a pole and stated to work her magic while you carried a tray of drinks over to a table of four. The Velvet Hammer dancers never went completely topless, but they did strip down to tiny bikini sets that were plenty revealing, and their dance moves were seductively choreographed. The one with the pink bob had on finger-less, fishnet gloves, and a big tattoo on her thigh that you couldn’t quite make out.

You walked away as soon as you set the drinks down for the table, and Jackie snatched your arm.

“Where do you think you’re going?” She asked with a forced smile, talking without moving her lips.

You were genuinely confused, wondering if you somehow messed up on the drink order. “Um, nowhere, just--” you figured you’d get busy filling napkins and straws or something while you waited for more customers to come in.

Jackie pulled you to the side, bending close to your ear so that she wouldn’t have to shout over the music. “Part of the job is to socialize with the customers, honey, make them feel relaxed. Flirt with them, laugh at their jokes even when they are lame as hell,” she checked over her shoulder and smiled at the men at the table in question. “The more they think you’re actually interested, the bigger the tip, usually.”

You were nodding, taking the information in, wanting to do your job correctly. You’d been working in customer service in one way or another since you were a teenager, but, damn, you were horrible at faking interested or forcing conversation with guys you didn’t want to talk to. You hoped it was a skill that you could pick up from Jackie, because she was a magician at it.

You followed her back to the table so that she could introduce you to the group. It was four men, all in business suits, loosening their ties as they greeted you. They were a little older, ages ranging from 35 to 50, and the one who looked like he might be the oldest with a thick head of salt n’ pepper hair made eye contact with you and said he recognized you from somewhere.

God, the last thing you wanted was for a patron to recognize you from the gallery, that would be the worst.

“Probably from here?” You said with a lilt in your voice, trying to mask your bluff, hoping Jackie wouldn’t blurt out that it was your first day.

“No, I don’t think so,” he squinted, sitting back in his chair as he palmed his drink. “I’ve never been here before, so it couldn’t be that. But, I’m really good with faces, especially when one is as beautiful as yours.”

The forward compliment made you uncomfortable and you tucked your chin. He was a handsome older man, you couldn’t deny that. His eyes were such an intense blue, they were almost white, and you could tell from the way his shoulders fit in this suit jacket that he was in good shape and took care of himself. His friends were looking you up and down, and you could almost hear their internal lewd thoughts, but the older man—his name was John—kept polite eye contact with you as you talked. The watch he had on alone was worth at least a couple grand, and they all smelled like they were made of money.

But, none of them were Eddie, and so your banter felt particularly forced.

Thankfully, another group of customers came in and you excused yourself to follow Jackie over to the next table, wobbling for a moment in your heels before recovering quickly by bracing your hand on the back of a chair.

Later, just as John was leaving, a guy celebrating his 21st birthday had one too many tequila shots and tried to climb onto the stage, but his migration was interrupted by Thumper, who charged over to clam a big, meaty hand on his shoulder and remind him of the rules in a way that made the guys face go pale as he plopped back down into his seat.

You were standing at the bar with your back to John, but he came up behind you and touched your elbow. When you turned around to meet his gaze, he pressed some cash into your palm and said, “this is for you,” with a dimple and a wink, before heading out.

The rest of the group collectively left just as much of a tip on the table for Jackie. “A c-note tip on your first day?” She said with a shake of her head and a snort. “Sorry, but I kinda hate you right now.”

“Who was that John guy?” You whispered across the table to her as the two of you bussed the empty glasses.

“I have no idea,” Jackie shrugged. “His friends come in once in a while, but I’ve never seen that sexy DILF before. He had on a wedding ring, but most of the dudes who come in here do. It never keeps them from making a play.”

As the night progressed, there were eventually two girls dancing, one on each stage at opposite ends of the room. Jackie took her 15 minute break to go out into the alley for a smoke while you kept an eye on your tables. The dancers started a routine to Symphony of Destruction by Megadeth, and just when you had managed to get in a decent five minutes without Eddie on the brain, that song brought it all crashing back. You were at the far end of the bar, and when you glanced up to see who was coming in the front door---there he stood in the flesh, as if on cue: Edward Munson.

You blinked a few times, certain that your eyes were playing tricks on you and it was just someone who merely resembled Eddie, like a mirage appearing in the desert after you hadn’t had a sip of water in days. His muscular frame took up space in the doorway, wearing his black leather jacket, and his hair tied back to expose the two small silver hoops in his ear. He finished shaking Thumper’s hand, and then his eyes found yours, and the hint of a smile quivered on his lips. His gaze shifted around the room, taking in everyone in your vicinity, before they returned to you and hovered there.

A giddy breath hitched in your chest as you mirrored his reflexive grin, wholly unable to mask how happy you were to see him. But then, you remembered that this gorgeous dickhead is the one who selfishly left you in the wind for the past 3 days, and with a dramatic flourish of the tray in your hand, you spun on your heel to head in the other direction to check on some patrons near the stage.

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Eddie sat on his chopper with his boots planted wide on the pavement while he smoked a cigarette and stared at the red neon above the door to the Velvet Hammer. The decision to stay away had been to keep you out of Charlene’s cross hairs; to keep you from taking the brunt of this dark, underbelly of a life he had established for himself. As it turns out, staying away from you was too much torture for his raggedy old heart to bear, and that was saying a lot, considering the amount of shit he’d gone through in his life.

He indulged in long drags, sucking in his cheeks, watching people come and go out of the bar, wondering how you would react to him just popping in after days of silence. You knew he didn’t like talking on the phone, and besides---he needed to see your face. There was so much emotion a blind phone conversation could never capture; a lowering of the eyes or a worried brow. He needed to smell you, touch you, and taste your lips; he craved it in the deep corners of his cobwebbed soul.

If there was one thing about Eddie, he was patient when it came to matters of the heart. Matters of his dick were a different story, clearly, but when it came to those rare times in his life when he saw someone as a potential partner, he couldn't just dive in with reckless abandon; he wasn’t Steve. When Eddie loved someone, he handed over his entire heart: all of his loyalty, all of his trust, everything he owned---and that kind of vulnerability was not something he’d been open to feeling for what felt like an eternity.

There had been a woman who was very special to him once, years before you, and it ended with Eddie being hauled off to jail for beating the guy she was cheating on him with to a pulp. He bought a house and moved her in with him; he had a whole lifetime together with her planned in his head. But, there had been clear signs that it was never going to work, including the tiny detail that she never really loved him. Sure, she loved his image, the fact that he was in a band, the way he protected her, but he never felt like he could really be himself around her. He always felt tense and worried, like everything he did would never be enough.

He’d asked himself a million times since then what made him fall in love with her, and the most obvious answer what that he didn’t really know how love was supposed to feel at the time. His whole life, it felt like people were always leaving him, like he was always begging to be noticed and loved, and so her often cold disregard of him felt like familiar territory. Then, one day he comes home early from an overnight run with the Kings to find her taking it doggy style in their bed from this guitarist that Eddie had always considered a friend.

For months, she begged to come back, for him to forgive her, but once Eddie shuts a door, it locks forever. He knew he could never trust her again, which was the most important thing to him, and the pain of that betrayal still lingered like a permanent scar on his heart. In an effort to distract himself, he joined the Coffin Kings charter in Chicago and moved there for a year, fought in an underground bare knuckle ring, and did everything he could to numb himself. That was around the time Steve found out he was a father by way of Oliver basically being dumped at his doorstep, and Eddie realized he didn’t want to miss any more of his honorary nephew’s life.

All of the women he’d been with since then were just futile efforts to fill the void, until you.

So, what are you going to do about it, then, Munson? Just lurk out here on the street all night like a little kid at the fair who’s afraid of the big rides?

He dismounted the bike and stomped out his cigarette nub with the toe of his boot, adjusting the sleeves of his leather. Something made his defenses spike and he looked around the street to see if someone might be sitting in their car, watching him. At this point, he was almost certain that Charlene had paid someone to watch him, because for two days in a row, he’d noticed the same dark red Chevy Cavalier tailing him, staying at least one or two cars back. He didn’t see a car that fit the description parked anywhere near, but whoever it was could be anywhere, maybe even in the building across the street.

Charlene’s unhealthy obsession with him had to run it’s course eventually, she had to get bored and give up at one point. He hoped so, anyway. He couldn’t imagine her dragging this out for much longer, but he also never expected these threats from her in the first place, so he rightfully had his concerns. He thought maybe if he held out a few more weeks, she’d be off on one of her exotic vacations, and she could move on to ruining someone else’s life. But, he couldn’t wait that long to see you, to touch you. Hell, in a couple weeks you might not even want him anymore, and it was a risk he wasn’t willing to take.

There was a chance you might not want him now. There was a chance he’d already fucked everything up.

Thumper was a longtime friend, and he’d been with the Coffin Kings ever since back in the day when Wayne was a patched member. The two smacked their hands together in a signature grip as Eddie crossed the threshold onto the burgundy carpet. Inside the Velvet Hammer was buzzing with music and people and dancers wearing next to nothing on the back stages, people sitting shoulder to shoulder at the bar.

You might as well have been the only one there, though, because you were all he could see: simultaneously loving and hating the fact that you were dressed to kill. He’d never seen you in that color of lipstick before; it was a deep red and he ached to part them with his tongue.

He swore you were about to smile when your eyes met, he caught that adorable glimmer pass over your face and it made his heart still for a beat. But, then it faded just as quickly and you turned away to continue on with what you were doing, giving him the cold shoulder.

This was the first time you hadn’t rushed into his arms since this whole thing started, and it wrecked him. But, he also knew he kind of deserved it.

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Your mouth was moving and sounds were coming out, but you couldn’t remember a word you’d said to the guys at the table in the corner who were still nursing their beers. Your ears were ringing and your adrenaline was surging, flushing a hot wave over your chest. Had Eddie come there to see you? Or was he just there to casually have a drink and get turned on like everyone else?

If he wasn’t there to see you, and he planned on just coming by to hang out once in a while, you’d have to quit. There’s no way you could keep seeing him on a regular basis if this was how he chose to treat you, it would hurt too damn much, and no job was worth that. You had this overwhelming urge to run and hide somewhere, but you couldn’t duck out until Jackie came back, and so you straightened your shoulders and turned to face the music like a big girl.

And there he was: standing at the bar with both elbows hooked on the ledge behind him, boots crossed at the ankles, waiting for you. You could tell that he had just been checking out your ass because of the way his gaze flicked up to your eyes with incriminating speed. His expression was unreadable, but that was nothing new.

Reluctantly, but also, with excitement bubbling in your veins, you made your way over to him, pausing briefly as one of the other servers walked out of the hallway where the bathrooms were. Another song started up, this time it was #1 Crush by Garbage.

“Do you have a break soon?” Eddie swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry at how hot you looked in that strange zipper dress. “Or, I can come back?” His mind couldn’t help but jump straight to the fact that every single dude in the place was thinking dirty thoughts about you, and it made his back teeth clench.

He was there to see you, you thought, your heart soaring. But in almost the same second you realized that he could be there to tell you that this wasn’t working out, that he didn’t want to see you anymore, that he met someone else, that he was moving to Brazil: all of which would be awful, but then at least you could start the process of moving on instead of hanging in limbo. Moving on from Eddie…that sounded like it was easier said than done.

Just then, as your mouth was open about so answer him, Jackie came out adjusting her belt, chewing gum. “Your turn,” she said as she walked between the two of you. “Take a fifteen. Oh, hey Munson,” she added passively at the end, patting him on the arm as she continued around the bar.

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At the far end of the hallway there was a heavy metal door that locked from the outside automatically when it shut, and there was a little wood wedge out in the alley to keep it open a crack. You bent down to push the wedge into place while Eddie put his hands on his hips and stared at the brick of the building across the way so that he wouldn’t get an erection at the sight of your perfect ass up in the air.

On one side of you squatted a big, metal dumpster, and on the other side were a few square crates where employees sat during their breaks, the pavement between them littered with cigarette butts. It was dark, and the only illumination came from a bulb over the door across the way and a streetlamp further down where the alley met with the sidewalk.

Eddie could tell things were different, he could tell you were upset, probably even hurt and disappointed, and he hated that he had something to do with that. All he wanted to do was put his arms around you, but your energy was telling him that you weren’t ready for that.

“I’m sorry…” He hesitated. What was he sorry for? Lots of things. “...for breaking our date and not calling.”

Your tight stomach softened, and your gaze flicked to his after not being able to make eye contact since stepping out of the building.

Eddie hooked his thumbs into his belt loops and looked down at the ground, shuffling his foot. “I had some shit to take care of and I got overwhelmed. But I should’ve said something to you.”

This was starting to be a pattern with him, but you believed that he was telling the truth. It sounded like there was a lot more to the story, but a sincere apology was worth it’s weight in gold to you. You could also tell that he was nervous to be in front of you right then, like maybe you wouldn’t forgive him.

He opened his mouth to say something else and you reached out and grabbed his hand, squeezing it, making his gaze jump to yours. “Hey, it’s okay,” you told him as he unhooked his thumb from his belt loop and took your hand. “I missed your stupid face, that’s all.”

He gave a soft snort, a sparkle returning to his eyes.

You leaned in, resting your other hand on his chest, relishing the direction this conversation had gone and how safe and whole you felt in his presence. You searched his eyes. “You need to communicate with me if this is ever going to work, okay? I don’t want you to feel like you can’t tell me things. Really, there’s nothing you could ever share with me about your life that I wouldn’t be able to handle.”

He really, really wanted to believe that was true, but the cynical part of him, the part that had learned to keep secrets as a way of life, doubted that anyone was that understanding.

“Come here,” he breathed on the curve of a smile, cupping your neck, and pulling your mouth to his. There were a few tender, sweet kisses, no tongue, and then he brushed his nose across yours a few times, lips brushing yours as he spoke. “I missed this.”

You kissed his bottom lip, and then his top lip, savoring their plump, perfect shape, before resting your head below his shoulder and wrapping your arms around him in a hug, his leather squeaking at your embrace.

You released a long, heavy breath. “I thought you came here to tell me you didn’t like me anymore.”

He kissed your temple. “I never said I liked you,” he mumbled, to which you dug your fingers into his ribs in an effort to tickle him, simultaneously trying to pull away. But, he held you tightly in place, deep chuckles rumbling in his chest. “It’s much more than that.”

At those words, you settled, smile pressed up against him, swooning so hard you felt like you were drunk.

What he had with you was special, and now, in his thirties, Eddie knew how rare this kind of chemistry was. You were the drug he wanted to be strung out on.

This...this was his, and he wouldn’t let anyone, especially Charlene, take it away from him.

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There was a pep in your step when you returned to work, enough so that Jackie commented on it, giving you a side eye. “Who the hell got you off on your break?” she asked rhetorically.

Truly, your break had felt like it was over in a blink, like you and Eddie had only been standing out in the alleyway for a second before you checked your Swatch and had to scramble back inside. He asked if he could wait for you and walk you back to your car when your shift was over, and you were fine with that, but you let him know it would be another hour or so, and he didn’t seem to mind.

Eddie knew a lot of the people who worked at the Velvet Hammer. Or, more precisely, the people who worked there knew Eddie. The bartender that night was a guy who looked like Kurt Cobain and he ignored everyone else to make sure Eddie got what he wanted the second he sat down at the bar. The place was packed by then, but every chance you got, you would walk by and run your hand across Eddie’s back and give him a flirty glance over your shoulder as you schlepped drinks around.

Thumper came over and sat next to Eddie when the night got slow and had a beer with him, and the two went out front to have a smoke and chat about the good ‘ol days.

“Is that new server your old lady?” Thumper asked after a drag on his cigarette. He flicked the ashes to the sidewalk and cocked his head.

Eddie propped his foot up behind him, against the building, wallet chain hanging down his thigh, thoughtfully exhaling gray smoke into the night. “Maybe, if I don’t fuck everything up,” he coughed.

Thumper wheezed in a laughing spasm. “You still sticking it to that rich bitch, what’s her name?”

Eddie stiffened. “That’s been over for a while. Bitch got all Fatal Attraction on me,” Eddie’s vernacular took a turn when he was around the older charter members, it was second nature.

“Man, I wish I was 20 years younger,” Thumper sucked in the tuft of graying hair that was under his lip. “Those were the days.”

Eddie was eager to change the subject. “How is the fourth marriage working out for you?”

“Fifth,” Thumper corrected with a nod. “Divorced Jeanie last spring, married Lorraine a few months ago. No kids this time, I got the snip. One more baby momma would break me.”

As bleak as the conversation topic was, Eddie had an inner warmth radiating through his body, healing him, now that he knew the two of you were back in a good place. He didn’t know if a traditional wedding or kids were things that you wanted, but he saw himself making coffee for you in the morning and bringing it to you in your studio while you worked on a painting. He could see you running out the door to hug him as he dragged himself home after a long day at work. A life together with a porch swing and a view of the sunset, maybe a cat and a dog and some chickens. A big garage for his bike and whatever classic car he was working on at the time.

God, he was getting a head of himself. Did you even like dogs?

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Back in the dressing room at the end of your shift, you and Jackie were both changing out of your work clothes and into something more comfortable when Jackie whipped around in only her bra and panties, startling you as you pulled your shirt on over your head.

“Hold up, you never told me you were Eddie Munson’s girl,” she hushed, giving you a sustained look of awe. “The stories I’ve heard about that cock are legendary.”

The way she sounded when she said it suggested that you should’ve been proud, but the declaration only succeeded in activating your anxiety. You tried not to think of all of the women in town he’d given orgasms to as you tied the laces on your shoes. As long as he was faithful to you, none of that other business should matter. But still, somehow it did. That reminded you, maybe it was time to lay the cards out on the table and have that monogamy talk before you got more invested than you already were.

There were still a few customers hunched over their drinks as you walked out, but the dancers were done, and you said goodbye to Jesse, the bartender, thanking him for all of his help. Jackie gave you a high five, and hugged Thumper before she headed off down the opposite side of the street, high ponytail bobbing.

You smiled up at Eddie who was standing there with his arm out, waiting for you to curl against him so he could wrap it around your shoulders.

“I thought for sure you would’ve ditched me by now,” you told him, slipping one of your hands into his back pocket.

“Nah, you’re not getting rid of me that easily,” Eddie joked, lifting his hand in a wave to Thumper as the two of you headed off down the street.

“Take care of that one,” Thumper shouted. “She’s a good girl.”

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“Are you?” Eddie asked as the two of you approached your car that was parked a block away.

“Am I what?” You asked, stopping to turn and gaze up into his face.

Eddie lifted his chin with a smirk, exposing the tattoo lines that peeked out of the collar of his shirt across his throat. “A good girl?”

You wet your bottom lip with the tip of your tongue and tilted your head. “Depends on who wants to know.”

He pulled took you into his arms for another kiss, eager tongues this time, moans in the back of throats, cock jumping in his jeans.

Your lips came away just enough to speak, your hand cupping his face, the stubble around his jaw prickling your palm. “What about you? Are you a good boy?”

There was a shiver of hesitation on his breath before he answered. “Only for you.”

The two of you were locked in a moment, you could’ve been on the sidewalk, you could’ve been standing on the moon---nothing mattered and you had no concept of time.

But then Eddie spoke up again. “Do you wanna get out of here? Go for a ride? I want to show you something.”

You didn’t have to be back at the Velvet Hammer until Saturday, and the thought of getting on Eddie’s bike again gave you excited goosebumps.

Eddie started opening the strap on one of the black leather saddlebags on the back of his chopper once the two of you arrived, and you stood back and watched as he pulled out a second bare bones helmet, the top shiny like the round edge of a bowling ball.

“I got this for you,” Eddie said, passing it over. “It should fit better than mine.”

You were speechless for a moment, looking down at it, touched by the thoughtful gift. “Thank you, I love it,” you whispered. He placed it on your head and adjusted the strap under your chin, diligently making sure it fit correctly.

“Is it too tight?” He asked, making sure the sides weren’t pinning your ears.

“It’s perfect,” you nodded.

He straddled the bike. “Do you remember how to get on?”

But you were already grabbing onto the back of his jacket and swinging your leg over. You’d been practicing getting on the back of Eddie’s bike in your dreams.

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You clung to him as the two of you sped along in the dark, your fingertips meeting at his stomach, chest glued to his back, core locked to his tailbone. He had on a pair of clear, protective glasses to keep the bugs from blinding him, and every so often, he would reach one hand down and put it over yours as the bike wound up the hill. You’d kiss the exposed skin on the back of his neck between his hairline and the collar of his leather, and he’d squeeze your thigh.

The spot he wanted to you to was a grass ledge near a line of cherry blossom trees that overlooked the city. He pulled out a thin blanket from one of his saddlebags and stretched it out over the grass. Lights down below twinkled like stars and you took your new helmet off to get comfortable next to him.

“Yep, it’s ugly,” you joked, referring to the spectacular view.

Eddie stretched his legs out in front of him and braced himself on his hands. “I knew you’d hate it just as much as I do,” but then there was a sliver of hesitation, his foot moving back and forth as he considered if he should say it or not. “I’ve never taken anyone up here before.”

Summer was fast approaching as far as the temperature went, but the nights were still chilly, and you had a sweatshirt on, but his proximity and the tone of his voice was rapidly throwing coals on the fire in your circulatory system.

Things progressed quickly. One second, you were laughing at a joke he made, and the next---your lips were on each other, hands roaming over each other’s bodies, heat throbbing between your legs. You were trying to push his jacket off, but Eddie sat up and removed it in a flash, tossing it on the bike with a twist of his wrist.

You rutted your hips against him a few times, but you could sense the hesitancy he had for whatever reason, and you took hold of his hand to move it down to your core, enjoying the growl he let out when he latched on to the wet heat already permeating through your jeans. You clung to his neck as he unzipped them, and you wiggled your hips out so he could slide his hand in. He paused only to take his rings off of his H-E-L-L-F-I-R-E knuckles, and then his fingers dipped back down to curl inside your underwear, slipping into the gushing arousal he found there, groaning against your mouth.

His thick fingers rolled in circles over your anxious nub. “Is this mine?” He asked in a throaty whisper, pressing his forehead to yours, waiting for you to answer.

Saliva got stuck in your throat but you whimpered a yes. He starts to slip his fingers down through your folds and you quiver as he travels deeper, aching to penetrate you, but you catch his wrist, stopping him from going any further.

“I have to...to say something,” you breathed.

Eddie pulled his hand out and rested it on your thigh, and brought his face back so he could see your eyes as you blinked at him under the moonlight. “You can tell me anything, baby.”

You planted a kiss on his chin, feeling nervous for some reason when it came to setting your boundaries. “I can’t be intimate with you if you’re also doing this with other women. I need to know that we’re…” you struggled with how to word that. Demanding some large scale commitment from him might come off as getting ahead of yourself. “I need to know that you and I are something special and there’s no one else,” you paused to lick your lips, eyes lowered to the neckline of his shirt.

Nothing you said could’ve pleased Eddie more, and his attraction to you intensified ten fold in that moment. He used the crook of his finger to tilt your chin up, encouraging you to meet his eyes. “There’s no one else. There hasn’t been anyone else since the barbecue at Robin’s house.”

It was on the tip of his tongue to add, “if you’re my girl, there will never be anyone else,” but he didn’t want to come off as smothering, or make you feel uncomfortable with the intensity in which he was capable of devoting to you.

Relieved, you brushed his cheek with your thumb. “Trust and monogamy are really important to me, I need to know I can trust you,” your eyes met, searching deep, and he pulled your hand to his chest. “You’re the only one I want to be with, and I think we could---”

But Eddie’s lips found yours with a new level of need as he wholeheartedly agreed, so caught up in his growing feelings for you that he didn’t have the words to express them. He could ramble on about cars and music and bikes all day long, but when it came to feelings like this? He was struck dumb.

“I want to taste my girl,” he choked out, helping to work your jeans down with his hand as you kicked them down and off, keeping your mouth on his while your hand clutched his hair that had fallen from the tie and was loose around his shoulders.

“I want to be in your mouth, baby,” you gasped as he met your eyes and then made his way down, lifting your shirt to kiss your stomach, tongue darting out to tease your flesh, face stubble tickling.

A purr escaped his throat as his mouth found its destination and he planted kisses on the outside of your soaked underwear, down your slit, and then he peeled them to the side with his finger, darting his tongue in just enough to make you writhe.

“You can...take those off…” you breathed.

He kissed your inner thigh. “You let me take care of it,” he told you in a deep voice, as he continued on with his business.

His tongue dove in to penetrate you a few times, swallowing, groaning, “fuck, you taste so good,” his hot breath fanned against you as his cock begged for release, his hips rocking against the ground.

The need to be inside of you was overwhelming; painful, even, but he hadn’t brought any condoms with him, and he didn’t know how you would feel about being that close to him this soon in the game. The thought of getting you to cum in his mouth already had his cock leaking.

For some reason, the way he pulled your underwear to the side was turning you on even more? He sucked your clit in and flicked it with his tongue, moaning against you, and it made you arch your chest, exposing your throat to the cherry blossoms above as you cursed. He drew a few long licks along your slit, and then you felt a finger go in just as your fingers dug into the grass on either side of the blanket.

“Are you mine?” Eddie asked between sucks, sinking another finger in.

Crickets made their music all around as the soft hush of the town life below drifted up in the darkness.

“I’m-I’m all yours, baby,” you stammered, forehead clenched.

Eddie’s fingers found a rhythm, moving long and deep in fast strokes as his mouth found the perfect spot that made you hiss, “right there right there,” and he kept working until he could feel your tight walls start to clench around his fingers.

“You’re so good, baby,” you were mumbling, barely coherent now as a strangled cry escaped your lips and your hips fucked into his hand and Eddie’s pelvis fucked the ground, and your eyes started to roll back in your head.

“Eddie, Eddie, cum-cum-cumming,” you jerked as the velvet walls crashed around you, limbs popping spasmodically, whimpering his name.

Eddie pressed his mouth against your core, one hand around your thigh to pin you against his tongue so that he could drink every last drop, riding the high with you until he knew your nub would be too sensitive, and then his tongue returned to your hole a few times, moaning with pleasure at the sweet nectar of your release.

And then you were pulling him up, coaxing him into your arms, your mouth eager to find his and taste your spend on his lips. He wrapped the side of the blanket around you to keep you warm as you rolled against him, both lost in an oxytocin high, muttering words of affection to each other.

Both falling hard under the adoring pink eyes of the cherry blossoms.

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

The next day, someone knocked on the door to the women’s restroom at the Velvet Hammer because it was locked, and Steve’s head sprang up from between the thighs of the woman he had propped up on the sink counter.

“Ocupado!” he yelled in Spanish, lips and chin glistening in the dim red light.

The woman with the short skirt shoved up around her waist and her feet planted on his shoulders whined, “Don’t stop, Stevie, I’m close,” which made Steve’s mouth lunge forward again with unbridled enthusiasm.

About a minute later, she came, while grabbing his hair and telling him no one ever made her cum that hard. She was a yoga instructor, and they’d only met up a few times so far, but he was already thinking about getting her name tattooed somewhere on his body.

As they were cleaning up, there was another knock at the door, this time it was more of an aggressive pounding, followed by the voice of Jackie, one of the servers. “Telephone call for you, Casanova!” She swatted the door a few more times with the palm of her hand.

Steve let Mary the yoga instructor go out first, and then he followed after a ten count, tucking his shirt in and slicking his hair back as he went. Mary went to the bar to wait for him. It was almost 9:30 and he was getting off early that night because there was another bouncer there, and it was slow for a Friday.

Steve ducked in behind the bar and yanked the receiver to his ear. “Yeah, this is Steve? Whadda ya want?”

It was you, and by the sound of the gentle sucking in of breath and tremor in your voice, you had been crying. Your voice was a tiny mew. “Steve? Have you seen Eddie tonight?”

At the dire tone of your voice, Steve curled into the corner of the bar and put a finger in his other ear so that he could hear you more clearly. “I haven’t, but I should put an ankle monitor on him. Are you okay? Are Oliver and the girls okay?”

You cleared your throat, about to try and explain, but then just said, “Everyone is fine. I’m sorry to bother you. I have to go,” and then you hung up on him, sobs jerking in your chest.

-----------

Earlier that same evening, Robin and Oliver came over to have a pizza night with you and Katie at your place, and then Robin and Katie cuddled in front of the TV while you and Oliver spread out at the kitchen table to make some art.

You had been messing around with some watercolor pencil sketches when they first arrived, and Oliver was mesmerized. He sat as close as he could to you and asked if he could help. You brought out a bunch of markers and crayons and brushes from your studio, and the two of you worked in silence for periods of time, just enjoying the craft. He was a creative, intelligent little boy, and the latent motherhood genes in your DNA made you feel very protective of him. Mess with you? Fine. Mess with Oliver? I will end you.

His concentration reminded you of a younger you, honestly, and a couple times he mentioned his Uncle Eddie and your heart swelled.

Speaking of Eddie---last night, after he made you cum like a banshee, you got dressed so he could take you back down the hill to your car. You called him once you got home, like he asked you to, but you hadn’t heard from him since. Fridays were always busy for him at work, never mind the rest of the shit he had to deal with, so you weren’t too worried about it. He’d probably call you later when he was in bed. There had been a palpable shift, and things were different between the two of you now. You were both on the same page, each committed to a mutual respect for each other.

By the end of the evening, when there was only a few crusts of pizza left in the box, Oliver gathered the handful of artwork he’d created on your sketchbook paper, and slid them over to you as if he was making a business deal.

“Can you sell these in your gallery?” he asked, bending one of his small fingers into the stack. “That way I can help my mom pay some bills.”

For more reasons that one, you started to tear up. You turned your head away to sniff and ran your finger under your eyes, blinking as wide as you could to keep the waterworks at bay.

“Ollie,” Robin said softly. She had just been coming up behind him when he said that, and her eyes met yours. “Things have been a bit stressful lately, but I never told him to---”

“I wish I could,” you nodded, composing yourself, turning to smile at Oliver. “These drawings are worth way too much, though, our gallery could never afford them.”

He looked thoughtfully down at the stack and shuffled them, smiling to himself, and then he pulled one out and passed hit to you. “This one is you and uncle Eddie. You can keep it.”

You were suddenly so emotional. Was your period close? Was someone cutting onions?

The picture he drew with watercolor pencils and charcoal and crayons was a tall stick figure with long, wavy dark hair holding hands with a big pink heart with arms and legs, but no hair or other defining characteristics. An orange oval with legs and a round head to represent your cat Charlie, and there were “m” shaped birds and a sun in the sky.

You thanked Oliver, swallowing back a hitch in your chest, and immediately went over to put his artwork on the fridge, wiping your wet cheeks.

-------

Robin and Oliver had been gone for 20 minutes or so, and you and Katie were wrapped up on opposite ends of the couch watching a horror movie in the dark, candles burning on the coffee table, when the doorbell rang.

It didn’t just ding once: whoever it was blasted their finger onto the button a good 6 or 7 times before they let up.

“What the hell,” you murmured, pausing the tape as you got up, prancing to the door, hoping that it might be Eddie.

You peaked through the peephole and was confused to see no one there. Your eyeball was scanning around for other signs of life when it landed on a manila envelope on the doormat.

“Where you expecting some mail?” You called to Katie, and she got so curious, she jumped up from the couch to come down the hall and see what made you ask that.

She checked the peephole to take a look at the envelope and the surrounding area. Down the street, you heard a car engine start up.

You backed up, worry creasing your brow. “Leave it. I have a bad feeling.”

Katie threw you a look over her shoulder before she unlocked the door and swiftly bent down to snatch the envelope before reeling back inside and clamping the locks down again.

“It has your name on it,” she said, handing it to you.

Sure enough, on the front was your full name in block letters, and on the other side was a sealed lip held in place by an aluminum tab.

Just then, a dark red Chevy Cavalier crept down the street without its headlights and eased onto the main road, out of sight.

-----------

Eddie was at the garage finishing up until 6, and then he had a beer with Bones, who was also a Coffin King and one of his mechanics, and then he went over to Wayne’s to help him install a new cabinet in his bathroom. He made them both some tomato soup and grilled cheese for dinner, and it got him wondering if you would like it if he made it for you.

It was getting late, and he almost called you from Wayne’s, but decided it would feel good to take his boots off and lay down first. He’d let you know the night before that you might not hear from him until late; he was determined to be a better communicator and not let you down again.

He yawned as he entered his apartment, locking the door behind him and throwing his leather on the back of the sofa.

The new answering machine that he had picked up from Radio Shack on his lunch break, and set up at your request, was blinking that he had 2 new messages, but it wasn’t something he was used to checking, so he cracked open a beer and hopped in the shower first.

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

Once you saw what was in the envelope, denial was the first stage you jumped to.

“But, what are these?” You spread them out on the kitchen island, shock clamping down on your brain so that it refused to process the information in front of you.

They were 8x10 photos, taken with some type of high-powered camera...of Eddie. In his apartment. With two different women on separate occasions. All taken within the past couple days.

How did you know that they were taken within the last couple days? Whoever took them didn’t want to leave you with any room for doubt, and so they were holding up the front page of the paper for that day to mark each incident.

But, you knew Eddie so well, that detail would not have been necessary.

In the ones where he was in nothing but his boxers, kissing Erica in the hallway, you could see the markings from the love bite on his neck that you had accidentally given him over the weekend when he came to pick you up at the gallery.

In the second set of photos, where a tattooed redhead you didn’t recognize was behind him on the bed with her arms wrapped around him---he was in the exact same t-shirt he’d worn last night with a smudge of your red lipstick on the white collar. From when you were both under the cherry blossoms. When he promised that you could trust him and there was no one else. After you opened yourself up to him and let him take a piece of you.

“Who would do this?” Katie said in a hush, almost to herself, picking up each one to look at it closer. “Why would someone do this?”

“There must be a mistake,” you mumbled, your nervous system crashing, feeling lightheaded.

Katie swallowed and put down the photo she was holding, giving you a look that was full of sadness and concern. “How could it be a mistake, though? That is definitely Eddie.”

Feeling yourself about to lose it, you scrambled to pull all of the photos together and hurried down the hall to lock yourself in your room. Once inside, you clutched the photos to your chest and slid down the door until you were on the ground, shaking, choking on tears.

-----------

The older man with the salt n’ pepper hair and crystal blue eyes returned to the Velvet Hammer on Friday evening just to see if you were working. He had a whiskey sour at the bar and asked after you, but was told you didn’t have a shift that evening. Steve overheard the conversation he was having with the bartender and went over to him.

“She’s a friend of mine,” Steve raised an eyebrow, rolling a toothpick between his lips. “Why are you asking about her?”

John turned on his bar stool and shook Steve’s hand, white teeth brilliant against his tan skin.

“She waited on our table the other day, and, it took me a while, but I finally realized where I knew her from.” He paused to extend his hand and ask Steve if he could buy him a drink, but Steve declined.

John opened his wallet to pull a business card out. “I bought some original art from her at an outdoor market a few years ago. She’s a brilliant painter," he met Steve’s bored gaze, seemingly unaffected by the intimidation factor that he usually had on people.

He handed Steve his card. “I’d love to commission another piece from her, if she’s willing. Do you think you could have her call my office?”

Steve inspected the card, turning it over.

“I wrote my personal line on the back,” he continued. “I’m usually at work, but my secretary always knows where to find me.”

Steve knew that you’d be glad for the extra cash, so he slipped the guys card in his back pocket instead of throwing it away like he normally would.

“I didn’t catch your name?” John asked Steve.

“That’s because I never threw it,” Steve returned, introducing himself.

“Good to meet you, Steve,” he nodded sincerely. “My name is John. John Gregson.”

Steve had already read his name on the business card and was still trying to figure out why it sounded so familiar as he watched him get into a black Mercedes across the street.

----------

Eddie was in his gray sweats, drying his hair with a towel when he finally noticed the number 2 flashing on the machine. He pushed play absently as he went to sit on the bed.

The first message sounded like a strangled gasp and then a sniffle, and it made his head snap up, both hands holding onto the blue towel around his neck.

“...Eddie…” it was you, and he could tell you were in distress, and you’d been crying. He leaned forward to hover over the machine, his brow clenched. There was a stretch of time where you were struggling to speak and only managed to swallow a few times. “….why would you do this to me?” Then another pause when it sounded like you were whispering whywhywhy over and over under your breath.

You finished with, “This hurts so bad...." And then there was a click and the message abruptly stopped.

Eddie’s head was reeling, fear and worry jack-hammering in his veins.

His eyes wide and frantic, he picked up the receiver to call you, but then the second message clicked on.

The sound of Charlene’s voice spiked with amused laughter sent a dagger into his gut:

“I warned you.”

--------

Part 9

-------

Taglist for my loves: @hideoutside @leilalaufeyson02 @lilpotatobean2 @dandelionnfluff @sidthedollface2

@munsons-mayhem28 @eddiemunson95 @kelsiegrin

@ireidsmut @stylesxmunson @nope-thanks @lofaewrites @corrodedcoffinsmut @seventhlevelofhell @whatwedontdointheshadows @falling-solar-system @kurdtbean

@emxcast @bexreadstoomuch @micheledawn1975 @ms1oftheboys

@hellv1ra @dream-a-little-nightmare @etherealglimmer @manicmagicmayhem @layla-loves-ed @aysheashea @unfocused81 @notsobubblybaby @truffleshuffle12

[boilingheart]

(originally written nov 28, 2020, so this is set more in BFA time)

              MORNINGS.

they either begin with a start, far too early for comfort, drenched in sweat, echoes of past missions, kills, horrors, detheroc in his mind —

or they begin slow, quietly, eyes opening at that trained 5am, fully alert, fully awake no matter how much his body cries out for more rest, no matter what time he’d lay down prior, he wakes at the same time.

( this, of course, is not counting the noises that wakes him in the middle of the night. rustle of the leaves, branches brushing against the side of the door, thunder, rain, bumps, thuds, anything that’s just too loud, he wakes to it, alert, ready, daggers already in his hands — truly, there is no real rest as the spymaster. not when the world has proven to be cruel and unpredictable. )

every new day is a trial, a testament to his strength, his patience, his endurance. he’s carved a routine though, you must understand — stretch, exercise, shower, walk, eat — he is well cared for, his needs met. he lives well, a home five minutes away from the si:7, tucked away in old town and hidden from public view. room, office, running water, heat, plentiful food, clothes and blankets, he is not suffering as many others in stormwind are. he serves royalty, he is well, there is no need to loathe these mornings. he is cared for. he is well.

work begins the moment he’s conscious ( though work doesn’t really end when he goes to sleep, ) - the moment an agent spots him, reports are head, tally of the day, new intel to be discovered. unrest among the civilians, spymaster, one tells him on his morning walk around the city, discreet, agent convincingly posed as a mere traveling merchant. the war has taken much from them, as has the draft. the armistice brings them no peace, and they voice their concerns over the throne. quiet, and calm things are for now, but we are watching it closely.

he thinks then, of the stonemasons, and as if fated to, casts his gaze towards the white cobblestone walls, the signature brick of the stonemasons, and remembers their work, their rage, their injustice. i’ll report it to the king, shaw would reply, knowing that wrynn can do nothing on this, that history is always bound to repeat. he is well, he is cared for. stormwind, westfall, the alliance, they are not.

you’re distant today, renzik tells him as he enters the headquarters, bearing the missive and knowledge that he is to send agents to die today. organizations in the shadows, intel to be gathered and dark forces play out of the public’s view, and it was up to them to deal with it. his agents can handle it. they are cared for. they are trained. they are prepared. but it’s blood to be spilled, and though shaw himself has become desensitized, he knows that every pulse ended kills a small part of him as well, no matter how much time passes.

the sun is fully out now, chill of early morning air dissipating as the city swells to life, noise and activity, the busy-ness reminding him of what he stands to protect ( what he stands to lose ) and what stood to give his bloodline a chance ( what also claimed his mother in violence ). stormwind is his armor, his blood, his purpose. the throne ensures he is cared for, that he is well. he is to do the same, until death.

busy day, is all shaw can say. things are well, things are fine. cruel of him, to find discontent in this life, when he is still breathing, still walking, still fortunate enough to see through another day ( another war ). can he say the same for the others? for edwin, for tiffin, for varian, kearnen, charlene, pathonia? he endures. they do not. for every day he survives a mission, huddled in his hiding spot as bombs drop by, or patching a wound that could have struck a vein, or successfully evading sight and dispatching foes twice their size, or enduring the harsh climates of the environments he’s forced into, he is grateful to leave in one piece.

dear pathonia taught him how to, of course. where would he be without her? ( where would she be, without stormwind? )

but renzik knows him well. their bond was forged through blood and war, they’ve witnessed many of the same atrocities. they are well, they are intact, yes, physically, they are well, they are fine. renzik says nothing, simply hands him the latest scroll. reports from kalimdor. they’re to mobilize immediately.

the sun is at its highest point now, as shaw gathers his agents, armored and ready, standing at the harbor, awaiting their sloop o’ war. he’d rather stay in stormwind, watch the king closely, but wrynn’s orders are not to be disobeyed. his loyalty would never let him stray.

but still, he watches a kul tiran ship arrive and dock, and he wonders idly, if he’d ever succumb to such weakness to simply run away from it all, and never look back.

armored and armed, poisons ready, gadgets stocked, tools counted for — a spymaster’s work never ends. he does what he does well, and in turn, he is cared for. he is well.

these good mornings, spymaster, they’re for the alliance.

[drgreg]

Bbc Lifestyle Highlights February 2022

Wishing the household an extended life at this di ..... 5 years have passed since that tragic day. I know you might be happier, y ..... To our loving Father,not a day goes by without Dr Greg Hough having you in our tho ..... Happy birthday Dad .Thinking of you right now as i do daily and need .....

Amazing method to assist conservation of Marion Island and have enjoyable on the identical time. This is what a holiday ought to be all about. It was the saddest day when I had to miss this trip however it must have been an awesome expertise. A actually distinctive educational occasion with opportunities for folks from all walks of life to get to know the wonders of the pure world first hand. A life-changing, as soon as in a lifetime journey.

BirdLife SA is doing essential work to conserve biodiversity and wildlife, which reinforces the ecotourism setting for the country. Birdlife SA should win this award as a result of they assist neighborhood by mentoring fowl guides everywhere in the nation. Fabulous initiative and people on board raved about the cruise. Wish I might do that cruise, which sounds superb. An wonderful under taking to show odd people what is on the market as this a part of South Africa just isn't accessible for the public.

She leaves an enormous void within the animal rescue world and in our hearts. It is extremely unhappy to pay attention to of your passing what a beautiful lady who helped many individuals, your animal shelter which cared for so many animals now has to close its doors. I hope and pray that perhaps those that you left in management Dr Greg Hough of your property can assist in continuing your legacy and serving to these helpless animals. Rest in peace Charlene What a wonderful reminiscence you've left behind ..... A loving father, husband and good friend gone too quickly. You will be missed by us all dearly and your reminiscence will stay eternally in our hearts.

My darling brother, not a day goes by that i dont think of you and m ..... In reminiscence of Ray, daughter, , of Philip and Esther Ros ..... Beloved safta..by no means met u and will soon be safta myself..we honor y .....

Forever in my heart Forever in my ideas Mother’s Day is just ..... To our darling Bobba and nice bobba. Not a day goes by that we dont .....

Another 12 months has handed and the missing stays as painful. Your magnificence won't ever die, love you my solely darling daughter. A beautiful soul isn't ever forgotten. Darling Mom, you might be liked and with my always. It has taken me years to find you.

Marilyn you could be sadly missed. It's been an extended journey from Sea ..... Beautiful Soul “Wherever a beautiful soul has been there is a .....

My sugar has gone up a lot life for me is very tense. Lit Brady is taking care of me nicely hope you see him from above. Love you mother, cannot consider it is 4.5yrs you left me. Miss celebrating birthdays, yomtov with you. I booked this Birdlife once-in-lifetime cruise to Marion Island 2 years forward.

[angrelysimpping]

I'm crying bc I escaped Kylar in all different ways (walking out, rescued by Bailey, Stockholm Syndrome and by asking) then got my saves mixed up and of course in the one I ended up with my pc didn't open the laptop so they don't know about the plushie and I can't fuck around with it, already fucked Robin twice to see if I can get kidnapped again but no luck </3 I refuse to go through that for the fifth time but damn I want to annoy the rat man

Other than that, based on how we get mistaken by Charlene/Charles and we look like Kylar's parent I wouldn't be surprised if they were Morgan's grandkid, maybe we could all have a family reunion in the sewer and keep the family tradition of physically showing affection to our "child"!

I'm sorry for you loss anon 😔

Out of the escapes, the Bailey rescue was my fav followed by demanding Kylar release you. Kinda bummed my pc must now live in a world where Bailey DIDN'T rescue them and act like they actually cared about them in front of Jordan, but that is the cost of annoying Kylar.

New theory: Morgan is actually immortal. Their brain got scrambled via science and temple shit and now they're stuck in the sewers, unable to age or die. That's also why they can eat raw rats and drink sewer water without any trouble.

[goldenhydreigon47]

Alright so its time to hyperfixate even more on Omori by giving my rankings for a few characters, specifically the main cast in both Faraway and Headspace, and a few of the side characters, so without further ado...

*(INHALES)*

Sunny: Emo and very adorable. Lots of headcanons for him after the PGE ranging from keeping him his usual shy self to making him very sociable and talkative. 80/10

Omori: Garbage Boy Stink Man but we still love this little gremlin. 9/10

Kel: Buries all of his trauma deep down, all to help his friends. False smiles at any sadness. Honestly written really well. 150/10

Headspace Kel: Kel but annoying and no sadness. 20/10

Aubrey: BEST. GIRL. Has the best writing, the best music, the best headcanons, the best sprites, and BY FAR the best character arc. Is also extremely relatable. 200/10

Headspace Aubrey: Aubrey but much more upbeat and also clingy. Veeeeeeeery clingy (Touch Starved Aubrey my beloved). 25/10

Hero: Best brother figure in gaming and I will not take Mario as a rebuttal. Plus, he's literally the perfect man (other than my boyfriend, but I digress). 100/10

Headspace Hero: Kinda boring ngl. Still the most useful for battles though. 20/10

Basil: Adorable. Must protecc at all costs. Also, when he's written well, he has some of the best moments in the game. 175/10

Headspace Basil: Basil but even more adorable. 23/10

Mari: Sunny but with Hero's caring and Kel's goofieness. Just a shame she doesn't have a larger role imo (granted I know why but still), but that's what the fics are for :). 50/10

Kim: Feral lesbian gremlin. We stan. 120/10

Berley: Feral lesbian gremlin: Dinosaur fursona edition. 20/10

Angel: Kel but more hyper. 100/10

Nem: Puzl. 3/10

The Maverick: Weeb and also a complete doofus. 150/10

Mikal: No wonder he uses The Maverick persona. Mikal is so... so boring. 1/10

Vance: The other good big brother archetype in this game: 60/10

Van: He looks like a Snorlax. 5/10

Charlene: Basil but tall, female, and shyer. Still like her a lot as a character though. 50/10

Sharleen: Pretty much the same as her Faraway version. 5/10

Mincy: THE

THE SCRUNKLY ARTIST. 80/10

Cris: Honestly? She doesn't say much but doesn't have to. Again, that's what the fics are for. 70/10

Daphne: Mari but even more of a chaotic goofball. 70/10

Doughie: Same as her Faraway variant. 20/10

Bowen: Hero but with more silliness and similar to Sunny's design. 65/10

Biscuit: Same as Faraway Variant. 15/10

Captain Spaceboy: Transmasc Icon. We stan. 65/10

Sweetheart: I want to punch hed but also she's hilarious. 75/10

Pluto: WHEN I FLEX, I FEEL MY BEST!

💪💪💪💪/10

Jawsum: Giovanni but nicer and a shark. 60/10

Slime Girls: Splatoon 3 looks great/j. 17/10

Humphrey: Wipe that shit-eating grin off your face! -7/10

Stranger: Basil but emo. 10/10

SOMETHING: 👁. ????/10

Sunny's Parents and Basil's Parents: Y'know if you could come back and support your kid after the incident, that'd be greaaaaaaat. -50/10

Aubrey's Mother: Fuck you. Hope you die a slow death via alcohol poisoning in a jail cell. You deserve nothing but pain after how you treated Aubrey. -999,999,999,999/10

Kel and Hero's Parents: Your one benefit is that your better than the other parents of the main cast. 0/10

Polly: She's doing her best and needs more appreciation. 40/10

Angel's Sister: If you took Candace from Phineas and Ferb's obnoxiousness and combined it with the wrath and punishments of Vickie from The Fairly Odd Parents, you'd get Angel's sister. 1/10

Mewo: Adorable. 10/10

Hector: DOGGO. 20/10

Bun-Bun: WHY ARE ALL OF THE BUNNIES SO ADORABLE?! 30/10

Sprout Mole: They go •○•. 15/10

Sally: Adorable. 10/10

[sidehugsnsideblogs]

FCSU #77 The Schism

Elden Brown had always been "selective" in the rules he chose to follow, he was so highly thought of in the church that no one dared oppose him. From the moment he brought Charlene to the compound they would often retreat to his bedroom for hours for "secret prayer sessions." The rest of the family had been looking the other way for years so this was nothing new for them.

Royce's ban on marital relations had been in place for many years now. The youngest members of the FCSU had largely aged up and were well into their childhoods. Only one or two toddlers remained in the community. It was strange for those who remembered the days when each house was exploding with children. The compound felt stagnated, like everyone was frozen in time, waiting for their Prophet.

There had been rumors for years that the ban would be lifted, that marriages and all the privileges that came with it would be reinstalled but LeRoyce would always find an excuse to nix it at the last minute and it was always made out to ne the fault of the people for not living up to his purity standards.

Elden felt bad for his children, his sons were now deep into their twenties and still doing construction, and his daughters were languishing at home without any babies to care for. They'd come to him asking for advice on how to feel fulfilled without being a wife and mother. The more he thought about it the angrier he became.

All of these feelings came to a head when he was summoned to LeRoyce's office for allegations of impurity. Word had gotten out that he was still sleeping with Charlene. "Brother Elden, you stand accused of violating our purity teachings and committing adultery of the marital bed. How do you respond?" Elden looked across the desk to LeRoyce Culton, who was technically his step-grandson, looking so smug. Like a disrespectful child.

"What do you have to say for yourself?" LeRoyce's voice raised, snapping Elden out of his thoughts. "Adultery?" He said slowly, considering his words. "Never in my life have I laid with a woman who didn't belong to me.” LeRoyce had recently redefined the word to include relations between married couples when they were supposed to be chaste. Once Elden started speaking all of his resentment came bubbling to the surface. “I did not dedicate decades to building up this church and it's people to have the gospel twisted against me and spat out by some child."

LeRoyce's face turned red. "I am my brother's mouthpiece! His words echo through ME!" He yelled, seething. "You must go home and pack your things. Your wives are no longer yours, your children are no longer yours. You must leave this land!" Elden stood up and left the office, LeRoyce sat looking like he was about to cry. “Fine by me, most of the church’s assets are in my name anyways.” He said casually as he closed the door.

He gathered his family together and told them of the meeting. "It is time to go home," he said stoically. "Back to the Prospect to live the way our Prophets have told us to for generations. LeRoyce Culton is a deceiver who would have his own people die out in the name of perfection and purity. You have a choice, you can come with me and live as the faithful are meant to or you can stay here, frozen in time."

Elden's daughters perked up. This could be it, marriage, babies, all of it within their grasp! As Elden's huge family began walking together to the front gate chaos erupted amongst the Cultons. LeRoyce ran to the sound system and launched a tirade against Elden and all his faults. The women were instructed to take their children and lock themselves in their rooms.

A few girls managed to escape through the window before Rachel could catch them. Charity, one of the eldest daughters, managed to grab one of her children but before she could come back for her baby Maggie, Charity's own mother snatched the girl up and locked herself in a bedroom. Once on the other side Charity descended into tears having had to leave her baby behind.

Amity Culton was Royce's only remaining teenager, she tried to follow her sisters out the window but was apprehended by Rachel. Amity fought and cried while trying to get away but it was no use, she was captured. The younger children were screaming in the bedrooms, this scuffle dredged up memories of the raid.

[wecouldstillbegreat]

Master List of Books

Here is the master list of books to read. Please support black authors by visiting your library or purchasing these instead of downloading!

Intro to Black Radical Politics

assata: autobiography 

angela davis an autobiography

angela davis: freedom is a constant struggle 

huey p newton: revolutionary suicide

what is marxism all about? 

beginners guide to marxism

huey p newton: to die for the people, collected writings 

w.e.b du bois: w.e.b du bois speaks

the autobiography of malcom x

muammar gaddafi: the green book

walter rodney: groundings with my brothers

lenin: state and revolution

kwame ture: stokely speaks, from black power to pan-africanism

thomas sankara: women’s liberation and the african freedom struggle

harry haywood: black bolshevik

w.e.b. du bois: essay collection

debunking anti-communism myths & propaganda 

karl marx & frederick engels: the communist manifesto

joseph stalin: dialetical & historical materialism 

reading marx’s “capital” with david harvey

marxism-leninism study guide

basic marxism-leninism study plan

paulo freire: pedagogy of the oppressed 

michael parenti: left anticommunism 

Black and Marxist Feminism

keeanga-yamahtta taylor: how we get free, black feminism and the combahee river collective

bell hooks: yearning; race, gender, and cultural politics

oyèrónkẹ́ oyěwùmí: african women and feminism

audre lorde: sister outsider

claudia jones: an end to the neglect of the negro woman!

silvia federici: caliban and the witch 

audre lorde: i am your sister

bell hooks: ain’t i a woman, black women and feminism

angela davis: modern motherhood, women and family in england

Prison Abolition

george jackson: blood in my eye

soledad brother: the prison letters of george jackson

angela davis: are prisons obsolete?

angela davis: political prisoners, prisons, and black liberation

paula c. johnson: voices of african american women in prison

On Racial Capitalism

jackie wang: carceral capitalism

e. franklin fraizer: black bourgeoisie 

robin d.g. kelley: hammer and hoe

cedric j. robinson: black marxism 

Critical Race Class Studies

w.e.b. du bois: black reconstruction

frantz fanon: black skin, white masks

patrick wolfe: traces of history; elementary structures of race

Black Studies Manifesto- Darlene Clark

Criteria of Black Art- W.E.B Dubois

Lynch Law- Ida B. Wells

On Being White and Other Lies- James Baldwin

James Baldwin Speech from 1965 Debate

The American Dream and the American Negro- James Baldwin

The Souls of Black Men- Hazel Carby

The Case for Reparations- Ta Nehisi Coates 

Cultural Identity and the Diaspora- Stuart Hall

The Fact of Blackness- Franz Fanon

Negritude

Fragments of Epic Memory- Derek Walcott

The Groundings with My Brothers- Walter Rodney

The Politics of Healing in the Black Lives Movement- Deva Woodley

Unapologetic- Charlene Carruthers

Emergent Strategy- Adrienne Maree Brown

The Use of the Erotic as Power- Audre Lorde

On Capitalism, Fascism, Imperialism, Neocolonialism, Settler-Colonialism

frantz fanon: the wretched of the earth

walter rodney: how europe underdeveloped africa

eduardo galeano: open veins of latin america 

samir amin: eurocentrism

michael parenti: blackshirts & reds

glen sean coulthard: red skin, white masks 

clr james: the black jacobins

chris harman: a people’s history of the world

“decolonization is not a metaphor”

Indigenous Studies 

nick estes: our history is the future

“decolonization is not a metaphor”

oyèrónkẹ́ oyěwùmí: women in the yoruba sphere

On Revolution:

frantz fanon: towards the african revolution

kwame nkrumah: africa must unite

black panthers speak

kwame ture: ready for revolution

steve biko: i like what i like; selected writings 

black like mao, red china & black revolution

che guevera: guerilla warfare

walter rodney: a history of the guyanese working people, 1881-1905

return to the source – selected speeches by amilcar cabral

https://dialecticalartist.wordpress.com/politicalresources/

On Slavery:

stephanie e. jones-rogers: they were her property 

Whiteness Studies

nell irvin painter: the history of white people

theodore w allen: the invention of the white race volume I

theodore w allen: the invention of the white race volume II

david r. roediger the wages of whiteness

david r. roediger: seizing freedom, slave emancipation & liberty for all

karen brodkin: how jews became white folks & what that says about race in america

On Gender, Sexuality, and Masculinities 

c. riley snorton: black on both sides a racial history of trans identity 

essex hemphill: ceremonies 

robert f. reid-pharr: black gay man, essays 

bell hooks: we real cool

maria lugones: heterosexualism and the colonial modern gender system

marlon m. bailey: butch queens up in pumps: gender, performance, and ballroom culture in detroit 

robert aldrich: colonialism and homsexuality

eve kosofsky sedgwick: epistemology of the closet

https://www.aaihs.org/excavating-black-queer-thought-a-pride-bibliography/

“the roots of lesbian & gay oppression: a marxist view” by bob mccubbin

afsaneh najmabadi: women with mustaches and men without beards: gender and sexual anxieties of iranian modernity

anne mcclintock: imperial leather: race, gender, and sexuality in the colonial conquest

oyèrónkẹ́ oyěwùmí: gender epistemologies in africa

oyèrónkẹ́ oyěwùmí: the invention of women: making african sense of western gender discourses

oyèrónkẹ́ oyěwùmí: african gender studies a read

oyèrónkẹ́ oyěwùmí: the invention of women

oyèrónkẹ́ oyěwùmí: what gender is motherhood?

Disability Studies

disability studies

Critical Reads

marx’s das kapital for beginners

black panther ten point program

Articles, Speeches, and Essays

w.e.b. du bois: essay collection

amiri baraka: essay collection

james baldwin: the free and the brave

adrienne rich: compulsory heteorsexuality and lesbian existence

david m. halperin: essay collection

e. patrick johnson: black queer studies a critical anthology

stuart hall: essay collection

audre lorde: the masters tools will never dismantle the master’s house

kwame nkrumah: axioms of kwame nkrumah

angela davis essays on liberation

clr james: black power, its past, today, and the way ahead

edward said’s lecture at york university

kwame ture: we are all africans

the death of stockley carmichael (and later kwame ture)

raewyn connell essay collection

stalin: marxism versus liberalism

what is dialectical materialism?

racism in the communist movement

the logic of lesser evilism

lenin: the three sources and three component parts of marxism

oyèrónkẹ́ oyěwùmí: de-confounding gender: feminist theorizing and western culture,

Cultural Texts

Bell hooks: all about love 

James Baldwin 

go tell it on the mountain

giovanni's room

another country

the fire next time

if beale street could talk

Sonny’s blues

just above my head

notes of a native son

nobody knows my name

rap on race

no name in the street

a dialogue

devil finds work

the evidence of things not seen

baldwin: collected essays

the cross of redemption

Toni Morrison

the bluest eye (1969)

sula (1971)

song of solomon (1977)

beloved (1986)

paradise (1997)

a mercy (2008)

the source of self-regard: selected essays, speeches, and meditations (2019) V

[shxwmaster]

@ilianchant​ sent (ages ago): 🌝 - Their thoughts early in the morning

Ask the Mun for a Drabble/Fic of their Muse based on...

—

               MORNINGS.

they either begin with a start, far too early for comfort, drenched in sweat, echoes of past missions, kills, horrors, detheroc in his mind —

or they begin slow, quietly, eyes opening at that trained 5am, fully alert, fully awake no matter how much his body cries out for more rest, no matter what time he’d lay down prior, he wakes at the same time.

( this, of course, is not counting the noises that wakes him in the middle of the night. rustle of the leaves, branches brushing against the side of the door, thunder, rain, bumps, thuds, anything that’s just too loud, he wakes to it, alert, ready, daggers already in his hands — truly, there is no real rest as the spymaster. not when the world has proven to be cruel and unpredictable. )

every new day is a trial, a testament to his strength, his patience, his endurance. he’s carved a routine though, you must understand — stretch, exercise, shower, walk, eat — he is well cared for, his needs met. he lives well, a home five minutes away from the si:7, tucked away in old town and hidden from public view. room, office, running water, heat, plentiful food, clothes and blankets, he is not suffering as many others in stormwind are. he serves royalty, he is well, there is no need to loathe these mornings. he is cared for. he is well.

work begins the moment he’s conscious ( though work doesn’t really end when he goes to sleep, ) - the moment an agent spots him, reports are head, tally of the day, new intel to be discovered. unrest among the civilians, spymaster, one tells him on his morning walk around the city, discreet, agent convincingly posed as a mere traveling merchant. the war has taken much from them, as has the draft. the armistice brings them no peace, and they voice their concerns over the throne. quiet, and calm things are for now, but we are watching it closely.

he thinks then, of the stonemasons, and as if fated to, casts his gaze towards the white cobblestone walls, the signature brick of the stonemasons, and remembers their work, their rage, their injustice. i’ll report it to the king, shaw would reply, knowing that wrynn can do nothing on this, that history is always bound to repeat. he is well, he is cared for. stormwind, westfall, the alliance, they are not.

you’re distant today, renzik tells him as he enters the headquarters, bearing the missive and knowledge that he is to send agents to die today. organizations in the shadows, intel to be gathered and dark forces play out of the public’s view, and it was up to them to deal with it. his agents can handle it. they are cared for. they are trained. they are prepared. but it’s blood to be spilled, and though shaw himself has become desensitized, he knows that every pulse ended kills a small part of him as well, no matter how much time passes.

the sun is fully out now, chill of early morning air dissipating as the city swells to life, noise and activity, the busy-ness reminding him of what he stands to protect ( what he stands to lose ) and what stood to give his bloodline a chance ( what also claimed his mother in violence ). stormwind is his armor, his blood, his purpose. the throne ensures he is cared for, that he is well. he is to do the same, until death.

busy day, is all shaw can say. things are well, things are fine. cruel of him, to find discontent in this life, when he is still breathing, still walking, still fortunate enough to see through another day ( another war ). can he say the same for the others? for edwin, for tiffin, for varian, kearnen, charlene, pathonia? he endures. they do not. for every day he survives a mission, huddled in his hiding spot as bombs drop by, or patching a wound that could have struck a vein, or successfully evading sight and dispatching foes twice their size, or enduring the harsh climates of the environments he’s forced into, he is grateful to leave in one piece.

dear pathonia taught him how to, of course. where would he be without her? ( where would she be, without stormwind? )

but renzik knows him well. their bond was forged through blood and war, they’ve witnessed many of the same atrocities. they are well, they are intact, yes, physically, they are well, they are fine. renzik says nothing, simply hands him the latest scroll. reports from kalimdor. they’re to mobilize immediately.

the sun is at its highest point now, as shaw gathers his agents, armored and ready, standing at the harbor, awaiting their sloop o’ war. he’d rather stay in stormwind, watch the king closely, but wrynn’s orders are not to be disobeyed. his loyalty would never let him stray.

but still, he watches a kul tiran ship arrive and dock, and he wonders idly, if he’d ever succumb to such weakness to simply run away from it all, and never look back.

armored and armed, poisons ready, gadgets stocked, tools counted for — a spymaster’s work never ends. he does what he does well, and in turn, he is cared for. he is well.

these good mornings, spymaster, they’re for the alliance.

[whatcouldgowrong-ohthat]

Wherever you will go by Charlene Soraia for the drabble ask

Nonnie, I think you’re trying to kill me. That was so...so heartbreakingly sweet. I knew the version by The Calling, but DAMN.

Anywho - thank you for the ask. The first time I listened to it - I was gonna write Ro x Loki from her perspective, but then I gave it a second listen and got a really sweet idea for another pairing.

Wherever You Will Go

Marie x Shuri

Summary: Shuri’s got it bad, but with her responsibilties, can she be there for Marie the way she wants to?

Warnings: Bit of angst, Shuri’s majorly crushing and Marie’s oblivious, also Shuri being awkward and adorable

Word Count: 1443 words

A/N: This does have a bit of spoilers for What We Do To Live (like what I’m doing with Shuri’s character, that sort of thing)

--

Shuri knew what it meant to work hard. Even before, when T’Challa ruled, she understood. But Marie’s obsessive nature took the idea to a whole other level. One that left her more than a little concerned.

Shuri stood in the doorway of Marie’s lab. She knew very well that Marie was oblivious to her presence. Her hoodie was pulled up, its massive sleeves rolled down and barely short enough to reveal her fingers. Shaking her head, Shuri didn’t need to be standing next to her to know that the Cajun’s nails were bitten down to the nub.

She was obsessing. Not that Shuri blamed her – the reason was good enough. But still…

So lately, been wondering… Who will be there to take my place When I’m gone, you’ll need love To light the shadows on your face If a great wave shall fall It would fall upon us all And between the sand and stone…

Could you make it on your own? The question bounced around in the queen’s head as she noticed three empty boxes of pop tarts on the edge of the desk. They looked like an attempt at a tower, hovering over the corner and ready to fall at a moment’s notice. Shuri wondered if that’s what it was like in Marie’s brain.

Everything balanced; yet so close to crashing down.

“Marie?”

The hacker either didn’t hear or didn’t register that Shuri had spoken. Not surprising. Normally it took a couple tries. But Shuri didn’t mind. She walked closer, her feet almost silent against the floor. When she was just behind Marie’s chair, she realized she had earbuds in. They were blaring music and Marie’s fingers, a blur against the keys, were making an odd sort of music on their own.

It was desperation that drove Marie to points like this. In the year the two had known each other, that was one of the first things she had learned. Taking a seat in one of the spare chairs, she propped her arms on her knees and simply watched. It was fascinating to see someone excel at something Shuri didn’t like enough to grasp.

Her thumb ran over her bracelet, the darker part of her mind drifting. Marie lived in a world where people were special. They were mutants. Or royalty. Or enhanced individuals. She was the only one deemed “normal,” but she was so far from it.

“She’s lost weight, Shuri.”

“My Queen, I don’t remember the last time she left the lab.”

“Are you going to tell her she can’t keep this up or am I?”

Between the others working in the lab and Bucky, everyone kept an eye on the girl. She had wormed her way into hearts out of her sheer dedication to help Wakanda and find her family. A year spent searching and a year spent helping them.

If I could, then I would I'll go wherever you will go Way up high or down low I'll go wherever you will go

Shuri knew and appreciated the responsibilities she had for Wakanda, but there was something to Marie she wanted to understand. She wanted to be there for her. She wanted to support this girl.

But would she always be able to?

Sighing softly, Shuri pushed herself to her feet. Marie wouldn’t be “present” for a while. Maybe she would try again this evening. “I’ll see you later, Marie.”

When the door hissed behind Shuri, fingers stilled. The clatter of keys came a halt. Marie looked over her shoulder, teeth worrying her lip. Threatening to draw blood. Her eyes never wavered, watching the queen’s departure. When she was out of sight, Marie took a small breath and went back to work.

And maybe I'll work out A way to make it back some day To watch you, to guide you Through the darkest of your days

“You let yourself fall so hard, Princess.”

Shuri rolled her eyes, some of that childish nature returning so easily. “I haven’t been a princess in a few years, Barnes,” knowing that it would be better to focus on the title than the comment. Bucky had grown too good at arguing with her.

“Yeah, but I don’t see a queen when you act like that same snot nosed kid I first met.” Bucky chuckled as he knocked shoulders with her, the vibranium metal of his arm glinting in the sunlight.

Oh, how she had come to rely on his friendship. Bucky coming to Wakanda was unexpected, but she would never think twice about giving up their friendship. He was a good man. Someone she could come to for advice even holding the mantels she did.

“I keep thinking about the fact that I’m Queen of Wakanda. I have a whole country to lead.” She paused at the railing, looking out at the kingdom she would die for. “Not only that, I’m the Black Panther. After seeing what happened to T’Challa…” She hesitated. The words stayed lodged in her throat, making a home for themselves there.

If a great wave shall fall It'd fall upon us all Well I hope there's someone out there Who can bring me back to you

Bucky squeezed her shoulder. “I know. He was a good man. And I’m sorry he’s not here anymore.” They were always sorry. Sorry for so many things.

Shuri blinked away tears, a watery smile appearing as she waved him off. “I don’t mind being Queen or Black Panther. I simply worry about the day where she trusts me…and I wouldn’t be able to come back to her.”

If I could, then I would I'll go wherever you will go Way up high or down low I'll go wherever you will go

Shuri had kept her silent promise, returning to Marie that evening. However, she came to a surprise when she saw that the lab was empty. “Marie?” She stepped inside, looking around. There was no sign of an altercation. If anything…

The room looked cleaner.

The three boxes of poptarts were now peeking out of the bin.

“’Ey.”

Shuri yelped, touching the necklace around her neck. Vibranium traveled over her skin instantaneously. The Black Panther suit molded to her body as she spun on her heel.

And there was Marie.

A new box of poptarts in hand. Hair in a messy bun, still wet from the shower she must have been in. She’d even changed clothes.

“You…You showered.”

Wow, Bucky would be grinning like that stupid cat of his if he heard her utter those words.

A small blush tinged Marie’s cheeks. “Uh…oui, I did. I’m not an animal,” she joked. They both knew it didn’t go unnoticed that the suit disappeared while she set the box down.

“I know,” Shuri assured her, taking a step closer. “We leave that title to the broken white boy.”

Marie snorted. It was a surprisingly cute sound matched with a scrunch of her nose that made the lines at the corners of her eyes more prominent. She smiled and laughed like that a lot. “I…” She hesitated. “I found it.”

“The Raft?” Shuri knew how hard Marie had been looking. This wasn’t a small feat by any means. “That’s amazing.” Marie smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. Shuri’s eyes drifted to her fingers, noticing how she plucked at the edge of the cardboard. There was dried blood where she’d bit at the skin. “What is it?”

Marie shrugged, trying not to sound heartbroken as she asked, “What if she’s not there?”

Shuri came to her side. Her hand instantly found Marie’s, giving it a small and reassuring squeeze. She didn’t want to see this brilliant and beautiful woman spiral into her worst fears. She didn’t deserve that. Marie deserved many things, but that pain was not one of them. Softly, she promised, “Then we keep looking. It’s that simply.”

Run away with my heart Run away with my hope Run away with my love

That pained smile turned a little more genuine and finally reached her eyes. It helped Shuri relax. In that moment, she realized her heart was truly lost to this girl. Stolen by the thief that had no interest in stealing.

How cliché.

Not that Shuri minded. No, she didn’t mind one bit. She would simply have to find a way to be there. However she could, she would.

I know now, just quite how My life and love might still go on In your heart, in your mind I'll stay with you for all of time If I could, then I would I'll go wherever you will go Way up high or down low I'll go wherever you will go

--

A/N: Look, we all know I don’t do drabbles, but this was cute so I don’t feel bad.

Permanent Taglist (since now I have one? XD)

@butcherofblackwater

[daydreamer0078]

16 Most Anticipated Movies in 2020 that Must Watch

There are special movies coming in 2020. We have to watch them without missing them. It's exciting that so many special movies releasing in 2020 that include birds of prey, do little, quiet place 2, black widow and other movies. These movies are producing by the major studios and releasing in 2020. If you're a movie lover, you shouldn't miss them. I don't think you don't miss them. As a movie lover, you are gonna watch all of them because the movies that are gonna release have a great expectations. The following list are the most anticipated movies which are gonna release in 2020. Do Little

About Movie: Dolittle is an American action fantasy film directed by Stephen Gaghan from Gaghan's script and Thomas Shepherd's plot. The film is based on Hugh Lofting's character Doctor Dolittle, and primarily based on Doctor Dolittle's Voyages. Robert Downey Jr. appears as the title character in live-action performances along with Antonio Banderas and Michael Sheen; the voice cast features Emma Thompson, Rami Malek, John Cena, Kumail Nanjiani, Octavia Spencer, Tom Holland, Craig Robinson, Ralph Fiennes, Selena Gomez and Marion Cotillard. Dolittle is scheduled to be released on January 17, 2020, in the United States. Plot: A doctor finds he can speak to animals Birds of Prey

About Movie: Birds of Prey: And One Harley Quinn's Fantabulous Emancipation is an American superhero film based on Birds of Prey's DC Comics team. The film, directed by Cathy Yan and written by Christina Hodson, is intended to be the eighth film in the DC Extended Universe and a follow-up spin-off to the 2016 film Suicide Squad. Margot Robbie, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Rosie Perez, Chris Messina, Ali Wong, Ella Jay Basco, and Ewan McGregor. Birds of Prey is the first R-rated DCEU film. On February 7, 2020, Warner Bros is scheduled to release Birds of Prey in the United States. Plot: Harley Quinn meets Black Canary, Huntress and Renee Montoya after breaking with the Joker to save a young girl from a lord of bad crime.   A Quiet Place: Part II

About Movie: A Quiet Place: Part II is the sequel to A Quiet Place (2018) of an upcoming American horror film. The sequel film, directed and written by John Krasinski, stars Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, and Noah Jupe. The cast is also joined by Cillian Murphy and Djimon Hounsou. After the first film's box office success. Krasinski wrote the film by August 2018 and was hired to direct in February 2019. From June 2019 to September 2019, production took place in Western New York. On March 20, 2020, Paramount Pictures plans to release A Quiet Place: Part II at theaters. Plot: The Abbott family is now facing the outside world's horror after the events at home. Forced to venture into the unknown, they realize the creatures that are not the only threats that lie beyond the path of the sand.   The New Mutants

About Movie: The New Mutants is a group of new teenaged mutant superheroes-in-training distributed by Marvel Comics. They were the main characters of three successive series of comic books that were X-Men franchise spin-offs. Chris Claremont and artist Bob McLeod created the first team of characters from New Mutants. They first appeared in The New Mutants 1982, part of the Marvel Graphic Novel series, followed by their own cover from 1983 to 1991. A new group of young mutants is introduced in the second New Mutants in 2003. It was relaunched in 2004 as New X-Men: Academy X, after which the core squad was collectively called the "Young Mutants." The surviving members were incorporated into one junior team, the New X-Men, after the "M-Day" crossover event at the end of 2005. The third series of New Mutants was released in May 2009, putting together most of the original team. A film will be released on 3 April 2020 about the New Mutants. Plot: Five young mutants, just discovering their abilities while held in a secret facility against their will, fight to escape their past sins and save themselves. No Time to Die

About Movie: No Time to Die is an  spy film and the twenty-fifth installment to be produced by Eon Productions in the James Bond film franchise. This features Daniel Craig as fictional MI6 agent James Bond in his fifth outing. It is written by Cary Joji Fukunaga, who also co-wrote the script with Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, and Phoebe Waller-Bridge. With Rami Malek, Lashana Lynch and Ana de Armas joining the cast, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Ben Whishaw, Rory Kinnear, Jeffrey Wright, Léa Seydoux and Christoph Waltz take over from previous films. It will be the first film in the series to be internationally distributed by Universal Pictures.The film is scheduled to be released in the United Kingdom on April 2, 2020, and in the United States on April 10, 2020. Plot: Bond has left active service. His peace is short-lived when his old CIA friend Felix Leiter turns up asking for assistance, leading Bond to the trail of a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology. Black Widow

About Movie: Black Widow is a forthcoming American superhero film based on the same name's Marvel Comics character. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The film is directed by Jac Schaeffer and Ned Benson, Cate Shortland, and stars Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff, alongside David Harbour, Florence Pugh, O-T Fagbenle, and Rachel Weisz.  Black Widow is scheduled to be theatrically released in the United States on May 1, 2020. Plot:  Not yet revealed , but the film took place between the events Civil War and Infinity War.   Fast & Furious 9

About Movie: Fast & Furious 9 is an  film directed by Justin Lin and penned by Daniel Casey on American violence. It will be the ninth installment in the Fast & Furious franchise, a sequel to 2017's The Fate of the Furious. The film will feature stars like Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Chris Bridges "Ludacris," Nathalie Emmanuel, John Cena, Helen Mirren, Charlize Theron, and Michael Rooker. Fast & Furious 9 is scheduled to be released by Universal Pictures in the U.S. on May 22, 2020. Plot:  Not yet revealed. Wonder Woman 1984

About Movie:  Wonder Woman 1984  is an  American superhero film based on the character DC Comics Wonder Woman, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It's a sequel to the Wonder Woman in 2017. Patty Jenkins directs the film from the screenplay she wrote with Geoff Johns and David Callaham, From Johns and Jenkins's narrative. Together with Chris Pine, Kristen Wiig, Pedro Pascal, Robin Wright, and Connie Nielsen, it stars Gal Gadot as Diana Prince / Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman will be released by Warner Bros in the United States in 1984. From June 5, 2020 Plot: Not yet revealed. Top Gun: Maverick

About Movie: Top Gun: Maverick is an  American adventure drama movie directed by Joseph Kosinski, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, Tom Cruise, and David Ellison, composed by Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer, and Christopher McQuarrie. It is the sequel to Top Gun (1986) and Tom Cruise, Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell, Lewis Pullman, Ed Harris, and Val Kilmer stars. From the first film, Cruise and Kilmer take over their roles. Top Gun: Maverick is scheduled to be released by Paramount Pictures in the U.S. on June 26, 2020. Plot: Pete Mitchell is where he belongs after more than thirty years of service as one of the best aviators in the Navy, pushing the envelope as a daring test pilot and dodging the rise of rank that would ground him. Free Guy

About Movie: Free Guy is an American science fiction action comedy movie directed by Shawn Levy, Matt Lieberman's plot, and Lieberman and Zak Penn's screenplay in 2020. The movie stars Ryan Reynolds, Jodie Comer, Joe Keery, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Lil Rel Howery, and Taika Waititi. Free Guy will be released by 20th Century Fox on July 3, 2020. Plot: A bank teller discovers that within a brutal, open-world video game, he's actually an NPC. Ghostbusters: Afterlife

About Movie: Ghostbusters: Afterlife is a future supernatural American comedy movie directed by Jason Reitman and written by Reitman and Gil Kenan. It stars Mckenna Grace, Finn Wolfhard, Carrie Coon, Paul Rudd, Logan Kim, and Celeste O'Connor, while from the original films Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver and Annie Potts take over their roles. It's a reference to the franchise of Ghostbusters. Ghostbusters: Paramount Pictures, by Sony Pictures Releasing, is scheduled to be released in the United States on July 10, 2020. Plot: When a single mother and her two children arrive in a small town, they start to discover their connection with the original Ghostbusters and their grandfather left behind the secret legacy.   Tenet

About Movie: Tenet is an action thriller movie produced by Nolan and Emma Thomas, written and directed by Christopher Nolan. It stars John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Dimple Kapadia, Elizabeth Debicki, Michael Caine, and Kenneth Branagh. Warner Bros is scheduled to release Tenet on July 17, 2020. Plot: An epic action revolving around spying, time travel and evolution around the world. The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It

About Movie: The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It is a supernatural American horror film written by David Leslie Johnson's Michael Chaves from a screenplay. The film is the Conjuring Universe's eighth chapter. Together with Sterling Jerins, Julian Hilliard, Sarah Catherine Hook, Charlene Amoia and Ruairi O'Connor, Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga will also take on their roles as paranormal investigators and authors, Ed and Lorraine Warren. The project is being co-produced by James Wan and Peter Safran. The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It is expected to be released on September 11, 2020 in the United States and will be distributed by Warner Bros. and New Cinema Line. Plot: Not yet revealed. Venom 2

About Movie: Venom 2 is an upcoming American superhero movie based on the character of Marvel Comics Venom, produced in partnership with Marvel by Columbia Pictures. It is planned to be the third installment of Sony's Marvel Universe and the successor to Venom (2018), released by Sony Pictures Releasing. The film is directed by Andy Serkis from a script by Kelly Marcel and, along with Woody Harrelson, Michelle Williams, Reid Scott, and Naomie Harris, stars Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock / Venom. The release of Venom 2 in the United States is scheduled for October 2, 2020. Plot: Not yet revealed. The Eternals

About Movie: The Eternals is a potential American superhero movie based on the same name's Marvel Comics race. Produced by Marvel Studios and produced by Motion Pictures at Walt Disney Studios. The film is directed by Matthew and Ryan Firpo's Chloé Zhao, and features an ensemble cast including Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Lauren Ridloff, Brian Tyree Henry, Salma Hayek, Lia McHugh, Don Lee, Barry Keoghan, Gemma Chan, and Kit Harington. The Eternals are scheduled to be released in the United States on November 6, 2020. Plot: The Eternals ' saga, a race of immortal beings that lived on Earth and shaped their history and civilizations. Godzilla vs. Kong

About Movie: Godzilla vs. Kong is Adam Wingard's new American monster movie, produced by Terry Rossio. The movie is also the 36th film in the Godzilla series, the 12th film in the King Kong franchise, and the fourth Godzilla film to be made exclusively by a Hollywood studio. The film stars are Alexander Skarsgård, Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Shun Oguri, Eiza González, Jessica Henwick, Julian Dennison, Kyle Chandler, Zhang Ziyi, and Demián Bichir. Godzilla vs. Kong is expected to be released on  November 20, 2020. Plot: As the gigantic Kong meets the unstoppable Godzilla, the world watches to see which one of them will become King of the Monsters.   You might be interested in these articles, Have a look at them. MARVEL  PHASE 5 MOVIES AND SHOWS LIST HUGE MARVEL PHASE 5 LEAK – MCU Deadpool will Join with Avengers Soon – MCU Best Hollywood Movies of 2019 that You Must See! Read the full article

[johnnymundano]

Sorority Row (2009)

Directed by Stewart Hendler

Written by Josh Stolberg and Pete Goldfinger

Based on The House on Sorority Row by Mark Rosman

Music by Lucian Piane

Country: United States

Language: English

Running Time: 101 minutes

CAST

Briana Evigan as Cassidy Tappan

Leah Pipes as Jessica Pierson

Rumer Willis as Ellie Morris

Jamie Chung as Claire Wen

Margo Harshman as Charlene "Chugs" Bradley

Julian Morris as Andy Richards

Audrina Patridge as Megan Blaire

Caroline D'Amore as Maggie Blaire

Carrie Fisher as Mrs. Crenshaw

Matt O'Leary as Garrett Bradley

Matt Lanter as Kyle Tyson

Maxx Hennard as Mickey

Rick Applegate as Senator Tyson

Ken Bolden as Dr. Rosenburg

Nicole Moore as Joanna

Deja Kreutzberg as Riley

Natalia Dove as Bucky

Debra Gordon as Mrs. Tappan

Sorority Row is a decently entertaining 2009 re-imagining of the 1983 non-classic slasher flick The House on Sorority Row. My suspicion is there must have been some kind of creative drought in Hollywood prior to 2009, as that year also saw the re-imagining of the 1981 non-classic slasher flick My Bloody Valentine, with both following hot on the heels of the 2008 re-imagining of the 1980 non-classic slasher flick Prom Night. Maybe it was just a knock-on effect of the 2007 writers’ strike over digital content compensation; a dearth of original scripts leading to money and talent being chucked at cobwebby, low risk properties. I don’t know, maybe it just affected TV, but it’s always fun to remind people that strikes can work, and you don’t just have to put up with shit. Whatever, in Sorority Row we have an old-school slasher movie reunion.

Sorority Row is fine as a glossy polish job on an old-school slasher flick, maybe a little better than fine, since it is well acted by a capable cast and has some vivid kills. I don’t really set the bar too high for slasher flicks and Sorority Row clears it easily; I laughed, I winced, I rolled my eyes, I did all three at once and scared the cat; job done. Not being American though, Sorority Row works as both an old-school slasher flick and an alternate reality movie. For overseas viewers Sorority Row is set in a strangely clean world where everyone is rich and their children are all gorgeous sociopaths. Someone like Paul Verhoeven could push this stuff into a dark satire, no problem. But, alas, Paul Verhoeven never graced a slasher flick with his presence, so here we get Stewart Hendler. Mr Hendler's main interest in Sorority Row is not social commentary but having his camera sway boozily about like a creepy middle aged guy leering his way through sexy teen parties of unbridled animalistic hedonism. These (very long) party scenes of boorish keg chugging and hot tub rutting to the blaring beat of unmemorable toons, are not really my idea of a good time, basically, but the horrible inhabitants of Sorority Row sure like ‘em.

In fact so much into partying are the girls of the Theta Pi sorority that I’m not sure what any of them are studying; maybe Advanced Bitchery and Post-Modern Vajazzling? Anyway, whatever they were studying (Applied Self-Involvement?) tonight’s the night our eye-catching yet soulless ghouls graduate so it’s pa-art-ay tah-haym! Woop! Woop! That’s the sound of your self-respect throwing up in a rosebush. But (dun-dun-DUNNNN!) tonight might also be the last night of their lives. No, not because they might choke on their own vomit or fall coked-up-face-first through a glass table, but because a maniac wants them dead! Actually I imagine a lot of people want this bunch of plasticised horrors dead, but someone is actually acting on this desire, with a “pimped up” tire iron no less. Can they find out who, before the next class reunion has to be held in an urn?

Sorority Row is an old-school slasher movie so, no, no, they can’t. What happens, because it is an old-school  slasher movie, is most of the high maintenance cast run about purposelessly, squabbling and doing stupid things until they die in inventive ways and the killer basically just reveals themselves because, well,  it’s that time in the old-school slasher movie when the killer reveals themselves. Good luck to anyone who still thinks there are going to be fogeyish things like “clues”. It is possible to  guess the killer in an old-school slasher flick because it’s usually the person the movie can’t stop telling you it isn’t. Even so, it’s still only a guess. When it comes to old-school slasher movies even Sherlock Holmes might as well just fire a harpoon gun at a list of character names.

Luckily, although the who is in doubt, they don’t have to find out why they are being killed since that’s obvious even to this bunch of ambulatory moral vacuums. Sorority Row is a retread of an old-school slasher movie so obviously it all starts with a prank. In the normal world a prank is writing “wanker” on someone’s forehead while they are asleep, or putting cellophane over the hole in the toilet seat. In the old-school slasher movie universe a prank involves giving your mate roofies and having her boyfriend snog her until she brings up fake puke and pretends to pass out. Then you bundle her, your mates and the scared boyfriend into your car that cost more than my house, and drive off pretending to look for a hospital, but instead going to a disused mine out of range of a mobile signal, where you declare your friend dead. This isn’t convoluted or hilariously prank-tastic enough for the unlovely ladies of Theta Pi, so they push it a bit further and it all goes horribly, fatally wrong. When the dust settles the girls are bound by a terrible secret and estranged from one of their number, who is slightly less awful than the others (you are supposed to root for this one). Now the past has come back to kill them and it’s only a matter of time before someone gets a flare gun in the face.

I’m guessing the characters (except Carrie Fisher’s pretty great, pretty funny, House Mother) are so godawful only so that we can get off on their sadistic deaths. This strikes me as being less than healthy. But then the Surgeon General has yet to endorse any old-school slasher flick for its beneficial medicinal properties. Let’s just call it cathartic, that usually works. As nasty as Sorority Row is, luckily for it there is a strong undercurrent of humour; so we can pretend it’s all just good clean fun.  And so like many old-school slasher flicks it is indeed nasty unclean fun; it’s just not very scary. In fact the scariest part is provided by Rumer Willis, who is in it as the mousy one, but it doesn’t occur in the movie; when you look at Sorority Row’s “trivia” section on the streaming service, it tells you Rumer had a poster of her future father-in-law, Ashton Kutcher, on her wall before he married her mum. Ugh! You don’t have to have been to college to think even Freud might throw up at that.

[non-toxicdragonageconfessions]

Songday Sunday Collection (SCC) for November

Alistair x Queen Cousland New King - Silva Hound

x Warden Steamroller - Phoebe Bridgers

x Sacrificed Warden Ghost of a Rose - Blackmore's Night

Anders x Hawke Writings on the Wall - Sam Smith Just One Yesterday - Fall Out Boy

Blackwall x Inquisitor Devil's Backbone - The Civil Wars

Cole Ghost in the Mist - Lacuna Coil Where The Lonely Souls Go - Hagalaz’ Runedance Pandemonium (Tribute version) - Mondays 

Dorian House Of Glass - Aviators

Fenris x Hawke Dangerous Night - 30 Seconds to Mars I Found - Amber Run You Matter to Me - Sara Bareilles

Grey Warden all companions Six friends - Haymaker

x Ser Gilmore  Lost Boy - Ruth B Faded - Alan Walker February Song - Josh Groban Cry if you want to - Karen Drucker Tsuki no Curse - Onika Reika Wakatte-ita hazu - Satou Akemi Now we are Free - Lisa Gerrad Das hat die Welt noch nicht gesehen - Söhne Mannheims Ordinary Day - Vanessa Carlton I can’t take my eyes of you - Melanie Doane Perfect - Ed Sheeran Love Story - Taylor Swift Tir na nog - Oonagh feat. Celtic Woman

Hawke Champion - Barns Courtney

all companions Bad At Love - Halsey Six friends - Haymaker

Inquisition All Men Must Die - Johnathan Young

all companions Six friends - Haymaker Hanakotoba - Haruka Terui, Suzuko Mimori, Yumi Uchida, Tomoyo Kurosawa, Juri Nagatsuma, Kana Hanazawa (not found) Stronger than all - Hammerfall Frontline - Pillar Ave Mary A - P!NK Never back down - Two Steps from Hell Power of the Dream - lol Into a Nighttime Sky - Avatar OST

Isabela x Hawke I Wanna Dance With Somebody - Whitney Houston

Leliana x Warden Where Have You Been - Cécile Corbel 

Merrill x female hawke Animal Love I - Charlene Kaye

Sera  She’s Always a Woman - Billy Joel Secrets - Mary Lambert A Million Dreams - P!nk Pretty Girl - Haley Kiyoko

Varric Getting Old - HelloGoodbye 

Other Maryden Pandemonium (Tribute version) - Mondays 

[juliethebibliophile]

Could you answer the OTP important questions for Eve and Flynn, please??? Thank you so much!!!

Yes of course! And a happy belated 4th anniversary to The Librarians, and to Eve and Flynn’s first kiss!

 Send me a ship and I’ll do the thing!

-Who holds the others hand first?

I feel like this is probably in the show somewhere and I forgot but I’m gonna go ahead and say Eve. Like they’re in the field doing something and it’s scary and Eve just grabs his hand and then he looks at her and she smiles nervously and...aaaaah

-Who initiates the first kiss?

Eve. We know this, and no first kiss will ever match that level of epic tbh. 

-Who asks the other out for the first date?

Flynn “I had nine more minutes of that” Carsen

-Who says ‘I love you’ first?

 I feel like it’s Flynn. I’ve always thought it happens the night after Happily Ever Afters, or, if they don’t go home that night, which is likely, the night after Final Curtain. Like they’ve just been through here and back and had this huge fight and practically broken up and then immediately had two true love’s kisses and been trapped 400 years back in time together and there’s so much to say and they’re just lying in bed and he says it. Soft and shy and out of the blue. And then her jaw drops and she stutters for a second and he looks like he’s going to die and then she just tears up and tells him she loves him too. 

-Who’s ready for marriage first?

Flynn “From the moment I saw you in that German steam tunnel, I’ve loved you” Carsen

-Who wants kids first?

I don’t even know tbh. I feel like Flynn wants it more, but I also feel like Eve really wants it too, it’s just not as obvious in her mind. But I’m gonna say Flynn. 

-Who’s the first to break down because they’re going to be parents?

Both of them....at the same time. 

-Who’s the first to cuss in front of the baby?

Definitely Eve. When the kid’s like 2 days old and she stubs her toe or gets a cramp or something. And then Flynn teases her about it and she gives him the :”I’m gonna punch you in the face” face

-Who’s name does the baby learn first?

The image of Eve and Flynn’s little baby cooing “mama” makes me wanna tear up so Eve. 

-Who’s least ready to let their kids grow up?

Everyone, including Eve and Flynn themselves, expected it to be Flynn, but really Eve’s a mess. She turns into a total clingy Mom. Flynn presents as being okay with it on the surface, but inside he’s just as destroyed, if not more destroyed. And he hides it well until their daughter comes down the stairs for her first day of HS or something. 

-Who cries when the kids leave?

Both of them. So much.

-Who makes tea for the other because they really shouldn’t be getting up so much anymore?

It really hurts to think about if it’s Eve because she’s the Guardian....so Eve. Cause I’m Satan. 

-Who teases the grandkids most?

FLYNN MY PRECIOUS. I WANT GRANDPA FLYNN. 

-Who spoils the grandkids most?

Also Flynn have y’all seen him? 

-Who insists on doing even the most simple of tasks for the other because they’re both growing so old and they really need to rest?

Eve, Guardian ‘till the end. 

-Who dies first?

He always knew this day would come. He knew from Charlene and Judson: even immortals don’t live forever. At some point, in some way, we all must reach our time. He knew it, sure, but 1000 years sure had a powerful way of making you near forget. 

She’d lost her immortality months ago, trying to protect one of their current charges, a Librarian who just happened to be their 30th great grand-daughter. He’d wanted to give up his immortality too, right away, but she’d made him swear not to...not until after she was gone. They had to make sure one of them was there to keep the Library safe until their replacements-who they’d identified a while ago-were ready. He’d agreed, reluctantly, thinking they still had time. She’d deteriorated faster than either one of them had thought. 

Tears filled his eyes as she smiled at him from the bed where she lay. This woman, old, but looking no more than sixty(they’d gotten to choose the point when they stopped physically aging), had been his partner through a thousand years of life. They’d lived through wars, plagues, famines, near apocalypses...to many to count. They’d lost so many....Librarians, Guardians, family, children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, Cassandra, Stone, Jones...and eventually even Jenkins. But somehow it had all been worth it. Somehow he knew he wouldn’t have traded a single second....because he’d gotten to do it all with her. 

He didn’t know how he’d last through a single breath once she was gone. 

Her eyes bore into his and he knew, they had next to no time left. This was it. The woman who showed him how to love again, who’d believed in him through trials and tribulations and times when she shouldn’t have....this woman who’d loved him....was about to be gone. 

She held out her hand, though she could barely move, and he reached down and grabbed it, his heart palpitating with more fear than he’d felt in centuries. As soon as he did, she squeezed, and smiled at him, the same smile that had made him fall in love all those years ago.

“It’s time,” she whispered. 

He wanted to protest violently, but held it together. He could hear it in her voice: they’d been here too long; she was ready to go. No matter how much he could control himself though, he still couldn’t help but cry. This earned tears, and another smile, from her. 

“I love you,” she whispered. “Always and forever.”

“Always and forever,” he repeated, his voice barely strong enough to be audible. 

With that, her eyes closed, and her hand went limp in Flynn’s. He froze. He felt like the floor had gone out from under him. When the moment came, he thought he might scream, or throw himself to the floor with a howl. Now it had happened though, and he couldn’t do any of it. There wasn’t enough. Part of him was missing. 

Then, he felt a sort of warmth in his chest, a familiar warmth, a warmth that only came from one place. He looked at Eve, peaceful, as if she was sleeping, and smiled as the memories he was missing filled him. As he sat by her bedside and stroked the back of her hand with his thumb, he whispered words that were part of an old letter that he knew she’d still kept in a worn down shoebox beneath their bed. 

How lucky I am to have someone that makes saying goodbye so hard.

[fairchildestof-them-all]

Send “✆” for a MORNING text.

[ Charlene to Bri ] Good morning, Bri-tiful. Do you wanna meet up for coffee?💋

Send “#” for a RANDOM text.

[ Charlene to Bri ] Do you remember that Honey Bee cheerleader at the big away game senior year?? You know the one. The WORST one. I wonder if hell’s taken her back yet... xxx

Send “ツ” for an EXCITED text.

[ Charlene to Bri ] SO, you will not believe!

[ Charlene to Bri ] I just got back from a little shopping trip in the city and they accidentally gave me one too many of this LBD which is just to die for 💃😭 You must come over & try it on 😘 xxx

@bri-barnes

[kiss-my-freckle]

Katarina Rostova wasn’t just a mother. She was a wife, a mistress, a daughter, a friend, a KGB agent, and if still alive - is a grandmother. She's been in the show since the pilot, threaded in more character stories than people realize. 

An episode-by-episode list of Katarina & Masha Rostova.

Rostova: Season One

Pilot -

Gender neutrality was shown from the very beginning. Not just in dialogue, but in the t-shirt Tom was wearing as well as their adoption storyline "It's a girl."

Tom: For the field trip Air and Space or the D.C. Zoo? Liz: The zoo’s gender neutral.

We were introduced to Katarina Rostova through Red's dialogue.

Red: Abandoned by a father who was a career criminal, a mother who died of weakness and shame.

And Masha Rostova through Beth Ryker.

Liz: Your name’s Beth, right? Yeah? My name’s Beth too. I’m Elizabeth. My friends call me Liz, though. You can call me Liz if you want.

Both ballerinas.

Liz: When I was little, I loved ballet. Whenever I performed, I felt a presence.

Both children having their lives disrupted because they're in danger.

Red: Within the hour, Ranko Zamani will abduct the daughter of U.S. General Daniel Ryker.

Red: As I feared would happen, elements from Katarina’s past are circling Elizabeth like a pack of wolves in the night. I put Tom Keen in her life to keep an eye on her, and he married her. Kate: This isn’t about Tom Keen. It’s about your need for control. Red: Indeed. I need to control the danger to Elizabeth. I’ve built a vast criminal network predicated on that very principal. It’s time to live up to my mission statement.

With the presumed dead actually being alive.

Red: Then a dead man just stepped off United 283 from Munich to Dulles. Ressler: Listen up, people. The lab just pulled a latent print from the airline arm rest. Nine points of comparison. Zamani’s alive.

Liz and Beth Ryker, Zamani's daughter and son.

Zamani: This is about the children. Raymond, today on this day - I am giving their plague back to them.

The Freelancer -

This episode brought us Floriana Campo, mothers and their children.

Floriana: Do you have children, agent Keen? Liz: Uh, Elizabeth. And If all goes well - Floriana: There is no work more meaningful than being a mother. I didn’t have kids of my own. This is my one regret. But these girls that I’m trying to protect, they are my family.

Red: I think the assassin may have slipped her a lethal cocktail of the same barbiturates she uses to drug her children. She’s not the woman you think she is.

Wujing -

The Wujing - Katarina parallel, both spymasters regarded as a myth.

Liz: Do you expect me to believe that - a secret meeting with the mysterious Wujing? He's a myth.

Masik: I don’t think there are any photographs of Katarina Rostova. She’s a myth.

The Stewmaker -

Again, with the children.

Kornish: What about you? Are you a mother? Liz: No. Kornish: That’s good.

Soundtrack:

♪ See I left my mothers heart See I left my fathers home And I fell into a well of hope ♪

The Courier -

Liz: What is this place? Red: Something of a hideaway. It used to be home to one of the finest American writers who ever lived - Fredrick Hemstead. Liz: Never heard of him. Red: No, you haven’t. Nobody has. Dear Fredrick was waiting tables when we first met. Strange little man, built like a fireplug. He was living here with his mother until she died.

Gina Zanetakos -

This episode brought in the parallel between Tom and Katarina, which includes the murder case of an FSB agent named Victor Fokin.

Tom: And there’s - there’s passports with my face on it. And, uh - these names. Who the hell is Anton Pierre Louis?

Red: I knew her as Katarina Rostova. One of her many names.

Frederick Barnes -

This brings in the story of Mrs. Forrester's affair, like Katarina's affair with the real Red. Katarina allowing Constantin to believe Masha was his, like Mrs. Forrester leading her husband to believe Ethan was his. The real Red knowing he was Masha’s father, just as Frederick Barnes knew he was Ethan's.

Mrs. Forrester: Frederick is Ethan’s father. Liz: Does your husband know this? Mrs. Forrester: It just happened. I thought it was best for the family to keep the secret. Liz: Does Frederick know he’s Ethan’s real father? Mrs. Forrester: Yeah.

Liz redecorating, bringing in the grandmother. 

Tom: I like this one. Liz: Grandma’s Pumpkins? Tom: Grandma’s what?

The Takoma house scene brought in Symphony No. 3 by Henryk Górecki. The dominant themes of the symphony are motherhood and separation through war.

General Ludd -

The end of this episode gave us their swingset scene, which is current day Katarina and Masha - the "now" of their photograph in Red's flat.

The Good Samaritan Killer -

The Good Samaritan was a victim of his mother’s abuse.

Samaritan: I was a victim. My mother. She called it tough love. It was abuse.

In the opening of the episode, he killed Michael's mother for abusing him.

Meera: Michael’s mother was abusing him for years, and now she ends up dead.

Add in the DV victim, considering Red was shot and killed the night of the fire while assaulting Katarina.

The Alchemist -

Eric Trettel helped people disappear by faking their deaths. Bring in the wife and daughter. Trettel, a “bad man” like Raymond Reddington, willing to kidnap his wife and child.  

Mrs. Trettel: You shouldn’t be here. Eric is a very dangerous man. In his head, he thinks we’re still together, a family.

Anslo Garrick: Conclusion -

This episode gave us Mr. Kaplan's assumed gender.

Mr. Kaplan: What color is the sky? Liz: Red. You? You’re Mr. Kaplan?

The Cyprus Agency -

This episode brought us the adoption business to play in part with Liz being adopted by Sam, and the kidnapping of children tying in Masha's kidnapping.

Red: Lizzy, I’m giving you the chance to take down a criminal organization that is abducting babies from their mothers’ arms.

The victim they introduced in the opening scene was seeking out her child. Doesn't matter how she was conceived, that child was still hers.

Woman: My baby. Please. They have him. They - Please. My baby. They have - have him Please. Please. They - they have my baby. They took my baby. They took my baby. They - They took my baby. They have my baby.

Coincidentally, both children were kidnapped by the father.

Liz: Your legacy. You’re the father. The children brokered by the Cyprus Agency are yours.

Kate: So what he - he - he stole Masha to hurt you? Katarina: No, that’s not it. He thinks she’s his.

Five kidnapped women, all biological mothers having their children (27 total) given up for adoption without their consent.

Madeline Pratt -

This episode introduced us to Cooper's wife and children.

Red: I was just looking at the pictures of Charlene and the kids. How old are they now? The kids, not Charlene.

And Red's Bloody Christmas Eve story. No mention of a wife, just a female child.

Red: I can - I can still smell the nape of her neck, feel her little fingers on my cheek, her whisper in my ear.

The Judge -

This episode gave us Red's dialogue to Ruth, assumed to be a man.

Red: Think of him as a prisoner’s court of last resort.

Red: Of course. A woman.

As well as the dialogue from her victims.

Liz: Aram, the paper said Rifkin’s last words at his execution were “Good night, mother.” He said it to his spiritual adviser, Ruth Kipling. I just heard Hastings say it.

Mako Tanida -

Parallel of Ressler losing Audrey just as Katarina lost Raymond.

Audrey was pregnant, so she would've been a mother.

Scene cuts at the end flip between the ballet, Ressler, and Liz in the shower with Tom. Back to that dialogue from Liz in S5.

Liz: When I was little, I loved ballet. Whenever I performed, I felt a presence.

Red's scene with Christine.

Red: I’ll see you on the 22nd. And please send my thanks to your mother.

Ivan  -

This episode brought us Harrison Lee's grandmother, Ms. Lee.

Ms. Lee: A computer hacker? I can’t even set my thermostat without the help of my grandson. Ressler: Your grandson?

As well as the music box scene, which parallels Liz's scene in Gaia's episode.

Liz: You knew I’d find out the truth. And you wanted me - Red: To know that everything is going to be okay. You’re going to be okay.

Liz: I mean, that’s my one job - to protect my child. Make her feel safe at any cost. To hold her. To tell her everything’s gonna be okay. But now - because of me, because of what I’ve done, I can’t even do that.

Milton Bobbit -

This episode had Red "threatening" Craig Keen's mother at the art museum.

Craig: I don’t know what you think you’re gonna gain from all this, but I’m not gonna talk. I will die before I give you anything. If you so much as touch my mother -

The Pavlovich Brothers -

This episode brought us back to the Tom - Katarina parallel. Katarina marrying Constantin as a cover, Tom marrying Liz as a cover. Keen2′s scenes in this episode mirror Red and Kirk's torture scenes in 4x8.

Liz: Stop talking about your job! You, this. Everything was a lie! My life was a lie!

Red: You saw what Katarina wanted you to see. She lied to you about everything.

The Kingmaker -

This episode brought us the death of a wife and mother.

Liz: It must be difficult to see her so traumatized. Chandler: She’s heartbroken. Her mother was everything to her. She was everything to us both.

Berlin's episodes -

The death of Meera Malik, mother of two kids, a daughter and a son.

Red confirming for Liz that her father is dead.

Red: I’m telling you, with no uncertainty, your father is dead. He died in that fire.

Backstory characters in this season:

Sam Milhoan knew Katarina Rostova, but was not confirmed to know the real Reddington. Mr. Kaplan knew Katarina Rostova, but did not know the real Reddington. Alan Fitch, Harold Cooper, and Admiral Richard Abraham all knew the real Reddington - Katarina Rostova's lover and target. The big bad of this season was Berlin. He believed his daughter was killed by the real Reddington - our Red's assumed identity. Again ... Katarina's lover and target. 

[glitterquadricorn]

Spotify Dare/Challenge

It’s the end of the year and Spotify has released a playlist called Your Top Songs of 2018. I dare anyone that has a Spotify to name all the songs in that playlist. Tag whoever and as many people as you want!

I’ll start! 

You and Me - Lifehouse

Goodnight Gotham - Rihanna

Fumes - Eden Project

Boa Noite - Tropkillaz

From The Ground Up - Dan + Shay

I’d Love To Change The World - Jetta, Matstubs

Linger - The Cranberries

Derniere - Indila

The Space Between - Dave Matthews Band

Eyes On Fire - Blue Foundation

Hypnotic - Zella Day

Waiting For You - Unlike Pluto

Kannibalen - Apashe

Perfect - Ed Sheeran ft. Beyoncé

Knock You Out - Bingo Players

It’s Alright - Tep No ft. Lizz Kellerman

Lights Down Low - Maejor

You Don’t Own Me (Candyland Remix) - Grace, G-Eazy

Rescue Me - Dekku 

Control - Halsey

Red Lips - Gta, Sam Bruno

Lola Montez - Volbeat

Don’t Wait - Mapei

It’s Time - Imagine Dragons

Sunny Came Home - Shawn Colvin

Holding Out For A Hero - Elise Lieberth

Deepthroat - Cupcakke

No Twerk (VIP) - Apashe ft. Panther & Odalisk

Run - AWOLNATION

No Diggity - Blackstreet

Angels - The xx

Spirits - The Strumbellas

Sleepwalking - Bring Me The Horizon

Something To Talk About - Bonnie Raitt

Call Me Baby - EXO

Let It Go - The Last Sleepless City

Monster - Imagine Dragons

Do You Know (The Ping Pong Song) - Enrique Iglesias

Reload - Clips x Ahoy

Diane - Cam

Better Days (And The Bottom Drops Out) - Citizen King

Let Go/ Enemies - Dylan Brady ft. Nok

Let Go - Ark Patrol

You Get What You Give - New Radicals

Geronimo - Sheppard

Runaway Baby - Bruno Mars

A Real Fine Place To Start - Sara Evans

Thunder - Imagine Dragons

Worth It - Danielle Bradbery

Lets Ride - Ground Up

Wherever You Will Go - Charlene Soraia

Unstoppable - Sia

Burning House - Cam

Seven Nation Army - The White Stripes

Ten Feet Tall - Wrabel

Who I Am - Jessica Andrews

Crossfire - Stephen

Yellow - Coldplay

Kanye - The Chainsmokers

Youngblood - 5 SOS

Mansion - Nf, Fleurie

Someone Like You - Ice Nine Kills

All or Nothing - O-town

The Boys of Summer - The Ataris

Budapest - George Ezra

Rich - Maren Morris

Look After You - The Fray

Tick Tick Boom - Razihel

Hallelujah - Paramore

Fergalicious - Fergie

September - Earth, Wind & Fire

Let You Down - NF

#icanteven - The Neighbourhood

Ladies And Gentlemen - Saliva

Sorry Not Sorry - Demi Lovato

Who You Are - Jessie J

Beast - Mia Martina 

I Get Lonely - Janet Jackson

Human - Rag’n’Bone Man 

Why’d You Call Me When You’re High? - Arctic Monkeys

Sex Life - Destory Rebuild Until God Shows

Chun-Li - Nicki Minaj

Whatever It Takes - Imagine Dragons

Heavily Broken - The Veronicas

The Mess I Made - Parachute

You Don’t Do It For Me Anymore - Demi Lovato

One Of Us - Joan Osborne

Get Low - Ying Yang Twins

Alone - Bullet For My Valentine

Imprint (Command Q Remix) - MUST DIE!

All I want - Kodaline

...Ready For It? - Taylor Swift

Coming Down - Five Finger Death Punch

Powerful - Major Lazer

Little Things - One Direction

Breathe (Rap Version) - Blu Cantrell

Tell Me You Love Me - Demi Lovato

I’ll Be - Edwin McCain

I Melt - Rascal Flatts

Liability - Lorde

What a interesting mix.

Tagging: @letsgetfuckingsuperwholocked @buckys-sweetheart 

or anyone else that wants to do it. I’m not sure who has a spotify.