#confidential tour

[unexpectedtoast]

Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly, Anthony Bourdain.

[thebadtimewolf]

tag dump for doctor who: confidential

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Google is (still) losing the spam wars to zombie news-brands

I'm touring my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me TONIGHT (May 3) in CALGARY, then TOMORROW (May 4) in VANCOUVER, then onto Tartu, Estonia, and beyond!

Even Google admits – grudgingly – that it is losing the spam wars. The explosive proliferation of botshit has supercharged the sleazy "search engine optimization" business, such that results to common queries are 50% Google ads to spam sites, and 50% links to spam sites that tricked Google into a high rank (without paying for an ad):

https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2024/03/core-update-spam-policies#site-reputation

It's nice that Google has finally stopped gaslighting the rest of us with claims that its search was still the same bedrock utility that so many of us relied upon as a key piece of internet infrastructure. This not only feels wildly wrong, it is empirically, provably false:

https://downloads.webis.de/publications/papers/bevendorff_2024a.pdf

Not only that, but we know why Google search sucks. Memos released as part of the DOJ's antitrust case against Google reveal that the company deliberately chose to worsen search quality to increase the number of queries you'd have to make (and the number of ads you'd have to see) to find a decent result:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/24/naming-names/#prabhakar-raghavan

Google's antitrust case turns on the idea that the company bought its way to dominance, spending the some of the billions it extracted from advertisers and publishers to buy the default position on every platform, so that no one ever tried another search engine, which meant that no one would invest in another search engine, either.

Google's tacit defense is that its monopoly billions only incidentally fund these kind of anticompetitive deals. Mostly, Google says, it uses its billions to build the greatest search engine, ad platform, mobile OS, etc that the public could dream of. Only a company as big as Google (says Google) can afford to fund the R&D and security to keep its platform useful for the rest of us.

That's the "monopolistic bargain" – let the monopolist become a dictator, and they will be a benevolent dictator. Shriven of "wasteful competition," the monopolist can split their profits with the public by funding public goods and the public interest.

Google has clearly reneged on that bargain. A company experiencing the dramatic security failures and declining quality should be pouring everything it has to righting the ship. Instead, Google repeatedly blew tens of billions of dollars on stock buybacks while doing mass layoffs:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/21/im-feeling-unlucky/#not-up-to-the-task

Those layoffs have now reached the company's "core" teams, even as its core services continue to decay:

https://qz.com/google-is-laying-off-hundreds-as-it-moves-core-jobs-abr-1851449528

(Google's antitrust trial was shrouded in secrecy, thanks to the judge's deference to the company's insistence on confidentiality. The case is moving along though, and warrants your continued attention:)

https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/the-2-trillion-secret-trial-against

Google wormed its way into so many corners of our lives that its enshittification keeps erupting in odd places, like ordering takeout food:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/24/passive-income/#swiss-cheese-security

Back in February, Housefresh – a rigorous review site for home air purifiers – published a viral, damning account of how Google had allowed itself to be overrun by spammers who purport to provide reviews of air purifiers, but who do little to no testing and often employ AI chatbots to write automated garbage:

https://housefresh.com/david-vs-digital-goliaths/

In the months since, Housefresh's Gisele Navarro has continued to fight for the survival of her high-quality air purifier review site, and has received many tips from insiders at the spam-farms and Google, all of which she recounts in a followup essay:

https://housefresh.com/how-google-decimated-housefresh/

One of the worst offenders in spam wars is Dotdash Meredith, a content-farm that "publishes" multiple websites that recycle parts of each others' content in order to climb to the top search slots for lucrative product review spots, which can be monetized via affiliate links.

A Dotdash Meredith insider told Navarro that the company uses a tactic called "keyword swarming" to push high-quality independent sites off the top of Google and replace them with its own garbage reviews. When Dotdash Meredith finds an independent site that occupies the top results for a lucrative Google result, they "swarm a smaller site’s foothold on one or two articles by essentially publishing 10 articles [on the topic] and beefing up [Dotdash Meredith sites’] authority."

Dotdash Meredith has keyword swarmed a large number of topics. from air purifiers to slow cookers to posture correctors for back-pain:

https://housefresh.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/keyword-swarming-dotdash.jpg

The company isn't shy about this. Its own shareholder communications boast about it. What's more, it has competition.

Take Forbes, an actual news-site, which has a whole shadow-empire of web-pages reviewing products for puppies, dogs, kittens and cats, all of which link to high affiliate-fee-generating pet insurance products. These reviews are not good, but they are treasured by Google's algorithm, which views them as a part of Forbes's legitimate news-publishing operation and lets them draft on Forbes's authority.

This side-hustle for Forbes comes at a cost for the rest of us, though. The reviewers who actually put in the hard work to figure out which pet products are worth your money (and which ones are bad, defective or dangerous) are crowded off the front page of Google and eventually disappear, leaving behind nothing but semi-automated SEO garbage from Forbes:

https://twitter.com/ichbinGisele/status/1642481590524583936

There's a name for this: "site reputation abuse." That's when a site perverts its current – or past – practice of publishing high-quality materials to trick Google into giving the site a high ranking. Think of how Deadspin's private equity grifter owners turned it into a site full of casino affiliate spam:

https://www.404media.co/who-owns-deadspin-now-lineup-publishing/

The same thing happened to the venerable Money magazine:

https://moneygroup.pr/

Money is one of the many sites whose air purifier reviews Google gives preference to, despite the fact that they do no testing. According to Google, Money is also a reliable source of information on reprogramming your garage-door opener, buying a paint-sprayer, etc:

https://money.com/best-paint-sprayer/

All of this is made ten million times worse by AI, which can spray out superficially plausible botshit in superhuman quantities, letting spammers produce thousands of variations on their shitty reviews, flooding the zone with bullshit in classic Steve Bannon style:

https://escapecollective.com/commerce-content-is-breaking-product-reviews/

As Gizmodo, Sports Illustrated and USA Today have learned the hard way, AI can't write factual news pieces. But it can pump out bullshit written for the express purpose of drafting on the good work human journalists have done and tricking Google – the search engine 90% of us rely on – into upranking bullshit at the expense of high-quality information.

A variety of AI service bureaux have popped up to provide AI botshit as a service to news brands. While Navarro doesn't say so, I'm willing to bet that for news bosses, outsourcing your botshit scams to a third party is considered an excellent way of avoiding your journalists' wrath. The biggest botshit-as-a-service company is ASR Group (which also uses the alias Advon Commerce).

Advon claims that its botshit is, in fact, written by humans. But Advon's employees' Linkedin profiles tell a different story, boasting of their mastery of AI tools in the industrial-scale production of botshit:

https://housefresh.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Advon-AI-LinkedIn.jpg

Now, none of this is particularly sophisticated. It doesn't take much discernment to spot when a site is engaged in "site reputation abuse." Presumably, the 12,000 googlers the company fired last year could have been employed to check the top review keyword results manually every couple of days and permaban any site caught cheating this way.

Instead, Google is has announced a change in policy: starting May 5, the company will downrank any site caught engaged in site reputation abuse. However, the company takes a very narrow view of site reputation abuse, limiting punishments to sites that employ third parties to generate or uprank their botshit. Companies that produce their botshit in-house are seemingly not covered by this policy.

As Navarro writes, some sites – like Forbes – have prepared for May 5 by blocking their botshit sections from Google's crawler. This can't be their permanent strategy, though – either they'll have to kill the section or bring it in-house to comply with Google's rules. Bringing things in house isn't that hard: US News and World Report is advertising for an SEO editor who will publish 70-80 posts per month, doubtless each one a masterpiece of high-quality, carefully researched material of great value to Google's users:

https://twitter.com/dannyashton/status/1777408051357585425

As Navarro points out, Google is palpably reluctant to target the largest, best-funded spammers. Its March 2024 update kicked many garbage AI sites out of the index – but only small bottom-feeders, not large, once-respected publications that have been colonized by private equity spam-farmers.

All of this comes at a price, and it's only incidentally paid by legitimate sites like Housefresh. The real price is borne by all of us, who are funneled by the 90%-market-share search engine into "review" sites that push low quality, high-price products. Housefresh's top budget air purifier costs $79. That's hundreds of dollars cheaper than the "budget" pick at other sites, who largely perform no original research.

Google search has a problem. AI botshit is dominating Google's search results, and it's not just in product reviews. Searches for infrastructure code samples are dominated by botshit code generated by Pulumi AI, whose chatbot hallucinates nonexistence AWS features:

https://www.theregister.com/2024/05/01/pulumi_ai_pollution_of_search/

This is hugely consequential: when these "hallucinations" slip through into production code, they create huge vulnerabilities for widespread malicious exploitation:

https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/28/ai_bots_hallucinate_software_packages/

We've put all our eggs in Google's basket, and Google's dropped the basket – but it doesn't matter because they can spend $20b/year bribing Apple to make sure no one ever tries a rival search engine on Ios or Safari:

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/google-payments-apple-reached-20-220947331.html

Google's response – laying off core developers, outsourcing to low-waged territories with weak labor protections and spending billions on stock buybacks – presents a picture of a company that is too big to care:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/04/teach-me-how-to-shruggie/#kagi

Google promised us a quid-pro-quo: let them be the single, authoritative portal ("organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful"), and they will earn that spot by being the best search there is:

https://www.ft.com/content/b9eb3180-2a6e-41eb-91fe-2ab5942d4150

But – like the spammers at the top of its search result pages – Google didn't earn its spot at the center of our digital lives.

It cheated.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/05/03/keyword-swarming/#site-reputation-abuse

Image: freezelight (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Spam_wall_-_Flickr_-_freezelight.jpg

CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en

[larriescompass]

ways to dispel gay rumors, according to louis tomlinson and harry styles:

1. write a love song, and include the place where you and your enemy lived together.

2. constantly walk away from your at the time girlfriend of nine years.

3. struggle to hold hands with and kiss your at the time girlfriend of several years.

4. repeatedly say ‘no’ when asked if you and your girlfriend are engaged.

5. but do say, ‘it’s confidential, but we’re already engaged,’ when asked when you are gonna propose to your best mate.

6. say you have a crush on your best mate, and that you’ve discussed it and say that it’s mutual.

7. when asked if the rumor is true, smile fondly and say yes.

8. when your best mate is talking about finding someone they would want to date, cough really obviously and loudly.

9. choose to play a song on your tour, where the first word has major involvement with the rumor.

10. when asked about the rumor, turn into a horse.

11. deny the rumor while emphasizing the word ‘obviously’ and MAKE SURE to be very sarcastic.

12. dress up rainbow bears on stage that represent gay artists.

13. dress up said rainbow bears in wedding outfits on stage with a picture positioned in front of it of a man named larry, while signing the photo with the words “love, larry.”

14. when you see something involving the rumor, give it a thumbs up!

15. get matching tattoos.

16. go to amsterdam with your wonderful girlfriend at the time, then come back and write a song where the first line is, “i went to amsterdam without you,”

17. having to adjust your pants because your best mate’s shirt popped open.

18. when your “mate” asks to give you a blowjob, respond with “i’d love it, if you’d just wait.”

19. when asked about your favorite traits in a female, say “not that important” about the person being a female.

20. look depressed whenever someone mentions your child.

21. cover a song where the main objective of the song is to be the girl just so you could be with the guy.

22. get a tattoo that you know people will link to the person involving the rumor.

23. dress up as queer idols for halloween.

24. go to gay bars.

25. bring your girlfriends to gay bars.

26. cook a meal for your girlfriend even though you didn’t even know her when you cooked it, and she was vegan at that time.

27. make a dopey fonding face while you’re staring at your best mate.

28. sexually tease each other on stage.

29. while your best mate is hyping himself up and says while referring to himself, “that’s just sex on legs,” agree and say, “yeah it is,” while giving him love eyes.

30. at your solo concert, point to a replica of the rainbow bear in the crowd that you and your best mate dressed up on stage.

31. change the lyrics of your song from “i love it” to “i love him.”

32. you must wear a vintage umbro t shirt that is very rare, and make sure to have your best mate show up wearing the same vintage rare umbro shirt just a few months later.

33. go completely MIA while your best mate has his off season, and pop back up in public when he goes back on tour.

34. host your own festival and have an artist with a song named “you’re not harry styles” perform during it.

35. consistently use colored lights that are heavily associated with the rumor during your concerts.

36. use art of your “totally platonic” friend’s tattoo for the spotify background of one of your songs.

37. do a photoshoot with clothes from a gay clothing brand that dates back to the fifties.

38. go to the same euros game and make sure to be seen in the same room together.

39. bite your best mate’s back after you deny the gay rumors.

40. look at your best mate and sing “i’m in love with lou, and all his little things” in a totally normal and platonic way.

[spacedace]

So I've seen a lot of "Jazz works as a therapist at Arkam" in the dp x dc fandom, and while I like the concept, I also feel like Jazz would take one look at the place and immediately be like "what the absolute fuck" at just the everything of the place.

Like, she either nopes out after the tour during the interview or quits not too long afterward starting there, not because she can't take it but because she's so appalled by what's going on there and can smell the corruption rolling off the place and knows no one sent to there is ever actually going to get the help they need.

So Jazz decides to open a private practice instead while still being absolutely determined to work with the various rogues in the city, she is here to help and nothing is going to stop her.

So she just starts showing up at known hangouts of rogues and during their heists/schemes/sprees, and even fights between them and the batfam, just like

"Hi! It’s so nice to meet you! My name is Dr. Jasmine Fenton/Nightingale/whatever last name she’s using and I was hoping we could talk!"

Casually kicks a baterang away without looking because she's being polite and professional!

"I understand that your experience with therapy through Arkam has been nothing but atrocious and that you are rightfully -"

Kicks Batman away without breaking eye contact or a sweat.

"Suspicious of attempting therapy again, and Idon't want to force anything on you, therapy should be on your terms after the experiences you've had but -"

Grabs Robin out of the air as he leaps at the rogue she's talking to and tucks him under her arm, ignoring his feral hissing and all attempts to break her hold.

"-I really think that you'd find it beneficial, even if I'm not the right therapist for you."

The rogue in question is having the time of their life and takes Jazz's business card - and a few extra to pass around - not really intending to actually ever book a therapy appointment with her but way too entertained and excited to share this madness with everyone else.

But then one of the rogues actually looks up Jazz's website and sees all the various safe guards she’s put in place to ensure that any villians that come to her will be protected while seeing her - soundproof therapy room, regular sweeps for listening and tracking devices, the most insane firewalls and protections anyone has ever seen on her network, and ooh she provides snacks and drinks!

So someone finally books an appointment with her, half convinced she's either going to turn them in or is a villain herself intent to experiment on them, but then it’s actually really nice??? And they feel a lot better afterwards?? She doesn't even say anything to indicate that she wants them to stop being villains, she just wants them to be okay??

So more and more rogues start going to her, and Batman was already losing his mind about this woman before - Oracle can't hack her system?!? And her background check shows a totally normal Psychiatrist?? - but now half of Gotham's heavy hitters and a dozen or so other minor league villains are seeing her regularly and every time he tries to get info on any plans the rogues might be scheme via her office it fails utterly. Nightwing got knocked out with something called a creep stick and when he tried to break in himself to get answers she just appeared out of no where and gave him the most scathing lecture about doctor-patient confidentiality before bullying him off her property and threatening to sick her brother on him if he tried again?

And because she's become such a figure in the Gotham underworld, she gets the attention of Joker.

And everyone, rogues and Bats alike, are terrified that she’s going to try and take him on as a patient like she has so many other villains in the city and that's just a recipe for tragedy.

But then the Joker is on his way to the hospital with two broken legs and the fear of god beat into him babbling about eldritch nightmares and whenever anyone asks Jazz what happened she just shrugs and just says things like "I refused him as a patient, he's not my problem." Or "My brother doesn't like clowns." And just, does not elaborate.

Batman is losing his mind over it all. Jazz is just happy to be able to actually help the rogues. Arkam is less happy about how she absolutely destroys their reputation.

[sp0o0kylights]

You know what I want to see, I want to see more of Steve, Eddie, and Robin being 1980s small town kids from Indiana, by which I mean;

Robin is The Source of Gay Knowledge purely because her parents host Hippie Christmas and she managed to sneak away to find a neat bookstore in Indiana once. 

Her knowledge is not in depth. It's patchy, woven together through rumors, stories she heard or things she picked up from her parents' old pictures. She's got a handful of zines, one book, and some movies she managed to order for Family Video behind Keith's back.

She acts like she's Queen of the Queers because in Hawkins she pretty much is.

(Max and El ask her what a lavender marriage is once, something they overheard snooping around. 

Robin confidentially answers that it's code for when one woman dresses up as a man, fooling officials into wedding two woman.

She does not live this down two years later when they find out what it actually means.) 

Eddie doesn't spend every weekend in Indianapolis. 

Gas is expensive, his busiest days of his "job" is Friday and Saturday, and he has no fucking clue what the hanky code is. 

He's wearing that bandana because Metallica front singer James Hetfield has one on all their tour posters. 

Eddie does make it down to a gay bar though, by accident. Rick needed some back up for a shady deal. Promised Eddie a boatload of free drugs to sell if he agreed to just stand there and look mean. 

He was warned the bar they were meeting in was 'weird' and to not 'freak out' --which Eddie thought was hilarious given his nickname and general appearance, but whatever.

He doesn't understand when they get there, because it's just a bunch of hot men with hanky's in their back pockets everywhere.

Then he sees two women kissing and it clicks. 

He can't out himself in front of Rick, but one of the bartenders playfully dresses him down for his own hanky, letting him know all about the code and teasing him through his embarrassment. 

He's got an offer to come back and learn what color and which pocket his hanky should actually be in, a prospect Eddie was salivating at until Chrissy Cunningham up and died on his ceiling.

(He still wore the hanky, because the feeling of that bartender tugging it out and stuffing it back in might be the closest thing he's ever had to sex and he absolutely wants a repeat. 

He's young and horny, sue him.) 

Steve Harrington may not be academically smart but he's not dumb. 

He figured out a while back that the basketball team as a unit probably crossed the queer line more than once--or at least it did before Hargrove came in. 

( Brad Handly for example, went around slamming kids into lockers and screaming slurs like a fucking movie villain one Monday because the varsity team got dead drunk at Laura's party on Sunday and hey, look, there weren't that many girls there, okay?

They all had fucking hands and mouths. Everybody but Tommy was single and hot to trot. Nothing gay about it.

Its not even like they were kissing or treating each other like chicks. It was just Brad's first time and they got to tease him later for overthinking it. 

Dude graduated soon enough after and given Steve was on the team as a sophomore, he hadn't thought about the guy and why he might be freaking out so bad in years.) 

Robin's entire panic attack at Starcourt, and a few more after had Steve replaying that whole incident. Reframed it a bit, and, yeah.

In retrospect that had been extremely gay, actually. 

It sat with him a lot easier than he'd thought it would. Partially because of Robin, but mostly because that's just who he was.

Stranger things had happened to Steve and this one didn't want to kill, maim or otherwise eat him, so it got filed under 'interesting facts he should never tell his parents if he wanted to keep his trust fund' and then he went about his day. 

(Or he tried too, anyways.

It caught up to him when Eddie and Robin somehow figured out the other was queer and dragged him along to some bar Eddie had a standing invitation at, with demands for Steve to do what he did best.

Babysit.

Their magical trip was utterly destroyed when Brad Handly happened to be the very same bartender who had given Eddie the invite.

 Considering Brad's immediate bark of laughter followed by a hug and introducing himself as "Steve's gay awakening", Steve ended up having to speedrun through Eddie and Robin both having a crisis for him.

It didn't help that Steve had politely, and laughingly, corrected Brad with a casual; 

"Pretty sure that was Tommy man, but if it helps I think that tongue of yours gave Matt Burdon a crisis."

--which ended up with him answering a lot more gay sex questions with Brad than he cared too. 

At least he, through Brad, was able to help Robin connect to some local lesbians and--after a second crisis from Eddie regarding how Steve managed to have more sex than "the resident town freak and guy who actually knew he was gay, Steve!"-- even helped Eddie out by catching the metalheads tongue with his mouth later that evening.

The last one landed him a boyfriend, trust fund be damned.) 

[zapreportsblog]

hi!! can you do volturi x secretary!reader (platonic) who's just TOO GOOD AT HER JOB. she spells carlisle correctly, she doesn't interrupt, and she's like really professional. ALSO YOU FOLLOWED ME BACK LIKE I WAS SO SURRPISRD THANK YOU HAVE A GOOD DAYYAYAYYA

❝she’s just too damn good❞

✭ pairing : volturi x reader

✭ fandom : twilight

✭ summary : (Y/n) is the best damn secretary the volturi could ask for

✭ authors note : aww of course I’d follow you back :)

✭ twilight masterlist

The grand entrance hall of Volterra, Italy, echoed with the weight of centuries-old secrets and power. It was within these ancient stone walls that the Volturi, the ruling vampire coven, held their dominion. Aro, Caius, and Marcus, the three elder vampires who led the coven, sat upon their thrones, their crimson eyes filled with an ageless wisdom.

Their previous secretary had met an unfortunate end, her fate sealed by a single, costly mistake. Now, it was time to find a new secretary, one who could handle the delicate matters that crossed the Volturi's path.

(Y/n), a human with a reputation for competence and diligence, stood before the Volturi leaders. She pushed her glasses up on her face, the light catching the lenses and reflecting an intense determination in her gaze. She had no intention of failing in this prestigious role.

Aro, the most talkative of the trio, addressed her with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "I trust you won't follow in our previous secretary's footsteps. Her errors cost her dearly."

(Y/n) met Aro's gaze with unwavering confidence. "No need for the warning, sir. I take my work very seriously. I'm here to ensure that every detail is meticulously attended to."

Caius observed her with a critical eye, his expression stern. "You are aware that our affairs are highly confidential, and discretion is of the utmost importance?"

(Y/n) nodded, her resolve unshaken. "Absolutely, sir. My lips are sealed, and I understand the consequences of breaching that trust."

Marcus, the most reserved of the three, merely regarded her with a measured gaze. "We shall see if your actions align with your words."

(Y/n) straightened her posture, ready to take on her new responsibilities. "You won't be disappointed, gentlemen."

With that, she accepted the role of secretary for the Volturi, stepping into a world of secrecy, power, and ancient vampires. As she walked away, she knew that she had taken on a role unlike any other, one that demanded her utmost dedication and discretion. The reflection of her determination in those glasses was a symbol of the resolve she brought to her new position, one that she intended to uphold at all costs.

(Y/n) settled into her new role as the secretary for the Volturi with a fierce dedication. Her efficiency and attention to detail quickly became apparent to the coven's leaders. Aro, always one to appreciate those who could fulfill his demands promptly, decided to put her to the test.

One afternoon, he strolled into her office, his graceful presence demanding attention. (Y/n) looked up from her desk, her fingers flying across the keyboard of her computer as she organized files and scheduled appointments.

"Ah, (Y/n)," Aro greeted her with his customary smile. "I have a task for you."

(Y/n) nodded, ready to take on any request from her employer. "Of course, master Aro. What do you need?"

Aro explained, "I need you to post an aid about a tour for fifty people for tomorrows feeding, a rather impromptu event. I would like you to schedule it for me.”

(Y/n) didn't miss a beat. She continued typing on her computer, her eyes darting across the screen as she worked her magic with scheduling software. "Consider it done, master Aro."

Aro was taken aback by her speed and efficiency. He had expected this task to take some time, but within mere minutes, (Y/n) turned her screen toward him, displaying a perfectly organized tour for fifty attendees, complete with dates, times, and an itinerary.

His crimson eyes widened with a mixture of surprise and admiration. "You work remarkably fast, (Y/n)."

(Y/n) looked up with a confident smile. "I pride myself on being efficient, master aro. Is there anything else you need?"

Aro chuckled, clearly impressed. "Not at the moment, my dear. Carry on with your excellent work."

As he left her office, (Y/n) couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction. She had proven her worth to the Volturi leader, and her efficiency would undoubtedly serve her well in this world of secrecy and power.

In the serene garden of the Volturi castle, Marcus often found solace among the flowers that his late mate had once lovingly tended to. He wandered the garden, lost in his own thoughts, the weight of his immortal life bearing down on him.

One day, as he strolled along the carefully manicured paths, Marcus noticed something extraordinary. The flowers that had once withered away had begun to regrow, vibrant and beautiful as if brought back to life by some unseen force. He couldn't help but be struck by the sight, the memories of his mate's love for these flowers flooding his mind.

Marcus approached a lower guard who was on duty nearby, his curiosity piqued. "Who has been taking care of the garden? These flowers, they are flourishing once more."

The lower guard, a vampire who had served the Volturi for centuries, nodded respectfully to Marcus. "It is the human, my lord."

"The human?" Marcus asked, intrigued. "What is their name?"

The guard, who knew the human by the name the Volturi called her, replied, "The secretary (Y/n), my lord."

Marcus considered this revelation, the name sparking a distant memory. He had heard the name (Y/n) mentioned in passing, but he had paid little attention. Now, it seemed this human was not only tending to the garden but also reviving the memories of his lost mate.

With a nod of appreciation, Marcus continued to admire the blooming flowers, a silent acknowledgment of the human named (Y/n) for her care and dedication. In the garden, among the resurrected blooms, he felt a connection to his past and a glimmer of hope for the future, all thanks to the efforts of this mysterious human.

In the dimly lit halls of the Volturi castle, Caius, one of the coven's leaders, was growing increasingly frustrated. He had been searching for his favorite cloak, a luxurious garment of deep crimson, for what felt like an eternity. His irritation had escalated to the point where his voice echoed through the corridors as he yelled at everyone in his path.

"Where is it? Who has taken my cloak?" he bellowed, his tone venomous.

Vampires scurried to avoid his wrath, their wide-eyed expressions betraying their fear of their temperamental leader.

In the midst of the chaos, a soft and calm voice cut through the tension. "(Y/n)," Caius snapped, his crimson eyes narrowing as he turned to face the human secretary, "(Y/n), have you seen my cloak? I cannot find it anywhere."

(Y/n) stepped forward, holding Caius's missing cloak draped carefully over her arm. Her voice was composed, unruffled by his outburst. "Master Caius, you left this in your office. I've noticed it had specks of dried blood on it, so I've had it dried clean."

Caius was momentarily taken aback, his anger dissipating as he processed her words. He couldn't believe it. The usually distant and indifferent human secretary had not only found his cloak but had taken it upon herself to ensure it was cleaned.

"(Y/n)," Caius said, his voice softer now, "you did this for me?"

(Y/n) nodded, her gaze steady as she met his crimson eyes. "Of course, Master Caius. It's my duty to assist in any way I can."

Caius, still in disbelief, reached out to take the cloak from her arm. His fingers brushed against hers, and he felt a strange, unfamiliar sensation stir within him. He couldn't deny that her thoughtfulness had left a mark on him, one that he couldn't easily dismiss.

As (Y/n) excused herself and left the hallway, Caius watched her retreating figure with a newfound appreciation. It was a small gesture, but one that had touched him deeply, and he couldn't help but wonder if there was more to this human secretary than met the eye.

The grand trial room within the Volturi castle was filled with a weighty silence as the three kings, Aro, Caius, and Marcus, gathered for a discussion. The subject of their conversation was none other than their human secretary, (Y/n).

"She's good at her job, almost too damn good," Aro commented, his eyes gleaming with intrigue. "I can't seem to find a simple mistake in her work."

Caius nodded in agreement. "She's quick, and her work is effective. It seems we'll be keeping her around long-term."

Marcus, who often remained silent, offered his approval with a subtle nod.

The kings reached a unanimous decision. They would offer (Y/n) a gift, one that would bind her to the Volturi for eternity. They sent their most trusted enforcers, the twins Alec and Jane, to fetch her.

Alec and Jane, swift and efficient as always, found (Y/n) in her office. They approached her with the precision of a well-practiced routine.

"(Y/n)," Alec began, his tone even, "the masters request your presence in the trial room."

(Y/n) blinked in surprise but complied, following the twins to the room where the three kings awaited.

Once inside, (Y/n) stood before the Volturi leaders, her heart pounding with anticipation. Aro spoke first, his voice dripping with charm.

"(Y/n), in the short months you have been with us, your dedication and efficiency have impressed us greatly," Aro said, his crimson eyes locked onto hers. "We value your contributions, and we would like to offer you a gift."

(Y/n) couldn't hide her surprise. "A gift, masters?"

Caius stepped forward, his gaze unwavering. "We offer you immortality, (Y/n). A chance to join our coven as one of us."

The offer hung in the air, a life-altering decision that (Y/n) had never expected. She considered her options carefully, her thoughts racing. The weight of eternity was a heavy burden to bear, but the allure of becoming part of the Volturi coven was undeniable.

After a moment of reflection, (Y/n) finally spoke. "I'm not sure what to say, masters, but thank you for the offer."

With her acceptance, the kings nodded in approval. The twins, Alec and Jane, moved closer, their hands lightly touching her body. “Alec -“ aro calls out and in second Alec has (y/n) wrapped in his dark smoke, her senses numbing within seconds. “Don’t worry dear, it’ll be over in no time.”

Over the course of three days, (Y/n) underwent the agonizing process of the vampire transformation. She endured the fire of change, sometimes which were numbed by Alec per the kings request and now she was emerging from the ordeal as a newborn vampire, her senses heightened and her existence forever entwined with the Volturi.

As her eyes fluttered open in her new immortal life, (Y/n) realized that she had become a permanent part of the Volturi coven, her loyalty and dedication recognized in the most profound way possible.

[yuyusshinelight]

Dad thoughts feat ATEEZ

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♪ This post is about how I think they would be as parents; just that, some thoughts. This does NOT represent any of Ateez's members in any way.

♪ English is not my first language so sorry if there's any mistake.

Note: Hi my shining stars! Here I come with ATEEZ!dads because I have always loved kids (I have baby fever and Wooyoung being so extremely adorable with them doesn't help it) and I really like parenting headcanons. I hope you like it and enjoy your reading. Love you all!

SEONGHWA

✰ Proud dad of 'the cutest four years old girl in the world'.

✰ Seonghwa works so hard day by day to be the best father he can be to that little girl, strengthening their bond to the point that now your daughter is a daddy's girl who wants to marry her dad.

✰ Daddy-daughter time every day at 8 pm until bedtime when he's not on a tour or live in which they play with their respective Legos while singing whatever comes from the playlists on Seonghwa's phone.

✰ And talking about music, obviously his baby has a playlist with her favorite songs on his phone, and in yours too. Both you and Seonghwa have almost the entire Shinee and Mamamoo discography on your phones thanks to this girl. Although her favorite song is 'Star 1117' and she always asks both mom and dad to play it.

✰ Pajama parties every weekend, even if he has a concert the next day because spending time with the apple of his eye is much more important.

✰ Has it already been mentioned about incessant Lego afternoons that end in "A little more, appa" from his daughter that makes it too hard for Seonghwa to resist? But in the end he stands firm and does not give in. Schedules must be respected, routine is very important.

✰ One of his favorite parts of being a father is bedtime stories because Seonghwa has the pleasure of having his little star snuggled in the crook of his arm hugging her own Ddeongbyeoli while he reads her a story in the dim light of that little moon-shaped lamp.

✰ Seonghwa is at a crossroads. On one side, his concern for his daughter's safety and privacy prohibits his from uploading any type of content related to the minor's life, even minimal details like that time a butterfly landed on her finger while she was playing in the park; but, on the other hand, as the proud father of that beautiful little girl, there is a need to show the world the reason why he gets up every morning, the reason for his joy.

✰ In the end, his overprotective father facet has more weight so, although the world knows that he has a daughter, everything related to her is confidential, Atiny only knows that she is a four-year-old girl who likes lego like her father because once, while building a set in a live, he mentioned how his little girl had accidentally mixed up the pieces from both their sets the night before.

HONGJOONG

✰ It's not a surprise that Hongjoong doesn't like kisses, or at least that was until he started dating you. He would plant an innocent kiss on your cheek and didn't look like he was being tortured when you gave him one. Well now with your son he spends all the time giving him kisses on the cheeks, forehead or head and asking him for kisses too. Hongjoong loves when those little hands hold his face and those mini lips peck his cheek like a little bird.

✰ He gets emotional because his 'almost foud yeads old' boy wants to do everything by himself because he's already very old although he clearly has a different sock on each foot and one of them is backwards.

✰ Of course his son can record a song for their new album, but it's a very very exclusive song that only the family, and maybe his seven non-biological uncles if Hongjoong is feeling generous, can hear.

✰ Tours are always difficult. Leaving your home for so long... But now it's torture for Hongjoong. Seeing how his son's face turns red while it becomes wet from the exaggerated amount of tears caused by the fact that his father is leaving... Hongjoong tries to be strong for both of them, he knows that if his son sees him crying it only will get worse, but how can Hongjoong avoid it if his baby asks him not to leave between sobs? Hearing him say that he wants to be with his dad breaks his heart. There's nothing Hongjoong wants more than to be able to bring him to any travel he has but, bad luck, that's not always possible.

✰ Can be found sleeping on the couch with his son in one arm and a tiny blanket covering his chest in an ineffective way after coming home really late at night.

✰ His camera is full of pictures of his son doing literally anything. Eating a tangerine, looking at a snail, sleeping in his car seat, putting on dad's headphones. Anything.

✰ Hongjoong tries to hide his jealous side in front of his son after having been scolded by you several times because your child thinks it's a good idea to imitate dad. That comment about not looking at other children, too similar to the one his father usually tells atiny about not looking at other idols have you worried about his reaction if you bring him a sibling.

✰ And talking about imitating his dad, Hongjoong is also scolded for you and his mother for not being careful with what he says in front of the child. A four-year-old child swearing may be funny at times, but it is certainly not vocabulary for a kid.

✰ Obviously Hongjoong respects his son's privacy so he never publishes photos of his child but that doesn't stop the little boy from sneaking into the room when his dad is recording a video/audio for atiny so the fans end up hearing his little voice. Hongjoong is very quick when it comes to hiding his son from the cameras.

YUNHO

✰ There's nothing Yunho loves more than being greeted at home by that little three and a half years old photocopy of him jumping around him wanting to tell him everything he has done that day and that little baby girl with three hairs collected in two microscopic pigtails crawling to where her dad is just to sit on his foot and look at him with those big eyes she has.

✰ Those kids have his DNA, he knows their potential for destruction very well so no, they don't play video games with dad.

✰ While the eldest sleeps curled up in a ball between both his parents, the youngest decides that there is no better place to fall asleep than on her dad's neck. And don't get Yunho wrong, he loves that his daughter wants to sleep with him, it's just that he likes to breathe too.

✰ Of course his fans know about his puppies. Yes, puppies. Yunho has read a lot of interesting things about him for years so he calls them puppies on camera to see atiny's reactions.

✰ It's no mystery that Yunho has a passion for photography, and it only increased after the birth of his first child. Always with his camera or phone in hand ready to immortalize every little moment with his children.

✰ And talking about photos, he clearly has his phone full of photos of his children, photos that he goes through over and over again every time he is traveling or can't go home for work. The photos he like the most? When you or him have your kids in your arms. He can stare at them with that pretty silly smile for hours without getting tired.

✰ One of his favorite moments is family walks. Running with his children, playing airplane, ball, eating anything his son has begged him with those shiny eyes for, ending up in a park pushing the swings or helping them go down the slide because they are still very small... He tries to treasure and enjoy every second to the fullest for how rare these moments are due to his busy schedule. On the way home he always ends up carrying one of the children on a piggyback ride, in his arms or in his daughter's baby stroller together.

✰ He usually admires the size difference between him and his children, their little hands look even tinier between his own. Many times he ends up crying with the memory of how those same little hands surrounded his finger for the first time.

YEOSANG

✰ He is the last of the group to be a father, his little princess has resisted a lot but he has her in his arms already.

✰ Yeosang is at a very big crossroads. On one hand, he can't wait for his little girl to grow up so he can do with her all those things that his friends do with their children but, on the other hand, he doesn't want her to grow up that fast because that would mean that she would stop being his baby.

✰ At first he was afraid to pick her up, she looked so small and fragile that he was afraid of hurting her in any way. Six months later Yeosang has become a kangaroo dad, he always carries her in the baby carrier or in his arms.

✰ Yeosang is very innocent, he doesn't find any malice in all those questions he receives on lives from his fans about his daughter, so he ends up answering the most general ones such as "Has she started walking yet? " or "What was her first word?".

✰ He's going to go from driving drones to driving remote-controlled cars for when he goes out for a walk with his daughter and she can sit alone. Now she's too small for that.

✰ If not spending the night at home with you and your daughter is really hard for Yeosang, he doesn't want to think about his first tour far away from his lovely little bird. He has seen how sad his friends get when they have to go on tour, only being able to talk to their children through a screen, without being able to hug them and give them kisses. And what about those tearful "I miss you" from the kids? Thanks but no thanks.

✰ Yeosang is usually quiet and calm, something his daughter has inherited. Good and bad. Good because she makes the task of parenting not stressful or exhausting but... a six months baby who makes no noise and barely moves? Yeosang is always worried. What if something has happened to his little bird? But when he checks on her, he finds the baby looking at everything with those big shiny eyes while she eats her little hand or sucks her pacifier with overwhelming parsimony.

SAN

✰ He may arrive exhausted after a hard day of training, tired from an event or sleepy, but as soon as San crosses the door of his home and hears the voices of his two daughters and the babbling of his son, happy because their father is home, all traces of fatigue disappear. At least until it's time to relax on the couch with the three kids on top.

✰ San really appreciates that his children want to support him as an idol, but no, he doesn't take them to concerts or let them watch videos of ateez either, not after hearing his eldest daughter confessing him how much she liked uncle Seonghwa in certain performance with certain bandages in his mouth or after finding his middle daughter on a chair in the middle of what he though was an attempt to imitate certain dance step of his. They are children, they don't have to see those things yet. Much less from their father.

✰ San is a permissive, understanding and very attentive father, always smiling at them and treating them with all the love in the world; his face shines with pride and happiness every time he is with them. But, even if San doesn't want to get serious with them, he has to do it sometimes; when his two eldest don't want to do their homework, when it's bedtime and they don't want to get in their beds, when they act capriciously... They are kids, he understands that these behaviors are normal, and it is not like he yells at them or speaks badly to them, never... San simply explains things to them a little more seriously than what his children are used to.

✰ He can't help but laugh when he gets home and sees that his two youngest children are arguing with you because they want dad to bathe them, but, as I mentioned before, he gets serious with them because they have to understand that they can't wait for dad to get home to shower them every night. You already have had problems with your kids when San have spent the night away or is traveling.

✰ Atiny knows about his children and they know about dad's fans but there is no contact between them as the children of the other members because San is a very protective father that would never expose them to the Internet where a thousand of dangers lurk every minute.

✰ He may have uploaded in his Instagram stories a photo holding hands with his children but never more than that.

✰ San always tries to come home as early as possible to do all kinds of activities with his children and fulfil his duties as father of those kids.

✰ One of his biggest fears as a father is to end up being an absent father, one of those who apologize with a gift because they have missed an important event in their children's lives because of his work while all the responsibility of parenting falls on you. Many nights you have had to console him for it. 'Magically', the next morning your children appear jumping on him to give San lots of kisses and hugs while they tell him that he's the best dad and how much they love him.

MINGI

✰ Mingi loves his twins but he can't hear another of their incessant questions about everything that crosses their little minds "Why parents can't choose the color of their children's eyes? How do you know there isn't a chick in that egg? How does the music come out of the cd? Are we going to be tall like you or short like mom? Do Martian parents force their children to eat vegetables? Who do you love more of the two of us?".

✰ One of the most common things in the Song residence is to see Mingi sleeping with both kids because he can't let them sleep alone, without their dad to hold them through the night. More than once you have found your 1'84 husband sleeping with them in one of their tiny beds with his feet out and one child in each arm.

✰ When he's at home, Mingi and the children are the ones in charge of cooking because he thinks it's an entertaining and beautiful way to strengthen their bond.

✰ Mingi feels betrayed because his son is Carat and his daughter is a Stay madly in love with 'his future son-in-law ' Lee Know. She is five years old. Isn't every girl's first love supposed to be her dad? And if he also asks them who their favorite Ateez member is, his son says Yeosang and his daughter San.

✰ In Mingi's eyes, his children are growing up too fast and he doesn't like that. Two days ago they were new borns wrapped in their blankets between his arms and look at them now, fighting to make room on daddy's lap because they are already too big to be both at the same time, although they fit perfectly together, it's just that they want more space than the other.

✰ As his best friend, this man loves to see the size difference with his kids. It's common to hear Mingi talk proudly about how cute his twins look when they fall asleep on his lap or get emotional and ask daddy to hold them, also looking tiniest than they already are.

✰ It's not strange at all to see how one of his children's heads comes out of his hoodie while he's wearing it.

✰ Mingi may be one of the few members who does post photos with his children but always covering their faces or in strategic poses so that they remain anonymous. Atiny couldn't miss how adorable his kids looked following that duck or the smallest fix-on's in the history of his iconic phrase on his children nails matching with his.

WOOYOUNG

✰ This man was born to be a dad.

✰ Kisses are the order of the day. On the forehead, cheeks, head, hands... Before going to work, when they get up, when they go to sleep, when they show him their drawings, while helping the eldest with his homeworks, while they bathe with him, while they watch a movie, while he feeds the youngest... Wooyoung can't and doesn't want to stop giving his babies kisses all the time.

✰ Cooking time with his six year old son where Wooyoung teaches him small kitchen basics, always supervising that everything is safe and ensuring that it's very entertaining for both of them.

✰ Cooking time with his two year old son where Wooyoung cooks while having his kid in one arm away from fire, knives and other dangerous things; dancing and playing with the kid from time to time.

✰ Always, always, always has one of his kids in arms if not both. Wooyoung is dependent on his children, he needs to have them with him all the time.

✰ Wooyoung loves his job but since his eldest was born he no longer likes to go on tour because that means he can't be with his children. If he hasn't managed to bring his family with him, then he spends all his free time making video calls to talk to you and your children or looking for gifts for the three of you.

✰ He takes many photos with his children but only publishes those in which their faces do not appear, he wants his little babies to stay anonymous yet. Obviously he lets them record audios for atiny.

✰ One of his favorite activities to make his children laugh is to jump on the bed hard but carefully to make them fly. The laughs of both children often makes him have to take a few seconds before doing it again because of the laughs that it takes from him.

JONGHO

✰ Have you seen those videos of babies running around in cute sleepers like bears, stars, dinosaurs, etc...? Well, as soon as his son started walking, Jongho started uploading videos of the intrepid adventures of his little bear.

✰ There can't be apples in his house because his son loves to see how dad breaks apples with his hands. It seems to be so funny for the little boy that when they go to the supermarket he manages to pick up an apple to give it to his father to break it.

✰ OBVIOUSLY Jongho is the one who sings your child to sleep, not because you don't sing well or you don't like it, both your child and you prefer to listen to him sing for obvious reasons.

✰ Like happens with Hongjoong, his dislike for kisses ended when you started dating and now you and that little bear you have as son are the only ones Jongho lets give him physical affection, except those slobbery kisses every child usually gives, he leaves those for you. Jongho really appreciates that his son wants to leave his mark on him to show the world that he's his dad, but that's what the random bites he gets or the tiny nail marks are for.

✰ They are accomplices in crime, the moment Jongho appears in the kitchen with your child in arms you already know that whatever you are preparing to eat is going to reduce if not disappears like usually happens with your sandwiches, drinks or fruit.

✰ Jongho has bear-shaped a full body pajama that match his son's, and so do you. The very first moment he knew about your pregnancy he got the idea, wanting to be a bear family.

✰ People may think that now that he is a father Jongho handles his fear of bugs a little better, but no, if he sees a bug near his child he is not going to throw it away, in fact, he is not even going to go near that bug. He calls his son to go with him and runs away with the kid as far as possible. The problem comes when the child is sleeping. In that case, Jongho bites the bullet and, avoiding the bug as best he can, grabs his son and, again, runs away.

[terribleinfluence-tour]

Let’s address the situation

Recently an anonymous reddit/twitter user has accused me of being a stalker of dan and phil because of the way this blog is run.

So, let’s talk about it.

Let’s start with the absolute facts: I have never posted anything to this blog that wasn’t public information.

1. I have never doxxed the location of the tour bus.

Things i have posted about the tour bus: a photo from a crew member where the bus company was visible, a story that Kelly posted that was location tagged to a road in the middle of nowhere showing that dan and phil weren’t in vegas on oct 19.

Reasons why I don’t believe this to be wrong: Any of you who have waited at stage door can see the company is written on the bus, it is not confidential information, knowing the bus companies name does not give you any personal information about dan and phil. As for the location tag, it was in the middle of nowhere, they were already in their next location when it was posted, I was not the first person to post this story, i only posted it cos It was already all over twitter. (however this is the only story i’ve posted that i will gladly take criticism for despite my justifications)

2. I have only posted stories from 2 crew members: Kelly and Sarah. These are public instagram accounts. I only post their stories that are related to the tour itself. I am not the only person and I was not the first person to post these stories anywhere. I have never posted anything from any crew who have private accounts because 1) i can’t see that content cos I obviously do not follow those accounts and 2) i don’t post private information, it’s private for a reason.

I did not seek out the crew accounts, i didn’t not look for them myself, i only knew what they were because multiple people had already been posting the stories from the accounts way before me on both twitter and tumblr. Both these people know phannies follow them on instagram, they’re not going to post anything with information they don’t want you to know.

Despite my justifications, from now on I will be cropping out the usernames of these crew members who do share stuff publicly and in captions i will only be referring to them as crew.

3. Audio Recordings.

First disclaimer: I have never encouraged video recording of the show! I think that it’s distracting to dan and phil and i really think you should be living in the moment when you see this show. There is a reason we have never posted videos of the show on this blog even in our spoiler tag. I believe audio recording to be more harmless because you can just put your phone out of the way and it’s distracting no one at all.

The concept of sharing audio recordings of the show were not my idea, this started on the european leg of the tour by people on twitter, If you look back at the recordings i have posted you’ll see that all the europe audios (apart from antwerp) do not link to our google drive. I did decide to carry this on during the American leg.

I have never forced anyone to do this, I have only approached 1 person directly to see if they could record. The rest were all volunteers who saw my posts asking if anyone would do it and they all came to me on their own accord.

I very much understand the criticism on audio recording shows, however I want to look at this from not only a preservation effort but also as a way to make this show accessible to people who might for whatever reason not be able to attend as well as it being a way for you to go and listen to the show you attend again if you wanted to.

This being said I am no longer going to ask for specific shows and instead say that if you just happen to audio record a show and would be willing to let me post it then you can message me (@danrifics ) and i will post it. (this goes for the australian leg and the UK leg too) I will also at the end of the tour make a post with what’s missing and we’ll see if anyone recorded or not.

Finally I want to thank everyone for their continued support of the blog and its archiving efforts and I hope you all stick with me while we change things a little bit and I look forward to continuing to share content with you all and I can’t wait to reveal a few blog pages we’ve been working on!

- Bethanie

[imagineteamfreewill]

From the Dead - Five

Pairing: Soldier!Dean Winchester x Reader

Word Count: 7.1k

Warnings: Hearing loss, pregnancy, nervousness, nausea, mentions of PTSD, and fluff

Summary: Dean Winchester died as a war hero during his third tour overseas. He left Y/N behind, and she decides that she needs a change. She leaves Lawrence to work at Camp New Moon, where a mysterious visitor shows up almost five years after Dean first left for his tour.

A/N: This is the final part of the “From the Dead” series. As always, thank you for supporting me whether I’m writing Supernatural or Marvel, both here and on other websites. I hope you enjoy!

Dividers by @firefly-graphics

From the Dead Series Masterlist

The months practically fly by after Dean receives his hearing aid. As part of his therapy, he creates a list of things he wants to do now that he’s back in the States, some of which you’ve never done together. One by one, you check things off the list. You spend sunsets—and a few sunrises—snuggled up on the beach by the lake, and when the fall hits, you and Dean are able to get away for a few weekends for hikes in a nearby state park. It’s on those nights at the lake and in the cabins you rent at the parks that Dean talks to you more about his tour. He can’t tell you all the details, especially since Sam is still advising you on whether or not to sue for everything you’d been put through, but he talks to you about his life in the village. Sometimes you lay together in bed as he talks, and other times you sit facing him so you can read his expressions. Sometimes he cries. You do too. It’s cathartic for both of you.

When winter descends on the South, you take him to Atlanta for some of the Christmas festivities. You go to a concert, go on a fancy date at an even fancier restaurant, and walk hand in hand while you look at Christmas lights. His family drives down for the holidays, and you put them up in a few of the empty staff cabins. Mary tells you one morning while you’re watching the sun rise over the lake that she understands why you’d want to stay at New Moon. It’s one of the best Christmas gifts you get.

Dean surprises you with trips to the zoo, aquarium, and museums. He takes you shopping, compliments you with every new thing you tried on, and he carries your bags. He cooks you elaborate meals and brings you picnic lunches. You’re pretty sure that he and Meg text because he always seems to show up for lunch on the days where you need his company the most.

Life is sublime, even on the rough nights when you sleep very little. Dean’s nightmares wake you up on occasion, but you don’t mind. He shows you his love in a thousand little ways, and lying with him and comforting him is one of the few ways that you do the same. You both lay on your sides, facing each other, and you murmur reassurances in the dim light from the bedside lamp. You’ve gotten used to sleeping with it on, especially now since you found out that the darkness is something that worsens his PTSD.

Some nights, you stay up late worrying about the girls. Others you spend sitting up with them or talking with them when they need support, or intervention. Oftentimes, on those nights, you walk back to your cottage in the dark, following the path with just an old plastic flashlight to guide you. Your phone is usually dead and you’re always bone-tired, but without fail, you open the door to find Dean waiting up for you on the couch. He has the TV playing low in the background, and if you haven’t eaten dinner, he has a plate of food ready to be reheated for you. He listens when he can, too. You tell him whatever isn’t confidential, and he listens in silence with a hand on your leg as you curl up to him on the couch, or he holds you close as you lay together in bed, just like when you listen to him talk about his time overseas.

It’s on one of these nights in early March when you’re curled up together, sometime just past midnight, that you realize you’ve been home late almost every day this week and that Dean had been alone almost all day, every day. Your thoughts roam back to the first dinner you’d had with his family since his return. He’d thrived in the living room bustling with people he loved, and he’d lit up any time he’d interacted with his niece and nephew. You haven’t seen that exact look on his face since.

“Dean?” you murmur. He doesn’t answer right away, but he keeps stroking your hair, so you carefully turn your head on his thigh to look up at him. He took his hearing aid out an hour ago, which meant he probably just hasn’t heard you.

“You need something, sweetheart?” he asks, looking down at you.

“Do you… Do you still want kids? We haven’t talked about it since you got back, but before your deployment…”

He hums thoughtfully and sits up a little more on the sofa. You sit up when he moves, pulling your legs in and propping yourself up with one arm on the top of the back cushions. He keeps looking at the TV, but you can tell that he really isn’t watching it. The show is something pedantic—a black-and-white sitcom from the 60s that only comes on during late-night television. It’s one of a few that are on rotation during your late night talks, and you know enough from the subtitles that you’ve seen this episode at least three times.

“Did you hear me?” you ask, reaching out to gently touch his arm with your fingertips.

Dean nods. His eyes still stay focused forward. “I heard you. I’m just… thinking.” He turns to look at you after a second. The furrow between his eyebrows is pronounced, and his lips purse ever so slightly as he searches your face. “Why? Are you—?” He glances down at your stomach, just for a split second.

Quickly, you shake your head and scoot closer on the couch so that your calf is pressed up against the side of his thigh. You reach out and grab both of his hands in yours. He turns slightly more towards you, and his thumb drifts over your knuckles as you answer,

“No. No, I’m not pregnant. I just…” You trail off and look down at your joined hands, trying to put thoughts to your words. Finally, you sigh and look back up at him, squeezing his hands. “When we were at your parents’ house, with Sam and Jess and their kids, you seemed really happy.”

“Those little guys are awesome,” Dean replies, chuckling lightly. The worried crinkle between his eyebrows relaxes at the memory. “I had no idea how much I’d really missed them until we got there. The videos you’d shown me on your phone weren’t nearly as good as the real thing.”

“It wasn’t just that. It was the way you cuddled and played with Jacob, and the way you held Ella and talked to her. You love them.”

“Of course I love them, Y/N, they’re my niece and nephew.”

His voice is patient as he gives you the reminder, and though you know that he isn’t trying to make you feel bad, you still find yourself searching for the right words to get your point across. You’re exhausted, and your thoughts are already scattered.

Maybe I shouldn’t have even brought it up, you think.

Nonetheless, you nod and squeeze his hands again. “I know. I just… It reminded me of all those conversations we had before you left, you know? And I see the way you look at babies and little kids whenever we’re in town. Anyone could tell that you want a kid of your own.” You pause and shake your head a little. “I don’t know, it’s late. Maybe I’m just thinking too much. If it’s gonna happen, it’ll happen, right? I mean, if that’s what you want.”

Releasing him, you rub your face with one hand and stand from the couch. He looks up at you, watching in silence as you gather your dinner dishes, along with the mug he’d been drinking from when you got home. Your stomach twists as you move, and though you hope he’ll speak up and put you out of your misery by giving you some kind of response, Dean says nothing.

“I should shower,” you tell him. The lights in most of the cottage living area are off already, and the light from the TV casts strange shadows over him and the couch. It’s enough light for you to see Dean already looking away from you, staring at the long wooden coffee table you’d bought from a thrift store shortly after starting at the camp.

As you pass by, however, he scoots forward on the couch and reaches out. His arm blocks your path and his hands rest on your opposite hip, holding you in place. Your heart skips a beat.

“I do want kids,” Dean admits, quieter than before. He holds your gaze. Though the room is dark, the hesitance in his expression is clear.

Has he been thinking about this too?

You shift your weight from one foot to the other, dishes still in hand as you wait for him to continue. He doesn’t, so you set the dishes on the side table to his right and take matters into your own hands.

“Yeah?”

Dean’s shoulders slump and he nods. “Yeah. I didn’t want to bring it up. I’m sorry.”

“Sorry? What for? Why didn’t you want to bring it up?”

Carefully, you lower yourself to sit on his thigh with your back resting against the arm of the couch. You drape your legs over his lap. Dean reaches his arm behind you and holds your hip to help you keep your balance on his legs, and almost immediately his thumb is rubbing small arcs on your side, back and forth at a steady tempo. His other hand rests on your thighs. It’s warm over your legs, and you can feel his body heat even more where your shirt has come untucked, revealing the bare skin on your side where his thumb has found purchase. He’s almost too warm to be this close to him, but you can’t bear to complain, not after so many painful years apart. You rest one arm over his shoulders, and with the other you cup his cheek, turning his face so you can look at him properly.

“I was nervous that you’d changed your mind,” he admits. The low sound of the TV almost drowns him out, so much so that if you were any farther away, you’d be straining to hear him. “It’s been so long since we talked about it, and I wasn’t sure if that was still what you wanted.”

His next words go unspoken: with me. Dean has never expressed it outright, but you know that he still sometimes feels insecure about wearing his hearing aid and his struggle with PTSD from everything that happened overseas. You’ve joined him for several video sessions with his therapist, and you know that they’re working on strategies to deal with both of those things. You try not to interfere or give your opinions on his recovery—he needs a wife and a partner, not a second therapist—but you support him in every way you can without overstepping. You never want him to feel alone because of what he’s been through.

You lean in to kiss him on the cheek opposite your hand, and you smile gently as you say, “I love you, Dean. It’s still what I want, but even if it wasn’t, it wouldn’t change things between us, at least not on my end. You’re still my main man, no matter what. Kids have never been the endgame. It’s always just been you.”

The lines on Dean’s face relax, smoothing out to reveal the faintest smattering of freckles across the bridge of his nose. They’re just starting to reappear now that the winter is fading and he can comfortably spend more time outside. Your stomach untwists as he smiles back at you. He shifts the hand on your hip and squeezes it just a little.

“I love you too, Y/N. No matter what.”

Dean kisses you on the lips, and it’s long, slow, and sweet. He’s warm against you. You’re bone-tired, but you close your eyes and kiss back, soaking up his warmth and the feel of being in his arms after a long day at work. It’s heavenly. You never would have predicted this moment a year ago. If someone had told you that Dean wasn’t dead and that he’d find you at New Moon, and that you’d be having a conversation at one in the morning about having kids, you would’ve thought they were crazy. Now, however, you’re just grateful.

After a few moments, Dean eases his arm under your legs instead of resting it over them, then stands. He carries you to the bedroom and you relax in his arms, keeping your eyes closed for the short walk. When he sets you down on the edge of the bed, you open your eyes to look up at him. You brace your hands on the mattress behind you to keep from toppling backwards as the memory foam dips under your weight.

“I don’t want to stress about this,” you tell him. “I’m pretty sure that wouldn’t help anything. If it happens, it happens.”

He nods in agreement, then yawns. You chuckle and sit up a little more so you can stand without fighting against the mattress. Dean always complains that it’s too soft, but you like the way you can sink into it after a long day. 

“Get to bed, soldier,” you order, patting his arm. “You’ve got work in the morning.”

A month ago, Dean had decided he was ready to get back to work. You’d offered to put him on the payroll at camp as a maintenance worker or groundsperson, but he’d opted for an online position, at least for the time being. It’s a dull job compared to his work with the military. Secretly, you’re thankful that he’s chosen a safe route and that he’s feeling well enough to get back to work, but you also worry a little. For as long as you’ve known him, Dean’s been a hands-on type of person. He likes to build and fix and create. His therapy appointments are virtual too, which means that he spends most of the day cooped up in the cottage, sitting at the kitchen table or on the couch in front of a laptop. Not only is it not the healthiest thing for him physically, you know that he pushes himself to work harder than anybody should, simply because the job seems so much easier than what he used to do. Plus, being that he’s home most of the day, he’s taken on most of the cottage upkeep, cooking, and shopping so that you can spend as much time together as possible whenever you are home. You don’t mind that as much, but it does make you feel a little guilty.

“I’ll wait for you to be out of the shower,” he replies, but you shake your head.

“It’s okay. You’ve waited up long enough for me, De. You need to sleep—you’ve been burning the candle at both ends just so you can see me in the morning and at night, and I’m starting to get worried. You were falling asleep during your meeting the other day when I came home for lunch, remember?”

“I’m fine,” he insists.

Sighing, you wrap your arms around his waist, reaching up until your hands press against the middle of his back, between his shoulder blades. Your cheek presses up against his chest and you close your eyes again. He returns your embrace, and after several long moments, you feel his body relax against yours. 

I could go to sleep right here, you think with a tiny smile.

“Come on,” you say as you finally pull away, then pat him on the chest with one hand. “Go lay down. I’ll be there in a minute, okay? Get the bed warm for me.”

He nods in agreement, and you step away. You hurry to get your pajamas from the dresser before heading into the bathroom. Dean had changed long before you’d gotten home, as he always did on late nights like these. You need to shower, but you know Dean would force himself to stay up until you’re ready to go to bed too, no matter how much you push him and try to coerce him to take care of himself first. You’re exhausted, too, and the thought of having to shower before you can crash isn’t appealing.

So, you forgo your normal shower and stick with simply washing your face and brushing your teeth after changing into the pajamas. You can shower in the morning, even though it means you’ll need to change the bedding sooner than usual. Though it isn’t quite as hot as it normally is this time of year, the humidity makes everything sticky, and you’ve spent most of the day outside. A thin layer of sweat coats your skin, making even your pajamas feel gross.

When you turn off the light and step out of the bathroom, Dean looks up from the book he’s grabbed from his nightstand. It’s a novel, if you remember correctly, but you’re not sure what about. The cover picture has a cactus on it. It’s probably another western—he’s been catching up on some of his favorite authors since Sam convinced him to get a library card in December.

“You didn’t shower,” he notes, clearing his throat and sitting himself up further against the headboard. He doesn’t fool you, however. You know that he’s been nodding off instead of actually reading the library book. He’s been on the same page the past three nights.

“I’ll shower in the morning,” you reply. You throw your clothes in the hamper against the wall. “I need to change the sheets anyway, so it’s not a big deal.”

Dean hums and sets his book back in its place, then reaches over to pull the covers open for you. You climb into bed and wait until he’s dimmed the lamp beside his nightstand to cuddle up against him. The room grows darker once he does, and your eyes take a second to adjust, but you can still hear Dean’s dog tags clink as he shifts to get into a comfortable position with you at his side. You slip one arm over him, resting your hand on his chest as you close your eyes. To no surprise, it doesn’t take you long to fall asleep. 

The next morning, Dean’s asleep when you wake up, which is a rarity. Despite the fact that you’re somehow still exhausted, you know that you need to get up before he does. If you doze until he’s awake too, he’ll want to get up and make you breakfast while you shower, meaning that he won’t get the rest he needs. His PTSD symptoms start rearing their ugly heads whenever he’s overtired, and you don’t want that for him.

Showering without waking Dean would be tricky, but after a few moments of lying in the dark, you find a solution. There’s a small bathroom attached to your personal office in the main camp building, and though you haven’t used it in a while, you know that it’s clean and that it still has your normal soap and shampoo. Before Dean, you spent most of your late nights sleeping on the futon in the office, then showering and dressing in the bathroom, rather than trekking all the way back to your cottage. You hadn’t had a reason to go all the way home back then, but now you do. The shower hasn’t been used in almost a year. This morning, however, it will come in handy.

As silently as possible, you roll out of bed and gather up the few toiletries you’ll need that aren’t already in the office bathroom. You pull on a pair of sweatpants over your pajamas, plus the faded Stanford hoodie you’d gotten in support of Sam shortly after marrying Dean. You grab a bag for the toiletries and a set of work clothes to change into after you shower, then shove your feet into a pair of sandals and slip out of the cottage to head towards the main cluster of buildings.

The sun is barely up. It casts an ethereal glow over the grassy field that separates your cottage from the rest of the camp. Dew dampens the path, and it makes wildflowers and the tips of grass blades glitter in the lingering sunrise. In the trees, birds sing and coo. The soft tap of your feet on the stones is the only other sound.

You pause to breathe in deeply, then exhale. Mornings at New Moon are special to you, especially after a long, stressful night. They remind you of why you stayed—every girl needs the peace and calm that the morning brings. They deserve it. You’ve certainly needed it many times yourself.

“You’re up early.”

You turn, already speaking as you meet Meg’s steady gaze. “I needed to shower, but I didn’t want to wake Dean. He’s been staying up late for me every night.”

She mutters something in acknowledgement, then tucks her phone in her jacket pocket as you close the distance to join her outside the only empty cabin, which she’s been checking for trespassers. It’s on the outskirts of the camp, and the four girls that had occupied it for most of last year transitioned to a more traditional foster home only last month. From what you’ve heard from their social worker, they’re on the path to reunification with their family.

Now that you’re closer, Meg’s giving you a strange, almost curious look, and you frown when she lifts her chin. Her eyes glitter with a secret. 

“I’m a little afraid to ask,” you say, “but do you know something I don’t?”

She chuckles and crosses her arms in front of her. Her lips press together in a smug smile. “How are you feeling?” she asks.

Unsure of what she means, you start walking towards the office. Meg falls into step beside you, just as you knew she would. 

“Fine, I suppose,” you slowly reply. You’re careful to give vague answers, just in case she’s looking to start a tiff just for her own amusement. “Why?”

She shrugs. “Just wondering.”

A minute of silence passes as you walk together, and the path changes from stone to gravel. It crunches beneath your feet, and all around you, life begins to stir in the cabins as the girls wake and get ready for the day. They’ll be coming outside with their counselors and gathering outside the dining hall within an hour, which means time is running out if you want to shower and have time to mentally prepare for the day.

Meg holds the office door for you and you mutter your thanks, then head down the hall to your personal office. You’re just reaching the door when she calls your name from the lobby.

Turning, you raise your eyebrows expectantly. She stands near the receptionist desk, her hands at her sides, and for a second, a genuine smile flashes across her face. It’s quickly replaced with her usual nonchalant look, however, so quickly that you aren’t entirely sure that you’d seen it. You must be more tired than you’d thought.

“You should take a test,” Meg says.

You frown at her, confused, and set your bag of clothes and toiletries at your feet, against the wall. “A test?”

She nods, widening her eyes as she repeats, “A test, Y/N. You know, the tests you keep in the first aid closet? For those rare, special emergencies?”

For a moment, you just stare at her. There are very few emergencies that you handle at the camp. True, due to the nature of your job, you’re trained in a litany of thing, ranging from first aid and de-escalation to basic animal control and building maintenance, all of which is in addition to your psychology degrees and training, but the rest of the camp staff is so well-trained that rarely do situations ever become actual emergencies that you need to handle.

If you’re handling a first aid emergency, however, you do basic triage before an ambulance can arrive. You keep most of the supplies in your office, both in a cabinet and in a bag, but there are also small first aid kits in all the cabins, as well as in every building and down by the lake.

You shake your head, a little baffled by Meg’s strange behavior and comments. Neither one of you needs any kind of first aid right now, at least not that you’re aware of. Turning, you reach for the doorknob on your office door, but you stop as soon as your fingers graze the metal. It’s as if lightning has struck you, and you immediately straighten, dropping your hand back down to your side as you whirl to face her again.

“What?” you exclaim, shocked at her brazen assumption. “Are you serious?”

She shrugs and leans against the wall opposite the desk, her arms once again crossed. Her stare, as always, is unrelenting, but suddenly it makes your skin itch with anticipation. Does she know something about you that you don’t? You pride yourself on being self-aware, but is it possible that you’ve missed something?

“You’ve been nauseous on and off for almost two weeks now, and you’ve been moody. More than some of the girls, actually,” she huffs.

You narrow your eyes and cross your arms, almost a mirror image of her. “Really? Moody? That’s your argument for this, Meg?”

“Don’t hurry to prove me right,” she teases, and you quickly drop your arms again, heat rising in your cheeks. “You’ve been constantly complaining of being too hot and then too cold all week, too. Didn’t you say that was one of the things your mother-in-law complained about when she was pregnant with Dean?”

It was, and a strange feeling rises inside of you now that you remember the conversation you’d had with Meg about it. How she remembered such a detail from a random discussion you’d had almost months ago is beyond you, but it doesn’t matter. She’s put the thought in your head, and with it comes another reminder—your period hadn’t come last month, and you’ve been due for almost a week now. If it was coming, it would have been here already.

You inhale shakily and give her a terse nod.

“Right,” you say. You smooth your hands over your thighs, trying not to seem so blown away by her hypothesis. “Okay. Okay. I’m—” Shaking your head, you close your eyes and try to focus on the mental to-do list you’ve made for yourself. Then, after a second, you grab your bag from the floor. “I have to shower.”

Meg nods. “Shower,” she repeats. 

“I’ll see you later.”

She nods again, then turns on her heel and walks out of the building, leaving you standing in the hallway. You stay still for a second, listening to the front door open and close. Outside, Meg shouts at someone for standing on a bench, but the sound of her voice fades as she gets farther away from the building. Finally, you turn and open the door to your office, then quickly close it behind you.

You close your eyes and press one hand to your stomach, over the sweatshirt. It’s bulky over your pajamas. Logically, you know that if you are pregnant, the baby would still be too small to show, but it feels wrong not to feel for a baby bump now that it’s been suggested.

Not daring to get your hopes up just yet, you let your hand fall as you march to the locked metal cabinet in the corner of your office. It’s mounted to the wall and reaches almost to the ceiling, and the pregnancy tests are at the back of the top shelf. You don’t use them often, considering that New Moon is only for girls, but you keep them on hand just in case you need them for a new arrival. You’ll be lucky if the test is still good, considering you haven’t had to use one in so long.

You dump the bag from your cottage on the desk, then fumble with your keys until you find the right one. The bag falls over and knocks a pen off the desk, but you ignore it as you unlock the cabinet, pull over your rolling desk chair, and carefully climb up on it to grab one of the tests. After checking the expiration date, you tuck the flimsy cardboard box under your arm and head to the bathroom, not even bothering to close the cabinet or right the bag that’s tipped over and dumped onto your workspace. All thoughts of showering and getting ready for the day are gone. They’ve been replaced with a nervous energy that buzzes beneath your skin, making your fingers feel weak as you open the box.

The lock on the bathroom door is sturdy enough to help you feel a little bit more secure as you take the test, all the while trying to take deep breaths. Your heart feels like it’s beating too fast, and you aren’t sure if it’s because you’re nervous or excited. Maybe you’re both.

Calm down, Y/N! Freaking out isn’t going to help anybody!

You wash your hands and read the back of the box again, checking the wait time printed in tiny black letters. The test sits precariously on the countertop, in between the sink and the edge of the counter closest to the toilet, and you give it a wary glance before unlocking the bathroom door and going to sit in your office while you wait. After setting the timer on your phone, you end up pacing in front of your desk instead, from the wall to the futon and back again. 

Finally, the timer goes off. You flinch at the loud ringing, then hurry to silence it. Your hands fumble with your phone and you stay tense when the office falls quiet again. Silently, you slip it back into your pocket and go back into the bathroom. When you reach the sink, you brace your hands against the front of the bowl, on the thinnest part of the counter. You stare at yourself in the mirror for a long few seconds, pointedly not looking down at the test that’s resting only a few inches from your hands. Inside your chest, your heart pounds even harder than before and your hands shake. Everything feels so unsteady, from your head to your feet, and for a second, you worry that you might pass out. Closing your eyes, you try to take a few deep breaths to calm yourself and to slow your racing pulse.

You’re reaching for the test on the counter when there’s a knock at your office door.

“Y/N? You in there?”

“Yes!” you yelp, almost too loudly. Your hand, outstretched and only an inch from the test, knocks it sideways, sending it clattering to the floor, along with a tube of toothpaste.

Dean calls for you again and you frantically scramble to right the bathroom. You practically throw the test onto the counter. It slides into the sink, and you’re pulling the bathroom door shut behind you just as Dean pushes the office door open from the hallway. He meets your eyes and you force a smile that you hope seems normal. 

“You left before I was up,” he says. He’s dressed already, in jeans and the green jacket you’d got him for his birthday, and his hair looks damp from the shower. 

Accepting a kiss on the lips, you hum a little and let go of the door handle to wrap your arms around his waist. Can he feel your heart beating too hard inside of your chest? What about your hands trembling against his back?

“I needed to shower and I didn’t want to wake you up. I have a shower here that I used to use when I was by myself.” You tilt your head back slightly, towards the door behind you.

Dean frowns. “You could’ve showered at home.” He looks down at you, and not only does his frown deepen, but the furrow between his eyebrows appears again. His worry lines are out in full force. “What’s wrong?”

Your stomach drops. Are you supposed to tell him? What if the test turns out negative? What if—?

“Sweetheart,” Dean soothes, pulling away so there’s space between the two of you. He takes your shaking hands in his and searches your face for an answer to his concerns. “What’s on your mind? I can see all the gears turning in there.”

The tips of his fingers touch your temple. You swallow thickly and look away. A line of dust lays gray on the hardwood where your old rug used to be. You moved it just last week to clean, but apparently, you’d missed it.

“Did I do something?”

Frantic, you shake your head and find his eyes. “What? No! No, of course not.”

“Then what is it?” Dean steps closer, crowding close in a tentative way that allows you enough time to move away, if you want. You don’t, and you let your eyes fall closed as you breathe in his scent and soak in his warmth. Your hands move to clutch the sides of his shirt, pulling him infinitely closer until your front is pressed against his again. Then, for the first time all morning, you relax. Your shoulders slump and you rest your forehead against him.

“I think…” you finally say after a minute. You take a breath, willing the words out on your next exhale. “I think I might be pregnant.”

There’s silence in the moments that follow, and though you know he’s probably just processing the news, it kills you. You stay frozen in place, unable to move as you wait for Dean to speak. 

Finally, you release his shirt and step back, just enough that you can see his face without tilting your head at too uncomfortable of an angle. He’s staring at the closed bathroom door behind you, with both eyebrows raised and with long creases along his forehead. His whole body is tense and the longer he stares at the door, the deeper the furrow between his brows becomes.

“Dean?” you prompt. “Say something, please.”

“You think? Or you know?” His voice is hoarse and his Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows, then looks back down at you. 

“I don’t know. I took a test. I was just about to look at it when you knocked.”

“Oh.” His eyes flick up again, over your shoulder at the door, then down to your face. The second hand on the wall clock ticks as you stand near each other, Dean processing the news and you holding your breath as you wait for a more concrete response from him. The ticking feels louder than it did before. Has it always been that loud?

His fingers against your cheek make you look away from where you’ve been watching the black plastic line clunk around the circumference of the clock face.

“What do you want it to say?” Dean asks.

You inhale shakily and search his eyes, hoping for an answer to the question. “What do you want?” you ask in return.

Dean shakes his head, then runs his hand over your shoulder and down your arm until he can lace his fingers with yours. You glance down at your joined hands, unsure of why he’s not answering. He’d told you only just last night that he wanted kids. His hesitation makes you wonder if something’s changed in only just a few hours.

“It’s not up to me. It’s your body, Y/N.”

The words tumble out before you can even formulate the thought. “I just wasn’t expecting this so soon. I thought we’d have more time with just the two of us. What if this changes everything? What if it’s not everything we thought it would be?”

“We’ll still have time together,” he tells you, gently squeezing your hand. “It just might be less than we’d anticipated.”

“Would it even be a good thing if I was pregnant now? I know you said last night that it’s what you wanted, but we also said—”

“We said that if it happens, it happens,” Dean interrupts. “And if it’s happening now, then that’s a good thing. If it happens later, that’s also a good thing.”

You nod and take another deep breath. The butterflies in your stomach are out in full force. You have to close your eyes as you take breaths, trying to stave off the sudden wave of nausea that accompanies your worries. Dean’s hands in yours keeps you grounded as you breathe through your nose.

When you’re finally feeling more settled, you open your eyes and silently glance behind you at the bathroom door.

“You want me to wait out here?” Dean asks.

Swallowing thickly, you shake your head. Tears burn in your eyes, and you wipe them away with one hand, embarrassed by your reaction. “Why am I so scared? We just said that this is supposed to be a good thing.”

Dean squeezes your hand again. “This is a big thing, Y/N. It’s okay to be scared. I can be brave for both of us, okay?” He smiles a little, his lips pressed together, and you nod in response, inhaling deeply through your nose.

You feel stuck in place. Part of you wants to go look at the test, but another part of you is rooted to the floor, keeping you in this moment. The results of the test could turn your life upside down for the second time in a year, and you aren’t sure if you’re ready for that. What if you aren’t a good parent? What if you aren’t able to do your job while you’re pregnant? What would you do instead?

“Hey.”

You blink, then meet Dean’s eyes again. Another tear rolls down your cheek and you sniffle, wiping it away with the back of your free hand. His smile has disappeared, and now he watches you with a concerned frown that makes his lips turn downward at the corners and makes the wrinkle between his eyebrows reappear.

“There’s nothing to be scared of, sweetheart. We’re in this together, and I’m with you no matter what. Do you want me to look first?” he asks.

After a few seconds, you nod. You don’t know what to say, but you know it won’t matter to Dean whether you speak or not. He’ll do and be whatever you need in this moment, just like he always does.

He releases your hand and carefully steps around you, opening the bathroom door to retrieve the test from the sink. You’d left the light on in the bathroom when you’d shut the door, and now it floods your office from behind you. Dean’s footsteps are soft and his jacket rustles as he picks up the test, and you hold your breath as you listen for some kind of sign or clue as to the results. When there isn’t any, you turn in a circle to look at him.

“What’s it say?”

His profile gives you very little information about the results, and you take a tentative step forward when he doesn’t move or say anything. Maybe he just didn’t hear you? His bad ear is on the other side, but it’s still possible.

“Dean?” you prompt, stepping closer a second time. You wonder if he’s disappointed and that’s why he hasn’t said anything. The thought makes you nauseous again.

“You’re pregnant,” he answers. His voice shakes as he stands staring down at the plastic stick. It’s so small in his hand, and an image of him cradling a tiny newborn flashes in your mind.

You freeze a few feet from the bathroom threshold. “It’s positive?”

He nods and looks up, meeting your eyes. Tears glisten on his lower lash line, and you press your hands over your mouth, inhaling deeply as your heart leaps inside your chest. The wrinkle between his brows is gone once again, replaced with the kind of shock you’ve only seen a few times, the first being when you’d told him you’d loved him all those years ago.

“We’re having a baby,” Dean tells you, letting out a laugh. A smile grows on his face as tosses the test onto the counter and closes the distance between you in two long steps. He crushes you against him in a tight hug.

Too shocked to hug him back, you let Dean wrap his arms around you and lift you off the ground. Your feet dangle for a second before your instincts catch up with you. Hurriedly, you move your hands from your mouth to his back as your legs come up to wrap around his waist. You bury your face in the crook of Dean’s neck as you smile. Your cheeks already ache and you’re blinking away tears, but it doesn’t matter.

“We’re having a baby!” you exclaim. He spins around with you in his arms, and you push away from his neck and pull one hand from his shoulders so you can cradle his cheek in your palm. 

Dean’s eyes are alight with joy, making the green of his irises seem even more vibrant in the morning sunshine coming in from the office window. Your smile matches his as the scruff on his jawline scratches at the soft skin of your palm.

“You’re gonna be a dad,” you tell him, gently rubbing your thumb over his cheekbone. “You’re gonna be a great dad.”

He takes a few steps, then sets you down on the only clear space on your desk, beside the bag you’d brought with you this morning. You let your legs fall from around his waist so they bracket his hips, but you don’t drop your hand from his face.

“I love you,” Dean says. He brushes the backs of his knuckles over your abdomen, and you laugh when it tickles. There’s no bump yet, but the effect is all the same. Dean smiles wider, his eyes flicking to your stomach, then back up to your face. “I love both of you.”

You laugh and pull him down for a kiss. “We love you too, Dean Winchester. Forever and ever.”

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[ashensgrotto]

The Sea's Sacrifice (Part 1)

Characters: AzulAshengrotto / Jade Leech / Floyd Leech x F!Reader

Total Word Count: 14.7k+

Part 1 (You are Here) Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

Synopsis: A potential job as a marine biologist’s assistant leaves (Y/N) feeling something fishy going on behind the scene…

Author's Notes: Original Idea came from @merakiui 's annonymous ask with a short story / headcannon -> https://www.tumblr.com/merakiui/684490143936167936/ooohhh-i-love-those-writing-ideas-you-had-for-sea?source=share

and I absolutely love this concept and wanted to take it a step further. I don't write yandere nor fanfiction as much as I did a few years ago. However, I do hope I do this piece justice; I will had links to the next part once it is completed and ready for viewing.

Also, this is a work of fiction. I disagree anyone that justifies the following behaviors which are represented in this fic (if I think of more, I will add them as I go):

rape/non-consent/dub-consent, possessive/controlling/dominating behaviors, and manipulation

Cruel and cold like winds on the seas

Will you ever return to me

Hear my voice sing with the tide

My love will never die

Over waves and deep in the blue

I will give up my heart for you

***

If someone were to tell you that you’d eventually be pulled into the wrong end of the sea by, not one but three, unknown sea creatures - you’d probably laugh your head off, thinking they’ve lost their mind.

But how wrong you’d be.

When you had initially applied to work at Twisted Wonders - an emporium of oddities that were collected and studied by the greatest minds in existence - you thought you’d be taking an everyday desk job; answering phone calls, scheduling tours, directing visitors… that sort of thing. 

Never in your right mind would you believe that you would be working alongside the Dire Crowley - director and owner of Twisted Wonders. Mr. Crowley was an acclaimed renowned genius with an air that was both mysterious and alluring. He was approximately 170 cm in height (five feet, seven inches) and wore rich tailored clothing made of silks and leather with gold embroidery and jewels embedded into the vest and belt; of course, he upped his strange allure by consistently wearing a heavy leather overcoat that hung to his frame, decorated in black feathers - real or faux, no one was sure, a top hat that perched on his head, and a mask of black that reminded you of a crow - his arched nose hidden under the long rim of the mask that poked out like a beak. 

“Here’s the deal, (Y/N),” Mr. Crowley spoke, reclining back in his desk chair as a pair of golden eyes peered out from behind the mask, “We’ve recently acquired three creatures that need to be observed. My team, however, has been unsuccessful at getting remotely close to studying them. They seem to think that an outsider might have a higher success rate at being able to approach them more than any of us will due to their knowing who we are.”

“So, what is it exactly that you want me to do?”

“I want you to observe them,” Mr. Crowley spoke, pushing a contract towards you, “You will work with my group of scientists for about three months as well as the three creatures. You are to notate anything and everything you see the trio doing - how they eat, sleep, react with each other, and so forth - and document everything for our records, no matter how insignificant it is. If you prove your worth and competence within those three months, you will be moved to another position within the facility of your choosing.”

“And that’s it? That’s all I need to do?”

“That’s it.”

‘Seems pretty easy for a payment of twenty dollars an hour…’ you thought as you looked down at the contract before, “And this is my… compliance, right?”

“That would be correct, as well as a safety and confidentiality agreement,” Mr. Crowley answered, offering a pen in your direction.

You took the instrument and wrote your name across the bottom of the page on the dotted line.

“Alright,” Dire Crowley took the contract and stood, pressing a buzzer on his desk, “with everything in order, I’ll have Grimsley take you to meet Divus Crewel and Mozus Trein - the overseers of our aquatic project.”

“I’m sorry, did you say aquatic?” your eyes widened in surprise.

“Dear me, did I forget to mention that part?” Mr. Crowley tapped his chin, his glowing eyes looking up toward the ceiling before returning to rest on your features, “Our newest arrivals are of the oceanic nature - I’ve never met or seen them myself, however Professor Crewel and Professor Trein will be able to go over the basics with you and introduce you to the trio in question.”

“As long as they don’ forget the good stuff!” a snarky voice spoke from behind.

You turned in your chair toward the door to see the man who must’ve been Grimsley.

He was about 163 cm in height with pale skin and dark gray hair with tufts of flame blue poking out in random directions. His eyes also were flame blue and held mischief in their depths that matched the smirk on his face as a set of sharp teeth peered out from behind thin lips. He wore a suit of black with a vest that matched his hair, a black and white-striped tie, and a white dress shirt. Leather loafers padded softly against the carpeted flooring of Crowley's office as he held out a black leather gloved hand in greeting.

"Grimsley Overblot," the man smiled like a Cheshire cat, "I'm Mr. Crowley's henchman and errand runner here at Twisted Wonders."

"(Y/N) (L/N)," you answer, taking Grimsley's hand with a shake, "pleasure to meet you."

“Grimsley, go ahead and take (Y/N) to see the good professors,” Dire Crowley spoke, a satisfied smile on his features, “I’m sure the two are more than ecstatic to meet her.”

***

As it turns out, both men were ecstatic to meet you - though Professor Trein was a bit more reserved about it versus his partner.

Trein's appearance matched his personality - his posture indicated a "no nonsense" aura as did his unchanging features. His lips would quirk into a small smile before they would fall to a straight line as his dark eyes settled on your uneasy form, as if he enjoyed watching you squirm like a germ under the microscope. He was dressed as any scientist would; a heavy white lab coat that fell to his knees hung around his frame that covered a white dress shirt and charcoal-colored dress pants and loafers. His hair was gray with streaks of white and wrinkles covered every inch of his face and neck.  He also wore a set of white pristine gloves and had a cravat around his neck with a singular emerald gem that held the cloth together.

As for his partner, Professor Crewel was a bit more… eccentric. Crewel had a sort of energy about him that reminded you of a young dog - not a puppy, but not an adult either. He was always cocking a smile that bore teeth, chuckling when he patted the top of your head as he called you "puppy." His clothing matched his laidback ideals too - a heavy black and white fur coat with a red silk lining covered the charcoal gray dress shirt and pants. His vest was black on one side, white on the other, and wore a red tie that matched the gloves on his hands.

“So,” Crewel spoke after introductions, pulling a cigarette out of his pants pocket and lighting the object, “any questions before we get you set up?”

“I guess my big question is what exactly will I be working with?” you ask.

“We believe the trio to be mers, but they’re not your typical ones,” Trein explained with a sniff as his features twisted at the smell of Crewel’s smoke,  “All three of them have the upper bodies of men, but lower halfs of sea creatures. Two of the three half the lower half of what we believe to be that of a moray eel and the third the lower half of an octopus. The twins are typically more curious of the three, though they can be aggressive. Several of our closest colleagues were attacked by the duo after accidentally disturbing them - their bites have left scars and one of our colleagues actually lost their leg from their attack.”

“... and you don’t think I will?” you had to question, the comment coming out high-pitched.

“Well, moray eels - specifically - will attack only if they have been disturbed,” Crewel answered nonchalantly, “We believe there are similarities between the animals and the mers, which is why we are gathering as much information as we can. We want to know what the similarities and differences are between moray eels and the twins.”

“Okay, but I still don’t see how I won’t get attacked by those two. And what about the third?”

“You won’t be attacked as long as you stay still and don’t make any sudden movements,” Trein answered, “Once they get used to you, you’ll know.”

“As for the third,” Crewel answered, “he’s a cecaelia - half man, half octopus.”

You blink, “Don’t moray eels eat octopi?”

“Typically, yes,” Trein answered, “which is strange, in this case. The trio were originally found off the coast in the Coral Sea - living in harmony with each other. When we brought them here, the moray mers have consistently been surrounding the grotto that is in the enclosure - the cecaelia hiding within and rarely comes out. We think that the cecaelia may have raised the morays, but we’re not completely sure.”

“And it’s been a devil of a time trying to get a glimpse of him too,” Crewel shook his head, eyes rolling to the ceiling.

“You mean you haven’t seen him? Not once?”

“I saw him when he was first brought into the enclosure,” Trein sighed, “however, it was dark and I couldn’t see him very well - the eels could be seen because of the bioluminescence that exists within their bodies, allowing us to see their figures.”

“Speaking of which, come,” Crewel rested a hand to the small of your back, “let’s get you acquainted with our aquatic trio, hm?”

Crewel and Trein led you to the opposite end of their laboratory where a large glass wall stood with a set of double doors that led to what appeared to be the edge of a massive pool. Once inside, the smell of fish and humidity tickled your nose as the sound of lapping of water reverberated in the slightly dimmed room; the only light being illuminated from the pool itself. The gray walls stretched high, the ceiling covered by long triangular beams that permitted the echoes of voices and lapping water in the room. One the far left was a coat rack and a small freezer with a large fan blowing the heated air around the room.

“When you come in - which will be about six-thirty each morning, you’ll hang your coat on the rack and put your lunch in the freezer before feeding your charges,” Crewel explained, walking over to the freezer and lifting the lid, “We always restock the food the night before, so you don’t have to worry about not having anything in here for the day. There will be nine buckets total in the freezer - three for the morning, three for noon, three for dinner - so make sure you dump all three buckets in the water, but don’t toss the actual bucket into the water.”

“What’s in them?” you ask, wrinkling your nose at the mixture within the buckets.

“A collection of shellfish - shrimp, crab, clam, lobster - and assorted fish are what they primarily eat,” Crewel answered as he closed the lid to the freezer, “We’ve tried feeding the moray twins octopi - but they refuse to touch it and often threw it at the feeders when they came in. Also, feel free to wear something comfortable. The water temperature varies from 45℉ to as low as 39℉ so we have to offset that with the atmosphere in our enclosure here at approximately 77℉ to 85℉ - never mind that one of the twins likes to splash newcomers right off the bat.”

“So, shorts are ok?”

“Shorts would be preferred, so yes,” Crewel nodded.

“But not too short - lower thigh length to knee length is acceptable,” Trein chided, “you are also permitted to wear sandals within the enclosure as well as a t-shirt or tank top due to the humidity. However, if you do choose sandals and tank tops - please bring a spare pair of tennis shoes to wear on the way in and on the way out as closed toed and heels are required within the labs and main building as well as something to keep your shoulders covered; this is a place of employment, not enjoyment.”

When you nod, Trein continued.

“After you feed them their breakfast, take a seat and use the notebooks over here to document any findings,” Trein walks to the opposite end of the enclosure, opening a locker filled with office supplies, “Take whatever you think you might need for the day and have a seat at the edge of the pool and begin your observations. It might take a few days before one of the twins actually approaches you, but once they do, you should be able to start the observations with no problems. During your first few days, remember to stay still - morays attack when startled or provoked, which we don’t want to happen. You’ll let them come to you and, hopefully once you get acquainted, you’ll be able to do your observations with no trouble at all.”

“Alright.”

“Your shift will be twelve hours total,” Trein also explained, “you will be expected to eat lunch with the trio and feed them their supper before you leave for the night at six pm and place any of your notes back in the locker here for Crewel or I to collect at the end of the day. When you leave, make sure the door is locked. Typically, we will be here until eight, so we often check the door on our way out - but just so you are aware, the door does get stuck on occasion; you may need to knock on the door a few times and one of us or our staff will get you out.”

You nod again.

“Alright, are there any questions?” Crewel asked.

“No, I think I’ve got it.”

“Very well,” Trein smiles, “We’ll see you tomorrow at six sharp - no later.”

“Thank you very much for this opportunity,” you bow your head to both of them before shaking each of their offered hands as the two escorted you out of the enclosure - none of you aware of the two sets of heterochromia eyes that watched your figure from below the water’s surface.

***

One week passes slowly as you go through the motions as the Twisted Wonders aquatic observer. 

Every morning, you arrive at quarter to six and greet Crewel and Trein at their laboratory doors. After they unlock and head into their own offices, you make your way to the enclosure and place your bag on the coat rack and the brown paper bag that contains your lunch in the freezer before hauling out the three of the nine gallon-sized buckets one at a time and dump the contents into the water, watching a little bit to see if anything will appear to snatch up a meal as the fish disappear into the murky depths of the pool. After watching the last piece of morsel disappear into the depths, you turn toward the locker, grabbing notebooks, pens and anything else you think you need and take a seat at the edge of the pool. 

As the hours pass by, you jot notes down about anything you see - which is nothing.

7:30am: Ripples of water, no sign of the creatures

10:30am: Still no sign of the creatures

12:30pm: Fed mers, no sign of breaking the surface yet - maybe they know I am waiting for them and want nothing to do with me?

2:30pm: Still no sign

4:30pm: I heard a splash, but saw nothing. Maybe they’re nervous?

6:00pm: Fed the mers their supper - Hoping to get a sign of them before I leave today.

Day after day after day, the notes were the same: No sign. No sign. No sign.

By the end of the first week, you were beginning to wonder if you actually would ever see the creatures or if they even existed - or even, heaven forbid, if you were a test subject yourself for believing that there were mers that lived in the enclosure. 

When Saturday morning came, you trudged into the enclosure with a heavy sigh and slowly began to begin the day’s events. Everything you did now seemed slower as the hope of seeing something otherworldly began to diminish like smoke. You pulled the first bucket of food out of the freezer and brought it to the edge of the pool, dumping the contents in before standing to return the bucket to the side of the freezer when something slimy and light hit the back of your head. Your hand instinctively reached up and brushed the hair behind your head, feeling traces of water and slime. You looked down to see what hit you, finding the bottom half of an unidentifiable colored fish laying behind you. 

Your eyes shifted to look out into the pool - but no movement or any indication that something had thrown the half of the fish at you could be seen.

‘Maybe I’m just imagining things,’ you thought as a sigh escaped your lips, picking up the fish and dropping it into the second bucket before it was dumped over the edge of the pool as well.

As you turned your back to grab the last bucket, again something smacked against the back of your head, a clicking sound following shortly afterwards.

‘Ok,’ you thought, a slight smirk appearing on your features as you picked up the large hunk of lobster from the ground, ‘whoever or whatever you are, I’m assuming you want to play. Well, let’s play.’

You grab the last bucket and dump the contents into the water and kneel at the edge - watching like a cat watches a mouse before pouncing. A few moments pass before you feel your back begin to strain, forcing you to stand. As you do, a whole king prawn nearly smacks you in the face as another round of clicking echoes in the enclosure. You whip your face toward the pool, just in time to see two sets of eyes watching you.

Silence defends the enclosure as the three of you stare in silence at one another.

Your heart races as you realize that the creatures staring at you must be the twins.

You can’t see them completely - their entire bodies are hidden under the water while the tops of their heads and their eyes are the only thing being seen from your position at the edge of the pool as they regard you from a few meters away - but you can see that they are nearly mirrors of each other.

They both have skin the color of seaweed with short hair to match - a longer piece the color of deep sea teal arching in the front of their faces. Instead of human ears, they have fins - likely hiding the gills they use to breathe underwater behind them. The one on your left appears to be more cautious than their twin on the right - their eyes are sharp, their right colored brown and left colored gold, and watching every movement you make as if calculating whether to attack you or not. The one on your right appeared to have more of a droopy expression on their face, their lower eyelids dropping into a bored expression, but their gaze is still sharp. Like their twin, their eyes are different colors - the left colored brown and the right colored gold instead.

You swallow thickly, unsure of what to do exactly. 

Moray eels attack if provoked, you recalled Crewel saying, so you didn’t want to make any sudden movements in case they read it wrong and attempt anything. However, it seems that the decision is quickly made when the one on your right slowly approaches the edge of the pool. You stay as still as possible as they approach, their eyes locked on yours as if in a trance. 

When they reach the edge, you can see the length of his body in the murky depths. His skin is a darker seaweed teal with little stripe patterns on his cheekbones and arms - with likely more on his lower body hidden deeper in the depths. Large fins poke out from his lower arms, giving him and his brother the ability to glide through the water quickly. You couldn’t see his tail, but if you had to guess - you thought he could be approximately six feet in length or longer.

Then, salted sea water covers your entire body, causing you to sputter at the surprise at getting splashed as the moray mer peeled in laughter. His brother follows up with three sharp clicks before the duo disappear under the water, leaving you to wonder what in the world just happened.

[bellewintersroe]

Sebastian Vettel x RBDesignEngineer! Reader.

Set in 2013 during the GP, Jennifer is fresh out of uni and has made a name for herself within the F1 world. She joins Redbull-Renault as one of their engineer designers and easily fits into the team, forming friendships easily. Most of all, she captures the attention of three time world champion, Sebastian Vettel. Part 1- just an introduction to the OC and situation, please excuse my inaccuracies about the 2013 GP and design engineering im not a pro and was like 11 back then 😭😭 here’s the LINK to part 2.

Australia, March 2013…

“And here… right through here is… our youngest, and my personal favourite design engineer. This is where all the magic happens.” The sound of Sebastian’s German accent caused my lips to lift as I took my head set off, spinning around in my chair. Sebastian was walking alongside a camera man, touring around the garages. It was pre practice day, only two more days and the 2013 GP would begin. Although I’d been hired for Red Bull back in October of last year, it had taken 5 months to get to this point of merciless training and shadowing to ensure I was good at what I was doing. The Red Bull driver made his way over, resting on the back of my large chair with an amused smile. “Hi.” I nervously giggled, pushing my hair behind my ear as my headset fell around my neck. “This is Jennifer, do you want to tell them what you’re doing today, Jennifer?” The use of my full, formal name was sending me slightly giggly as I gazed up to the blonde man. Maybe it was just him making me feel that way…

“Um… so, to put it in simple terms so it’s not so boring, we’re just checking all the components of the RB9’s- what Sebastian and Mark will be driving- to make sure we don’t need to make any last minute changes.” “And what’s your name again?” The camera man asked. “Jen, I never go by Jennifer.” I laughed, glancing back up to Sebastian again. Whenever our eyes met I found myself struggling to keep composure on camera. “Tell then a bit about yourself.” He then nudged me on, grinning down. He could tell I was getting flustered, but continued purposefully. “Nobody wants to know about me!” I laughed, attempting to spin my chair back around in embarrassment. Hiding behind my computer for the first two weeks was my safe haven, that’s what I’d reverted back to. “They do!! Tell us, how did you get into your position?!” Seb spun the chair back, sliding a hand down onto my very ticklish shoulder, squeezing as both my shoulders jumped up with a giggle.

“Sorry.” Seb breathlessly laughed. “Um- well I started here in October, I just finished my masters last year at Manchester in Motorsport Engineering- um… Im 22- I don’t really have anything else very interesting to say! Uh- I suppose I had- just had experience from working part time with my brother who’s an engineer when I was like… 15.” I explained.

“Clever girl.” Seb responded as I automatically gulped in response, looking up to him and awkwardly glimpsing back to the camera. I didn’t know how to act with that in my face. “And what’s this?” The camera zoomed closer in on my second screen, it was just information about F1’s plan to go electric next year and use Hybrid engines, but it contained private information. My hand flew up blocking the screen dramatically, “oh! Sorry, that’s a secret!” Seb burst out laughing. “Oh no!” I laughed, “don’t worry I’ll cut that.” Luckily the camera man turned away as I sunk back into my chair. I really hoped I didn’t leak some super, confidential information about Red Bull or I’d be facing the sack a mere half year into employment.

Sebastian flashed me another smile and squeeze on the shoulder before following the camera man and showing him around some more. When they left I let out an internal sigh. I’d known Seb for the same amount as everybody else here, but I just felt this immediate warmth to him. Once the intimidation had worn off (even now I still felt it) I could tell there was an instant attraction. At points it felt mutual, Seb would openly flirt with me, tease me, I know he was a charmer, but I couldn’t tell if I was being delusional or not. He was cuddly, funny, he always looked so deeply into my eyes whenever I explained something to him. I wasn’t sure how I’d deal with the feelings that would keep me on edge for a full season. The worst thing about it??? I had a boyfriend.

[strniohoeee]

i neeeeeeddd a part two to confidential 🥺🥺 maybe where matt gets in contact with reader to give her tickets to fly her out to the next show and she's his partner in the show. they win and he fucks her good after the show and finally kisses her. he asks her out on a date and shit and it's just so cute and rough and smutty.

Confidential Pt. 2

Pairing: Matt Sturniolo X Female Reader

Synopsis: Matt reaches out to Y/N after almost a year of not seeing each other. He purchases her tour tickets, and well brings her backstage 🤭

Warnings⚠️: This is Smut. There’s some spit and some hair pulling, and uhhh that’s it. It’s just SMUTTY SMUT SMUT🤞🏽

Song for the imagine: Confident- Justin Bieber and Chance the Rapper

⚠️This is an 18+ imagine, so minors do not interact, or do??⚠️

There’s absolutely no way this is real….I have to be dreaming…..is the Matt Sturniolo DMing me on Instagram right now??

I rub my eyes and make sure this is actually him and not some fake account fucking with me.

-Hey Y/N….cant believe it’s been almost year since I last seen you

-Hey Matt….uh yeah it’s crazy. I seen you guys are about to go on tour again

-We are! I uh actually got you pre show small talk, photo op and backstage passes and tickets to fly out to our first show

-YOURE LYING

-never! And you will be my partner this time….I don’t make the rules

-OMFG WHAT THIS IS INSANE YES YES IM THERE

-Good!

That was about three weeks ago, and right now I was in LA getting ready for their first show that Matt paid for…..this is not real life AT ALL.

Pre show meet and greet started at 3:30, so I got there at around 1:30, and was just waiting around honestly so nervous to see Matt again

By the time I was called it was 4:30. I met Chris and Nick first, and immediately got so nervous meeting Matt

“Hiiii” I said giving him a hug

“Hello again! How have you been gorgeous” he said as he signed a poster for me

“I’ve been very good actually” I said

“That’s good. Can’t wait to see you backstage tonight” he said winking

“Oh…yeah I’m so excited too. We’ve been reunited” I said laughing

“God I miss your pretty face” he said smiling at me causing me to blush

“Shhh” I said rolling my eyes

“And the dress…..whew that dress looks so hot on you” he said looking me up and down

“Thanks matt” I said giving him one last hug

We did the photo op and now it was time to wait for the show to start, so like last time I chatted with some people got something to eat and drink, and just chilled

I was Matt’s partner so at some point they brought me backstage to meet the other two girls. The whole time I was competing I felt Matts eyes on me, and it was making me so fucking nervous.

However this gave him some confidence because we won the first show.

“I have to thank my amazing team member because without her I would’ve lost” he said into the mic

“Thank you LA for an amazing first show! While we set up for backstage enjoy our friend Tril!!” Chris said

After the show, and Tril performing it was time to line up for backstage, and I felt like I was going to throw up…we’ve been through this before why the fuck am I about to throw up

I was the last group once again….Im sure Matt did that

Once again I went in and spoke with Chris and Nick, and filmed a tik tok with Matt because even though I’m sure he was going to fuck my brains out….I needed this tik tok with him

“You know the drill, stay in the back, and I’ll come grab you” he said lowly to me

“Got it” I said smiling

I went back over to Chris and Nick, and chatted with them…I wonder if they knew Matt blew my back out last tour….probably but oh well

“Alright guys! Thank you so much for supporting us and coming out here! Hope to see you guys at our next one” Nick said waving bye to everyone

This time the after show photo op was after backstage, so Matt’s security guard brought me back to another room like last tour, and I just sat in there

Me and my thoughts running wild, and I was so fucking anxious

About an hour and a half later I heard the door opening, and Matt came in locking the door behind him

“There’s that beautiful girl” he said winking at me

“You’re too kind” I said waving my hand at him

“Do you know why I brought you back here?” He asked me

“If it’s not to fuck me….then we have some issues” I said running my tongue along my teeth

“Ouu she knows what she wants….I like that” he said winking at me

“Well I assume that’s why you did what you did. You want to fuck again” I said

“Of course I do. Couldn’t get enough of that pussy” he said walking over to me

He ran his fingers along my bottom lip

“Oh Matt” I said sighing

“I need you so bad, you’re all I thought about these past 10 months” he said licking his lips

“Well I’m here, and I need you bad too” I said smirking at him

He leaned down ghosting his lips over mine

“Well come on then baby” he said before pulling pack, and helping me stand up

“I would love for you to suck my dick again, but I want nothing more than to fuck the shit out of you right now” he said leaning me up against the table

“Fuck Matt” I said moaning at his words

Matt started to kiss my neck to my collar bone, and then looked at me

“I hope you know-“ I cut him off

“Yeah yeah no kissing I got it” I said rolling my eyes, he looked at me and laughed. Going back to kissing my neck

“Fuck Matt I need you now” I said running my hands through his hair as he kissed my neck

“I know baby” he said

Matt then pulled away and helped me hike up my dress. Ghosting his hand over my pussy

“Oh” I sighed

He got down and started kissing my stomach all the way to my clothed pussy. He slowly slid my underwear down

“Fuckkkk” he said biting his lip

“So fucking sexy” he said looking up at me

Before I could answer he delved straight into my pussy, attacking my clit, licking sucking….just doing it all

“SHITTTT MATT” I moaned out my hands immediately going to his hair and pulled causing him to moan into my pussy

He was lapping at me, from my entrance backup to my clit. His nose bumping into my clit

“Fuck Matt I’m going to cum if you keep doing this” I said to him biting my lip

He pulled away and looked at me

“You’re cumming on my dick” he said before backing away

Matt brought his hand up and smacked my pussy causing me to shudder and whine out. He rubbed my pussy to soothe the ache, and then spat down onto my pussy

He pulled his dick out slowly stroking it

“You make me so hard” he said looking me up and down

Matt came up to me and started to rub his dick up and down my pussy

“Oh god” I said letting my head fall back

Slowly he started to push the tip in causing us both to gasp at the feeling

“Fuck I missed this” He said running his hands over my body

“Your dick feels so good….none like this back home” I said moaning

“Oh you fuck other guys?” He said as he bottomed out

“One other guy, but that’s it” I said

“I’m not sure that I like that” he said thrusting into me

“Fuckkkk…..I’m sorry baby I was just so horny and chasing after someone who could fuck like you” I said moaning out

“And they couldn't, right?” He asked panting

“They couldn’t” I said throwing my head back

“Good” he responded

And with that his hips snapped into me, pounding into me at such a delicious rate. All that could be heard was our moaning, the table creaking and skin slapping together

“Oh god Matt” I moaned out lifting my head up to look at him

“This pussy was made for me. You just take me so well” he said as he thrusted into me

As he kept pounding into me he looked ahead of him and saw a full length mirror

“Ohh baby I want you to watch me fuck you” he said biting his lip

He flipped us over, so my stomach was against the table, and he was pounding me from the back

“Look at yourself” he said pulling my hair make me look into the mirror

“Fuck” I said as my jaw dropped as I watched Matt watching us fucking in the mirror

He kept looking into the mirror the whole time while pounding into me

I was clenching down on him nearing my orgasm

“You gonna cum baby?” He asked while panting

“Yes yes yes please” I said looking at him through the mirror

“Whenever you want…go ahead and cum” he said while gripping onto my hair and furiously pounding into me

“FUCK MATT IM GOING TO CUM” I screamed out as I clenched down on him

He kept pounding into me, and suddenly I was shuddering, my mouth fell open as I looked into his eyes while I came all over his cock. Brows furrowed as I shook with ecstasy

“Mmm so fucking good to me” he said grunting as he kept thrusting

“I’m gonna cum baby” he said and suddenly pulled out

Stroking his dick a few times before he painted the back of my thighs in his cum. Moaning and staring into my eyes through the mirror…..god this was so fucking hot

After we caught our breaths he pulled his pants back up. Walking over to the counter and grabbing napkins before wiping me down

He helped me up, and picked up my underwear for me handing them to me

“Keep them” I said winking at him as I shimmed my dress down

“I like the way you think” he said before pocketing them

He was looking at me for a moment before he suddenly pulled me in crashing his lips to mine. Sparks and explosions were going off in my stomach

He pulled away

“I thought you didn’t kiss” I said licking my lips

“I didn’t, but you’re different” he said smiling at me

“I’m glad” I said fixing my hair

“Hey, we have two days to kill in LA. Could I maybe take you on a date?” He asked me

“I’d love that” I said

“Good. I’ll pick you up tomorrow at noon. We can do lunch” he said

“Sounds great” I told him

We actually walked out together this time, and went our separate ways when we got to the exit door

“See you tomorrow” he said

“See you tomorrow” I said back winking at him before walking off

The End

Hope yall enjoyed this one, and I can’t believe I’m at 397 followers this is insane 🖤🖤

-J💅🏽

[mirai-e-jump]

Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger FLT | Pamphlet ft. Main Cast Messages & Takano Minato Interview (pages and translations below, LONG POST)

Publication: mid March 2024

Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger FLT (act.1)

The story of the Royal Sentai ended with the defeat of the Uchu King Dagded Dujardin. That's how it was supposed to go, but…

Soon after, there was alittle incident. Make no mistake, Chikyu is also at risk. But, it's hopelessly stupid and ridiculous, and will definitely cause a big commotion. An inconceivable comedy. We'd be happy if it makes you laugh.

-Synopsis-

The kings have gathered for the "Six Kingdom Summit" to decide who's most suitable for the "face" of the new banknotes, but for some reason, the "story" takes an unexpected turn…..

Hehehehe.

Sakai Taisei (Gira Husty/KuwagataOhger) "I'm going to rule the world!"

The king of Shugoddam, the largest country in Chikyu, and the one where the guardian god resides. He transforms into KuwagataOhger. He grew up in an orphanage in Shugoddam's castle town, but it later turned out that he was the younger brother of the (then) king, Racules. However, his true identity is a life form created by the Uchu King Dagded. His ability to communicate with the Shugods and his immortal body were inherited from Dagded.

"Looking back, say a few words for the character you spent a year playing!" I feel like I've also grown after being moved by Gira's feelings for others!! Thank you Gira Husty!

"Out of all 50 episodes, which one was the most memorable?" It's episode 49! It was cool to see everyone working together to take down Dagded! Don't mess with Racules's little brother! Stuff like that was good!

"Sakai Taisei's "confidential episode" that he can only talk about now!" I was given the OK for a take in episode 48 where my pants zipper was wide open! When I checked, it was well hidden. Thank goodness~💦

"Please show us your enthusiasm for the Final Live Tour!" This will be the culmination of King-Ohger, and it may be the last time we'll be able to meet everyone! Let's enjoy it as much as we can!

"A message to the fans who have supported you over the past year!" Thank you for your support over the past year! The warmth and energy I felt when meeting everyone at these events was truly encouraging! It would make me happy if you continue to love Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger from now on! See you later ^_^

Watanabe Aoto (Yanma Gast/TomboOhger) "I'm on top!"

The king of N'kosopa, the country of technology. He transforms into TomboOhger. N'kosopa's national power, which was once a satellite state of Shugoddam, has been greatly enhanced by technological innovations. Although he himself is a top class engineer, he was originally born in a slum and is considered an "upstart" He's got a bad mouth and says "octomush" and "slack jawed tanuki" on a daily basis.

"Looking back, say a few words for the character you spent a year playing!" Thank you Yanma Gast.

"Out of all 50 episodes, which one was the most memorable?" I have fond memories of episode 2, which was shot on location during the cold season, and was created together with the extras who applied to be in the show.

"Watanabe Aoto's "confidential episode" that he can only talk about now!" Halfway through my nose wouldn't stop running, so I was given multiple "runny nose NG" cuts.

"Please show us your enthusiasm for the Final Live Tour!" With the story that everyone's put together in their minds, we'll beat things down with guts and brains until the very end.

"A message to the fans who have supported you over the past year!" Thank you for your support over the past year. The story ends here, but I'd be happy if you remember us again someday and come visit us here in Chikyu to play. And with that, until we meet again!!

Murakami Erica (Hymeno Ran/KamakiriOhger) "I'll do as I please and follow my own path!"

The queen of Ishabana, the country of fine art and medicine. Having lost her parents in the "Wrath of God," she became king at a young age. She transforms into KamakiriOhger. She loves beautiful and cute things, and will always get what she likes by any means necessary. However, on the other hand, she's also a passionate doctor who has no hesitation in "saving someone's life."

"Looking back, say a few words for the character you spent a year playing!" I'd be happy if many people were "saved" by Hymeno's strength!

"Out of all 50 episodes, which one was the most memorable?" It's episode 28, where the kings swap bodies! In any case, we had fun and I think we saw the depth of each other's roles!

"Murakami Erica's "confidential episode" that she can only talk about now!" I brought my own bento to maintain my health and stay in shape, and yet……the famous tokusatsu "popeye onigiri," I never got to try it!!! (laughs)

"Please show us your enthusiasm for the Final Live Tour!" I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone who supported King-Ohger in all the regions around the country! Let's have lots of fun together 💛

"A message to the fans who have supported you over the past year!" Thank you for your support of King-Ohger over the past year! Even though the broadcast is over, I hope that this production will live on in everyone's hearts. Take care~💛💛💛

Hirakawa Yuzuki (Rita Kaniska/PapillonOhger) "Remain immovable"

The king of Gokkan, the country of ice and snow. They also serve as the Chief Judge of the International Court of Justice, which protects the neutrality of the world. Because of their position, not only do they always keep their facial expressions hidden, they rarely show emotion, but when they're at a loss, they sometimes makes strange noises. They're of few words, and never speak in public about anything unnecessary. The only thing they can make an exception for is their plushie of the animated character "Moffun." They transform into PapillonOhger.

"Looking back, say a few words for the character you spent a year playing!" It was difficult, but it was really fun to perform!

"Out of all 50 episodes, which one was the most memorable?" It's episode 5, "The King of Winter is Coming." It was my first trial scene, and it was a very important part of the story, so I clearly remember being very nervous during filming. It was really embarrassing when I said "death penalty" to Gira in the scene where I should've said "not guilty"……It's a fond memory now (laughs).

"Hirakawa Yuzuki's "confidential episode" that she can only talk about now!" To be honest, I'm not good with early mornings, I'm always in high spirits, but in the morning I'm about 2 beats behind in my reactions…(laughs).

"Please show us your enthusiasm for the Final Live Tour!" I'd like to express my gratitude to everyone who's supported King-Ohger!! Definitely look forward to it :) I'm also looking forward to meeting everyone! I also want to eat lots of tasty food~! (laughs).

"A message to the fans who have supported you over the past year!" To everyone who's supported Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger over the past year, thank you so much. Everyone's messages of support and the power you gave me at these events kept me going until the end. I'd be very happy if this production remains in everyone's hearts even after the broadcast is over. King-Ohger is the best!! Thank you!!!

Kaku So (Kaguragi Dybowski/HachiOhger) "By any means necessary!"

The lord of Toufu, the country of agriculture. He transforms into HachiOhger. He's always humble and polite in tone, but the theatrics of his words and actions tend to stick out, so he's what you'd call a "trickster." He's "two faced" and will lie with ease in order to achieve his goals, but he's also willing to take the initiative to sweat and dirty his hands by "tainting them pitch black" in order to protect the lives of his people.

"Looking back, say a few words for the character you spent a year playing!" You're so cool Kaguragi! Just like you, I'll live big so that I can protect what's important to me!

"Out of all 50 episodes, which one was the most memorable?" It's episode 37!! Interacting with the former lord Iroki was fun to perform, and it was cool as Kaguragi too!!

"Kaku So's "confidential episode" that he can only talk about now!" Around the time the script was being finished, I avoided doing muscle training because I figured Kaguragi would be more of a brainy character, but then I thought a powerful character would be more interesting, and so I enjoyed my muscle training life.

"Please show us your enthusiasm for the Final Live Tour!" At last, the final stage! We'll all do our best to bring out the charm of King-Ohger without fail. Please enjoy it until the very last moment!

"A message to the fans who have supported you over the past year!" Thank you very much for your support so far. Without everyone's warm support, I wouldn't have been able to make it through this past year at full power! There's no doubt, King-Ohger has become an irreplaceable and important work in my life! I hope this production will remain in everyone's hearts for a long time!

Ikeda Masashi (Jeramie Brasieri/Spider Kumonos) "I rule over all and decide the fate of the world."

A man born between his father, the sixth hero that saved mankind 2,000 years ago, and his mother Nephila, a Bugnarak. His real name is Jeramie Idmonarak Ne Brasieri. He transforms into Spider Kumonos. As a "storyteller," he has long passed down the history of Chikyu, but finally realized his purpose when he showed up to stop the war between humans and Bugnarak.

"Looking back, say a few words for the character you spent a year playing!" I'm happy that I encountered Jeramie, and that he was loved and accepted.

"Out of all 50 episodes, which one was the most memorable?" The first six person Royal Arms transformation. It's the best part about Sentai heroes, and I remember getting goosebumps the moment I saw the image of those six.

"Ikeda Masashi's "confidential episode" that he can only talk about now!" I spilled coffee on my pure white costume.

"Please show us your enthusiasm for the Final Live Tour!" We'll do our best to make it enjoyable for everyone.

"A message to the fans who have supported you over the past year!" King-Ohger wouldn't have been possible without everyone who has supported us. Thank you for all the love! May it continue to remain in everyone's memories. Thank you for the past year!!

Yano Masato (Racules Husty/OhkuwagataOhger) "May the blessings of the Shugod's be upon these warriors!"

The former king of Shugoddam. He inherited the throne from his father, Causus Husty. He believed that it wouldn't be easy to protect Chikyu from the threat of the Uchu King Dagded, and while acting like a selfish and reckless tyrant himself, his intent was to earn Dagded's trust and patiently wait for his chance to prevail. He transforms into OhkuwagataOhger. He joins forces with the Royal Sentai in the final battle.

"Looking back, say a few words for the character you spent a year playing!" I'm happy that I was able to play Racules!

"Out of all 50 episodes, which one was the most memorable?" For me, I have memories from every episode, including the ones I didn't appear in, but I'll never forget (the performance of) Sakai-kun fighting during filming of the first episode.

"Yano Masato's "confidential episode" that he can only talk about now!" Starting from the second chapter, my body had gotten so big that my costume became abit too tight (laughs).

"Please show us your enthusiasm for the Final Live Tour!" We'll do our very best to entertain everyone!

"A message to the fans who have supported you over the past year!" King-Ohger was really deep, huh? ^_^ I was very happy to be involved in this production! I think I made it through this past year due to everyone's support. From now on, it would make me happy if it continues to live on in everyone's hearts forever!

Friends of the King-Ohgers

Shugoddam Douga: He was the retainer and right hand man for Racules, and was in charge of Shugoddam's "military" affairs. Although he tried to find employment in the other countries, he eventually returned to Shugoddam and became the retainer to the new king, Gira. His personality is always serious. Kogane & Boone: A young girl and boy who love Gira, and who lived with Gira in an orphanage in Shugoddam's castle town. Goroge: In a way, he's a prominent figure, who for better or for worse, is someone who expresses his honest thoughts through words and actions when a major incident occurs.

N'kosopa Shiokara: Yanma's retainer who has deep respect for him. Originally a criminal in an organization that circulated counterfeit money in N'kosopa, he was reformed after meeting Yanma. He took on a supportive position for Yanma, who believes that technology can change the future. Akka, Usuba & Mayuta: These three are citizens of N'kosopa, who along with Shiokara, were once involved in the circulation of counterfeit money. After meeting Yanma, they were reformed like Shiokara. Their relationship with Shiokara hasn't changed since then.

Ishabana Sebastian: Hymeno's retainer. He's actually 25 years old, but when he became Hymeno's butler, he was given special makeup to give him an older appearance, and his name was changed from his real name, Romane Dearborn. Originally, he was the heir to a ducal family that has existed in Ishabana for 1,000 years. Elegance Moun: The chief physician of Ishabana. As her name suggests, she has an elegant appearance, but shows no compromise in her work (medical care), and acts with a strong will and sound judgment. Hymeno also places deep trust in her. Cleo Urbanus: The head maid who serves Hymeno…..which she is, but she has great physical strength and is also good at martial arts. In order to save Hymeno and the others, she once confronted a group of Sanagim and fought them off. In the final battle, she fought bravely alongside Kuroda and the others.

Gokkan Morphonia: Rita's retainer. She's a lazy person, and would rather not work if she can help it, but she does her job well. She's also the person who best understands the pain of loneliness that Rita carries. As a "child of criminals," she has mixed feelings about her position as a candidate to succeed Rita.

Toufu Kuroda: Kaguragi's retainer. Because of his position, he's usually quiet, but when he speaks, he has a smooth voice. His appearance is that of a so called "Kuroko," but the cloth that covers his face has a smile drawn on it. There are other Kuroko's who work at Takitate Castle, but Kuroda is thought to be their leader. Suzume Dybowski: Kaguragi's younger sister whom he dotes on. She calls him "big brother." She was in poor health as a child. She lived in Shugoddam as a "hostage" for the reconstruction of Toufu, but when she realized Racules's "objective," she chose to live as his willing accomplice.

Earth Empire Bugnarak An evil kingdom ruled by Desnarak VIII. After the overthrow of Desnarak VIII, it was reborn as the "Inbetween Land Bugnarak." Although it was once destroyed by the Uchu King Dagded, efforts to rebuild were continued in secret with Jeramie at the forefront.

Desnarak VIII: Ruler of the Bugnarak. Possessing the characteristics of an earthworm, he obtains nutrients from the soil and transforms them into his own energy. He met his end after being betrayed by Prime Minister Kamejim, but emerged from the Land of Death in the final battle. He worked together with the Royal Sentai and sent Kamejim to the Land of the Dead. Kamejim: Although he was the Prime Minister who served Desnarak VIII, he was actually the mastermind behind the battle between humans and Bugnarak, and was "Kamejim of Vanity" of the Uchu Five Jesters, who infiltrated Chikyu under the orders of Dagded. After that, he resumed his activities as Kamejim Unka. Daigorg: General of the Bugnarak who possesses the characteristics of a horned dung beetle. A hero to the Bugnarak, he contributed greatly to the unification of the underground world. He was revived through the technology of Shugoddam, but was defeated in a fierce battle with King Caucasuskabuto. Gerojim: A monster possessing the characteristics of a mayfly. By applying light refraction, he can mimic the appearance of a human. After being saved by Jeramie, he became loyal to him, and soon after was active as Jeramie's retainer, who had become the king of the "Inbetween Land Bugnarak."

Uchu Five Jesters A group of aliens led by the Uchu King Dagded. Up until now, they've led different species on numerous planets to conflict and destruction. With their sights set on Chikyu as their next target, they first attacked the Inbetween Land Bugnarak, and then launched a full scale attack to destroy all living beings on Chikyu.

Dagded Dujardin: The creator of all insect life forms. He has an invulnerable body that's immune to all attacks, and because of this, he always has time to speak and act in a way that belittles his opponents. For him, the destruction of other life forms is merely a form of "tidying up." Goma Rosalia: One of the Uchu Five Jesters known as "Goma of Suspicion." He possesses the characteristics of a longhorn beetle. He has the ability to swap any concept, from human minds to matter, and has swapped the bodies of the kings of six kingdoms. He unexpectedly died in battle after being brainwashed by Hilbill. Hilbil Leech: One of the Uchu Five Jesters known as "Hilbill of Enticement." She brainwashed the king's retainers and citizens, turning the human race on Chikyu into mobs. Finally, she brainwashed (it's implied) herself to become a giant in order to corner the King-Ohgers, but was ultimately defeated. Minongan Moth: One of the Uchu Five Jesters known as "Minongan of Concealment." Just as he looks, he's a "power fighter," with high offensive and defensive power. Angered by the defeat of Hilbil, he challenged the Royal Sentai to a battle in order to give him what he craved, but was defeated by the combined power of Kaguragi and Rita's "King's Proof." Grodie Leucodium: One of the Uchu Five Jesters known as "Grodie of Tranquility" He's the one responsible for causing the "Wrath of God." In order to defeat this "living corpse," the Royal Sentai implemented a strategy to bring him back to life. Grodie tried to bring upon the "Wrath of God" again, but was dealt the final blow.

"Thank you for your support over the past year"

Main Screenwriter Takano Minato Interview

"By the time this article is published, Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger's broadcast will have already finished airing. At this point (at the time of this interview), the writing process of the script may still be fresh in your mind, but how do you feel after writing a year long drama series?"

Takano: I'm clumsy by nature, so all I've been thinking about for the past year was "King-Ohger." I was just concentrating on the production. It's not an exaggeration to say that I was risking my life. That's why I feel so much attachment to it. In reality, I had to immediately start working on "King-Ohger VS Donbrothers" right after I finished the script for the final episode, so I didn't feel a sense of freedom (laughs), but I did feel a sense of accomplishment that I had made it to the end.

"So far, you've participated in the Kamen Rider series as one offs, but King-Ohger was the first time you participated in the Super Sentai series. Furthermore, it was the position of Main Writer……"

Takano: Toei's Producer Omori Takahito, who I worked with on "Kamen Rider Ex-Aid" and "Kamen Rider Zero-One," called me through his office, where I remember immediately saying, "I'll do it!" (laughs). For me, the most significant thing I had done before King-Ohger was the hour long drama "Shinhannin Flag," which ran for two quarters (half a year). That production was an original project for TV, it wasn't an adaptation, and one hour a month for half a year is about the same as 30 minutes a month over one year, right? I think I was lucky in terms of timing, as I was able to build such a track record.

"There were many challenging factors to the production of King-Ohger."

Takano: The first thing Omori-san told me was the concept of the project, "Everyone is part of the Royal Sentai. Furthermore, all of them are the strongest." Then, a switch was flipped and I thought, "Interesting!" We decided to have a brainstorming session, and on that day, I had created and submitted a complete set of ideas for the worldview of King-Ohger, the image for each country, character settings, and the overall series structure. At that point, I had already included the story surrounding the Uchu King and Racules. Looking back, it was like I had put everything I liked and had accumulated since childhood into it. For the main characters, with the exception of Gira, everything I wrote at the time went almost unchanged.

"What do you mean when you say accumulated?"

Takano: In the household I grew up in, TV and video games were prohibited when I was young, but because of my parents work, I was surrounded by children's literature, picture books, and the shonen manga that my father loved. I grew up devouring a variety of stories, so I was lucky to come across a project that allowed me to make use of that. I think that's why I was able to make it through the past year even though it was my first challenge in the Super Sentai series.

"You've created a magnificent worldview, but how did you feel when you first saw the completed footage?"

Takano: I was surprised. This was the first time for Toei to introduce virtual production in full, so I started writing the script early on, but then Omori-san told me, "You've written so much, but it may be impossible (to visualize it as imagined)." Here too I was like, "Well, you may be right……" And to be honest, I was also worried about how it would turn out. Over time, I wondered if he would eventually say something like, "We can't do this anymore, so let's stop." But, then I saw the footage, and those worries were blown away. Rather, I thought this would allow me to further expand my image. The CG assets (background materials) from each country were also excellent, which further increased my motivation.

"We were told by Director Kamihoriuchi Kazuya, who was the Main Director of the show, that the more Takano-san pushes himself, the better the script gets."

Takano: (laughs). He'd say things like……"Takamina, you only start scratching your head when you're getting serious." When I'm worried, I seem to scratch unconsciously. I think the first time I became numb to that person (Director Kamihoriuchi) was when we were finalizing the script for episodes 1 and 2, and there was a moment when the meeting stalled. At such times, because of my position, the Screenwriter often plays the role of communicator or someone who summarizes everyone's opinions, but when I tried to do so, he firmly said, "No, let's just think about making it interesting right now." That attitude had remained constant throughout. He's very particular about "creating interesting productions." When it comes to scripts, I stick to every last line until the very last minute before the submission deadline. Instead of motivating me, he just lets me write it until the end. It wasn't an easy task, but I could feel that it had become more interesting as I was revising it, and the Director was able to add the finishing touches to make it even better. I think that his uncompromising attitude had a great impact on the production. Just once, I'd like to see the Director make a movie with a budget of atleast 10 billion. I think he could make something amazing.

"Takano-san also visited the filming set as much as possible."

Takano: I myself used to have a theater company, and I just love the current state of creative production. I would look at the set with a feeling of respect, but it was also beyond my imagination. No one ever really talks about it, but everyone's passionate about it, they're all passionate about making something as "interesting as possible." Everything was so ingenious down to the finest detail, that it makes you think, "They'd really go this far?" So, no matter which episode you watch, it's already multiple times more interesting than the draft of the script. It was truly a rewarding job as a Screenwriter. It's not exactly Jeramie, but I included some "between the lines" in the script to think about. There was never a time when I thought, "This is wrong!" when looking at the footage created by those on set. It was more like, "Eh? You picked up on this here too?" I thought they were an amazing team, and I was again reminded of the beauty of "working together to create a work of art." I'll never forget the many warm words of encouragement I received from the staff on site.

"What do you think of the cast? Despite the large number of characters that appeared, we think that all of them became very lovable."

Takano: They were wonderful. What can be said in general is that everyone loved and nurtured their roles above all else. This is true not only for the main six, but also for Racules's Yano-san, and for everyone else who played a part as the retainers……It's all thanks to the cast that the roles expanded beyond what I originally had in mind. I used to do theater, so by getting to know them, I wanted to write scripts that brought out the best in the people performing them. So, when I went to the set, I actively talked to the cast. To give an example, when I asked Watanabe Aoto-kun, who plays Yanma, "Do you have any stories you want to do?," he said, "I've got alot" and he offered lots of ideas. Among them was a story about Yanma giving up everything for Shiokara, and I thought, "That might be good!" I expanded on it and wrote episode 35, "Don't Cry Slack Jawed Tanuki." Another thing was Rita's Hirakawa Yuzuki-chan, who said she wanted to "show her face," so I thought I'd write something with that.

"The enemy was changed from the Earth Empire Bugnarak in the first half, to the Uchu Five Jesters in the second half."

Takano: I also love villains, and even when I watch "Batman," I get emotionally invested with the Joker, so I was very particular about the evil setting. As for the Uchu King Dagded, I wanted him to be absolutely evil, so I decided not to explore any positive aspects of him. The Bugnarak arc was calculated backward from the Uchu Five Jesters arc, but I didn't want it to be a predictable development, so I put alot of thought into the order in which the monsters (Kaijim) would appear. It makes sense that Iragajim (episode 22) and Zarigajim (episode 24) appear at the end of the Bugnarak arc. Since Iragajim can steal Shugod Souls from the Shugods, which Bugnarak need to become gigantic, it was necessary to have him. And since Zarigajim was sent for the plan to destroy Chikyu, his appearance was timed that way. After that, there's the Uchu Five Jesters arc, and once again, all my favorite voice actors were cast (laughs), so I didn't want them to say anything meaningless, even if it was just one line of dialogue…..I was really happy because my favorite elements were included here as well (laughs).

"Please tell us how the final episode was created."

Takano: One climax was the story of Racules (episodes 42 and 43). There has always been some debate about how to conclude Racules, and one possible direction was to have him die, but if he died, he would become a hero. I felt that Racules, as a criminal, needed to pay for his past crimes, which is why it took the form you've all seen. In the following episodes, I again thought, "I'm not sure what I should write," but I decided to work on what I hadn't written yet by that point, and carefully complete them one by one. And so, episode 45 was about Kaguragi and Rita. I originally conceived Kaguragi and Rita as paired characters, but I wanted to rework that part of the story and include the issue of successors, which is inevitable in a story about kings. Then, episode 46 was about Hymeno and Jeramie. While also telling the story of their parents, I dealt with the issue of "life," as it's something those two have in common. Then, episode 47 is the reckoning of the "Wrath of God." The remaining three scripts were episode 48 to the final episode, which of course will be the story of defeating Dagded, but when it came time to decide what to do after that, Director Kamihoriuchi said, "Let's bring out everyone."

"Especially around episodes 49 and 50 (the final episode), the "Characters" section of the script was amazing."

Takano: The last three scripts were written as a way of "giving back" to various people. Even if it was just one word, I tried to write dialogue that would make all the cast members think, "I'm really glad to have been apart of this production." I felt the same way about the viewers, and I wanted to make them feel happy and enjoy watching King-Ohger all the way through to the end. It felt like I was writing a letter of gratitude to all of them.

"Being in charge of a one year drama series for the first time, especially a Sunday morning children's program, was there anything that you were careful about or anything you noticed?"

Takano: Since I don't have a family yet, I did some research with family members I know, but it seems that in reality, it's not easy to have the whole family sitting calmly in front of the TV the whole time during Sunday mornings. However, on the other hand, Toei's Super Sentai series and Kamen Rider series are among the few programs today that are mainly for children, but are also watched by their parents, so the idea was to create something that would be "interesting" to all audiences. So, of course I worked really hard on the aspect of it being a serial drama, but I also tried to include elements that could be enjoyed even if you watch only that episode during the weekly broadcasts. It was difficult to find a balance between it being worth watching as a serial drama and being interesting as a stand alone drama. The range of what I want to show is infinite, but that doesn't mean I should settle for the greatest common denominator, and I wanted to deliver something that was by no means mediocre. That's something I've always been aware of.

"Especially in the second half, we feel that this goal became more apparent. Dagded and the Five Jesters are so unique……(laughs). Normally, when a strong enemy appears, the story tends to go in a more serious and dark direction, but because the main enemy is a guy like that, the visuals of the strategies that are carried out can become funny. We're sure it would be easier to adjust the overall "taste" though."

Takano: I thought it was important to make a topic of conversation in that way, such as "the episode where the characters swap bodies" or, "the episode when the kings become children." No matter how exciting the main story may be, it's difficult to attract new viewers if it becomes contained, right? In recent years, I often see headlines like, "XX and XX have finally teamed up, and XX has been activated!" in online news articles, but for those who haven't seen it yet, It's just a bunch of words they don't understand (laughs). Instead, for example, using words like "trial by combat" or chosing a generic expression such as "sibling confrontation"……I was also particular about that. Then, as I mentioned earlier, there's the awareness of the target audience, which is family. Depending on their age, some children will enjoy different parts from their parents, so I was hoping that they would atleast find a character that they liked or that they could empathize with. If such a character exists, it's a reason to continue watching the show. I thought about this too, but I don't think it would have worked without the efforts of each of the cast members. For example, Douga-san was in a position where it was difficult to make him seem human, but I was inspired by Morioka Yutaka-san's performance, and later ended up writing the story about him looking for a job (laughs). Really, if I talk about each of these things one by one there is no end to it, and I feel that King-Ohger was a production that everyone worked on with a positive and pure passion.

"And finally, the story that'll be performed at the Final Live Tour is also written by Takano-san. We heard that the actual writing is still in the works….."

Takano: Since it's a stage play, It feels abit like I've returned home (laughs). However, since then, I've had the opportunity to write many scripts for movies and TV dramas and gained alot of experience, so I'd like to write what I can write because of who I am now, and what I write is because I'm in the world of King-Ohger. One thing I intentionally avoided in the TV series is that because they're kings, I basically didn't let them make choices like doing something in exchange for their lives. However, now that the kings have bonded with each other, I wonder if such a story is possible. Also, since it's a special stage performance, I'm thinking of ways to involve the audience as well. I hope that visitors who come to the venue will also become residents of "Chikyu" and participate in the story……Some completely different ideas are being thrown around, so I don't know what will happen yet (laughs), but I'll do my best to make sure you enjoy the stage version of King-Ohger as well!

Staff Comments on episodes Main Writer Takano, Producer Kuji Producer Omori, Assistant Producer Takahashi Main Director Kamihoriuchi

Episode 1 Racules's favorite Takano-san's comment: Gira's a character who uses villainous language. I was really worried at whether he'd be liked or not. And then, what Director Kamihoriuchi and Sakai-kun created was that 30 seconds of silence. I was sure that it would be an impactful moment. I could feel the care and passion of all the people involved from every corner of the picture, and I was shaking with happiness knowing that I was going to work with such wonderful people on this production for a year.

Episode 2 Yanma's favorite

Episode 3 Takano-san's comment: A beautiful and glittering princess, and a strong and noble queen. Cute and cool coexisting. There was no need to give up on either. She won't flatter anyone. Still, she wants to protect and be protected, love and be loved. She'll make it all happen. Living selfishly. The character of Hymeno-sama was also the "prayer" for the girls who watched the show.

Episode 5 Rita's favorite Takano-san's comment: It was an unexpected challenge to put judgment in a children's program, but I remember how relieved I felt when we received the positive response. It was also a pleasant miscalculation to find that Rita-sama stuck with adults who have gone through the hardships of society.

Episode 10 Takano-san's comment: I really wrote this with the intention of it being the final episode. I wrote the opening remarks for Legend King-Ohgers descent first, and then wrote everything backwards from there. Thankfully, the response I received was good, but at the same time, I was cursed to go all out on writing opening remarks each time.

Episode 12 Takano-san's comment: It was reeeeeeally tough! Jeramie was difficult! We were all trying to figure out what to and what not to do, but Director Kamihoriuchi turned it all around in the end, and we ended up with the best Jeramie and story! We had to revise the entire script, which I had written up to about 20 episodes at that point, but it was alright!

Kuji-san's comment: The composition, dialogue, action and music…it's a good feeling to feel the bold yet subtle professionalism in every scene. Even reading between the lines was enjoyable, and I become excited no matter how many times I watch it.

Episode 14 Jeramie's favorite

Episode 19 Takano-san's comment: When the relentless and coldhearted Producer Omori said to me, "I want the words Ohsama Sentai to have significance," a "Huh?" flew out of my lips. It took me a whole day to get to the point where I could read "kotozama" (strange) as "kotosama." As a result, I'm really glad I went through all that trouble.

Episode 26 Takano-san's comment: I've loved villains since I was a kid. The true value of a villain is at the end of their life. I loved Desnarak-sama so much that I cried while writing it. It made me really happy when Producer Omori, who shows almost no emotion said, "I cried when I read your script."

Episode 27 Takano-san's comment: Even though it had been decided from the beginning that Dagded would appear, to the viewers, it was the sudden appearance of an unknown character. Furthermore, I had been begging with "Ishida Akira-san will work best," so when it really happened, I wrote the story as if I was put my life on the line. Thanks to the overwhelming visuals and great work done by Director Kamihoriuchi and the CG team, this was an appropriate opening for the new chapter.

Episode 29 Omori-san's comment: With the start of the second chapter, I think the arrangement of this episode, after the completely serious episode 27, and episode 28, which ignored everything and was comical, was actually key for the second half of the series. The unique coolness of Jeramie and his bond with the other kings was shown through a perfect balance of script and direction.

Episode 30 Hymeno's favorite

Episode 32-33 Omori-san's comment: I won't hide it, Ryusei-san was the first one to be given the OK for his appearance. These episodes were made possible because he was already scheduled to appear in the V-Cinext, so I think that's why everyone else also appeared.

Episode 33 Kuji-san's comment: The power of the Great and Mighty Lizards (Kyoryugers), whose bravery has increased over the past 10 years was amazing, but I realized that the charm of the kings is brought out even more when there are strong characters next to them. In any case, it was an extravagant episode.

Episode 35 Takano-san's comment: Aoto-kun said to me, "I want to do a story where I have to give up everything to protect just one person, Shiokara!" This episode was made possible thanks to Chiwata-kun's efforts to develop his character of Shiokara on set and his increasing popularity. I thought this was the best part of working together to create a long story. The last scene made me cry so much that it took me a while to write it.

Episode 37 Kaguragi's favorite Takano-san's comment: It's under the pretense of…a surprise performance by a married couple, but it was a profound human drama, and a dialogue heavy one. Honestly speaking, I thought it is insane to attempt through acting. It wouldn't have been possible if Kaku-san wasn't Kaguragi. I think this is one of those episodes that pushed the limits of morning tokusatsu programs for children.

Episode 38 Takano-san's comment: "I want to do something silly" is what I used to say when writing King-Ohger. It was also a phrase to keep my sanity in check, because if I was too serious, I'd lose sight of its essence as a children's show. This was the culmination of that. The argument of, "Why idols?" was one of the most serious topics that Producer Omori and Director Kamihoriuchi had ever had. Being silly must be taken seriously.

Episode 39 Takahashi-san's comment: The high level action was something that only King-Ohger can create. I think the action scene against Goma was an unprecedented challenge for a Japanese live action drama. I rewatched the 1 minute and 10 seconds of action countless times.

Episode 40 Omori-san's comment: This is the episode where we find out that Gira was born from the Uchu King. You may not have noticed it much, but even when depicting heavier themes, I made it a rule to "always end with a victory or them standing." Even if there's a wall, kings are the ones who always stand up.

Episode 41 Takahashi-san's comment: This is the episode where Racules shows his "real face" for the first time. The line from Racules became the subtitle of the episode. It's not an exaggeration to say that 40 episodes had been accumulated for this single line, so it was the ultimate "catharsis" for me when I heard it. Yano-san's performance was also wonderful.

Episode 42 Takano-san's comment: Although the truth about Racules had been decided before I wrote the first episode, the most important thing I kept thinking about was how to reveal it. I was on a walk while I was thinking about episode 8, when it came to me and I cried. I was absolutely determined that I would not die until I wrote this episode.

Episode 49 Gira's favorite Kamihoriuchi's comment: This is the "culmination" episode of King-Ohger, where the staff and cast were giving it their all.

Episode 50 Takano-san's comment: Episodes 48-50, those three episodes were written as a long final episode. It's a conclusion that couldn't have been written without a buildup, so I wrote this as a gift of gratitude to the cast, staff and viewers. I worked on the manuscript with Producer Omori and Director Kamihoriuchi until morning, and the selfie I took with the big smile on my face while shouting, "I did it!" is my treasure.

Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger: Ancient Alphabetical Reference Table

[vickyvicarious]

I wanted her to tell me what they were; but she would only cross herself, and say she would never tell; that the ravings of the sick were the secrets of God, and that if a nurse through her vocation should hear them, she should respect her trust. [...] The dear sisters were so kind. Please God, I shall never, never forget them, nor the grave and sweet responsibilities I have taken upon me.

Sister Agatha respecting patient confidentiality (but making the effort to try and ease Mina's worries). Mina being so grateful to her and the others.

I've gotta add this hospital to the list of must-see locations on their We're Getting Closure Since Dracula's Dead tour. I can't believe I wasn't considering it already. Yes, the castle, yes, the inn (and the woman there who gave up her crucifix). Of course. But also, they absolutely must stop by the place where they got married! The place that saved Jonathan! The people who did so.

The nuns love their favorite patient and are deeply moved by his marriage in the first place, imagine how happy they would be to see him a few years down the line, so much more recovered. Still married and happy, and with a child now. And he and Mina both could thank them again for all they did, the kindness they showed...

[okimnerdy]

Trolls Headcannons (Tribe Leaders Edition)

°None of the tribes knew of the near extinction of the Pop Trolls until their first visit to Pop Village. None of them could believe that the once feared tribe were whittled down to a couple hundred. Their respect for Poppy and Branch continued to rise after learning about what they did.

°The tribes are more technologically advanced than the pop trolls in various ways. Many chalk it up to the tribe's years in isolation. The country trolls, being closer in technology, helped them ease into the new age.

Delta Dawn

°Delta doesn't fully enjoy the pop sound, but is slowly coming around due to "cross-overs" occurring between tribes. She does enjoy Poppy's company as a fellow leader though, even giving her advice on how to handle more serious cases cause of her status as Sheriff.

°Delta isn't a natural red head. She was born teal to match her tail, but believed the colors didn't convince people she was leader material. She turned it red to be taken more seriously, but left her tail alone.

°Delta's niece, Clampers, isn't allowed with the pop trolls alone due to all the candy lying around. Delta can barely wrangle her as is. She doesn't need that job being any harder.

King Quincy & Queen Essence

°The Royal Couple spent a majority of their search for Cooper in the confines of Vibe City. They sent out scouts rather than searching themselves out of fear of the pop trolls.

°Queen Essence handles most of the inner conflicts of Vibe City as well as piloting the place to the next location. She is the main go-to when it comes to large arguments on the dance floor.

°King Quincy oversees all of the music production. He felt a bit of pride when Prince D started developing a new subgenre. He works with his kingdom's scientists to see about the technological developments.

King Trollex

°Trollex always has his little buddy with him wherever he goes. They function like a service animal, reminding Trollex that he needs to get submerged for a few minutes to prevent shocking his body. Though he can function in and out of the water, Trollex's body is too used to being submerged.

°Trollex works with Prince D, Brozone, and Barb to make remixes and work on music production. He helps with the recording process and mixing over anything else.

°Trollex helped set up a few technological items in Pop Village, alongside King Quincy. These items made inter-tribe communication easier and quicker than sending a bat or a bird.

Trollzart

°Trollzart is slightly deaf in one ear due to baby classicals/instruments playing pranks on him and aiming for his ear. He was gifted a set of earplugs one holiday season as a joke from Barb.

°Trollzart enjoys working with the funk and pop trolls, but only those who respect his music rather than butchering the melody.

°Trollzart hardly ever uses his legs due to constantly flying around, so there's little strength in them. He and many other classical trolls will seek help from a funk troll or catch a ride on many of the helpful animals in the Pop Forest.

Barb

°Barb and other rock trolls went on an "apology tour" and rebuilt the damage they caused. It took several months to get most of the major buildings done, but all the base construction was done within a year. The decorating was left to the tribes.

°Barb brought out a new side to Poppy, encouraging her to be more flirty with her boyfriend. Whether or not this was a good idea is debated, but she can confidentially say from observation that Branch doesn't mind.

°Barb took lessons from the pop trolls on utilizing their hair control to constantly update her looks for concerts. She's particularly fond of the multi-colored mohawk-mullet combo.