#cuz i want to write one more short thing that would be its own chapter just for formmating but id post it with the actual last story chapter

[cuz-reasons]

Damn this fic and damn my inability to shut up

[moth--mallow]

Arthur Feeling for Merlin

Art by ( suzuen )

I'm questioning whether or not Arthur in seven deadly sins and a four nights is in love with Merlin short answer is I'm like 80% sure he is in love with her sadly and considering how nakuba does the writing for Arthur and Merlin at times I just feel so scared of what could happen in the future I don't really want to see a ship happen between these two even though they are both in their 30s, and it's kind of weird cuz Merlin raised Arthur I do think he has an unrequited love for her that maybe in seven sins he didn't realize it was love but maybe is he got older between seven sins and four nights he realized he was in love with her maybe confessed to her at one point I don't know we probably won't get up back story till the end of this manga like with the first one

Iv seen a lot of post over the years about Merlin's feelings for Arthur and a few one Arthur feelings but nobody's really going into deep explanation as to how and why certain characters feel certain things or if they have a lot of those older post I've seen are deleted so I've decided to make my own I didn't want to do this for a while I just haven't had time

🟠perralles between escanor and Arthur

❤️Royalty,power,and they're love for merlin

🟣Royalty

I know you're probably wondering why bring up escanor and Arthur well they have a lot of parallels a lot of people have talked about them before but I don't see it discussed as much as it used to be but there are a lot there was even a point I thought

Maybe they were possibly related like now that we know in the current story that Arthur isn't a pin dragon by blood it could be possible that maybe escanor was Arthur's uncle like maybe his brother survived and had a kid and that kid turned out to be Arthur but this is just me guessing or making up a theory so let's get into the parallels between them

🩷

Both Arthur and escanor are the second son of a royal family from the south though Arthur was adopted into the royal family of Camelot he ended up becoming its king I'm not sure why his older brother kay wasn't picked to be king but maybe in Camelot you have to prove yourself by doing a heroic task to be the king maybe it's not by bloodline, or people really just saw that kay was a spoiled brat and did not want him on the throne 😅

And as you can tell both escanor and Arthur's older siblings didn't seem to like them much and as we saw in escanor's flashbacks in the anime and I believe even the manga his older brother was abusive towards him and during one of his abusive attacks escanor unlocked sunshine and hurt his older brother

I'm not sure when it was revealed I would have to go back and look or see if it was maybe in a q&a but it was revealed that escanor's Kingdom that he originally came from was destroyed by Viking Invaders got caught in a war and was destroyed

And as we all know from the seven deadly sins series Arthur's home Camelot was destroyed sadly

Escanor had no interest in his home since everyone including his own parents turned on him the only person he had to look to for comfort and Hope was his caretaker/aid I believe who watched over him Rosa, but as we know Rosa passed away because

escanor went and visited her in the capital of the Dead and then at some point later on escanor meets Merlin and falls in love with her but not just because she looks like Rosa because as he said she saw him as his own person and never truly treated him like a monster

Same with Arthur kinda,king Uther was busy being King so probably didn't have much time for even his own biological son kay,let alone Arthur and not sure if Arthur had friends or not when he was younger

Cuz we've only had a side chapter to explore his backstory when he was younger we still don't even know how he met Merlin outside of cover art an few flash back panels scattered throughout 300+

chapters, I'm hoping at some point in four nights we get more on Arthur and Merlin's backstory and how they met because why was Merlin just allowed to take Arthur because he's not a biological child of the throne maybe and they were okay with her adopting him or something it's never been clarified and I'm confused about this still to this day.

My theory is that like in all king Arthur story Arthur is still king Uther son by blood but he adopted Arthur so no one would know he had a child outside his marriage to cover everything up and his affair

🟠Power

As we now escanor had sunshine a power/Grace that came from the supreme deity and with this power in the daytime! Physical appearance and a personality change but at night he was his normal self

☀️

🌌

And then there's Arthur who has chaos and as we can see in the sequel series similar to how eskenor's power Sunshine changed his personality chaos has completely changed Arthur's personality after he consumed more of it

And as much as people hate to hear this between the two of them Arthur is the more powerful he has chaos which is the power to create and control reality itself chaos the being itself created all of the races but the races that resemble chaos the most were humans and due to that the supreme deity

and demon King who were also created by chaos fear that they wouldn't be loved or favorite and sealed chaos away Merlin found out about chaos and spent 3,000 years dedicating her life to finding the next Wilder of chaos who will wield it perfectly and as we know hawk mama was chaos itself and she was even in Camelot around the same time Merlin met Arthur

(go to the wiki on mama hawk it tells you she was in Camelot 10 years ago around the time the seven deadly sins were all framed for the murder of the head night Gill thunders father, in Merlin was also in Camelot around that time cuz she met Arthur whenhe was five I believe Mama hawk was there because Arthur the new host of chaos was there but at some point she met meliodas and he ended up taking hawk and hawk mama with him as he traveled around looking for the other sins and made the bar hat, although I wish they had been better foreshadowing that hawk mama was chaos I think we got to throw a line line in the movie that she was the mother of chaos but we hadn't heard of chaos any other part of the story before the chaos are so it just feels like bad foreshadowing)

but I don't think Merlin learned where chaos was stored so maybe during her travels with Arthur I don't know this is just me guessing it was never explained how Merlin knew that hawk mama was the mother of chaos is she called her in the first seven deadly sins movie

Arthur chaos power has consumed his original personality like how escanor personality was somewhat consumed by sunshine

🔵

And merlin

Do I think escanor loves Rosa yes the same way I believe unfortunately that Arthur does love Merlin the same way I think I've said this before even this post or another but it wasn't really uncommon for the time that the story is set in for people to fall in love with older people in their lives such as tutors and mentors and even older cousins 🤢 or relatives or a family in-laws or older family friends

It's even still kind of like that today we're older people want to not really date in their own age range but date someone older because they feel that they have more answers or a bit more maturity to them and that people around their own age just don't have anything they're looking for

But an escanor and even Arthur's case Rosa and Merlin were their soul caretaker who took care of them and risked their lives for them unconditionally

Already talked about how escanor fell for merlin but he didn't just fall for her because she looked like Rosa he fell from Merlin as he got to know her over time and I believe the same happened let Arthur but

I'm going to try to look at this from both Merlin and Arthur's point of view from Merlin's point of view Arthur is someone she loves and cherished not just as a student but like a child maybe although it hasn't really been said that's just the feeling you kind of get through her body language and how much she cares for Arthur we still don't know much about Arthur and Merlin's past we've only gotten pieces that's led up to the current day with the fake Merlin and Camelot that sorry for spoilers is no longer around cuz Arthur killed her off after

plot device

🤭 (sorry ) Guinevere called Arthur out for making what she thought was an illusion of Merlin but was actually a fairy he captured that he had take on Merlin's form since she's no longer with him for some reason

There another think to merlins other love interest meliodas and both escanor

Although Merlin wasn't able to reciprocate eskenor's feelings she did kiss him goodbye and keep the burns that show that he was alive and it's proof that there was one man alive who loved her we also know due to 3,000 years ago and The holy war she met meliodas and fell in love with him but he already had Elizabeth

And I seen people ask before and even talked about it another post people have asked with Merlin still have searched for chaos if maybe she had met eskenor 3000 years ago or even if she had fallen in love and meliodas that loved her back and the answer is yes Merlin is a curious person she's the type of person that like she did with the seven deadly sins would have went by behind their back in order to search for chaos to feel her own curiosity so even if her lover had been meliodas or escanor 3000 years ago she still would have looked for chaos even if she had met eskenor 3000 years ago he's still human he would have died eventually maybe in his late 60s-80s like most humans do

So even after his death she still would have looked for chaos to get over her sadness

And then when it comes to Arthur love for merlin

Do I think Arthur's in love with Merlin 😮‍💨

The thing for me on one hand I think chaos is taking Arthur's ideas and feelings too far I don't think he had maybe ever wanted to bring people back but if he got corrupted by the fragment of chaos he absorbed and made him want to bring people back do I think he probably loves Merlin yes 😐 and now maybe there are some unrequired feelings he never realized he had that of come to the surface and it's coming off as love

On the other hand he could fully be in love with her cuz like I said earlier in this post people have been known in this time The story set in to fall for their mentors and older people and looking back at the

story we never really saw or got to see Arthur interact with people of his kingdom or if he had friends or anything or even see him interact with his brother or even meet his sister Morgana lafaye if she's in the story at all we didn't see him get to form any relationships with anyone around his age the only other person around Arthur's age was Elizabeth but her soul character was tied to meliodas and the sins and her curse I wish we could have seen a

friendship develop between Arthur Elizabeth go through and maybe some of the other younger characters like Jericho as well that would have been cool and it could have been set up Jericho working for Arthur down the line cuz I don't think they ever met or even know each other at all in the story looking back I think they talked once the same time Arthur met escanor and that's the only interaction they ever had,

it also has me wondering about eskenor's jealousy towards Arthur, like some others have said I always stop asking or jealousy towards Arthur was a bit odd I think it would only be natural for Merlin to care for Arthur because like I said she sees him as a student / child of her own I don't think she has any romantic feelings for him maybe ,

but maybe even though they met once maybe due to how Merlin seems so attached to Arthur and said how she felt like Arthur was her hope and then later on in the chapter after Arthur's got stabbed with Excalibur well being mind-controlled

escanor over here Merlin's talk about how important Arthur was to her the same way meliodas is important to Elizabeth that could be interpreted as loves from an outside point of view which I think escanor did

maybe Arthur even overheard this in his unconscious state of sleep and is mistaking Merlin's feelings for love after all

looking back Merlin has been there for so many important moments in the story with Arthur from him getting stabbed with Excalibur to him getting chaos and even them going to lions in the first arc

Even though I don't like it and I hope this doesn't come up but considering how nakuba does his writing in this story

we're going to find out that Arthur is indeed probably in Love with Merlin and this probably for me when it comes to the story and how nakuba does his characters in relationships in nanatsu no taizai and four knights,

it's a big 80% we'll see that Arthur loves her and at some point either confessed to Merlin had feelings for Merlin just never said anything because he learned that Merlin was in love with meliodas

I'm sure at some point Arthur even asked Merlin about the burns on her face and she probably told him what happened with escanor,

because again looking back at it we saw in the save by light movie Merlin had her face covered and I thought that was weird I didn't think it was Merlin but from what I was told it was her

maybe at some point Merlin noticed that Arthur seem bothered by the burns on her face so she covered it

but when it comes to the fake Merlin that was in 4knights Camelot we never got to see her full face but what if her face just looked normal like Merlin used to before she got the kiss burns on her face and even if maybe she still did have the burns on the fake version of Merlin maybe that's why the her face was covered because Arthur never liked those Burns he was jealous that escanor got to kiss Merlin and

eave a mark on her that was everlasting and he might not be ever be able to get the chance do I think Arthur is in love with Merlin sadly yes do I think it'll come up in the story also sadly yes do I think it's going to lead to anything big possibly like a said before considering who's writing the story Arthur being in love with Merlin might have been used as a way to show Guinevere and how sassy she could be and even upset Arthur to the point

where he destroyed the fake illusion that was over the ferry and killed the fairy he even mentioned how he was starting to consider her as the real thing but at the end of the day we're going to see Merlin again and she and Arthur are going to come face to face and he's either going to confess to her or Merlin's already going to know Arthur's feelings and have probably already rejected him and he's probably still not over it

I used to ship Merlin and Arthur and when I saw that they were still together in four nights I was actually happy but then going back rereading the story again after a few years cuz I hadn't read in a long time and then reading four nights up to where I think at the time I started reading it was on chapter 40 I realized I no longer shipped or life to the idea of Merlin and Arthur being together because I completely had forgotten cuz I hadn't read it in a long time that Merlin was secretly a 13-14year-old I do have a theory that maybe Merlin undead her ceiling spell and maybe if she could start to age like a normal human and that way by the time she and Arthur were a bit older they would be in their twenties at the same time and then and their actual 30s at the same time as well even though technically she is thousands of years old Merlin would be 22 or 23 when Arthur 26 and that would also add up kind of in the timeline cuz I was trying to piece the timeline together based off of what some other characters have said in the story as to when Arthur started acting weird so I'm wondering if Merlin maybe did start to age alongside Arthur and he developed feelings for her in that sense as well could something have happened between now or maybe Merlin was no longer in her kid form and actually did age and go until adulthood from the same time as Arthur maybe they had a kid together I don't know this is just a random theory that I kind of also hope doesn't come true but still thought I'd share it

Sorry this is so long

And if it's there a certain parts on repeating myself for a few parts I maybe don't make a complete sense it's because I kept getting interrupted while trying to type this out sorry ,,😮‍💨

[indigoidiot]

hiiii i just finished lifeboat <3 it was really good!!! i liked all the parts with akechi talking to his two personas, i thought they were really funny and well written. i love the concept of being able to directly talk to your personas, its such a unique way to show the character's true thoughts and feelings without directly saying them. i also LOVE ryuji's characterization. i love akechi's too but i'm very particular about ryuji's characterization in fics and lifeboat captures it perfectly. i love the dynamic between the two as well!! my favorite parts are where you can see akechi's cracks in his walls where he genuinely believes that ryuji cares for him. i hope in the future we see more of him talking with his personas about ryuji and learning to trust ryuji more. i also hope ryuji breaks away from the phantom thieves. i think the connection between him and akechi in this fic is something more real and deep than what he has with them and i can't wait to see them team up in the metaverse again. maybe with loki even instead of robin hood. i think it would be so healing for akechi to be able to show both sides of himself to someone, that way maybe he can learn that those two sides of himself CAN live in harmony. and it would be good for ryuji to be on a team permanently with someone who values his ideas. i also think it could be cool to see akchi being protective of ryuji again, the scene with mona dancing was one of my favorite scenes! thank you for taking the time to write such a great fic xx

WAAAAEAWEG ANON............ TY <3.............. IM SO GLAD YOU LIKE IT..........

The persona thing started as a funny little flourish for the laughs but now i do think it's a good way to spice up inner monologue and draw a line between someone's more immediate consciousness and the deeper subconscious that personas are supposed to represent... and this is especially gonna take precedence in the next chapter onward. Particularly i like using it for Akechi since i interpret Robin Hood and Loki as something akin to his Ego and Id, aka the angel and devil on the shoulder (but a tad more complicated). The subtlety it lends helps a great deal too!

THAT SLOWBURN RELATIONSHIP BUILDING IS MY BIGGEST THING WITH RYUGORO ITS GOTTA BUILD UP SLOW AND IN AKECHI'S HALF ITS GOTTA BE CAKED IN THAT HESITANT TO TRUST BUT DESPERATE TO HOLD ONTO ENERGY... this guy is so hesitant to trust anybody or even ask for help half the time and now he's got the most clingy, annoying but in a funny and thoughtful way guy latched onto his arm and he has to express feelings of appreciation for said guy???? disgusting, goro akechi shakes his head in repulse before making a mental note to buy ryuji dinner as thanks because he doesn't know how else to express gratitude.

meanwhile in the brain of ryuji sakamoto he suffers the aftermath of flying into a situation at the speed of sound and in that aftermath faces a dilemma of which he should be more concerned for his phantom thief comrades but instead is still supporting a supposed enemy for reasons that he himself is still unaware of, as is his pretty best friend. With Akechi's own questioning he himself faces a "why did i do that" as he can do nothing but shrug and reason it with a Signature Simple Sakamoto "cuz he's my friend and i felt like it" as he stuffs that "why" in the back of his brain so he can keep pushing it back with the simple answer.

they both don't completely get why they act the way they act, both for different reasons but they've both reached the point i wanted them at where they're friends that can support each other, fight with each other and come back all the same, and still have room to learn more about the other and even upgrade that confidant if they have it in them (so help me god they do) and more is coming, i've got a roadmap going and a few scenes done, though at the rate it's going i might have to make two short chapters but i suppose that does mean it'll be more content for the fic itself.

thank you again for the kind message... I really appreciate it and im hard at work to deliver more!!! im also not above dropping a little sample of something that should go with the next chapter or two of the whole thing...

[luv-beam]

YUMI HI MY THOUGHTS WHILE READING R BELOW THE CUT AHHHH:

• i love the life you've given to ur cast already and im only at jeonghans intro!! like the new girl, yuju, eunbi, san—very very nice!! adds such a good dimension

• omg wait i love the name luna!!! PLS WAIT THE LUNATIC THING DKFNKDNF i told my mom once i liked the name luna for like a future daughter and she was like "short for lunatic?" 😭💀 like yeah sure thanks mom

• ugggh love ur worldbuilding so far w their company/organization names, and how people call them different things in different contexts like officially vs by word of mouth!!! it's very immersive in this way heh :'))) (also the crescent company is so catchy)

• RAHH OMG WAIT THE POLITCS TALK IS STARTING I SHOULD TAKE NOTES OR SUMN, not just for keeping track of plot like who pres. lee is vs major gen wi, but also cuz i suck at this kind of stuff and would love to learn how to bring more political intrigue into my writing as well

• UR DESCRIPTION OF YUNHO STOP.... WHAT IF I WAD CLAWING AT THE WALLS I LOVE HIS DUALITY SKFNDKFNFN wiping off blood that is not his own vs his full and bright laugh 😭 im gonna sob

• loved the buildup of tension of will they wont they until it actually happened skfndkfn and luna sneaking into the safe and carrying out yeo's orders—i love this gradual unfolding of info !!! omg also kinda realized that yunho and his guys arent officially apart of ateez..? so they're their own kind of org maybe?

• HELLO WAIT WHAT UH OH ^

• OKAY WAIT NO I SEE THAT YUNHOS JUST THE CONSIGLIERE THAT MAKES MUCH MORE SENSE HAHA love that its chapter one and our mc already has to gamble w her life 😭😭 hmmm but some of her motivations have been revealed...

• i would also feel betrayed by yeo in this situation tbh lol

• WHO IS UR FATHER LUNA (゜゜)

• lowkey reading the "we would have killed u last night i we really wanted to" makes me think of them like "playing w their food/prey"... ofc since this is only chapter one, their relationships will develop but im still sus hmmm also the mentions of rv spies and the mx pharma oooooo

• YOU'RE FIRED IM CRYING SKFNKDMFKF

• OMG WAIT THIS LINE IS FIRE ^

• hmmm i def see jihoons point abt how passing a little trust test doesnt get u working for the boss on ur first day. like this promotion's some nepotism shit in real life but in luna's case i feel like its more like keeping her close so they can watch her

• THE SKETCHED GUN AND PARK SEONGHWAS HAND AHHHHH I LOVE THIS DETAIL and the interaction w yunho heh ;)))))))

overall, very excited to see where the rest of ur genius takes us!!! i have a feeling its gonna be a really bumpy ride... but knowing that its literally gonna be like 200k, ofc its gonna be a bumpy ride 😭 LOVE THE INTERACTIONS SO FAR AND THE CHARACTER INTROS!! the foundations for this story that you have established so far are so strong, like i have so much appreciation for this yumi!!! thank u for ur hard work!! <3

The Leaders | Chapter I

"this is the underworld that no one escapes from."

masterlist

ot8!ateez x f!reader, mafia au

chapter warnings: mentions of violence, gangs, drinking, shooting, near-death experience, illegal businesses, seonghwa and yunho are major assholes in this chap, san and yeosang have warmed up, mention of killing, etc

chapter wc: 9.8k

chapter synopsis: it is the year 1970 in eden when an attack on the crescent bar prompts you, the bookkeeper, to carry out yeosang’s order and flee with the contents of the safe. however, you are unlucky to have discovered an unknown, suspicious package that sentences you to an early death. left with no choice, you reveal secrets about the underworld to the crescents and their underboss that even they are not aware of. will this gamble prove to be fruitful?

It was very easy to get lost in the liveliness of the Crescent Bar. Despite being stationed away from the heart of it all, you often found yourself distracted by the chatter of a couple who would occasionally pop in for a drink, the hushed whispers of a group of men who would be looking over their shoulders every few minutes, the hearty laughter that would suddenly fill the hall and spread warmth in its wake, or simply, a lone traveller who would be swaying to the light music that you were actually sick of hearing but didn’t have the heart to complain about. 

It was now second nature to jot in an observation or record transactions on an hourly basis, just like it was natural for you to take over the cashier’s place so the poor girl could take a break and move around. You no longer felt your hair rise every time you overheard a piece of information that you knew Yeosang or San would like to hear, nor did you feel your pores opening to release sweat every time they glanced your way– just like San did now, just having entered the bar and sent his trademark flirty smile in your direction.

“Restock champagne on table two, right away!” 

“On the way!” You shouted instead of the new girl who was currently finding it hard to multitask. You didn’t have to worry about a thing– Yuju, the head of staff, noticed everything as if she had eyes in every corner of the bar. She would make sure to let the girl know that she was doing well with an encouraging pat to her back.

“They’re going to empty our inventory tonight,” Eunbi shared a grin with you. “We’re going to have to check the stock again.” 

“I’ll take that– ask Jeonghan to wake the hell up and make sure we don’t run out,” you requested, sliding over to the cash register and typing in the latest entry, marking it with today’s date of 3rd April, 1970. Eunbi urged the waiters to speed up before rushing to the empty table at the left corner of the bar where Jeonghan was resting. She delivered the message with a smack and Jeonghan, who was never really asleep but just had a knack for pretending that he found the loud and bustling atmosphere of the bar relaxing, groggily walked across the hall to the door that led downstairs to check stock- or to get an actual nap. You would find that out later.

“Luna,” San greeted you with your nickname and you nodded in greeting– the nickname stuck with you after Jeonghan once called you Luna. Everyone started calling you by that name afterwards but only a handful knew it was short for lunatic and you intended to keep it that way. 

You had no desire to use your real name anyway.

“Busy night?” San slid on the stool not far from you, Eunbi passing him a sweet smile before she started to pour Black Shadow for him- a staple of the Crescent Bar as the only supplier of the famous and well-loved Utopian wine in all of Eden. San swirled the red wine in his glass casually before downing it in one gulp and Eunbi refilled it before passing the bottle to you, going to attend to more pressing matters than one of the owners casually lounging to chat.

“Kind of,,” you turned to grab yourself a glass and San poured the wine for you. The clinking of your glasses echoed even in your loud surroundings and you took a sip, taking in his appearance- you assumed he must be returning from business since he was wearing a formal black suit, though he ditched his coat at the entrance. The white sleeves were rolled up, revealing his sturdy forearms with a thick silver watch on his left wrist and a silver band on his index finger- one you had never seen him without. 

Your eyes travelled up to his face- tendrils of slick hair falling on his forehead. Choi San was one of the most attractive men you had ever seen, and hardly anyone could deny that. 

The problem was that perhaps, he really did not realise how painfully attractive he was. The man was far too humble for his own good, despite being one of the most dangerous and powerful men in Eden.

“Heard something interesting of late?” He inquired routinely. It was always a bit more casual with him as compared to Yeosang. Yeosang was the boss around here, yes, but San was the one who kept things under control. The pair of them worked together very harmoniously and you admired that, even though you had qualms about whatever they were doing- whatever you thought they were doing. Almost two years here and you still had no idea just what it was that their gang did. 

Gang, you called them though they preferred ‘organisation’. The cops preferred ‘criminal organisation’ but you supposed it was just semantics at this point. Their name was Ateez- you never heard that term directly from any of their mouths, but even a child recognised that name and knew to avoid them- or avoid trouble with them. 

But officially, they were the Crescent Company, owner of the Crescent Bar and other businesses in Eden.

“Just politics,” you finished the rest of your drink, adjusting the lone pearl ring on your right hand. “Everyone’s a little antsy with what happened at the protest. They think it’s Assemblyman General Wi’s gang.��

“General Wi would never interfere like that, though,” San scoffed in amusement- perhaps he genuinely found the idea of a man like Major General Wi resorting to dirty means hilarious. “He’s far too smart for that.”

“He is,” you had to agree. “But who else to blame? Only someone from the military would dislike people protesting against martial law. There’s only one candidate for presidency who’s got influence in the army. They think General Wi’s success in the elections would mean the army would control the state.”

“Isn’t the army somewhat controlling the state already, though?” San pondered. “President Lee has ties with the army too.”

You may have gotten used to interacting with the most feared gang in Eden, but the mention of President Lee still made you shiver involuntarily. San had noticed it one too many times and though he hadn’t asked for an explanation, you were sure you would lack the words to describe this sentiment anyway. “President Lee… cannot be controlled by the army, or anyone for that matter. General Wi may be smart but he’s still easily influenced when met with someone of a higher status- that’s what I heard,” you added the last bit hoping it wouldn’t sound like a personal opinion. 

San raised a brow at your comment- you often tried (and failed) to mask your personal opinions under the guise of news but whenever you shared something, he made sure to listen- and listen beneath what your words tried to cover up. He often found your opinions and predictions regarding politics holding some weight and he wasn’t quite sure if you were subconsciously very observant or purposely pretending to be unaware. He once asked you how you knew so much but when you didn’t discuss any information with him for a few weeks, he took the hint. You only reported officially to Yeosang and he could bet you found it easier to talk to him about these things because he wasn’t one to probe.

“Keep me updated,” San said and you nodded. “Yeosang must be inside?”

“He’s actually in Room no. 1- he has visitors.”

“Visitors?” San frowned. “Who?”

“Lieutenant Jeong and co.,” you said and San shook his head at the way you so formally addressed the man. He had told you before that no one ever referred to him as the ‘lieutenant’ but you didn’t know how else to refer to him. “I was in the office earlier so they decided to take the room.”

“That’s okay, I’ll pop in there,” he grabbed a handful of nuts from the counter before walking to the backside of the bar, disappearing in the shadows as he reached the VIP area. You took a deep breath, your mind once again wandering to the ‘guest’. 

Lieutenant Jeong Yunho was not a guest here at all. He belonged here. If you thought Choi San was intimidating, you were wrong. You still recalled the first time you saw him right outside the bar, all roughed up, wiping the blood off his face with his sleeve but not a single scratch on him while a group of men around him writhed on the floor, clutching their mangled limbs. He met your eyes and your heart sank in the worst way possible- worse than the moment you were disowned by your own father. It was simply fear, and you hated feeling fear. You made up your mind to avoid him from then on but there was only so much you could do when you worked at the place he owned. 

Oftentimes he came into the bar in the late hours of the night after wrapping up things in the main office and sat right where San had been sitting earlier in front of you, drinking the strongest wine available in silence- perhaps to sort his thoughts out. He didn’t mind you sitting near him and doing your paperwork, and you didn’t make him feel uncomfortable unlike the others who could not stop stealing glances at him- it wasn’t that you didn’t want to, but you simply could not. You didn’t want him to find out what kind of an effect he had on you.

Especially when he had the warmest laughter and his entire demeanour shifted around his comrades. It intrigued you because he felt like two different persons in one vessel. That was the only time you would allow yourself to steal glances at him- when he was distracted enough. Otherwise you didn’t dare look at him in fear that he might find something about you that you had been struggling to hide all your life.

Eunbi came back after serving a group of guests, whispering, “This one table- they were awfully quiet when I went to serve them. I don’t know if it’s because they’ve got some gossip they don’t want anyone to hear or if they’re going to try something stupid.”

You looked at her- Eunbi’s instincts were usually spot-on. “Which table?”

“Over there,” she glanced at the corner and sure enough, the group of four was already looking in your direction. You pretended to be unaffected, asking her to take over the register. While casually strolling towards the door that led to the basement at the other end of the hall, you passed their table, noticing how they resumed talking only after you were out of earshot. 

Something was up. You went downstairs to see Jeonghan napping on the couch.

“Oi,” you poked his thigh and he stirred, opening an eye. You knew he wasn’t really asleep- he wasn’t one to let his guard down, but you supposed he could have his moments of peace. “Stock?”

“Enough for tonight but I’ll place an order for tomorrow before we leave,” he said. “What’s up?”

“There’s a group at table seven. Four young men, armed with guns, awfully quiet and jumpy. Care to take a look?”

“They could have just lost a bet. They might be collecting the remnants of their pride- you tend to do that in silence,” Jeonghan mused.

“Yeah, well, I’d rather you make sure,” you said. “Lieutenant Jeong is here. They’d be stupid to try anything- anything at all, even if it’s just throwing a tantrum.”

“Ah,” Jeonghan got up and smoothened his long dark hair. “I suppose I’ll ask them if they require a better drink to down their shame.”

“Whatever,” you sniggered before going back to your position upstairs. You watched Jeonghan don his jacket as he entered the floor and he looked around, meeting eyes with the group and you both noticed two things-

That their hands went to their hip where the weapons rested, and that they exchanged quick glances with each other. Jeonghan looked at you and you shook your head, urging him to skip the plan and alert the others- it might be an attempt at robbery or worse, but they were so stupid to do that, especially tonight. 

“You’ve restocked their drinks?” You asked Eunbi.

“They just ordered another, Soojin is going to refill their drinks-”

“The new girl?” You shook your head, “She’s been jumpy all night. Stop her, right now. They’re armed, they might do something stupid-”

Before you could finish the sentence or Eunbi could carry out your order, the loud shatter of glass made you both flinch and hold on to each other as you ducked, splinters raining down on you and making you both hiss in pain when some of them met your skin. You tucked Eunbi closer before you raised your head over the counter to assess the situation-

Chaos was the word. Eunbi had been right to be suspicious- the men were now pointing guns at whoever dared to move and another gunshot sounded followed by a guttural yell of the waiter whose arm took the blow. You met eyes with Soojin who stood frozen in the middle of the room and you motioned for her to stay that way.

“No one move!” One of the men shouted, wide eyes relaying the threat. “I’ll shoot you if you move!”

“I’m going to take the register and go to the office,” you whispered to Eunbi who shook her head furiously.

“It’s too dangerous- they’ll shoot you,” Eunbi held your arms in panic but you pried her hands away, squeezing them assuringly.

“I’ll be fine- they won’t spot me. I have to hurry,” you told her and before she could insist, you started crawling away from her, keeping close to the wall and moving towards the backside of the bar, avoiding the shards of glass as best as you could. You had orders to follow- orders Yeosang trusted you would follow at a time like this. You could not disappoint him now after everything he had done for you.

The office was the nearest room from where you sat crouched and if you made a dash for it, you could probably go unnoticed- if the instigators didn’t catch movement from the corner of their eyes. They were too busy forcing the customers to line up against the walls so you could take this chance-

Without thinking any further, you gathered the material of your skirt and thanked the lord that you wore boots instead of your usual heels today as you took a few large steps to disappear into the shadows, now successfully out of their vision. You silently unlocked the door and entered the empty office, taking a deep breath once inside, the adrenaline rush making your head spin. After stealing just a few seconds to calm down, you opened the drawers to make sure nothing of importance was there and then you bent down to access the locker under the desk-

The locker of which you had the key to all this time, but never once checked the contents of. You remembered when Yeosang promoted you from cashier to bookkeeper and told you that not all their transactions were legal- you just had to keep a record and stay shut about it. That, you could do. You kept the key on you at all times, and you took it out from the inside of your skirt’s waistband, unlocking the safe and gathering the two registers and a small packet wrapped way too much to figure out what it held inside. You held the things close to your chest as you made your way out, peeking first to see if the commotion had moved away from your eyeshot. 

You took a turn to the narrow space at your right that led to the back exit, but that was not your destination- the room at the end of that corridor had a passageway that led to another exit in the alley. You slowed down at the sound of footsteps and you wondered if they were coming from right behind you-

Before you knew it, you were being pulled inside the room with a twirl that ended up with your back slamming against the wall, a gasp producing from your lips and freezing midway when you realised just who had pinned you against the wall-

Lieutenant Jeong. And he did not look pleased. 

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“Carrying out orders,” you breathed, realising just how tall and broad he was now that he was in front of you, bending to reach your height. You clutched the registers tighter reflexively, your left wrist still in his strong grip. “I’ve been instructed to flee with the contents of the safe in case of an attack.”

“By who?”

“Kang Yeosang,” you said, though you figured he already knew the answer. “I have the key.”

The man scanned you slowly as if that would give him all the answers to the questions he wasn’t asking. He knew you were the bookkeeper, but did he not know that Yeosang trusted you enough with this?

The sound of a few rushed footsteps caused him to let go of your wrists and you rubbed the skin there. It was Yuju accompanied by the manager, Mingyu, and they told Yunho that there were more men outside now.

“Did you figure out who’s behind the attack?” Yunho asked.

“Probably Chan’s gang,” Mingyu huffed, looking at you and relaxing when he saw that you were safe. “I’m going back to get the rest of the employees.”

“I’ll stay here and make sure they get out safely,” Yuju nodded, noticing the items you were clutching. “Luna- go. We’ll call you when things settle down.”

You looked at Yunho- though you didn’t need his permission, you knew that he could very well ruin things for you. He didn’t trust you- he had no reason to. He told you to wait and disappeared out of the room and Yuju widened her eyes in confusion.

“I mean… I can understand,” you shrugged. “Is everyone okay back there?”

“I don’t think they knew that Yunho and his lackeys were here,” Yuju folded her arms, hugging herself. “They’re going to regret it. Whoever it is… they’ll make him regret ever coming up with this plan.”

“Even if it was just San and Yeosang, they couldn’t have won,” you said and Yuju agreed. “They both go a little crazy too.”

“But Yunho-” she shivered. “He’s something else.”

Your lips twitched in amusement despite the gravity of the situation and moments later, Johnny- Yunho’s assistant- appeared, looking battered.

“I thought it was a gunfight- why does it look like you were in a catfight?” Yuju commented, slumping down on one of the chairs and Johnny shot her an annoyed look. 

“One, I didn’t have a gun on me. Two- they touched my hair!” Johnny huffed and you looked at the man in disbelief, all the impression you had of him going down the drain. Yuju was familiar with Johnny so she didn’t seem very surprised at his childish outburst. “Anyone who messes with my face will get worse in return.”

“Understandable,” you muttered. “Can I go now?”

“Oh, you’re staying here,” Johnny urged you to take a seat. “You’re not going anywhere- Yunho’s orders.”

“Wow, okay,” you sank down on the chair. “And you don’t have a gun? If someone comes here and tries to take these away from me?”

“They’ll have to get past me, you don’t need to worry,” he grinned. “You can relax.”

You could, but you were far too nervous to. You didn’t realise how badly you were rocking your legs until Eunbi entered and you groaned in relief to see she was unscathed. “They almost shot me. I can never get used to this.”

“You will get used to it, one day,” you told her, holding her hands and Eunbi squeezed it with an anxious smile, wondering if that was why you seemed mostly unaffected.

The rest of the employees came one by one in a matter of a few minutes, recovering from the initial shock though it quickly wore off since all of you had experienced something like this at least once- and working in a bar owned by a gang, it was bound to happen anyway. Everyone knew better than to call them a ‘gang’ to their face, though- they had spent years to make their business and organisation legal. 

Somewhat legal, you would argue as their bookkeeper who knew that wine wasn’t the only thing being consumed here. Your hand that was clutching the packet in its grip itched in answer and you looked at it in suspicion.

The few new employees like Soojin were definitely in shock and Yuju did her best to calm them down. Johnny was kind enough to crack jokes to lighten the mood and you were glad to see it was working. Some people really were here to make a living and you were sure you were going to lose a few employees after this incident.

The door opened and Yeosang entered, looking unharmed, almost unfazed. He talked with Yuju first in hushed voices- probably something about the damage they would have to deal with. When he spotted you, he smiled and called you over. You got up and followed him outside to the corridor.

“Glad to see someone followed their orders,” he commented.

“I would have gone to that building you’ve told me about but…”

“Yunho stopped you, I know.” He was going in the direction of Room no.1 where he had previously been in with Yunho but when you entered, you found not only San but Park Seonghwa as well, looking as posh as ever. 

The underboss of Crescent Company, he was the one person in all of the gang that you truly had respect for- it didn’t matter that Park Seonghwa was a criminal. You had once seen him help a lost child find his mother, and another time seen him carry a cat with a broken leg in his arms, and that had changed everything. Not only you but the whole town was aware that Park Seonghwa was a man that possessed a functioning heart unlike most of the gangsters here.

However, you were soon going to find how wrong you had been.

“Miss Jeon, please, make yourself comfortable,” Seonghwa’s calm voice sounded and you looked at Yeosang instinctively- what was happening? He only smiled though it didn’t quite meet his eyes, pouring you a drink which you downed- you needed it now more than ever.

“I’m glad to see you’re alright,” Seonghwa said. “You have the contents of the locker?” 

“Right here,” you placed them on the desk and Yunho shifted in discomfort.

“Thank you for keeping them safe,” the underboss took a deep breath. “I understand that you’ve been working here as the bookkeeper for a considerable amount of time now?”

“About a year, yes,” you straightened, suddenly aware of the tension in the room- even San appeared to be squirming, playing with the ends of his sleeves- you’d never seen him fidget like this. “What is this about, if I may ask?”

“And you… do you have some family? Someone you’ve been caring for?”

“Not in Eden, no,” you confirmed.

“Do you have any idea of what these items are?”

“That’s my registers,” you nudged the thick books. “I’ve recorded every transaction here, legal or not. And this…” you held the package in your hand. “I’m afraid I do not know, but if I have to assume… probably the drugs we slip to our VIPs here.”

Seonghwa met eyes with Yeosang who sighed. “I told you. She does not know, but she can be trusted.”

“We have a policy, Yeosang. I know we trust our employees, but the trust can only go so far.”

“If you could tell me what this is about,” you gritted your teeth, knowing fully well where this was going. “Maybe you should just talk to me, Mr. Park.”

“Well, here’s the thing,” he turned his attention to you, fixing his coat. “We cannot let you go since you’ve seen that,” he pointed at the package and you realised that it was not the drug that you were aware of.  

But if not that, then what was it? You shook it slightly and felt the rustling of something powdery. It had to be a drug.

“And?” You countered. “I was assigned by one of you to take this and flee in case of an attack. I’ve simply followed orders.”

Seonghwa’s brow rose subconsciously and he shared a look with Yunho who looked amused- amused? You knew that people didn’t usually talk back to those in power, but you had once been there. They didn’t know that you once had power- some semblance of it, at least. 

“I’ll be forward with you- we are not allowed to share that with anyone outside our circle, and anyone who does see that is subject to execution.”

You looked at Yeosang in disbelief- he knew that, yet he had still assigned you to carry out this job for him. He could have asked anyone, but he chose you, even when he knew Kihyun had recommended you. Kihyun, the leader of the longest standing gang here and Ateez’s partner. He knew how desperate you were for some stability in your life, yet he chose you.

“I chose you because I trusted you,” Yeosang offered, not meeting your eyes lest he saw how betrayed you felt. It didn’t matter anymore, though. 

“You can’t kill me,” you told Yeosang. “You know who recommended me.”

“I’m sure they will understand,” Seonghwa answered in his stead.

“No, actually,” you tossed the packet on the table and folded your arms, liquid courage making its way up unfiltered as you met Yunho’s eyes- the one thing that you hid from him- from all of them. “I’m sure I’ll be much more useful alive.”

Yunho scoffed loudly, not quite believing the shift in your demeanour and the calculation in your voice, but Seonghwa leaned forward as if to question the sheer audacity that you displayed, and if you knew any better, you would have backed down and accepted your predetermined faith, but-

You still had unfinished business. You still had to take down the men of Eden who possessed power yet wielded it against their homeland. You still had to get back at your father for disowning you. You were far from your goal and you simply couldn’t stop here. 

“Miss Jeon… how on earth could you be more useful alive to us?”

You mirrored Seonghwa’s posture, leaning forward as well and though the wide table separated the two of you, you could very well have been inches away considering how fixated your gazes were. “I know things about the people in power that even your angels do not know of, Mr. Park. I know how their minds work, I know their dirty little secrets. I know what to avoid when dealing with them. I could help you shake Eden’s current establishment- you should not kill me.”

A silence spread in the room as they processed your words and assessed your statement- was this a leap of faith or an act of stupidity? Whatever it was, it seemed to be enough. Seonghwa looked at Yunho again who seemed just as surprised as the rest.

“We could strike a deal,” you offered, relaxing back. While you knew that they could kill you right away and move on with their night, you decided that if you were really going to get killed, you could try something.

It wasn’t a bluff, no. You meant each word you said, but it was a gamble on your life. 

“Luna,” Yeosang’s low voice prompted you to turn to him and adhere to his warning but you were still cross with him.

“What deal would that be?” Yunho finally spoke- you supposed that as consigliere to his boss, he handled these matters. “What information do you possess that is worth more than your life?”

“If I give it away right now, you won’t have any reason to keep me alive, would you?” You countered and San huffed in appreciation, making Yunho shoot daggers at him.

“What? She’s smart,” he pouted and you smiled inwardly, glad that he was still the same old San.

“You will have to give us something, darling,” Seonghwa straightened his gun on the table and though the action was casual, it felt like a mockery of how your life was literally in his- in their hands. 

You leaned back to think- you had to play your cards right here, and very carefully. One wrong move and you’d be gone. What was it that you could reveal right now that would make them consider that you were a force to be reckoned with, and would also make them join hands with you? Could you make this mafia gang bend to your will, or were you asking for too much?

You looked around the room, meeting eyes with each one of them, calculating every possible move from here. Most of the information you had was something you couldn’t simply claim to know without blowing your real identity. If they started looking into your background properly this time, they would find out that your surname was borrowed and there was no record of you being here in Eden before 1966- that was four years ago. You came back from Wonderland in ‘66, having spent a few years there looking after your sick aunt and recovering from the shame and anger of being disowned by your father. You couldn’t tell them who your father was- it was far too early for that. 

And since you couldn’t have them finding who your father was, you couldn’t let them know anything related to the pharmaceutical business your father owned, or his connections with the politicians- could you give them some information about a politician? President Lee, perhaps? But you weren’t sure how dangerous he was, maybe someone else-

Your eyes fell on an antique porcelain vase in the corner that looked awfully familiar. Your frown deepened as you tried to recall where you had seen it, and when it clicked, you realised you had your answer.

“You got that vase from Assemblyman Major General Wi, is that right?”

The four of them turned to look at the object you were pointing at. Yeosang confirmed that you were right. You couldn’t help but have your lips curl in a smirk. “You might want to return it. You don’t want to have an object that was used for money-laundering… unless you’re involved.”

Yeosang blinked in confusion, looking at the older two who seemed to be concealing any hints of emotions. San, however, looked just as confused as Yeosang. “How do you know that?”

“That’s not the point,” you told him. “The point is that General Wi’s artefact gallery is just a cover for his money-laundering business. Not a good look for a presidential candidate, is it?”

Seonghwa nodded, perhaps connecting some dots in his head and coming to the conclusion that you may be right. “I’m impressed, Miss Jeon. I will verify this information but I have a feeling that you’re speaking the truth.”

You nodded and Yeosang finally laughed in disbelief. “Who are you really, Luna?”

“Your bookkeeper who’s asking that you take consideration of my loyalty and make a deal,” you said and when Yeosang nodded, you continued. “I… I, too, have unfinished business. You know I was desperate to have stability when I first got a job here- it wasn’t always like this. I will give you all the information that you need as long as you protect me as your source. As long as you keep me safe, because you and I,” you turned to Seonghwa. “We have the same goals.”

“And what might that be?”

“Power and protection,” you said, sure that you were right about the first part but when Seonghwa’s brows twitched, you realised that the shot in the dark with ‘protection’ wasn’t fruitless. “We’ve all got something or someone to protect. I’m protecting myself. You’re protecting your people.”

“You’re very talkative… Luna,” Yunho commented and your heart fluttered at the way he called your name- only the nickname, yet you were wavering. You mentally scolded yourself. “This could be the only information you possess. Not enough.”

“Oh, please,” you countered. “You know I have more- I can’t be running on sheer confidence here. But don’t think for one second that you can torture that information out of me,” you said and when Yunho smiled guiltily, you somehow found yourself smiling back despite the fact that your life was on the line. “Protect me and I’ll make sure your boss overthrows the current establishment and becomes the most powerful man in Eden.”

“Protect you from who?” Yunho asked and you gulped involuntarily, recalling the darkness and emptiness in the eyes of the person the whole nation admired. 

“I can’t say yet, just… keep me in the shadows, for now. Please.”

Yunho looked at Seonghwa- you couldn’t be making this up. Yeosang asked you to go home and that they would give you an answer soon. When you left the room, Yeosang sat down next to San.

“You’re thinking what I’m thinking?”

“She’s not lying, yes,” San confirmed and Yeosang nodded. “She’s only ever worked, right? We’ve been seeing her for a year now. Work and home is all she does, isn’t that so?”

“Yes. I kept an eye on her for a few months before I assigned her with bookkeeping duties- she has no family here. Just a few acquaintances- Kihyun of MX Pharmaceuticals, which I thought was odd, but they were a gang before they became a pharmaceutical company, so maybe she encountered them at some point. They literally know everyone.” 

“And her roommate just so happens to be Wendy.”

“I dismissed it as a coincidence. She couldn’t be one of the RV spies, could she?”

“Nope. They’re far too meticulous.”

“You assigned bookkeeping to a person who was acquainted with both Kihyun and Wendy?” Yunho raised his brows in disbelief. “That’s too big a coincidence, guys.”

“Wendy is under a disguise, Luna probably doesn’t know what she actually does,” Yeosang said. “Besides… I trust her. I really believe it wasn’t necessary to just kill her like that. It’s not like she knows what’s inside this,” Yeosang poked the packet with his finger.

“I don’t think Chan’s gang got a whiff of our drug dealing,” Seonghwa sighed, running a hand through his lengthy locks. “They must have attacked just to get us riled up. They wish to tarnish our reputation because General Wi is choosing sides.”

“We really need to check if the thing about the artefacts gallery is true,” Yunho said. “If it is, we have to tread carefully. Hongjoong will be pissed to learn what happened tonight.”

“I’ll take care of him,” Seonghwa got up. “This girl… Luna?”

“That’s what everyone calls her here,” Yeosang said and Seonghwa nodded slowly.

“She’s something. I’ll verify her information- it’s probably true. Tell her we’ve got a new job for her.”

When you bluffed your way out of your death- though you hadn’t really lied, you did hold information that could ruin Eden- you didn’t expect that you’d find yourself with a new job in the main office of the Crescent Company. You paused in the middle of recording the last entries of the day and your job, only to catch Yeosang watching you with interest. 

You folded your arms, staring back and pulling your lower lip between your teeth in contemplation. 

“Are you sure this isn’t just a trap to kill me? You could just shoot me and get on with your day, why go through all these lengths?”

Yeosang’s rich laughter boomed in the office room and you sent a tired glare in his direction before going back to checking the receipts of the new stock. 

“We would have killed you last night if we really wanted to.”

The nonchalance with which he said that sent a bitter taste down your throat, reminding you of familiar words you had heard a few years ago, but you knew that this situation was different- you had to believe that they were different. Otherwise, there was no hope left for Eden. 

“I’m still mad that you signed me up for death with this job, by the way. That was a low blow.”

“You are our first bookkeeper,” Yeosang said in response. “We just didn’t know what to do… does that sound like a good excuse?”

“Hardly,” you muttered. “I thought we were… acquaintances, if not friends. I respected you, Yeosang.”

Yeosang put a hand on his chest. “Respected? Do you hate me now?”

“I can’t really hate you when you’re… you,” you shut the register, looking at him. 

You had spent long hours with Yeosang in this very office. Somehow, with him, it had always been naturally comfortable and he once admitted that he thought it was odd how you both could be in the same room, busy with your own work yet feeling right at home. Though you barely ever had a heart-to-heart with the man, the impression that he was a scary gangster had vanished long ago. He was scary when he had to be, but he just felt more human than his partners.

“What does that mean?”

“I’m just a little hurt that you delivered me on a platter to your underboss for him to do whatever he wanted with me. Try to understand,” you explained. “And I still respect you, don’t worry.”

“He wouldn’t have killed you. I would have stopped him,” Yeosang insisted.

“You were more nervous than me,” you scoffed. 

“I was nervous for you, that you were going to make a mistake and he would really have to kill you,” Yeosang admitted and you blinked in surprise. “But you did just fine on your own. Are you not going to tell me who you really are?”

“I can’t tell you that yet,” you told him. “I trust you just enough to gamble with my life, but I’ll reveal things only when I’m sure the information would be in safe hands. You have to trust me a little too. It’s not like I can betray you- where would I even go? You’re all going to kill me if I make a mistake anyway.”

Yeosang nodded- you had a point. “Have you got nothing to lose?”

“I’ve already lost everything that I had,” you shook your head. “I’ve only got my life now.”

“I have a feeling you’ll do well in the main office,” Yeosang clapped his hands once in conclusion. “Since you’re already aware that we’re doing both legal and illegal dealings, you can do bookkeeping there. I have to warn you though- if information ever leaks, they will kill you without hesitation.”

“Geez, thanks,” you winced. “Tell me something new.”

“I don’t know where you got the guts to talk back to me,” Yeosang laughed, shaking his head once. “But keep this up and you won’t last long.”

“Why?” You leaned forward on the table in challenge. “Are you and San the only ones who can converse like normal humans?”

“We’re always just a little tipsy,” Yeosang said cheekily and you realised he was right. “You shouldn’t see me when I’m sober.”

You pursed your lips, realising that he was right- if he was anything like the rest of his gang, he had to be drunk all this time if he could tolerate you, a mere employee, talking like you were on his level. 

“Snob,” you muttered and got up to put these registers with the rest of the piles, ignoring Yeosang’s snickers. “Alright, my work here is done.”

“You’re fired,” Yeosang announced with a grin. “I’ve wanted to say that to you for so long.”

“You’re hopeless! I’ve been promoted, not fired,” you corrected.

“Whatever,” Yeosang got up, checking the time on his wristwatch. “San will be here in a few minutes- he’ll accompany you to the main office. You can say your farewells but you’ll be here often. It’s not a goodbye.”

“Okay,” you stood awkwardly for a moment, looking around- the beige walls with paint peeling in the corner, the dark shelves and furniture, the gramophone in one corner that you never played because you could always hear music from outside.  

“I’ll miss this,” you took a deep breath, nodding as you memorised and soaked in the feeling of this room.

“You’ll be back,” he assured, giving you a moment. “Now off you go.”

Sticking your tongue out at him, very out-of-character for you and taking him by surprise, you exited the office. You could hear what his response would have been- ‘just because we decided to keep you alive doesn’t mean that you can act out!’ but it was exactly that. If you had their protection, you would act out- just not to them. 

To the people who wore the cloaks of saints over their demonic hearts and ruled over Eden.

“Luna!,” Eunbi spread her arms as soon as she spotted you and you gladly let her hug you. “I’m gonna miss you so much.”

“I’m hearing I’ll be here often, so you won’t have to worry too much,” you poked her ribs, making her squirm as she laughed. “Just stay safe. And no matter what, do not become their bookkeeper.”

Eunbi frowned at that but before she could ask you more, the bell over the front door chimed and you knew it was San the way the bar suddenly fell quiet. You let go of Eunbi and patted her cheek before meeting eyes with San who waved at you.

Waved. You were a little pleased to see that the new arrangement was as awkward for him as it was for you. Eunbi echoed that out loud with a ‘did he just…?’ and you told her to get back to the counter.

“Hi,” San stifled a smile. “Good to see you’re still in one piece.”

“No thanks to you,” you countered. “Shall we?”

“I’m just going to let Yeosang know that I’m here,” San said, finally chuckling. “Look, if it helps, Seonghwa wasn’t really going to kill you.”

“I keep hearing that, but it just feels like you’re trying to convince yourselves instead of me,” you shook your head. “It doesn’t matter. I'll say my farewell to Yuju.”

You agreed to meet outside in five minutes and you went to find Yuju, who told you to stay safe. Jeonghan looked more worried than Yuju- he had overheard some of their conversation last night about them getting rid of you but you assured him it was alright now.  You just found out something you shouldn’t have so they were just being cautious. Though he didn’t look convinced, he let you go with an affectionate pat to your shoulder and a joke about how no one is going to let him nap in peace anymore.

Before you went outside, you took a look in the mirror and adjusted your black slacks and the rounded collar of your cream blouse before wearing your black coat over it. San was already waiting for you in his car- a black ‘67 Bentley- and you got in the backseat, your heart beating in anticipation.

“It’s not a long drive from here,” San said, “But I thought as an apology, I’d give you a ride.”

“I’ve been in better cars, but I appreciate the sentiment,” you said and San deadpan stared at you. You squirmed, realising an explanation would entail revealing details from your background. “I mean… the condition could definitely improve.”

“Yeah, it’s been through a lot, you’re right, “ San let out a chuckle before glancing at you. “You’re not going to tell me where exactly you’ve been in better cars? Because as far as I know, you were struggling to make a living when you first got a job here.”

“That was because I moved back from Wonderland after a long time,” you fiddled with your pearl ring. “Anyone would struggle.”

“And how do you really know Kihyun?”

Kihyun- he was almost like a brother to you. As a child, you had often seen him go in and out of your house because of some business dealings with your father. Though your father kept you hidden for the most part, having homeschooled you and pretending that you were his niece instead of daughter, Kihyun knew. He was far too smart to be deceived by a simple lie, and your brother had made it painfully obvious that he hated you for a reason. And when everything went wrong, Kihyun was there as a shield. 

He had offered you a place in his company too, but you could not possibly involve Kihyun into your plans for the demise of your enemies. You respected him far too much to drag him into your mess.

“He’s just a connection- we have a few mutual acquaintances.”

“And who might they be?” San asked but you shook your head.

“I can’t reveal their identities… yet,” you said and when he narrowed his eyes, you stifled a smile. “Is there something I should know before we reach the office?”

“Well,” San exhaled, thinking. “It’s going to be quite different from the bar- more professional and tense. I’m sure the secretaries you’ll work with will warm up to you eventually but they might come off as unwelcoming or prickly at first.”

“We’ll see,” you said. “And… will I be interacting with… one of you often?”

“Why?” San questioned, a playful smile gracing his lips. “Is there someone you’d like to interact with?”

“That’s not what I mean-” you started but the car came to a halt and with a dirty look thrown in San’s direction, you got out of the car and craned your neck to look at the double-story building that was the main office for Crescent Company.

It wasn’t anything much, and you knew that that was intentional. Just like all the other office buildings in this somewhat posh area of the town, it had a chestnut brick wall with a new moon that made up for the ‘c’ in crescent. The guard situated at the front door bowed to San as you entered. The employees inside acknowledged San’s presence, halting what they were doing and only resuming once San nodded. There were a handful of them- a receptionist and a few workers coming in and out of the unlabelled rooms. You supposed everyone was assigned a task and had respective offices.

“This is us,” San announced, motioning at the somewhat lifeless interior. “Nothing much, and we would like to keep it that way. You’ll be working upstairs with Jihoon and Eunha- they are our boss’ secretary.”

“Mr. Park’s?” You questioned as you followed him at the end of the hall towards the stairs.

“And Hongjoong’s,” San said and you paused in the middle of ascending the stairs.

“I’m going to work for Kim Hongjoong?”

“Relax,” San snickered. “He’s always holed up in his office if he’s not in the field, and Jihoon does the assistant work. You won’t encounter him too much.”

“That’s not the point,” you muttered. You reached the upper story to see three rooms across the spacious hall which was set up as an office itself. There were two people working in that space, sitting in front of the windows where there were three desks in a row. It didn’t look out of place since their workspaces were spread across the entirety of the hall. The empty desk looked a bit odd, though, and you reckoned it had been set for you which meant they must have moved things around a bit.

“I’ll leave you to get acquainted with them,” San said. “There won’t be much to do for a few days until they think you can handle the work.”

When Jihoon’s burning gaze met yours indicating his annoyance- already?- you gulped. Perhaps, you should have stuck to the bar or denied their offer. Jihoon was quick to change his expressions as he rose from his seat.

“Mr. Choi,” Jihoon greeted and Eunha looked a bit surprised as if she hadn’t heard you two come. She followed with her own greeting, tucking her short pink hair behind her ear in what looked like a nervous habit.

“This is… Jeon y/n- the new secretary. I hope you’ll train her well. She’s already familiar with bookkeeping so I don’t think she’ll have to learn much.”

“No worries, we’ll handle it,” Jihoon said. “Nice to meet you, Miss Jeon.”

“Nice to meet you too. You can just call me Luna- everyone does.”

“That’s a pretty name,” Eunha shook hands with you. “This is your desk, and I’ll give you a walkthrough before Jihoon takes you around the office, is that okay?”

“Sure,” you nodded, feeling hopeful. You turned to San. “I think I got it from here.”

“Very well,” San nodded. “Take care of her- she’s got potential.”

Jihoon only smiled in response and as soon as San was out of sight, he slumped down on his desk and went back to typing. You turned to Eunha who only smiled awkwardly, muttering ‘he’s a bit cranky at times’ and you shrugged. You could deal with cranky.

Eunha told you about your duties- bookkeeping since you had experience, typing a report each night that Mr. Park or Mr. Jeong would be signing, and any other miscellaneous tasks that Eunha and Jihoon couldn’t cover in their shift hours. Once she was done briefing, she handed you over to Jihoon who made a display of grunting in annoyance before he guided you downstairs to the last room which was essentially a storage.

“You must know that not all the business under the Crescent Company is legal,” he said and you nodded. “Where would you keep the record of illegal transactions?”

“Definitely not here?” 

“Here,” he corrected, “but concealed while still being right in front of your eyes. In the case of a raid by the detectives because a certain inspector has been on our case for a while, they will take everything in here, right? The illegal transactions are kept in a safe behind that painting,” he pointed towards the mediocre painting of cherry trees in the darkest corner of the room. 

“And the key?”

“A code, this time,” he said. “I’m still hesitant about sharing it with you but Mr. Choi said you could be trusted.”

“I’ve handled such matters before, yes,” you told him, understanding why he was sceptical about you. “There’s a reason I’m here.”

“That is definitely not the reason why you’re here,” Jihoon scoffed loudly. “Just because you passed a little trust test does not mean you get a position as the boss’s secretary. Eunha and I have worked under them since the beginning- that’s a plausible reason. They trust us.”

Though you wanted to argue with the man, you decided that you would be better off being civil towards him if you had to tolerate him to keep your job. 

“Who else knows the key?”

“Apart from the boss, underboss and consigliere… only Eunha and I. So if information leaks, if the location of the safe leaks-”

“I’ll be the obvious suspect, of course,” you nodded and Jihoon considered you for a moment before acknowledging your answer. 

“Our schedules are going to change now, so there is always at least one person out of the three of us in the office at all times, though the three of us must always be present in the 12 to 2pm slot. In case of an emergency, you are expected- obliged to get down here and escape with the contents of this safe, is that clear?”

“Clear as day,” you confirmed.

“1024 is the code,” Jihoon said and you nodded, memorising it. “Now, let me show you where we keep the official records.”

You took note of every little thing Jihoon had to tell you. Eunha observed how you worked for the rest of the evening and made you acquainted with the methods that you were to use. You were familiar with the work- you had already been in charge of tracking expenses, monitoring budget and keeping a record of all the financial transactions in the Crescent Bar. Eunha was going to take care of tax payments and returns while Jihoon was going to supervise. 

It was a manageable workload so you were pleased with your current position- you just hoped the two would warm up to you soon. You did not expect them to get along with you, you just prayed they would remain civil and not stir any trouble.

Your schedule was going to change from the next day and your shift was from 6pm to midnight- or more, if the need be- and you would also have to be present in the 12 to 2 pm slot. Since you were going to be the one who would lock up the office, you received a set of keys which included one for the storage, one for the main door, and one for Jeong Yunho’s office- in case he or Park Seonghwa weren’t present- to lock away those documents. You were to place them in the cupboard in Mr. Jeong’s room.

While you were in the office today, you didn’t encounter any of your bosses. You figured their absence wasn’t unusual since no one was talking about them. Eunha helped you prepare the report that you were to hand over tonight in her stead if anyone did visit the office because she had a work appointment and needed to be there. She told you to make sure that all the locks are in place before you leave for home.

While you waited for the clock to strike midnight- which was about twenty minutes from now- you busied yourself with scratching your pencil at a piece of paper that was going to be discarded anyway. One thing that calmed you like nothing else was the feeling of the pencil’s lead rubbing against the grains of the paper and leaving a mark for you to play with. With a very specific picture in your mind, you continued to draw straight lines, sharp curves and edges, adding the elements of threat and danger where needed, but preserving the softness of it all-

“What are you doing here?”

You looked up to find not the person you were hoping to see but the person you wanted to avoid the most.

Jeong Yunho.

Lieutenant Jeong Yunho, all dressed up in a black suit with engraved silver buttons, the black tie loose on his neck, his hands hidden in the pockets of his pants. Your eyes travelled up to his parted lips, to the muscles of his jaw flexing and unflexing, to his dark gaze trained not on you but lower- what was he looking at-

You subconsciously put a hand over your incomplete sketch and got up in greeting. “Lieutenant Jeong. I have the report- Eunha had a work engagement.” 

“I see,” he nodded slowly as if still coming to terms that you were to work here now. You could return the sentiment- it was a strange feeling to see him here. You had acknowledged each other’s presence in silence and at rare times, shared a drink (you didn’t often drink at the bar). But standing across each other in this formal setting… 

“Well?”

You broke out of your trance, feeling heat creep up your neck. Perhaps, you were waiting for him to call you to his office. Had you expected him to do that because Yeosang had done the same once? He had been so nonchalant about everything but right now, you felt overwhelmed. You fumbled with the folders until you dug out the report, cursing yourself internally because why didn’t you place it right on the top? 

You extended your hand and he drew closer to grab the document from you, reminding you once again of how tall he was. You gulped- there was no way to explain what you were feeling except a crushing sense of intimidation that made you feel so very small. It had been about a year, yet whenever you were in his presence, your mind took you back to memory lane- 

Specifically the lane near the bar where he ended his enemies and found you watching. Neither of you ever addressed why you had been there or why he had done all of that mercilessly.

“Looks fine,” he said, turning the few pages and skimming through them. “You can leave now- it’s almost closing time. I’ll lock the doors behind me”

“Alright…” were you two the only ones inside the building? “Goodnight, Lieutenant.”

“You don’t have to call me lieutenant, you know,” he said and you met his eyes again, finding the ends of his lips slightly curled in a… smile? Or was that a smirk? 

“How would you have me address you then?”

Somehow, it oddly reminded you of a similar conversation you had with Yeosang, except you had been calling him ‘sir’ and he couldn’t stop snorting everytime you called him that. He let it be for the entire day until he told you to just call him Yeosang- calling him sir in an informal environment only earned him odd looks. You argued that apart from the selected few employees, literally everyone called him ‘sir’ or a variation of it, but he insisted that you already sounded like something was stuck up your [redacted] and he didn’t want to add on to that.

That was the only time he saw your composure break. The rest was history.

The consigliere shrugged, giving you yet another glimpse of the person he was. He didn’t like to be called lieutenant, even though this was a formal environment.

“Mr. Jeong then, since everyone calls you that,” you concluded. 

“And do you still go by Luna?”

“I… do.”

He nodded once, his gaze falling at the paper you were hiding from him. You kept your hand placed over it and he turned, disappearing into his office. You didn’t miss the frustrated grunt that escaped his mouth as he shut the door.

Your shoulders relaxed and you picked the paper- he had definitely seen and recognised the gun that you had just seen last night on the table, and he probably recognised the hand that held it as well- the long, slender fingers that radiated delicacy despite being roughed up. 

The hand of the underboss of Crescent Company. Someone you had wished to meet before the night ended.

-> apply for the taglist here! (check your privacy setting if the tags don't work)

taglist pt 1:

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[starsarefire824]

Hiyaaaa Jess! Here for the ask game 💛💙I got sooo much to say so here we go

•A compliment

You are such a talented writer! The way you can immerse the reader into the story and transport them to whatever scene is happening. Your descriptors and descriptions are nothing to play around with and you capture complex feelings in short, precise words. Whenever I read a chapter of yours, I'm devasted (in the best way) bc it sits with me and I can reflect and even reread the newly posted chapter all over again cuz it's that impactful into my mind. You just get teenagehood so well, the messy ugly sides of it, and I respect that 100%

•Why you follow me

Honestly its cuz you're a real cool person! And you're not afraid to speak your mind which reflects in your awesome storytelling skills

•A cute message

Wanna let you know when that escape convict man was running wild, I got my whole fam to pray for your wellbeing and safety so your neck of the woods would be protected 🙏🏽

•One thing you want to know about me

Also what's your fav food? You know I'm a foodie so I always appreciate what's the next meal to eat lol 😋

I tried not to do them all since I don't send you asks that much and I try not to get too wordy, but had to let a moot know how awesometacular they are point blank period!!!

P.S. read your latest chapter and the madwheeler got me in my feels

Okay I've been sitting on this one for a couple days because 😭😭😭

You are just too kind. And one of the sweetest people with some of the best takes I've come to on here. Honestly not sure what to do about the first two parts of this other than get all shy and say thank you. So thank you love. It means more than you know. As for the writing thing, I do find teenagers really interesting to delve into their inner lives because, welp, we were all teens once, and the way they feel the world is so visceral and selfish and a lot of times black and white and dealing with a LOT of things in their life that are so complicated and very hard and adult and I don't think teenagers are given enough credit. So to be able to explore some different things in fanfic is always fun! Also, for me personally, it helps by looking back on my own experience and trauma that I experienced as a teenager ( and put it into something healthy. I put A LOT of love and care into my writing and so its just nice when someone like you (who always engages with such intelligence and deep thought) tells me that they get something out of it! Truly just makes me happier than ever!

Oh god, that you told your whole family to pray for me 😭😭. that's the cutest shit i've ever heard! what a wild ride that was!

Oh??? Favorite food?? I think I'd have to say sushi. Japanese, Korean, or traditional Chinese are for me! ☺️ The others I got are nachos or any street-style Mexican food and Italian! I make a mean classic alfredo and ?! 😋 You've met another foodie so sorry if that was like TOO MUCH FOOD.

For the Ask Game <3

[stepswowdsen]

JuAli Comic Idea [6-23-2023]

Intro

I showed this JuAli idea to my friends before, I’m glad they liked it hehe. I originally wrote this back in November!

I revamped a JuAli idea I had. Judar and Alibaba kiss with banter

*Note: It’s kinda sexually suggestive and implicitly R-15 (PG-13) rated

I used some lines from Vol. 27 - Ch. 266, and the Vol. 28 - Ch. 278 omake with Judar and haniwa (clay doll) Alibaba. The chapters where he was a sausage shaped haniwa (OoO)

Other

I usually write my ideas down in script dialogue format as potential comic ideas for the future. Also cuz I figured that bolding the names would make things easier to read

I'm busy so Idk when I'll sketch this all out and redraw it properly, but this one tweet generated some ideas in my head that I showed to Cinna and Raisu. Back in November, I roughly wrote the gist of it down, but I felt like adding to it cuz it’s one of my personal faves. It's just kissing but it's kinda suggestive/implicit so y'know.

A little comic idea I had in my head. I showed it to my friends and they really enjoyed it, I'm glad! It's one of my faves too tbh. I first wrote this in November, but I decided to make edits to it. I like writing banter!!!

I actually did some old rough doodles before that was kinda based off this idea! And I totally need to redraw these, but I really like how I drew Judar's expressions. I like practicing sketching expressions hehe

Also someone give Judar a haniwa Alibaba plushie -v-

You can read under the cut if you wanna check out the rest hehe. I wanna post more of my writing ideas here

Some rambles

*Note: Sometimes I just write the dialogue only because I have a good visual imagination, so the dialogue itself is already a good outline to use for potential comic ideas in the future, but I thought it’d be fun to add to it. I write dialogue scripts a lot (whenever the inspiration hits and I’m not doing art).

I’m a visual person, so I mainly do art (and comic idea dialogue scripts as outlines for potential art ideas). A lot of times, when I get ideas, I visualize scenes in my head, so my ideas are written in script dialogue format. 

I like writing ideas down so that I don't forget and so that I can still imagine and draw them in the future. I have a good visual imagination, so even if I just write the dialogue, I can imagine what the scene conveys pretty easily. 

I was wondering if I should just have short descriptions on a line on its own, just like a play/movie script would, but it’s actually easier for me to read when the name is bolded beside it, so then I know which actions/descriptions are assigned to which character, y’know.

I tend to have certain quirks when writing dialogue scripts

I put descriptions in brackets () beside the name. I decided to make them italics though to differentiate them more, cuz I also use brackets () for character thoughts. 

It’s not in this one, but I’ll put a (...) on a line on its own to mark line breaks for scene transitions (or to mark that the scene is still a WIP and I need to add to it)

I’ll put any notes with (*) asterisks. 

I bold names so it’s easier to read

Whenever I get hit with sudden blorbo thoughts or inspiration to write ideas, I write them in Notepad or Google Docs, but I also do a lot of reactions and discussions with mutuals/friends. Someone posts something they want to talk about in the chat (ie. animanga/game reactions, AU and art ideas, etc.) and others join in and talk about it if they have time.

A lot of times, I tend to think back on my discussions with friends a lot, because I think they're inspiring and their thoughts help give a lot of insight.

Everyone has so much insightful things to say, so I wanna quote my discussions with my friends here! So some rambles will be in discussion/chat format because I don’t feel like reformatting the post

Discussion I had with friends 

This idea was actually based off this LMAO

This silly tweet was my prompt starter

I showed it to Cinna and Raisu hehe. And I’m glad Lumen and Jaqui also liked it too <3 This was our discussion

Me: I wanna say this is JuAli but none of them would talk like that. They would so do this though

Friend: No this is literally Judar he just words it differently lmao

Me: YEAH HE'D JUST WORD IT DIFFERENTLY LMAOOO

Friend: YEA

Me: JuAli's Love-Hate relationship (at first) is soooo interesting to me <33 They're so sen-core they appeal perfectly to my tastes

Me: Oh that tweet makes me want to write dialogue now. Yeah I can draft some JuAli stuff then

Friend: Omg

Friend 2: 😭 THIS MEME IS ALWAYS FUNNY

Me: Thinking about this again so I wrote a thing kinda based off it JuAli but it's kinda suggestive/implicit though

I wrote some ideas based off this. It's literally just them kissing but it's kinda suggestive/sexually implicit so just putting that out there

Friend: VALID LMAO THIS IS PERFECT Completely in-character for Judar

Me: THE WAY I'M IMAGINING IT IS SO. SPICY. NOW KISS!!!

Friend: VALID VALID!!

Friend 3: OMFGGGBVEHEVFBGBH

Me: I actually originally wrote Judar's last line as "Show me the kind of spark that charmed Hakuryuu so much". Because Judar makes an observation in Ch. 266 that Hakuryuu is charmed by Alibaba in the fan-TL :) 

But I don't tend to reference other ships in my ship stuff since I usually focus on ships solo. Like in my AU stuff, I tend to focus on just the ship/characters itself.

Like I would rather deal with my multiships in their own separate AUs, since it’s easier for me to work with. Most of the time I just prefer to have my AUs focus on just the ship itself (and occasionally other charas.) 

I do love AliHaku though. But I liked that line and it was good, so I still tried to include it though. NGNGNNG. Without mentioning any names, cuz let’s keep this JuAli focused

Friend: OOOH I SEE.... Valid as heck It's a good one

Me: I posted this on main, but I might as well post it again here ^^ For JuAli, I feel like at first, Judar hates Alibaba with so much love. And Judar would just constantly be like "I really don't get this guy at all" and "I don't understand what he's thinking at all!"

I feel like in the early stages of them catching feelies, they’d both be really awkward around each other and constantly headbutt each other…  

Judar is verbally harsh (violently tsun) and demands around verbally a LOT, like a needy cat that wants attention and affection. The tsundere catboy bad boy... And I feel like at first, they’d both be really awkward around each other and fluster each other. I think they'd always be pretty competitive with each other (in a playful, fun way) but they'd warm up to each other over time.

I'm busy so Idk when I'll sketch this all out but it was based off this idea I had in my head.

Like with JuAli, I think their games are mostly light-hearted and fun, and enticing and passionate.

Like it emphasizes playful competitiveness, a heavy focus on drawing things out, wanting to enjoy themselves for as long as they can and do their best to make every intimate occasion they have together worth the wait. Everything about their intimacy is energetic and passionate, (just like them!)

Though it's also fun to imagine a bit more rough aggressiveness, rough kisses and biting. 

When I imagine the early stages of their relationship/pining I think they'll butt heads more often and it'll be more aggressive, then it'll progress to something very loving and more on the same wave length.

Daily/Hourly accounts

Before the Twitter changes, folks would have daily/hourly accounts dedicated their fave medias, books, poems, etc. They’d put their fave quotes in (or animanga/game screencaps of their faves), have them be posted on intervals. People did it just cuz they wanna assign quotes to their fave charas/ships or have accounts dedicated to them

But then Muskrat’s stankass changes happened... I was thinking it would’ve been cute to have a JuAli daily account post screencaps of either of them from the manga tbh

[allfandomstan]

After Dark~(Batman x Vigilante reader), Chapter 2.

Read Chapter 1! Find it on my ‘posts’..

Genre: Action, Mystery, Crime, Noir.

Setting: The Iceberg Lounge from ‘The Batman’ 2022.

Warnings: Swearing, minor sexual harassment, minor violence, mention of adult themes, dark themes.

Word count: 4.6k

Author Notes: Hi guys, its me again! Back with another chap!! I was dying to get this one done cuz I’ve procrastinated enough😫…Anyways, this is kinda a chill chapter compared to the last one(Vengeance and reader get to know eachother a bit) and I hope you enjoy! Pls let me know what you guys think.

****

You were currently in your apartment, going through the events from the previous night. You just witnessed a high-scale murder of Gotham’s very own Mayor to be exact.

And you also ran into him..

You were still in your home clothes which was just an oversized t-shirt and a pair of shorts. You were slumped on the living room couch with a tub of instant noodles in hand. Quick fixes had to do. You wrote down the events from the previous night into your diary, the one you keep for your work. This way it allows you to recollect vital moments and distinguish key information you may need later. You had to force yourself to remember..

You kept writing and recollecting when you heard a loud buzz come from your burner phone. Putting down your pen slowly, you curiously picked up the phone.

The message came from an unknown number. Wait..

That must be him.

So, He did notice the tiny piece of paper that you slyly slid into the side of his belt after all?

Grinning you open up the message…

“It’s me”

Your grin widened upon the realisation that it was actually him. He actually bothered to contact you.  Well, why wouldn’t he?

You start typing slowly.

You just have to hold your ground when it comes to him. You can’t risk giving away too much information.. Even though he probably did a whole-ass background check on you already.

“Who’s me?”, you respond back mockingly, even though you already knew who it was. Not a minute was wasted, as he responded right after:

“You know who it is”…

“Do I really?”

You chuckled to yourself at the way you teased him. Alright, maybe you should stop.

“Alright, alright I got you Bat”.

You gave up joking around and got down to business. Inhaling deeply, you ask:

“What do you want?”

“I want to see you”.

Ok, now you figured he was genuinely interested. Or maybe just curious.

“Why?”, you type, aiming to get a reason out of him even though you knew already. You had to admit, you wanted to hear it come from him.

“Because of what you said.. about cooperation. And because I know what you saw.”

“And?”

“And maybe we can get somewhere with it?”

Wow, he caught on rather fast. The little giving your number trick did work well, and it worked almost instantly. Shit, it worked like that most of the time when it came to men.

“Fine… where?”

Now this was getting serious. He wanted to see you again and you know he meant business. Well, so do you. ‘Was he gong to interrogate you even further or was he going to cooperate?’

Uncertainty filled you to the very core but you couldn’t miss the chance you get to know him even more. Not that you knew very much about him to begin with. You always wondered who the man behind the mask was.

‘Who was this caped crusader that head been haunting the nights of Gotham for the past two years?’

‘Who was he under there?’

‘What were his motives?’

‘Why did he love this godforsaken city so much?’

‘Why does he want to protect it?’

Oh what you would do to find out. The curiosity bubbling inside you must be subdued, but it only will when you find the truth. But you had to be patient. Couldn’t get too nosy or he just might shut you out completely and maybe call this whole thing off. Without pondering much further you decided to keep engaged in the conversation:

“Oh are you sure about that?”

“Yes”

“Fine, but where can we possibly meet up?”

“The Iceberg”

Ok, hold the fuck on right now. He wanted to meet up with you in the Iceberg Lounge? Where all the fucking crackheads, crime lords and corrupt cops go to? Shit, that’s the sketchiest place in Gotham. Or even the planet, in your opinion. But nevertheless, that place hit too close to home.. Way too close. And that’s exactly why you hated it.

“You want to meet up in the goddamn Iceberg Lounge?”

“Yes. I got some things to deal with”

“What things?”

“That’s none of your business”.

To be honest, when he put it that way you kind of knew what he was talking about. C’mon you knew that place way too well..

“It’s the Penguin, right?”. You waited for him to respond. He must be baffled. You were able to read right through him…

After a minute, he responds with:

“Like I said, that’s none of your business”.

Heh, how rude. But you didn’t blame him though. Anyone who came to deal with the Penguin had to keep it incognito.

“Fine”, you respond. You knew there was no use in trying to interrogate him. He just won’t budge.

“See you there at 9”

“Umm, where exactly?”

“The 44 below”

“Shit, you want me to venture into danger zone?. Damn, I won’t even be surprised if I were to be murdered in there. And besides, you’ll just walk into the 44?

“Just do as I say”

“You really don’t care what happens to me, don’t you sweetie?”

“Just.. trust me”.

****

Back at his cave, Bruce was watching you. He was watching what happened the previous night on his big computer, after attaching his eye lens to the flash drive. He was watching through what he saw with his own eyes. His eyes scanned your face seeking recognition, but he received nothing. He certainly haven’t seen you around and definitely not once in the two years he served as Batman.

‘Who was this mysterious woman and what did she want?’

He let his eyes wander over your features, letting his gaze linger a little longer. He took note of your eyes and how they had a beautiful darkness in them, very much like his own. You were clearly angry, hurt and disturbed in some way like him. But nevertheless, he found you quite beautiful, and he didn’t want to admit it. He let his eyes wander over your fierce eyes, your little pointed nose, your blush cheeks and your defined jawline. And then he caught sight of your lips. They were lush, plumped and a deep maroon in colour. They looked soft…

Shit. He was getting carried away.

“Stop It Bruce!”, he mutters to himself, frustrated because he was getting distracted by this woman who he doesn’t even know the name of..

“Is that a friend I see?”

upon the realisation of his butler in the room, Bruce whips his head around frantically, glaring at Alfred. “I didn’t see you there”

“And I didn’t see her before. Who is she?”

Bruce lets out a heavy exhale, clearly irritated by Alfred’s intrusion.

“I don’t know”, he responds, voice filled with hesitancy. The butler gave Bruce a long, searching look. “If you want to invite her over for tea or something I-“, Alfred was cut off by Bruce.

“It’s not like that, she’s not a friend”.

Cutting off all of Alfred’s suspicions. Well, at least now he’s clear. “Oh well, okay”, Alfred said, looking down at the dark, tiled floor.

“You really shouldn’t sneak up on me like that”, Bruce said eyeing the butler.

“And you shouldn’t be caved up in this God forsaken terminal all day. You missed breakfast.”

Bruce let out a long and heavy sigh, indicating he was no longer interested in this conversation. “Alfred.. It’s what I do-“

“And It’s taking a toll on you!”, Alfred said out of pure frustration and concern.

“Alfred please..You’re not my Father”.

Fuck.. That wasn’t meant to come out like that. Yeah, the sleepless nights were really starting to take a toll on him. The butler just stared at him, wide-eyed and obviously a little hurt. But despite Bruce’s shockingly true statement, Alfred just responds with: “ Yes, that is very much understood”. By his strained voice, Bruce could very much understand that he has hurt Alfred. He’s gonna have to make up for it later. “Alfred, I-“

“No, no I insist. You carry on with your.. work”.

And with that, Alfred walks off to the elevator to leave. He spares Bruce one last glance over the shoulder and says:

“Hopefully we’ll see each other for dinner”…

Bruce lets out a heavy sigh. Again. Was his life really this dark and gloomy? He really needed to improve on his relationships, especially with the only family he had..

****

You stood outside the Iceberg Lounge, waiting to get in. You were standing in the queue for the club, which was filled with random civilians, most probably druggies and alcoholics who can’t get their life together. Here you were wearing a crimson red strapless corset top, with a black, tight mini skirt that showed off your curves spectacularly. You were wearing sky high black heels, and carried a elegant red handbag to carry your things in, including the little knife that you took with you everywhere. It had become a habit.. And it was part of your identity now. Besides, one can’t be too careful in a city like Gotham…

You had your hair down and styled to the side, and you had the perfect makeup for the occasion. Some smoky eyes and red lipstick did the job perfectly. It worked for the appeal. A little too well..

“Hey baby”.

A tall, lanky man with several golden teeth approached you. He smelt of cigarettes and weed. “Hey”, you say, trying to sound bored and aloof clearly not interested in further conversation. “You look nice tonight.. You single?” He snickered flirtatiously at the last line, inching closer to you. You could feel his hot cigar smelling breath on your face. It was sickening.

You moved back a bit, disgusted by the man’s advances. “Umm, no..”

You knew it was a lie, but you hoped it would falter his disgusting intentions ever so slightly. But you were wrong..

He hungrily eyed you up and down, his gaze penetrating your body and scanning over your features and curves, especially your ass. “Well that’s an awful shame.. I mean whoever that lucky bastard is, I envy him.. or her”. He let out a low chuckle.

“Heh, thanks for the compliment”.

“No problem, princess”.

you turned away from him, trying to put a stop to the conversation but then you felt a calloused hand grabbing your forearm. “And hey if you uh, ever feel lonely or just wanna have some fun.. Come over to Daddy, I’ll be right there waiting for you”.

You glared up at him, annoyed. Did this fucker not get the hint?

“Umm, thanks but I think I’m fine-“

“Oh are you sure, honey? You look like you could use some-“

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure thanks”..

You were now starting to lose patience with this guy. His grip on your arm grew ever so slightly.

You tried to yank your arm away but he wouldn’t let you. He grabbed on even tighter.

“Woah, woah, woah.. What’s the hurry for sweetheart?”

Grabbing your forearm, he brought you closer to him. His hand reached for your ass-

“Don’t touch me asshole!”

you tried to push him away, but he wouldn’t let go of your arm. As retaliation, his hand went up behind you to slap your bottom. He wanted to provoke you even further.

“What’s wrong babe? No one’s gotta find out!”. His voice was laced with pure cockiness.

With one swift move of your free hand, you punched the guy in the face. Instantly blood started leaking from the man’s nose, dripping down his mouth and chin and onto his brown leather jacket. Oof, that must’ve hurt. And that is what you intended, anyways.

“You little slut!”, screeched the man and lunged toward you. His hand latched onto your throat. “Listen here you-“

A hard slap right to the face was all he received from you.

He stumbled back, bumping into another man.

“Oi, watch were you’re going mate!”

Annoyed, the man pushed your attacker back. A fight ensued between them and all you could hear was yelling and shouting.

A crowd was beginning to form, encouraging the fight.

“Finish him!” “Take his eyes out!!” “C’mon dude, you can do it!”

You didn’t know who the crowd was rooting for but you didn’t want to stick around and find out. You just wanted to get into the nightclub and get your job done with. You’d much rather be with Vengeance than with these nut jobs.

You used the distraction as the perfect opportunity to cut ahead of people and get into the Lounge. There wasn’t a proper line anymore, as everyone was dispersed and running to get into the crowd to get a better look. “Losers”, you mumbled to yourself as you walked forward, towards the entrance of the Lounge. There you met two bouncers, who were clearly identical twins… Shit.. Not them again.

One of them caught sight of you walking up, and eyed you closely..

“Hey lady, you know what’s going on back there?”

“Nothing, just two dickheads getting it on”, you respond coolly, as if you totally didn’t cause the fight.

“Ahh ok.. Well then, what are you here for, ma’m?”

He eyed you up and down suspiciously.

“To have a good time like everyone else, obviously”, you say fluttering your lashes.

“She’s lying”, whispers the other twin into his ear.

“Yeah, you seem kinda fishy lady”.

You arch your brow. “Well, why?”

“Fuck I dunno, maybe cuz you’re the only one who didn’t run to join the crowd”

“Oh c’mon, why the fuck would I wanna see that?”

“Because you caused it?”

“Yeah, she caused it!” whispers the other twin a bit too loudly that you wondered why he even bothered to whisper. After what seemed like ages pass by, you were starting to get pretty restless. You had to make up an efficient lie that’ll convince these two bozos to let you in.. And Bingo. You knew exactly what to say.

You walked closer to them, slowly.. Lowering your voice to a sultry timbre, you say: “Hey, you wanna know something?”

The twins look at each other confused. One nods for you to continue.

“I’m actually here for Oz”.

“Here for Oz?”

“Yeah I’m here for him, if you know what I mean”, you chuckle playfully, fluttering your lashes.

They go still, trying to process what you said. You gave them a minute because you knew they were known to be a bit retarded.

“Ohhh” one of them speaks up after an eternity of thought. You fidget around, twirling your hair and fluttering your lashes. “Alright, sorry ma’m we didn’t know you were-“

“Oh it’s fine, it’s just that Oz doesn’t like his sessions delayed”, you chuckle.

“Yeah umm, come on right in”. One of them hastily holds the door open for you, consumed with guilt.

“Thanks boys!”.

****

“One martini coming right up!”, chirped the bartender rather gleefully. Damn, she was an awful lot positive for a Gothamer, it kind of creeped you out.

You were inside the club, after lying about being the Penguin’s prostitute which was fucking sadistic, but it served you good, nevertheless.

‘Where the hell is he?’. You were here for about 20 minutes and you were starting to get restless..

you suddenly heard loud screams and curses escaping people’s mouths.

“Get him!”

“Don’t let him fucking escape!!”.

you whipped your head around frantically to see what was causing all the commotion. You saw a black, armoured figure running around and beating the absolute shit out of people. Oh. That’s what he meant when he said he’ll meet you at the 44. Fucking lunatic.

He took the men down, one by one with such ease and grace. How did he fucking move like that? Especially in heavy plated armour? The man had to be some kind of combat God.

You see him abruptly come to a stop once he sees a round, plump man in front of him. Which was none other than Oswald fucking Cobblepot, a.k.a the notorious Penguin.

A conversation happens between them and then Vengeance heads up with Penguin to his dorm. You supposed it had to do with whatever he had to ‘deal’ with.

****

“I’m on the roof”

“How the hell am I supposed to get up there?”

“There’s stairs at the very back”.

Sighing, you walk towards the exit. Whatever dealings Batman was conducting in Cobblepot’s dorm was now dealt with and now he wanted to see you.

You exited the building and now the cold, night air stung you. It was so much different from the hot, moist and suffocating atmosphere inside the Lounge. You walked to the back of the building to find a long stairway which led to the roof of the building. This was going to be a pain in the ass, especially with heels.

Taking in a deep breath to soothe your nerves, you started going up the set of stairs. You climbed slowly up the stairs thinking about what you wanted to gain from the little meeting with Batman.

Once you reached the top, you slowly walked in, looking around yourself for any signs of human presence. He was nowhere to be seen. Where was he?

“Hello?”, you called out, hoping to get some form of response.

You looked around impatiently. The cold chilly air was getting to you, and you were underdressed for the weather. It was probably going to rain soon.

Letting out an irritated groan, you pull out your burner phone and start typing.

“Where are you for God’s sake?”

Just as you were about press send, you were startled by a voice talking to you.

“You actually came”.

You almost jumped out of your skin. It was him..

Whipping your head around frantically, you send him a panicked glare. You took a moment to take a deep breath and compose yourself before saying:

“Jesus Christ. You really know how to sneak up on girls in the dark”.

“Yeah.. I do”.

He walks closer to the light, out of the shadows and now you see him fully in view. He was still towering over you by a couple fucking feet. “So?”, You ask trying to get to the point.

“You never told me the truth about why you were at Mitchell’s house”

“Oh, I don’t think we need to go there”, you stated.

He gives you a hard stare, calculating and inspecting.

“What? You said our meeting was conclusion based, not a freaking interrogation!. How’d you feel if I asked why you’re doing all this?”, you rant.

He lets out a heavy exhale, and glares at you.

“Exactly, that’s what I thought”, you say crossing your arms over your chest. Bruce knew you were one stubborn bitch, so he decided to get to the questions about your choice of actions later..

“What do you know about him? What’d you see?”

"What do I get from you in return?"

You wanted to know what it had in it for you. There was no way you were simply going to ‘give’ him the info.

He took a step towards you, eyeing you menacingly.

He scoffs.

"I'll make sure not to hand you in to the cops".

"aww, what a pity.. You're threatening me?"

"What if I am?"…

A long pause ensued after that.

Sighing, you decided to make a choice fast. What if you ask him directly if you could work on the case with him? It'd save a lot of time to just get to the point than trying to play mind games with this guy.

"If I tell you.. Will you let me work on the case with you undercover?"

He froze on the spot. ‘Did you take it too far?’ You didn’t care as long as it triggered some kind of outcome. You were getting tired just beating around the bush. After a minute of silence he spoke up, voice hesitant and cautious:

"It all depends on what your motives are.. So you're gonna have to answer my questions".

Damn it.. This again.

"Listen, I'm not just some creep trying to get info off the case so I could mishandle it. I'm trying to solve this case because I don't want this dick bag running around and doing the same to other people. Whoever did this, deserves to suffer.. And I will make them pay". Your voice was low and filled with hatred.

"Why do you bother?"

"I could ask the same for you"

"Don't try to dodge my questions!"

He grabbed you by the forearm to bring you closer to him so he can look straight into your eyes.

"I wanna know why a woman spies on Mitchell one day, witnesses his murder and then wants to avenge him so badly!"

"I don't give a fuck about that corrupt asshole!" you spit, your voice seething with venom.

"Then why?!"

"Because, this killer doesn't deserve no mercy!!"...

You yank your arm out of his grasp and take a step back, angrily.

"He doesn't deserve to take the lives of other people.. He can't have that power".

You looked down at the floor trying not to lose your cool. You held back the tears that were forming in your eyes.

Bruce stood still for a second, frozen in place. You looked broken.. You looked like you had the same reason he had and you wanted to unleash vengeance on those who did the wrong. You were trapped in your own hysteria of revenge.. Much like him.

He looked down, not knowing what to say.

"It's alright you don't gotta be sorry", you say sarcastically, wiping a tear that was threatening to spill.

It looked like he was empathising with you because of his sudden lack of aggressiveness. He was docile, and willing to listen further in hopes you'd reveal your story. But you just couldn't give in. Not now anyways.

Bruce took a moment to recollect his thoughts and think. Whatever you were, villain or vigilante, you sure looked desperate to solve this case. On the plus side, you had witnessed a vital part of the crime. Maybe even the whole damn thing to be honest. You might prove to be very useful, so he can’t just let you go…

"Maybe you could work with me.. And my partner".

Bingo.

You'd just made him agree. In your own terms emotions were always stronger than intellect, no matter how irrational. But you just couldn't celebrate yet.. You didn't want to work with his 'partner'. Whoever the fuck he or she was(you were damn sure it was Gordon) you weren't interested in this 3rd party business.

"Heh, Honey no... I just want you alone. Let's just say I don't do threesomes".

As you said it, you stalked closer to him flirtatiously until you were able to stare at him in the eyes and asses his feelings. He didn't give into the temptations just yet.. Instead he took a step back clearly not wanting to engage in the flirting. When he finally regains his composure (after your little advance), he speaks up again, his voice low: "Whatever dealings you have with me, my partner knows.. Its either you stick around with him or you don't get involved at all".

“What is your partner? The freaking Pope?”, you say mockingly. Was Gordon really that important after all?

“You either go by my terms or you don’t stick around, it’s as simple as that”.

“Woah woah there, chill. If you wanna have your partner around you could, I’m not gonna bite your head off.. I’ll do anything to be with you even though it means we’ll have company”. You send him a wink after that comment.

He doesn’t look away irritated, but instead stares directly at you, eyes showing the slightest sign of fascination.. Damn, this always worked when it came to men. Always. Maybe you could keep it up? That’ll help you a lot in the long run. You also didn’t mind flirting with him because he wasn’t too bad himself..

But he wasn't done with you just yet..

Quickly he transitioned back to his intimidating demeanour and gave you a stern, hard look.

"But if I find out you're manipulating the case or screwing with the evidence, I’m calling this thing off”.

“Oh baby, me screwing with evidence? Please. Remember, I got your back and I’m not supposed to be betraying you?” Your tone was once again laced with cockiness, clearly irritating him.

“Yeah, I hope you won’t”, he said in a bland tone.

You scoffed at his rather blunt statement and smirked.

“And I look forward to working with you too, Bat”.

You eyed him up and down before finally settling in on his eyes. Once again you noticed with colour of them. A deep sea blue with tiny specks of marine-green. The shade stood out strikingly against the black of his eye paint. It looked beautifully ominous.. Your gaze moved down to the lower part of his face; You took in the sight of his sharp jaw and noticed the tiny stubble forming. Your gaze shifted again to look at his eyes.. Damn it, you couldn’t get enough of them.

“Are you just gonna let me stare?” You ask, arching a brow. Bruce didn’t say anything, instead just stared into your eyes, his gaze intense. What was it with this guy and talking? He only used words when absolutely necessary.. But his eyes expressed things more than words ever could. He was an intense man.

Breaking out of his trance, Batman took another step back. He titled his head down to look at the floor before he brought it back up to look at you..

“I’ll see you”

“Yeah.. Hopefully if this fucker decides to make an appearance again”.

The Bat signal was lit up in the sky tonight meaning he was needed. He couldn’t stick around long- he had places to be. After all, Gotham was a big city. Too big even for its own good.. That meant it was also a knife-up-the ass for the vigilante in front of you; The crime came back to haunt him every night, capturing his body, mind and soul and dragging him into the depths of its inner turmoil, much like the resentment that comes back to terrorise you, delving into your blood like an unwelcome parasite. You couldn’t help it.. That’s just the way you were.

“He’ll be back”, he said looking at the Bat symbol in the sky. “And if we’re lucky, we might have another high-profile victim on the way”. His voice was dark and gruff but a hint of resolve and enthusiasm was making its way through.

You hummed in agreement, your eyes also tuned in to the light up in the sky.

“We will see each other.. Again”, He said with conviction in his voice, sure that the sadistic killer will strike again. As he said that final statement, his gaze met yours, once again captivating you.

“Oh I suppose we will”, you smile..

“If you get anything, let me know”. He indicated to the burner phone still in your hand with his index finger.

“Oh yes, definitely”.

Another smile creeps its way onto you face.. You were actually going to work with him! The very masked vigilante that had been terrorising the nights of Gotham for the past two years. Wow.. You had gotten far.

And with that he walks towards the edge of the building.. As he stands on the edge, he gives you a look over his shoulder.

“I didn’t ask for your name”.

“Call me, Red”..

He gives you one last knowing look and nods, before turning to jump off the roof. You heard the sound of grappling hooks and you ran towards the edge..

He was gone. And once again you were left alone on the roof, with your thoughts racing…

***

[iv3lostcontrolofmylif3]

Ignore my rambling, I'm just spitballing with little to no sleep..

So like, I'm on the last chapter of Beacon, right? All four boys are going to have their happy endings with their respective partners (that's not a spoiler its a fucking given, cuz its me. Someone's gotta give this fandom a little boost of serotonin now and then). The plan was to just write little stories from then on now that the relationships are pre established and I don't HAVE to worry about plot, I can just watch my babi's have fun and be happy. And yeah, i fully intend to do that. While also working on my actual career.

But no, see now I'm thinking of like, 10 more years down the line, when everyones in their midd 30's or so. Mutants are staaarting to become more normalized in society instead of just cryptid status and being hunted by the epf. The idea of the turtles (probably Donnie because of everything that happened with Don Vizioso) spearheading these mutant rights stuff alongside the mutanimals is so freakin interesting instead of them just staying in the shadows all thier lives? (because after the tokka incident its clear new york at least is aware that mutants are definetly a thing and not going away anytime soon.)

I wanna see these boys have their own families. And yeah, i know lil mutant babies and the next generation isn't a new thing for this fandom but honestly? I wanna take the found family trope the hamato clan lives by and crank it up. I want their kids to be a bunch of orphans they rescued that were abandoned for one reason or another, because they all fucking know what it's like to grow up ostracized in a society that doesn't want them. They take them all in as one big group but each kid gravitates to a couple as their parental figure of choice.

The guys in general would love thier kids sooo much, you don't even know. And Do you UNDERSTAND how GOOD Leo would be at being a dad!? And Usagi would finally get to be a dad too? like openly? And Jotaro would be the most AMAZING big brother! Like he'd be bringing them little presents from his side of the portal so much. By that point I like to think he'd know that Usagi is his true father. So now at 18/19 he's not only got a mom, THREE dads, a shit ton of aunts and uncles, and now a bunch of little rescue siblings to dote on? I want that for him.

I want this so muuuuch but I have no idea how to even begin and I don't know if people would even read it or want it as much as me but I also don't really care? But I also have real world responsibilities and my attention span can only handle so much at once before it short circuits and i just stare at the wall doin nothing..

[the-east-art]

oh? can you rec some of your favorite sonic fics? I’ve never read any before!

Oh! Yeah totally! I don't think I have a ton because tbh there''s A LOT of chaff to get to the wheat in the sonic fandom lol and when it comes to the sonic character I'm very particular about their characterizations so I'll totally share what I have cuz I know it's rough to find the good stuff. (I'm also not really interested in shipping the sonic characters so that instantly means like 80% of the fics don't really interest me). You may notice this is mostly the same fic writers, and, yeah, what can I say they know what I like

Foray - Hikareh (unfinished)

Leaving one's family and destiny isn't an easy thing to do, but Sonic needs to get away to discover if he's the prince his siblings want him to be, or the hero his heart is telling him he is. Three years later, Eggman kidnaps Manic, and Sonic is drawn back into the world he left behind, but now he can do more than rely on his medallion. He can fight. Bridging Underground and SEGA.

I never watched sonic underground but this fic is so compelling that it doesn't really matter, I love it anyways. I don't think the author has any intentions of ever updating this fic, so be warned, but I adore this characterization of all these guys, especially the brotherly relationship between sonic and tails. Once every year or so I give this a reread (and it's a long fic! it's over 100,000 words as is!) just because I love it that much. If you aren't interested in sonic underground I still recommend reading the first few chapters because they mostly just take place with little moments between Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles and they warm my heart.

(the rest is under the cut to prevent it from taking up a whole dash lol)

Zima - Hikareh (unfinished)

Every year, Sonic makes it snow on Tails' birthday. Even now, when Tails looks through him and can't really remember him, Sonic keeps his promise.

Ah, the kind of really good au worldbuilding that makes you wish the author would just take the time separating the fandom stuff from the original ideas and make their own book - it's that good in my opinion. Basically most of the characters in the story are, like, magical beings that help control the weather, except for Tails, who Sonic raised. However only children can see the spirits of the weather, so when Tails gets too old he can't see Sonic anymore and man it breaks by heart. Unlike Foray the ashemarie has mentioned returning to this fic someday (although I wouldn't hold my breath - I'm a fic writer I know that can mean an update this week or in twenty years or never).

Untried Equilibrium - Speedy123 (complete)

It's a long way down from space, still quite a way to go back to his island, and a tired Knuckles has too much time to think. A lot has happened, a lot has changed, and which parts are good and bad about it, anyway? - Short moment in the wake of SA2's aftermath.

Speedy 123 almost completely owns the rest of this list. Exactly what it sounds like, almost like a character dynamic study between the primary color trio.

Carvings and Relics - Speedy123 (complete)

On a cold winter day, a lonely guardian attempts to battle the onslaught of time on Angel Island's ruins. Upon his return home he finds an unexpected visitor waiting for him who offers a different perspective on relics and their worth.

Ah I adore this one. A oneshot between Knuckles and Tails on Angel Island. The characterization of these two is so good - they always manage to write Tails as earnest and sincere.

Fire and Smoke - Speedy123 (complete)

For some reason, it seemed like it passed everyone's notice that it's a VOLCANIC island. Team Sonic's day of outdoor fun on Angel Island takes a turn for the worst.

A hurt and comfort, more dramatic story where Sonic and Tails arrive on Angel Island to see that the Volcano has erupted. Obviously they'll all be okay, it's not that kind of fic, as Speedy123 says its' more to explore how these characters would react in these kind of situations

Skyfire - Speedy123 (complete)

Theoretically, Sonic and Tails had other plans, but when they find out an ancient and important echidna holiday is coming around, they head up to Angel Island to crash an echidna party instead. Knuckles isn't so sure what to make of that, but at least he's trying.

Again so good as you see Knuckles struggling with a tradition that he only knows about second hand, it makes my heart break for him. Speedy explores a lot about the fact that Knuckles lives alone on Angel Island and I adore that - it makes me so sad that Angel Island isn't in the movies (yet at least, a girl can dream)

Unlikely - sarilleny (complete)

Knuckles isn't exactly sure what to expect when he finally reaches the resistance force base. He is eager to join the fight. He is willing to sacrifice. He is ready to defend everything they have left. He is not prepared however, for the unlikely circumstance that ultimately awaits him.

I've never played Sonic Forces but like any good fic you don't need to know much to get the gist and understand the situation the characters are in. I love fics that explore Knuckles in his leadership role, filling the void that Sonic left and the stress that puts him under, but also how he comes into his own. this is part of a series all exploring this idea and I can wholeheartedly recommend the whole thing.

Legacy. What Is A Legacy? - BrownieFox (complete)

'It's planting seeds in a garden you never get to see'.

Silver wants to grow some plants for the resistance, and Knuckles decided to help out

YEAH THAT'S RIGHT IT'S BROWNIE! Another fic during the sonic era, a oneshot exploring Knuckles and Silvers' dynamic - something you don't often see! and does such a good job at exploring the idea of how the world has changed in the face of everything.

and that's it! There's probably some more out there - Hikareh has some more on their ffnet that never got crossposted, and I probably have more on my ffnet bookmarks but lord going through those is tedious work! I hope that these are helpful to you! sorry I'm super biased towards the trio lol what can I say they're my boys

[gekkoinapeartree]

Ok Welp- it’s now technically Monday but like… I haven’t slept yet so it’s fine. Right? That’s how days work, it’s totally a thing.

Anyways.

So …. My tagging and then writing six sentences per tag per fic was a bit of a bust.

But! I did manage to write more. More COBB, a bit of Magically Required and some random thing that mind needed to figure out because of my own feelings being complicated and messy.

Also thanks to all the folks who tagged me this week… and Wednesday?? I think I posted Wednesday? Who even knows anymore- but thank you all the same!!

Everyone has been writing and arting such incredible work and I am in love with it all.

But yes!

Man this week has been strange and wrought with sick kiddos and alcohol and not getting enough sleep. I’ve lost track of the days.

Anyways I think I have enough of my rando fic to post here, it’s Agatha POV and it will eventually be her and Penny bonding through Pole dancing classes ( and possibly burlesque? ) but it’s kinda going off my own feelings of inadequacy, body issues and sexuality/sex stuff etc.

I don’t think it will be NSFW- it’s just gonna talk about thoughts on sex, and feelings just cuz — I guess processing those things is easier through writing other characters??

Who knows. But yes.

So no one’s read this yet, and I’m not sure how interested in Agatha being very Agatha in it, but Penny will be Penny as much as I can make her- and anyone else will just be kind of support cast I think?

We shall see- since it’s more of a “hey I’m sorting my thoughts” type thing, I don’t think it’ll have too much of an actual plot. So maybe it’ll be terrible? I hope not but whatever. That’s how the phoenix crumbles and lights up like a sad and tiny funeral pyre.

Anyways to the snippet!!

Agatha tentatively pulled her tights off, feeling abnormally self conscious around her new classmates. She wasn’t used to this feeling - feeling concerned about being judged.

She was usually the most beautiful face in the room, she knew. And she wasn’t being cocky or self involved about it either. It was more of a fact. She saw how she turned heads, saw eyes linger over her. It usually made her want to scream.

The long studio mirror stretched out in front of her. Girls of all sizes were around her, chatting amongst themselves unencumbered by the near nakedness of their pole dancing shorts and tightly fitted shirts.

She was the alien in the room- the newcomer among this coven of lean muscled dancers. Exotic dancers her mind supplied, in her mothers quivering voice.

She had been less than thrilled when Agatha had told her about having signed up for Pole dancing and Russian Exotic Dance.

So that’s the new one that probably will just stay in WIP purgatory until I finish the other fics.

And since Magically Required hasn’t been updated in forever 😢 (sorry!!!!) …. Here’s a snippet of that too. ( also I already have decided I do not give a fluffy fox tail about posting 6 sentences- just whatever I feel like sharing so… deal with it ? Please? And thank you? )

Here it is! Chapter 8 on its way….

Any other boy, upon hearing this sound, would have come in their pants instantly. Any other mage would have used magic to lube up their throbbing cock and throw Snow over the nearest surface to fuck him as deeply, wildly and passionately as he deserves.

I however, like the cursed undead creature I am do neither of these things. ( although I feel like I coud. The fact that I haven’t given in to this temptation already is unprecedented.)

No, instead I, T. Basilton Grimm-Pitch remain completely frozen in horror.

My fangs have popped.

Fuck my life.

Taggos!! @ileadacharmedlife @confused-bi-queer @moodandmist @fatalfangirl @gampyre @takitalks @you-remind-me-of-the-babe @facewithoutheart @palimpsessed @aristocratic-otter @aroace-genderfluid-sheep @johnwgrey @mrskrementz @annabellelux @bazzybelle @f-ing-ruthless-baz @nonbaznary @penpanoply @wellbelesbian @wishwars @otherworldsivelivedin @martsonmars @exlibrisfangirl @henreyettah @krisrix @love-inthetimeof-x @letraspal @rhienfic

Mk if you were tagged and you tagged me: this is a thank you and a preemptive tag for next week ( or Wednesday in case I miss it!? I hope not! )

If you were tagged and you don’t know who I am : I read your stuff! I love it that’s why I follow you! Hugs to you and your brilliance!!

If you were tagged and you didn’t tag me: go write six sentences of absolutely anything- journal? Writing prompt? Outline? Letter to a friend? I mean *i’d* prefer something that’s a WIP but like who needs that pressure! You do you and know that I love your work!!

I’m doing my tags in a blanket like this because, like a chump I don’t want to have to keep check who tagged me. It’s laziness on my part I know, but know I appreciate you and this entire fandom as a whole and that this whole scene has added some very needed pep to my step so thank you friends <3

Xx kristi

[tinyboxxtink]

"Weird Secret Friends" *Chapter 2*

Part 1

Part 3

Y'all IDK what it is about this story but I can just write and write and write. This one ended up being 11 pages [on a google doc] And I only stopped because it's 2:15 am.

I hope you guys like this, but I just want to clarify: This isn't a Barisi fic. I'm sorry, if you're looking for that, just...this isn't it. I mean they do interact and it'll be fun, but they will not be ending up together.

That being said, enjoy this new chapter! I'm debating on how pathetic enamored Sonny is, I don't think I'm gonna go that deep. No worries, people.

As always let me know if you want to be added/deleted off the tag list!! <3

Tag List

@madamsnape921

@lolliepopsicle

@chasingeverybreakingwave

@milkshqke

@wanniiieeee

@word-scribbless

@gibbs274

@sassyada

@aprildecker-blog

@bookishfanfic

@stars-in-the-skies-world

@stars-trash-18

@omgsuperstarg

@objection-argumentative

-------

"Y/N, I'm so happy for you and Barba. You make the cutest couple," Sonny beamed at you while you were wrapped in Rafael's arms, huge smiles on all of your faces.

"Thank you Sonny, that means so much." You gave him a warm hug.

"Yeah….and you'll make the cutest couple in HELL!" All of a sudden Sonny pushed both you and Rafael off a cliff.

You were falling to your death when you woke up to your professor glaring at you.

"Have a nice nap, Miss Y/N?" He scowled at you.

"Um," You cleared your throat and straightened up at your desk. "Yes sir,"

"Good," he huffed as he headed to the front of the classroom once more. "Maybe now we can continue without your snoring,"

You heard the students around you snicker at his comments as You sunk lower into your desk and waited for class to end. It had been a long train ride home and then a drive to your apartment last night, you hadn't gotten home until around 2 am and had this 8 am class. As soon as the professor dismissed your class you booked it out of the class and out into the parking lot of your community college.

"Ugh, could this day get any--" before you could even finish your thought you got your answer. Your phone beeped with a text from Rafael:

RAFA: Hey killer, how's the bullshit county? 😉

That was the nice thing, then just as you were about to text him back your phone lit up.

SONNY BOI CALLING

"Shit!" You hissed to no one. "How does he know?!"

"Ahem….Heyyy, cuz," You answered it with your best nonchalant voice. That of course sounded totally chalant.

"Hey sunshine," His voice sounded relaxed, thank God.

"What's up?" You tried keeping your tone light as you neared your car.

"Well y'know I was just thinkin, I feel real bad about standing you up last night,"

"Oh, Son it's no big deal really," the fact that he felt guilty about anything made you feel even more guilty.

"No, I know you have a busy schedule and it takes a lot to get into the City and I just blew you off," He kept on with the guilt train.

"You didn't blow me off Son you had work. I get that--" You unlocked your car and got in, starting it so your windows would thaw. And your whole body.

"Well I wanna make it up to you," He cut you off.

"Oh?" your voice fell short. This couldn't be good.

"Yeah, my boss-- well he's not really My boss but Mr. Barba--"

Oh shit. Barba? Was Barba having a party? Why wouldn't He tell you that? Wait why WOULD he tell you that? Stupid. Wait, what was Sonny saying?

".... birthday, so you could be like my date," you caught the tail end of his invite.

"Birthday?" You repeated like a parrot. It was Barba's birthday? Oh god. You were really trying not to focus on how old he was. Don't ask. For the love of god don't say it Sonny.

"Yeah don't worry you don't need to get him anything, I got it covered," Sonny assured you.

Well, that was one way you could figure out just how much your cousin cared about his "idol". The more expensive the gift, the stronger the feelings were. You wondered whether you should ask him now or wait for the surprise. Maybe you should ask now, then his answer should tell you what you'd be getting into.

*So what did you get this 'non boss' of yours?" You asked slyly.

"Oh," now Sonny's voice dropped. "Well I, I don't wanna say,"

Fuck.

Don't panic. Do not panic.

"Oh come on Sonny," you did your best to keep a joking tone. "What am I gonna do, tell him?"

Should you joke about it? Hidden in plain sight, right?

"No I guess not, it's not like you know him,"

Whew.

"It's just kinda embarrassing…."

Oh god.

"O-Oh?" You tried to stay calm. "Why's that? Is it a gag gift?"

Please be a gag gift.

"Actually it's a new briefcase," He replied.

"Oh why is that embarrassing you goof?” You gave him a hard time. What was that in the emotional baggage department? Pun intended.

"I mean, it's more expensive than the one I own," You could hear the shrug in his voice.

Fuck. Don't ask why. Don't ask. But if you don't ask, that will be even more suspicious wouldn't it?

"Oh Son," You asked softly. "Why would you do that?"

"Well the one he has is as old as dirt, I think it's probably the first one he ever bought. I wanted him to look snazzy in court." He replied with a super eager tone.

"That's sweet," you were pounding your steering wheel in frustration. Say it.

"Seems like a lot of work for a mentor though," You closed your eyes mentally killing yourself.

"Yeah well," he laughed uncomfortably.

Say it.

"Sonny…” You didn’t want to do this.

“Yeah?” He was oblivious.

“You know you can always talk to me,”

“Yeah of course,” He assured you.

“About anything,” You scrunched your nose.

“Yeah I know, sunshine,” He half laughed.

“ANYTHING,” You reiterated

There was a long awkward pause.

“...Sonny?” You made sure he hadn’t hung up on you.

“Yeah, I'm here,” He replied softly.

“So?” You waited for the bomb to drop.

So…. He sighed. "I just want him to like me,"

Dammit.

"....Yeah," You nodded, cursing yourself.

"Yeah, its stupid. I'm stupid." He laughed again.

“You're not stupid,” you laid your head on the steering wheel in shame.” I mean the heart wants what it wants right?”

“What?! Oh my god, Y/N,” He scoffed. “I'm not gay,”

“….Sonny it's 2021,” you shook your head. “Sexuality is a spectrum,”

Right well. He laughed defensively. "I'm on the p in the v scale,"

“Ugh, Sonny,” you made a face.

“Sorry sunshine,” He apologized. “I just...why would you even think that?!”

“Uh…” You paused.

Maybe he wasn't fully aware that he had romantic feelings for Rafael. If you started pointing out the signs, he might realize it. But then you'd have a cousin going through gay panic AND then finding out it doesn't matter anyway.

"No reason," You lied.

"I just want him to like him so he'll give me a good recommendation once I graduate Fordham Law,"

"Oh" you smacked your head. "Duh. Right. Of course,"

That was completely legitimate. Maybe you had been misreading this whole thing. Now you just had the whole overprotective Gotti side of Sonny to worry about.

"Well I guess I could spend the weekend in the city," You shrugged as you pulled out of the parking lot.

“Absolutely!” He exclaimed. “My couch is always open,”

Not exactly where you were thinking of sleeping, but you weren't blowing your cover over the phone. Wait, maybe you should. Then he couldn't kill you over the phone. Wait, he's presumably at work right now. You didn't know how closely he worked with Barba, but you figured it would be a hell of a lot easier for Sonny to get to him before you could stop him from killing Rafael.

"Sure sounds good. I'll see you then cuz,” You smiled and hung up the phone.

------

Friday arrived, and you once again found yourself standing outside Forlini's. You debated heavily whether to go in or not, but you told yourself you were going to wait for Sonny outside this time, no more risking a sexy bar rendezvous.

You hadn’t really responded to Rafael’s texts the last few days, and you certainly didn’t tell him you were coming. Maybe you should have told him. You grabbed your phone to text him when you heard a familiar voice behind you:

“Y/N?”

You spun around to see Rafael dressed to the 9’s, smiling at you. He smelled delicious, mixed with the food aroma wafting out of the restaurant and the smell of freshly fallen snow in New York City.

“...Happy Birthday, Counselor,” You bit your lip nervously.

“W-What are you doing here?” He stared at you as if he thought he was dreaming.

“Sonny invited me,” You nervously smiled.

“Seriously?” He laughed.

“Seriously,” You nodded with a laugh as well.

“Did-- did you say anything to him?” He asked you worriedly.

“Are you insane?!” You hit him. “No!”

“So why did he invite you here?” He asked.

“He said it was to make up for ditching me the other night,” You shrugged.

“...The irony,” He smirked.

“Mmm,” You nodded with an amused smile.

“Well this is a very happy birthday indeed,” He smiled, pulling you closer into his coat similar to the night you had met.

“....Just don’t ask which one it is,” He warned you while staring at your lips deviously.

“Deal,” You nodded in agreement before he pulled you into a hungry kiss.

“DUDE!!” You snapped back before his lips were on yours for more than a millisecond. “Are you nuts?! Sonny’s gonna be here any second!”

“It’s my birthday, carino,” He made a pouty face. “Don’t yell at me,”

“Oh lord,” You rolled your eyes. “Alright, man child,”

He was about to go for another sneaky kiss when you both heard a voice from behind you.

“....Sunshine?”

“Oh!” You jumped ten feet away from Rafael when you turned to see Sonny standing there with a huge gift bag, staring slack jawed at the two of you. “Sonny! I um, we--”

“I was teaching your cousin a lesson in New York safety,” Rafael talked over you, his face completely stone. God he was a good liar.

“Excuse me, counselor?” Sonny raised an eyebrow, glancing between the two of you. You just stared in speechlessness.

“She was standing on this curb holding her bag out for any miscreant on these streets to just wrestle away from her, I was just demonstrating how,” He gestured to your open purse.

“Barba I really think this ain’t that kinda neighborhood,” Sonny half laughed.

“...You never know,” Rafael shrugged. “Now let’s all get inside, I’m sure everyone is anxious to start celebrating me,”

You and Sonny both rolled your eyes with smiles; too similar of smiles, you noticed. Thankfully, he did not. You both followed Rafael back to a private room where a bunch of fancy dressed people were mingling with drinks in their hands while two long empty tables stood in the middle of the room. They all stopped and clapped when Rafael walked in.

“Oh, for me?” He feigned surprise and humility.

“Yeah right Barba,” A woman laughed sarcastically. “You’re the one who invited us here,”

“Touche, Rita,” Rafael smirked as he began making the rounds around the table greeting everyone.

“So are we allowed to eat now, I’m starving,” An older man asked.

“And I’ve got a son waiting,” A red headed woman chimed in.

“Right, right,” Rafael nodded as people began to take seats. “Sorry everyone, you know I love to make a dramatic entrance,”

“Oh trust me we know, Barba,” Another man called. “Your catwalks into the courtroom prove that. I think we have a montage of them,”

“Ha Ha,” Rafael rolled his eyes, then turned to you and Sonny.

“Sonny,” He put a hand on his shoulder. “Why don’t you sit next to me?”

“R-Really, counselor?” You saw Sonny’s eyes light up like Christmas tree lights.

Fuck. You knew he was only asking him so that you would sit next to him as well. And while you loved the idea, you knew how much this was toying with Sonny’s feelings.

“A-Are you sure, about that Mr. Barba?” You gave him a look.

“Absolutely, Miss-- I didn’t catch your name?” He played it so cool.

“Y/N,” You held out your hand as you re-introduced yourself.

“Right, well--” He shook your hand then turned his attention to Sonny who was still beaming like a kid on Christmas. “I don’t know how much Carisi has told you, but he is quite the promising mentee of mine,”

“....R-Really, Rafael?” Sonny blinked in disbelief, causing Rafael’s smile to falter for a moment. Sonny had never called him “Rafael” before, it was always “Barba”. Shit, maybe he had given him too much praise.

“I mean, you know, for a lap dog,” He quickly added with a snarky tone and a smirk.

“Mr. Barba!” You tried not to raise your voice at the birthday boy. “That is my cousin you’re talking ab---”

“No, no it’s fine Y/N-- th-that’s how we work isn’t it, counselor? He just gives me jabs, I know he doesn’t mean it,” Sonny laughed nervously, staring at the floor. He knew not to get too comfortable with Barba, why did he even try it?

“Indeed,” Rafael nodded in agreement. “But, I still request you sit by me-- at least I know you don't poison my food. Which is more than I can say for many of my esteemed ‘guests’,” He eyed the tables of people before him.

“Then why invite them to your party?” You quirked an eyebrow.

“I get that Jersey doesn’t have the social classes of Manhattan, Miss Y/N,” He smirked. “But here, you’ve got to do things to keep up appearances,”

“Oh do you?” You practically growled.

“Yes,” He nodded while a waiter brought him a glass of scotch. “Even if you don’t like someone, if they serve a purpose for you than you do what you must to keep in their good graces,”

“Oh is that so? So you’re only kind to people who can ‘serve’ you?” You crossed your arms and narrowed your eyes at him.

What kind of Danny Zuko bullshit was this?! This was an entirely different Rafael Barba you had met the other night. He was kind, flirty, endearing. This new Barba was snarky and condescending, and you were not amused at all.

“Y/N, chill,” Sonny hissed at you. “This is just how Barba is, he’s harmless,”

“Yeah well you might not mind being his doormat Sonny, but I sure as hell won’t be,” You angrily stomped off.

“Oh my god,” Sonny muttered, wondering if he should run after you or not. “Barba, I am so so sorry about her,”

“It’s fine, Carisi,” He watched you stomping away, trying to hide the guilt in his voice. He was just trying his best to throw Sonny off the trail. He may have overcompensated just a tad.

“I-I should go check on her, She’s just a kid--”

“No, allow me,” Rafael put a hand to Sonny’s chest. “It was my faux paux, I should apologize to her myself. I was being a bit of an ass,”

“Yeah but that’s just you, Barba,” Sonny chuckled, trying not to blush at Rafael’s hand on his chest.

“True, but I forget not everyone knows me as well as you do, Carisi,” And now he was trying to be extra nice to Sonny to get on his good side, while cluelessly egging on his feelings.

“That is very true,” Sonny laughed even more nervously. “I’ll uh, I’ll take a seat and get our drinks ordered,”

“Excellent,” Rafael smiled at him, probably one of five times in the entire time they’d known each other. He gave Sonny one more pat on the back before walking after where you had stomped off to.

He found you right before you hit the front door, his hand catching yours before it could grab the handle. You turned and scoffed at him, your scowl still present after stomping off.

“Oh, come to appease me, counselor? How can I be of service to you?” You snapped.

“Please, Y/N,” He gave you apologetic eyes as he pulled you closer to him. “I’m sorry, I just-- I didn’t want Carisi to think anything was off. He already caught us being handsy, I had to make it look like we disliked each other,” He explained.

“Oh I think you’ve done that above and beyond, jackass,” You huffed. “First I’m too stupid to not get robbed in the city, and then I’m too uncultured to understand ‘high society’ manipulative bullshit?”

“I’m sorry, I may have gone a little over--” He started.

“But that wasn’t even an act, was it?” You interjected angrily.

“What do you mean?” He asked you curiously.

“Your line of you having ‘use’ of a person? I assume that is why you have a room full of powerful people you dislike as opposed to a room full of sycophants?” Yeah, you might just go to community college but you knew big words too.

“I mean, that is how it works--”

“Jesus Christ,” You shook your head with a laugh. “You know I understood for about half a second why my cousin is so infatuated by you, but I am losing that belief real quick,” You turned and started to walk away again.

“Y/N come on,” He grabbed both of your arms this time and pulled you close into him, your noses almost touching.

“Look I’m-- I’m sorry, that I’m---this,” He gestured to himself.

“But that’s just how I have to be in their world,” He gestured back towards the room. ���I’m telling you, it’s a room full of sharks. If I show weakness or misstep in decorum, I’m nothing but chum to those people,”

“The guy you met the other night, that’s the real me,” He put a hand to your cheek. “I never get to be that guy, not in public. That’s why I was so attracted to you,” He put his other hand on your waist.

“I don’t have to be ‘Rafael Barba, the snarky ADA with a silver tongue,’ I can just be…’Rafa’,” He gave you an earnestly sad smile.

“I’m sorry,” You blinked in confusion. “I know I’m not helping myself but what exactly is the ‘ADA’?”

Your question brought that familiar amused grin and a laugh. “See, this is what I’m talking about,”

“Oh yeah I know, the ignorant girl you can placate--”

“No,” He put a finger on your lips. “The earnest, normal, gorgeous girl,” He kissed your forehead. “I’m sure if we took a poll in here right now the majority of the room would be with you, not knowing what an ADA is,”

“Which still doesn’t answer the question,” You pointed out.

“I…” He tried to think of a way to explain his role in the Manhattan judicial system. “Well, the DA of the county is like-- the King of Lawyers in that section. Or queen, as my boss is Rita,” He shook his head with a laugh. Oh Rita Calhoun, the stories he could tell about her.

“So, you’re her king?” You raised an eyebrow.

“Eh, I’d say Prince but she’d probably say Jester if she heard this metaphor to be honest with you,”

“Mmm I like that,” You finally let yourself smile at him.

“A Prince?” He grinned.

“The Jester,” You gave him a tongued smile, settling against his chest.

“Well, I’ll gladly take that title if it makes you happy,” He kissed your forehead. “I’d do anything to make you happy right now,”

You looked into his green eyes, they were now their usual sparkling green hue, and you remembered very quickly how you had gotten yourself in this mess in the first place. He really was a sweet, charming, gorgeous guy. And then you remembered those were probably all the reasons Sonny fell for him too.

“Ahem.” You straightened up and stepped out of his grasp. “Well, what would make me happy right now is getting back to my cousin,”

“Oh,” Rafael’s eyes softened into a sad gaze.

“Rafael, I think he really likes you,” You bit your lip with guilt. “And you toying with him just now isn’t helping!”

“Toying with him?” Rafael’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion? “I wasn’t toying with--”

“Sit by me, Carisi? You’re important to me, Carisi?” You imitated his questions in a mocking tone.

“I had to ask him that so you would--” He started to explain, but you already knew.

“I know!” You stopped him. “I know, that’s why it’s so fucked!” You put your hands over your face.

“Carino…” Rafael walked over and pulled your hands from your face and held them.

“I’m hurting him every second that I stand here with you, and I--” You bit your lip trying not to cry. “I’m still doing it! I can’t walk away!”

“So don’t,” He squeezed your hands with an even sadder look.

“This is just--” You broke free from his grasp once again and wiped your eyelids. “We need to get back before Sonny comes after you,”

“....So where does this conversation leave us, then?” He asked you cautiously.

“I don’t…” You gazed into his puppy dog emerald eyes. “I don’t know, I don’t want to think about it right now, okay?”

“Fair enough,” He put his hands down in concession. “...But we really need to--”

“Yeah, I know,” You nodded softly as you walked back to the private room, Rafael trailing behind you.

All you could think on the way back was how in God’s name were you going to make it through the rest of the night.

[shasta-reese]

Supergirl 6x14 thoughts

So its been a hot minute since I posted anything of my own but I just have too many thoughts about this episode so get ready cuz this is probably gonna be long. I wanted to write this in chronological order but my memory isn’t great and I can’t remember exactly what happened when so fuck it. So let’s go:

- First off, it’s nice to see Lena at game night again but I am kinda upset that Brainy wasn’t in the episode at all. But nonetheless still a good start to the episode

- I thought when J’onn said that Lena’s affiliation with the Superfriends would not be revealed to William that that meant he wouldn’t know Lena’s was involved at all. But I guess I was wrong?? it was revealed almost immediately?? plus the fact that she had magic like??? I’m sorry did I miss a few chapters or something idk but anyway

- Loved that lil scene where Lena broke Nia brain lol. I like that they’re actually sticking to this friendship building between Nia and Lena, its nice to see. :)

- I understand that their entire mission of finding the totems is quite time sensitive but I really don’t think pressuring/rushing Lena into figuring out magic that she doesn’t fully understand yet was a wise decision on anyone’s part (like seriously how did no one have any concern for this)

- I am glad tho that when Kara and Lena had their disagreement that it was calm and mature. Really loving this healthy communication thing going on between them. Though I do wish we got to see how Kara got Lena to change her mind (I know Lena gave her reason but I don’t really buy it)

- Which reminds me of that Lena and William scene. Honestly I didn’t completely hate it, it actually had relevance to the plot and helped Lena with her issue so that was nice, I guess.

- Alex and Kelly had a couple nice (but short) scenes together which was good to see. Glad Alex finally got to meet Esme (*cough* her daughter *cough*), she’s always so soft with children I love it. And I guess Esme can breathe fire which is awesome but hopefully doesn’t cause many house fires in the future lol. And that ending scene with Dansen having a silent conversation was great, I can just see that they’re already planning to get adoption papers for Esme (or a fostering license first I’m not sure how the foster system works in the US).

- That Supercorp scene at the end just injected pure serotonin into my veins like FUCK YEAH. It was just so soft and domestic, I just can’t with them anymore like they’re literally having dinner together, just Kara and Lena without any of the other Superfriends, two episodes in a row. Is this even real rn?

- And then after that (or before I don’t remember) is the Andrea and William scene that just made me so mad. Like sure yeah, good for William for standing up to Andrea I guess but even though I consider this a good episode, the whole “William being imbedded with the Superfriends” thing is a stupid idea from the start. Like it’s truly so unnecessary, it’s just trying to shove William into a storyline to try to make him relevant to the plot but its just ridiculous. And freaking Andrea, don’t even get me started on her. I sorta liked her in the beginning when she was first introduced but now I just want her around even less that she already is, okay I get wanting to cover the Superfriends on like a celebrity level (get to know their personalities, values, likes and dislikes, y’know celebrity stuff) but straight up practically wanting to dox them is over the fucking line. The location of the Tower?! Revealing the identity of someone who has clearly stated their wish to remain anonymous!!?? And their fucking plan on how to defeat Nyxly?! Like are you actually dumb? Like- What- How could you not think that revealing any of that will backfire and make the Superfriends easy targets for their enemies, as well as jeopardise public safety. Just- God that made me so mad. 

*sigh* sorry went on a lil rant there but I digress. This was an actually a quite enjoyable episode overall. It had good moments between certain pairings of characters, romantic and platonic. I hope that the rest of the episodes to come keep at the same level that it has the past couple episodes. But I think that’s all I have to say for this episode. I might have another post later just for my issue with what their doing with Andrea’s character cuz honestly she’s becoming more insufferable in recent episodes and it’s frustrating to witness. If I got anything wrong feel free to correct me, cuz I wrote this as my thoughts just pop into my head so... yeah. But that’s it.

Goodbye, for now.

[papers4me]

Fruits Basket Manga Review ch (90)- First pages ONLY.

I skimmed thro ch-89 to know the context of ch-90. it was Cinderella’s play. In this chapter, Kyo says early on, that time has passed since the play & that they are NOW starting their third year in high school. cool.

This part will ONLY focus on the 1st few pages of ch 90 abt (kyo & tohru) & stop before kyo’s memories starts, because the early pages contain:

Tons of new unexplored analysis of (kyo & tohru) characters that unfortunately was intentionally cut & worse! “changed” in the anime.

No space to add kyoko’s story in this post.

Kyoko’s story is full psychologically & socially.. I need to take a deeeeeeep breath before I unpack it. very deeeeep breath!

-Glimpses of Tohru (the silent grieving girl) Subtle Writing of Grief:

Right from the beginning, I hate how much insight into tohru’s grief & weakness as a human being is already there in the first few pages of ch-90 than the entire 3 seasons of the anime! From few pages we have:

Tohru’s seemingly delighted watching a video. Subtly, showcasing tohru’s grieve & paving the path for tohru’s trauma exploration later in the story. Grief is not sth you quickly past, that’s the most tragic misunderstanding of grief. Time will pass, so, you’ll be better & healthier. Really?!. Tohru’s inner desire to see her mom alive manifested in her words: “ like a photo comes to life” T_T.

The story/writing/manga is acknowledging tohru’s heartbreaking & NOT cute habit of talking to her mom’s cold dead photo! In the anime, tohru talks to her a lot in se01 & it’s up to you to see as as “ cute” as all the canon characters do or actually feeling it IS wrong. Kyo’s  “ what would she do if there were a video of her mom”! “ drives the point more abt tohru being a sad grieving human~not the “advice-giving, optimistic angel, & rain-stopping sunshine in the anime.

Tohru telling kyo to NOT catch cold connecting it to se01, ep 9 (haru’s ep) when tohru was afraid that yuki might catch cold & kyo noticed that! so now in se03, they’re dropping this plot altogether within the main anime, for what? we dont even know if this part would be included in whatever “ kyoko’s” spinoff content would be. -_-’.

That’s how you write subtle trauma such as (grief) for a main (female) MC. subtlety is the key. Respect the viewers intelligence & do it.

You don’t have to give her the long speeches or the many focused ep that yuki had. he’s the kind who confront himself inwardly constantly.

You don’t have to showcase drama, confrontation & force the emotions out like you did with kyo. he runs from his trauma & punishes himself.

Tohru buries her feelings! she’s different from both kyo & yuki. So, with her subtle & symbolic scenes are enough!!!The viewers will catch it if you show it, but ignoring it, cutting it & hoping the viewers will magically predict what you cut, is weird. But the anime isn’t even into us predicting nor subtly showing her cuz this tohru is NOT the tohru we have in the anime. How?

Simply cuz there is no kyo’s inner thoughts abt small things such as tohru’s photo obsession which subtly shows her grief & trauma. If kyo didn’t monologue abt her, tohru does not exist as she’s meant to be. You loose the subtle insights into tohru if you cut kyo’s inner thoughts. Not everything kyo thinks abt in regards to tohru is romance!!! That’s a very narrow & superficial look into the writing of kyo/’tohru dynamics. Flip the pages, hmm..cut this kyoru scene here & there cuz we dont want the anime to be only their love story.. But the story itself IS NOT only their love story at all. These pages/scenes here are abt tohru as a PERSON. Not tohru the lover...

- Writing Clashes between manga & anime: (Kyo’s Conscious Gradual Psychological Exploration vs Shock Value & Drama)

In ch 90 i really love all the inner self talking that kyo’s doing. It really explains why he ended up rejecting tohru so strongly. Also, going for a trip into kyo’s mind is hella exciting, new, refreshing & full of analysis-worthy exploration! Kyo’s inner psychological argument with himself is a psychologically-informed presentation of a tried guilty mind:

“ Why can’t I stop thinking of (kyoko’s words) lately? Acknowledging that he IS remembering kyoko & never forgot her. This is also supported in the anime itself. When he apologized to a sleeping tohru in se01, ep14 & se02, ep9 , confronting yuki in the stairs & other instances as well. 

“ It’s like a lid been opened & all the memories came pouring”. Acknowledging that kyo DID open his lid since se02, ep9 byt chose to run & not confront it due to his guilt of ruining tohru’s happiness by confessing his connection to her mom. 

“ pretending I didn’t know, pretending I forgot”. Here is a blatant clash in kyo’s writing (1) between the anime & manga (2) between the anime’s episodes themselves!!. In the manga, again kyo chose to ignore & pretended to forget. Death is NOT sth you forgot. Kyo saw kyoko bleeding & dying.  The anime chose to make him totally forget & it could’ve worked if they didn’t included all the canon moments of him actually remembering & pretending to forget. Is that lazy writing? or was the director for se03 different from se 1 &2 &? chose to NOT watch the two previous seasons? Why would you consciously include a contradicting depiction of your character on screen for thousands of confused viewers? Was the scene of kyo’s shocked gave upon seeing kyoko’s photo that artistically appealing that you forgot everything? I really have NO problem of kyo forgetting kyoko if that was written in the anime since se01, but it wasn't. that's why it sucks. 

“Is this payback? maybe I want to blame ME?” augh! i love this line so much! Directly hinting to the viewers that this is kyo’s one-sided guilt before his story with kyoko even started! subtly paving the path for the reason of his rejection of tohru” I dont want forgiveness. I want to blame ME.

-I don’t mind that the anime left kyo’s thoughts of kyoko until the climax in eo8, cuz ep 8 was SO well-done! Se03, ep 8 pacing was very suitable to (1) uncovering dark secrets & death, trauma, & guilt. (2)  for exploring the effects such secrets on kyo’s character, decisions, mentality. Also, the animation of kyo’s face all ep 8 was one of the most expressive facial expressions the anime has ever delivered! The eyebrows, eyes, mouth, tears, body languages, heartache was all 100% perfect. The fact that the following eps didnt have much time to express everything & chapters were cramped is not ep 8′s fault but the decision to have 13 eps. Kyo’s delayed trauma deserved to have its own ep.

-What I DO mind is the added scene of ep 6 where he freaked out upon seeing kyoko’s picture, the concept of shock is perfect & so suitable for an anime but was NEVER properly written into the anime itself from the beginning. On the contrary, the anime itself contradict such usage of such value. Good job ruining an otherwise perfect-depiction of two traumatized characters (kyo & tohru) with ONE scene.. -_-

Side Notes:

I thought tohru is narrating the 1st page in ch-90, turned it out it is kyo!!!! Kyo narrates sth? Kyo monologues? kyo has a POV? Just the setting of kyo doing that feels different! I duno if it cuz when that happens in the anime it’s always clash & drama! lol, or cuz it’s sth original!

Shigure’s “ it’s broadcasted all over the nation” is epic! XD! you know poor stupid kyo would fall for that! XD. kyo, you really are an idiot! XD... man this scene would’ve been epic comedy~ lol.

Tohru not knowing what a “dvd” is is outdated for the anime, but to still keep the sentiment of “her wishing she’d have a video footage of her mom”, they could’ve replaced her words with “ It’d be fun watching this play years from now & remembering all the details”. I know that to some, it feels weird that tohru doesn't have video footage of her mom in this era. but trust me, this is more common than you might think. My late brother, who’s way younger than me, doesn't have much video footage, he always felt awkward & preferred not to be filmed. We got photos for him tho~

Even if you want kyo’s knowledge of kyoko to be in the climax only. You can always include this scene of tohru & kyo in the first pages in the anime somehow. It doesn't even need to be abt the dvd even tho that’s manageable. Cutting this short scene of them talking abt videos, & catching cold is cutting tohru’s trauma from its core. Then, the old grandpa’s narration from se03, ep6 would at least have some backup in the anime’s canon.

Momiji & shigure are perfect as a comedic duo!

I can’t get over tohru’s art~ <3

Pinning kyo at the beginning is epic~ kyo always gets the BEST romantic lines when he talks to himself. “ burning (tohru’s ) memories into my head or forgetting everything”. The torturing fire inside him is only distinguished by loving her but is also ignited by loving her~ what’s the solution~

[a-queer-seminarian]

I am trying to read more theology and I would love to know what texts have been most important to you? I am not a super academic person so things that are modestly accessible would be great, but also I am trying to push myself to read more challenging texts! ty so much!

Oooh what a fun question -- I’ve offered people book recs before, but never one that’s specifically the texts that have been most important to me.

To start, i recommend my #books tag on my other blog for way more books than the ones I’ll list here -- not every post in that tag is relevant to your question here, but some are. Here’s a list of the posts that are relevant to your request -- you’ll see that on most of them, I note how accessible vs academic or dense a text seemed to me. 

a list of recs for theology that’s helpful in this 2020 climate of pandemic and protest.

a list of recs for books about being queer and Christian

And now for a list of theological texts that have been most important to me -- deeply impacting how I read the Bible, how I relate to God or to other humans or to creation, etc.:

The basics

I have to include Christian Doctrine by Shirley Guthrie on this list...

simply because it was the first book I read when trying to figure out what Reformed Protestants believe after growing up Catholic. It’s actually a fairly easy read -- it’s longish, and not like the most riveting book you’ve ever read, but dang it has great stuff in it. It made me way more excited to enter the PC(USA) denomination than I’d been before reading it -- before, I felt like i was mainly running from the crappy parts of the Roman Catholic Church; after reading it, i realized i could also be running to the beautiful parts of Reformed theology!

But yeah, if you’re looking for a book that helps solidify in your mind concepts like the Trinity, or sin, or divine inspiration....this is a great book for that! (Assuming you want to learn about those things from a(n LGBT affirming) Reformed Protestant lens.

If you wanna read tons of excerpts from this text before deciding whether you want to read the whole thing, I posted a lot of passages from it in this tag over here.

Inspired by Rachel Held Evans

this is the best book I can think of for non-academics who want to learn about reading the Bible in a way that confronts rather than ignores/accepts its more disturbing passages.

If you need help figuring out how to read the Bible without a fundamentalist / literalist lens, this is the book for you.

Holy Envy: Finding God in the Faith of Others by Barbara Brown Taylor

Very important if you want to practice a Christianity that doesn’t pit you against people of other (or no) faiths -- and very easy to read

Books that helped me develop a liberationist + queer + disabled theology

Justin Tanis’ book Transgendered was super important to me when i was first getting into trans theology...

However, the language in it isn’t particularly accessible -- it’s not horribly dense but I would now recommend OtherWise Christian by Chris Paige instead. Paige quotes from Tanis -- and many other foundational trans theologians! -- and does a great job of making their scholarly language a lot more accessible to non-academics. Ach yeah, OtherWise Christian is what you wanna read to get deep into the academia of trans theology without having to wade through the denser older books yourself.

If you do want to read some of Tanis’ book, you can read my fave chapters as pdfs here.

I’d also recommend Austen Hartke’s Transgender and Christian YouTube channel and my website blessedarethebinarybreakers.com for more trans theology presented in simpler language!

Disability: The Inclusive Church Resource by John M. Hull

Nancy Eiseland’s The Disabled God is also, like, foundational to a lot of disability theology but it’s not the easiest read. The last two chapters are the best part in my opinion.

For more great resources on disability theology, including some of my own writing (which is, I hope, easy to read), see this Google Doc i compiled once and also my disability theology tag.

Jesus and the Disinherited by Howard Thurman.

It’s a bit more academic / written more formally than some of the books on here cuz it’s older, but it’s also short and if you can get through even just the first two or three chapters you’ll have absorbed material that i promise you’ll be thinking about for a long, long time to come.

God of the Oppressed by James Cone

So foundational. Another classic by him is The Cross and the Lynching Tree. These books are both more academic but yeah, foundational stuff.

The only full text I’ve read by Gustavo Gutiérrez is On Job but I’ve read a lot of excerpts from other stuff by him...

You’ve gotta read at least a little bit of this guy to help you understand liberation theology as it originated in Latin America. Unfortunately, I do think he’s much more academic so not an “easy” read at all -- you could try to find other authors who sum up his ideas and works and offer fundamental excerpts in his own words, if you try to dig into something he’s written and find it too tough

But yeah, his book On Job in particular really helped me start figuring out “theodicy” -- the question of why there is suffering in the world / what God’s role in suffering is. But I had a lot of trouble figuring out what Gutiérrez was saying at a lot of points in the book, and I’ve been reading academic texts for like a decade now!! So if you try to read it and find it’s just too much, don’t feel bad. I only was able to get a real handle on this book after discussing it in a seminary classroom with a teacher helping us.

If you wander through my #theodicy tag, you’ll find my own understandings of suffering as shaped by On Job without having to read the book yourself! You also might like Everything Happens by Kate Bowler for a great look on suffering. 

Native: Identity, Belonging, and Rediscovering God by Kaitlin B. Curtice (progressive Christian + citizen of the Potawatomi nation)

This book is truly incredible in that its language invites you in and reads like a devotional while making powerful statements about settler colonialism and assimilation and stuff. So so so good. 

When it comes to books that have deeply enriched, like, my “personal” prayer life / relationship with God:

Learning to Walk in the Dark and An Altar in the World by Barbara Brown Taylor (Episcopal background)

This author’s books are all so easy to read, and so so so full of wisdom. If you want your theology served to you in a less “so this is theology” kind of way and more of a devotional kind of way, this is the author for you.

Also she’s super popular among non-academics and academics alike so it’s easy to find people to discuss her work with!

An Altar in the World is about finding God outside of church, in the everyday, in the “secular”...

Learning to Walk in the Dark is about forming a faith that can survive and actually nourish you during the struggles of life (as opposed to what she calls a “full solar Christianity”)

A Tree Full of Angels by Sister Macrina Wiederkehr (Catholic nun)

this one is a little bit more formal in style, but not bad if you read it like i did, which was as a devotional where i’d only read a section or two each evening. It focuses on finding the divine in the most mundane of things -- see here for some posts sharing short excerpts from it.

Wow this got long....sorry about that! And if you were hoping for more shorter works, like articles instead of whole books, let me know and I can dig through my seminary stuff and share my faves!

[dottores]

Hi Cat 👋! First off I'm so sorry that you're having to deal with such stressful school work on such short notice. As a student, I understand your predicament and wish you the best of luck and sending all the love and hugs and kisses your way 🥰🤗😘

I know you said if we wanted to interact it's best to go to your other blog, but since I want to gush about LDA I thought it'd be best to send my ask here so as to not distract you.

Sooooooo LDA chapter 4, tbh I feel like I have a lot to say (good things of course) and also nothing to say lol. It was a good chapter for some new context. I'm really curious about these deadly weapons since reader seems to have had quite the bad experience with them, and makes me wonder if that experience is the leading cause as to why reader cut contact with the boys for their safety. Poor Ran tho😔 he's so mad that he wants to hate you because he feels betrayed but can't bring himself to. I really enjoyed being able to get into Ran's head to better understand him and his feelings. Thank god for Koko tho for pointing out your warning (I'm assuming they're taking it as a deliberate warning and not a coincidence that you gave them helpful info, I hope anyway). Also hope that the brothers not realizing it was a warning is due to them being too caught up in their own feelings and not them being too stupid to see your warning. I'm thinking that this warning was why reader was "blocked" not necessarily blocked specifically but more like all of Bonten destroying their phones for safety reasons. Makes me really excited to see what the next interaction between reader and the brothers will be like since at this point reaching out thru tech isn't the safest option for either party. Also don't mind me and my stupid lizard brain just now realizing Mina meant Minami Terano and that he is your bodyguard, is it wrong of me to want this to be a point of contention between reader and the brothers since they don't have to best past with him lol? Nothing major just an argument between reader and the brothers, mostly due to them being jealous.

Sorry this is long I just wanted to throw my thoughts out there for this latest chapter since I don't have anyone to talk to about it 😢, let me know if you're ok with these long asks or not

Cat you did it again, not that I'm surprised tho you're an absolute genius, but the dialog is 💯on point this chapter, and the way you portray/express emotions is ✨mwah✨ perfection.

(if you're seeing this ask twice, its cuz tumblr messed up while I was almost done the first time and about to send it in so trying again just in case. Just ignore one of them, they basically say the same thing)

I AM ON MY KNEES CRYING AND SOBBING YOU JUST GAVE ME SO MUCH NEEDED SEROTONIN WITH THIS ASK OMG OF COURSE IM OKAY WITH IT THIS IS MY FAVORITE THING EVER IM SMILING N GIGGLING LIKE A LIL KID RN 😭😭😭

hehehehe i cant say much but you’re definitely onto something with the whole weapon situation and YES SOBS ran is so conflicted that poor baby and rindou is so angry cuz like he genuinely trusted us not abandon them and </3 :’) we did them so dirty they deserved better. YES the reason they didn’t recognize the warning because they were too caught up in being upset over it—they probably would have realized it had it been any other situation. hehehehehe i’m so excited to write the next meeting between reader n the haitanis it’s going to be… interesting to say the least LMAO. and PLEASE i was trying to like keep mina=south subtle but at the same time hint toward it LMAO i was trying to not make it too obvious in the first three chapters—and it will be ;) hehe, im actually excited to talk ab south n reader’s past im just tryna figure out when exactly i wanna do it, it’ll prob be in a few chapters

I HOPE YOU KNOW YOUVE GOT ME CRYING N GIGGLING IN THE DINING HALL RN YOU TOTALLY JUST BOOSTED MY MOOD BEFORE I GO BACK TO STUDYING ILYSM

[rip-a-dip-dip-you-potato-chip]

Cuz I'm feeling shitty at exactly 11 pm as I write this, TIME FOR SOME DAD MACAQUE F UN yoU F**KS

So I haven't updated shit on AO3 because my commitment is shit, and BRAIN GO BERR but this is a little something regarding a chapter I want to do regarding the Problem Children AU. If you don't know what that is, emm basically its my comfort AU with Parental Monkey's because Daddy issues be hitting hard.

-

It had been a while since (y/n) had officially started to accept the dark furred monkey as a parent. And to say things where going good would be an understatement. Although, things could be going worse considering.

Since Luner New Year Macaque began making more of an effort to try and be good. Naturally you can't just ask the guy to do a complete 180 after everything, but he's made solid progress. Xiaotian- Mk- has forgiving him for almost killing him, and the Monkey King seemed to be lighting up around the other. And vise-Versa.

It was just a fue weeks ago when things really started to change.

You see demons have periods where they go though a change. Whether it be a physical or just gaining new powers. Some happen earlier and some later. And a majority of the time it would involve the youth inherenting something form there parent.

(y/n)'s mother was a low level demon that once lived in a village miles away form the city, well before it became a city, at the time it was just a large merchant town(not all the important). While demons didn't exactly have the best rep 500 years ago, (y/n) mom was extremely sensitive to touch. She could tell is something was real or fake, the exact quality, animal and even the life it had befor death, or was living in the case of wool.

Because of this she was a welcome individual in the village, making sure passing merchants, and sales body didn't scam the locals. She was also a talented seamstress to boot.

So, why must you know this? Well like mentioned beforehand youger demons tend to inherent a combination of there parents powers. (Or in the case of Red Son develop there own all together).

You (y/n) are the illagitment child of a touch sensitive demon and the Six Eared Macaque. While you developed your basic magic power with both Sun Wukong and you're father. You physically power decided went 'hey, we know your having the time of your life navigating the feels you have towards a dad that tried to kill one of your first and best friends, but f*uck you- have both super touch and hearing! Enjoy the sensory overload~'

And that is exactly is what's happening at this moment. Not having full control of either sense was agonizing.

Thankfully, you had someone that could help. You're dear ol' dad.

(Wether or not the Monkey King knew how to handle inhanced senses was unclear, but you had a seeking suspicion he did, but kept quite for some reason)

Since it was still the early stages of learning, Macaque held you close to him. Literally.

As of this moment the two of you where sat cozily on the couch in the Monkey Kings home.

Macaque layed back, head resting against a pillow proped up on the arm rest, while (y/n) was on top of him, head lined up to where the elder stone Monkey's heart was. His tail swished idly side to side and he ran fingers though your amber fur in attempt to ease your pain. It was soothing, you could feel a warmth, and the longing.

(Y/n)'s tail was curled around their leg loosely as they listened to the steady beating of their dads heart.

It was all Macaque could think of on such short notice.

But that was okay.

Because it was little moments like this where you both could enjoy the others presence, without bother, that just made you appreciate each other more.

And right now thats all the mattered.

-

Hope you enjoyed this tiny nugget of a slice of life!