#don’t forget that they (the tech companies) are just using us and will throw us away | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

sweetblossomsss · 6 months ago

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Into you || Jeong Yunho

Synopsis: Your husband, who was a deceitful piece of shit, unfortunately is someone who is high of status which means danger comes easily. But when Yunho was hired as your bodyguard, you felt something inside of you change. You were fighting with fire trying to explore what this relationship with Yunho could be.

WARNINGS: nsfw, swearing, reader’s husband gets physical by grabbing her face, drinking, crying, yelling, angst, happy ending, unprotected sex, smut, The character Jae is based on no one, just picked that name, toxic relationship with husband, divorce, throwing a object, tbh I’m sure I’m missing some just lmk.

Word Count: 40K. (If I remember correctly)

Blossom’s Notes: Hello my petals! I definitely had a blast writing this story. As I was watching Ariana Grande’s Into You music video it inspired me to write something similar to it. This is a long one so cozy up, grab a drink and popcorn and enjoy your read. Let’s get into it.

Started: May 29, 2024. Finished: July 28, 2024.

“And I just want to say, thank you to my beautiful wife.” Your husband, Jae, says as he smiles at you. The light shining on you, giving you a spot light. You smile back. “Without you, I don’t know where I would be right now. I love you so much.” He says as he sniffs those crocodile tears up.

You’ve gotten use to his bullshit and lies. The whole banquets clapped for your husband as he smiled for the cameras holding up his plaque. He’s a renowned technology entrepreneur, who is known for his innovative software solutions. His company, a major tech company, is getting recognized for its ground breaking achievements tonight.

He walks down the stage, shaking people’s hands, thanking them as he walks to you. He gives you a kiss on the lips, hugging you. “Show some more affection, would you?” He whispers in your ear, making it seem like he whispered sweet nothings to you. You smiled, as you held his cheek, trying to make it a sweet moment for the cameras.

How badly you wanted to slap him and clean the floor with his ass. You two sat down, thanking the people in your table for their compliments. You couldn’t wait to get home, get out this tight dress, and take the night off with a nice hot bath and alcohol.

“So Y/N,” An older woman says, catching your attention, “You must be very proud of your husband.” She smiles at you two as you reached over and placed your hand over Jae’s, his thumb caressing the back of your hand. “Words truly can’t describe how proud I am of him. He deserves it all.” You said smiling at him. Ugh, please.

Jae cleared this throat. “I’m truly a lucky man. I meant what I said when I said I don’t know where I would be if it wasn’t for her. She’s been my everything through all the hardships.” The way he looks at you and speaks which such love about you tugs a bit on your heart strings.

You won’t lie, this has been rough. Even then that’s an understatement. You both started this journey with not even able to afford a bed frame. Jae was putting hours in and out for his company, busting his ass to get to where he’s at now. It is true that you kept him sane and composed throughout it all. He leaned on you every time he let his frustration consume him and wanted to throw everything away.

Sometimes you fantasize about the what if. What if you did let him give up? Maybe all the money, glory, and fame wouldn’t get to his head. Something within him switched and you could never figure out why or when it did. If you’re wondering why you stay, well, truthfully speaking even you don’t know yourself. Maybe a part of you is holding on to the what use to be. Hoping Jae goes back to how he was.

“It’s beautiful to see a relationship like this.” The woman said. She dabbed her mouth with a napkin after she had a sip of her champagne, “Pardon if this is wrong of me to ask,” You felt the mood change within the table. “But I saw those threats online. How are you both feeling?”

Oh my mistake, did I forget to mention that you have been receiving threats? Due to your relationship with Jae, you have become a target for people who are against Jae’s business, along with some fans of Jae who aren’t too fond that your his wife. But what has your loving husband done with this information every time you bring it up? Nothing.

The other people in the table agreed talking amongst themselves whispering how they were terrified for you or were worried something bad would happen. “Oh, trust me, we aren’t taking the threats lightly,” Jae said, reassuring the people at the table.

You could’ve sworn you hurt your neck from how fast you snapped to his direction wondering who the fuck is “we” and why “we” all of sudden started caring. “We are currently trying to find the culprits as well as hiring a bodyguard for Y/N.”

Your mouth dropped. You were in shock. For MONTHS you’ve been begging and pleading for some form of protection but he always dismissed your feelings. Guess when other people speak he will do anything to save face his reputation.

He gives you a small face signaling to fix yours. “Oh-Oh, I’m just so shocked,” you said as you put a hand on your chest, “I- um- I didn’t know he was getting me a bodyguard.” You fumbled with your words, giving a small smile to the people at the table to save your reaction.

“Oh, what a good man you have,” the woman said. She grabs her champagne raising it in front of her. “A toast,” she says as everyone, including you two, raise your glass. “To the newly renowned entrepreneur.” Clinking with Jae before you downed that drink knowing you’re in for a long night. You can’t wait to get home.

_______

Finally you two arrived home, no one saying a word to one another. Jae loosening up his tie and taking his jacket off as he walks to the bar. You closed the door, walking to lean on the wall as you take off your heels. You carried them in your hands as you headed up the stairs.

“It would be nice if my wife would give a fuck about my award.” He spat in venom as he poured himself a drink, watching your figure go up the stairs.

You stopped half way on the stairs, making a creaking sound on the wood as you turned around. “Are you serious?” You scoffed. “Your wife is exhausted of playing pretend tonight, husband. I’m going to bed.” You turn around, wanting to just get comfortable and out of his presence.

He slams the cup down, liquor spilling out. You roll your eyes. Oh, here we go again. “Pretend? Are you fucking kidding me? After all I fucking do for you? For us? You’re gonna treat to me like this?” He yells as he spreads his arms out in front of him, leaning on the counter top, glaring at you.

You let out a laugh, slowly going down the stairs, staring at him with a smirk. “For us?” You asked tilting your head to the side in amusement, dropping your heels. “No, Jae, just for you. You’re just a self absorbed arrogant piece of shit.”

That set him off because he was coming in heavy steps, flaring his nostrils, eyes full of anger as he walked up to you grabbing your face. You yelped in shock, digging your nails into his wrist. “You don’t get to speak to me like that.” He spat at you, tightening the grip.

“Admit it. You don’t give a fuck about me. All you care about is your status and how you look on the outside to others.” You said breathing heavy as you try clawing his arm away from you.

“That’s not true. You know I care for you.” He said. His actions obviously say otherwise. You finally shoved him off of you. He stumbled a bit trying to find his balance. There was a moment of silence looking at each other before you spoke.

“That’s bullshit and you know it. Why does it take for other people to speak up about what’s happening to me in order for you to do something? You listen to them instead of me?” You felt tears dwelling up as you fumbled taking off your engagement ring and throwing it at him. “Your wife?”

The ring hit him on the chest, bouncing at bit as it made impact with the floor, not that he cares about it either way. “You know that I was caught up with work, business meetings-“

“Everything but me. You just needed to hear other people talking about the threats to validate my feelings, huh?” You cut him off with tears streaming down your face. You were just fed up with all his excuses.

He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. “I was making sure that you weren’t just you being paranoid!” He yells.

You scoffed in disbelief, is he serious right now? “Paranoid? You think I’m being paranoid? You think it’s great living in fear?” You asked him, watching him walk to the bar.

He pours another drink, giving his back to you. “We are doing it now so what’s the matter.” He says nonchalantly.

You sniffed as you wiped the fallen tears. “What matters is that my own husband who vowed to love and protect me doesn’t do anything of the sort.” You said as you shook your head in disappointment and anger. Seeing that he just gave up on this conversation, you just left and went upstairs.

Jae isn’t even phased one bit. He doesn’t bother looking back at you as you leave, not even feeling a tad bit remorse. He just leans his body over the counter, entertaining himself with the cup moving the liquor around, hearing the ice cubes clank against the glass.

He then suddenly feels a vibration in his pocket. He takes his phone out to see someone texted him what he was doing tonight. He chugs the rest of the drink, grabbing his car keys and slamming the door shut as he heads out.

As you’re getting undressed in the bathroom, you turned your head to the sound of the door closing. You sniffed as you wiped your tears with the back of your hand. You’re not stupid, you know he’s probably off to go party and screw some woman. Not the first nor the last.

You watched as the hot steam fogged up the room. Turning to the mirror, you wiped it as you stared at yourself. This isn’t you. You deserve better. You touched your face as you see the tiredness in your eyes, stress written all over your face. Soon the mirror would be fogging again causing you to look at your reflection fading.

You walked to the tub sighing in delight, feeling the slight burning sensation of the water relaxing your muscles as you stepped in. You slowly got in, letting your body adjust to the temperature. You leaned your back on the tub, closing your eyes letting the bullshit of night get out of your system into a peace of mind.

________

A few days have passed and tension still lingers between you and Jae. But here you are, standing in his spacious, sleek office, gazing out the floor-to-ceiling window that overlooks the city getting ready to meet this so called bodyguard Jae has hired.

When he told you he had found someone, you felt the weight of the world come off your chest. Finally, you get to breathe and not have to constantly be looking over your shoulder anymore. The sounds of Jae’s rhythmic typing filled your ears as you stared at your wedding ring, wearing it just for display for photos. You sighed as your attention turned to the view before you.

Suddenly a knock on the door caught your thoughts as you turned around to see who it was. “Come in.” Jae said not even bothering to look up. “Sir,” the receptionist said as she peaked in, “Mr. Jeong has arrived.” Jae looked up at her pausing mid-type, nodding his head as he stood up. “Bring him in.”

You walked and stood next to Jae as he is straightening his clothes, buttoning up his suit, preparing to meet him. “Let me do the talking,” he says, adjusting his tie. “Maybe now I won’t have to worrying about your safety every second.”

“Since when have you ever been worried about my safety to begin with?” You shot back at him with anger in your eyes.

Right when he was about to say something the door opens. Everything went silent when this tall man walked in. You were momentarily stunned at how handsome he was. He was just oozing with quiet confidence in every step as he approached you both. “Good evening, I’m Jeong Yunho.” He greets himself, deep voice ringing in your ears. Wow.

Yunho extends his hand out to Jae and he returns it with a firm shake. “Nice to meet you. I’m Jae and this,” he wraps his arm around you, “is my wife, Y/N.” He smiles at Yunho.

The urge of breaking his arm off of you is hard to fight but you push through it. “It’s very nice to meet you Mr. Jeong. Thank you so much for coming in today.” Although you feel irritated towards Jae, you gave a genuine smile to Yunho.

He extends his arm out to you. “Please, the pleasure is all mine. And please call me Yunho.” He gave you a small smile as he shook your hand. Wow, he is very handsome. Not just that, but the energy he was radiating when he walked captivated you in some sense.

Jae clears his throat putting his hands in his pockets, noticing your longing stare. “Yunho comes highly recommended. He will make sure you’re safe now.” He said in a serious tone.

“Im sure I will be.” Your tone coming off a little sarcastic as you smiled at Jae causing him to force a smile as his eyes sent daggers to you. “It really means a lot that you’re here Yunho.” You turned your attention back to him.

He nodded, giving a small smile. “Of course. It’s my job. We’ll go over your daily routine and set up a security plan tailored to whatever you need.” He said putting his hands behind his back as he spoke.

“Just make sure she’s protected.” Jae said with slight attitude towards Yunho. You gave him a look that said shut-up. “I’m sure he knows what he’s doing Jae.” You spat back at him.

Yunho sensed the tension between the two of you. He was eying your body language. Keeping a keen eye at the way Jae held your arm and you trying to remove it from his grip as he harshly whispers something into your ear causing your expression to turn angry.

“It’s alright. I understand where he’s coming from,” Yunho said calmly, trying to ease the tension. “My only goal is to protect you without intruding on your personal space. Whatever you need, just let me know.”

You nodded at Yunho’s words. “Well, if you excuse me,” Jae said as he looked at his watch, completely ignoring what Yunho said. “I have a meeting to get to. Make sure she gets home safe.” Jae said as left the room, but not before looking Yunho and up and down as if he’s a threat.

Once you hear the door close, you let out a sigh trying to release the frustration within you. “Yunho, I’m so sorry about Jae. He’s just very… difficult.” You apologized.

Yunho shook his head, giving you a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry about it. My focus is on you, not him.” He told you. Oh, what was that? Did my heart skip a beat?

You feel a rush of warmth covering your heart with his words, feeling your heart do a leap. It was the way his words spewed sincerity with his intense gaze throwing you off guard. It felt like it stirred up something in you and it was just the first time meeting him.

But besides that, you kind of felt overwhelmed, but in a good way. Feeling some tears creeping in, you sniffed a bit, “Sorry, it’s just- It’s been a long time coming. Ive been waiting for this for a while. You have no idea how clear I can breathe now.”

Yunho looks at you with compassion, “I know it’s a lot to take in, but I promise I’m going to be here for you at every step.” He reassures you as he pulls out a handkerchief for you to dry up your tears. You thanked him as you grabbed it from him, patting your face dry.

“Why don’t we go over your daily routine? The more I know, the better I can protect you.” He said smiling slightly at you, trying to take your mind off of the overwhelming thoughts. You let out a soft okay as you two sat down at the sofa.

You two spent an about an hour or two going over the entire outline of your routine. The places where you like to eat, favorite places to shop, like to hang out, just the usual places. He listens intently as he takes notes, asking questions to clarify some details, nodding his head as you kept talking. “And, well, that’s pretty much it,” you chuckled nervously, “sorry it’s that’s a lot of information.”

He shakes his head, “Not at all. It helps me to know as much as I can to ensure your safety.” He closes his notebook tucking it inside his suit pocket, standing up. “Well then, let’s get you home, yeah?” He asks as he extends a hand out to help you stand from the sofa.

You take his hand as you stand up looking at him. “Yeah, let’s go.” And with that you lead the way out the office and out the building. Because of the news of Jae winning an award, paparazzi were outside his building wanting to take photos and ask questions. And of course he would eat up all that attention.

As soon as you stepped outside, you were bombarded with questions, crowd closing up on you. You covered your face with your hand as flashing lights from the cameras were blinding you from seeing where you were going. Yunho had brought you closer to his chest, shoving people out the way, yelling at them to move.

He held a finger to his ear piece. “Prepare the car.” He said as he held you tightly. When the crowd opens up a way to the car, you see more security guards creating a barricade for you to get in the car. Yunho opens the door for you and helps you inside closing the door quickly.

He rushes to the other side of the car and gets inside. “Let’s go.” He tells the driver as he taps the driver seat. The driver books it out of there as you stared out the window, watching as you get further and further away from the paparazzi. You leaned your head back and close your eyes, feeling at ease. Something you haven’t felt in a long time.

_______

To say you were happy beyond words is an understatement. Yunho has been there at your beckoning call, very attentive when people are in your surroundings, he can read you like an open book at this point. It felt good getting some normalcy back. However one thing is still unresolved, your marriage.

Yunho has definitely seen the bad and the ugly when it comes to you two. The screaming matches, the silence between one another, you name it he saw it. You felt so ashamed and embarrassed to be doing all that in front of Yunho, but he always reassured you that it was okay and that he was here for you.

And tonight just so happens to be one of those nights. Tonight is an important conference for Jae and as always, he’s on edge. He had a drink in his hand, tapping his foot impatiently as he looked at his watch.

“Y/N, we have to go. Come on!” You heard Jae yelling from downstairs. You roll your eyes, applying the final touches to your makeup. You stepped back, admiring yourself as you spritz yourself with perfume.

You set it down and ran your hands down your dress, turning a bit to the side to see how you looked from behind. You smirked at yourself, Damn I look good.

You took a deep breath and let it out as you started walking down the stairs. The creaking of the stairs caused Jae and Yunho to look at your direction causing them to freeze up at your presence. You just looked so breathtaking. Yunho eyes never once left you as he walked towards you to help you down the last couple of steps.

“You look beautiful, Ms. Y/N.” Yunho complimented as you stepped in front of him, turning so he can help you with your silk shawl. You gave him a small thank you, adjusting your shawl around you.

Jae looked at you up and down before finishing his drink. “Let’s go.” He said, placing his cup down as he walked to the door. “We are going to be late.”

____

Arriving to the conference, as soon as you stepped in servers with drinks on a silver tray offered you champagne. You happily took one while Jae went off on his own to the bar to get something else to drink. Yunho just declined by raising his hand and followed you to the reserved table.

Once you spotted your name, he helped remove your shawl. The mixture of his slight touch mixed with the fresh cool air hitting your exposed skin gave a chill down your spine. He took out the chair for you,“If you need me, I’ll be right over there, okay?” He leaned down, whispering in your ear as he pushed the chair in for you.

The hot breath you felt in your ear gave you goosebumps all over, making the little hairs stand at your neck. “Okay.” You said softly as you nodded at him, clearing your throat. Feel like a little hot all of a sudden.

You watched him walk away as you bite your lower lip. Why am I feeling like this? But soon the devil himself would take you out of your thoughts as he got into your view taking a seat next to you. “Remember, act happy and don’t look so miserable.” Jae reminded you for the 20th time that night.

“Oh, sweetie, how can I when I’m with you?” You gave him a fake smile to which he returned one to you. When people started arriving at your table, his focus immediately shifted to them. You gave a small talk and smiles as the night when on.

As Jae was chatting up amongst the people at the table, you sighed in boredom. You grabbed your champagne taking small sips, your eyes roaming around the room. But you know who you were looking for. Your heart stopped when you saw those eyes were already looking at you.

It just felt like it was just you and him in this large crowded room. The dimmed light casting a mysterious look on him. You felt yourself getting lost looking at him. You can hear your heart beating with curiosity and excitement. Something in the way he looks at you makes you feel giddy inside.

He raised his eyebrow, almost asking if anything was wrong. You saw how was getting ready to walk but you smiled and shook your head. You placed the champagne down, turning your attention back to the table getting ready to play husband and wife when you heard Jae call for your attention.

______

Time has passed but the function is still going on. Jae and you stand amongst fellow CEOs, talking about their respective companies as Jae has a possessive grip around your waist. You try your best to hide your discomfort as you try to keep up with the conversation.

“So gentleman, as you can see,” Jae says as he takes a sip of his drink. “NexTech has been known for its unprecedented growth. Plus with our innovative strategies and unmatched resources, we will be dominating like no one has before.”

“Very impressive, Jae. The vision for your company is quite ambitious.” A CEO nods in approval. Jae chuckles as he grips you tighter. You slightly wince at the touch, knowing he’s getting drunk and can’t control himself.

“But of course it is. After all, I wouldn’t settle for anything less.” He said in an arrogant tone, chuckling.

You tried shifting away from him, but it was no use. He had a death grip on you. “Yes, Jae has always been ambitious.” You forced a laugh. You gave Jae a pointed look, signaling for him to loosen up the pressure.

But of course, he ignores you. All his attention is on the CEOs in-front of him. “Oh and who’s the lovely lady? Is she your assistant?” Someone asks, eyeing you with curiosity. Really man? You fought the urge to not roll your eyes.

“Oh no, she’s way more than that,” Jae chuckles, “This is my partner, Y/N, in every sense of the word. Although, between us, she’s not much help when it comes to the business side. Just a pretty face to show around.”

You look at him with widen eyes, feeling shock and humiliation. You can sense the mixture of pity and amusement from the CEOs as they look at you. In that moment you felt so small. You cleared your throat, “Excuse me.” You said as you removed yourself from his grasp, quickly walking away from them.

“Women, right? Can’t take a joke.” Jae sarcastically says as he takes a sip causing a laughter amongst the group.

______

Shoving the door of the banquet open, the loud noise of the chatter and music from the room fades away as the door closes behind you. Your heels echoed in the hallway as you desperately tried to find some sort of exit, feeling suffocated and humiliated.

After turning down some halls, you came across this French door that upon opening revealed to be a beautiful roof top garden. You sniffed as you sat down on the stone bench that was there, running a hand through your hair as you sobbed.

You shouldn’t be shocked at this point, you know that. But you just can’t help how you feel. Why must he be such an asshole. You sat there replaying the moment in your head. “I feel so stupid..” you said as you leaned your face into your hands as you cried.

Meanwhile back in the banquet, Yunho whose eyes never left your sight, saw you running away. He exchanged a look with Jae that was full of disappointment but quite frankly Jae could give a fuck about it. Yunho just knows that Jae did something to fuck this up.

As Yunho stepped out of the room, he looked all over for you. He was jogging down the hall but stopped in his steps once he saw that some doors were open and as he got closer he heard someone crying. When he stepped out, he saw you in your broken state.

As he approached you, the gravel under his feet made some noise but you were too caught up in your emotions that you didn’t hear foot steps approaching you. “Y/N?” He crouched down in front of you.

You jumped a bit not expecting to see anyone. “Oh my- Yunho, I’m so sorry,” you sniffed, wiping your face with the back of your hand. “I just- I- I’m sorry.” You sighed in defeat. “I don’t mean for you to see me in such state.” You said you turned to the side trying to compose yourself.

He doesn’t say anything as he stands up and takes his jacket off and he wraps it around you. You look up at him with puffy eyes and watched as he turns to the side and plucks a beautiful bloomed rose. “Here’s a flower for the woman whose beauty outshines any garden there is in life.” He says as he sits down next to you, tucking it gently in your hair.

You let out a small chuckle, touching the flower in your hair, “Thank you Yunho, that’s very sweet of you.” You say slightly nasally from the crying as you looked down. Feeling shy and embarrassed because you’re sure you look like a hot mess with your makeup all messed up.

“I mean it.” He says softly. He takes a minute then sighs. “May I ask a personal question? And apologies in advance if I have overstepped.” He asks you as he stares at your sadden state. You nodded, not even looking at him. “Why do you stay with a man who treats you like this?”

You take a deep breath, looking at him. “It’s complicated… We have been together for so long.” You sniffed, your voice was barely above a whisper. “It wasn’t always like this. He use to be so different.”

“But now?” Yunho asks as he listened intently, his expression softened at the sight of you.

“But now… I don’t know,” you looked down as you gripped Yunho’s jacket around you. “I think part of me stays because I hope he returns to being the guy he used to be to. Plus there’s so many other factors to it. Leaving isn’t as simple as it sounds.”

Yunho nodded in understanding. “While I do understand you, I just think you deserve someone who will treat you like the woman you are. It’s not worth crying over him.” He said turning your head to face him as he wipes your tears. The words he spoke ached your heart because it was the truth.

“You sure know how to make a girl feel good about herself, huh?” You chuckled at him causing him to laugh as well. His laugh was like music to your ears. He barely showed any emotions but when he did, it was a sight to see.

“Just doing my job,” he smiles. “But in all seriousness, you’re stronger than you think you are.” He says standing up, having the moonlight shine on his figure giving him that mysterious look from earlier.

You stood up as well, “Thank you for your kind words Yunho.” You said looking up at him. Suddenly the wind picked up a bit, causing you shiver. “Let’s go home, I’m sure his drunken self won’t even notice I’m gone.”

He nodded as he held his arm out for you to grab. You happily took it, feeling a bit tipsy from all the champagne you drank. Plus the crying didn’t help much. And with that you two left the building and headed home.

_____

You leaned your head against the window, watching the city lights has Yunho drove you both home. The drive was nice and quiet. You had told Yunho to take a different route because you honestly just didn’t want to go home.

But good things come to an end and here you are pulling into your driveway. You sat up in a surprise, feeling your heart quicken when you saw that Jae was home. “He’s home.” You muttered.

Yunho gave you a concerned look, “You want me to stay?” He asked seeing a bit of fear coming into your expression.

You nodded. “Yes. But I’ll handle it first, if anything happens I’ll call you.” When Jae had too much to drink, he was just so unbearable. You just know he was angry with you leaving so this combination of anger and liquor forms a knot in your stomach. But you were a strong woman who takes shit from no one.

You entered the house as saw no other than Jae sitting on the sofa, with a drink in his hand glaring at you. “Where the hell were you?” He slurred as he took a sip.

Yunho helped take off his jacket you still had on. “Yunho please give my husband and I a moment to talk.” You sarcastically said as Yunho nodded and left the room. You stood there arms crossed staring at him.

“Im going to ask you once more,” Jae said placing his drink down and walking to you. “Where the fuck were you?” He demanded.

You scoffed, your eyes turning icy, “Why? Afraid you couldn’t play pretend husband and wife? Afraid you couldn’t embarrass me to make yourself feel good about yourself?”

“Oh please,” Jae spat. “Again you go making it about your damn self. You embarrassed me with your dramatic walk out. Everyone asking what happened or where you went. You know tonight was important for me but no, you had to act like a damn bitch.” He yelled as he got way too close to comfort but you didn’t back down.

You pursed your lips, “You humiliated me Jae. Degrading me and saying I have done anything for this company when you know that’s completely bullshit. I’m fucking sick of you!” You yelled at him.

He let his anger take over as he grabs your neck and the his hand on your arm. “You don’t get to speak to me like that. You think you’re so much better than me? You wouldn’t last a day in my world.” He tighten the grip on both hands.

You were struggling to breathe as you dug your nails into his arm. “I know enough to understand that I deserve better than you.”

He laughed. “You need me. You never find anyone else. No one will ever want you, Y/N.” He spat with venom.

“Jae,” you said trying to remove his hand. “Jae you’re hurting me. Let go of me!” You yelled out in desperation.

He titled his head in fake sympathy, “Oh, why? You’re afraid? Scared even?” He taunted you.

It all happened so fast. Suddenly you felt like you can breathe again. You hunched over, hand on your neck as you coughed trying to regain your consciousness. When you looked up, you saw Yunho with his hand around Jae’s neck. His eyes were filled with rage, as if he has had enough of Jae’s bullshit.

“Don’t fucking touch her.” Yunho’s deep voice rang in the room. Jae was getting a taste of his own medicine as Yunho tightened the grip. “What a sad excuse of a man you are to be laying your hands on a woman.” He spat at him.

Jae stumbled trying to gain his balance as he tried his best to remove Yunho’s grip. “Stay the fuck out this,” he struggled to protest. “This is between my wife and I.”

Yunho towered over him, getting up close to his face. “Not when you’re hurting her.” He said watching Jae’s face turn red as he shoved him to a wall nearby.

“Let go of me!” He yelled at him. Yunho let him go, still standing close watching him fall to the floor, breathing heavy. Jae looks up at anger getting up to shove Yunho, “You think I’m fucking scared of you?!” He yells at him, chest heaving heavily.

“Touch her again and I’ll make you regret it.” Yunho said glaring into Jae’s eyes. Jae will never admit it, but deep down, he was scared of Yunho. He fucked around and found out right quick.

You grabbed Yunho’s arm. “Yunho, it’s okay.” You say weakly, still feeling the pain in your throat. But he didn’t budge at all eyes remaining on Jae. Jae just laughed bitterly, “Yeah, Yunho it’s okay,” he mocked you. “You better watch yourself, bodyguard.”

“Is that a threat?” Yunho asked, his voice was low and menacing getting closer to Jae who walked back causing him to bump into the wall.

Jae tsked and glared at Yunho. “Move,” he shoved Yunho as he walked to the stairs. “This isn’t over Y/N.” Throwing one last spiteful comment before heading up the stairs.

Watching his go up the stairs as you felt tears coming in. When you heard the door close you closed your eyes letting the tears stream down. Yunho put his finger under your chin gently tilting your head up examining your neck. “Are you okay?” He asks.

“That piece of shit.” You whispered as you felt on the verge of sobbing. “I’m so sorry Yunho.” You said, you looked down at the ground. You couldn’t help but feel remorse. Maybe you shouldn’t never brought up security, you could’ve saved Yunho his time.

Yunho cups your face, lifting your face to look at him. “Stop saying sorry.” He said firmly but kindly. “I’m here to protect you. No matter what.” You nodded as you sniffed, “Thank you Yunho.”

Jae never once laid a hand on you. But once the drinking and high status got into his head, there was no telling what he was capable of. He had gotten handsy with you, but you were always quick to fight back. You never thought you would need protection from your own husband.

“Of course. I’ll always be here for you.” He said giving you eyes of compassion. You couldn’t help but to hug him. If it wasn’t for him, who knows how else this night would’ve turned out. Yunho took a moment but eventually wrapped his arms around you, figuring that you needed someone to lean on right now.

____

The conference was a blessing in disguise because Jae had gotten the approval to open another location in a different state which means he will out of town for a while. Good riddance, you thought. Prior to leaving he was busy with meetings for the preparation of the new building, rarely seeing him after the dispute.

When you walked into the kitchen you saw a huge bouquet of flowers in the island. Grabbing the little note on the flowers, ‘I’m sorry for everything. Love, Jae.’ Feeling anger seeping in, you ripped the card to pieces throwing his half ass apology away. Staring at the flowers, you decided to keep them. Why should nature be thrown away when it wasn’t even its fault, it was his.

Now that Jae is gone, the sun is shining brighter, your smile lasts a little longer, the air feels clearer. It’s a good time to be alive. During this time you have been able to do the activities you enjoy in peace. Which naturally has gotten you and Yunho a bit closer.

One activity was shopping. When you walked into the store, your eyes sparkled with excitement as you saw the variety of clothes that was before you. Yunho, who had a serious expression the whole time, followed you around with a mountain of clothes that just kept piling up as you saw something that you wanted to try on.

When it came time to trying the clothes on, you would ask for his opinion and you can tell he was taking it serious and you couldn’t help but burst out into laughter. You stepped out the dressing room, seeing Yunho who was sitting on the sofa, legs spread open with his arms crossed waiting for you, looking to the side waiting for you.

Oh shit. He looked absolutely fine. Shaking your head, getting out of your thoughts you cleared your throat. “What do you think about this one Yunho?” You asked as you did dramatic modeling poses laughing a bit, doing a little twirl to look at the dress fully.

He sits up straight, his arm propped on his leg as he leans his chin on his head, eyebrows furrowed. Oh, he’s really thinking about it. “It’s not giving.” He said serious.

You stopped looking at yourself in the mirror and turned to face him with a playful look on your face, “It’s not what?” You asked, on the verge of laughing.

“It’s not giving…” he pauses, struggling to find a word to describe what he means. “I don’t think this on brings you out well. I think you should try on another dress.” He said as he turns to pick out a different dress handing it to you.

When he notices you staring at him with a smile on your face he shrugs. “What is it? What?”

You laugh as you grabbed the dress and headed to the dressing room. “I didn’t think you were a fashionista.” You smiled at him before closing the curtain. Little did you know, he smiled in secret enjoying this time with you. So this is how it is when you’re happy.

Another activity was when you went to the grocery store and just arm swiped a whole shelf of cookies into the cart Yunho was pushing. “Oh, the ice cream!” You said as you went to the frozen aisle. Yunho sighed as you went back forgetting something yet again. You wanted to pig out as you watched cringey cheesy movies which was right up your alley, Yunho not so much.

“Oh my god, why would she do that!” You yelled at the TV as you covered your face feeling second hand embarrassment from the actress in the movie. You sighed grabbing a spoon full of ice cream and eating it, “She messed up.”

“Yeah she did.” Yunho said flatly dreading that he agreed to watch these movies with you as he had his arms crossed. But you didn’t care as you tapped his arm pointing to the cookies near him, your eyes never leaving tv. “Pass the cookies please.” He sighed as he grabbed and passed them to you.

But honestly, although the hates the movies you have been binge watching, he stares at you in admiration as you are fully invested in the films. You’re too blinded by the films to feel his stares as he smiles at you slapping your forehead in defeat.

To also having him help you in working out which you were dreading now. He had suggested for you two have a nice morning run. But damn, you were huffing and puffing as your arms were leaning on your thighs trying to catch your breath. You hated yourself for agreeing to this.

He saw you falling behind and jogged back to you, “Come on. Don’t you want to burn off those cookies and ice cream?” He asked you jogging in place to keep his body warm.

“Shut the fuck up.” You said through your heavy breathing causing him to laugh at you. “I hate you.” You said getting back up and jogging ahead of him. He followed suit giving you words of motivation which caused you to grunt in annoyance. “I’ll throw up on you!”

To having Yunho stay at nights since you’re alone now, worried if anything happens to you in the middle of the night. As he walks past the living room, he sees that you fell asleep on the sofa. He smirks as he quietly walks to you, covering you with the blanket, tucking some hair behind your ear getting it out your face. He stops and stares at you for a bit, taking in how much you look in peace, something he was grateful for. He leaves, dimming the lights a bit and looking at you before leaving to another room.

_______

Time has passed and one thing stands out. These feelings for Yunho have grown no matter how much you try to push it back and deny it. You just tell yourself that this is just his job, you’re confusing his actions and your feelings.

You two are sitting on the sofa talking and laughing about random stuff. The way the afternoon sunlight hits Yunho’s face has you mesmerized, highlighting his features. The way the sun shines in his eyes as he looked at you got you in a trance. After the laugher subsided, he noticed that you went quiet. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

“Mm? Oh it’s nothing. Nothing.” You chuckled nervously. Damn, was it that obvious you went deep in thought?

But his gaze remained at yours as he asked again, not letting you dismiss your feelings quickly. “You know you can tell me anything right? You can tell me what’s on your mind.” He says.

You gave him a weak smile, “I don’t know if I can.” Your emotions sit heavy in your heart. You don’t think you can keep bottling up these feelings for him.

“Why can’t you?” He asks you. “It won’t change my judgement on you. You know you can talk to me.”

“You don’t know that.” You said, feeling a bit worried. “I don’t want to risk what we have.” You looked down, playing with a loose thread on your jacket.

“Why would you even think that?” He says softly as he gets a bit closer to you, wanting to get a better view of you.

You felt your heart pounding up to your ears. Feeling your palms sweaty. “I, um,” you started off, still looking down. You took in a deep breath, looking up into his eyes. “I’m in love with you…“ your voice trembling with vulnerability.

There was silence as you two stared at one another. Your heart was sinking, feeling regret settling in. You removed the blanket off you and stood up, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything.” You should’ve just stayed silent.

“Y/N, wait,” Yunho said in a low and urgent voice as he stood up and grabbed your arm. He turned you to face him and saw unshed tears in your eyes. He cupped your face and leaned his forehead onto yours.

He knew he shouldn’t be doing this, but he too can’t control his urges anymore. Without another word he leaned in and kissed you passionately. You held onto his wrists as you returned the kiss back. My god, you felt like time had stopped. You couldn’t believe this.

He breaks the kiss, panting a bit to catch his breath. “Y/N,” he says as he wiped your tears. “I love you too. So, so much. I’ve been wanting to tell you for so long.” He said in between pants, staring into your eyes.

“Yeah?” You whispered in shock. He kisses your hands as he nodded. “Yeah.”

It’s as if time had froze around you two, when you gently shoved Yunho to sit back down on the sofa. His eyes looking up at you with desire as you stand in front of him. “Come here.” He said to you, tapping his thigh, leaning back.

As soon as you straddled him, Yunho’s hands went behind your back, pulling you closer to him until there was no space between you. This kiss soon went from passion to hunger, wanting to express a different way to show how you feel for one another.

Yunho grabbed handful of your hair, tugging your head back as he peppered kiss down your neck, sucking on your skin leaving hickeys. You moaned in delight as you bit your bottom lip, enjoying this sensation.

And before you know it, you two are skin to skin, feeling the hot sweaty sticky bodies colliding perfectly. Electricity coursing through you body with every touch Yunho gives you. The way shivers went down your spine as he stretched you out when you first sat on him, letting you give him a high pitched moan.

The way your bodies melted into one another ignited a fire. The mixture of moans was melody to your ears. His hands were on your ass, helping you to quicken the pace of your hips, “Oh, oh Yunho,” you furrowed your eyebrows and threw your head back in pleasure, hands on his shoulders for support. “Fuckkk, you feel s-so good.”

Yunho stands up, carrying you as he’s still inside you to flip positions. He lays you down on your back and caresses your legs that are wrapped around him. “Fuck, keep doing that baby.” He grunts as he feels you clenching around him. He moves his hands between your chest and up to your neck, “Can I?” He asks for permission. “Yes, please.” you moaned as you arched your back throwing your head back.

He gave your throat a nice squeeze as he started pounding into you causing you to do some deep breathing techniques, because this man was spreading you out like never before. You threw your hands back, gripping the arm chair for dear life. “You like that baby? Who’s making you feel like this?” He asks you. Fuck, that was hot.

He lifts your legs up to get a deep angle, “Answer me.” He demands as he goes faster. You tried gripping the sides of the sofa or just something to hold on to, “Y-Yes, Yunho, you a-are.” You moaned loudly. He was taking you cloud 9, making you see stars, the whole nine yards.

He flips you around on to all fours. You leaned on the arm rest with your arms supporting you as Yunho grabbed your hair back making your arch your back. He wasted no time going back in, his free hand rubbing your clit, giving you the friction you needed to cum.

“You want to cum on my dick, baby?” He asked you lowly in your ear. You nodded frantically, “Yes please, please.” You begged as he bit your ear. He let go of your hair and flips you for the last time. He wants to see your face when you release on him.

“Cum for me then.” He says as he moves at a rapid speed. You bit your lip in the overwhelming pleasure you’re feeling. He had leaned down and sucked on your nipple, but looked up when he heard your muffled moans, “Scream for me, don’t be quiet.”

You gripped onto his arms, feeling yourself inching closer and closer to your release. “Oh fuck, oh fuck, Yunho I’m gonna cum.” You yelled out, breathing heavy. He lets go of your nipple and hovers over you, “Do it baby, cum on my cock, cum.”

Just like that the knot was undone. He kissed you as you moaned into his mouth. You felt like you had traveled to another universe from how good that orgasm was. A few seconds later Yunho was right behind you, cumming inside of you. He rode out both of your highs and then laid on top of you.

Feeling each other fasten heart beats as you both catch your breath. He looks up at you and smiles to which your return as you ran your hand through his sweaty hair, “I love you.” He said, closing his eyes enjoying your sweet touch.

“I love you too.” You said as you just laid there for a moment, taking it what just happened. Internally you were doing cartwheels and backflips. You were happy knowing he felt the same way you did.

______

All good things must come to a because Jae has returned, along with his bullshit. What was once peace is now back to being a war zone of arguments and anger. Something else was for certain, he definitely has sensed something was going on between you and Yunho and it was eating him up alive.

And from the way the front door was slammed shut, it seems like he was going to get his answer today. “You. Leave. Now.” He says sternly to Yunho as he entered the room.

Yunho glanced at you, but you nodded in return signaling that it was okay. He started to walk out, giving you one last protective glance before disappearing. Jae’s eyes followed him out before looking back at you. “Y/N, tell me what the hell has been going on between you two.” He demanded.

You rolled your eyes, flipping through the magazine not bothering to look up at him. “Don’t ask questions you don’t want the answers to.” You said coldly, your tone unwavering.

“I know something happened while I was gone so just fucking tell me.” Jae yells at you, his fist clenching at his sides.

You looked up at him, “and if something did?” You shrugged “You think it gives you the right to be angry with me, given everything you have done?” You said with attitude as you went back to your magazine.

Jae’s face contorted with rage, shaking his head. “This isn’t about me. This about you, my wife” He says coming up close to you. There he goes with that wife word.

You chuckled, throwing the magazine to the side standing up. “Only when it’s convenient for you Jae. Why? Scared of losing control of this whole fake facade?” You walked past him, over this argument.

He grabs the vase that held the flowers he gifted you and threw it to the wall. You jumped at the sound, turning to face him with widen eyes. His back was still facing you as Jae looked down. From your corner you saw Yunho coming but you put your arm out for him to wait.

“Fucking tell me and don’t lie to me Y/N.” Jae said as he turned around with rage in his eyes. Knowing that Yunho was here in the house, he kept his distance from you as he was terrified of him.

“I’m in love with Yunho.” You finally said after some silence. He shook his head and scoffed at you, “How fucking could you? You would this to me?”

You scoffed at his stupidity. “Oh, so now you want to act like a victim? How many times have you cheated on me behind my back Jae? How many woman? So when the tables turn, it’s an issue all of a sudden.” You crossed your arms, raising an eyebrow.

He gets closer to you, trying to intimidate you. “So what? You’re just going to leave me and be with the bodyguard? Do you honestly think he can give you what I can’t? You think you can just walk away from me? After everything I have done for you?”

You laughed in his face. “For me? For me?” You started off, “You mean your own personal punching bag? Where I’m constantly disrespected and treated like an accessory? Where I’m always ignored and you go screw some bitch? The only thing you have done was to teach me to never be with someone like you.”

“If you think you’re going to work out with some cheap fling then you’re more delusional than I thought.” He spat at you as you walked away from him.

“Cheap fling? Yunho is more of a man than you will ever be. He’s been everything and more to me than you ever were.” You stopped in your steps, facing him.

You looked down at your rings and take it off. This caused Jae to die a little inside. “I want a divorce.” You chucked it at his feet, leaving the room. Jae looked down at his feet and stared at the rings causing anger to boil inside him to the point he punched the wall.

As you passed the hallway, Yunho, who was ready to jump in at anytime, follows behind you. “Let’s go.” You told him as you grabbed your car keys and walked out the door.

Asking no questions, just focused on you, he opens the door for you and just as you are about to get in, you hear Jae yelling in frustration, telling you to get back inside as he starts breaking stuff. You rolled your eyes as you got into seat. Yunho walked to the driver side and drove off.

———-

The car ride was silent, only noise was the AC that was on low. You looked out the window, watching the cars passing by. “I’m getting a divorce.” You said out loud breaking the silence.

“Wow,” you said in awe of yourself. “I’m getting a divorce.” You couldn’t believe that it’s taken you this long and that you finally did it.

“How are you feeling? Are you okay?” Yunho asks as he takes a quick glance at you. He really can’t read your expression and words clearly right now.

“I think I am?” You said unsure, giving him a shrug. “I don’t know, I feel like I should be but I’m just so overwhelmed. Like, there were so many times I told myself I was done, but never did anything. And now I just- I think I feel free.”

Yunho stops a red light and reaches over to grab your hand. He raised it to his lips as he gave a gentle kiss on the back of it. “I’m really proud of you Y/N. Whatever you do next, I’ll be there every step of the way supporting you.”

The way you were blushing like a school girl at his gesture. You smiled at him, “Thank you Yunho. Thank you for showing me what love is.” You caressed his cheek as you leaned in for a kiss.

______

One thing is certain for Jae, he can rot in hell. He didn’t not waste any time in spreading the news about the divorce publicly. It spread like wildfire throughout the media as it was plastered on magazines, spoken on drama news TV channels, on social apps. You name it, it was there.

The headlines painted the picture of the split, highlighting the scandalous nature of the breakup. And Jae, being a beloved figure, wanting to keep the good man persona in the people’s eye, threw all the blame on you.

You were under so much intense scrutiny, that it became suffocating. You were portrayed as the villain in this whole chaos while Jae was viewed as the innocent victim. As if he could stoop any lower than before, he definitely broke a new record.

At first, you just tried toughing it out. Trying to ignore the whispers and gossip. The harsh looks when you went out. Paparazzi was so far up your ass you couldn’t move without them knowing. But it was hard to escape from the public’s judgement.

One evening, you were at Yunho’s place, which is where you have been staying, skimming through a magazine that had a featured about another headline of you. Yunho who had sense your distress, quickly takes the magazine out of your hands. “Y/N, look at me,” he says he sits on the coffee table, grabbing your hands. “You don’t have to let this get to you. They don’t know the true.”

You looked up at him with sadness in your eyes. “It’s not just about the truth Yunho. It’s about everything!” You stand up as you walked back and forth, “it’s about how this guy who I thought I knew and spent the majority of my life with is out to ruin my life. It’s about everyone quickly believing his lies… I didn’t ask for this. I can’t take this anymore.”

Yunho sighs as he walks up to you, cupping your face. “Listen to me, please,” he leans his forehead, “You’re a strong woman. You have been through hell and back. You have never backed down from a fight. You never once let Jae’s manipulation and bullshit break you, and you’re not going to let this either.” He said as he watched you close your eyes as tears fall down.

You sniffed. “How can I fight this?” You whispered. You honestly felt so lost and broken, you don’t even know what to do or where to start.

“You’re not alone in this. Out in the public you can put a mask of fierceness, show the world you aren’t afraid of what Jae is doing. Show them just how strong and unbreakable you are.” He gives you a tender kiss. “But when we’re behind closed doors, baby, you don’t have to keep the facade. You can lean on me. We can do this.” He says as he hugs you.

You felt like sobbing. Is this what true love is? Throughout this whole darkness, Yunho has been your rock and you honestly don’t know how you would be if you were alone. You’re so thankful for him. “Yunho, thank you. Thank you for being in my life.” You looked up to him as he leaned down and kissed you once more.

______

If Jae wants to play like this, then you can play this game too. After the conversation with Yunho, you felt a fire ignited within you. That conversation helped you remember who the fuck you were and there was no way in hell Jae was going to go out like this.

For the next few weeks you laid low. Out of sight out of mind with the public. Your divorce lawyer, who was sent by the Gods by a miracle, told you to gather all information on your part as she does some digging on her side. Today you were meeting with her and not gonna lie you were sweating bullets.

Who knows what she has found. Did she even find anything? Will she be able to clear your name and reveal who Jae really was? This was also one of the few times you left the house so you just know you were going to be bombarded with questions and cameras in your face.

As the car pulls up, you looked out the window and saw reporters spread all over the place, waiting for you. You then felt Yunho’s hand over yours, causing you to snap out your thoughts. “It’s going to be okay.” He reassures you as you nod. He steps out the car and heads to the other side to open your door.

You can do this, you thought yourself as you put on your shades. Show Jae that you are that bitch. As soon as Yunho opened the door, everyone came flooding in asking a bunch of questions.

You just kept a serious face, purse hanging on your arm as you walked up the stairs while Yunho and other guards of his were making way for you. You tried your best to not react at the stupid questions they asked you.

“Y/N, how does it feel to know that you ruined your marriage?” One asked.

“Was it worth it to you? Care to comment?” One said shoving a microphone in your face.

“Have you spoken to Jae?” Another asked.

Oh and let us not forget the special, special fans of Jae who were also surrounding you were throwing nasty comments at you.

“Don’t you know how to keep your legs closed?” One screamed in your face. You bit down on your tongue, trying not to answer.

“Such a slut. Did all those years mean nothing to you?” One went to jump on you but Yunho shoved her off.

“Have you no shame in bringing him here? Have you no shame in being in public with him? Stupid bitch.” Another one said speaking about Yunho.

You finally reached the door and headed straight to the elevator. When it binged open, you and Yunho stepped in and turned to face the crowd before you. Seeing the flashing lights of the cameras and crazed fans pounding on the glass, their yells being muffled. As soon as the doors closed, you turned and hugged Yunho.

You felt the world crushing in on you in that moment. You had a mixture of overwhelming emotions clouding up your head. Anger, sadness, frustration. You just wanted to cry in silence and thankfully Yunho understood.

You then backed up and wiped your tears, taking in a deep breath. Yunho lifted your chin with his finger as he gave you a soft kiss on your lips. “You got this.” He whispered and you nodded.

The elevator dinged, signaling that you have arrived to the top floor. You straighten up your posture, keeping your head high as you walked the halls. “Stay here.” You told Yunho who nodded and stood next to the door putting his arms behind his back.

You walked in and was greeted by Jina. “Y/N,” she says standing up and shaking your hand, smiling to which you returned. “Welcome. Thank you for coming.”

You shook your head. “No please, I am the one who should be thankful.” She gestures you to sit down. “So tell me, what have you found?”

She wasted no time in take out files and spreading out copies of documentation and photos of Jae with other business men, “Jae’s time of looking like a saint is over. We have found evidence to that showcases all of the cheating and unethical practices within his company,” she starts off as she goes through each paper, describing to you all the horrible practices he has done.

You sat there in shock, taking in the information. You couldn’t believe this was happening everyday behind closed doors. Jae gets scummier and scummier by the minute. You leaned back into your seat letting out a scoff as you scan the papers. Jina then takes out a paper and hands it to you, “What’s this?” You asked her as you take it from her hand.

Jina smirks as she crossed her leg over the other, leaning back crossing her arms. “Signed affidavits of several woman who have confirmed that they have had affairs with Jae while he was married to you.” You looked at her with widen eyes. The devil works hard, but Jina works harder. “Look in that folder.” She points to one near your left arm.

You gasped looking at photos that had Jae partying or going out with women. You see his drunk self doing body shots on girls as well as inappropriate gestures to them. Ugh, you could throw up. Jina nodded as you looked through the pictures, feeling a bit proud of herself.

“And the Cherry on top?” There’s more? “We also have evidence from Jae’s company, NexTech, has been doing fraud, bribery, and exploitation of employees. Let’s just say he has been cutting some corners and violating labor laws to maximize his profits.” She finished off.

You shook your head, just flabbergasted at everything you’re finding out. “Jina,” you said after a moment of silence. “There are no words to describe how thankful I am. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.” You said feeling a sense of hope rising in your chest.

She leans over the desk, placing a hand on top of yours. “Of course.” She smiles. “It’s only a matter of time before everything is unraveled. Everyone will know the real truth.”

______

It was later on in the night. You were pacing in Yunho’s living room with gnawing on your thumb in nerves. “Y/N,” Yunho called to you as he leaned against the wall, arms crossed. “Relax. Everything will be okay.” He says trying to calm you down.

You were just caught up in your mind that you didn’t even hear him. Jina told you she was going to release the information tonight and honestly, you were shitting bricks wondering what the out come will be. You felt arms being wrapped around your waist, causing you get out of your thoughts.

“Y/N,” Yunho says as he leans down and kisses your neck. “Why don’t we go relax, mmh? You had a stressful day.” Peppering kisses up and down your neck.

You closed your eyes as you bit your lip, swaying a bit, lifting your hand to caress his head. “Okay. Let’s relax.” You sighed softly. He takes your hand gives you a little twirl, causing you to chuckle, before leading the way to the bathroom.

Steam was swirling in the bathroom as you two passionately kissed under the water. Both of your bodies lathered up with soap, foaming at the little friction you two created. You bit his lower lip, opening your eyes in a haze to look at his face scrunch a bit from the pain. You felt your heart race a bit when he opened his lustful eyes to look at you.

He glided his up your back, tugging your hair gently back causing you to moan in his mouth. Your arms over his shoulders, feeling the warm water slide down your arms and onto Yunho’s body. His free hand slides to down to cup your ass, giving it a squeeze.

In a swift movement, he presses you up against the foggy glass. Your hand prints and pressed up breast showcasing on the glass, turning your head to the side looking at Yunho stroking himself through your peripheral. You bit your lip, feeling your pussy throbbing, impatiently wanting to feel him again.

He placed his hand above yours as his other one guides him inside you. You gasped as the sensation of the stretch, leading more on the glass as the feeling takes over you. His free had placed on your hip as he starts thrusting into you.

The sound of the water clashing between you two intensifies as Yunho starts going faster. The bathroom is filled with the sounds of skin slapping and the moans of pleasure. “You feel so good baby.” Yunho said in his deep voice. “Just for me, right?” He grabs your hair, pulling you back so he can see your fucked out face.

You swallowed, feeling your throat dry from the heavy breathing you’re doing. “Ye-Yes,” you said, feeling your hands slip, trying to catch yourself from falling. “Just for you.”

He smirked as your struggle. “Good girl.” His deep voice made you clench on him, making him moan as letting go of your hair to your clit as he rubbed it. You caught yourself before hitting the glass as you started screaming in pleasure. You started whimpering from the rapid speed he was going. “Cum baby, I know you want to.” He tells you.

You fogged and defogged a spot on the glass that was near your mouth as you tried catching your breath with Yunho shoving your face into it. You shut your eyes tightly as you were nearing your high. “I’m clo-close.” You managed to moaned out. At the same time you and Yunho came, feeling stars as he rode out the highs. “That’s right baby, scream for me. Let everyone know who’s making you feel like this.” He grunts out.

When you two calmed down, you turned around and leaned on the glass, not caring how cold it was. He smiled at you, “Feel better?” He asked you and you playfully hit his chest. “Shut up.” You told him as you both laughed. He put his hands next to your face on the glass and he went for a kiss.

When you actually finished showering, you stepped out scrunching your hair and wrapping a towel around your body, tucking the excess at the top to stop it from falling. From the corner of your eye you saw your phone light up. ‘Turn on Channel 2’, read Jina’s text message.

You gasped with widen eyes as you ran out to the living room, feeling the goosebumps rise on your skin as soon as the cold hits your skin. You grabbed the remote flipping through channels not caring about the droplets of water that were falling from your hair were landing on your arms.

“In recent news, Jae’s public image continues to crumble as more details emerge about his affairs and the unethical practices at his company. It is confirmed that these allegations are supported by fundamental evidence,” the reporter says as the screen shows Jae shoving cameras out his face as he is trying to enter a building. He starts yelling at them to get out his face.

“Former employees have provided detailed accounts of the harsh working conditions along with the illegal activities at Jae’s company.” The documents being shown on the screen explain detail per detail on how things were being run.

“Furthermore, details of Jae’s extramarital affairs have also been revealed,” she says as the same photos you saw in the office appeared on the screen too. Your heart is pounding out of your chest. “Multiple woman have come forward and shared evidence along with sources who can confirm his involvement in said acts.”

The reporter finished off by saying, “Legal experts believe this is going to be leading to very serious repercussions for both his business and personal life. As of right now, this is all we have. Stay tune for future updates.” You watch as the screen changes to commercials.

“Y/N?” Yunho who was there behind you the whole time watching everything unfold breaks the silence. “Are you okay?” He asks you.

You turned to him, smiling. “It’s over. I’m free.” You said feeling tears of joy coming in. He extends his hand out and you happily grab it as he pulls you to him. “I’m proud of you. I told you that you could do it.”

“Thank you for being by my side every step of the way, Yunho. I love you.” You say as you kissed him. He smiles into the kiss, “I love you more.”

“Now come on, let’s celebrate.” He says he breaks the kiss. You tilt your head, “Where we going?” You asked him. He smirked as he picks you up bridal style, “It’s best if I show you.”

Oh yeah, you can get use to this.

THE END

#ateez scenarios #ateez #Yunho #yunho x reader #jeong yunho #yunho smut #ateez yunho #yunho x you #yunho x y/n #ateez fic #ateez fanfic #ateez reactions #ateez hard hours #Yunho ateez #yunho icons #yunho hard thoughts

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nehswritesstuffs · 3 months ago

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Sanji, Warrior of the Sea

So, um, my husband very specifically asked for this fic so everybody pls thank Mr. Nehs; this is very silly; things don’t happen in here precisely as in the series canon, but what do I care?; essentially rated T but with a bunch of strong cussing (and that bathhouse scene) so be warned I guess; no shipping unless you put goggles on idc

Sanji, fresh out of Whole Cake Island, decides to make good of a shit situation and have Franky tinker with his raid suit. He just didn't take one thing into account: NERDS. [3696 words]

The weight of the canister was heavy in Sanji’s hand as he removed it from his inner jacket pocket. He and the rest of the crew were headed towards Wano, where the advance party was already in place. Leaning against the railing of the Sunny, he was tempted to chuck the thing as far as he could and forget about it, leaving the device to the briny depths of the ocean. It was only just barely slipped to him by Reiju, her ability for sleight of hand almost nostalgic.

“Use it better than we ever did,” she had whispered, and then had been gone. Now he was leagues upon leagues away, with little instruction on how or why.

He might have been his mother’s son, but as he held the device he thought of his father and what he would say. The geezer would cuss and kick him with the peg, most likely, but would also tell him to figure out a way to use it better than those sacks of skin that called themselves his family. Beat them at their own game and all that shit. He weighed his options: use it, shove it deep in his locker, or fucking yeet the piece of garbage as far as he could, use Moonwalk to catch it, and then throw it again for maximum coverage.

Then again, when he boiled it down, there was one more option that he needed to consider…

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

“You want me to what?” Franosuke slurped up soba as he looked at the device in Sangoro’s hand. It didn’t look like much, but from what the cook was implying, it was honestly one of the highest-tech pieces of equipment either of them had ever touched, which was impressive given the present company.

“See what you can do about making this thing… better,” Sangoro said. “I got it from my sister—Father thought he knew best and made one for each of us.”

“…even though you hate him?”

“He was hoping that I’d… come around one day.” Franosuke scoffed at that. “You get what I’m saying?”

“Yeah, yeah; I get you, brother,” Franosuke chuckled. He held out his hand and Sangoro handed over the device. “Usohachi and I are supposed to be hanging out tonight to work on some other projects, so I think we can fit this in.”

“Thanks; I owe you one,” Sangoro said. “Burgers might be a stretch, but I think I can manage some steak if you want.”

“Nah… I’ll take a rain check on that. Too busy this week.” Franosuke pocketed the device and went back to his soba. “This is good eatin’ though. Wouldn’t mind maybe an extra serving of this.”

Eh; he’d think about it.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Sanji kicked the dinosaur in the face, hard. Who the fuck was this guy, thinking he could just destroy people’s lives just because he was searching for him? He hated assholes like this, acting like nothing they ever did came with consequence, and he’d had enough. Taking the canister out of his kimono sleeve, he activated it, knowing that although he could take the asshole without it, he was going to need some seriously big guns to stop him before anyone else got hurt in the middle of the sleeping city.

Out of the canister came a costume, which wrapped around his body with precision accuracy. Sanji could feel that the fabrics were different from what his sperm donor had engineered and he was put more at-ease because of it. The raid suit finished forming and he felt damn good, like he was taking everything those bastards worked for and was pissing and ashing on it simultaneously. His opponent scoffed, however, or at least as much as a spinosaur could.

“Are you mocking me?!” he growled. “Real men don’t use a fight to play dress-up.”

“That’s selling it short,” Sanji smirked. He pressed his fingertips to the side of the helmet, activating the sensors. Varied readouts and stats flashed across the visor—bingo.

Using Moonwalk, Sanji bounced around in the air, confusing the shit-mannered mook until he was able to find an opening. Once he saw it, he acted swiftly, slamming a flaming foot into the back of the dinosaur’s neck. His opponent was knocked out cold without him damaging any other buildings.

“That’ll teach you,” he smirked. He watched as the spinosaur shrank down to a Human shape. Tch; asshole had no right to challenge him. It was then, however, that Sanji heard a surprised gasp. He turned around and saw… Traffy…?

“Holy shit,” Traffy marveled. “It’s Sora!” Sanji cringed at the sound of his mother’s name—what the fuck?!

“I’m no one!” he claimed. “Just… uh… just passing through!” Traffy replaced himself with a pebble and got directly within Sanji’s personal bubble, touching his cape and admiring his clothes.

“The attention to detail is absolutely exquisite,” he said. “Excellent craftsmanship; they spared no expense.”

“Get off me,” Sanji grumbled. Where the fuck was Traffy when the dino-jerk attacked? Way to have shit timing. He pulled the cloak out of Law’s hand and sneered. “Don’t touch the goods.”

“Uh… yes, sir,” Traffy mumbled. Sanji did not like the way his captain’s ally was looking at him, so he took one step back, found where the settings were, and… oh, thank fuck, Franky kept it. He turned on the cloaking device, essentially granting him invisibility, hoping it would allow for a quick getaway.

Trafalgar Law instead squealed like little kid…? Oh, he did not have enough smokes on-hand to unpack that.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Okay, granted, Sanji knew that sliding into the mixed baths was going to be trouble. He was likely to see way too much man peen for his liking, not to mention be in a position to get caught, but it was worth it to spy on wome—ahem—test the limits of his raid suit. Opportunities like this were becoming fewer and farther between as everyone prepared for the upcoming raid on Onigashima, and he needed to know exactly what the thing could do before throwing himself headlong into battle.

It was practical, okay? Field testing. Tactical information gathering.

Oh, there were a lot of women in the bathhouse that afternoon that made his heart race and the front of his pants feel tight. He swallowed hard as he watched them all from his perch in the rafters, above where others might see his invisible form displacing steam. The desire to palm himself was almost unbearable—this was definitely good… erm… data he was collecting.

Usopp was going to shit bricks when he told him what this thing could do.

Then, suddenly, he saw her come out of the changing room: Nami. All others seemed to fade into nothingness as he drank in the beauty of her in a towel. She was gorgeous, as always, with her silky skin and curvaceous body. A paragon amongst goddesses, she was, and it was enough for him to cave. He put his gloved hand on the front of his crotch and felt how hard his cock was underneath it all. Beloved Nami-swan, who graciously allowed the world to merely glimpse a tiny fraction of her beauty, was right here for all to see, and she was only in a towel.

Sanji stayed where he was for a moment while Nami was attempting to lay low, which was near-impossible thanks to all the looks she was getting. The local ladies loved her—fine by him—but… wait a second?! What were those men doing leering at her?! How dare they! He was certain that they couldn’t appreciate Nami like was right and proper! What did they know about a woman’s form? There was no way these men knew what he, a true connoisseur, did after all! He was so incensed by their unrefined palates that he nearly did not notice the new person walk in: Hawkins.

Shit; he was looking for people with the reverse crescent moon tattoo. A bathhouse was the perfect place to look for such a thing, wasn’t it? Oh no, what was he going to do?! He couldn’t give away his position, but Nami might be in danger. Well, she was strong and could take care of herself, but did she have her Climatact tucked away under the towel? What about the other women? He didn’t trust these losers to protect them, not to mention the fact that Nami shouldn’t have to protect herself unless there wasn’t a man like him around! Shit, shit shit… how was he going to explain this…? His infidelity to Nami’s beauty…?

Then it happened.

Like a shimmering light shining forth in the darkness!

A beacon of hope for all those who felt lost!

The pinnacle of the feminine form!

Nami-swan dropped her towel!

Maximum full-frontal!!

Sanji couldn’t take it any longer! Oh, the unfettered beauty! The pristine curves! The raw, natural majesty! He blacked for a moment, for the next thing he knew he was covered in blood down his front and everyone was staring at him.

Oh shit.

“Drake…” Hawkins said, his voice cracking high. He didn’t pull his eyes off Sanji despite the fact he was trying to gesture and grab at the same time with the arm closest to the door. “Drake, it’s him!”

“Did you find a suspect?” asked a voice from the foyer. X Drake… oh, the last thing he needed was another dinosaur idiot to deal with. Drake stepped into the bath area and glared at Hawkins, though once he saw Nami he froze in place, eyes wide and face red in blush. “That’s not a suspect, is it?”

“Not her, you idiot!” Hawkins hissed. “It’s Sora!” There was that name again! It was really beginning to grate on Sanji’s nerves, but he guessed he could handle it if it meant that Hawkins and Drake were distracted enough to let the people who were escaping… well… escape. Hawkins side-shuffled over to Drake and touched the other man’s face, turning it towards Sanji.

When Drake’s eyes finally followed his face, his jaw flopped open.

“It’s Sora, Warrior of the Sea!” Drake gasped. “That’s his vintage uniform from the Jutrich Island Saga!”

“Specifically his landing in Kester,” Hawkins agreed. By now, Sanji was on his feet and feeling incredibly awkward—what the fuck were they talking about? “He is more dashing in person, isn’t he?”

“That’s… not the word I’d use.”

“That is because you have no taste.”

“What in the hell are you two talking about?” Sanji scoffed. He activated the readouts on his visor again and they showed that the three of them were quickly becoming the only ones in the building—excellent.

“Surely you jest,” Hawkins said, trying to sound casual. “That uniform? The cape? Helmet? You are none other than Sora, Warrior of the Sea, taken straight from the comic pages.”

…comic pages?!

“Neither of you have known the touch of a woman, have you?” Sanji deadpanned.

“Like you’re one to talk!” Nami snapped. Sanji glanced over towards her and saw that a robe was now covering her as she scrambled to leave with, wait, Robin-chan was there too?! Oh, and they were there with Shinobu. He needed to make sure they got out safely, but with the way these two were… seas… ogling him, he wasn’t sure that they’d get out of there if he moved even an inch. “Keep them distracted! We’ll meet you later!”

“Nami-swan, I…!” Sanji reached out with his hand, but he was too late… she was gone. He let his hand clench into a fist and turned towards Hawkins and Drake, who both seemed too star-struck to care that potential captives were fleeing the scene. “You two made me lose my chance with Nami-swan!”

“I didn’t think he’d be based off a real person,” Drake marveled. He looked… deeply confused, but also like he wanted to screech happily like a little kid that just found a frog.

“You need to answer us something,” Hawkins said. He somehow narrowed his eyes further. “Something only the real Sora would know: how did you escape from Germa 66’s clutches in the Gezelligate Arc?”

Sanji was ready to murder something.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Law stood in the prison corridor, Drake not too far away, as he waited impaitently. He didn’t like doing it this way—neither did the dinosaur, it seemed—but at least it was doable. It could fit in his grand plan. Not very well, but it fit.

“Here you are,” Hawkins announced from around the corner. Law’s ears perked up and he watched as the aforementioned Supernova led Penguin, Shachi, and Bepo into view, all three of his crewmates half-in tears.

“We’re sorry, Captain!” Bepo sniffled. “We didn’t mean to get caught!”

“No worries,” he replied coolly. “I know something they don’t realize.

“What’s that?” Penguin wondered. Law simply smirked and opened a Room.

“The famed Warrior of the Sea is on our side.”

Before his crewmates had a chance to react, Law swapped them out with pebbles and dropped the Room. He held up his arms in surrender, unable to not laugh at the look of horror on Hawkins’s face.

“What’s the matter? Didn’t think I knew?” He felt Drake put seastone cuffs on him from behind, jostling him roughly. “Hey, watch the goods—I need those hands to perform surgery.”

“Like you have a medical degree,” Drake grumbled.

“…and for all I know, you’re probably still a cop,” Law scoffed. For that, Drake pushed him towards Hawkins, letting their prisoner stumble into the dirt floor. “Hit a nerve?”

“You know what? I don’t even care anymore.” Drake took a step back before turning to walk away. “Do whatever hoodoo nonsense you want to him. I’m washing my hands of it.”

“Hoodoo is a completely different discipline,” Hawkins droned, “but I’ll try.” He snapped his fingers and two Pleasures guards came by to lift Law from the floor and drag him off to a torture cell. “I’ll make him regret invoking the name of Sora.”

Law chuckled to himself as the mooks dragged him away. These two losers were in for it.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Okay, mooks taken out and transported to varied Flower Capitol alleyways, check. Hawkins—aka: Senior Mook—unconscious and bleeding out on the floor, check. His sword and hat back—check. Information he pried out of Senior Mook before allowing him to pass out. Check and noted. Law was feeling good as he got ready to leave the prison house. Just a few more moment of checking out the outlying areas with his Devil Fruit and he could accurately pinpoint a safe getaway. He stepped out into the corridor and began to walk out—he was a free man, after all.

“Trafalgar.” Oh, yeah, there was one more that he didn’t get rid of, though to be honest, it felt like an afterthought. He turned and saw Drake standing there, staring at him with an… well, the look eas cryptic, that was for certain.

“You’re not stopping me,” Law said casually. “I’m finding a place to go as we speak.”

“Then before you leave, I have a request,” Drake said. Law raised an eyebrow.

“What’s a not-cop want from a humble pirate like myself?”

“Do you think…” Drake blushed, not believing he was saying this. “I mean… could you get me an autograph from Sora?”

“We’re on different sides… you know that, right?”

“All my time I was in the Navy, he was their best-kept secret. To get an autograph from one of the best special ops agent? Whose solo work inspired all of us? It might get you a favor or two.”

“Hmm… I’ll think about it.”

In a flash, the man vanished and an upset tomcat appeared in his place.

Well, it was worth a shot.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

“What the fuck did you do to this thing?!” Sanji hissed, shoving his raid suit in Franky’s face. The cyborg simply scoffed and kept on eating.

“I improved it—made it super—just like you asked, brother,” he replied. It was the night before they were to raid Onigashima and all he wanted was some relaxation time before putting his nose to the grindstone. The surrounding area was a mishmash collection of their crew and varied allies, whether reluctant or not, the vast majority not paying attention to them. “I don’t know why you’re so pissed off.”

“I’m pissed off because I keep on running into weirdos and creeps who think I look like a comic book character!” Sanji complained. “Did you design it to look like something else, or did you use an original design?!”

“It’s just a little thing I remember from when I was a kid,” Franky shrugged. “Every so often in Water 7 we’d get these collection books of this super comic where a guy with a robot and pet seagull would fight bad guys. Only ever got a couple of books—flat broke compared with only ever seeing random volumes. Probably wasn’t something that did too well.”

“It did well enough that three different people have called me by the exact same name,” Sanji scowled. “What was the name of the comic?”

“I dunno—Sorne… Sorley… Sohan… Solly…” Franky snapped his fingers between each name as he tried to remember. “…Sorrel… Soslan… Sota… Sora…”

“That’s it!” Sanji shouted, pointing at Franky. Ooohhhhh… he couldn’t believe this was happening! “That’s what those nutjobs keep calling me!”

“Sora…?” A moment, then it clicked. “Oh yeah, that’s right! Sora, Warrior of the Sea! Kind of a weird series if you ask me. Total Naval propaganda. Then again, I was only really there for the robot…”

Sanji screamed in anguish and began to storm away, stomping his feet angrily as he went off to have an entire packet of smokes at once. He slammed his shoulder into Law on his way, which caused the other to stop and glare—what the hell…?

“What’s the matter with him?” he asked Franky. The cyborg simply shrugged.

“No whimsy,” he claimed. “Meanwhile, I’m full of it this week.”

Law simply shrugged and walked off—not his crew, not his problem.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

It was the Raid on Onigashima. Sanji was attempting to hold his own against the throng of solders that were coming at him. Okay, so he wasn’t attempting so much as succeeding, but it was beginning to wear on his nerves that each time he knocked one of the Beast Pirate freaks down, five more popped up in their place. It was like there was a never-ending sea of them waking up and he smelled like breakfast.

Suddenly, over the din of the battle, Sanji heard a familiar scream. He looked up and saw that Kaidou was up on a balcony, holding Momonosuke over the drop that would have the boy splatter on the Performance Floor. As much as he wanted to trust that Momonosuke could turn into a dragon and fly away once let go, he also didn’t trust that Kaidou or any of his goons had gone and put seastone on—let alone in—the kid.

Shit. No matter what, this wasn’t going to be good. He could let the perverted little shrimp fall to his potential doom, but… Nami would be really pissed at him for letting that happen, wouldn’t she? Not to mention Luffy. Damn it. Sanji decided to break out the big guns and put on his raid suit, immediately cloaking himself in invisibility. The Beast Pirates he had been fighting all stared in confusion—there had been someone there before, wasn’t there?

As Sanji catapulted himself up into the air with Moonwalk, Kaidou did precisely what Sanji thought he would and dropped Momonosuke. Lucky, he was able to snatch the kid after he fell only a few feet, bringing him back up to Kaidou’s level while still invisible.

“What the fuck is this?” Kaidou slurred. He grabbed a large bottle of sake from a nearby Beast Pirate and took a swig—he clearly didn’t know if he was too drunk or not drunk enough. “I didn’t think little piss-brats like you could fly.”

“Who has hold of me?!” Momonosuke whispered in a panic. He grabbed hold of Sanji’s cape and attempted to pull it around himself. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” Sanji grumbled. Someone unseen threw a rock, meaning to hit Momonosuke but hitting Sanji in the side of his helmet instead. His cloaking device sparked before fizzling out—it overloaded and needed some time to reactivate.

“Who the fuck are you?” Kaidou frowned. He did not seem like he was very amused by the whole thing.

“Hey, I know that tech,” Queen realized. “You’re one of Judge’s brats, aren’t you?”

“Wrong: I’m Sora’s boy,” Sanji spat. Without another word, he turned on his heel mid-air and jettisoned himself towards the Performance Floor. There, he was able to spot a trio of Traffy’s men—the Mink and two of the ones with dumb hats—and he tossed Momonosuke at them. “Keep him safe until someone approved comes to get him, alright?”

“Yes, sir, Sora, sir!” Penguin said as he picked up Momonosuke. Shachi saluted. Fuck… more of them…

“Uh… guys…” Bepo seemed to be uncomfortable. “That’s just one of the Straw Hats…”

“Bepo, Bepo, Bepo…” Shachi tutted. “Here we thought we raised you right! The Captain said it’s Sora, so it has to be Sora!”

“…but that’s clearly…”

“Sora!” Stupid One and Stupid Two said in unison. Sanji honestly felt ready to kill them both, Traffy and the alliance be damned. At least the Mink was able to use his brain…

“There he is!” Sanji looked over his shoulder and saw Law, Hawkins, and Drake all running towards him. Shit! He turned his attention towards the Mink and nodded gravely.

“All of you are from the same place, aren’t you?”

“The North Blue, yeah,” Bepo said, “but I’m originally from Zou.”

“Then I thank you for your service,” Sanji replied. The Mink seemed puzzled, only to yelp in surprise as Sanji picked him up and tossed him at the three incoming Supernovas before running away.

Goddamned nerds needed to leave him the fuck alone!

#One Piece #One Piece fan fiction #Sanji #Sanji (One Piece)#Franky #Franky (One Piece)#Trafalgar Law #Basil Hawkins #X Drake #Bepo #Penguin (One Piece)#Shachi (One Piece)#Sora Warrior of the Sea #this is absolutely goofy and I love it #Trafalgar D. Water Law #Vinsmoke Sanji

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the-bi-space-ace · 1 year ago

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Alright strap in I’ve got Crosshair headcanons and thoughts and you are being subjected to them hi hello enjoy:

Really craves friendship. Wants friends more than anything but for the life of him has never been good at making them. Mostly bc his defense mechanism is to be mean to keep strangers at arms length. Choose to have them dislike you before they even get a chance to make that decision themselves. It’s hard to penetrate those defenses.

AND YET this man contradicts every word he says. He hates regular clones huh? Then explain Cody and Echo and Mayday to me Crossy. Explain them to me bro. You even like Rex when it’s all said and done and that man PUNCHED YOU IN THE FACE. Explain yourself Crosshair.

Is pretty quiet for the most part but when he gets chatty it’s a mile a minute. He’ll sit next to his brothers or follow them around and just talk talk talk talk talk. Only happens once in awhile but when it does happen they all just stay quiet and listen to him. First time he did that to Echo it was completely out of the blue and he came up behind Echo and just started ranting. Echo stared at him with wide eyes for like ten minutes like ‘is this real? Is he okay?’ Before just sitting down and getting stuck in an hour long chat where he did like zero talking.

Gossipy bastard. Loves to gossip. Loves hearing it. Loves telling it. He’s so quiet most people forget he’s there and they say wild shit in front of him. He tells the 99 everything.

If one of his brothers asks who his favorite is he changes his answer depending on who has annoyed him most that day. ‘Oh you want to know who my favorite is? Wrecker, clearly. Hunter is my least favorite bc he took too long in the shower and used up all the hot water.’

Massive sweet tooth. Keep this man away from a candy store he’ll give himself cavities.

If they’re training playing with fake blasters he makes a ‘pew pew’ sound when he ‘shoots’ it. Super quiet and under his breath but he does it.

He has a game where he tries to see how many tiny rolled up pieces of paper he can get into Hunter’s hair or armor before Hunter catches on. Oh the amount of times he’s been yanked from his bunk after being caught is innumerable.

Loves listening to Tech infodumping but will never admit it out loud. He has learned so much and has found a lot of it fascinating but prefers to sit quietly and keep his eyes closed while Tech talks.

Him and Wrecker have so many more competitions than just the one. They compete all the time. Who can run the fastest. Who can name the most planets. Anything. As long as it’s a competition.

Pretends to be asleep so people don’t ask him to do things and then promptly actually falls asleep.

Cries. Like a lot. Well. Not a lot just a lot more than you’d think. While most people would think he’s too aloof for that I think he picked up a good habit of letting out big bursts of emotion because he always saw Wrecker do it. And he trusts Wrecker. Doesn’t like crying in front of other people but will hide to get some emotion out before rejoining the group.

Secret softy. But in the way where he’ll make fun of his brothers while doing something nice for them. He’s picking up their fave candy from a shop? He’ll throw it at their face when he gives it to them. They’re upset? He’s going to find a way to make sure they get a good meal and have some company but he’s going to be aggressive about it. ‘You haven’t eaten since yesterday. You’re being an idiot. Eat the fucking burrito I went to three different places to find one that would give me the salsa you like now don’t waste my time.’

His toxic trait is acting like he hates when one of them is hugging him as they are hugging him. ‘Ugh get off of me. You’re the worst.’ As he’s tightly hugging them back. Crosshair, honey, why are you like this?

#space chatter #the bad batch #tbb crosshair #crosshair bad batch #tbb echo #echo bad batch #tech bad batch #hunter bad batch #tbb tech #tbb hunter #tbb wrecker #wrecker bad batch #I love crossy and I have thoughts of him all the time #this doesn’t even scratch the surface about what I think about him

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samjpullen · 2 years ago

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ragequitezekielrants · 3 months ago

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Undead Inc.: Corporate Failure at Its Finest

Alright, here we go again. I thought I'd seen every kind of garbage the gaming industry could throw at me, but Undead Inc. somehow managed to catch me off guard with how utterly incompetent and infuriating it is. You’d think a game that combines zombies with corporate management would at least try to be interesting, but nope! Instead, it’s like the developers just woke up one day and said, “What’s the fastest way to suck the life out of every concept gamers love? Oh, I know, let’s make Undead Inc..”

Let’s start with the premise, which, on paper, sounds like it could have been cool. You’re the head of a shady corporation during a zombie apocalypse, managing resources, experimenting on zombies, and trying to survive in a collapsing world. But don’t let that premise fool you. Undead Inc. manages to take everything fun about both zombie survival and corporate strategy, put it through a blender, and spit out the blandest, most soulless game I’ve played all year. It’s like someone saw Resident Evil, thought, "What if we replaced all the horror and tension with spreadsheets?" and called it a day.

Speaking of management mechanics, you’d expect a game that revolves around running a corporation to have some level of depth, right? Wrong. Managing your undead “assets” and resources is a joke. The interface is a clunky, confusing mess, and instead of feeling like you’re making strategic decisions, it feels more like you’re clicking randomly in the hope that something interesting happens. Spoiler alert: it doesn’t. There’s no challenge, no nuance, and absolutely no satisfaction in running your so-called "corporation." It’s just busywork—endless micromanaging of pointless stats that don’t seem to affect the game in any meaningful way.

And let’s not forget the zombies themselves. You’d think in a game literally called Undead Inc., the zombies would be a central focus, right? Maybe you’d be doing cool experiments, creating terrifying new mutations, or using them in clever ways to outsmart your rivals. But nope! The zombies in this game are as mindless as the gameplay itself. They’re just another number to manage, another resource to collect and use in the most boring, unimaginative ways possible. There’s no creativity, no tension, no sense that you’re actually dealing with something dangerous or interesting. They might as well be cattle for how blandly they’re implemented.

The combat, if you can even call it that, is just as lifeless. When things inevitably go wrong (because of course they do, it’s a zombie apocalypse), you’re supposed to defend your base from waves of undead. But instead of a thrilling survival scenario, it’s the most dull and repetitive excuse for action I’ve seen in a long time. You’d think there would be some urgency, some sense of danger. Nah. The zombies mindlessly stumble toward your base while you set up some half-baked defenses and pray to the RNG gods. There’s no skill involved, no strategy, no excitement—just mind-numbing tedium as you watch the same animation play over and over. If this is supposed to be the "fun" part of the game, I dread to think what they considered boring.

Oh, and let’s not skip over the graphics. I’ve seen better visuals in mobile games from a decade ago. Undead Inc. looks like it was slapped together with leftover assets from some failed Unity project. The environments are dull, lifeless, and lack any kind of atmosphere. The zombie models are laughably generic—seriously, they look like someone forgot to finish designing them. And the animations? Don’t even get me started. Watching the zombies shamble around looks more like a high school tech demo than a professionally released game. It’s just sad.

The story—if you can even call it that—is about as engaging as reading corporate tax forms. There’s no character development, no intrigue, no reason to care about anything that’s happening. You’re some faceless corporate drone running a company during a zombie apocalypse, and that’s basically all the game gives you. There’s no narrative hook, no emotional investment. It’s just an endless loop of managing meaningless numbers and fighting off brain-dead zombies (both literally and figuratively).

To make matters worse, the difficulty scaling is an absolute joke. One minute, you’re breezing through the game like a bored accountant, and the next, you’re swarmed by zombies because the game’s balancing is all over the place. There’s no rhyme or reason to how things escalate; it just feels like the game randomly decides to throw a brick wall at you because it couldn’t figure out how to make its systems challenging in a meaningful way. It’s not difficult because it’s well-designed; it’s difficult because it’s broken.

And oh boy, let’s not forget about bugs. The game crashes more often than a corporate stock market in freefall. Base-building features randomly glitch out, zombies get stuck in walls, and I’ve lost progress more times than I care to count because of the game’s constant hiccups. It’s like they didn’t even bother with QA testing. I swear, the real horror of Undead Inc. isn’t the zombies; it’s trying to get through an hour of gameplay without something going horribly wrong.

The sad thing is, Undead Inc. could’ve been something interesting. The idea of mixing corporate greed with the zombie apocalypse? That’s rich with potential. But instead of delivering on that promise, the game does nothing but waste your time with shallow, repetitive gameplay, bland visuals, and a complete lack of personality. It’s like the game was designed to bore you into submission, and honestly, I’m not even mad anymore—just disappointed.

In the end, Undead Inc. is yet another reminder that cool ideas don’t mean anything without good execution. It’s a game that fails at being a management sim, fails at being a zombie survival game, and fails at being remotely fun. If you’re thinking of playing it, just… don’t. Go outside. Read a book. Do literally anything else with your time. This corporate disaster isn’t worth the investment.

Until next time, stop playing bad games.

– Ezekiel

#video games #game rants #game review #rage bait #cringe #lolcow #nerd

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market-spy · 11 months ago

Text

Decoding the Software Consulting Market: A Sassy Dive into the Billion-Dollar World

In a world dominated by tech jargon and mind-numbing reports, we’re here to unravel the tangled web of the Global Software Consulting Market. Forget about “Unveiling” and “Navigating”; we’re just here for a sarcastic stroll through the billion-dollar landscape of codes and consultants.

The Dollar Dance:

So, apparently, the Global Software Consulting Market is doing a cha-cha with dollars, and it’s no joke. Starting at a measly USD 244.44 billion in 2021, it’s gearing up to break the dance floor with a whopping USD 706 billion by 2030. Now, that’s a growth rate of 12.5%, which is basically the market equivalent of a teenager’s growth spurt.

Why the Software Samba?

Why this extravagant growth, you ask? Well, blame it on the global obsession with digitalization. Everyone’s trying to be the cool kid with the latest tech, and companies are throwing money at software solutions like it’s confetti at a party. From data analytics to cloud computing, it’s a tech frenzy out there.

The Market Mood Swings:

But hey, it’s not all rainbows and unicorns in Software Consulting Land. The market has its fair share of mood swings. Meeting client expectations, handling cultural differences (because apparently, even codes have cultural nuances), and dodging the relentless hackers trying to crash the party — it’s a tough gig.

Market Snapshot — Hold On to Your Hats:

Let’s take a quick snapshot, shall we? The market was valued at USD 244.44 billion, and the big shots in the game are the Large Enterprises, claiming over 60% of the market share. It’s like the VIP section of a club, but for companies.

The Fastest Groove:

Now, what’s grooving the fastest in this dance party? Wearable/Externally Worn is stealing the spotlight. Move over, implantables; it’s time for the wearables to shine.

Segmental Shenanigans:

The market is playing hard to get with its segments. Enterprise Solutions are strutting at the top with over 21% market share. And guess who’s the drama queen? Software Security Services, growing at the speed of light thanks to the rising trend of remote work and the fear of cyberattacks.

Global Dominance:

North America is the undisputed king of this software kingdom, holding over 30% of the market revenue share. The U.S. is the cool kid in the block party, leading the tech parade with CRM, ERP, and cloud services.

For More Information: https://www.skyquestt.com/report/software-consulting-market

The Rise of the Underdogs:

But hey, don’t underestimate the underdogs. Asia-Pacific is catching up, with governments in the region supporting all things software. E-commerce is their secret weapon, and they’re not afraid to use it.

Market Drivers and Pit Stops:

Cloud computing, digital transformation, and data analytics are the speed bumps and accelerators of this software race. But watch out for budget constraints, talent shortages, and the high competition curve — they’re the potholes waiting to trip you up.

The Competitive Dance Floor:

In this cutthroat world, the top players are pulling out all the stops. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Accenture, Capgemini — it’s like the Avengers of the software consulting world. Partnerships, acquisitions, and AI-driven innovations are the weapons of choice.

Recent Moves on the Dance Floor:

Infosys bought Cobalt Software, Accenture swiped Symphony RetailAI, and Capgemini did the tango with Everis. It’s a market full of mergers and acquisitions, like a tech version of a soap opera.

Key Market Trends — Where’s the Fun?

Industry-specific expertise is the cool kid in class, remote consulting is the rebel without a desk, and AI-driven consulting is the geek who suddenly became the prom king.

Conclusion — The After-Party:

In conclusion, the Global Software Consulting Market is a wild ride. It’s not all glitz and glamour; there are hurdles, setbacks, and a fair share of nerdy moments. But hey, it’s a party worth attending — just make sure your software is updated, and you’ve got a good antivirus, because this dance floor can get wild. Cheers to the billion-dollar bash!

About Us-

SkyQuest Technology Group is a Global Market Intelligence, Innovation Management & Commercialization organization that connects innovation to new markets, networks & collaborators for achieving Sustainable Development Goals.

SkyQuest Technology Consulting Pvt. Ltd.

1 Apache Way,

Westford,

Massachusetts 01886

USA (+1) 617–230–0741

Email- [email protected]

Website: https://www.skyquestt.com

0 notes

sqinsights · 11 months ago

Text

Decoding the Software Consulting Market: A Sassy Dive into the Billion-Dollar World

The Dollar Dance:

Why the Software Samba?

The Market Mood Swings:

Market Snapshot — Hold On to Your Hats:

The Fastest Groove:

Now, what’s grooving the fastest in this dance party? Wearable/Externally Worn is stealing the spotlight. Move over, implantables; it’s time for the wearables to shine.

Segmental Shenanigans:

Global Dominance:

For More Information: https://www.skyquestt.com/report/software-consulting-market

The Rise of the Underdogs:

Market Drivers and Pit Stops:

The Competitive Dance Floor:

Recent Moves on the Dance Floor:

Infosys bought Cobalt Software, Accenture swiped Symphony RetailAI, and Capgemini did the tango with Everis. It’s a market full of mergers and acquisitions, like a tech version of a soap opera.

Key Market Trends — Where’s the Fun?

Industry-specific expertise is the cool kid in class, remote consulting is the rebel without a desk, and AI-driven consulting is the geek who suddenly became the prom king.

Conclusion — The After-Party:

About Us-

SkyQuest Technology Consulting Pvt. Ltd.

1 Apache Way,

Westford,

Massachusetts 01886

USA (+1) 617–230–0741

Email- [email protected]

Website: https://www.skyquestt.com

0 notes

starseedfxofficial · 2 months ago

Text

Thai Stocks Surge Amid Delta's Record High & Baht Gains Delta's Surge and the Baht's Boost: Navigating Thailand's Latest Market Moves Thailand’s market is having a moment. Picture this: Delta Electronics Thailand hit record highs while the Thai baht showed off a little muscle, gaining 0.4% against the US dollar. Not bad for a Wednesday, right? But before we get all optimistic, let's dig into what’s driving these moves and what they mean for traders. Delta Electronics: Riding High (But Is It Sustainable?) Delta Electronics Thailand has been in the spotlight lately, rising over 6% and hitting a record high. The stock has been on fire since late October, with earnings that seem to have impressed the market more than a cat with nine lives! Analysts are, however, starting to throw caution flags—not red flags, mind you, just the kind that say "Hey, maybe don't put all your chips in here." According to Poon Panichpibool, a market strategist at Krung Thai Bank, Delta's momentum is undeniably strong, but concerns about its valuation have surfaced. It's like buying designer clothes at full price—you know you might be paying a bit too much, but it's so tempting. Analysts at TISCO Securities have pointed out that Delta's forward price-to-earnings ratio seems pretty demanding compared to its tech peers, and even its parent company. Finance Minister's Optimism: Growth and Stimulus Plans On the currency front, Thailand’s finance minister Pichai Chunhavajira’s optimism has helped boost the baht. He affirmed a 2.7% economic growth expectation for the year and is aiming for 3.5% growth in 2025—a bit of a stretch compared to the Bank of Thailand's more conservative estimate of nearly 3%. Think of it like that New Year’s resolution where you promise yourself you'll hit the gym five times a week—ambitious, but not impossible. Markets love this kind of confidence, but let's not ignore the elephant in the room—a potential return of Donald Trump to the White House could mess up more than just your Thanksgiving dinner plans. Across the Board: Southeast Asian Markets in a Nutshell Elsewhere in Southeast Asia, Indonesian stocks started strong, rising by 0.7%, led by Adaro Energy—a coal conglomerate that's decided it’s time to grow by spinning off its unit Adaro Andalan. Imagine a band member going solo to see if they’re the next breakout star—that’s what Adaro is doing with its IPO plans. Meanwhile, the Malaysian ringgit dropped 0.5%, thanks to market forecasts of a slowdown in Q3 economic growth. In Singapore, the dollar was down by 0.1%, while in the Philippines, the peso and Indonesian rupiah remained flat—about as exciting as watching paint dry. The Trump Effect: What Lies Ahead for Emerging Markets Here’s where it gets dicey. Barclays analysts have warned of possible volatility with Trump's policies potentially disrupting the otherwise benign emerging market backdrop. "Rates may need more premium, and emerging market FX should weaken further, but near-term gains in EM credit are expected," they noted. In other words, there might be a few bumps in the road ahead, but there are still gains to be had if you can weather the ride. It’s like taking a roller coaster—hold on tight, and you might even enjoy it. The Takeaway for Forex Traders So, what does all this mean for Forex traders? Thailand’s baht might see more action if the optimism around economic growth continues, but don’t forget—what goes up can also come down, especially if valuations look shaky. Delta Electronics is having its moment in the sun, but even sunburn can happen if you stay out too long without sunblock (i.e., risk management). Keep an eye on Trump’s moves as well—like it or not, his policies can still send ripples through emerging markets. Key Lessons and Strategies - Watch the Fundamentals: Delta’s growth and the baht’s rally are fundamentally driven—earnings momentum and government optimism are key drivers. But fundamentals can shift fast. Traders should monitor upcoming GDP estimates and any signs of overheating in the Thai equity market. - Stay Agile: Market conditions can turn on a dime, especially with geopolitical risks like a possible Trump comeback. If volatility spikes, stay flexible with your trading strategies—consider tighter stops or scaling back exposure. - Risk Management is King: Always have your risk controls in place. Valuations are getting frothy, and it's easy to get burned chasing gains in a hot market. Use tools like trailing stops to protect profits without capping potential upside. Closing Thought Emerging markets are full of opportunities—and traps. Thailand’s recent rally might just be the beginning of a bullish wave, but watch those fundamentals closely, and never forget the first rule of trading: protect yourself first. —————– Image Credits: Cover image at the top is AI-generated Read the full article

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kimberly-spirits13 · 4 years ago

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Reader Who’s Friends with TT and is RedX HC (Request)

Titans slowly finding out that you’re RedX (I try to keep most HC GN but this is specifically GN)

So you’ve been RedX for quite some time now

However you weren’t really doing enough to end up on the Titan radar

That was until later when you started stealing things from larger tech companies and science research facilities

You started taking things that seemed really outta pocket

So you ended up on the radar

The team knew you already

You were friends with Robin and Cyborg and already a small time vigilante before the RedX deal

So when all of this was happening and they were discussing it in the meeting room, you were there

You knew that what you were doing was looked down upon illegal so you had to throw them off your trail

with the intellect of Robin and the computer knowledge of Cy, you were quite sure that if you didn’t do something, they’d figure it out

So you start leaving other clues to drive them off the road

And then you have legit clues that point to you in order to make sure that the endless chase doesn’t end up being too suspicious

This works for a very long time

However, after nights that Robin spends not resting and working on these cases, you feel bad

His eyes seem heavier through the mask, he drags more, and suddenly he just seems like he’s downing more and more coffee every day

So that means that you start to loosen up just to make sure that he doesn’t die doing this kind of thing

And that’s where they start to suspect things

Suddenly you start to seem less less and innocent by the minute

And they start to suspect that you’re not just the vigilante that you said you were

Raven starts to look more into your conscience and can see that there’s something more there

That’s when they decide to really capture this RedX

And the way that they do it is kinda shady

They make sure to leave bait so that when you go to save one of them, they know that there’s something there and can capture you

So gar gets hit really hard and falls from a building

You swing down and catch him but when this happens he transforms into a pterodactyl and drops you into a trap

That’s where Robin unmasks you much like an episode of Scooby-doo and then you have to explain yourself

You can see that they look slightly betrayed, especially Cy and Rob

That’s when you know that you have to get right down to explaining

You were only doing these things because you saw that there was a need for more underground work

There were corporations and other groups that the Titans couldn’t get mixed into for safety and reputation reasons with the public that they didn’t even know about because it was so deep in

You broke into the research and tech labs to take things that were going to be used for mass destruction and then used those to fire up your own little secret hide out where you operated from

It made sense but they questioned why you didn’t say anything and that was because you knew that then they’d go after the groups with no rhyme or reason and only get themselves trapped

That’s why you used the two different aliases such as your regular hero name and RedX

So when this information comes forward, they understand, still aren’t too happy, but understand and are willing to just conveniently forget about it

But that doesn’t mean that you’re doing this entire thing alone now cause they are going to insist helping even if they don’t physically get involved

You do have a new backup calling signal in case anything goes uncontrollable

Also total side note cause ik that I’m late but has anyone seen Castlevania season 4 yet cause so far it’s amazing, just today I hit episode 7 and I started it this morning so I should be down within the weekend but I want thoughts cause there are new ships happening here and my MIND IS ALIVE also TREV AND SYPHA IS TOO MUCH FOR ME RN CAUSE I USED TO HATE HER AND NOW HER CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT IS GREAT (I only didn’t like her cause she seemed to be such a try hard and miss perfect just because of where she was from and that had character flaw but was still annoying) BUT ISSAC AND HECTOR OMGHHHHHHH AND I CANNOT WITH THIS SEASON

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desertno3 · 4 years ago

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everything comes back to you (sean wallace x fem!reader)

Sean Wallace is the love of your life and had been ever since you were both sixteen. This is why, in the aftermath of his father’s murder, you do everything you can to make sure no one lays a hand him.

5.4k words.

A/N: To think this all came from me watching this scene of Joe from Volume (2012) and thought… I need to write about bb Sean. There’s also this post which is mostly what was in my head when I wrote this. Also, I was going to say Sean being soft around the people he loves is my own personal headcanon but like… it is actual canon, lmao. It’s so easy to forget because the man is cold most of the time. Anyway, I clearly have too many thoughts about this character. Enjoy. (also formatting on tumblr is shit so if you want to read this with the formatting I intended, head over here to AO3)

prologue.

“What the hell are you up to?” Sean demands as he watches you bustle around your shared bedroom, effectively turning it upside down as you stuff your belongings into a travel bag.

“Business,” You say, hardly pausing to look at him.

“Business?” He scoffs like he doesn’t believe you. You don’t blame him. Finn died mere days ago and every day since then you’d been acting strange. Between consoling Sean and helping the Wallace family with the funeral arrangements, you’d been answering calls at random hours of the day and going off to meetings even though nearly all business operations under the Wallace Corporation had been halted. Sean had been too caught up in everything to question it but now that you’d just told him that you were flying off to god knows where for alleged business, he was suspicious.

“You know something, don’t you?”

You don’t reply.

“Tell me.”

When you remain silent, you see his jaw clench in anger but that’s not what makes your heart squeeze painfully in your chest. What gets to you is the hurt you can see in his eyes, hurt that his fiancé of all people is keeping things from him. You know it’s unfair to be doing this to him right now but you had no choice.

You walk up to him, taking his face in your hands.

“You just have to trust me on this, Sean,” You say softly. “Please.”

“I can’t trust anyone right now, y/n.” He says it like a plea. He needs you to be the one person he can trust one hundred percent, wants to be able to put you apart from the rest of the world who seemingly had it out for his family right now. He can’t do that when you’re acting like this.

The statement doesn’t hurt you in the slightest. You understand where he’s coming from, understand why he can’t even trust you, but still, you wish he did.

“You can always trust me,” You tell him but you know it won’t be enough. That’s confirmed when his gaze goes steely and he pries your hands from his cheeks.

“If you step out that door, don’t bother coming home.”

You step back like you’d been burned by the ultimatum. “Sean, don’t-”

He shakes his head.

“Whatever you’re doing, I hope it’s worth it.”

_________________________________________________

one.

“It’s just so annoying, you know?” You huff, falling back onto Sean’s bed and pressing the heels of your palms into your eyelids. You’re sixteen and in the throes of teen angst, irritated by the confines of your parents’ demands regarding what you currently could and couldn’t do at that age.

“Yeah, I know,” Sean replies in solidarity from where he stands near the window.

You let out a sigh, the anger that was bubbling in your chest starting to dissipate now that you’d finished venting about it.

You’re so lost in your own thoughts that you don’t realise Sean has moved from his spot across the room to the bed beside you. The mattress dips a little as he sits and slowly lies back so he’s parallel to you.

You move your hands away from your eyes and your heart jolts when you crane your neck to look at him and realise how close he is.

“Thanks for listening to my ranting,” You murmur, starting to feel guilty that you’d come over to hang out only for it to end up being just him listening to your tirade.

He lets out a small chuckle. “Anytime.”

You smile gratefully, your heart rate accelerating as you continue to stare into his eyes. God, you like him so much. You have for a while now. As he inches closer, and you don’t know whether it’s deliberate on his part or not, you wonder what it would be like if you just kissed him right there.

“Y/n…” He says hesitantly, his gaze flicking down to your lips for a fraction of a second. “Can I-”

“Ooooh, Sean and y/n,” Billy sing-songs obnoxiously from the doorway - the doorway that both you and Sean had forgotten was wide open.

Sean leaps up from the bed and growls at his brother, who continues to tease him unfazed.

“Fuck off, Billy!”

He slams the door shut and everything descends into silence once more. You sit up and watch as Sean remains at the door, his shoulders tense. You get up and make your way over to him, feeling bolder than you ever have in your life.

“Sean,” You say softly, grabbing his attention.

He turns to you, the look in his eyes hesitant, and you use that opportunity to press your lips to his. You pull away just as quickly, gauging his reaction, but then he pulls you towards him again and this time the kiss is deeper, needier. Your hands steady yourself against his chest as his own move up to cup your jaw.

You’re both breathless when you pull away, sporting matching shy smiles as you look at each other.

“I really like you, y/n,” Sean confesses and your heart feels like it could burst.

“I really like you, too, Sean.”

When you and Sean get accepted into different universities, it worries you more than you let on. It would be the furthest away you’d ever lived from him and you were worried about what that meant for you both. You’d spent your last years of high school falling deeper and deeper in love with him and you weren’t ready to let him go. Not now, not ever.

“Hey,” He murmurs, noticing you’d spaced out again. “What’s wrong?”

You shrug it off but he’s not buying it. He shifts on the couch so that he’s sitting facing you and takes your hands in his.

"Talk to me.”

You end up telling him everything. How you don’t like that you’re not going to be able to see him as often as you do now, how you’re worried that the distance might put a strain on the relationship, how you really, really don’t like the idea of breaking up with him.

You half expect him to brush it off or to tell you that you’ve got nothing to worry about but he doesn’t.

“I don’t like it either,” He admits. “It’s going to be awful being so far away from you but it’s only a couple of years, yeah? We can do that. And then I’ll start working for my dad and you’ll start working for some cool startup and we can move into a flat in London. You and me.”

While your boyfriend’s vision of your future together warms your heart, you’re still hung up on the ‘couple of years’ you were going to be a good distance from each other.

“Babe,” He says, bringing your attention back to him. “We’re going to be okay.”

You nod, finally relenting and agreeing with him. There was no point in letting yourself get eaten alive with worry, not when he clearly loved you just as much as you loved him. It was going to be okay.

“I love you,” You tell him and he smiles, pressing a kiss to the back of your hand.

“I love you too.”

Sean’s vision of the future wasn’t too far off. You manage to secure a flat just before you both graduate and by the end of the summer, you’d moved in. Sean starts working immediately alongside Alex at the Wallace Corporation and you spend about eight months working for a new tech startup on the other side of London before Finn Wallace offers you a job. It goes over with Sean just as well as you expected it would - which was not well at all.

“Are you really going to throw away everything you’ve worked hard for? To be my dad’s fucking assistant?”

You sigh in exasperation. “I’m not throwing away anything, Sean! Do you think I’m that stupid? I’m going to use more of what I learned at uni as Finn’s assistant than I am now at that fucking sad excuse for startup and you know it!”

Sean knows you’re miserable where you currently work so you don’t know why he’s so against this.

“You don’t want me working with you, is that it?”

He sighs, palms pressing against his eyelids in frustration.

“No,” He says eventually. “No, it’s not that. It’s just… I don’t want my dad having a hold on the both of us. You’re supposed to be free from all the Wallace Corporation shit, out doing your own thing.”

Oh.

You step towards him and he instinctively wraps his arms around your waist. You press a light kiss to his lips, your fingers ghosting over the facial hair he had recently started sporting.

“Sorry to tell you this, Sean, but your dad’s had a hold on the both of us the moment we started dating. Maybe even before that. I’m sure if he didn’t approve of me, I would’ve been out of your life a long time ago.”

Sean grumbles at the realisation but he knows it's true.

You lovingly run your thumb over his cheek. "Nothing in London is out of Finn Wallace's reach."

You’re not a fool. You know Finn offered you this job for a very specific reason. If you were going to continue being with Sean, and at this point, everyone knew that was absolutely going to be the case, you were going to have to know how the company worked. And you weren’t against it. If Sean was to be the CEO one day, you refused to be the kind of wife who was oblivious to their husband’s dealings.

Gone is the youthful innocence of the lanky boy you fell in love with when you were sixteen. Sean is filled out and a lot more serious, trying to be more than what he is for his father’s sake. You suppose you're the same, too. It's not easy, being primed to eventually take over a multi-million dollar organisation (connected to an insidious underground one to boot) and Finn put just as much pressure on you as he did his son.

“It’s not my blood,” You mumble when Sean walks into the bathroom to find you soaking in the tub, the water around you a deep red. “Mostly.”

Wordlessly, he comes over and drains it before filling it back up with fresh water. You don’t move as he does so, still shaken and borderline catatonic from having just killed somebody for the first time. Sean doesn’t have to ask, he can just tell that’s what you’ve come back from. As he silently washes the blood from your skin, you look over to see his lips set in a tight line. You know he’s mad. Not at you. At his father, maybe. But there’s nothing he can do now. There’s no going back from this.

Everyone thinks you’re the power couple of the Wallace Corporation, steely and unfeeling, and you suppose in many ways you are but you also know that in other ways, you’re still the teenagers you were before, still completely and utterly smitten with one another.

“Hey,” Sean greets you, kissing your cheek before pulling out a chair and sitting beside you in the empty boardroom.

You look at him in surprise as he starts digging into some pre-packaged salad. “Hi. What are you doing?”

“Thought I’d have lunch with you.”

“It’s three in the afternoon.”

“The meeting ran overtime.”

You give him a sympathetic look and he rolls his eyes. “It’s fine. C’mere.”

You shuffle closer to him and let him tuck you under one arm while he forked salad into his mouth with the other.

“What have you been up to, hm?”

You let out an exhale, resting your head against his shoulder. “Meetings, same as you.”

You’re interrupted when Alex pops his head in with an apologetic look on his face, knowing he was disrupting a rare moment between you and Sean. Usually, the both of you would be so busy you’d only see each other in passing at work.

“Finn’s looking for you, y/n,” He tells you before disappearing again.

You sigh, getting up but not before kissing Sean on the cheek.

“I’ll see you at home.”

“Mm, see you.” He mumbles, swallowing his mouthful of salad before his hand shoots out to grab your wrist. “Wait, give me a proper kiss.”

You smile and comply, laughing when Sean pulls you back in for another and another.

“I have to go, Sean!”

“Alright, alright,” He says, letting you go. “I’ll see you later.”

"What's all this?" Sean asks when he comes home one night to find you in the kitchen looking like you’re in the middle of making a more elaborate dinner than usual.

"Just something to celebrate you finishing up that contract," You say, smiling when his arms circle your waist and his lips press a kiss to your cheek. "I was also thinking now that the contract's done, you've got all the time in the world to fuck me."

You all but squeal when he picks you up and carries you to the bedroom without a second thought.

"The food, Sean!"

"The food can wait," He murmurs, dropping you onto the bed. You giggle when he moves to hover above you, his lips brushing against yours. "I've got to take care of my fiancé first."

It’s those memories of your relationship with Sean that flood your mind as you lean against the brick wall of a Soho back alley, the hand pressing against the wound on your side not doing much to stop the blood seeping from your body faster than you would like.

Dread had filled you the moment you heard about Finn’s death and it had less to do with what happened to him and everything to do with the man you were engaged to, the one who was set to take over the company in his father’s wake. Despite Sean being the clear successor to the business, you knew Finn’s death would still leave a power vacuum in both London’s corporate and criminal worlds. You knew people would be out for Sean, trying to off him so that they could step up and take Finn’s place. And so, since the day Finn had died, you’d done everything you could to ensure Sean wouldn’t be harmed. Even after Sean’s heartbreaking ultimatum, you’d left and had been all over the country and London trying to stop the people that needed to be stopped. This last job you’d just carried out would have been it. It would have sealed the deal and would have kept Sean safe for good. Too bad you were probably going to die because of it.

You wince as your back slides further down the wall, your legs giving out and leaving you to drop unceremoniously onto the concrete. Each inhale felt like a billion knives entering your side and you knew you weren’t going to last much longer.

It was worth it, you think to yourself. It’s the last thought you have before your eyelids get too heavy to keep open, Sean’s last words to you echoing back in your mind. It may have cost you your life but was worth it if it meant you’d just ensured Sean would keep his for a long while.

_________________________________________________

two.

Despite the number of people crammed into your hospital room, the only sound to be heard is the steady beeping of the machines that had been attached to you. It had been a hell of a night for all of them and one that wasn’t over yet. Jacqueline’s frantic call to Sean about seeing you get wheeled into emergency surgery had cut short the tense discussion the Wallaces and Dumanis were having around the dining table. Sean had all but sped to the hospital, everyone else trailing behind him. Despite everything that had just been revealed to him that night, it all became secondary in comparison to the fact that Jacqueline had told him you were practically dying.

Everyone but Sean looks up when Ed steps back into the room, shoving his phone into his pocket.

“That was Jevan,” Ed announces to all of them. “Things have changed.”

“What things?” Marian asks, the tone in her voice still bitter. It’s a wonder neither she nor Sean have kicked the Dumanis out of the room but it was because there was still so much to be discussed - especially now that you were back in the picture and what happened to you remained unclear.

“The investors now want to keep Sean alive.”

A silence settles over the room at Ed’s revelation. It was mere hours ago that Alex had revealed it was the investors who wanted Sean dead.

“She knew,” Sean mutters, finally speaking up. His eyes raking over your nearly-lifeless face as you lay unconscious on the hospital bed and his mind thinks back to the last conversation he had with you. Business, you had told him then. Now, he had no doubt you had something to do with the investors’ most recent decision. “She knew they wanted me dead.”

“How?” It’s Alex who asks, vocalising the same thought Sean had been turning over and over in his mind. “How did she know where to find them? Who to talk to?”

No one has an answer. The machines beep steadily, filling in the silence until Ed sighs, a realisation dawning on him.

“Finn,” He states like that alone makes the answer clear. “She would’ve known through Finn. Think about it. When she was his assistant, he made her go with him to nearly every meeting he had.”

Everyone in the room was aware of the latter, of course. It was part of your job. It had even been a point of contention between Sean and his father at one point, why you were let in on meetings that he should’ve been in on too if he was going to take over the company one day. "She’s just there to make the coffee, son," Finn had laughed but that wasn’t true in the slightest. You were the one who took down the minutes, noted down anything of importance, kept tabs on any and all of Finn’s dealings with everybody. That was your job and through it, you ended up knowing more about the business than anyone else and you didn’t even realise it. You didn’t realise just how much you knew, how much knowledge you could use as leverage, as blackmail, until Sean’s life was on the line.

After Finn died, you did wonder whether he knew what he was setting you up for when he hired you, wondered if he always knew Sean would eventually need protecting and knew that you would do it without hesitation if you had the capability to do so.

It’s Ed, here in the hospital room, who comes to the realisation that he absolutely did.

“She knows more about Finn’s dealings with the investors than all of us in this room combined,” He continues. “Because he never actually needed her to be his assistant. He needed her to be someone who would know how to talk to them. To protect the company and its successor from them if need be.”

“Successor?” Marian asks. “You mean Sean?”

Ed nods and everyone jumps as Sean suddenly throws his fist against the bedside table in anger before whirling on the older man.

“You knew about this,” He seethes. “You knew he was doing this and you just let it happen.”

“I didn’t know this was his reasoning behind it, Sean, I promise you. But it makes sense. As his son, protecting you was a priority. Through her, Finn made sure you’d be kept safe.”

"Fuck that.” Sean spits in anger. “Fuck that. She's a priority too. You hear me? She needs to be kept safe too because if she's not alive I may as well be fucking dead."

_________________________________________________

three.

“I should’ve fucking realised that’s what she was up to. I should’ve fucking known,” Sean mutters as he looks at you, still lying there unconscious. “She risked everything for me.”

“Are you surprised?” Marian asks him. It’s just the two of them in the room now.

She, for one, isn’t surprised in the slightest. Having known you most of your life, she knew you had it in you. Maybe Finn saw that too, since it was what he ended up priming you for.

Sean sighs. He’s not surprised either. What he mostly feels is anger - at his late father for putting you in that position to begin with - and shame. He’s ashamed that while you were bending over backwards to try and keep him alive, he was doing fuck all for you. He'd even broken your fucking heart in the process. He’d regretted it the second you’d left the flat but he couldn’t get into contact with you afterwards. Either you’d changed your number or you weren’t answering his calls. He’d even hired a fucking private investigator to find out where you’d gone and what you were up to but they hadn’t come back with anything solid enough that could lead him to you. It was like you’d disappeared off the face of the earth.

"She paid you off,” Sean says bluntly the moment the PI enters the hospital room. It’s not a question. After everything that had surfaced in the last twenty-four hours, it clicked into Sean’s mind the reason the private investigator couldn’t find anything on you.

"She did,” They confirm.

Sean swears under his breath. He curses that fact that you were too good at this and curses the fact that it was probably Finn that taught you how, the same way Finn taught him. He should’ve fought harder to stop you from accepting his dad’s job offer. All those years ago.

“She paid me off,” The PI says. "But that doesn’t mean I didn't do my job."

Sean is handed a folder full of notes on your movements and a flash drive full of photos they’d snapped from a distance.

"You are a very lucky man, Sean Wallace. To have someone like her in your life."

_________________________________________________

four.

To say you’re surprised when you open your eyes to a sterile hospital room is an understatement. You were so sure you had no chance of getting out of that alley alive. Still groggy, you briefly wonder if it was the investors who managed to get you here in time - the strange puppet masters that they were - but your train of thought is halted when you realise Sean’s sister is in the room with you, sitting beside your hospital bed.

“About time you woke up,” Jacqueline says softly, a kind smile on her face. “How’re you feeling?”

Her question brings your attention to the relentless ache you feel all over your body.

“Like shit.”

She hums. “Well, you’re lucky you aren’t dead. You gave us all a scare getting wheeled in here the way you did.”

You shift a little, trying to get yourself in a position that would ease the pain somewhat. “How’s Sean?”

Jacqueline has to stop herself from rolling her eyes because of course that’s what’s on your mind right now. You coming back from the verge of death asking about Sean ran in a similar vein to the way Sean had been adamant about not leaving the hospital since you’d been admitted. Like two peas in a pod, she thinks. Always have been.

“He’s just out in the hall, actually,” She informs you. “On the phone to mum. He’s not going to be pleased he wasn’t here when you woke up.”

“But he’s okay?” You ask her.

“He’s okay.”

You let out the breath you didn’t realise you were holding, your head sinking further into the pillow.

“Good,” You say, shutting your eyes in relief. “That’s good.”

Only a few seconds pass before you hear the door open and shut and a heart-achingly familiar voice break the silence.

“How is she?”

Again, Jacqueline has to keep herself from rolling her eyes. Her brother would always ask that same question every time he returned to the room, no matter if he was gone for an hour or for just a couple of minutes. At least this time, she was glad to give him an answer other than ‘she’s the same as she was when you left’.

“She’s awake.”

Your eyelids flutter open and your heart jumps when your gaze lands on Sean.

“I’ll leave you both to it,” Jacqueline smiles when she looks between her brother and yourself. She comes over and rests her hand on yours. “I’m really glad you’re alive, y/n.”

You give her a grateful smile and watch her leave before your eyes flicker back to the man standing at the door. He looks healthy, you note to yourself. Exhausted, but healthy.

“Sean,” You whisper, breaking the silence.

“Hey,” He says softly, approaching your bedside. You slowly sit up and tears start to pool in your eyes at the sight of him here, so close to you. Safe and alive. He notices and reaches out to wipe away the stray tears that had rolled down your cheeks.

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” He murmurs and you have to hold back a sob.

"I did it for you, Sean," You can barely get the sentence out, your voice catching as you start to get choked up by emotion. "Everything I did-"

"I know," He says, cupping your face tenderly. His eyes are glassy too. "I know."

“I couldn’t let them hurt you. I couldn’t-”

You stop as your tears start to flow uncontrollably. You’d kept so much of your emotions at bay as you dealt with everything and now that it was all done, they were spilling over in waves. He gently pulls you into his embrace as you cry, mindful of your injuries. One hand strokes your hair comfortingly as you cling to him, soaking the front of his shirt with your tears. You keep muttering apologies into his chest and he has to tell you to stop because you have nothing to be sorry for. He should be the one apologising, he thinks. No matter what he does for you for the rest of his life nothing would come close enough in magnitude to what you’d just done for him.

You sniffle as your sobs finally start to subside but you don’t let go of him just yet.

“I want to come home, Sean,” You say quietly, your cheek still pressed against his chest.

“You are home,” He assures you, his arms affectionately squeezing you ever so slightly. "You're here with me. You're already home."

_________________________________________________

epilogue.

Sean barely leaves your side while you recover - not for business, not for anything.

“The company needs you, Sean.”

He shakes his head. “Alex has it covered. You need me.”

“I can take care of myself.”

“Believe me, I know. But still. In sickness and in health, right?”

You snort. “We’re not married yet.”

His arms wrap around your waist.

“But we will be,” He murmurs. “I would’ve married you a long time ago if I had it my way.”

“My mother would’ve murdered you.”

Sean chuckles, all too aware of it.

It was about a year and a half into your university lives that Sean decided he genuinely wanted to marry you and, of course, he had run it by your mother.

“I’ll give you my blessing, Sean,” She had told him. “But only if you promise me you’ll give it a few years until you propose.”

“Just trust me on this, okay?” She said after Sean had frowned and asked her why. “I know you love her and I know she loves you but there’s no need to rush.”

Sean had agreed reluctantly but now, years later, he understands where she was coming from. At the time, he had naively been sure there was nothing the two of you couldn’t handle. You’d both handled being at different universities so well, after all. Now, he cringes at the fact that that was his metric but he figures he couldn’t blame himself. At that age, he definitely never anticipated having to deal with all the shit life had thrown at you both in the last few months alone. He’s somewhat grateful your mum told him to wait because now, after everything, he’s more sure than he ever was about the fact that he wants to spend the rest of his life with you.

You’re finally back home, in your own bed, lying on your back because it’s the only comfortable way you can lay down with all your stitches and injuries yet to fully heal. You turn your head to look at Sean and you smile. He’s on his back as well, the both of you craning your necks awkwardly to look at each other.

“What?” He asks.

“This is very familiar.”

He snorts, knowing exactly what you’re referring to. He props himself up on his elbow and looks down at you.

“At least this time I’m not scared to do this.”

Your eyelids flutter close as he leans down to press his lips to yours. You reciprocate, leaning up to deepen the kiss before pain shoots up your side, making you hiss.

“Sorry,” He murmurs, pulling away.

“It’s fine, just the stitches.”

His thumb grazes over your cheek. “Rest.”

He smiles at the way you huff. You never did like staying still.

You let out a content sigh, sinking back in your office chair. It had felt like a lifetime since you’d been in here and finally being back felt like you were putting in the final piece in the puzzle. It was the last thing you needed to feel like everything was starting to go back to normal.

A knock on the door grabs your attention, Sean popping in to check on you. “You ready?”

You nod, gingerly getting up and following him to the boardroom for the family meeting.

“So you know Alex and I have been talking,” Sean says to you once everyone had filed in and taken their seats. “About what will be best for the business going forward.”

You nod.

“Things have settled down and we’ve managed to broker temporary agreements with everyone to keep them in line. However, we need to guarantee they won’t act out in the future. So we need someone heading the company who they will listen to, someone who they trust. Alex wants to continue doing the finances and I’m better off sticking to making the buildings so… we were wondering if you would be the CEO.”

Your expression goes slack in shock. “What?”

“We’ve run it by Ed and mum and they agree, too. You’re our best bet.”

You look between everyone in the room, bewildered. “Why?”

“Because you know more about dealing with the investors and shareholders than any of us,” Alex says. “You saw first-hand how Finn did his business with them, something me and Sean rarely did. And they not only know you personally but they trust you, too.”

“Y/n,” Ed pipes up. “Whether he did it deliberately or not, Finn taught you everything he knew about the most important part of running this corporation. Alex knows finance and sales, Sean knows property and asset management but you? He specifically taught you how to bargain. And bargaining and making deals is part of what keeps the Wallace Corporation on top.”

“All our shareholders, the investors, they’ll be okay with this?” You ask.

Ed gives you a look, “You tell us.”

The weight of the responsibility hits you in full force but you’re surprised when you don’t feel scared. You feel sure. They were all right, you’d been doing this already.

You nod. “They will be.”

And it’s not a threat so much as it’s just pure confidence on your part. You knew their strengths, their weaknesses, you knew you would be able to keep them in line with your words, either finding mutual ground or using certain things as leverage to get what the company needed. You could bargain with them the same way you’d bargained for Sean’s life. You could do this.

You meet Sean’s eyes across the boardroom table and he smiles at you, pride blooming in his chest at the thought of his girl, the one he had fallen head-over-heels for at sixteen, being the CEO of his dad’s company. You smile in return. God, you loved him. Your entire world, your whole heart, belonged to him. And his to you. It always had been, and it always would be.

_________________________________________________

End notes: The first kiss setting in one. I took straight from Volume, lol, and then two. is set after that meeting scene at the end of Episode 7 of Gangs but I’ve taken some liberties with that meeting and diverged from canon right before Ed tells them Finn never wanted Sean near the business because Sean’s reaction to that hurts my heart. So that’s not a thing in my fic world. Anyway! Too many thoughts about this show. Let me know if you enjoyed this fic!

#sean wallace x reader #gangs of london fanfiction #*writing #sean wallace #gangs of london #sean wallace fic #sean wallace imagine #gangs of london fic #sean wallace fanfic

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santigarcia · 4 years ago

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Kissing Kitten 😽

Human Touch Part Nine

word count: 1.6k

rating: M for smut, dirty talk, mentions of daddy kink, phone sex, sexual situations (pls don’t read unless ur 18+!)

summary: Nathan leaves for a business trip and you stay at home, but he finds ways to take care of you even when he’s gone.

a/n: thank you all so much for reading this series! let me know what yall think! thank you to @punkpascal and @sergeantkane as always!! and to @aellynera for yelling at me to post on time!! there’s only one more part after this! if you’ve read all these i really appreciate you!!

For the first time since the wedding, Nathan has left the compound. He has a business meeting with the board of Bluebook. He’s preparing to launch his latest tech. The smart home device he’s been working on, Etta. You’d have gone with him, but you wanted to let him work. He wanted your company, but he also knew he’d be working, and you’d spend a lot of time alone.

He texts you though, especially during the board meetings. Begging you for a nude selfie.

“Kitten, I already saw that one,” he’d text back. He wants you to take a new one. You play along, but that’s when you get an idea.

You send him a text: Sugar daddy wanted.

He’s quick to write back: Sugar daddy acquired.

You can’t help but giggle when you see his response. You’re curled up in bed, wearing one of his shirts. Because of the time difference, it’s bedtime for you but the afternoon for him.

Text: I’m so bored daddy.

Reply: You need someone to take care of you Kitten?

Text: Please?

Reply: There’s a box in the closet baby, go get it.

You push back the blankets as you step out of the bed with piqued curiosity. You open the closet to see a box the size of a shoebox. Your name is written on the top in Nathan’s all caps handwriting. With the box in hand, you go back over to the bed to see a new text from Nathan telling you not to open it until he gets back to his hotel room.

You want to open it now, but you know he’ll know somehow if you did. So, you slide under the blankets again and drift off. You might as well nap before he’s done with his meeting.

Your phone rings a few hours later, and it’s a facetime call. Happily, you answer to see your husband’s face.

“Hey kitten,” he smiles. He’s leaning back against the headboard of his bed. His shirt is off, and he looks damp from a fresh shower.

“Hi baby,” you smile and turn on a bedside lamp.

“Did I wake you?” he frowns slightly.

“Yes, but it’s ok, I miss you!”

“I miss you kitten,” he rubs his hand over his head. “This shit is so boring.”

You laugh. “How’s it going though?”

“Fine.” He pauses and looks down over the rim of his glasses. “Did you open the box?”

“No,” you smile, holding it up. “You told me not to!”

“Good girl. Open it,” he nods.

Inside the small box are a few objects. The first thing you notice right away is a dildo. You hold it up and he quirks a proud brow.

“You’re gonna use that in a minute kitten,” he tells you, and you can’t see where his hand goes, but he’s starting to lazily stroke his cock.

“Is this the one we made?” you laugh at the memory.

“Oh yeah it is,” he smirks, and lets out a soft whine. He’s thinking about it too.

He’d called you down to his lab one afternoon, he’d been in there all day and you’d not heard from him. So, when he called you it was a surprise, you thought he was going to use you as a guinea pig for his smart home device he’s testing named Etta. He’s getting close to finishing her, and you agreed to help him with the trials. But this wasn’t it.

You walked in the lab, pushed on the glass door, it was cool under your fingertips. Inside the room however, it was quite warm. Warmer than normal. Nathan stood in the middle of the room, hand on his hard cock, pumping himself slowly.

“Nathan?” you laughed and flushed despite coming in here and seeing weirder things. And you’ve done crazier things with him before.

“Good you’re here,” he said.

“What are you doing?”

“Making a mold of my dick. Here,” he tapped the table, indicating for you to hop up on it. “Strip. Let’s go let’s go,” he taps the table quicker.

“Ok ok!” you scoffed a little, but you figured he had a reason. “Why do I need to be naked for you to make a mold of your-“

“I need to stay hard while the mold is on me kitten.” He reached for a tube filled with a solution. Once you were naked, he positioned himself inside the tube. He let out a soft gasp at the change of temperature and focused in on you. “Ok, go.” He nodded his head at you.

“Pardon?” you started to step off the counter when he winced again.

“Touch yourself baby, please.”

You wanted to gloat, but you didn’t want to ruin his project. But then, you thought maybe some gloating might turn him on a little.

You were shy the first and second time he asked you to touch yourself in front of him, but by now you’d gotten quite good at putting on a show for your husband. He moaned watching your fingers move.

“How long do you have to stay hard for?”

“Five minutes. But it’s not so easy when this thing is fuckin’ cold.”

You kept going. And you were seconds away from coming when Nathan’s timer went off. He gently pulled himself out of it and reached for you.

“Oh no, you are not touching me until that stuff is off you.”

He promptly ignored you and shoved your hand away. He knelt on the ground and buried his face in between your legs. His moans and beard added to your pleasure, and you came when you heard him groan deeply. He came untouched, his cum dripped onto the floor and down his length.

You’d not seen the dildo until now that it’s in your hands.

“Fuck, I wish I was there to push it into you,” Nathan sighs. “But since you can’t have the real me-“

You smile and set the dildo on the bed next to you. You continue going through the box. Inside there’s a bottle of lube, some new lingerie, and a small scrap of paper. It has information about picking up something tomorrow.

“Make sure you’re awake, you can’t miss this delivery,” he tells you over the phone. “Now, please baby. Can I see you?”

You pull off your shirt, and he groans.

“Fuck look at you. Do they miss me?”

You purse your lips together, wanting to roll your eyes at his joke, but yes- yes you miss him touching your tits. So, so badly.

“I’m not going to dignify that with an answer,” you grin.

“So that’s a yes then. Ok, baby, touch ‘em. Please, fuck.”

His hand slides up and down his cock in full view of you while you touch your chest for him. You do everything he asks, but you start to tell him what to do as well.

Soon you’ve got the dildo ready and he moans louder than you when you slide it in. It’s strange to feel it, because you know it’s not him, but you can tell it was made from him. It fills you just the same.

“How’s it feel baby?”

“Thick,” you moan, clenching around it. “But I miss your warmth,” you tell him honestly. And you do, you miss his heat, not just physically, but the passion. It’s there now, only virtual.

“Remember when we used to have phone sex when you still lived at home? And start moving that that kitten.”

You moan doing as he asks and tell him yes you remember.

“I tried to hide my posters of you from you,” you laugh then moan again.

“Posters? Plural? Oh fuck!”

“Are you about to come from that?” you can’t help but giggle.

“Fuck, you were so cute when you were all shy and crushing on me.”

That pulled a moan from you.

“You like that kitten? Remember when you were so shy? Fuck, you let me take your virginity baby.”

You want to watch him, but you throw your head back, squeezing your eyes shut.

“Look at me kitten,” he demands, and you open your eyes. “Come. Now,” his voice drops, and you can’t help but relax and let your body release. He watches you in delight squeeze around the gift he made you. It sends him over, and it’s your turn to delight in the pleasure look on his face, and his cum on his tight stomach.

“I miss you,” you gasp, catching your breath.

“Fuck, me too baby. But that was sexy as fuck,” he grins, and you nod in agreement. “Now, go back to sleep baby. Don’t forget about that delivery tomorrow.”

You set an alarm as soon as you get off the phone with him. When you’ve cleaned up and curled back in bed, you smile wondering what on earth he could have sent you.

The next morning you wake and get dressed to see about the delivery. You make the small walk to the field where the helicopter comes with your weekly deliveries of food and whatever else the two of you need.

The pilot hands you a box, and it says not to open until you get back to the compound.

But you can hear what’s inside before you do.

You gasp softly and walk quickly back to the compound and open the box as soon as you step inside, and the door is closed behind you.

Inside is a little black kitten. He has on a little blue collar, and the name tag says “Prometheus.” He’s a little jumpy from being flown in, but before you know it, he’s happy and exploring around his new home.

You pick him up and cuddle him and give him a kiss on his little head. With him in your arms, you look in side the box again. There’s a towel and another note.

All it says is “a kitten for my kitten.”

tagging: @pascal-isaac, @wasicskosgirl, @velvetmel0n, @huliabitch, @shadow-assassin-blix, @writefightandflightclub, @aellynera, @softboywriting, @veuliee2, @spider-starry, @mylifeliterally, @millllenniawrites, @ntlmundy, @foxilayde, @writingletterstothefire, @mandoplease, @anetteaneta, @feelmyroarrrr, @artsymaddie, @shakespeareanwannabe, @poedameronsbeard, @deanfanatic67, @magicsuperheroes, @phoenixhalliwell, @that-one-weird-one, @mariesackler, @yourbucky084, @woakiees

#nathan bateman #nathan bateman x reader #nathan bateman imagine #nathan bateman x you #my writing #human touch series #part nine #idk if anyone is still reading this series LOL #or if anyone remembers me-#IVE BEEN BUSY DOING A SECRET PROJECT #BUT THANK YOU IF YOU HAVE READ THIS #I MISS YALL

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yukipri · 3 years ago

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Bad Batch end of season thoughts/ramble, bc it's been a week and I just wanna get it all off my chest...

(end of season spoilers and very disorganized rambling)

First off, I do want to say that I enjoyed watching the show. It fulfilled its primary purpose: entertainment. It was nice having something to look forward to every week, and even though it wasn't quite what I was expecting, it was fun. The animation was gorgeous, I liked all the references and tie ins. I will likely watch it again, and will watch season 2. This is by no means meant to be a hate post.

That being said, it is critical so please just skip if you're not into that!

The thing is...it takes very, Very little for me to love a clone. He doesn't need lines, or a face, or even a name, and the default is that I will love him. He can even be a little bastard, like Slick, and it's fine. I always want to know more about them, and wish they had more screen time and time in general to develop their characters. So given that we were getting 16 (20 eps total if we count TCW S7 pilot arc) centered around these guys, I was expecting to absolutely adore them by the end.

And I wanted to love the Bad Batch, I wanted to love them so damn much, and I tried. But I think one of the reasons why they never fully clicked for me was that their thing seems to be "we're unique, we never fit in, we're outsiders in our own home, among the people who are supposed to be our own family, and so we've found our home with each other."

Which! That's usually a wonderful message, and not a particularly rare or unique one either for stories! I usually dig these kinds of stories!

The problem here is the extremely unique situation of the clones. They are literally created to be identical, brain washed to be uniform. They must conform, or are killed off by their creators, and their conformity isn't a choice in the slightest, but one of fear and necessity.

Their uniformity is something that they are also entirely aware of--it's unavoidable, they're clones. Once out in the real galaxy, they all strive to find and establish unique identities for themselves, struggling against a galaxy that just wants them to be faceless products. It's a shared struggle, and all they have are each other, and their brotherhood is sacred as a result. Shunning unique identity is the opposite of who a clone is--it's what they all want.

So on one hand, it's understandable that the Batch stuck out (when all others who would have also stuck out were culled, when individuality isn't allowed). It's understandable that they would have yearned for the brotherhood shared by the other clones, and when they couldn't have it, they stuck closer to each other. It's even understandable that they would feel bitter, having experienced bullying at the hands of the other clones (but isn't it also understandable that the other clones would feel bitter that the Batch gets special treatment, when their own brothers with less-than-beneficial mutations were taken by the Kaminoans to never return?).

And so we have this batch of clones, who the Kaminoans call "mutated," but also specify that their mutations are "desirable" (implying what happens to mutations that are undesirable...). They have their own unique unit, in which they're able to improvise and act freely with seemingly little to no oversight, so long as they complete their mission. No Jedi to obey, no nat-born officers who look down on them. In fact, they look so different from standard clone troopers that most of the galaxy probably don't even know they are clones. They have their own ship (personalized), they have their own possessions (which we don't really see any other clones have), they have their own barracks (probably also very unique), and they even have access to superior weapons and armor (most of the Batch, minus Echo, seem to be wearing modified Katarn-class armor which is supposed to be for Commandos. we KNOW it holds up better than standard trooper armor).

So I'm sure they had some unpleasant experiences growing up, and I do get it. But at least at "present" end of clone wars, they honestly seem to be living infinitely better than all other clones? They still need to follow orders but they have more freedom, and perhaps most importantly, they have clear uniqueness that is denied almost all other clones. And yes, some of the clones on Kamino bully them, but we've seen NONE of the "regular" clones that we know to be particularly nasty to them, and in fact it's Crosshair who starts it by calling them "Regs."

And how does the Batch respond to this situation? By acting superior. It's Crosshair who says and it believes this firmly, and I do feel that the others are likely mostly influenced by this, but it's also true that Hunter, Wrecker, and Tech don't really deny this either. They don't like the "regs," they do act like they're "better." Poor Echo, who they repeatedly seem to forget is in the room, and who they call "machine" and such...yikes yo

So I guess the point is, I just really struggled to feel sympathetic towards them, and was already on a kinda eh about their premise. They're marketed as "the special clone squad"--and yet they're not nice to the clones I love. I thought that wasn't great, but also hoped that the series would work towards them understanding the other clones better, and I love character development so that woulda been fine--but, nothing. A glance from Hunter at Howzer. Extended camaraderie from Gregor, who I feel they mostly just tolerate for the mission, other than Echo who genuinely cares.

And on top of feeling not feeling particularly sympathetic towards what I saw as a pretty privileged group of clones, the Batch seems to place primary blame of their woes on the "regs" themselves, who again, honestly seem far worse off! There isn't blame directed at the people who demanded the conformity from the other clones in the first place, that made it so the Batch couldn't fit in. The Batch was modified due to the Kaminoans (and implied specifically Nala Se). She's the reason why they don't fit in. And the Kaminoans are also why the other clones have to be so uniform, why they must fight to be people and not products.

Bitterness and pettiness can be fine in characters. But it's frustrating to see in a group supposed to be competent and elite, especially when those feelings have consequences. Sure, it sucks when someone throws a food tray at you. You can throw food back. It's not an equal reaction to feel no remorse when you shoot that guy dead in a blaster fight, when for all other clones, having to kill another clone is one of the most horrible, tragic things that one can do (thanks, Umbara).

Fives was the only clone to actually point a blaster at Nala Se.

We know Omega has deeply personal history with Nala Se. She was Nala Se's personal medical assistant. We see her cry when she takes off her head ornament that matches Nala Se. We know that being back in the lab gives Omega complicated, and probably not entirely positive feelings. But we barely learn more about this relationship, other than these glimpses.

And I get the feeling that to Omega at least, Nala Se wasn't all terrible. If Omega grew up with mostly only Nala Se for company, she had to have gotten her sheltered outlook on life, and her willingness to help others from somewhere. Nala Se intentionally let Omega go, to be "safe."

I think Omega's adorable, and I do like her. But I wasn't able to fully love her to the extent I wanted to, because there was always the fear that she was involved in the creation and implantation of the chips. She knows about them, she would have been positioned to do so. I want to think she would never, and I was hoping the show would reassure us of that, but it never did. We don't actually know how Omega feels about Nala Se, or even the chips and their presence in other clones. Instead, all we know is that Omega doesn't like "regs."

And again, "they call me lab scrubber," and "I helped put (or am complicit in putting) mind control devices in their heads," are kinda, unequal. Again I hope it's not the case. But it definitely kept me feeling uneasy throughout the show.

It really boils down to I don't trust or forgive Nala Se, and the Batch's lack of stance against her and the other Kaminoans, and clear distaste for their other clone brothers, really puts them in a situation that makes it difficult for me to take their side entirely.

And then gosh, Hunter. During Crosshair's whole "you never came back for me," spiel, I couldn't help but think he's kinda right. He had 15 episodes. Sure, it's difficult to get Crosshair back. But they could have done something. They could have done research. We could have had scenes of them wondering where Crosshair is, discussions on how best to find him, even if that discussion ended in, "but we can't risk it right now." They could have grilled Omega for information on the chips, which they really shoulda done either way, but especially since that knowledge is important to understanding what (they thought had) happened to Crosshair. Instead, they just ran every time Crosshair showed up. The show could have done better to show that they cared, and were trying, instead of just, y'know, doing chores for Cid. One, "I kinda miss him," doesn't really count as working on getting him back, at least in my books.

The sole exception to all of this, of course, is Echo. Who really, he works with the Batch fine, he's a former ARC and can more than keep up. Skillset-wise, he fits in well enough. But this season really made me wonder why he's with them at all. Crosshair's revelation and true feelings at the end of the season were no surprise to me, as they're consistent with what we've seen of him from TCW S7. But for Echo, a former "reg" to have to work with someone like Crosshair...even if Crosshair thought Echo was "different" enough to accept him, those are his brothers that Crosshair thinks he's so superior to, and has no issue speaking disdainfully about.

The increasing tension between Echo and Hunter, Echo's interest in helping Rex, in helping other clones, in doing something...I do hope they reach a point where Echo demands they go help, or he's leaving.

They gave Crosshair a chance, despite the fact that his choices were willing. I really hope Echo can convince the Batch to help save the other clones who don't have a choice. Because even if the Batch doesn't consider them their brothers, they're certainly Echo's. They matter just as much as Crosshair, and I really hope season 2 shows it narratively.

To conclude, again I'm interested in seeing what happens next, and I want answers about Omega and Nala Se. I find it interesting that they tied the facility where they took Nala Se in with the scientist dude collecting data on Grogu in the Mandalorian and those cloning labs. All of this is interesting, but at the same time I feel like it's trying to build up to Snoke/Palpatine stuff in the sequels which...I don't care nearly as much about, but who knows, could be neat ^ ^;

I'm okay with, and have made peace with the fact that the Bad Batch probably isn't the "clones-centric" show I wanted, and that they'll continue their own story, and probably continue to not care much about other clones in upcoming seasons. That's unfortunate, but alright. I'm interested enough in their story too.

But at the same time...I can't help but think man, if they have the time and budget to do a season 2, after seeing what was (or wasn't) accomplished in season 1...I wish they'd also make a Rex/Cody/Wolffe/"regular clones" show, because in the end, if you're going to do a "clones show"....that's who I want to see most.

If you got to the end, thank you for reading, and being an ear to my ranting ^ ^; Again this is literally just getting this off my chest. If this take isn't one you agree with, please just ignore. For people who did fall in love with the Batch, I'm happy for you, and regret that it just couldn't happen for me. But, I'm hoping that S2 will change my mind, but we'll just have to see! ^ ^;

#the bad batch #bad batch #YukiPri rambles #really i'm not interested in a debate i just want to ramble

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mostlysignssomeportents · 4 years ago

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Facebook vs Robert Bork

Unless you're a certain kind of conservative, you probably haven't heard of Robert Bork, but he's one of the most important people you've never heard of. The best way to understand Bork is that he was Ronald Reagan's court sorcerer.

Reagan was an empty vessel with the hands of ruthless plutocrats shoved up his asshole*, operating him like a hand puppet for their collective will to power.

He served as a kind of dowsing rod for policies that would transfer wealth from the 99% to the 1%.

*Hence the polyps

That dowsing rod pointed straight at Bork. Bork was an alternate history writer, a fabulist with a unique and wildly improbable theory of antitrust statutes: that if you studied the Sherman Act and the Clayton Act with Qanon-style fervor, you'd find hidden messages in them.

Specifically, you would discover that the lawmakers who drafted, debated, amended and passed these laws thought monopolies were good, actually. They were only concerned with a small and possibly mythical minority of monopolies that were "harmful."

Not just any harms: Bork said that these ancient sages were worried about *consumer* harms, which, practically speaking, means monopolies that use their power to raise prices. This, he said, was the only thing that the government should step in to prevent.

Since it is nearly impossible to prove that a given merger or tactic would result in higher prices before the fact, and *also* it's nearly impossible to prove that a price rise after the fact was attributable to monopolism we should probably just forget about antitrust.

Reagan loved this. By shifting antitrust's focus from *democratic* harms (like reducing choice, distorting regulation, hurting workers, etc) to *consumer* harms, he could demote "citizens" (who have a role in shaping policies) to "consumers" - mere ambulatory wallets.

Reagan tried to get Bork a seat on the Supreme Court, but there was a little problem. Bork had committed a string of disgusting crimes while serving as Nixon's Solicitor General, and the Senate refused to confirm him for a seat.

(Conservatives were outraged that committing crimes at the highest level of government disqualified you from the Supreme Court and coined the term "Borked" to describe rich, powerful people who had to face the unfair prospect of being held accountable for their actions)

But Bork - along with the Chicago School economists - went on to completely revolutionize the world's conception of anti-monopoly enforcement, as neoliberal leaders all over the world (Thatcher, Mulroney, Pinochet, Kohl, etc) took up his theories and tuned them into policy.

Bork was a fringe figure, but he was preaching a gospel that stood to make the richest people on Earth *so much richer*, and they bankrolled the hell out of his theories.

For example, 40% of US federal judges have attended "continuing education" seminars at an annual lush Florida junket where they are initiated into the bizarre world of "consumer harm" theory.

https://crookedtimber.org/2018/10/18/law-and-economics/

40 years later, monopolism has surged in every industry, from bottlecaps to pharma, from poultry to pro wrestling, from eyeglasses to emergency rooms, from oil to car parts, from music to publishing to movies to online services to telecoms.

All driven by mergers, all resulting in higher prices (so much for "consumer harm") all wildly distorting of public policy (the decision to let Boeing self-certify the 737 Max is repeated in thousands of ways across hundreds of industries), all brutal news for workers.

It's a disaster, but it's one that we have been powerless to avert or address for so long as "consumer harm" ruled antitrust enforcement.

Finally, that's changing.

In 2019, Dina Srinivasan published a landmark paper: "The Antitrust Case Against Facebook," which made *incredibly* clever arguments showing that FB's democratic harms were also consumer harms, meaning FB could be sued without first undoing Borkism.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3247362

But the magic of this work was in revealing the poverty of the consumer harm standard: she laid out the innumerable ways in which FB is bad for society and showed how a sliver of these harms were technically illegal, raising the question: why isn't *all* this stuff illegal?

Today, Facebook was hit with *two* antitrust suits, one from the FTC and the other from almost every US state (including California!).

The complaints say that FB's acquisitions of Instagram and Whatsapp were anticompetitive.

https://www.theverge.com/2020/12/9/22158483/facebook-antitrust-lawsuit-anti-competition-behavior-attorneys-general

Of course, they *were* anticompetitive. We know, because Zuck - who specializes in tripping over his own dick - sent out memos extolling the acquisitions' anticompetitive advantages, proving he hasn't learned a thing since he traded incriminating IMs about founding FB.

https://www.esquire.com/uk/latest-news/a19490586/mark-zuckerberg-called-people-who-handed-over-their-data-dumb-f/

The complaints build on Srinivasan's work and they carry the same flavor: claiming "consumer harms" in the acquisitions, but winking and nodding toward a broader, more democracy-focused (and less consumer-focused) critique of monopoly.

It's a weird tightrope act: they want to win, so their argument is designed to balance on the single, fragile hair that borkism stretches across the chasm of monopoly enforcement, but they wanna make sure we see that big sturdy bridge of nonbork antitrust right there.

If there was any doubt, it was erased by the remedies demanded in the complaints. The prosecutors aren't asking for money damages - a fine is a price, after all - instead, they want FB to sell off the companies it bought for illegal purposes.

And they want FB to get regulatory approval for future acquisitions (though the states will let it buy companies for less than $10m without approval). These are not "consumer harm" remedies - they're "democracy" remedies, aimed at removing the company's source of power.

Facebook has stood up a website explaining why it's a cuddly mom-and-pop business that's being bullied by mean government meanies:

https://about.fb.com/building-to-compete/

The argument's pretty similar to the one laid out in a leaked memo in October:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/10/05/florida-man/#dnr

Basically: it would be really hard for us to unwind these illegal, anticompetitive mergers. Seriously, it would cost a bundle and take so much work!

This is an unserious argument, and it shows how badly FB has misgauged the mood.

All of FB's arguments are garbage, really. Take the line that ex-British-Deputy-PM-turned-FB-salesdroid Nick Clegg has been peddling: "STOP TRYING TO BREAK UP FACEBOOK OR THE CHINESE WILL WIN!"

https://www.cnet.com/news/facebooks-nick-clegiden-must-unite-global-powers-to-shape-internet-amid-china-threat

The company's best arguments are about "market definition" - to claim that they don't have a monopoly because of all the competitors they face, provided you define FB's market broadly enough.

Like, "Here at Facebook, we are in the 'using computers' business. Now, just think of how much time you spend using a computer without interacting with FB! Your car has a computer and it's not on FB! How can you say we have a monopoly?!"

If you want to see someone making this argument as well as it can possibly be made and literally getting laughed at by a University of Chicago (!) audience, check out this debate from 2019:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_Jp-GJ9LM0

Forcing FB to divest itself of Whatsapp and Instagram is a no-brainer. The company lied to secure those mergers, broke the promises it made to get permission to make them, and the penalty for that should be unwinding those mergers.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/07/dont-believe-proven-liars-absolute-minimum-standard-prudence-merger-scrutiny

And if FB fights this for a decade the way IBM fought its antitrust action, fine - IBM outspent the entire DoJ antitrust division every year for 12 years (Bork called it "antitrust's Vietnam"), but even though Big Blue wasn't broken up, they had their spirit broken.

It was fear of another tangle with antitrust regulators that caused IBM to sit idly by while Phoenix cloned the PC ROMs and created the PC clone industry, which became the US computing industry.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/08/ibm-pc-compatible-how-adversarial-interoperability-saved-pcs-monopolization

And it was the same fear that caused IBM to hire an outside company to make the OS for its PCs, getting a couple of nerds named Paul Allen and Bill Gates to supply one for them.

IBM's 12 years of antitrust hell focused the attention of every tech giant of the age, letting them know what was on their horizon if they acted like IBM had. It created the US tech industry.

Today, VCs call the businesses that Big Tech dominates "the kill zones" because they know that monopolists have the market power to destroy any startup that tries to compete with them.

There is an entire - better, more pluralistic - tech industry that's been suppressed by Big Tech. If FB and Goog and Apple and the other tech giants spend the next decades throwing billions at the FTC and the states attorneys general, it will be money well-spent.

Because it will be money that these companies don't get to spend destroying the next wave of tech companies, co-ops, and platforms.

#pluralistic

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samjpullen · 2 years ago

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Make sure you check out The Unlocking Company https://ift.tt/4eOTKld And thanks to them for helping support the channel. In today's video I am going to show you how to unlock your brand new iPhone 13 Pro Max so that you can use it on any carrier worldwide, so sit back get your IMEI number ready and let's get unlocking shall we. Use Amazon? throw me a little dime (costs you nothing extra) USA 🇺🇸 = http://j.mp/sjpamazonus UK 🇬🇧 = http://j.mp/sjpamazon Want me to review your product? - contact @ samjpullen.com My equipment https://ift.tt/rBzSoEl Check out my channel http://www.youtube.com/samjpullen Don't forget to subscribe! - http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=samjpullen My Website - https://ift.tt/hzXQEOU Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/samjpullen Facebook - https://ift.tt/mUHL73f G+ - https://ift.tt/KZWDakl My 2nd Channel - http://www.youtube.com/sjpvlogs Sam Pullen is a Youtube creator that reviews, demos and talks about Technology, Just an average guy doing something he loves talking about tech from companies such as Samsung, HTC, Nokia, LG, Huawei Apple and many more. #iPhoneSimUnlock #iPhone14PlusUnlock #TheUnlockingCompany More from The Unlocking Company Just a little bit about who we are and what we do. We are a U.S. based Cell Phone Unlocking Company. We have two locations one in California and one in New York. We have been in business for almost 8 years now and have unlocked a little over 3 million phones. Unlocking your phone will enable it to work on any GSM network in the world. No longer be tied down to one stingy carrier. If you love your phone, unlock it, and be able to use it where and how you like! by Sam Pullen

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canmom · 3 years ago

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Animation Night 75: dawn of 3DCGI

Beep boop comrades, it’s time for Animation Night!

This week, as is traditional for numbers ending in 5, we’re going to focus on a technique. Namely the one ubiquitous type of animation that I’ve kind of sidelined in Animation Night so far: 3D computer graphics. Ironic since I once wanted to be a 3D animator as a kid, watching and rewatching Blur Studio shorts and fawning over the ‘realism’ of pre-rendered CGI in Septerra Core or even Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. (Even without a tasty plasma to view it!) But when I got back into animation many years later, it was hand-drawn stuff that spoke to me much much more.

All the same, 3D CG animation has gone from novelty to ubiquitous in less time than I’ve been alive, completely displacing traditional animation’s place in at least mainstream, Western capitalist media production. That is kind of... mindblowing in a way, I’ve witnessed the birth of an entirely new art form in real time. So... how?

The use of these new-fangled computer machines in graphics goes back all the way to the 1950s, predating even ARPANET. Like a great many things in computing, graphics spun out of military tech: coming out of WWII and into the Cold War, the US military was throwing a lot of new things like planes and rockets into the air (and frantically racing the Soviets to pick up all the Nazi rocket scientists it could find, let’s not forget), and wanted to know where they were and indeed, where they might come down.

Early computer graphics leaned very much on the capabilities of CRTs, which could point an electron gun to a precisely determined numerical point and move it around faster than the eye could track it. You could use this to draw a coastline...

...but you could equally use it to draw a picture. So as early as the 50s, light pen based CAD programs like Sketchpad were beginning to debut.

Before long, these engineers were turning their machines towards play and art. Many of the basic elements of graphics, like the Bézier curve (used to design cars by Renault), start appearing in the early 60s, and indeed this is where we see the very first computer animation to air on TV, Rendering of a Planned Highway.

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Hummingbird (1967) used the computer to gradually draw various poses of a hummingbird, although they don’t seem to have attempted to create an animation of the bird flying around or anything like that. The Soviets soon followed this with the first computer character animation, Kitty (1968), which appears to have been turned into a film by printing out its images on a dot matrix printer and then photographing them like traditional animation:

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With these first steps in place, it was time for the whole thing to take off in the 70s... if by ‘take off’ we mean a lot of kinda jank looking experimental animations and academic conferences, notably the renowned SIGGRAPH inaugrated in 1969. A lot of the big names went to the University of Utah; you can read the details of various firsts and innovations on Wiki.

What I find interesting about this history is like, for... decades really it was just a sort of playful reappropriation of machines created for other purposes. It’s not like anyone really set out to completely change the aesthetic terrain of animated films and division of labour in the film industry: they just followed various ‘so what if I could’ paths; just like everyone else radar technicians have an urge towards ‘pointless’ artistic expression. This spirit is still maintained today by the demoscene. But because of the context this was happening in - you could only use a computer if you were at a very large company or the military - it seems pretty inevitable that whatever affordances it offered would be taken up by, well, ‘larger forces’...

Still, throughout the 70s, CGI mostly remained a curiosity, but Hollywood science fiction films had started to take notice, with Star Wars and Alien eagerly showing computer animated interfaces. Futureworld (1976) grabbed two of the first efforts to put a human being inside the computer as a little digital homunculus, a quest that still fascinates us...

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And yeah, Edwin Catmull is the Catmull of Catmull-Clarke subdivision surfaces. Indeed, while many have been superseded in the era of shaders, a lot of techniques are named after those 70s CGI researchers - Phong, Blinn, Gouraud... (not Lambert though, he was from the 1700s!)

In the 80s, factories spun up and all that computer tech got a whole lot cheaper, and more and more films started to reach for CGI: not just wireframes on diegetic computer screens but attempts to composite CG characters into the ‘real world’. Of course the very well known one here is Tron (1982), which used about 15 minutes of CGI, and a vast amount of traditional rotoscoped backlight animation and compositing.

Full-CGI films also started to become a possibility, starting with short films which tended to lean heavily on the visual language of early, squash and stretch heavy cartoons, e.g. The Adventures of Andre and Wallly B:

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or Locomotion (1989):

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You can see a lot more ‘firsts’ and landmark productions on this Wikipedia list.

And now we can bring in Pixar.

Sigh...

It’s not that I hate Pixar! Their films are generally solid; they have all the technical aspects of filmmaking locked down, and they can of course take their pick of character animators. It’s just, for a studio that is so lauded, that drowns in accolades, one of the only animation studios after their (current) parent company Disney to be a household name... well, they are what they are. It is precisely because they focus on making centre-of-the-American-Overton-window, Family Friendly Entertainment that they occupy the place they do in the industry. As a kid I certainly bought the hype; now it exhausts me.

The other part is, of course, the modes of stylisation of Pixar films, if perhaps they were once quite recognisable, have basically become the de facto style of all CGI films. What can you say sets Pixar apart and gives them a distinctive voice? It’s just money. Their films are very polished and expensive. And they don’t seem to find women very interesting to tell stories about, but that is pretty much standard for the film industry...

Pixar at the outset are pretty similar to these other studios, indeed spinning out of Lucasfilm thanks to heavy investment by Steve Jobs; their first couple of shorts like Luxo Junior are short, silent, and focus on broad character acting - as well as showing off their fancy new self shadowing algorithm. They started squatting on the Oscars pretty soon after with Tin Toy (1988).

For some reason, of all the CG studios poking around in the world of polygons at the time, Pixar become the ones to take their ambitions to step up production and create a full scale, feature length film.

So, time for Toy Story?

Not quite!

Before Toy Story, 3DCG animation was starting to find a use in TV animation. Reboot (1994) is probably the best remembered of this era, but actually the first was a French series called Quarxs (1990-93), three minute animations of strange abstract creatures. The Christians were pretty quick to jump on the scene with a series of Evangelical propaganda animations called Veggie Tales (1993). Its theological commitments take it to some very strange places (all these vegetables are going to Hell, Twitter tells me).

OK, now it’s time for the first 3D CGI feature length movie... the Brazilian film Cassiopeia (1996) about spacefaring robots... well, almost, it missed by a couple months, yeah it’s Toy Story.

Toy Story is... OK, so as you can probably see from a lot of these examples, the shading models of a lot of these early CGI films looks very odd. Sort of like plastic. So, what if they we made a film about characters who are literally made of plastic? This would allow them to push the stylisation further, and the limitations of the animation would look much more appropriate. (I have no idea if this was the main reasoning for the subject matter, but Pixar had already been making films about toys).

Which leads to a movie exploring the idea that toys are sapient and live hidden lives, pretending to be inert objects to entertain children. Fascinatingly dark if you dig into it, and not exactly foreign territory for director John Lasseter, who shortly before being fired from Disney tried to pitch a CG version of The Brave Little Toaster. (That film ended up being made as a traditionally animated film outside Disney in 1987, with many future Pixar animators including Lasseter.)

Well, come the 90s and computers are cheaper and Disney realised they made a big mistake getting rid of Lasseter - and while he wouldn’t come back, they started to negotiate a deal for funding and distributing a Pixar film, following the precedent set by The Nightmare Before Christmas for a Disney-funded film produced outside the studio itself. The negotiations sound pretty tense, with good old Jeffrey Katzenberg up to his old tricks:

When Catmull, Smith, and head of animation Ralph Guggenheim met with Schneider in the summer of 1990, they found the atmosphere to be puzzling and contentious. They later learned that Katzenberg intended that if Disney were to make a film with Pixar, it would be outside Schneider's purview, which aggravated Schneider.[15]

...but it worked out and they started working on a treatment. Lasseter’s original idea sounds kind of fascinating...

It paired Tinny, the one-man band from Tin Toy, with Woody, a ventriloquist's dummy, and sent them on a sprawling odyssey. Under Katzenberg, Woody was the main villain, abusing the other toys until they rallied against him;

but Katzenberg vetoed it and ordered them to make a buddy film.

Anyway Joss Whedon was also involved. No really. Before he went through a rise and fall as the insufferable favourite of annoying nerds, ahem I mean the great feminist light of the future, he was just a scriptwriter guy, and he is the one credited with the idea of Buzz not realising he’s a toy.

Production on the film sounds pretty chaotic, thanks to... you know who! Oh, Jeffrey...

Pixar impressed Disney with its technical innovation, but convincing Disney of the plot was more difficult. At each of Pixar's presentations, Katzenberg tore much of it up, giving out detailed comments and notes. Katzenberg wanted primarily to add "more edginess" to the two main characters.[25] Disney wanted the film to appeal to both children and adults, and they asked for adult references to be added to the film.[35] After many rounds of notes from Katzenberg and other Disney executives, the consensus was that Woody had been stripped of almost all charm.[25][44] Hanks, while recording the dialogue for the story reels, exclaimed at one point that the character was a jerk.[25] Lasseter and his Pixar team had the first half of the film ready to screen, so they brought it down to Burbank to show to Katzenberg and other Disney executives on November 19, 1993—an event they later dubbed the "Black Friday Incident".[35][49] The results were disastrous. Schneider—who, due to his inability to secure a deal with Pixar, was never particularly enamored of Katzenberg's idea of having outsiders make animation for Disney—declared it a mess and ordered that production be stopped immediately.[50]

This crisis was solved by a three month rewrite of the whole script:

Stanton retreated into a small, dark, windowless office, emerging periodically with new script pages. He and the other story artists then drew the shots on storyboards. Whedon came back to Pixar for part of the shutdown to help with the revision, and the script was revised in two weeks as promised.[51] When Katzenberg and Schneider halted production on Toy Story, Jobs funded the project personally. Jobs did not insert himself into the creative process, but instead managed the relationship with Disney. [49]

The result was, despite everything, a big success and really ignited Pixar’s rise; eventually Disney would end up buying the studio. Not long after, Katzenberg made his exit from Disney; wounded and eager to beat them at their own game, he immediately started on CG films alongside their brief period of traditional animation. Much like Disney, this involved contracting out to another studio, Pacific Data Images, who made the above animation of the train.

Dreamworks’ first CGI film, Antz, was developed from a concept devised while Katzenberg was still at Disney, called Army Ants, but it very rapidly became drawn into the feud with Disney, the papers loving the idea of a duel of ant movies (much to the upset of Lasseter who was working on Pixar’s second film A Bug’s Life). Antz ultimately lost this one, so it was instead Dreamworks and PDI’s second film, Shrek (2001), which really defined the shape of what CGI movies would become.

Adapting a fairly toilet humour oriented picture book, Shrek took the concept of a celebrity-voice-driven animated film that started with Disney’s Aladdin and replaced the hand drawn characters with (somewhat janky) rigged CG characters and dumped in a whoooole lot of references. By this point, CG animation was attempting stylised humans a lot more, but the results are, well, not quite there.

There’s a fascinating anecdote about the culture of Dreamworks at this period:

During production, animators who failed while working on other projects, such as The Prince of Egypt, were often sent to work on Shrek. The reassignment was known as being "Shreked" and being sent to "the Gulag".[30]

Another buddy movie, Shrek transforms Mike Myers into an ogre and Eddie Murphy into a donkey and puts them through a variety of Disney fairytale movie parody situations. A lot of production stories concern the voice actors, like Myers asking to rerecord all his lines with a Scottish accent.

At the time of the release, Shrek was pretty well received; a lot of praise was given to Murphy’s performance. And then overtime it somehow mutated and became an iconic meme movie. In either guise... it made Dreamworks a lot of money. Much, much more money than their traditionally animated films.

And now it’s two decades on and you can’t move for talking animal CGI movies in just about every country in the world, the new format for a ‘cheap animated movie’. Disney and Dreamworks pretty definitively dropped their traditional animation for CGI; even traditional animation has pretty much dispensed with paper in favour of computer tablets. And even ‘live action’ film tends to be in large part CG compositing and animation, from expensive spectacle movies to more arthousey ones (Parasite which we watched a couple of weeks ago made half its central set in CG).

What has made CGI so goddamn successful? At first it was perhaps that it was cheaper: you didn’t have to pay anyone to draw thousands of inbetweens, you just had to buy an expensive computer and software license and pay people model thousands of random objects. Compared to Disney’s own animated films at the time like The Lion King, making Toy Story took a fraction of the people and, even with the production troubles less money.

A lot of the story is probably, well, CG animation is suited to divisions of labour, even more so than traditional animation. Every shot in a CG movie is generally the work of dozens of people each creating a tiny corner of the scene: modellers, texture artists, lighters, riggers, animators and you can run that production pipeline like a sweatshop because hey, the VFX industry made the mistake of coming into existence long after the big labour struggles of the mid 20th century. (Not that traditional animators have it great either). You can outsource different bits of production, lean on existing model libraries, and basically create a huge rolling snowball of ‘tech’ that is much easier to teach than traditional animation. It’s a lot easier to replace a texture artist than a key animator, so you can really ratchet up the labour discipline.

Of course, movie budgets have gotten much much bigger since the advent of CGI so that can’t entirely be it. But that’s capitalist competition, I guess: at first going CG saves money, then CG just lets you compete with the other companies using CG.

A lot of it might just be that, well, movie execs like to chase fads; CGI is certainly here to stay but perhaps the celebrity vehicle kids’ movie is not? Who knows. I’m out of time to speculate.

Tonight we’re going to watch a couple of crowd pleasers; I have not been able to get my hands on more obscure early CG movies like Cassiopeia or Thru the Moebius Strip (2005) so, it’s gonna be Toy Story and Shrek. But to try and maintain a shred of Animation Night cred I’ll be putting in a bit of The Mind’s Eye and some of those early films we saw up thread. We’re pretty low on time but luckily both those movies are pretty short...

Starting now at twitch.tv/canmom. Sorry it’s so late. I lost a lot of hours to tech bullshit today. Kind of fitting!

#animation night

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