#enforcer sy

[maggyme13]

Moving above the Underground (10/?)

Ellie just moved into a new flat. Introducing herself to her downstairs neighbor with a cake she did not realize what the future held for her and him. And what had an asshole coworker to do with it?

AN: welcome welcome to a new chapter :P Sorry for the delay. Life is hell atm

Don´t like-> Don´t Read, Minors DNI

Warning:

Wordcount: around 2k

Masterlist

Series-Masterlist

Part 9

Panic it had only a dream that Marco had got her the evening before had her hyperventilate when she woke up in a dark room. No matter that she was sitting on a soft mattress in a warm room.

Her pulse sounded like drums in her ears and tears quickly fell down her face and she curled into herself to seek comfort in her own warmth.

“Ellie?”

Immediately her head jerked towards her husband's voice. There he stood, in the doorway leading to the bathroom, one of the hand towels in his hands and a pair of his gray sweatpants hung low on his hips.

In an instant she once again clutched him, her body wracking with sobs, with her nails digging into his muscled back.

“I am here. You are safe. Shhhhh.”, he hummed, carefully mirroring her actions.

“I- I thought it was just a dre-e-eam . It hurts.”, she sobbed.

“I know. Shhhh, we will leave after breakfast and won´t come back here for a while.”, he promised drawing small circles on her back.

“Can- can´t we just leave?”, she whispered against his naked chest before looking up with pleading eyes.

“I am sorry. But there are things I need to take care of first. Do you want or need my help getting ready?”

“I don´t think so. Will you wait for me?”

“Of course. I will sit right there and will not move until you are back in here. Okay?-Good.”

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Ellie had felt uncomfortable in her own clothing, no matter what she chose it felt wrong against her skin, caging even, so her husband had given her a shirt, pullover, and pair of sweat shorts, to wear. To hide in. With the hood pulled over her head hiding her face Ellie walked alongside her husband, pressed against his side.

“I´ll get us some food. Alejandro will stay with you.”, he stated once they had entered the dining room, and she knew there was no room for her to decline.

“Okay.”, Ellie whispered and begrudgingly let go of his shirt and sat down at the table where the man in question was already sitting, “Morning.”

“Morning.”, the Latino hummed, though his voice betrayed the apprehension and sadness he felt towards her situation and what he saw.

The usually quirky (while shy) wife of his best friend (he would consider her a friend as well) had her arms curled around her midsection, head hanging low, eyes averted, and dressed in clothes made to swallow her up.

And all he had been able to do was to move hell and earth to reach his friend to tell him what had happened and then wait for him and their Boss to return.

Alejandro had seen the glee the bastard had shining in his eyes whenever he went to torment the young woman and his bloodied knuckles when he returned laughing. But his hands had been bound. The attack had been ordered by the VIP Guest after all. Why? He still had not been able to figure it out.

“Here. Eat as much as you can.”, her husband hummed upon placing a small tablet with some fruits, croissants, yogurt, marmalade, and tea in front of her.

“Thank you.”, she whispered but only used the spoon to move the fruits around in the yogurt.

“Boss is pissed. Never saw him that mad.”, Alejandro addressed his friend, trying to do casual conversation to kill the quiet and failing in the casual part, “Having a fucking traitor in our mists.”

Ellie flinched and whimpered, ready to plead her innocence, that she was no traitor when the tension in the room exploded and everyone fell quiet.

“Captain.”, Mr. Silver greeted from where he stood next to the table, “You will deal with the Mess.”

Ellie whimpered again, believing the boss meant her.

“Sure thing. As soon as I know Ellie is safe back home.”, Sy growled, his barely contained anger and fury bleeding into his words.

“Of course. Thatcher will be kept alive and unharmed until then. Use your work-related credit card to get anything you need. Give us a call when you are ready.”, and with those words Ellie heard the gray-haired man leave.

“Ellie?”, her husband hummed then, gently trying to catch her attention.

“Yes?”, she swallowed the frog in her throat.

“Alejandro will be staying with us in the guestroom.”

“Don´t worry. You won´t even know I am there.”, the man in question smiled.

“Why?”

“I don´t want you to be alone when I have to leave to take care of things.”

“Okay.”, Ellie sighed, honestly she did not care much as long as she got to leave the blasted villa, “When can we leave?”

“As soon as you are finished eating.”

“I am.”

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Alejandro had followed their car with his own and Ellie was glad about it.

“I had one of the Maids come by, change all sheets, get clean towels, and do a quick clean.”, Sy spoke upon noticing her stare at their bed upon stepping into their bedroom.

“Okay.”

“If you want to stay in bed and do nothing no one will think bad of you. Do whatever makes you feel comfortable. Painkillers and salve for the bruises are on the sideboard over there. You can take six of the pills per 24 hours with your size and weight. Should you need more you may add 1, but then you have to also take those small blue pills as well. Don´t take them on an empty stomach, please, or you might get nauseous.”, he states, his eyes boring into hers and his large hands gently cradling her face between them before placing a few soft kisses on her lips.

“What, what do you want to eat?”, she whispered, they were back home and there was not a cook that would take care of them.

“I don´t care. We can order something later.”, he hummed, “I´ll be back before nightfall. Alejandro will be in the guest or living room if you need something. Anything.”

“Okay.”, she answered again in a whisper.

“Good. I will talk with him for a moment and then leave you guys to it.”, Sy hummed before placing one last kiss on her lips and going back to his friend. The only thing she was able to hear was the deep rumble of their voices before the soft click of the front door closing.

When Ellie entered Alejandro was looking through the empty cupboards.

“There should be something in the Pantry.”, she announced her arrival.

“Yeah, Sy mentioned that, too. Also said I should take you shopping for anything you need. Ready when you are. Oooor I call a delivery service and we chill here.”, he added when his eyes fell on her worried face.

“Yes, please. I – I don´t look and feel like going out.”

“Understandable.”, he hummed, “What do you want me to order?”

“Where do you want to order?”

“Your choice. They work for me so they go wherever I tell them to. And if I send them to the other side of the Country to get fresh Mango.”

“Oh.”, Ellie frowned, “I´ll make a list then?”

“Go ahead.”

It took the young woman twenty minutes to finish that list and while Alejandro sent out the orders, she sat down on the couch only to get up a minute later.

She then sat down in the armchair.

Again got up a moment later only to sit down at the table for a moment before getting up yet again.

Groaning at her restlessness she went through the pantry and got everything out that could be used for baking or cooking and just started to mix stuff.

The whole time her companion was watching her with a heavy heart, clenching his teeth in anger, and wishing only the worst for the bastard who was being visited by his friend at that moment. The sole fact giving him retrieve at the moment was his knowledge of what his Friend was capable of doing to people who inconvenienced him. He was known, almost famous, for his skills with knives and other toys to get information or send messages to enemies. He had perfected the Art of dancing the blade between being feared and resented for being a monster and being respected and admired for being fair even toward opponents.

The bastard though did not simply inconvenience him, he had dared to hurt his wife. To injure her body and mind. Everybody would soon find out how what kind of demon lay dormant within Alexander ´Captain´ Syverson.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

“That´s the delivery! Can you let them in if you feel alright with it? Otherwise, they can wait outside until I am done in here.”, Alejandro called out from the guest bathroom where he had disappeared just a minute earlier to follow nature's call.

Her hand hovered over the doorknob, her fingers trembling ever so slightly before she breathed out through her nose opened the door, and jumped back. It revealed three giants of men, dressed in all black, the sleeves of their shirts rolled up revealing the muscular (and inked) forearms that were securing bags and bags of groceries.

If taking only one trip to get the shopping out of the car was an Olympic sport, she thought, those three would win every metal there was.

“Mrs. Syverson.”. the first one greeted her, “Where would you like us to place these?”

Hearing his voice she realized where she had known him from: all of them were bouncers at ´The Wonderland´, immediately feeling calmer (knowing she was not letting strangers in her little safe space at that moment) she motioned towards the kitchen island.

“Over there please.”

Without speaking any more words the three men began unpacking the groceries on the island only for her to notice two things she did not add: A small bouquet and a pack with four different scented candles.

“Everything to your standard?”

“Y-yes, thank you. Would you like some cookies? They are just done, still hot though.”

“No, thank you, Mrs Syverson. Boss, we will be going to ´The Wonderland´ now and prepare everything for the Event.”

“Go ahead, Thor. You are in charge while I am not there. Keep me updated and feel free to kick people out if they don´t behave.”, Alejandro nodded, “Customers and Staff alike.”

“Got it, Boss. Mrs. Syverson.”, he nodded his farewell, and the three men left.

“Remind me to never send them shopping with my card. They bought the top of the top. Should have added something for me on there, too. Can´t remember putting this much chocolate on the list either.”, the Latino chuckled.

“How does chocolate cheesecake sound?”, Ellie smiled, finally her mind was able to settle on a thought not linked to what had happened to her, “With chocolate caramel sauce.”

“Delicious.”

“When do you think Sy will be back?”, she asked an hour later.

“You need him?”

“No. Just, thinking about what to cook, or when I need to start.”

“I think he wanted to be back at seven. Want some help with prepping? I was told I am rather skilled with knives. Not as good as your Husband, but well, I´ll manage.”, he wiggled his eyebrows and the woman let out a small snicker.

“I´ll let you know when I decide what I will make.”, she answered, the hidden innuendo behind his words not unnoticed.

“My skills are your skills whenever and whatever you need them for.”

It was 7 PM on the spot when the door to the apartment opened and her husband entered. Careful, not wanting to scare her, he opened his arms and hugged her when she accepted. He had showered before returning home and a warm feeling spread through her chest upon relishing the loving and caring embrace.

Ellie did not know what he had done the whole day, however with how angry he had been the hours they had been together before he left, she knew blood most likely had been spilled and was grateful he had cleaned up before coming back. At that moment he was not a (ruthless) enforcer but a caring husband and she was happy to ignore anything else for now. At least until she was healed far enough.

Part 11

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[everytimewetouch-dot-mp3]

i love the idea of sy transmigrating into svsss and being hailed as a seer or some sort of demigod or something. even better if he’s a disciple. he lets one weird thing abt the plot slip, it comes to pass, and suddenly he’s elevated in the sect, yqy is consulting him on major happenings, and sqq becomes fiercely possessive because that’s his head disciple, tyvm. he’s not spectacularly talented in martial arts or swordsmanship, but he’s incredibly skilled with musical and spiritual cultivation

he’s poisoned by without a cure during the demon invasion when elder hammer tries his stupid sneak attack on lbh. after that, lbh becomes his unofficial assistant, because all sy really wants to do is hang out and vibe, but he’s too valuable to the sect to be put on bed rest and somebody’s gotta make sure he takes his meds and doesn’t collapse alone on a mission. and sqq treats sy’s poisoning as lbh’s fault (lbh does too, sadly), so he makes sy lbh’s responsibility

[localapparently]

/ orv novel spoilers until up to ch 468

Wherever one will be, the other will rush over to protect them

Ok.! Time to go insane about shin yoosung (I love Lee gilyoung too but I need to talk about shin yoosung otherwise I will explode.)

every so often at least thrice a week I think about how attached yoosung is to dokja it just turns my heart inside out. Like she really just started off thinking she was better off dead, and no one wanted her, and then han sooyoung shows up and threatens to kill her and she thinks "oh. I kind of deserve it." and what does dokja do? He protects and saves and nurtures her. Which is already very heartwarming right?

And then she learns about this future self of her from the 41st round, gets 41st sys' memories of pain and feeling neglected by 41yjh, literally everyone wants to kill her, and also her future self is this monstrous beast who's wreaking havoc, the man (yjh) whom her future self decides to stake thousands of years on wants to kill her as well, and future self has already killed herself like once. And so this is like a whole ass onion of layers that are reinforcing her mentality that she's unneeded and she should die and everyone wants her dead and the world is better off with her dead, right? And WHAT DOES DOKJA DO. WHAT DOES DOKJA DO. HE

1. Protects her immediately, putting himself between her and yjh's sword

2. "yoo Joonghyuk if you hurt her I won't forgive you"

3. Protects her future self (who has done terrible things and was also forsaken by the person she struggled so desperately to help)

4. Due to trust in dokja, this causes kimcom to all protect future sys as well without hesitation

5. Gets pissed on behalf of scenario enforcement upon 41sys and promptly uses a good chunk of his riches to beat up the dokkaebi

6. (sys isn't aware of this but I'll add it anyway) saves 41sys soul from the dead and reincarnates her into a baby which he raises with care

LIKE HE SAVES HER, SAVES HER AGAIN, SAVES HER FUTURE SELF, BRINGS HER FUTURE SELF BACK TO LIFE, LIKE I'm overwhelmed. Can you tell? He said "you are needed, I won't let you die" in like 20 different languages, and I just. I cannot even begin to fathom how much that meant to shin yoosung, she's so young yet she told dokja he could kill her, omg her and gilyoung r rlly besties for lifers because why are they both fucked up, please.

What am I even talking about it's almost 7am

[allpiesforourown]

Based on harem member SY au

Sy is basically the empress in the shadows, the unofficial empress (but he doesn't know that)

He's the one that takes care of majority of the wives while the emperor's away.

Bingge always thought it was his first 3 that takes care of them and the rest vying for his attention. And while true, the first 3 has the councils authority, the final say, rules the kingdom and uphold the rules of palace while the delusional wives lie, cheat, and sabotage to sit next to their husband

It was sy who kept the peace of majority of them. The wives who are smart enough to realize quickly (or slowly) they were just thrown away. He's the one that helps their hometown in their time of need, listens attentively about their home, stories, and rants, suggests way to revitalize their homes, and new found economy. Especially when the world's been merged and many homes struggle with beasts, demons, and making ends meet. Sy was there, with his emence amount of knowledge and emphaty helps them find happiness again even trapped behind walls.

(And when they had children, he was the one who welcomed them with open arm when their husband left them once more)

Bingge, who has just returned from his horrid trip to the other world, noticed he wasn't happy, wasn't loved, and went out to search for his own shizun not knowing he was already there all along

(not that the wives would let him. Both good and bad wives wish to keep him out of their husband's sight. For the good, sy is too good for their husband. For the bad, they know they'll lose by a landslide if they meet. And if they killed him, the other wives and their children would be out for blood)

I think Ning Yingying as first wife is very helpful and always there for her fellow wives but at the end of the day there's only so much she can do without going against Binghe’s rules. Shen Yuan isn't first wife and therefore has more freedom, so wives can go to him for more nuanced situations

For example:

Random wife is being stalked -> she goes to Yingying, who will immediately dispatch a guard to kill anyone who dares harass a wife of the emperor

Wife's brother wants to save her from the castle -> if yingying hears about this, it's her duty to have the man killed regardless of what she personally wants to do. Even if the woman isn't in danger and doesn't want her brother dead, that's just what happens if you try to take a wife away from the emperor and it's a rule Luo Binghe says she must enforce. For a situation like this the wife would go to shen yuan instead of the first wife, and shen yuan would deliver a letter or arrange a secret meeting for them.

[sunderwight]

crack scum villain theory: there is no "original" Shang Qinghua

how this works is, neither the world of SV nor the world of PIDW actually existed in any tangible sense before Airplane died. Airplane dying was actually the catalyst for the system, and whatever unfathomable cosmic entities are behind it, to recreate the world from the novel. that's why Airplane transmigrates into an infant, and also why the world mostly follows canon up until Airplane interacts too much with actual plot-relevant characters, and accidentally butterfly effects Shen Jiu into a fatal qi deviation. At which point the system determines that a dead Shen Qingqiu makes fulfilling the basic story requirements impossible or at least dangerously low in terms of odds, and brings in the second play (User 002, Shen Yuan).

SY is able to earn more points from the system than Airplane, but that's mostly thanks to his proximity to the protagonist not actual preferential treatment, and he seems to have more concrete restrictions on his behavior and limits on his mobility (OOC lock, entering into an already-established character, and of course being forced to ensure that Luo Binghe goes into the Endless Abyss) (this does make it ironic that he ultimately changes the most things). whereas Airplane seems to have more freedom to do as he pleases. the system doesn't even seem to dock him points for accidentally contributing to the death of a vitally plot-relevant character.

so the SV world was originally supposed to more or less just be the same as the PIDW world. it didn't change to any significant degree until Shen Jiu died.

I suspect, then, that the PIDW world which followed canon didn't exist as any kind of separate reality until Shen Jiu died of a fatal qi deviation and had to be replaced. at which point the system -- perhaps hedging its bets -- created two splintered timelines. one being the original sandbox for Airplane to play in and continue to alter, the other being a manufactured reflection of the story's original outcome, possibly to serve as some kind of emergency back-up character bank or reference outline.

which means that the PIDW version of this reality isn't a full and cohesive world. though of course the people there don't know that. it's mostly just a tool for the system, which is why we first encounter Bingge being utilized as an enforcer. Bingge and everyone else who exists in the PIDW reality, they all remember their past as the story and are at the end point of what Airplane had written, but none of it actually happened. they instead sprang into existence at their narrative end point.

since the Shang Qinghua of Airplane's novel died well before the end of the story, characters in the PIDW have various recollections of a "Shang Qinghua" and his death, but they are vague and ultimately do not reflect the tangible events of a world the way that the SV timeline does. they are artificial memories based on a story. PIDW Shen Jiu likewise never really existed, although SV Shen Jiu did. similarly, all the history of the SV world that supposedly happened before Shang Qinghua was born never actually happened either. that's all constructed as well, which means that in a weird kind of a way, no one in the world can actually be older than Shang Qinghua either. they can only have manufactured memories that give them that impression. which means Airplane is the oldest being in that entire universe. he'd even be older than his own parents, because they were created to be his parents the moment he was born.

so there's no other Shang Qinghua. everything prior to Airplane's transmigration in the SV world and prior to the last PIDW chapter in the PIDW world is like when a video game designer seeds a dungeon with a skeleton and a bunch of notes about how some lone adventurer got lost and died there. at no point in the game was there ever actually a live adventurer in place of that skeleton.

that's "original" Shang Qinghua. he doesn't exist, because in one reality he's only ever been a version of Airplane, and in another he's a skeleton in a video game dungeon.

[torchstelechos]

I do think its really important to remember that SY was suppose to be the villain character but its only because of his kindness and newly gained life that he didn’t end as one. In the very beginning of the story we learn that Peerless Cucumber Bro often left comments on how SJ didn’t get his dues and needed to be punished more, and only after he transmigrated did he acknowledge how awful of a death SJ had. He also made point to explain that he only read the book for LBH, which he noted to enjoy his decisive actions and deft ability to kill. Markedly, he liked his brutality and personality over the erotica that the majority of PIDW fans enjoyed. Peerless Cucumber Bro is someone who loves action and the ability to cut right to the chase, something that he does not do and most likely has difficulty with in his world.

Speaking of, it is something to note that Peerless Cucumber bro is rich. He had head chefs, he could pay for a 6k+ chapter book of erotica in 20 days, he noted that he could not understand SJs envy and ambition for power since he lives well, and he even noted to himself that his family was well off. He is incredibly wealthy, and it shows. Which is important to note because he, not once, showed any guilt or remorse on dying and leaving his family behind. Yes, he sometimes refers to people as being similar to his family but he never showed any pain for losing that life like he did when he lost LBH. This is important because I genuinely think SY was depressed and self destructive to himself, which goes against popular HC that he was chronically/terminally ill (I do like this HC and like how its portrayed in fanfiction). It would explain how he ended up dying all alone by himself, and how blase he was to his own life and death.

SQQ is a self destructive force who ended up dying three times, and didn’t feel anything about death itself. He was worried about others and the effect it had on them, but for himself it was up and on again like it never happened. He does not care for his health, had self isolated as SY to the point he died alone, and has a horrible self esteem to the point that he continuously agrees when other people put him down and often calls himself the villain. Even though we have seen the evidence of someone who is always being thrust into new situations and awful plots, he calls himself lazy and easy going. He hides his thoughts and feelings behind his fan and has a remarkably thin face. At the very base of his actions and his thoughts, he is self destructive, powerful, and smart. This is the set up for a villain.

However, when shown the actual people in front of him and forced to act as SJ did towards LBH and his disciples, he flinches from it. He notes that it happening in front of him was different. His entire self soothing comedy monologue went quiet when he had to enforce the Endless Abyss scene, and grieved for the childish innocence he killed from one of his favourite people. SY was set up to be the villain and obviously thinks of himself as one, but can not act as one. If he had the choice LBH would have been his sticky sweet white lotus disciple for as long as LBH wished to be.

His kindness, as seen in the book, is what turned him from being “the scumbag villain” to the protagonist we see in the novels. Which, yes, he is a protagonist! He even has the protag halo that LBH has and its very funny in the meta way for SQQ not to realize this, but thats for another post. But he loves his disciples, he loves his peak lord siblings, he loves his Binghe, he loves his new life, and he is kind. That is what kept him from being the villain he sees himself as, his kindness and love for others. Whether that be romantic, platonic, or familial, he loves the people he has met and he treats them kindly. That is why it is important to remember that he was set up as the villain by everything in the story we do not see, but what we do see is him continuously changing the story to fit a new genre that lets as many people as he can save live. Sorry sorry, I just think about SY being set up as a villain so much. It changes a lot of views I have on the series when I remember the duality of SYs story and character development.

[mrsevans90]

Puppy Love

Captain Syverson x OFC Emma Miller Part 8

Summary: Austin Syverson has returned to Texas after retiring from the military and starts his own contracting business. Syverson is used to being alone and thinks he prefers it that way. While at work he stumbles upon an injured and abused puppy. When he meets the new veterinarian in town, Emma Miller, he is immediately smitten with her. It turns out Emma has some baggage of her own. Will they be able to make it work? Or is it just a case of fleeting puppy love?

Pairing: Henry Cavill as Captain Austin Syverson x OFC Emma Miller 

Warnings: Smut, Sy overthinking, PTSD, meeting the grandparents (Nana is a warning herself 😜) language.

MINORS DNI! Must be 18+

I do not authorize any copying/pasting, stealing of my work, or using my words as your own. 

This story is not beta’d. All mistakes are my own.

A/N: I am an imperfect person who makes mistakes. All that I ask is to please be kind and if you enjoy it then please comment and REPOST! I appreciate any love, comments, and reposts more than you could know. Thank you for reading! 

Part 7

We head to bed later that night and I start removing my clothes.

“I normally sleep naked. I can put some boxers on if you want me too.” I say. I don’t know why it feels awkward but getting naked in front of each other just to go to sleep feels a little embarrassing all of the sudden. I’m reminded that we really haven’t known each other for more than a few days and even though I feel things for her that I haven’t felt in years this is moving awfully fast. I’m used to one-night stands that I don’t see again after we’ve had sex and I dip out.

Emma chuckles at my sudden hesitation. “Bear, I’m more than fine with you sleeping naked. Can I borrow that shirt I wore this morning to sleep in so I won’t get cold?” She asks and I immediately hand her my red DILLIGAF shirt. She has no idea how much I wore that shirt while deployed after Mark and Jenn sent it to me for my birthday one year. It’s easily my favorite and typically I’d never let a woman wear it for fear of not getting it back, but Emma looks sensational in it and I love seeing it. She removes her clothes before sliding it on and going to the bathroom to brush her teeth. The edge of the shirt rides up when she spits out her toothpaste and I’m instantly horny again. Gosh, she’s perfect. I’m feeling more confident tonight after sleeping so well with her next to me last night and hope I don’t have any nightmares. We climb into bed and she immediately snuggles against my chest while intertwining our legs together. I start playing with strands of her hair as the dogs settle in their beds on the floor.

“I’m going to have to tell my parents about Colin tomorrow. They’re going to freak. Especially my dad.”

“Why’s that? He’s arrested, won’t they feel better about him being in custody?”

“Maybe for the next day or so. When he got out of it the first time, he was angrier than he had been the night he broke in. He was going around town starting rumors about me and telling people that I was going to pay for giving him a criminal record. Unfortunately, he didn’t say it to me directly so it wasn’t considered a threat by law enforcement. My dad basically begged me to move home so that I wasn’t alone but I wasn’t going to do that. I’m a thirty-two-year-old woman with a successful job and can take care of myself. If I moved back home, the fear would overtake me and I don’t think I’d ever fully move on. I’d just be stuck there in the town that constantly gossiped and I just couldn’t live like that, you know?”

“Makes sense. Ya gotta move forward.”

“Exactly. Dad always worried that I was running away from my problems, rather than seeing it as a new beginning for me to live the life that I want too. I just worry that he’ll panic and try to convince me that moving back is the only way I’ll be safe from Colin.”

“I’ve never been a parent so I certainly can’t say what I would do in his shoes, but he loves you and just wants to protect you. Sometimes parents think sheltering us like they did when we were kids is the only way to protect us. He’ll come to the realization that you’re a grown woman who wants to make her own decisions and live the way she chooses. I can’t imagine how hard it must be to give up control over someone you’ve cared for their whole life, but I’m sure he’ll come around in time. Has he been out here to visit?”

“He came with me the week I bought the house. I had toured it the same week I applied for the veterinarian position and loved it so I brought him back before closing. We stayed at the hotel in town and basically toured the town for three days before he headed back. He wanted to help me move but I wouldn’t allow him. He’s got a bad back and I don’t need him injuring himself. I can fortunately afford movers so that’s what I did. I promised my parents they could come visit in a few weeks once I got the guest bedroom in working order. I still need to go buy a bed for that room, come to think of it.”

“Mmm, that’s real nice darlin’. I’m sure you’ll love having them come visit ya.” 

“It’ll be nice but I’m sure I’ll get an earful about Colin showing up. I still can’t figure out how he found me.” 

“I don’t know, but we’ve done all the necessary measures to keep you safe and secure. You can always call me if you’re worried and I’ll be there in ten minutes or less. Just promise me you won’t confront him again without me or police there alright?” 

“Oh, I have no plans to confront him at all, but I promise.” She says with a sleepy smile. 

“Let’s go to sleep, Sugar. It’s been a hell of a day.” 

“Mmm… Goodnight Sy.”

“Night beautiful.”

After another great night of sleep, I wake around five am and see Emma sprawled out on the bed beside me. The sky is starting to get lighter which casts just enough ambient light on to her sleeping form. Emma lays on her stomach with her arms tucked under the pillow. My navy-blue sheet is draped delicately across her bare bottom and her flawless back is exposed. At some point in her sleep, she has rucked my red t-shirt up so high that I can see the sides of her breasts poking out of it against the mattress. Her long hair is sprawled out beside her on the pillow and her lips are parted with delicate breaths escaping her soft mouth. She looks so youthful and relaxed. She is an absolute art form. This is truly the type of muse that artists create masterpieces about and I have it right here in my bed. Me, just a good old military boy who does construction for a living. I don’t feel like I even belong in her presence at times. She’s so intelligent and articulated, while I fear I sometimes sound like a hick next to her. Yet, she still looks at me as if I hung the stars and I truly don’t know how I can keep from messing this up. I want to pause this moment of pure bliss, and prolong it because I know from experience that all good things must come to an end. In my life, love is fleeting and I don’t want her to be a distant memory. I lay there staring at her and silently chuckle as I watch her scowl and scrunch her nose at what must be an unsatisfying dream. Everything she does is so endearing. I guess that’s how it’s supposed to be early on in a relationship, however, I’ve never experienced someone this perfect in my whole life. Even with my past relationships, there were little signs or red flags that I simply overlooked or placated because everyone has annoying habits. I swear, this girl could slap me in the face and I’d probably ask her to do it again. Pussy whipped. That’s what I’ve become. If only the boys could see me now, they’d never let me hear then end of it. Their no bull-shit Captain head over heels in love…LOVE!? Surely, I can’t be in love. I barely know her. It’s too soon, too fast and we each have too much baggage for things to go this smoothly. I’m just not used to spending so much time with a particular woman. Now, I guess I just enjoy my time with her until the other shoe drops. Hopefully, I won’t be completely crushed in the end. God, what was I thinking inviting her to Nana’s house? It’ll crush the ole’ folks when this goes sour.

I lay there as my mind continues to race knowing that I won’t go back to sleep. This is when I usually wake up and I’ve been more than lucky to have slept two nights in a row without having nightmares. I’d be tempting fate to try and push for anymore. My brain continues to spiral as I lay there watching her sleep. She’s so peaceful and I smirk when she suddenly flips onto her back and her arms stretch out in search for something while her eyes remain closed. Her nose scrunches once again and I realize it’s me that she’s looking for when her hand caresses my chest and goes limp again. I gaze at that sexy little belly ring and then my thoughts go further away from my worries about how much I am or will screw this up and get a bit dirtier. My arm rests behind my head as I gently turn to my side and take in her form. Her face is turned away from me now, but her breasts are just barely concealed in my shirt. Once again, I wish I was an artist because I would find a way to capture this image forever. My phone is across the room on my dresser, and I’m not sure how she would feel about me taking a photo of her so exposed. Technically, she’s covered but only barely. I’ll have to settle to committing this image to memory. Her skin looks so soft and smooth and I have to force myself not to touch her. By seven am, I’ve decided that the perfect way to wake her up and start my morning is by licking on her sweet little peach. I slowly descend under the sheet which is quite a feat for a man of my size. Luckily, her legs are naturally spread but not quite enough to accommodate my large shoulder width. I gently spread them wider thinking she’ll wake but she doesn’t. I lay on my stomach like a sniper with half of my body hanging off of the bed and gently like a stripe up her center. She doesn’t move. How can she sleep so deeply? I spread her lips with my fingers and start softly making out with her petals. Suddenly, she starts to squirm and when my lips close around her little pearl and suck, her eyes fly open and down at me. Her hands quickly reach for my head and she moans loudly.

“OH FUCK! Austin! Holy shit!” I smile against her as I continue my assault on her body. I slide my middle finger into her tight channel and she mewls as I curl it inside her. 

“Oh my god, oh my god!” She praises as her hips buck in rhythm to the pace my now two fingers have set inside her. 

“Mmm. You taste so good. Best pussy I’ve ever had.” I speak against her sensitive skin.

“That feels so good! I’m… ahhh! I’m gonna cum!” She admonishes and moments later she comes with a squeal and flourish of arousal against my face. 

I continue to softly lick her and kiss her core and her thighs as she regains control of her breathing.

“I’ve never been woken up before like that. God, that was incredible.” Emma says as. I caress my way up her body.

“You were sleeping so hard, I worried you were going to sleep through it. I hope it was okay that I did that.” I tell her starting to second guess myself.

“That was more than okay. Thank you, baby. It was incredible.” She assures me and caresses my jaw. I kiss her softly and soon our kisses become heated and rough. I groan when Emma pushes against my chest and straddles me. Her core is leaking wet arousal against my abdomen as her hands roam around my body. Emma pushes her pussy against my stiff cock and begins sliding it through her folds. I swear I could come just from this. She leans back and removes my shirt from her so that I can see her entire body in the sunlight that peaks from behind the curtains and it is the most amazing view. I reach forward and stroke her full breasts in each hand and push them together so that I can bring them towards my awaiting mouth. While sucking on her perfect tits, Emma lifts herself up, takes ahold of my dick and presses it into the opening of her pussy. We both moan aloud as she inches her way down my shaft. 

“Fuck, darlin’! You’re sucking me in so good.” I grunt. When I’m buried to the hilt, I still for only a second before she is lifting off of me and slamming back down. This is going to be rough and reckless. I concede control (something I rarely do) so that I can take in the captivating image of Emma taking over and chasing her pleasure. The way the sunlight shines above and through her hair make her look ethereal and angelic. Watching her suck her bottom lip into her mouth and softly whimper as she works herself on my rod is something I never want to forget. 

“Damn, you look so perfect riding me, Sugar.” 

“You’re the best ride I’ve ever been on, Captain Syverson.” She smirks. I notice her slowing and seemingly getting frustrated that she can’t move as fast as she wants with how wide her legs are spread to accommodate me in between them, so I decide to help her out. I trail my hands from her breasts down to her hips and hold tightly before pumping myself up into her.

“Oh!” She startles and smiles as I do it again. I slam into her from underneath and she grips onto my biceps as she hangs on for the ride. I stretch my large hands and while still holding onto her hips, I thumb her clit and she keens.

“Mmm, baby! That feels so good! You fuck me so good!” She screams and I feel her cunt flutter around me and know she’s close. I use my other hand to grab ahold of her hair and bring her down for a filthy kiss that I continue when her orgasm explodes around me. I flip her over so that I’m on top and take advantage of the absolute vice grip that she has me in to chase my own release. After maybe ten more thrusts, I’m seeing stars as I pump my load into her womb. I gently relax my weight against her, not allowing myself to fully relax so I don’t crush her and lay there for a moment to catch my breath. Emma’s fingers scratch across my back and I’m tempted to fall asleep like this. I pull out of her and flip to my back and she cuddles up against me. Before I realize it, my eyes are closed and I’m drifting off.

I wake up to the smell of coffee and… bacon? I glance and see that the side of the bed next to me is empty and my red DILLIGAF shirt is missing. I’m still laid out on top of the covers completely nude where I must’ve fallen back asleep. Damn, this woman is a magician at getting me to sleep. I shouldn’t tell her that, because I’m sure it would come out wrong and be considered an insult but I’ve never slept this well with a woman. Emma’s bag is still sitting on the chair in my bedroom. I yawn as I get up and shove on some boxers and running shorts. I notice both dogs are no longer in my bedroom so she must have them with her. I take care of my needs in the bathroom and brush my teeth before checking my phone on the dresser. It’s after nine am. I ease my way down the stairs where I find Emma wearing nothing but my t-shirt, singing softly, hands covered in flour as she uses a drinking glass to cut biscuits out of dough and lays them on a pan. The dogs are patiently begging for scraps and could care less about my arrival to the entrance of the kitchen.

“Well, ain’t this a feast for the eyes.” I say to Emma and she immediately looks up and smirks. Her hair is pulled back in one of those messy buns and tendrils are still scattered around her face and damn, if I wasn’t imagining a life with her right now. Fuck me, she is something else entirely.

“Mmm.. good morning sleepy head. I figured you’d earned yourself a nap so I’d get started making breakfast. You know that snack bag I brought last night had all the ingredients needed for my homemade biscuits. Hope you’re okay with those, with some jam or honey, bacon, and scrambled eggs. I figured I could make yourself a bacon, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwich with the leftovers for tomorrow. I also hope you don’t mind that I took over your kitchen.” She says a little embarrassed as she gestures with her hands and looks at the flour coated counter.

“Sugar, ain’t nothing you do is going to bother me. This is quite the treat, so thank ya. How can I help?” 

“Nothing for you to do. Just get yourself a cup of coffee and relax. I’m finding my way around just fine. I do need to take you to the store sometime and buy you some kitchen utensils. How in the world do you not have a whisk anywhere in this kitchen?”

“Not much for straying outside of the ten or twelve meals I’m good at cooking. Never needed one.” I tell her as I go to get my coffee. I lean down and place a kiss on her lips followed by a smack to her cute little ass that’s covered by my shirt.

“Shirt looks real good on you, Princess.” 

“Oh, Princess is new. I like that but not as much as Sugar or Darlin’.” She giggles.

“I thought you said Sugar made you feel like Mrs. Clayton’s yorkie?” I arch my brow at her.

“Not anymore. All it makes me think of now is you and your perfect eyes looking at me.” I smile at her over my cup of coffee.

I’m obsessed with every moment of this domestic bliss. I watch Emma perfectly at home in my kitchen, cooking for me and I swear I feel something akin to butterflies in my stomach. 

We eat her breakfast and I easily concede that her biscuits are the best I’ve ever tasted and I make her swear not to tell my Nana that I said that. Southern woman can be real protective of their cooking and there ain’t no sense in starting a feud. We spend the rest of the morning cuddling on the couch watching a movie.

Midday, we get ourselves ready, the dogs loaded up, and head on over to my grandparent’s house for lunch at one in the afternoon. This has become a tradition about two years ago to spend Sunday lunch at their house after they get home and settled from church. 

I typically wear my athletic lounge clothes to these lunches but Emma insists on wearing a sundress to make a good impression so I clean up a bit as well. I smile at the thought of her wanting to impress my grandparents.

We make our way up to the porch and I head on inside the unlocked door without knocking.

“Nana? PawPaw?” I holler as we enter the foyer of their home. Aika immediately heads straight for the kitchen since she knows Nana is a pushover for treats and Mills follows enthusiastically.

“Kitchen!” My PawPaw answers.

“I hope it’s alright that I brought company.” I announce as we round the corner into the entryway of the kitchen which memories fill my childhood.

“Oh my god! I’m so glad you brought her! The date must’ve gone better than you told me!” My Nana immediately begins to chirp and I brought my hand over my face as Emma giggles. 

“Hi, I’m Emma. I hope it’s okay that Austin brought me; I’ve heard so many good things about you both.” She says as she extends a hand to my PawPaw and then is forced into a hug by my overzealous grandmother.

“Oh, sweetheart! I’m so glad you’re here. Austin told me you were beautiful but you are just stunning!” Nana flutters and I shake my head in laughable exasperation.

“Nice to see you too, Nana.” I say and she puts her hands on her hips and gives me a look like she’ll scold me in front of everyone. 

“Well get over here and give me a hug then, Grumpy Butt!” I roll my eyes but then give my Nana a hug and then one to my PawPaw who discreetly smacks my shoulder and congratulates me for landing such a beautiful woman. 

“This is Mills.” I say as I scoop up the little garbage disposal who is searching desperately for any crumbs by my grandmother’s stove.

“Aren’t you just a sweetie! Now look at me little fella, here are the rules. No pottying inside the house, and no chewing on my furniture. Oh and don’t go chasing my chickens in the yard. Got that little man?” She asks as if he’ll answer and then reaches for the dog treat container she keeps on her counter for Aika.

“Nana, he’s a puppy. He’s definitely going to at least chase the chickens. Let him have a little fun.” I coax as Mills squirms in my arms in an attempt to get closer to the little grey-haired woman holding up a bacon flavored dog bone. 

“Not after I bribe him with treats! Isn’t that right, angel baby?” She coos as she gives him the treat and one to Aika who barely even chews it. I set Mills down on the floor and quickly realize I might not reach the top three favorite people for Mills after my grandparents and Emma are through with him.

“It smells delicious in here, could you use any help?” Emma offers while gesturing to the food my grandmother has been preparing for us. 

“Oh, honey that would be delightful. Would you mind setting the table? The place settings are there and the plates are in this cabinet here. Austin, why don’t you and PawPaw go take the pups out for a bathroom break before we eat?” Nana essentially shoos us out the door. I give Emma a look that says, ‘I’m sorry for her’ before I follow PawPaw out. Emma giggles and gets started setting the table as I hear Nana already telling Emma to call them Nana and PawPaw before beginning her round of twenty questions. This is going to be a long lunch.

After we make it back inside and I ensure Emma is relatively unscathed from Nana’s well-meaning yet intrusive interrogation, we sit down and relish an enjoyable meal getting to know Emma and catching up about everyone’s week. After we eat, Emma offers to help clean up the kitchen but is kindly denied by my grandmother who insists I take her on a tour of the farm.

“How bad was it?” I ask.

“It wasn’t bad! I’m kind of in love with your grandparents. Your Nana is hilarious.” Oh god, Nana must’ve not filtered herself at all. I love that about her but there is no telling what came out of that woman’s mouth.

“How embarrassed should I be then?” 

“Not at all. Unless you count the story where she told me about you ripping the butt of your new pants while helping your PawPaw repair the cow fence and she stitched them back together while you were still in them.”Jesus Christ.

“Okay, in my defense, I was ten and they didn’t have any clothes here that would fit for me to wear while she fixed them. PawPaw needed help before the rain came in that next day.” Emma laughs and grabs my hand while intertwining our fingers.

“I think it’s cute. I love how much time you spent here as a kid. Both of my grandparents passed away when I was eight, so my memories with them, while still loving and wonderful, are few.”

“Did she beg you to marry me and have my babies before I die old and alone?” I ask somewhat joking but turn serious when I look at Emma’s face.

“Not exactly. She did say that she thought we were perfect together and would make beautiful babies.” She declares with a pink tint to her cheeks.

“Can’t say I’d disagree with that, but I’m so sorry if she made you uncomfortable.” We stop at the edge of one of the fences and look out at the cows and I decide to hug her from behind. She relaxes in my embrace as I take a whiff of her floral scent.

“She didn’t. It’s clear how much she adores you and I love that she was so welcoming and kind to me.” 

“Thanks for coming with me today.” I kiss her temple.

“Thank you for inviting me… and for everything this weekend. It’s been amazing. I’m almost sad for it to end.” She whispers.

“Me too, Sugar. I’m not going anywhere though.” She nods and looks out at the cow pasture.

When we head back inside, Emma excuses herself to the restroom where Nana ambushes me. 

“Oh, Austin. We love her! She is just smitten with you and I’m so glad you both met. She didn’t tell me much about her past, but I can tell that girl has been heartbroken before but she is falling for you. The way she looked at you during lunch just made my heart flutter. Even PawPaw noticed.” She says while pointing to my very taciturn grandfather who didn’t say much even on his most talkative days.

“Don’t scare her away with all of that, Nana. It’s only been a weekend. I do like her and plan to see her again though.” 

“Well praise Jesus!” Nana says with her arms thrown dramatically in the air. I glance at PawPaw who just wears his signature smirk at her dramatics and gives me a wink. Emma returns and after we eat a slice of apple pie that Nana made, we start making our way to the front door. 

“Now Emma dear, you come back here and visit anytime. Even if my grandson doesn’t offer, you come back and have some dinner with us one day, ya hear?” Emma giggles and I can’t help but chuckle at Nana.

“Yes ma’am, I’d love that. Thank you so much for graciously welcoming me. The food was amazing and the company was even better.” Emma says with a smile and hugs Nana. I’m a bit surprised when I see PawPaw extend his arms open for a hug as he’s usually a much more reserved man and gently hugged Emma goodbye. I have no doubts this woman could turn a grizzly into a teddy bear. After hugging my grandparent’s goodbye and leaving with a doggy bag of leftovers for each of us, we load the dogs and ourselves up in my truck and head back to my house.

It’s the middle of the afternoon and Emma told me she needed to run to the grocery store and do some meal prepping for the week, so she gathered up her bag and after she kissed the dogs about four times each, we get back in my truck so I could take her home. Why am I dreading this? I usually enjoy my alone time and crave it but the thought of getting in an empty bed tonight feels strange. We get inside and I offer to carry her bag into the house for her. Mainly, I just want to look around and make sure everything is secure for my own peace of mind. I take her bag all the way to her bedroom and set it on the bench she has at the end of her bed.

“You gonna be alright this week? Feel comfortable staying here alone?” I ask her.

“Mmhmm.” She replies as she wraps her arms around my neck. 

“What do you say we have dinner again on Friday?” 

“That sounds amazing. I’d love too.” She replies with a smile.

“Alright, Sugar. Well I won’t keep you any longer but I’ll text you or call you later tonight if you’d like.”

“Yes please. Now kiss me before you leave.” Emma demands.

“Yes ma’am.” I smirk as I lean down and capture her lips with my own. We make out for a minute or two before Emma leans back to catch her breath. 

“Walk me to the door?” I ask her and she nods while holding my hand. It feels like we are both trying to prolong our time together.

“Got a lot of jobs lined up for the week?” She asks as we walk down the hallway.

“Well, we’re going to finish up the chimney and siding area of that house we were working on last week and should be done by Tuesday afternoon. Tomorrow morning, I’m going to assess some work and give out quotes on three different sites so that should be good. I’m also going to put up a privacy fence at a house a few streets over from here this week. I’ll be busy but nothing too crazy.” I tell her and she nods. Time to go, I remind myself.

“Have a good night darlin’ and be safe out running your errands.” “You too, Sy. Talk to you in a bit.” She says and kisses me before I head out to my truck and drive off. I see her wave goodbye at the door and know that I’m not going to be able to wait until Friday to see her again. 

Part 9

Taglist: Taglist: @shellyshellshell, @henryownsme, @caramariehurst, @beck07990, @mollymal, @kingliam2019, @syversonswife, @identity2212, @starfirewildheart, @hannah9921, @wa-ni, @kneelforloki, @cutedoxie, @enchantedbytomandhenry, @foxyjwls007, @geralts-yenn, @courtlynwriter, @corrie1013, @squeezyvalkyrie, @summersong69, @livisss, @mayloma, @uunotheangel, @warriormirkwood

[cpericardium]

Man it's been so interesting lurking the wormblr scene. A year ago I was so weirded out by the very cavalier death of the author attitude (I had just gotten a friend to read Worm, and we were having a lot of fun going through the WOG stuff). Genuinely watching the worm community theorycraft and give ted talks about their very special guys (that contrast canon super hard) really changed my opinion on his work. I have a lot of love for Wildbow but when I saw that discord message about Sy being a snake it's like shut up man you're authorially dead.

Anyway Claw has been pretty wild so far so I hope he focuses on that instead of correcting peoples' headcanons on the internet lol

I think nearly everyone starts out thinking heavy authorial involvement in the community is cool and down-to-earth until they realise the author has a very particular vision for how the fandom should have 'fun' and also has both the social and administrative power to enforce it

"I hope he focuses on that instead of correcting peoples' headcanons on the internet lol" So I have some unfortunate news about the past 12 years but we can all be optimistic...

[fairydust-stuff]

SSSVS Shen Jiu,fanfiction thoughts

So, I've heard some discussion about how there are very few SJ fics where he repents, apologizes and how this angers people etc....

So my thoughts are, that's because atonement, being good was never the point of SSVS.

The system

SSVS isn't concerned with morality as much as how much you give into the system. SJ dies because he stopped fighting the role he was assigned he excepted being the scum villain. It's not just about how he abused a child. He did this due to a clear choice to stop trying to be good. After he failed to save his worst enemy. He accepted his role.

While it is a little annoying that SY gets to fight the system in Sj's place coming from an entirely different background without the trauma/ baggage that encourages those from lower classes to enforce the system.

He is none the less the one who starts to find ways around the system. He cheats and eventually gets rid of the system or at least not have to operate within its narrow confines. ( he's also not a good person but this thing is already too long).

LBH

A lot of fans forget this cause abused child, but um LBH has always been a hateful misanthrope who realized playing at being a white locus got you protection and sympathy.

Much like SJ he survived by lying. But while SJ pushed aside all weakness. LBH played it up for manipulation purposes. He was never a good person but LBH was always better at playing the system than SJ. (I argue LBH not being some white lotus still does not mean he should have been abused by SJ.) just pointing out that he's amoral.

Even SY looking at his flashbacks from his life with his mom called him a "blackened lotus" even then. a lot of fans like to blame the sword but even before he got his hands on it. LBH was always just a little bit off as a person. LBG is simply him with the gloves off and the claws and depression on display.

Furthermore even after getting SY love as LBM he never actually becomes a good person. He is ashamed because he raped SY but he never even tries to atone to Ning Ying or anyone else for murder, treachery, lying etc....

Because that was never LBH's arch, it was always about his place in the system, not his morality or how well he lived up to the role of ideal love interest. So many fans judge him through this lens but that's not the point.

LBH was born with more advantages,from the beginning due to being the protagonist. But this luxury came with a harmful role pushing LBH into a role where he was an ideal for other people. Despite the fact it made him miserable. Everyone including SY wanted a stallion protagonist a power fantasy. They could live though LBH just wants to be a house husband. He doesn't want to be emperor of the world.

LBH isn't a good person but he rejects the system and his role in it and seeks his own happiness.

Basically, why are SJ fanfic writers being asked to heap more judgment than other stans on our fav by our own of all people?

LBH gets to wish he could murder anyone who gets close to SY without invoking his wraith and be happy in his cottage-core life. Why isn't SJ allowed to do the same?

While I don't hate SJ atonement fics. Due to the nature of the novels, it's just not a requirement for me personally. Also sometimes, I just want to read about my favs without them being tortured and weepy for being bad people.

[pluralprompts]

Heyoo, im (we?) have some questions, and i thought that here would be a safe place.

Well, i have 2 sys homies at my school, and theres that mf fictive of one of them that never stfu and keeps calling me as plural.

Day by day i respond that w diferents feelings and reactions, and before that a lot of "suspect" things happened w me, almost like i was plural. I mean, i alway had a headspace, even as a kid i talked with other lill guys that lived in my head and i saw them, but then, they disapeared years later. And now that that mf keeps saying that things, im really confused.

The point is, im boderline (diagnosis in hand), and i can be like, 5-6+ people in a day (talking about personallity) and even of my "me" are diferent w diferent perceives and thats fucking strange. In part i know that just my boderline that alternate, but im not sure if its just it anymore.

Sorry for the drop...

That sounds like a confusing situation!

What you're talking about does sound rather plural. I'd recommend keeping a record of these things, especially the everyday changes you go through (including these changes in how you perceive things), so you can get a better scope of what's going on there and the extent of it. Such day-to-day changes aren't impossible in singlets, but they appear to be less common, based on what I've gleaned about singlets and how they live (I, obviously, would not know what that's like, but it seems to be true, as most folks don't expect everyday changes, and may inquire after your health if they notice).

As for that individual, perhaps ask them to stop or at least lay off for a while, as it's bothering you, and getting in the way of figuring out if you are or aren't plural. After all, this isn't just a you thing – very few people enjoy being told they're one specific thing/category for certain before they themselves have been given the chance to explore that option, decide for themselves, and choose who and how to tell when they come to a conclusion.

Unfortunately, other neurodivergencies and disorders can make plurality complicated or more difficult to identify. Fortunately, this allows for overlap where you can just say, "Yeah, my BPD and plurality are intertwined. What about it?" if you so choose. Sometimes, there's no clear line between one neurodivergency and another, and this sort of interpretation through a plural lens/muddling of neurodivergencies is perhaps most common for BPD (and MaDD, but that's not relevant here), I would estimate. Unfortunately again, this does mean that you'll have to explore how you feel your BPD interacts with your possible plurality without much of a roadmap – but hey, you get to freestyle your exploration and how you describe what's going on in your head, at least! Perhaps others with both BPD and some form of plurality may be able to give advice?

In short, yes, it does sound like you could be plural, but that's something for you to decide, including how your potential plurality is affected by or intertwined with your BPD (or if it's not!). Don't be afraid to establish boundaries about discussing the possibility/your questioning journey, and stand your ground if someone is making you uncomfortable or pressuring you one way or the other. Even if they turn out to be right in the future, that's no reason to overstep and act like the ultimate authority on your life and identity in the present. Remember, you can always quit, hit the bricks, and walk out of a conversation that is making you uncomfortable. It's not rude to ask for respect and space to figure things out for yourself, and it's not rude to enforce a boundary like that. Take care of yourself as you explore who you are!

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

I feel like Curtis would be the leader? Chris can be so mean and Sy can be a wild card...

Chris is the enforcer. He can do whatever you need without hesitation. Sy is emotional and is the one that acts out. So Curtis can make sure both of them have more than just instinct to play on.

[maggyme13]

Moving atop the Underworld (11/?)

Ellie just moved into a new flat. Introducing herself to her downstairs neighbor with a cake she did not realize what the future held for her and him. And what had an asshole coworker to do with it?

AN: welcome welcome to a new chapter :P

Don´t like-> Don´t Read, Minors DNI

Warning:

Wordcount: around 1.9k

Masterlist

Series-Masterlist

Part 10

“You wanted to speak with me Mr. Silver?”, Ellie announced her arrival with a knock, her voice weak even though she tried to be strong.

“Yes, Mrs. Syverson. Please take a seat. Would you like something to drink?”, the Mafia boss hummed with a smile, offering her a seat opposite his table.

“No, thank you, Sir. What can I do for you?”

“I wish to apologize. What happened to you should not have happened. No harm should have come to you under this roof. You are married to one of my best men and you work for me directly. Also, you have never given any reason for mistrust. Unfortunately, I cannot change what has happened, I can only ask for forgiveness and redemption. Seeing that Captain already avenged you, I wish to offer you a favor for each day you have been tortured. You can use these favors for anything, but leaving. I am sorry, but once in this life, one can only leave in the Reaper's arms. As long as the favor is within the realms of doable it will be granted.”

“I- thank you.”, she answered stunned, Mr. Silver sounded sincere and deeply sorry.

“It´s the last thing I can do. I have another job for you as soon as you feel ready to return.”

“What would that be, Sir?”

“An entire executive office floor for one of my firms. My office, the front room and lobby for the secretary, the meeting room, and a restroom interior.”

“Deadline?”

“Thanksgiving, if possible.”

“Wood?”

“Bog Oak, European Chestnut, and silver highlights.”

“Everything?”

“Yes. Table-legs will be metal with black mat finish.”

“Blueprints and floor plan?”

“Over there.”

“With these specifications, I´ll need to go to the wood trade.”

“Say a time and I will have a driver and assistant to go with you.”

“I will need at least two days for a quick planning to see how much material I´ll need.”

“Someone will get you to the Trade on Thursday. I´ll have my secretary make an appointment.”

“Thank you, Mr. Silver.”

“I have also ordered your workshop to be moved to the empty barn in the garden. It has a separate little office area and more room for working and the machines.”

“Oh, I´ll take a look then.”

“Go ahead. I´ll be waiting for your designs and ideas.”, he dismissed her with a short kind gesture.

“What did the Boss want?”, Sy asked the second she met him in his room. He sounded on edge and ready to rip him a new one if he had upset her enough to endanger any progress she had made the last couple of days.

“He… apologized for ...what happened, and gave me three favors that he owes me. I also got a new job. An executive floor. I´ll be going to the wood trade on Thursday. Oh, and did you know they moved my workshop? It´s now in the barn. I did not know there was a barn.”, Ellie explained, frowning at the last part, at the same time wondering just how big the property was.

“He did? The old barn is on the other side of the Property, right next to the shooting range and training grounds. So right next to my area.”

“Oh.”, she breathed, at least muscles won´t be far if needed.

Deciding to ignore the sound his wife had just made he took in every little twitch of her muscles.

“Do you know who will escort you to the Trade?”

“No. Mr. Silver only said someone would come with me. Why, is there someone who should no-”

”No. Escort missions are only done by me or my people, in certain instances, Alejandro and his second give a helping hand. So whoever goes with you, I trust. I am only asking ´cause there a some who mentioned they were interested in learning more about your work. So it would make sense to send one of those with you.”

“Okay.”, Ellie breathed again staring out of the window, eyes unfocused on the large garden, “Do you know if the office Mr. Silver mentioned is finished? I need to start a rough plan to see how much I need. I would rather avoid going there more than necessary.”

“It should be ready. We simply moved your old setup there. IT is already waiting for the parts of your new PC, once they are delivered you get a new setup. Give me a moment to change and I will show you the way.”

“Thank you.”, she whispered with a sincere smile, Ellie knew how much Sy was doing for her, but sometimes she wondered if he was neglecting his duties for her.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

“Mrs. Syverson, I need to take this call. I will just be around the corner over there. Please wait for me before continuing.”, Xander (short for Alexander Alexandrovic how he had introduced him earlier, but everyone called him Xander to avoid confusing him and Syverson) stated, noticing the name on the screen of his smartwatch.

“Of course. I´ll be here and take a closer look at those slabs of European Chestnut.”, Ellie told her companion for that day.

The owner of the Trade had just excused himself a minute earlier to (presumably) scream at a poor worker in the other warehouse who had to unload a huge load of new lumber that was delivered wrong.

Mesmerized by the black and dark brown veins the heartwood had developed over the long ages the prior tree had grown, reminding her of some areas of marble, the woodworker did not notice the stranger's approach.

“Mrs Ellie Syverson?”, a low and slightly condescending female voice caught her attention.

“Yes? How can I help you?”, she continued, now looking at the newcomer who was clad in a casual dark suit-like uniform. Not something someone would wear working at a wood trade and knowing of the ´way of thinking´ by the owner, no female office worker would be allowed to dress this masculine.

“Detective Susan Stahl. You recently got married to Mr. Alexander Syverson. Am I right?”

“Yes?”, Ellie answered with an unsure expression. Why was she being questioned? Should she ask for a lawyer? But that would cause suspicions, right?

“How did you meet if you don´t mind me asking?”

“I moved into the apartment above his.”

“In that case you must have fallen head over heels for him, considering you lived there for what… six months tops before tying the knot?”, the detective's eyes bore into her, as they were trying to dissect her every thought.

“It felt right, for the two of us, so we decided we could not wait. None of us could take time off work, so we simply did the bureaucratic part of the wedding for now and will do the celebratory and honeymoon part next year. We are currently deciding on where to go.”

“Are you. Well, each their own, right? So what brings you here today?”

“Looking for some wood I need for an assignment.”

“For yourself or?”

“No, for a Customer of mine. And before you ask, Detective, I cannot tell you the names of them, they are prestigious and do not wish to be mentioned or talked openly about. I just started freelancing, so I cannot risk losing a possibly good customer.”

“I – have a nice day Mrs. Syverson, and well wished for that project of yours.”, Detective nodded and disappeared as fast as she had appeared. Much to Ellie´s confusion, she figured out her sudden departure when she saw Xander and the Owner returning.

“Apologies again, but good workers are hard to come by.”, the owner sneered.

“I will take these 10 slabs of European Chestnut as well as the 15 slabs of the Bog Oak you showed us earlier. I also take another 10 slabs of 65mm and 10 Slabs of 45mm oak with only small branches.”, she stated, “Please have your men gather my order. Someone will come by tomorrow and get it.”

“My pleasure. I just need some information for the invoice.”

“Here is the information you need. You may also call the number if you need anything else.”, Xander piped in then, handing over a business card, “Now please excuse us, we have more business to attend to.”

“Of course.”

“Mrs. Syverson.”, the man then motioned for her to follow and she happily obliged.

“I don´t like that man. Never have, never will.”, she shivered as soon as they were seated in the car, “Do you know if Mr. Silver is at the Villa today? I need to speak to him, as well as my Husband.”

“Because of that woman that showed up as soon as she thought you were alone?”

“Yes. Wait, you saw her? I thought you had left.”

“Would not be a good escort if I left my detail out of my sight. Captain´s orders are clear for situations like that. I also noticed her lingering around earlier. At no moment you were in any danger. I assure you.”

“I- would you mind if I make a quick call?”

“Of course not. Go ahead. Would you like to make another stop before returning to the Villa?”

“I´ll let you know after I spoke with Sy.”

“What´s wrong?”, her husband´s voice rumbled almost as soon as she had called him.

“I- A Detective Susan Stahl approached me, asking questions about -us.”, she admitted with a heavy heart and worry gnawing at her innards, the strong look Xander sent her through the mirror had her gulp.

“I´ll let Boss know. Have Xander drive you to other appointments to make sure you don´t look suspicious. Visit a hairdresser, get a massage, and something to eat. Take a least three hours.”, he continued with a heavy sigh, “I am sure you did your best in that situation, so do not worry too much.”

“O-okay, I will tell him.”

“I have to hang up now. Bye.”

“Bye, Sy.”

“New orders?”, Xander piped up from the driver's seat.

“Yes, Sy wants you to drive me around, to do my hair, get a massage, and something to eat, for at least three hours.”

“I know just the place for a good massage, what would you like to eat?”

“Just a coffee shop or small bakery is enough I think.”, any appetite she might have had was going through her nervousness.

“Do you have a hairdresser you frequent?”

“Not really.”

“Then I will drive you to the one that did your heart for the celebration. Unless you don´t want them?”

“No, they were rather nice when they did my hair back then.”, she mumbled.

.--..-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

“Smart thinking with the recording, but Boss is right: Next time give them the number of the attorney we just gave you. Why did you record it thought?”

“That man caused me a lot of trouble in the past. Delivered shitty wood and I got blamed. I record meetings with him ever since.”, Ellie explained.

“No matter the reason: I am proud of you.”

Part 12

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[catierambles]

Feral Instincts Ch.23

Pairing: The Rogue’s Gallery (Geralt, Syverson, Mike, August Walker, Walter Marshall) x Stephanie Daniels (OFC)

WC 870

Warnings: Nothing, really

Stephanie was quiet as Sy drove her and Mike back to the apartment, August having gone ahead. Walter and Geralt were already heading back to the cabin in Walter's truck.

"Al," Sy said, "Do you want to stay with me and the others? Or Mike and Steph? I have room for you."

"Can I…can I stay with Stephanie?" He asked.

"Of course you can, sweety." Stephanie said, still looking out the window as the world went past.

"Good deal." Sy said, "You've moved around a lot the last few years, want you stable now."

"You sure you don't want to stay with your big brother?" She asked.

"Mike is also my big brother." He said, "But I…there's…"

"Too many Alphas in one place in the cabin." Sy said and saw him nod in the rearview mirror, his eyes on his lap. "I getcha."

"Sorry."

"Don't be." He said and Stephanie reached over from her place in the passenger's seat, taking his hand and lacing their fingers. "Doll, August--"

"Not now." She said and he sighed.

"Okay." He said, squeezing her hand. The rest of the trip was made in silence and they pulled up outside of the building, seeing August's SUV out front already in a slanted street parking spot.

"Albert, we'll have to get you clothes of your own and we can go grocery shopping at some point if you want." Stephanie said as they got out of the truck.

"We're about the same size, I can loan you some stuff in the meantime." Mike said and he nodded.

They walked into the building, Sy bringing up the rear, and she paused slightly when she saw August waiting for them outside of the unit, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Didn't want to let myself in." He said when they approached. She didn't say anything, digging her keys out of her pocket and unlocking the door, pushing it open.

"Albert, the spare bedroom will be yours, it's through there." She said pointing.

"I get my own room? With a bed?" He asked.

"Of course you do, sweety." She said and he gave her a smile, heading to the spare bedroom, flopping down onto the bed with his arms spread and making her smile.

"Steph." August said.

"Sweety, make a list of foods you want and we'll get them the next time we go grocery shopping." She said.

"I'm good with just about anything."

"You still have to have some favorite snacks or something. Let me know and I can pick it up."

"Thank you."

"Of course."

"Stephanie." August said but she kept ignoring him.

"Now, I am completely out of spoons, so I need to nap for a couple hours." She said, "Wake me if anything happens." August crossed the room, grabbing her arm as she went to go into the bedroom and turning her around.

"Don't ignore me, Stephanie."

"Read the fucking room, August." She said, glaring up at him.

"Walker…" Sy started.

"No." August said, pointing a finger at him. "I'm not going to apologize or be made to feel ashamed about what I do."

"What you do?" Stephanie asked, "I once made a joke about how you might be a porn star, that you should never apologize for or be ashamed about. But you aren't fucking for a living, August, you kill people. Not like Geralt who only kills Ferals, who need to be put down for everyone's safety, but sane men and women who should be in a damn jail cell, not a grave. The things you've told me that they've done are horrible, yes, but they should be locked up, put through the justice system. But the Pack Council decided they wanted to sweep it under the rug instead."

"They're dangerous."

"I get that. I do." She said, "But they're still US citizens. They're not committing high treason against the government, August, they're breaking the law."

"Stephanie…"

"The Pack Council should be working with the US Government and Law Enforcement. Their mouthpieces say all these grand things about cooperation and coordination and building bridges, but they're taking the law into their own hands to keep their image squeaky clean." She said, "If some of these things they've done carry a death sentence in the states where the laws are broken, then so be it, but the Council became judge and jury, with you as the executioner. All in the name of saving face."

"I was just following orders."

"That didn't work with the Hague, it's not going to work with me." She said, "You could have turned them down, August, when they extended the offer. You could have seen it for the shady shit it is and told them thanks but no thanks, but you didn't." He was quiet. "I need to reconcile what I've learned about you with what I know about you. What you've done, with the man you are. I love you, but I can't be around you right now. Get out.”

“Stephanie--”

“Get. Out.” There was a growl to her voice and it made him pause, looking away from her. He didn’t say anything, just left the apartment, heading up the stairs to his own.

[tykobrian]

My Caitlyn Kiramman Meta: Part -1 // Why I think a so-called villain arc for Cait is most definitely NOT happening...

DISCLAIMER: Right off the bat, I want to be very VERY clear, this is not an invitation for people to come along and spoil me with the leaks. This is not a competition to see who can predict season 2 most accurately and then correcting them with spoilers. I'm simply writing everything I've understood from the show and the things I wish to see in future/ the things I'd love to see the writers exploring. Sure, I make speculations but THAT doesn't mean I'd appreciate people spoiling me. I'll see what really happens in a month after all.

Moreover, I'm not here to create or stir up fandom drama. I understand what I'm going to write may not be favourable to some people. That's why I've tried to keep this post out of the popular fandom tags. And no, I don't think less of people who expect things to go differently from myself in season 2. This post is not some kind of vagueblog at other fans or posts/ meta.

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

Let me reiterate. The chance of Caitlyn having a villainous storyline is extremely unlikely. Why? It’s pretty straightforward in my humble opinion. Arcane is a show produced by an American/ Chinese company. Both countries have a strong bias towards portraying cops/ military positively. I think this was evident in the first season. Caitlyn’s mentor, Grayson, was shown as a good person striving to maintain peace but ultimately falling victim to the schemes of malevolent Silco and the duplicitous Markus. They even tried to make Markus as sympathetic as possible by depicting him manipulated by Silco from the start, emphasizing his role as a conflicted father (massive eyeroll). Sure, not all the enforcers portrayed in season one are the beacon of virtue. But that’s because Caitlyn will the portrayed as the missing link that will ultimately change the enforcer system for the betterment of both Piltover and Zaun. In earlier League of Legends lore, Caitlyn is depicted as an idealistic sheriff dedicated to maintaining peace between the two cities and refusing to take orders from Piltover’s wealthy elites. In season 1, the writers carefully made it clear that nobody wants to see Cait as an enforcer. Not the current Sherrif, not her own parents, not her pal Jayce. It is implied that she joined the force to solve the murder of her mentor, not for maintaining Piltover’s influence over Zaun. She has a strained relationship with her evil councilor mother for Christ’s sake! They made Mel not recognize her name when Jayce mentioned her to make it clear that she doesn’t hang around elite circles enough for people to know who she is readily. All of this is show that Cait is still an outsider who can’t really be considered to be participating in actively undermining the lives of Zaunites, even if she is the daughter of a Counciler, even if she herself is an enforcer. So, this will make it easier for her to prop up in the audience’s mind as a fitful person to take over the so called revamped enforcers! After Jinx’s attack on the city and her mother in S1 finale, I speculate that Cait might initially feel vengeful, but before she does anything truly harmful, the writers will likely make her regain her composure and act as the “bigger person”. They will never let her “stoop” to her arch-nemesis Jinx’s level and start doing stupid shit like bombing Zaun! She might even suggest herself to let someone like Vi, a Zaunite, to join the enforcers, demonstrating her fairness. I also suspect Ambessa’s character was introduced for mainly for Caitlyn to defend Piltover against an outsider (Noxian) force, making her a savior. Caitlyn will likely play a significant role in protecting the city from Noxian forces and emerge as a hero. Also, they could play the angle of OH CAIT WAS BEING MANIPULATED BY AN EVIL SCHEMING NOXIAN, you really can’t blame her for doing woopsie things a la Marcus- Silco storyline v.2.

The fact that Piltover’s system is essentially feudal, with a severely skewed, undemocratic, and centralized power structure, doesn’t matter as long as a virtuous person like Caitlyn is in charge! Also, she is in love with a Zaunite, Vi, who is literally the terrorist Jinx’s sister. How can an evil person look past these and fall in love with a Zaunite, eh? Checkmate! It’s quite frustrating. I believe, everything I said boils down to: the narrative will go to great lengths to protect the only so-called good cop in the show, because otherwise it’ll be evident that the so-called law enforcement system portrayed in the show, which incidentally somewhat mirrors the system found in real-life, is inherently unjust and evil regardless of who is in power. The main problem of Piltover's law enforcement was that the "right" person wasn't in charge, you see! I think an American/ Chinese show would be the least likely place where something this radical would be portrayed.

----------

Well, that’s what I think they’ll do with Caitlyn in season 2. I really really REALLY hope that’s not how things go for her. But I’ll have to face the facts. Anyway, next I’m going to analyze the show as if it’s not a show written by people but rather something like a documentary. That is, it’s not a written things which is havily enfluenced by the writing teams' personal bias/ agenda rahter something that happened in real life in another universe. This will hopefully let me explore how Caitlyn’s character could have evolved organically. Perhaps I’ll analyze other Arcane characters this way in future.

[poledancingdinos]

Hostile Territory - Chapter 11

Pairing: Captain Syverson x OFC (Leah Coleman)

Word count: 3.7K

Warnings: Horny thoughts, some past drunkenness, past physical violence, past injuries

Catch up: Series Masterlist

Taglist: @amberangel112 @utterlyhopeful-fics @marantha​ @kebabgirl67 @littleone65 @omgkatinka @luclittlepond @elizabetharegina @enchantedbytomandhenry @narnianaos  @geralts-yenn @peaches1958 @avengersfan25 @sillyrabbit81 @summersong69 @identity2212 @liecastillo @lena-banena @mrsevans90 @confessionbrain-writings @eclecticfashionbookszipper @happydistraction

A/N: I made an inspiration post here. I'm sorry this chapter is late, life suddenly started kicking my ass this week. I'm also really late on answering comments but I love everyone who left me their thoughts on last week's post.

Masterlist

Day 123

After going back to her room to change and get all her markers, Leah found her way to the room where Sy slept. One of the perks of being captain—aside from wearing all those shorts and t-shirts that were definitely not regulation—was that he got to have his own room. He even had a door.

When her knock went unanswered, Leah let herself in only to find Sy seated on his bed, staring at a disposable razor. Aika was curled into a ball by the pillow, lazily snoozing while her owner looked like there was a full on battle raging in his head. The previously wary and defensive pup was now fully accustomed to the spoiled life of living under Sy’s love and protection.

“Is this a bad time?”

Sy looked up from the offending razor, briefly shaking his head no. Leah frowned, stepping into the room and letting the door fall shut behind her.

“What’s going on?”

“Just not lookin’ forward to shavin’ my entire chest with a fuckin’ fifty cent piece of junk.”

He cleared his throat, moving to pull shaving cream from his pack. He had a bottle of water and a small metal bowl already set out. Sy’s favorite perk of being the highest ranking officer on base was not having to shave. It was fucking absurd to enforce grooming regulations when they all had to worry about being shot by a sniper at any given moment. On top of that, it always left his skin raw and feeling like it was on fire. Unfortunately, that also meant he didn’t have a mirror on hand and this was going to suck ass.

“I could do it if you want.”

Sy raised a skeptical eyebrow her way. “You want to shave my chest?”

“Okay, if this gets out I will make your life a living hell but when I was in highschool I marched into a tattoo shop and demanded they give me a job. I couldn’t legally do anything but grunt work so the artists used to have me shave clients for them.” Honestly, that was preferable to scrubbing toilets so she’d never once complained.

Sy couldn’t help but smirk at that. Somehow, nothing of what she had just said surprised him. He could easily picture a young Leah demanding to be given a job and not taking no for an answer. He envisioned her gritting her teeth as she shaved a client just for the privilege of watching the artists work afterwards.

“I’d tell you not to be throwin’ threats around but you’re the one currently holdin’ the blade,” he grumbled, as he pulled his shirt over his head. He might as well accept his fate and get it over with. The shaving was not going to be so bad if he wasn’t the one doing it.

Leah poured some water into the bowl, handing it to Sy to hold, then sat on the thin mattress by his side. She removed the guard from the blade, dropping the small razor into the bowl before lathering Sy’s chest. She seemed to keep her gaze firmly set on where her hands worked but Sy didn’t miss the few times her focus drifted down to his abs.

Leah was about halfway done when she gave a hard poke to his left peck. “No need for the flexing.” Sy hadn’t realized that his entire body was clenched tightly until she spoke. “I’ve seen you in the gym, I am well aware you lift enough to crush a watermelon with your thighs.”

Sy was so taken aback by the comment that the normally stern, grump of a captain actually guffawed—a sound that had Leah as shocked as he was and joining in on the laughter. She lifted her hand giving them both a moment to catch their breath without before she accidentally cut him.

Sy made a conscious attempt to keep his body lax, counting his breaths to help keep himself calm. As much as he wished his nerves would only be due to the fact that she currently held a blade over his heart, he was very much concerned about what would happen once she moved to his right side, or even further down.

“Are you gonna draw all the way down to my stomach?”

Leah paused for a moment, cleaning off the razor as she studied his torso. “I hadn’t planned on it.” Her fingers were on his chest again, covering the other half with shaving cream. “I can still shave your stomach if you want. You know, to match.”

Sy rolled his eyes at her teasing words. “That won’t be necessary.”

She quickly finished her task with an unexpectedly gentle touch then used Sy’s shirt to wipe away the loose hairs.

“I’m ready to start sketching the design. You can stay like this for now.” She pulled out the pack of markers her brother had sent her and chose an orange colored one.

“You gonna tell me what I’m gettin’?”

“Nope,” she answered, emphasizing the popping of the letter P as she began to draw. She held the marker like a wand in a loose grip, just barely touching his skin at times.

Sy fought not to wince whenever the felt tip brushed over the raised, criss-crossed lines on his skin but Leah had clearly noticed all the same. 

“Am I hurting you?”

She wasn’t. The sensation was more foreign than it was painful.

For some reason Sy would never understand, the women he used to spend his nights with always enjoyed studying the pattern of scars on his body, asking to hear the story of how he’d acquired each one. He’d indulged them—until one night ten years before.

Sy’s body was riddled with knicks and cuts, both from day to day work and the occasional injury, but they had never bothered him. The problem with that particular scar, and its sister on his stomach, was that he was ashamed of the way he received it. They were a constant reminder of one of the lowest points in his life and having them exposed or scrutinized was… uncomfortable.

His companions always liked to ask about the most prominent scars first, expecting to hear something noble and heroic but there was no such tale. There was only the story of a night Sy wished he could take back. Eventually, he’d stopped letting anyone touch them altogether, pulling their hands away whenever they tried.

Fortunately for Sy, the women he attracted liked having a captain give them orders. Leah was the first person in almost ten years to put her hands on his chest for more than a fleeting touch and he was hyper aware of her every movement.

Sy and his friends from basic training had learned early on that many small town bar owners didn’t bother checking for IDs when a group of men walked in with their dog tags hanging out of their shirts for everyone to see. It was bullshit that you could be paid to carry a gun before you could legally drink but laws hadn’t mattered to Sy back then so he’d indulged at every opportunity.

That night, the night he got his scars, there had been a group of college girls who’d joined them for beers and a few rounds of pool. While the others were distracted, Sy had pulled one of the girls out into the back alley for a smoke which turned into a quick fuck against the exterior brick wall.

By his twenty-one year old standards, that would have been a perfect night… That is, had the girl’s boyfriend not shown up. The man had found them outside just as Sy zipped up his pants. There was no mistaking it for anything other than what it was and the boyfriend had immediately barreled towards him. Drunk and taken off guard, Sy hadn’t had time to defend himself and was tackled to the ground.

Pinning Sy under his weight, the other man had reached for a nearby broken beer bottle and had plunged it twice into Sy’s chest. The pain of the wound had spiked Sy’s adrenaline and his military training had finally kicked in. He’d shoved the other man off him and got to his feet with his sober opponent quickly doing the same. 

Still brandishing his weapon, the boyfriend had lunged towards him again. Sy’d deflected the hit, the bottle only slashing rather than piercing his stomach and organs, then he’d caught the man from behind in a tight and deadly choke hold.

He’d kept hold of the man’s neck even as his newly emptied hands clawed at Sy’s arm in a panic. Through the pounding of the blood rushing in his ears, Sy had only been faintly aware of a woman screaming in the background. Slowly, the boyfriend’s movement had turned sluggish, beginning to lose consciousness but Sy hadn’t let go.

For the second time that night, Sy was tackled to the ground, only then it had been his own friend holding him down.

He remembered his friend screaming at him to stop fighting, to calm down while another one knelt by the boyfriend who’d wheezed a dry cough. Coughing meant he was breathing. Breathing meant he was alive.

Sy’s chest had felt warm all of the sudden and he’d looked down to find his shirt soaked in blood. The injuries hadn’t slowed him down for even a second, if anything, they’d fueled his drunken rage.

The police were called, cuffing both men and leaving them in the back of the squad cars as they tried to piece together what had happened. They’d eventually determined that Sy had acted in self-defense and had reason to fear for his life since his opponent had had a weapon. Sy had refused to press charges for assault and ultimately both men had been let go.

That night, Sy almost took a man’s life—and it hadn’t been in the line of duty. There had been  no war, no gunfire and no explosions, just a pissed off guy who’d reacted impulsively after seeing that his girlfriend had fucked a complete stranger in a dingy back alley. 

He’d sworn to himself that he would never be that stupid, reckless kid ever again. He cleaned up his life, signing up for college and trading evenings of drinking and meaningless sex for evenings spent pouring over textbooks. To his utter surprise and astonishment, he hadn’t missed his old life even once.

“I can avoid the scars if you want,” Leah said when Sy didn’t answer, putting the cap back on the marker she was using and searching for a different color.

It wasn’t surprising that she would pick up on his discomfort after how easily she’d read his behavior earlier. It was a good thing she couldn’t read his thoughts, though, because all that was going through his mind was that he wanted to be able to tolerate her touch because he craved it. He wanted to feel her hands on him and he wanted to enjoy it.

When Sy shook his head no, Leah stood from the bunk. “I’m gonna need you to lay back for the rest of this.”

Sy shifted on the bed, tapping Aika on her flank to get her to liberate his pillow. Aika’s nails clicked on the floor as she jumped off the bunk and retreated to the burlap bag padded with old clothing that served as her bed. She spun three times before curling up and setting her head back down to finish her nap.

As he stretched out onto his back, Sy attempted to sneak a look at the drawing on his chest but the orange ink on his tanned skin blended too much for him to make any sense of the swooping lines.

“Okay, stay in a neutral position while I make the outline then you’ll be able to move and stretch out.”

“Where did you learn to draw?”

Yes, conversation was the way to go, it would pull his attention from the way her left hand brushed his chest as the marker in her right hand glided over his sternum. She’d settled on her knees on the edge of the bunk with her thigh gently leaning against his.

The scars weren’t the only thing that made Sy nervous. Too often he’d been on that very bed, imagining that it was Leah stroking his cock and not his own hand. He couldn’t even remember the last time a woman had touched him, much less a woman who’s touch he craved down to his very core. And now that woman was on his bed but he couldn’t do a damn thing about it.

“I guess I’ve always liked drawing. The fridge used to be filled with my artwork. Whenever we ran out of room my dad just swapped out the drawings and put the older one in this big binder.”

His parents used to do something similar. The mantle in his childhood home was still covered with all the awards his sisters had brought home over the years along with pictures from the twin’s graduation. Somewhere on there was a dusty picture of him in his uniform from back before his first deployment. 

“Sounds like you were your parents’ favorite.” 

“Oh, no, never. My brother was represented on the fridge too but report cards only come out a few times a year and I had like ten new drawings a week.”

As Leah spoke, her eyes never moved away from her work. Despite the intensity of her focus, her features were free of tension. It was nice to see. She so often had a frown on her face, not necessarily from being upset, simply because she was always in her head, analyzing every little detail of her surroundings.

Leah sat up, shuffling around before leaning down again only to sit back up and shift into a different position.

“You okay?”

“I can’t get a good angle for the right side.”

She continued to wiggle, her hips brushing his thigh.

“So… switch sides?”

She huffed in frustration, shaking her head. “I only need to be like six inches to the right.”

Before he thought better of it, Sy reached out, grasping Leah’s thighs and lifting her off the mattress. Leah yelped, her hands landing on Sy’s stomach to brace herself. When he lowered her back down, Leah was straddling his right.

“Don’t say anything, just… Get this over with.”

Leah hummed noncommittally, swallowing thickly before she looked down at where her warm hands were still splayed over Sy’s abdomen. She cleared her throat, quickly removing them and looking around for her fallen marker.

“Am I really that unpleasant to be around?” she said with an awkward laugh. 

Just the opposite, Sy thought.

“No, I’m just goin’ against my better judgment with all this.”

“Well, I’m sorry to inform you that this is going to take at least another few hours. If I’m going to do something bad, I’m going to do it well.”

“So now you agree that we shouldn’t be doin' this. Great.”

Leah chewed on her cheek for a moment before meeting Sy’s gaze.

“Well, if Nielsen and his guys saw us right now then I would never live it down but… I can’t say that sitting here with you is much of a hardship.”

If Nielsen saw them, they would both be out of a job. As CO and subordinate, their current position was inappropriate for so many reasons. The two of them alone in his room, her hands all over his bare chest, Sy’s cock twitching with interest in his pants.

All he would have to do was clench his quads to hopefully pull a soft moan from her lips.

Woah, settle down there cowboy.

Leah cleared her throat and turned her attention back to her work. “You know, I used to think that this would be my career one day.”

“What changed?”

“My boss at the tattoo shop suggested that I go to art and business school even if I didn’t want to go to college. He said it would do me good to be pulled out of my comfort zone and learn new skills. I tried it, for a while, but then I realized that the reason I hated my art classes would also most likely be the reason I would hate being a tattoo artist.”

There was a pause as she focused on shaping a particularly long line.

“And what was that?”

“Every assignment I had to hand in had to fit within a certain box. You have creative freedom so long as it also falls within the guidelines that you are given. It’s exactly what it’s like working in a shop. Every client you get comes in with an idea of what they want. Most of the time, you take whatever jobs you get until you have a strong enough reputation for clients to come in and let you do whatever you want.”

“So what you’re saying is that you gave up on your dream job because you don’t like people telling you what to do. Hate to break it to you, Corporal, but I think you chose the wrong backup career.”

The genuine laugh that escaped the young woman sent a wave of warmth through Sy’s chest. He was damn proud to have been the one to pull that sound from her.

“I don’t like people controlling what and when I draw. It’s not the same thing. Art is what I do to make my mind go quiet but it’s not what I want to do twenty-four seven. I can’t sit still that long. I needed a job that would allow me to move so that I could burn off all my excess energy.”

“How’s that workin’ out for ya?” Sy scoffed.

“Oh, you know, training sixteen hours a day, sleeping an average of five hours a night and the added bonus of risking my life every second I’m out here? What more could a girl ask for?”

Sy closed his eyes, relaxing back into the mattress with a smile pulling at his lips. He waited for Leah to pause before folding an arm behind his head.

“This okay?”

Leah hummed the affirmative, moving her hips lower on Sy’s thigh and folding her body down over his stomach. His eyes shot open when Leah’s breasts pressed against him. He kept his gaze firmly fixed on the ceiling, refusing to look down. The last thing he wanted was to pop a semi while her stomach was pressed against his dick and the sight of her between his legs would definitely get him there.

She had switched from tracing lines to tapping a series of little dots. It was hard to tell from feeling but if he had to take a guess, the design she’d created spanned across his chest, beginning just below his clavicles and reaching down to the tip of his sternum in the center.

“Switch arms, please.”

Sy obeyed, lowering his right arm and in doing so, the tips of his fingers brushed against Leah’s ribs. He was suddenly regretting his ‘no looking’ strategy.

They spent the rest of their time together in comfortable silence, mostly because Sy was listing the states in alphabetical order then doing the same with capital cities as a means of taking his mind off Leah’s body. Every now and then, Sy’s thumb grazed the edge of Leah’s pants. It was never firm enough to reach her thigh under the thick, loose fitting clothing, just enough to give him something to do with his hands.

Even if they had both basically admitted to being attracted to one another, he didn’t need to ask to know that Leah would never risk her career for a hookup. That wasn’t what he wanted anyway.

There was no point in finding out if Leah felt the same about him as he did for her because she deserved better. She deserved someone who could proudly be with her, not someone who had to lie, sneak around and keep her his dirty little secret. She deserved someone who could put her first, not someone who had to think of the needs of the unit above hers.

Maybe this was fate getting back at him for his past wrongdoings.

“I’m done,” she announced, sitting up and rolling her shoulders before admiring her work. “I wish I had a camera.”

“There’s one in my foot locker. I think it still works.”

The camera did indeed still work once Leah found the battery which was buried under some old books. She recognized most of the titles but there were a few she hadn’t read and she made a mental note to ask about them later.

Once Leah got a satisfactory picture, Sy was free to go find a mirror. Leah followed closely behind as he walked down the hall, anxious to hear what Sy thought of the design.

“Holy shiet.”

Sy leaned over the sink to get a closer look. Leah had drawn a moth across the span of his chest. It wasn’t as intricate as some of the work he’d seen in her sketchbook but she had still accomplished an impressive amount of detail considering she’d only used a black permanent marker for the whole thing.

“That’s good, right?”

“Yeah, that’s good.”

She’d somehow managed to work around the shape of his scars and hide them in the lines of the wings. Part of the reason he hadn’t wanted to shave was to keep them concealed—out of sight, out of mind and whatnot—but, with Leah’s design, they didn’t show at all.

“For the record, if I had to get a tattoo, I’d let ya do whatever ya wanted.”

“Don’t tempt me. I only worked at the shop long enough to learn the basics, I never graduated to tattooing humans instead of fruit.”

Sy couldn’t help but be thankful she hadn’t. If she had, she might have realized that she liked the job after all. If she had, she might never have ended up on his base except maybe on the skin of some fucker lucky enough to have gotten her undivided attention for a few hours. If she had, he might have gone his whole life believing he would never be capable of caring about anyone the way he cared for her.

Chapter 12

[thedailyjcs]

“Legalizing Ukay-Ukay in the Philippines is a good thing"

by Jerraine Sy and Jose Carlos Morata

In the current trends of Ukay-Ukay being a massive trend in not just the country but in fashion as a whole. The Philippine government has come to notice its popularity and address the import and trade of the Ukay-Ukay underground industry, and these governing bodies are now also considering making this industry legal in the country to ensure fair taxation.

To add some context, the Philippines has had a law which states simply makes Ukay-Ukay or “imported second-hand garments and goods” illegal which is Republic Act (RA) No. 4635. This law was enforced with the reason of health and hygiene concerns as well as how it could harm the economy. 

But in a recent press release, Senator Raffy Tulfo filed a Senate Bill to legalize and regulate the import and trade of Ukay-Ukay. We absolutely believe it's time to embrace buying second hand garments in these stores and legalize its trade in our nation as a supporter of progressive economic growth and individual freedom.

Contrary to popular belief, Ukay-Ukay provides many Filipinos with reasonably priced fashion options. It offers a workable alternative, particularly for people from low income. The government can implement safety through appropriate regulation. The Philippines can take similar actions to show its progressive approach and make the business safe and profitable for consumers.

Legalizing Ukay-Ukay could increase the economy by creating jobs and bringing in revenue for the government through taxes. Policymakers would like to see it as a supplementary industry that increases the retail industry rather than seeing it as a danger to local retailers.

Legalization would also make it possible for appropriate regulation, giving authorities the ability to impose tax requirements, consumer rights, and labor norms specifically for this specific industry. But ever since its origin up until now during the growing popularity of Ukay-Ukay has not been stopped by prohibition, leading to the existence of underground markets and loss of income. 

Finally, allowing Ukay-Ukay translates to consumer choice and individual freedom. Without unnecessary restrictions from the government, Filipinos can be free to choose where they buy clothes. It's time to take action and realize the potential advantages for our country of a legalized Ukay-Ukay industry.