#erika girl don’t take that from him GET HIM BACK

[toffoliravioli]

HES SUCH A LITTLE SHIT 😭

[crazyinlovewithbucky]

“don’t fill your void with me”

“Свою пустоту мною не заполняй”

Pairings: Villain!The Winter Solider!Bucky Barnes x reader

Summary: this takes place in an alternative universe where Hydra took over the world and the winter soldier killed all Avengers and he became the leader of Hydra and he’s controlling the whole world. He saw you one day and he determined you were his and he made sure of that. making you live very comfortably as his “favorite” mistress and he turns very very soft with you.

Warnings: heavy smut, some fluff (if u squint), villain bucky turns sweet, oral (f receiving), jealousy, dark themes, dark!bucky to soft!bucky, dom bucky, lots of praise + lots of praise in Russian.

This was inspired by Яд by Erika Lundmoen

please read my author note it’s very important!

AU/N: this is only part one and still working on part two. thought I’d make this only one part but it was too long I had to cut it into two parts. I need to remind you that English is not my first language so excuse any misspelling or mispronunciation of any words or any grammatical mistakes lol. Hope you enjoy this dark fantasy I had of Bucky as I was wondering how he would be still a villain. Also, this was heavily inspired by ‘Yad’ (Яд) by Erika Lundmoen, I love this song so much and it always reminds me of Bucky in his Winter solider era. Enjoy loves xx

PART 1.

You sighed before swallowing that last sip of the red wine glass that the air hostess brought you. This was already your 3rd glass. You looked through the window to the dark clouds and the night sky as you kept thinking and wondering how you get here in the first place. It was somewhat a normal Friday late afternoon, you were getting ready for the evening, and your –rich new– friends have prepared for you. They were setting you up with a blind date, they said it’s a very handsome guy who's an heir to a big industrial company. You weren’t amused that much as none of them know your secret or your secret lover.

Then you remembered him, your secret mysterious lover, who’s the reason you’re living this lavish rich lifestyle. You remembered six years ago, on the news, you were watching Captain America getting brutally killed by none other than The Winter Soldier himself. You watched the fall of this new organization of superheroes and agents called “The Avengers” and the new world order seeing light under the hands of The Winter Soldier. Hydra ruled and controlled every country in the world, including the USA. It was three years ago when you saw on the news that every leader and all the rulers of Hydra were killed and it was an inside job. The Winter Solider rebelled and killed every single one of them and he, alone, became the new Hydra leader, recruiting super soldiers and making the biggest army of super soldiers known to man.

A year ago, you were just a normal waitress girl, in a hotel restaurant, minding your own business and working just to make ends meet. You weren’t born with a silver spoon in your mouth and your upbringing was very normal and somewhat poor. Until one day your boss came and told you there will be a very important diplomatic meeting that’s happening in the hotel and he assigned you and two of your coworkers to wait on the leaders and diplomats. On this same very evening, you saw him for the first time. The Winter Solider. Bucky Barnes. Captain America’s best friend who was brainwashed by Hydra and was under control for decades. He was so charismatic, terrifying, very handsome, and absolutely dangerous. Just like a fallen angel, just like Lucifer himself. You were drawn to him at first glance until he noticed you and made eye contact with you. Your heart skipped a beat then, there was a connection between you both, you were certain of this as at first glance, you saw his face change emotion and he was staring at you.

-

“барышня, only 5 minutes till landing” You were brought back to reality from that memory train you were on by the sound of the bodyguard on your left. you nodded to him with a smile and fastened your seat belt around your hips.

Looking back at your past now made you wonder if you actually deserve to live this life or not, to go everywhere with a private plane like the one you’re in now. To live in the finest, most luxurious apartment in Brooklyn, to have rich friends and live a rich lifestyle, to attend galas and be the face of many luxury brands, all because of him, all because he liked you the first time he saw you, all because he promised you to make all your wishes and dreams come true only if you became his, all because he wanted his “favorite one” to be separate from the other women and to live like a princess whose all her dreams are granted.

In fact, you didn’t ask for any of this at all, but you loved the idea that he made all of this for you just because he thinks you’re worthy of it. In the end, you were “his favorite”.

The plane landed in the small very private airport near his mansion in Russia. you had your fur coat covering you. At least, you were dressed very fancy for the ball you were going to with your friends to meet your blind date. As you were about to leave your apartment, you were met by Bucky’s super soldiers' bodyguards at the front door of your apartment, telling you that The King wants you now. So you didn’t argue, you nodded and just took your bag and phone and left with them. This was your deal with him, him giving you whatever you want and desire in life, and you being available and there whenever he calls for you or want you. He has the plane ready for you and super soldiers protecting you and going everywhere with you, in case something goes wrong.

The guards guided you into the mansion and into Bucky’s suite which took up the whole second floor of the mansion. You walked with them till you arrived in front of the door of his office then they left you there alone. You knocked slightly.

“входить” his voice was deep and calm, you just felt butterflies in your stomach as you were very anxious and excited to see him, it’s been nearly a month since your last meeting with him and you missed him dearly. You opened the door and entered and as soon as you closed it behind you, he looked up from the pile of papers in front of him, his hair was perfectly combed, and he grew his beard, which was a very new look on him but also a very sexy one. He grinned widely as soon as his eyes met yours. “ahhh моя кукла”. he stood up from behind his desk and you walked closer to him and he moved closer to you too.

He kissed you very deeply and passionately before hugging you tightly, you hugged him back and buried your face in his neck. “Missed you so much, кукла” he whispered in your ear and kissed your neck softly.

“Missed you too, James” you smiled softly and he started to rub your back slightly.

You didn’t actually know how to address him, didn’t know if you should call him sir, king, soldier, Bucky, or James. You never actually asked, but you found James to be just perfect as you felt weirded out to call him sir or king. ‘James’ was good enough based on the relationship you both had, you were not actually lovers or boyfriend and girlfriend to be intimate and call him Bucky and yet you both weren’t platonic or had a strict respectful relationship to call him sir. so ‘James’ did the job perfectly.

At least, he didn’t complain about whatever you call him.

He removed your fur coat slowly and looked at your body and your fancy dress. “You look so beautiful,” he held your hand and spun you around to take a good look at the dress. It was a tall tight dress that hugs your curves perfectly with a very long slit on the left that shows your whole left leg from your upper thigh to your left foot. It was burgundy colored with a black sheer silk attached to it that gives the dress a matte look under lights. “did you get all dolled up for me?” he smirked at you when his eyes left your body and met your eyes.

“Well, umm-,” he leaned back on his office desk and sat on its edge and pulled you to him slowly “you didn’t give me any heads up that we were supposed to meet so I was actually going to a ball party with a bunch of friends” you looked down to your hands playing with his black suit’s blazer, trying to hide the truth that you were going on a blind date.

The thing you didn’t know about Bucky is that he is very good at reading body language and the second you broke eye contact and said that, he knew you were hiding something and that’s not the truth. But he didn’t want to confront you yet about it so he took it slowly. “Oh really?” he wrapped his arms around your waist, pulling you closer to him as your chests now touching and he has a perfect view of your boobs as it’s pushed up from the tight dress. “what kind of a ball party?” he moved his head and start kissing your neck.

“A normal one.” you bit your lower lip as his kisses now moved down to your shoulders and collarbone.

“normal one? what kind of a ball is that exactly?” he chuckled while his right hand moved down slightly and he started rubbing your left butt cheek as his kisses never stopped and his lips moved down to your chest, leaving more kisses.

“Just a normal ball party, James” you sighed, feeling more frustrated as you are getting more turned on by his touching and kisses and you feel yourself getting wetter, you can’t stand wearing your panties anymore, it’s getting more uncomfortable as you are soaked down there.

“A normal ball party where rich people gather around for whatever reason, stuffing their faces with crab cakes and drinking champagne until they’re passed out,” you said with an annoyed tone as you can’t just stand the teasing anymore.

The relationship you had with Bucky was just casual sex every now and then unless that was what you thought it was until 8 months ago, he started to show more feelings, starting saying “I miss you”, “I want you”, “you are beautiful”, “my girl”, “my favorite girl”, “my doll”, “baby girl”, but never the word “love”. He started being more romantic. Taking you on dates, of course, they were secret private dates as he was a known criminal and he shouldn’t be seen in public at all but with his power and money, he can rent or buy any restaurant or place in the world just so you both could enjoy your time and dates together.

He was very gentle with you, protecting you, getting you a big apartment in Brooklyn which was like 3 blocks away from his childhood home, he didn’t mention that at all but you knew it when you went to the Captain America museum and explored the whole room dedicated to Sargent James Buchanan Barnes, Captain America’s best friend.

You learned a lot about him, actually about the old him. Now, he’s just the winter solider, the cold blooded murderer who killed all his superiors and killed the avengers and is now running the Hydra organization and having the biggest super soldiers army in the universe.

But at least, he had a soft spot for you.

He moved his hands to the back of your thighs and lift you up, your legs wrapped quickly around his waist, which was sort of a habit as he loved picking you up like this, like his small girl. he kept looking at you and murmuring I miss yous and you look so beautiful, against your lips while kissing you and walking towards his bedroom, there was only a wall between his office and his bedroom. he opened the door, and his room wasn’t unfamiliar to you but you were just amazed every time by how big and wide it is. The ceiling is so high up and the walls are filled with paintings and mirrors.

He put you on his king-sized bed and you just laid on your back, looking at him. He smirked at you and moved his hands down your dress and took off your panties, freeing your soaked cunt from the now-uncomfortable material. “So, it was just a normal ball party with normal rich friends, huh?” he held your left ankle and pulled it up, and rested it on his shoulder. you nodded and saw him undoing the straps of your heels and taking them off. “Are you sure about that, кукла?” he gave you a very intense look and at that moment you knew that he knows you were hiding something so keeping it hidden won’t do you any good. “You know I hate it when you lie to me.” he rubbed your ankle and calf slowly, giving it a simple soft massage.

“I am not lying to you” Your tone was serious. “My friend, Emma, she set me up on a blind date with this guy,” you saw his facial expression get more tense and his hand tightened on your ankle a bit harder. “I mean, no one knows that I’m- umm, that we-… you know, together” Your tone was shaky as you started to get more anxious as his grip hardened on your ankle. “they just thought I’m single and wanted me to have a date so-..”

“So you decided to dress and doll up for a strange man, didn’t you?” he cut you off suddenly as you can see he started to get angry.

“No, they don’t know about us. No one knows. So I’m just playing the part. acting it. That’s it.” you said with a sad tone, breaking eye contact with him and looking up at the ceiling and huffing. this is truly what you felt like. Playing a part in Bucky’s world. Being nothing more than his sex doll and his mistress. You hate the fact that you wanted him and wanted to be with him forever and you just can’t handle living this lifestyle anymore. Yes, it’s a blessing but you didn’t want all of that, you didn’t ask for any of that. You just wanted him.

“Well, this dress is no good anymore. Can I tear it apart?” he put your left leg back again on the bed and pulled your other leg by the ankle and on his shoulder and removed your heels from this one too.

“Why isn’t it good anymore? I think it’s pretty.” you looked at him confused, not knowing what the dress has to do with anything.

“It is pretty but now, for me, it’s what you wore for another man’s eyes and not mine. I hate it now.” he pulled it up to your upper thighs and your legs are now bared to him.

“But what am I going to wear when I leave? Can’t just be wearing my fur coat. It’s freezing outside.” he chuckled darkly at your words and looked at you with a dark smirk on his face.

“As much as it would be so fucking hot of you to not wear anything except for a fur coat, I can get you any other dress that you want,” he grabbed the dress from its slit on your left thigh with his metal hand and ripped it open until the dress was fully ripped from the left side. “anyways, you’re staying for the whole weekend with me, I don’t want you wearing any clothes at all.” he moved up to meet your eyes and he pepper kissed your jawline. “and if you got cold, you can wear my clothes, my wardrobe is all yours, милая” he ripped and removed the dress from your body, leaving you fully naked underneath him.

you moaned slightly as his hands roamed your body, massaging and rubbing your boobs while his tongue is attacking your lips and mouth, kissing your hungrily. You opened your legs more for him, signaling to him where you wanted him the most. he removed himself from on top of you to get undressed. He removed all of his clothes and got on top of you again, kissing you passionately then starting to kiss you all over. Leaving marks and love bites all over your body, showing you who you truly belong.

“ты моя навсегда, куколка” his voice is raspy and deep, he moved his head down and kissed and sucked on your nipples, of course leaving marks and love bites on your boobs too. You were so needy for him and a part of you was glad that he was as much as needy for you as you are of him.

“James, please. I need you so bad. Please fuck me” you whined and opened your legs more for him. he pulled his head up and looked at you with nothing but pure lust in his now dark blue eyes.

“No, baby doll. No fucking. I missed you too much to just fuck you. I’m going to make love to you ‘cause you deserve this, honey. you’ve earned this.” he kissed your lips passionately but you were just startled, confused, and slightly shocked. You kept wondering why he would say such things and do such things. It’s the first time you ever see him being like this to you or talking like this to you. You were sick of these feelings you have for him and he was just toying around with them.

“You make love to someone you love, James. What we have isn’t love” You looked directly into his eyes with a concerned look on your face.

“Maybe you are right,” these words went straight to your heart and smashed it. You had a little hope he would correct you and tell you he loves you. “But tonight, just pretend that we’re in love. act it like you just said you’re acting it and playing a part.” you wondered if toying with your feelings like this was his way to punish you for what you just said about playing a part in your new life. “make me make love to you. make me show you how you’re supposed to be loved. Or at least humor me, принцесса” his mouth never left your face or your body. He couldn’t stop kissing you and leaving marks everywhere on your neck and body. You weren’t sure what his intentions were by what he just said. A little part of you hoped he meant what he was saying.

You felt his cock twitch against your thigh and felt him leaking. You couldn’t hold it any longer and you lift your hips up to meet his. Signaling to him that you need him. “I’ll give you whatever you want, just let me take my time with you first. I missed you too much” He said between breaths and kisses as he’s now moving down, kissing and leaving love bites all over your belly. “missed this belly,” he kissed your belly button. “missed my little ladies,” he grabbed your boobs with his hands as his mouth kept going down to your lower belly.

“but I missed this pretty girl the most.” you could feel his hot breath against your soaked cunt now, gushing more at the new nickname he gave to your pussy. he groaned when he saw you gushing and your slick is wetting the bed underneath you, making a mess everywhere. he looked up at you and you locked eyes with him while he slowly licked a long stripe between your folds, never breaking eye contact. This sight alone had you crying out and shutting your eyes while throwing your head back on the pillows.

Bucky kept flicking his tongue over your sensitive bud and sucking on it. He was really taking his time, he wasn’t fast or hard. He was simply just eating you out, slowly, gently, like he actually wants to taste you. You were so needy that you wanted more than that. You started pushing your hips more into his face and grinding slowly. “Greedy aren’t we, my little girl?” He got up and wiped his chain from your glistening slick with the back of his hand.

He got on top of you again and pressed his lips against yours, and you can taste yourself on his lips. he licked your bottom lip, asking for entrance and you opened your mouth happily for him, licking his tongue and tasting more of yourself. “Do you know what do you taste like?” he broke the kiss but his lips were right above yours. you shook your head slightly and bit your lips. “Like fucking peaches.” he pushed his tongue into your mouth again, kissing and licking it all over. “You taste like fucking peaches, especially your pussy.” you moaned into his mouth “You’re driving me insane, принцесса. Guess peaches are my new favorite fruit”.

He buried his face in your neck, attacking the sensitive skin again with kisses, especially that sweet spot that gets you all turned on and horny. As if you’re not going to lose your mind already from how horny you are. You could feel his tip pushing slightly on your clit and you were just a moaning mess at this point. “Ready for me, love?” he lifted his head and rested his head on your forehead, locking eyes with you.

“Always, Bucky” you whispered, his whole expression changed. his eyes widened a bit at the sound of his name slipping out of your mouth like honey. He hadn’t heard this name in so long, and you say it like this had his heart beating faster, if he wasn’t in love with you before, he believes now he is.

………………………………………………………………..

PART TWO

[poepoesstuff]

Satosugu x Reader Series - Part 1: Meeting Gojo & Geto

Notes: I’ve never written fanfiction before, so please don’t take it too seriously! I was just bored and thought about this idea because I love the concept of being in a poly relationship with Gojo and Geto—it seems like so much fun! I’m new to writing, so feedback, questions, or suggestions are totally welcome! I’m just having fun with it.

Tags:

#Satosugu #Gojo Satoru #Geto Suguru #Reader Insert #Jujutsu Kaisen #Satoru Gojo x Reader #Suguru Geto x Reader #Polyamory #Fanfiction #Jujutsu Kaisen Fanfic #Satoru Gojo x Suguru Geto #JJK Fanfiction #Gojo x Geto #Jujutsu High #Satosugu x Reader

-

You guys knew each other from high school. You came to Jujutsu High later but joined the same class as Gojo and Geto, though you were on a different team. The first person you noticed was Gojo Satoru from the Gojo Clan—a lineage you’d only heard of. His reputation and charm immediately intrigued you. However, it was Geto Suguru who ultimately stole your heart with his calm confidence.

You were introduced to the class about a year and a half before Geto’s path took a darker turn.

As Yaga steps into the class, he calls attention to you. You follow him in, and several surprised faces turn to look at you.

“This is Y/N. She’s a kunoichi from a remote village in Japan and will be attending as your classmate from now on. Y/N, introduce yourself.”

You take a breath, feeling the eyes on you, but stand confidently. “I am L/N Y/N, from the C/N Clan. As of today, I’m beginning my journey as a sorcerer at Jujutsu High. My family is known for preserving sorcery knowledge and secrets. As the new heir, I’ve come to study and hone my skills.”

You notice intrigued expressions, especially from a silver-haired boy with piercing blue eyes in the back. Shoko’s gaze also seems particularly curious. Once Yaga leaves, you take your seat and start your Jujutsu High journey. Quickly, you become friends with Shoko, who introduces you to both Gojo and Geto.

First Impressions

Gojo is thrilled to have you in class and wastes no time bringing you up with Geto.

“So,” Gojo nudges Geto with a grin, “what do you think of the new girl?”

Geto raises an eyebrow, already catching onto Gojo’s interest. “You mean Y/N? She has an interesting technique, definitely useful in a fight.”

Gojo laughs, shaking his head. “Come on, that’s not what I meant, and you know it.” He gives Geto a playful shove.

Geto smirks knowingly. “Well, if you’re asking… yes, she’s beautiful. Kinda reminds me of Erika Sawajiri.”

Gojo huffs, crossing his arms. “Right? I knew I had an eye for these things!”

Meanwhile, you feel lucky to be spending time with both of them. Missions become highlights of your training whenever you’re paired with Gojo, Geto, or both.

Gojo Satoru’s Approach to Win You Over

After Gojo admits he’s interested, he goes all out. Here’s how he tries to impress you:

1. Playful Teasing: Gojo loves to make you laugh. Expect playful remarks and witty comebacks whenever you’re around. His goal? To get you to blush.

2. Showing Off His Power: Gojo’s proud of his abilities, and he doesn’t hold back from showing off. From flashy demonstrations of his Limitless technique to skillful moves on missions, he always seems to be “casually” proving how powerful he is.

3. Grand Gestures: Gojo’s not one for small acts. If he learns about your favorite snack, he’ll buy a whole stash of it. If you’re stressed, he’ll invite you on a night adventure to see the city lights.

Continuing from where we left off with Gojo’s approach:

4. Constant Presence: Gojo wants to be around you as much as possible. He’ll always find a reason to sit next to you in class, join you on missions, or just “accidentally” bump into you between training sessions. He’s persistent and makes sure you notice him.

5. Playful Competition with Geto: Knowing Geto likes you too, Gojo can’t resist turning it into a friendly rivalry. He’ll challenge Geto to sparring matches, jokes, or even silly games to try and prove he’s the better choice for you, often with a smirk and a playful wink in your direction.

Geto Suguru’s Approach to Win You Over

Geto’s approach is more subtle, thoughtful, and grounded. Here’s how he tries to capture your heart:

1. Deep Conversations: Geto values getting to know you on a personal level. He’ll ask about your background, your clan, and your opinions on sorcery. These conversations make you feel like he genuinely cares about who you are beyond your technique.

2. Small, Thoughtful Gestures: Geto isn’t flashy but remembers the small details, like your favorite tea or if you’re having a hard day. He’ll quietly leave a comforting note or share a peaceful place he’s found on campus with you. His kindness is understated but leaves an impact.

3. Protective on Missions: Though both he and Gojo are strong, Geto takes a protective role. He’ll keep a watchful eye over you, subtly stepping in to ensure your safety without making it obvious. It’s his way of showing you’re important to him.

4. Respectful of Your Space: Unlike Gojo, Geto gives you space to make your own choices. He never pressures you to spend time with him, trusting that if you like him, you’ll come to him. This gives him a calm confidence, which contrasts with Gojo’s more in-your-face approach.

5. Gentle Rivalry with Gojo: Geto handles the “competition” in a reserved way, knowing Gojo’s personality. While Gojo’s approach is loud, Geto’s is quieter—he focuses on creating genuine moments with you that show his sincerity, confident that his authenticity will speak for itself.

Gojo and Geto were unbelievably close, and you helped them realize their feelings for each other and get together. They were six months into their relationship before they added you.

[bettyfrommars]

I'm on Fire//biker!older!Eddie x fem!artist!Reader//biker!Steve//90's au//Part 10

🚨18+Only, smut, oral (m receiving), talk of erection, size kink, swallowing, biker gang, biker!Eddie, biker!Steve, talk of drug use, threats, talk of violence, financial trouble, mention of jail, smoking cigarettes, alcohol consumption, trouble at home, co-parents!Stobin, suggested custody issues, angst, underlying fear of retaliation. Word count: 8.7k

This is mostly just a sweet lil chapter to heal some wounds, right before some old wounds start opening.

Series Masterlist

A/N: I tried to make this part completely void of angst, but alas, I did not succeed. I'm working on a summertime one shot idea for the boys to go to a bike rally with all of the shenanigans that could possibly ensue; it should be a wild one. Big love to my beta @michellecrusher for deciding that this chapter could use a touch of smut.

As always, I'm honored to be on this ride with you and look forward to any and all interactions. Comments, messages, reblogs; it all means so much to me and is what keeps this little world going ❤️‍🔥

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I'm on Fire Part 10: I got a bad desire

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Landing with your face on the puke-stained, beer dribbled carpet of the Velvet Hammer, dusted in a sprinkle of cigarette ash, was not how you wanted to start your evening. You hadn’t even realized you hit the ground until you heard Steve’s voice demanding everyone get the fuck out of his way as he parted bodies to get to you.

And then, Erika’s voice: “I don’t know what happened...she just...fell. I promise, I didn’t touch her!”

People were murmuring around you and Steve was saying your name as you started to come back to reality, taking a deep inhale, blinking back to life. He knelt and propped you up into a sitting position, and that was when the embarrassment of what had just happened began to wash over you, making you wish that a hole in the ground would swallow you up.

“Do you think you can stand?” Steve asked while his big hands found positions under your arms in preparation to lift you up. You turned your head to look at him; his wayfarer sunglasses had fallen from the top of his head to the tip of his nose, and they were about to slip off, but his concern was more with not letting you go.

“What happened?” He asked as he pulled you to your feet, taking a second to grab the sunglasses off his face and throw them on the bar. “Did someone push you?”

“Please. Get me out of here,” you begged as one of your arms went around his shoulders, and one of his hands secured itself at your waist.

He set you down on a chair in front of the employee lockers and told you he’d get someone to cover the door for him while he took you home, or he’d see if one of the girls could stop by.

With your hands between your knees and your shoulders slumped, you began to come to terms with everything as he picked up the phone in the office.

“Wait,” you stopped him. “I can’t afford to miss a day of work, Steve, I’ll be fine. Just...just give me a second to catch my breath.”

Steve understood what a hard spot that was to be in; he lived it almost every day of his life. He put the receiver back down on the cradle.

“What did that bitch say to you?” Steve asked, putting his foot up on the bench.

You shook your head. “That’s just it, she’s not a bitch,” you chewed your lip. “She just saved me from making a huge mistake. I owe her.”

Steve was on his way back out to the floor when you called to him. “Hey, does Eddie have any female friends who are redheads, that you know of? Really pretty, tattoo on her bicep? Someone he’d feel comfortable enough with to let stay at his place?”

Steve popped his knee out and put his hands on his hips, frowning. “No one that he’s...dated, I don’t think,” he rubbed his chin in thought. “But there’s Max, she’s more like a sister to us. I just tattooed her a few weeks ago. Her hair was like a bright, candy red. Why do you ask?”

You turned away from Steve and squeezed your eyes shut, a sob caught in your throat. The sudden rush of relief at so many groundbreaking realizations had your emotions on the verge of short-circuiting. Eddie still had quite a bit of explaining to do, but the tight bud of your heart was blooming like a rose in your chest once again, full of hope.

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Meanwhile, Eddie was officially going stir crazy. “I need to get out of this house,” he told Robin has he hitched through the kitchen, careful not to put too much weight on the hip was right below his wound. He was wearing his jeans unbuttoned, so they hung a bit low, bangs swept across his forehead, and one of Steve’s white wife beaters that was too small for him. The thin material exposed the tattoos on his chest and stomach, as well as the ones scattered from neck to hands. He’d spent the afternoon watching cartoons with Oliver, which was enjoyable, but relaxing and sitting still for long periods of time just wasn’t in his DNA.

Also, he wasn’t sure if it was an affect of the morphine, but he’d had another one of his nightmares early that morning, before dawn, and shouted himself awake, covered in sweat. It was the same dream that had tortured him off and on for over a decade; the one where he’s being attacked by a swarm of flesh-eating bat creatures, they’re all taking big bite out of his flesh, and he wakes up to the feeling of choking on his own blood.

“Over my dead body,” Robin challenged, moving from the stove with a wooden spoon covered in macaroni and cheese in her hand.

Eddie’s eyes traveled to the spoon and then back to her face. “That can be arranged.”

“Seriously, dude,” her shoulders sank. “Don’t make me hog tie you to the couch. I promised Astrid we’d keep an eye on you for another night.”

“I have a business to run, Rob,” he said as he hobbled over to grab his leather from the back of the one of the dining chairs. “If this were a hospital, they would’ve kicked me to the curb by now.”

Robin went back to the stove to stir the powdered cheese in with the noodles. She knew that no one could stop him if he wanted to go, and she really couldn’t blame him.

With her back to him she said, “if you end up getting some type of infection and your foot falls off, I won’t ever forgive you.”

Oliver came trotting out from the other room to say goodbye, and he raised his arms for Eddie to pick him up, which he did—and Robin glanced over just in time to see the grimace of pain flash across Eddie’s face as he settled the boy on the wrong hip at first before switching him to the other side. She shook her head, certain he would pop his stitches by the end of the day.

“Steve brought your bike up the hill,” she let him know, while she packed up some medications for him to take. “Your girlfriend is at work by now, I believe.”

Eddie’s eyes snapped to hers as he put Oliver down. “Why’d you call her that?”

“Isn’t she?” Robin challenged, raising her eyebrow. “I can tell you knew exactly who I was talking about.”

Eddie couldn’t help the smile that twitched across his lips.

----------

The Velvet Hammer was packed that night, and by the end of your shift, after very little food, no sleep, and one blackout, you were a bit wobbly on your feet. Steve had to work as security for a while longer, since there was a bachelor party in attendance that was getting a bit rowdy, but he demanded you let him walk you to your car while he had a smoke.

“So, I like Astrid,” you told him. He held out his cigarette to offer you a drag, but you declined with a wave of your hand. “What’s going on with you two?”

“Going on?” Steve put the cig to his lips with thumb and forefinger.

You adjusted your bag on your shoulder as you made room for a group of people to pass on the sidewalk. “You know what I mean,” you insisted, knowing full well that he did. “You two seemed really close last night. I was just curious.”

“Oh, I’m fuckin’ in love with her,” Steve announced with a shrug, as if it were common knowledge. “We just don’t have a conventional relationship, I guess. No one seems to understand it but us.”

You wondered, sincerely, how many women Steve had been in love with in his life. But, you could tell that there was, indeed, something special about the connection he had with Astrid. You wondered if Eddie looked at you the way Steve had looked at her last night.

Steve hung around to make sure you got in your car okay, and then you chuckled to yourself as he sauntered off, flirting with a group of women who were walking by, asking them to come by the bar and keep him company. You were about to maneuver your way out of the precarious parallel spot you were wedged in when your eyes locked on a piece of folded paper held to the windshield under one of the wipers.

At first, you thought it was ticket of some sort, like maybe you were in a no parking zone or something. But then, at closer examination, you realized it was made with blue-lined notebook paper.

It was a handwritten note.

The street was fairly busy that night with cars zooming around town, so you were cautious as you dashed out to pinch it free and pull it back into the safety of the car with you.

It was a...little paper origami duck? Or some kind of bird? You turned it around, inspecting the intricately folded parts, giggling curiously as you did so. You unfastened the delicate edges, careful not to rip it in haste. Finally, you were able to press a flat, albeit crumpled, half sheet of paper against your steering wheel, your heart shot into your throat, melting there like a fat stick of butter.

It was from Eddie:

I miss you. Come to my place so we can talk? It doesn’t matter how late.

-- E

P.S. Oliver wants to make this into a swan for you

Hopeful tears pooled at your lash line and you checked your watch; it was just after 11:30. Surely, they’d be keeping him at Steve’s for another night? But, if so, he would’ve said that and not, specifically “his place”. You tried to fold it back exactly the way it was, failed miserably, and ended up folding it in half without messing up any of the edges to place it safely in your middle console.

For a few seconds as you sat in your car with the radio on, listening to Nearly Lost You by The Screaming Trees, you wondered if you should play hard to get, if maybe rushing over to his place was not the right game to play. But really, truly, you didn’t give a shit about any of that.

You were blinking excessively and yawning, and you had this feeling like, if you rested your head back against the seat, you’d fall asleep right there in your car. But, you took a few deep breaths and patted your cheeks. You brought a can of Coke in your bag from the bar and cracked it open to guzzle some of it, thinking maybe you’d need to go home first and change? Or go straight to Eddie’s? Fall asleep in your car was still an option.

Fuck.

-----------

Earlier that day, around 5 o’clock, Eddie hissed as he dismounted his bike at the garage, clutching his side, trying to mask the spasm of pain, only to see Wayne watching him from the main garage. His uncle nodded in greeting, just wanting to make sure Eddie was okay, as he wiped his hands, and then turned around to finish what he was working on. So much of the communication they shared was silent, but understood.

He had the note in his pocket that Oliver had made into an origami animal, and he wanted to tidy up his place a bit before he did some work, just in case you did actually come over. If you didn’t, he wouldn’t blame you—it had been an especially long 24 hours. But, damn, he really needed to see you, to try and fix whatever had gone wrong, if he even could.

He still didn’t know what Charlene had done to upset you, but his mind reeled with the possibilities.

Eddie had ripped the bandage off his cheek on the way over, so there was just an angry gash there with a few stitches holding it together like a twist tie to a bunch of hammers, and he didn’t realize how much he resembled Frankenstein’s Monster until the new office assistance choked on her soda at the sight of him.

“Rough night?” She asked. Her name was Dana and she’d worked at garages before, but never for one that was affiliated with an MC.

“You could say that,” Eddie returned as he headed over to one of the metal filing cabinets to look for something.

Dana had a few “while you were out” slips of paper she had filled out with phone numbers and people who had wanted to speak with Eddie or Wayne, and she went over them with him while she chewed a red piece of gum.

She finished the last one and then, “oh, yeah, and someone called here looking for a…” she checked the piece of paper. “...Steve Harrington?”

Eddie nodded, taking something he needed out of the file before shutting the drawer. “He’s a buddy of mine. What’s the message?”

Dana scratched her head. “She didn’t say what it was about, just said that it was a personal matter,” she showed Eddie the pink piece of paper with a phone number and name on it. “Said her name was Christina? I don’t recognize the area code.”

“Could you look up Steve in the address book in that first drawer and relay the message for me? He’s in there under Dingus. I gotta run this out to the---”

Dana spelled out Dingus on the piece of paper, without questioning it, and then looked at the round clock on the wall, nervously. “Actually, I should’ve been gone a half hour ago. I need to pick up my daughter from--”

Eddie waved the papers in his hand. “Of course, I’m sorry I’ve been...distracted. Do me a favor and call him when you get in on Monday? I’m sure it can wait till then.”

The name Christina did not ring a bell at the time, but later on, he’d wish that it had.

--------

You decided to go home first to freshen up a bit, but also, you wanted to pick up the photos to show Eddie. Katie was asleep, but you made yourself some coffee and tiptoed around, wishing you had time to shower because you reeked of secondhand smoke, but then realized Eddie probably wouldn’t notice anyway.

You were nervous as you pulled into the gates of the compound; your heart was racing and your palms started to sweat. His black and chrome bike with the menacing, purple flock of bats on the tank was parked right up close to his door, and you angled your car right in next to it.

Once you turned your car off, you could hear the faint sound of music drifting down from the open window in his apartment. The song was Love You to Death by Type O Negative, and you glanced up just in time to see his shadow pull from the window, as if he’d been standing there, watching you drive up.

---------

Up in his apartment, Eddie cracked his knuckles, ignoring the fact that the skin on them was still raw and one of his fingers was probably sprained because it throbbed like a motherfucker. He wanted to make sure everything looked okay before he ran down to meet you at the front door. The TV was on mute, he’d been watching Unsolved Mysteries, but now an episode of the X-Files was starting. There were clean sheets on the bed—just in case---and he’d been on his hands and knees cleaning the bathroom for a good half hour. There was a vanilla candle burning on the nightstand, and he had lit some Nag Champa incense earlier to try and mask the fact that he’d just smoked a couple cigarettes to calm his nerves. He turned the music down a tad and wondered if Type O was too on-the-nose for such an evening, like maybe you’d think he was setting some tawdry scene, when in actuality, he listened to their music all the damn time. He had on the only pair of dark denim Levi’s he owned without holes in them, a black Faith No More shirt that had the neck and sleeves ripped off of it, and his black converse, which were a nice change from the heavy boots he always wore. He slipped his rings on and used his pinky to clean some sleep out of his eyes just before he headed down to greet you.

---------

You were just about to knock, knuckle poised in the air, when the door flew open.

“Hey,” Eddie stood there looking flushed, lips parted, dragging one hand down his stomach as his pupils dilated to take you in.

You gulped. “Hey. Is this too late? I wasn’t sure if you really meant---”

“Oh I really want you here,” Eddie stepped back, holding the door open with his body.

You were just going to walk through without making any physical contact, but then you found your body being sucked against his, as if by some gravitational pull, and you both sunk into each other. He was quick to put his arms around you, hugging you tighter, securing you to him as if your body was oxygen.

“I know we’ve got a lot to talk about,” he planted his lips on the top of your head, only removing them to speak. “I want to make it right, baby. I don’t ever want to hurt you, and I would never let anyone hurt---”

“I believe you,” you answered, moving further inside, wanting to get behind closed doors with him.

There were old, squeaky wood stairs that led up to the narrow hallway, and you held onto one of his belt loops as you followed him up, pausing so he could open the door and extend his arm for you to enter.

“So, this is where the magic happens,” you teased, taking in the open space that was bedroom, living room, and kitchen all in one. There were Iron Maiden and Slayer posters on the wall, a Harley Davidson plaque, as well as your painting, which was the first thing anyone saw when they walked in. Directly to your right was a hallway that looked like closet space and a door to a bathroom. It was a spacious, warehouse style loft with wood floors and a few round, woven rugs.

The windows...the windows were huge.

Eddie snorted at your comment, and was just about to turn around to take you into his arms again, when you bolted over to start busying yourself with lowering the curtains, starting with the window that faced the other side of the street.

“You really should keep these closed,” you told him, leaning over a table with a turntable and an 80’s style boombox. The pull did not work for the second curtain, and your frustration was mounting as you yanked at it, just as Eddie stepped over and put his hand on the cord.

“Let me do it, baby,” he met your eyes, trying to see if he could guess what had triggered such a frenzy.

While he finished dropping the blinds, you took the photos out of your bag, extending them when he turned around. You sat down at the end of the bed and watched his face as he slipped the contents out of the manila envelope to look at them.

He glanced at you a few times as he flipped through the photos, and his expression ebbed from confusion to anger and back again.

Eddie was shaking his head, hair hanging down, his strong fingers curling as if he wanted to crumple them up. “These aren’t...this is not what it looks like,” his eyes searched yours.

“I know,” you looked down, biting your top lip with your bottom teeth. “Erica told me you were set up. And Steve told me about...your other friend.”

The muscles in Eddie’s jaw tensed, teeth grinding, as his eyes narrowed on the window where most of the photos had been taken from. “Some fucker has been watching me this whole time?” The irrational part of Eddie wondered if the guy was over there, somewhere in the abandoned building, right at that moment. Maybe he should go over and introduce himself, possibly break the guys face with his own camera. Break his hands and throw him out the third story window while he was at it.

The photos were starting to make Eddie feel sick with rage, so he put them back in the envelope. Your bloodshot eyes fluttered and he could see how tired you were.

“Who would do this?” You asked, earnestly. “More importantly, why would they do it? I haven’t been here long enough to make enemies. Not of this caliber, anyway.”

Eddie put the envelope on top of the kitchen counter and sat down next to you on the bed with a heavy sigh. He had his hands resting on his knees, but then he took a chance and slid one arm over to interlace his fingers with yours, and you let him. He squeezed your hand. “It’s a long story, but a while back I made a mistake and got involved with this woman who--”

“Charlene Gregson?” She’d always been at the top of your list for someone who would have the motive for something so unnecessarily heinous.

“That’s the one,” he brought your hand over across his leg. “That’s where I went last night, to try and stop her, I suppose. I guess I wasn’t thinking clearly.”

That made a laugh bubble out of your chest for some reason. “What was your plan? Crash through her gates on your motorcycle on a cloud of smoke and seek vengeance?”

Eddie shrugged his shoulders. “Hey, it always works out in the movies.”

You giggled and pulled away, but then he tugged you back, and you were still smiling as he scooped his hand around your cheek and pulled you in for a kiss, little hiccups of laughter erupting between kisses tongues slipping in ever so gently; Mulder and Scully having a conversation on the TV in the background. You held onto his wrist, sinking deeper into the yearning that you always felt for him, pulling back only to rub the tips of your noses together, lips grazing.

“Stay here with me tonight?” Eddie whispered, pressing his forehead to yours. “I want to hold you.”

You were sure, you were almost positive, that you had just fallen asleep for a second while he was talking, and you blinked hard just as he lifted his eyes to meet yours.

“But I stink, I smell like the Velvet Hammer. I didn’t have a chance to shower,” you mewed, feeling your body slump further into hibernation mode as the adrenaline from the past two days wore off.

“You don’t stink,” Eddie assured you. “You can sleep in one of my shirts, and you can use my toothbrush, if you don’t mind my germs.” He had your hand in his and was holding it to his chest as he watched your face.

“I figured you’d have plenty of extra toothbrushes here for all of the copious amounts of women who sleep over,” your exhaustion was making you feisty.

Eddie gave an exaggerated sigh. “Well, I do have a few extras for emergencies. But I’ve never offered up my own personal toothbrush before.”

“Goodbye,” you chirped, standing up, ready to leave.

But Eddie chuckled and caught you around the waist, throwing you down on the bed next to him with a bounce and a grunt.

You were doing a poor job of stiffing your own laughter as you tried to keep a serious face, but then he moved to crawl on top of you and you watched his face seize in pain. He stiffened and put his hand over the area where his knife wound was, easing himself onto his back. While Eddie silently prayed that he hadn’t ripped his stitches, you went around the side of the bed to click the lamp off. You turned the TV off too; the music was on low, but that you didn’t mind.

“We are quite a pair tonight,” Eddie mumbled from the bed, slightly incapacitated, as he watched you moved around his apartment.

You loved the idea of sleeping in one of his shirts and hygiene and all that jazz, but in that moment—you weren’t sure you could last another second. Your lids were heavy and your conversation skills were at an all time low. With rubbery limbs, you climbed on the dark blue comforter of his bed and curled against him, making sure it was the side he hadn’t been stabbed on. Flat on his back, Eddie’s eyes never left you, and he was ready with his arm high and outstretched for your head to make a pillow out of his shoulder.

“I can’t keep my eyes open for another second,” you yawned. You grabbed his chest to pull yourself closer, like he was a pillow, and he kissed your forehead.

You kissed the gash on his cheek, nuzzling the hair just above his ear, planting more kisses as you went. Eddie felt his cock spring to life in his jeans and he was too exhausted to do anything about it. You cupped your hand on the side of his neck, kissed the corner of his mouth, and then finally let your cheek fall to his shoulder with a flop.

Eddie took hold of your leg at the crook of your knee to pull it across his hips, needing to feel your weight, not wanting to let you get away. He closed his eyes, drowning in the feel of your soft puffs of breath on his neck, your chest moving up and down on his arm. He planted his lips to your head again, giving a few audible smooches before he rested his torn cheek lightly against you.

He wrapped his arm around tighter, bringing you closer. “You know, Robin called you my girlfriend today,” he admitted, a low laugh rumbling from his chest.

The only response you could manage was, “mmmpfm?”

The stubble of his jaw grazed your forehead as he contemplated what he was about to say. He’d just been stabbed, and it made him consider his mortality, and the time he had left.

“I was thinking,” he breathed. “If you like the sound of that, maybe we could, make it official? That is, if you could ever see yourself having a dirtbag like me as a boyfriend.”

Your body had gone limp and, in the following seconds while he waited for a response, he heard a soft whistle in your nose and a snore catch in the back of your throat. A few drops of drool started pooling from the side of your mouth and made a wet spot on his shirt.

Eddie chuckled, peeking down at you, but trying not to move too much, not realizing he was about to drift off to sleep as well.

-----------

You weren’t sure what time it was when your head rolled off of Eddie’s shoulder, jerking you awake, but it was dark outside, and you were still in the same position you were when you passed out: hand loosely cupping his neck, and your leg stretched across his hips. His head had rolled to the side, away from you, full lips parted, and the blue glow from the stereo cast a moody light on his skin, making his cheek wound look like something out of science fiction.

Still half asleep, you kissed the exposed muscles of his throat, right at the spot where the dark lines from his back tattoo came up across his neck, and your hand slid down his chest; you didn’t have a plan, you just wanted to feel him. His breathing was steady and shallow, eyeballs dancing under his lids. Your hand met with the top of his jeans, and then your eyes widened at the bulge that was causing a huge gap from skin to denim.

You slid your leg off of him, letting your hand move down a bit further, and your hand had to widen over his clothing to pass over the expanse of his arousal there.

Without even realizing it, you had started thrusting your hips against him, working your core against his hip, and then you lifted up to kiss his chin, aching to find his mouth with yours. You’d gone over to his place with every intention of being intimate with him, and nature had intervened with other plans, but you still wanted him to know how bad you wanted him, how much you craved him every second of the day.

Eddie groaned awake to return your kiss, and one of his hands grabbed your face. “Who is this greedy girl?” He mumbled against your mouth, his eyes droopy.

You straddled him, keeping your knees low, at his thighs, careful not to hit his wound. You started to move your core up and down along the bulge under his jeans, and then you leaned forward to brush your lips against his as you spoke. “You’re so hard, let me take care of it.”

Eddie whimpered a little in the back of his throat. “You can take whatever you want, baby,” and then a visible shiver ran through his body at the mere thought of your mouth on his cock.

You inched your way down, sucking hickeys into the dark tattoos spread across his stomach and chest, avoiding the medical tape from his bandage. Eddie moaned and threw his head back as you licked along the inside of his hip, unzipping his jeans to pull them down.

No boxers underneath, his huge cock sprang free, and the sight of the pre-cum already dripping from the pink tip made your mouth water. Eddie bit his lip while he watched you from under hooded eyes as you took control, pulled his jeans down further, and straddled his leg.

You bent over, and kept eye contact with him as you licked all the way down the shaft, and then wet the tip with your mouth, flicking your tongue along the slit, cleaning up his primal release.

Eddie pupils were blown, his lips parted as he watched.

“Whose cock is this?” You asked, teasing the tip with your wet mouth, planting hungry kisses down his shaft.

Eddie choked a little in the back of his throat. “It’s—it’s yours baby.”

He was already rock hard—throbbing, even---and your core flowered open beneath your clothes, soaking your underwear to the point that you actually had to reach down and touch yourself as you sucked him. Eddie noticed this and it made him mumble, “fuckbabyfuck,” as his leg squirmed, digging his heel into the bed.

You worked the tip of his cock with your hand while you sucked one of his balls into your mouth, and you couldn’t help but smile a little at how crazy it was making him.

Somehow, between sleeping on someone else’s couch and working, Eddie had neglected to jerk off recently, and so he was about to….

“Fuck, baby, right there,” he hissed, bucking his hips. “You’re gonna make me…”

You went back to work, gripping him with hand and mouth in tandem, lips stretching to take all of him, eyes watering, swallowing his tip in the back of your throat every so often, as he watched you with a furrowed brow, cursing under his breath.

Suddenly, his breath started to hitch, and the fingers of one of his hands dug into the comforter. “Fuck, I’m gonna cum baby...if you want it...like that…”

He was warning you as if you’d pull your mouth off and jerk him the rest of the way, but you wanted all of it in your mouth. You moaned as you sucked at the tip, pulling the orgasm out of him, saliva dripping down his balls.

Eddie let out a whimper and his leg jerked just before he stilled, and you tasted the salty sweetness of his warm cum shoot into the back of your throat in bursts. You drank his spend like his dick was a straw, throat busy swallowing every drop, moaning as you did so. You milked the tip for all he could give you, and then you cleaned him up with your greedy tongue, planting kisses on his cock when he was done with his release.

Eddie stared at the ceiling, slightly shook. “How are you so good at that?”

You sighed a quick laugh, licking your lips, as you made your way to the bathroom to finally brush your teeth. When you came back out, he was already asleep.

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

As your eyes opened and adjusted to a sliver of buttery light peeking in from the curtain, your mind put you in several places. First, you were in your childhood bedroom, feeling like you needed to get up and ready for school, and then you were in the more recent bed in the house you shared with Katie. But, then the Iron Maiden poster came into focus and you were slammed with the realization that you had passed out in Eddie’s bed and it was already morning. Your intention had been to take a nap for an hour or two, but now you were alert to the idea that Eddie might still be somewhere in the room.

You remembered falling asleep on Eddie’s shoulder, waking up hungry for his cock, but now you were facing in the other direction, there was a blanket over you, and someone had taken your shoes off. It was Sunday, so the garage was closed, but you could still hear voices down below and the sound of a car engine revving. You reached your hand behind you to pat the bed, but only found an empty space; either Eddie was in the bathroom or he had already gone downstairs to start his day. God, what time was it?

You rolled over to crawl across the bed to look at the digital alarm clock, inhaling the smell from Eddie’s pillow as you went, and choked a little when you saw it was almost 9:30.

“Holy shit,” you mumbled, throwing the cover off of your body. You couldn’t remember the last time you slept in for that long. A fear that you’d be late for work gripped you, but then you were reminded that you were no longer the director of a gallery, and your new job didn’t start until cocktail hour.

You found your shoes tucked neatly against the sofa, and on the kitchen counter in front of the coffee pot was a note propped up like a little tent with your name on it.

I had to run a tow.

I hope you’re here when I get back.

Thank you for taking it like a good girl last night.

-- E

Eddie and his little notes. You grinned as you folded it up and put it in your pocket, because of course you’d be saving any note he ever left you till the end of time.

It was then that a heavy fist started pounding on the door down below. “Helloooo? Anyone? What the hell do I gotta do to get some service around here?”

----------

Even though the mechanics were all off that day, the towing business was a 24 hour thing. There was another Coffin King named Lou who was usually able to cover some nights and weekends, but when Eddie found himself stuck with a pickup at the worst possible time, he tried to focus on the money and be grateful for it.

He’d considered waking you up to see if you wanted to go with him, but you were sleeping so peacefully, he didn’t have the heart to disturb you. He woke up with his cock so achingly hard thinking about what you did to him in the middle of the night, that he had to jerk off as quietly as possible in the shower that morning. He was sure you’d heard the grunt he barked when he came, thinking about filling you up, listening to you tell him how deep you wanted all of him inside of you.

The last time he went this long without having intercourse with a girl that he had feelings for was maybe his freshman year in high school. The crazy thing was, he was enjoying the feeling of waiting and making it special; even though the holding out part was totally accidental, and he would’ve jumped at the chance to bury himself inside you that very first night you met.

But the way you took care of him last night, holy shit: he couldn’t stop thinking about it. He couldn’t tell if he had really found the Holy Grail of women, or if his feelings for you had made it as intense as it was; possibly a bit of both. He was seized with memories of your mouth on him off and on while he was on the job, and he’d have to slyly adjust himself in his jeans. He couldn’t wait to get back to you.

He started to whistle as he rounded the corner to re-enter the compound, hoping that your car was still there, hoping that he could….

But he spotted a different car in the lot right next to yours that hadn’t been there before, and you were coming out from out of the garage with your hand shielding your eyes, looking deeply concerned.

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

You considered just letting whoever it was keep on knocking, but at one point, the person yelled: “Eddie! I know you’re here! Don’t make me take your bike for a spin around the block!”

And so, you put your shoes on and went down, wholly unprepared for what you would find.

There were two smiling faces practically pressed up against the glass of the main door as you descended the stairs. One was a guy with a mop of brown curls, and the woman with him had beautiful olive skin, black hair, and wore glasses. They both waved enthusiastically, happy to finally be acknowledged.

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

“What the hell, Henderson?” Eddie parked the tow truck and jumped down, wallet chain flapping against his jeans. Eddie waved to you across the way, as his mouth opened into a toothy grin, exposing actual cheek dimples, that you’d maybe only seen him wear once or twice.

“If it isn’t the Dungeon Master!” Dustin came toward him with his arms out. “What the hell is up with you and Steve? You’re the two hardest losers to find!”

They hugged, and then Eddie tousled Dustin’s hair, mussing it up. “You haven’t changed a bit, you little goblin.”

Next to you, under the shade of the awning was a very pregnant Suzie, who you’d also just met. She was in a purple floral dress with a white collar, and you’d pulled a chair around for her to have a seat.

“I love to see my Dusty Buns happy again,” she said, passing her hand over the globe of her belly as you both watched the two men embrace. “We should’ve moved back sooner, but life just got away from us.”

“How do you all know each other?” You were just barely able to introduce yourself before Eddie pulled up, and so you had no idea how close the gang was.

“I’m surprised the boys never mentioned Dustin to you? They went to high school together; they’re all really close. Steve is basically Dustin’s surrogate father,” she giggled, lifting her sweet moon-shaped face to you in a soft smile.

You did feel a little self-conscious about not knowing, but there was a good reason for it. “Well, I’m...Eddie and I are…kind of a new thing.” But then you remembered that you did know a little bit about one of their old friends. “They’ve mentioned Max to me. I guess she visited a couple days ago? I didn’t get to meet her though.”

“Maxine is a riot!” Suzie exclaimed. “You’ll get you meet her and Lucas when the baby is born. They said they wanted to be here for the actual birth, but who can really tell when that will be? I’m due in a week, but I was born two weeks early, and my sister’s newest baby was born almost a month late,” her eyes got glossy. “Boy, I really can’t imagine holding this baby in for another hour, let alone another month.”

Eddie had his arm around Dustin’s shoulders as they approached, and he gave him a playful knuckle rub to the head before they parted.

Eddie greeted Suzie, and she went to stand up to hug him, but Eddie quickly bent over and kissed her on the cheek so that she wouldn’t have to move. He swallowed as he took in the enormous state of her pregnant belly. “Shouldn’t you be...resting? Is it too hot out here? Should we go inside? Are you comfortable in that chair?”

Suzie laughed. “My god, Eddie, you’re as bad as Dustin. I’m fine, I promise. I’m trying to shake this baby loose; this little person has rented out my womb for long enough.”

Eddie met your eyes and kissed you on the lips before he put his arm around you and pulled you against him.

It was the wrong side, again, and he winced.

Dustin noticed the look of pain. “What the hell happened to you?”

“He got stabbed,” you volunteered with a sheepish look on your face, tilting your head to Eddie’s shoulder.

“Oh, of course he did,” Dustin said, his mouth wide. “What else would Eddie or Steve be doing on the weekends besides mortal combat?”

Suzie looked concerned, but Eddie assured the group that he was fine. He looked you in the face as he said: “So, did you two get to meet my girl?”

Your cheeks got warm, and you ran your hand up and down his back.

“Only briefly, before you rudely interrupted,” Dustin let him know, moving behind Suzie’s chair to put his hands on her shoulders. Dustin had been worried for a while there that Eddie would never move on from his ex, and that he would always be in a dark head space in regards to romance, and so seeing him with you made his heart feel light.

“You see Steve yet?” Eddie asked. “He’ll be pissed you didn’t come to see him first.”

“Um, not like we didn’t tryyyy,” Dustin raised both eyebrows. “No one was at the house and the tattoo shop wasn’t open yet. I talked to him on the phone a few weeks ago, but we weren’t sure when we’d be in town.”

Eddie thought about that for a second. It was very odd for neither one of them to be home, especially on a Sunday morning. But, there was a chance Robin took Oliver to a shift at work with her and Steve had spent the night at Astrid’s, depending on how early Dustin had popped by.

“I’ll find him,” Eddie assured them both. “Are you staying at your moms house.”

“Hell no,” Dustin responded almost too quickly. “I mean, I love my mother, don’t get me wrong, but she’s been driving us up the wall lately. We’re renting a house a few blocks away from her until everything is finalized at our new place.”

They all made a plan to meet up as soon as they could figure out where Steve and Robin were, and once they were gone, Eddie turned to you, cupping your neck to pull you against him.

“Is it okay that I introduced you as my girl?” He stroked his thumb across your chin as he asked it, chocolate eyes unsure if they should meet your gaze or watch your mouth.

You lifted up to brush your lips across his, tongue peeking out only slightly, making him groan a little. You searched his eyes, wrapping your arms around his shoulders. “Is that what I am?”

Eddie put his hands on your lower back and brought his head back, wanting to see your whole face. “You tell me. I wanna hear it. Are you my girl?”

You were nodding yes before he even finished. “I’ve been your girl for a long time now, silly boy.”

“Yeah?” Eddie breathed in a chuckle, his cock growing as he met your sweet, eager mouth. He paused only to admit, “I’ve wanted you to be mine since that first day we met.”

----------

Of all the places Steve had hoped to wake up on Sunday morning, a jail cell was not one of them.

He made bail, and Robin was there to pick him up, giving him a dirty look as she did so. He had his sunglasses on, his Coffin Kings cut in his hand, and a cigarette bobbing between his lips as he got into the passenger seat and shut the door. The “seek and destroy” tat on the side of his neck displayed loud and proud.

“Nice shiner,” Robin said under her breath.

“Yeah, well, you should see the other guy,” Steve said, cupping his hands to light his smoke. His black eye was the only visible mark on him, but the dude he had a tussle with had gone to town on Steve’s ribs, and there would definitely be bruises there.

She made a face as she backed out of the parking spot. “You smell like vomit.”

He ignored her observation. “Where’s Ollie?”

“I dropped him at Astrid’s,” she said as she pulled her own sunglasses down from the top of her head to cover her eyes. “I didn’t want him to see this.”

“Why are you acting like this was all my fault?” Steve blanched, flicking ash out the window as they turned out of the courthouse, Somebody to Shove by Soul Asylum playing on the radio. “You don’t even know what happened.”

“I don’t have to know, Steve, that’s the point,” she barked. Her frustration with him was also mixed with a generous amount of worry. “When are you going to grow up and start walking away from danger instead of headlong into it every chance you get?”

“Oh I get it,” Steve said sarcastically. “So, you don’t care that Tina is back in town, and this had everything to do with her?”

Robin hit the breaks and turned to him so fast, a chunk of her hair stuck to her bottom lip. “What do you mean Tina is back in town?”

“Now you care?” He tapped his knee as he took another drag.

Robin felt like she forgot how to breathe, so she pulled over to park haphazardly along the sidewalk at an angle.

She turned the car off but left the air on. “You know how I feel about Tina, but please tell me you didn’t hit her.”

“Oh, fucking of course not,” Steve balked, snapping his head to look at her. He gestured to his black eye with the two fingers holding his cigarette, “this was courtesy of her new fiance. I think they were both on crack. They were waiting for me when I left work last night. Now, all of a sudden, out of the goddamn blue, Tina wants to see Oliver.”

Robin was shaking her head, gripping the steering wheel. “No, no, absolutely not,” she said, definitively. “She disappeared when he was 3 months old. No. There’s no way. She’s a drug addict, she’s a narcissist, no. Not a chance in hell.”

“I know, Rob, believe me. It’s not going to happen, okay?” Steve assured her with a wave of his hand. “At least not until she cleans her life up.”

Christina, Oliver’s biological mother, didn’t have a nurturing bone in her body, and never wanted anything to do with her son, but the fear had always been in the back of his head that one day she’d pop up like a mean, STD rash.

Robin felt her eyes getting moist and she wiped at her cheeks angrily. “Where are her and her fleabag fiance now?”

“Oh I put that scumbag in the hospital so hard,” Steve threw the rest of his cigarette out the window and licked his lips. “He’s lucky I didn’t put him in a grave. I’m sure Tina’s already changed her mind, you know how fickle and selfish she is. They were most likely on a bender and thought they’d come through town and fuck with us. They’re probably on their way back to Memphis by now. I don’t want you to worry about it, okay?”

Robin swallowed a few times, trying to allow him to comfort her. She never expected or intended to fall into this roll and be a mother to Steve’s son. But, it happened. Oliver was their son now, and she loved him as much as if he had grown in her womb. And, she would fight to keep him safe with the same level of conviction.

Steve sniffed and adjusted himself in his seat. “Thank you for bailing me out, by the way.”

Robin snorted as she started the car. “Dingus, I could barely afford the gas to drive over here, and you think I had the cash to bail you out? Get real.”

Steve frowned. “Who was it, then? They said I made bail. Otherwise, I’d still be rotting in there.”

“I assumed it was Astrid? Or Eddie?”

Steve shook his head. “Eddie doesn’t know, and Astrid is in the same financial hole we are.”

Robin put the car in drive but kept the break on. “Well, who was it then?” She posed the question as both of them searched their collective data bank memories for a close friend nearby who had more than two pennies to rub together, or something valuable to use as collateral.

Hours later, they still couldn’t think of anyone.

----------

You left Eddie reluctantly so that he could go look for Steve, and you could take a long awaited shower and throw your nicotine-saturated clothes in the wash. The business card with John Gregson’s email, phone number, and private extension was on your dresser, and you stopped to pick it up as you walked across the room. You meant to bring up the situation to Eddie, but the timing was never right. Was John trying to mess with you in the same way his wife wanted to mess with Eddie? You didn’t get a bad feeling from him, but now, after everything with the photos and Charlene paying people off, you weren’t sure.

A voice inside whispered that John could be an ally if you impressed him, and he had the notion to take you under his wing. John was the one with all the power at the end of the day, and if Charlene could play with fire, well then, so could you.

You decided to give him a call first thing Monday, and hopefully make a consultation appointment with him to get a taste for what type of art piece would suit his tastes and needs. You wondered if it was for his office or home? If it was a piece for his personal space at home, would you bump into Charlene while you were there, commiserating with her husband? The idea of getting under Charlene’s skin and making her sweat a little scratched an itch in you that you had not been able to reach for a while.

---------

Part 11

Eddie after reader is done with him image courtesy of @tenthmoon

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It's so damn cool that some of you have made it this far and continue to want to know what goes on with reader and our boys! It warms my heart in a way I'm having trouble expressing in words xoxo

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Taglist for my other Hell's Belles and Coffin Kings ❤️‍🔥 @texasblues @sidthedollface2 @hideoutside @lilpotatobean2 @dandelionnfluff @munsons-mayhem28 @eddiemunson95 @tlclick73 @clincallyonline17 @kelsiegrin @stylesxmunson @nope-thanks @lofaewrites @layla-loves-ed @seventhlevelofhell @corrodedcoffincumslut @whatwedontdointheshadows @falling-solar-system @miarosso @kurdtbean @micheledawn1975 @lma1986 @emxcast @secretdryrose @bexreadstoomuch @ms1oftheboys @dream-a-little-nightmare @hellv1ra @manicmagicmayhem @etherealglimmer @unfocused81 @notsobubblybaby @trufflshuffle12 @aysheashea @leilalaufeyson02 @ireidsmut @trixyvixx @tenthmoon

[dragonfly0808]

So I just rewatched Barbie The Princess and the Pauper and HOLY SHIT that movie has no right to still be that fucking good, I need to rant.

As a musical lover, this was perfection. Like, every single song was a Bop?!

Free is the perfect beginning to the movie, we see the POV’s from Anneliese and Erika and how, while they both long for their respective version of freedom, they understand their responsabilities and why they just can’t be as free as they’d like to be.

Then… How Could I Refuse? May be my new fave villain song holy shit, no wonder it got a reprise. I love the villain, he’s the perfect amount of ridiculous but also low-key competent.

I Am A Girl Like You. This is lit the only real interaction between Erika and Anneliese but it was just so wholesome and so perfect and just *squeals* I love it. They just click as besties.

To Be a Princess. Julian and Erika are the real besties of this movie, no I will not be taking criticism. Also, Julian’s voice cracking in the middle of admiring and simping for Anneliese was comedy gold. They’re just the best together.

The Cat’s Meow. This had no right to be this fucking good. THIS IS A SONG ABOUT A CAT THAT BARKS WHY THE FUCK WAS I ON THE VERGE OF TEARS?! Also, Dominick is just… the best King he’s just… ugh I love him. And Barky is just… I love him so much.

If You Love Me For Me. I can’t believe Erika and Dominick invented romance. Like, I ship Julian and Anneliese, they’re cute, but Erika and Dominick stole the show, I’ll explain more later.

Now:

Anneliese, I love Anneliese… that’s kinda it. I feel like she didn’t get enough time to shine for me. Don’t get me wrong, I love her scenes, especially watching her be a science girlie and outsmart everyone were great, but I don’t feel that strongly about her. I like her, she’s awesome, that’s it.

Erika, I fucking love Erika. She’s just so… fun? Like, she has a good backstory and motivations, she has big dreams that she refuses to let go of but she’s also just so selfless, like, she knows she could get in huge trouble for pretending to be Anneliese but still does it cause she thinks it’s the right thing to do. Idk, I just adore her.

Julian and Dominick, I love Julian, he’s just a goofy, hopeless romantic. I love his bond with Anneliese and that he’s also pretty smart, if a bit more impulsive than Anneliese. And Dominick, DOMINICK, I know that he has very few scenes but Idk how to explain just how much he just steals the show for me. He’s just best boy.

Julian and Anneliese are so cute, they just make sense. I love that they both just kinda… already knew that they were in love but just didn’t say anything due to her status. But they’d do anything for each other and I am here for it.

Erika and Dominick… they have my heart. They’re more of, almost love at first sight, they have an instant connection and it’s just adorable. But what I love the most about them is that when everything is over and Erika’s debt is paid, she knows that she can’t just marry Dominick, she wants to finally live her dream. And Dominick understand this and just asks her to think about coming back some day.

Gives her an engagement ring, “No promises?” “I’ll take my chances.” SOMEBODY SEDATE ME

And AFTER living her dream, Erika does come back to him and it’s just… AAAAAAHHHHHHH

But yeah anyways… I loved it just as much (if not more) than when I was a kid.

Also, the animated bloopers continue to be iconic. Erika’s phone ringing int he middle of a romantic scene? Amazing. Julian randomly dance breaking in the middle of To Be a Princess? Defined my childhood

[tatiejosie]

nassor timeline you say 👀 and meaning of earwig 👀 (jtm)

||| meaning of Earwig - I'm almost done sketching out this comic!! It's an important project for me, so I've been taking my time to be in the right headspace for it! I can't wait to share this 💝

Bella actively supports Aya/Erika's choice of changing her legal name. Mandrake doesn't take any sides as he doesn't have a preference - but he is somewhat cautious about having to hear that word so regularly. Bella confesses that she also feels weird about it. They talk. Kind of angsty, but it's overall a very vanilla hurt/comfort thing.

M "Are you not… wary of this, though?" Bella looks somber. She has a somewhat pained smile. B "Of bringing Earwig back in the household’s vernacular? In a way that would make it almost impossible to avoid if it ever gets uncomfortable?" M "…" Bella looks down with a vague smile. M "I wouldn’t expect this to be easy for you either. I just… wondered how you were feeling about this. About… About “Earwig”." Mandrake waits for her response, watching as she stays quiet for a moment, her face  concealed by her curls. Eventually, she speaks up, not looking at him. B "… It still feels sore."

~

B "I don’t mind. She ended up being a good apprentice. And well…" Bella looks a bit bashful. B "Turns out, it feels pretty nice to have someone looking up to you. Heh." Pause. B "I never thought that I’d ever get to drum in front of another person again." B "It felt nice… Reconnecting with the past." M "…"  M "… I never expected us to play together ever again." They both look conflicted and embarrassed. They have a lot to say. M "I... missed that." B "And I missed you."

~

(B) "It was simple at first. It used to be about music, magic. About her and the coven, about us. It meant whatever we were supposed to be. Then it meant betrayal. What we could have been. But we allowed this to break us apart and make us miserable." Bella looks up at Earwig in the distance. (B) "She saved me from this. Saved us, I think. Earwig doesn’t have to be the past anymore  - it can be her instead."

Aaand that's enough!

||| Nassor timeline - it's the general script dump for that FrankenNassor AU I never finished! But I've got some doodled comics about it, I'll post all of them very soon. In the meantime, here are a few panels.

As a reminder, Nassor dies and Toshiaki brings him back to life using Victor's method. He now has to deal with a living corpse.

It's a bit chaotic because I just sketched these before sleep and it was like 2 years ago?? Nassor has somewhat of an unique connection to Sparky after his reanimation. Toshiaki decided to spill the beans to Weird Girl, but he did not intend to let Victor see what he has done.

Thank you for asking!!!! jtm jtm

[joe9cool]

Collide-Justin Herbert-26

A/N: I do not know or associate The Chargers or anyone affiliated with them. This is fanfiction. Also you do not have permission to copy or post my work anywhere else. Thank you

Abu Dhabi was an interesting place. 

Sara met her team on the plane and they began the long flight. Everything had been cleared by security and their visa's were approved. That was the nice thing about having a manager and assistant.

When they arrived. It was early morning, and while normally they would have time to settle in, Sara was rushed to the set where she had an introduction to everyone. (She hugged Timothee hard) then the director came and asked her if she had any questions about the script. He wanted her to go over a bit with Austin Butler. She had to laugh when he came to her trailer to introduce himself to her and Erika, as her best friend was trying hard to keep her cool.

They went over their lines before they were called to do some testing photos for promotion. The movie's pr team wanted them to give the appearance of a family friendly set. As Sara and Austin spoke, Timothee joined them, as the set photographer took photos for them to post on their social media.

Then it was a dress rehearsal to make sure Sara's costumes fit. Since she was going to be playing a princess, her outfits ranged from simple and elegant, as well as regal and extravagant. Some minor alterations had to be fixed as Sara's training for the fashion show made her body more toned.

In between fittings, Sara was flipping back and forth between the script and trying to figure out when the game vs the Broncos would be on. It was going to be difficult, but Sara was determined to make it work. She remembered to message Justin that she landed, however it was probably late in Los Angeles, so he wouldn't see it until she was probably asleep.

This was going to be a test of their relationship.

—--------------------------------------------------------------------

Message from anon: Did you see this post? From deumoxi instagram 

Blind item: big time Hollywood actress from steel city is involved with an NFL quarterback in California. Wonder how her business focused family is taking this?

I think Sara Wozniak is seeing Justin, or at least there is/was something going on. They both follow each other, have the same group of friends.

Answer: Jeez anon, we've talked about it. It's a follow, all evidence we've seen has linked him to Taylor. As a matter of fact Taylor just posted she's rooting for the Chargers.

Anon: oh my god let it go. He's not seeing Sara, she isn't his type. She's obnoxious and fame seeking.

Answer: I can see her not being his type, but I don't get the fame seeking? She stays pretty lowkey compared to another ex of his. 

Anon: the fact that everyone treats this as another girl. She's SARA WOZNIAK, Oscar nominated, funny, smart woman. She has tons of friends, is a social butterfly. She does tons of charity work. She is wayyyy out of his league. She doesn't want a homebody, twenty four year old fuckboy. Her ex is Harry Styles, talk about a downgrade if she was with Justin.

Answer: . That's all I'm going to say.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------

Sara was exhausted.

It was 1:40am and she was in her hotel room watching the game. She got back from another long day of filming. They were doing the difficult scenes first. So it was physically and mentally tough on her. She got back to her trailer at 11pm, closed her eyes for an hour, and then got up to eat a snack and turn on the game on her phone.

She still wanted to support the guys, even though in her personal opinion it was stupid to play the starters when they really had nothing to play for. Justin didn't like hearing that, but it's true.

So far seeing Mike carted off and Joey limping, Sara shook her head. She liked Staley, but she could understand the fans frustration with him. Joe had no problem expressing his anger while she was texting him. She was fighting off sleep, even though she would regret it when her alarm went off in a few hours.

The game was now tied and she was upset that Justin was still playing. Why would you risk getting your star quarterback injured? It was probably Justin’s doing as well, the man was committed to football and didn't want to go off the field for nothing, even during injury.

Even millions or miles away she wanted to kill her boyfriend.

She dozed off somewhere during halftime. Her alarm woke her up and the knock of the door signaling the driver was there to take her to the set. In a hurry, she got up and jumped in the shower. Running around, she managed to get to the set on time for hair and makeup. Her phone was dead, so she handed it to Erika to charge.

Unfortunately her tiredness interfered with her work. It was an off day for her and the director expressed frustration with certain faces she made, a couple times she found herself fighting off yawns, which Unfortunately were caught. At one point Alex pulled her aside. "You need to get it together, you don't need any distractions. I don't know why you were up late, but you might need to go back on sleeping pills.

She was right, as much as she loved Justin, he was probably focused on his career,and she needed to be focused on hers. During a quick break, she quickly downed a black coffee and took a caffeine pill, her heart was racing and sure it was stupid and dangerous but she needed this.

It worked though, as the drug kicked in she found herself filming her scenes with ease, and the production team improved. During lunch Austin approached her. "Hey good job, don't worry about it earlier. Timothee got bitched out twice because he kept forgetting the desert scene." She laughed "yeah that sounds like him. I'm fine I just stayed up late, the time different just got to me."

Austin smiled. "The good news is that we are ahead of schedule. So maybe we get to go home a little earlier than expected."

She laughed again. "Yeah but I'll be back in LA with the fashion show at the end of the month, and then in February I will be in Paris doing press work." Austin nodded in understanding. "Our job never ends." They laughed, soon Timothee joining them for some more set pictures.

Once Sara got back to the trailer she was ready to drop. Erika handed her phone back and she opened all of Justin's messages. It was the usual talking about the game, he updated her on Mike and Joey's status. She replied back, even though he would be sleeping, that she missed him and loved him, and that he made her proud despite the loss. Surprisingly he messaged her back that he loved and missed her and promised he'd give her updates on Bosa and Williams. She smiled as Erika rolled her eyes in a teasing matter.

—---------------------------------------------------------

Taylor stared at the screenshot of the deumoxi post. There was only one quarterback that popped up in her head. There was no way The Sara Wozniak was seeing Justin. Granted, she was at Chargers games, but her good friend had a private suite and was a season ticket holder. Plus what about the blonde's he had been spotted with. No offense, but girls like Sara wouldn't be okay with a guy playing the field.

Maybe she was putting too much thought into it. There was Jimmy G, who had the hearts of millions of women. He was close in age to Sara, and more her type. So that would make more sense. It has to, Jimmy would fit the persona of a Hollywood starlets boyfriend. He would be on her arm at the red carpet events, not Justin. Justin would never date someone who had that level of fame. That's right, it made more sense that Sara was seeing Jimmy.

However as Taylor sat in her office, she had a feeling that she was wrong. She grabbed her phone and clicked on Sara's follow list. There was Justin, but not the 49ers quarterback. She did notice that there was Kenny Pickett, Joe Burrow, and some others in her following. She went on Justin's profile and saw that he was following Sara as well as the rest of the shows cast.

That doesn't mean they are dating though, they share mutual friends. She is at games, they probably haven't spoken to each other. Sara only knows him as the Quarterback. Taylor thought

Still, if Sara found him attractive she could easily get any man. But Justin wasn't any man.

"Taylor, any new reports?" Taylor broke her trance and looked up at her co-worker, who was staring at her in confusion. She laughed. "I'm sorry, I spaced out."

"Are you okay?" She nodded. "I'm just tired." He nodded, she continued. "So far nothing yet."

He walked away and she took a sip of coffee. "Focus Taylor." She whispered.

There was no way Justin and Sara were a thing. She is everything he is against.

She didn't feel confident in the reasoning

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

"How is Abu Dhabi?" Justin had her on speaker as he was getting ready to head to the facilities. Despite the 12 hour time difference they still manage to squeeze in phone calls in between the texts messages and photos they would send. Of course, Sara's photos were alot more interesting than his. The scenery was gorgeous. She made him swear to secrecy that he wouldn't release any set photos she snuck of her in her outfits, he rolled his eyes at that, which he knew she knew. "It's gorgeous, but warm, you know I hate that." He laughed, his girlfriend never failing to vocalize her taste for hot weather.

"I know you do, trust me, it's not fun practicing outside when camp starts." She hummed. "I'm sorry you have a shortened schedule this week. I don't think it's fair."

"Yeah, but that's what the league wants, and we just have to adapt, but I'm confident in the team." From all the way across the world Sara rolled her eyes. "I see you're in media mode already." He laughed as he got in his car. He sent a message to his manager to make sure to check on Nova, although she would probably be busy in her tower. As if his girlfriend knew the Bengal was on his mind. "How's Nova been?"

"She's been good, she misses you though. But she's been getting plenty of exercise on the wheel. Although I had to put it downstairs so I don't hear it at three am." He muttered and she laughed. "Well I was reading up on the breed and they are high energy cats. They are close to a dog you know." He smiled. "I know, I think that's why I subconsciously chose that breed."

"Oh you need a dog!" Justin groaned. She had been pestering about a dog since she became obsessed with Dylan. "Why don't you get a dog." He told her. She sighed. "I mean, I thought about it, especially during the pandemic. But I think with this upcoming schedule I have to put it off til next year."

"I don't think a dog will really ever fit in my lifestyle with the schedule and games."

Sara tried not to let her mind wander to the future, maybe one day they could own a dog together. "I love Golden retrievers." She admitted. Justin laughed "I like labs, good, hardworking dogs you can take fishing."

"Well they have retriever in them, so they are good helper dogs." After a pause she laughed. "I was on a dog's 101 YouTube page." Justin laughed. "You and your YouTube rabbit holes." He would always glance at her screen and find her watching the most random things. Sometimes he found himself telling her to connect it to the television so they could watch together.

The rest of the phone call she explained other deep dives she went on, before she was called to set. "I'll call you tonight." He smiled. "Promise?" She laughed. "Promise. I love you."

"I love you too, have a good day on set."

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

"So wait what happened?" Justin was laughing as Sara retold the story. Timothee apparently blurted out the wrong line, and the director didn't notice until he and others pointed it out.

He was getting ready for bed while she was on break. The time difference seemed to work out well so far. It had only been a week, but Justin was counting down the days when she would be back in Los Angeles. The fashion show was Sunday the 5th of February, and her plane was landing on the 27th, however she would be in rehearsal and the Amazon cameras would be following the process of the fashion show before going live. Sara did find a couple times where she could break away to see him, but it would have to be at her place. Which was fine, but Erika would be there as well.

"Can you bring Nova over?" Justin rolled his eyes. "You're only coming home to see my cat?" She laughed. "And what about it?" "Get your own cat."

"Wait a minute, first we discussed a dog, now a cat? Are we making an animal shelter?" The comment had an innuendo behind it. She didn't mean to, but she was curious about what he would say. "I mean, we both love animals." It made her smile. "I think I want a Bengal like Nova."

He snorted. "Good luck, they are a pain in the ass to train." He looked over at the cat on his pillow and scratched her head. "Isn't that right?" Sara laughed.

He decided to switch topics. So are you ready for the fashion show?" She sighed. "I'm nervous. It's live, and if I make any mistakes there's no redo. Plus I'm walking with models! Justin, actual supermodels like Bella, and AnnSophie, and Gigi."

"But there are some others. Kelce's ex is supposed to be there." He paused. "I looked up the list."

"Yeah he's supposed to be there too, so I don't know if he's an ex or what. A couple of other football players are going since one of the programs is teams. " there was a pause and justin had to ask "Is anyone else for you going?" He knew her family was out of the question. She sighed on the other end. "Alisha is going, as well as Samira, but that's for me and AnnSophie, she has her parents cause Lexi is with George for that week. So to answer your questions, no I don't have anyone."

Justin paused. In a split decision he blurted out. "I could maybe go hangout with Kelce and some other guys if I'm not still in the playoffs."

He couldn't see, but Sara's jaw dropped. Him attending a public event? Where people might speculate if they even look at each other? "Justin, I'd love it if you came! I can make sure you come in through the back way and we don't even have to attend the after party." Justin smiled. "I don't want you to miss it because of me. I know you love the people performing." She laughed. "Justin, I can see them anytime. Come on, it will be fun, we can sneak away" He smiled. 

"I'd love that."

—----------------------------------------------------------- 

"Erika, do you have midol by any chance?" Sara was groaning in her set chair waiting for the director to call for her scene. She had woken up this morning to her monthly gift. She was always early or on time, except that one time in October where she was two days late, she almost had Erika run to the rite aid only for it to come the next day. She hadn't told Justin because he had been on the road, plus it worked out so there was no reason to alarm him.

Erika came running into the room. "I got something wayyyy better she squealed!" Sara looked over confused. "A doctor to rip my uterus out?"

"Oh my god sis, have you not checked your messages? Oh wait only if it's from Justin." Before Sara could bite back Erika kept with the point. "Your agent called! Anna Wintour wants you to be on the Cover of June Vogue!" Sara got up faster than usual and screamed, catching the attention of those around her. "No fucking way" Erika nodded and the best friends tightly hugged. "I'm so proud of you Sara, I know how much you wanted this." It was true, while she had been on the covers of international vogue, this was a big deal. It was Vogue magazine, something she dreamed of when she was in college, her first acting gig, when things took off and people began noticing her. She pulled back and Erika was still smiling. "That's not all!"

Sara was confused. What else could there be?" As on cue her phone rang and she pulled it out of her friends hand to see it was the producers of her show. She answered it and put it on speaker. "You're on speaker"

"Oh good I did the time conversion correctly." She laughed, Finn was one of the main producers, a man in his fifties who had been pitching shows for a while with no luck until now. "You could have just Googled it." He laughed. "That isn't a challenge."

"Is there something important about the show?" Finn laughed. "Why I'm calling to inform you and the rest of the cast that the nominations just dropped for the SAGs and guess what baby! We are nominated! And you Missy, is nominated for Best Actress in a Dramedy!"

Sara screamed again. After discussing the details of the awards which her team was working on as well as a schedule to make a dress. (Designers were already reaching out about making a dress) her castmates all called her as well. She just got a message

I'm proud of you baby- Justin

She teared up. I miss you, I love you.

She couldn't wait til the 27th

"So I hear you are a fellow SAG nominee," she looked up and saw Austin smiling at her. She nodded, "yes and congratulations to you too Mr. Presley." He laughed, he had been down since the death of Elvis' daughter, who he just attended the Golden Globes with. It was nice to see him smiling again.

Before anything else could be said they were called back to set.

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

So far the twelve hour difference was working out as well as one could hope.

Sara was up at 5am waiting for the game to start. She sent her usual 'good luck' message to Justin then Patrick was messaging her.

It was such a good game so far. She managed to get to halftime before she had to get to set. They were flying through the scenes and they were ahead of schedule. Of course, anything can happen, but right now it was looking good.

As Erika and Sara arrived on set she was glued to her phone. So much so that Timothee kept trying to get her attention "hey!" Sara looked up and Erika snickered. "She's absorbed in her boyfriend's football game"

Sara's eyes widened as Timothee smiled. "Get out. Sara you're seeing someone?" Before she could respond he laughed. "I knew it! Those guys' clothes in your closet when we were getting ready for Virgil's party."

"So who is he?" Timothee came around to look at the screen." Sara pulled away, looking around to see if anyone was near she whispered "He is the quarterback."

"The what?" He whispered back. She rolled her eyes. He didnt know shit about football. "Just don't say anything. Unlike a big mouth." She glared at Erika who was sheepish. "I'm sorry! I can't keep up with who knows or not."

Sara shook her head. She was getting nervous. The Jags were catching up and this Lawrence dude was better than the first half. Unfortunately, she had to put the phone down to head into hair and makeup.

Deuxmoxi instagram

Word on the Dune 2 set is that an A list actress who signed on for the sequel has a new boyfriend she is trying to keep on the DL. He is athletic.

Taylor Biscotti on twitter.

The hair is flowing between Justin and Trevor on this Saturday night game! Who you got?

Twitteruser1 @/TaylorBiscotti your guy obviously

Twitteruser2 @/taylorbiscotti wish you were there to cheer him on. —---------------------------------------------------------------

Sara was going to be sick

How the fuck did this team blow a lead, she checked the score on a break and it was down to the wire.

She held her breath while looking at the Google updates. It was 3 seconds. Do or fucking die.

The kick was good.

The Chargers were out. The Jags came back.

Sara wanted to cry. She didn't know what to do. She knew Justin was nowhere near his phone and he wouldn't be for a while.

She just kept it short

When you need me I'm here, I love you and I'm proud of you no matter what.

Warning, the drama will kick off next chapter. I don’t think you guys are going to like me much once the next chapter drops. 

[redqueenphoenix]

State Championship (TWD Fanfiction Part 14)

State Championship Part 14

(A TWD Fan Fiction)

I do not own any of the rights to The Walking Dead, nor do I own any of the characters mentioned from here on in, other than Victoria Hawkins. Some situations have been changed and some people may have been switched in this alternate universe. 

Coach Negan Smith X Female OC

Word Count: 2176

~*~

Part 14

Before Victoria knew it about a year had gone by as she stayed at the St. John Dairy farm with her sister. She had found herself keeping busy with helping Drew and Danny keep the farm safe while Erika tended to the animals with Brenda. It seemed to be going very well after they got the electric fence completely set up around the farm and working properly. She had gotten proficient with using a gun as well as other objects to fend off the walkers with Drew’s help. He seemed to like her a lot, but she paid him no mind. 

Over the course of the year, Victoria and Erika saw plenty of people come and go from the farm, talking about possible settlements and encampments that had been set up. Kinda like safe zones for people and this intrigued Victoria. She often wondered if Negan was out there in one of the settlements, but never brought it up to anyone.

One night a particular group had made their way to the farm and asked for refuge from the horrors outside the fence and Ma gave the okay for them to stay in the barn for the night. Being the kind soul Victoria was, she brought food from the house to them.

“Dinner’s on, we made food over in the guest house and wondered if you guys wanted some?” She brought the basket of food into the barn with the newcomers. 

 The young mother smiled as she held her son close, “Emery would you like some dinner?”

The young boy lit up as he nodded, “thank you miss!” 

Victoria sat the basket down for the group, “I’m Victoria. If you need anything please feel free to come over. My sister and I have been staying in the guest house.”

The young mother smiled as she reached into the basket, “I’m Debbie,” she pointed to the man leaning against a hay bale, “that’s my husband Henry. And this is my son Emery.” She looked around, “William must be up in the house talking with those nice people about us staying longer than just the night.”

“It’s nice to meet you all.” She smiled warmly, “I’m sure they will let you guys. The St. John’s are nice people.” Victoria turned to head out of the barn and made her way back to the guest house. 

As the sun was setting over the farm, Erika made her way from the main house in a hurry. “Sis, we have a problem.” Her eyes were wide. “I’m not supposed to say anything, but Drew just told me that we are running out of food and we can’t feed everyone.”

Victoria shook her head, “that’s bound to happen, the cows haven’t been doing so great.”

“I overheard some weird stuff, which I don't think I was supposed to hear, but I think they are talking about eating those nice people in the barn.” 

Victoria’s eyes went wide, “what!?” She quietly exclaimed as she looked up to the house. “You must have heard wrong.” 

“No, I promise you I didn't. Ma said that they were already working on cooking one of them up.”

Victoria looked to her sister with concern, “then I need you to pack up and get ready to run.” She motioned to the house, “have the family ready too. I’m going up to find out what’s going on.”

“Be careful. Don’t let them know that you know.” Erika warned as she headed back to the guest house to pack up their bags. 

Quietly Victoria made her way up to the house, slinking along the side of it towards the kitchen window. She made sure to stay low and out of sight as she eavesdropped into the conversation that was taking place.

“Ma, the girls have been important to us. We have to tell ‘em.” Drew’s voice almost sounded like he was pleading with her.

“Fine,” Ma sounded different, almost like a woman with no feelings at all. A complete and total different person, “we already killed one of the newcomers, but he was scrawny. He won’t feed us long and it won’t take those people long to realize he ain't coming back from the house.”

“Then we need to send them on their way or utilize them too.” Danny said coldly as his footsteps paced the kitchen.

Victoria’s heart stopped, her sister was right. The family that took them in were eating people and on top of that planning to slaughter that wonderful family down in the barn. She wouldn't allow that to happen. Quietly she made her way back down to the walkway between the guest house and the barn. Noticing her sister was standing in the partially open barn door waving at her.

“So?” Erika asked, handing Victoria’s backpack to her.

Slipping into the barn she shook her head. “You heard right.” She leaned down to make sure Erika packed everything of importance. Her family photos, her iPod, some clothes and provisions. It was all there. Standing up she shouldered the bag, “I don’t know if we are going to be able to sneak out without them noticing, but it is worth a try.”

Debbie stepped forward with a concerned look on her face, “what about William? Where is he?”

Breathing a heavy sigh she shook her head while looking down, “he’s gone. They disposed of him…” She was unable to tell them that he was the St. John’s dinner that night. “We have to move. Does your truck have any gas?”

Henry nodded, “we have about a half a tank, been siphoning it here and there to get away from the walkers.”

“You don’t think they siphoned the gas from the truck for the generators do you, sis?” Erika asked, looking out the barn up to the house.

She shook her head. “I doubt it. We had to raid the gas station up the street a few days ago. The generators had plenty.”

“Then I say, we make a break for it.” Debbie stepped forward with her son behind her, “you two are more than welcome to come with us. It’s the least we can do for you since you warned us and you're helping us escape.” 

Victoria nodded to her sister, “alright.” She pushed the barn door open a bit more, noticing the lights in the house now that the sun had gone down more. “They seem preoccupied with whatever they are doing. We should go now. Stay low and quiet.”

The family nodded to Victoria as she made her way out of the barn with them behind her. Slowly and quietly they made for the truck. Henry, Debbie and Emery took the cab and the two girls slipped into the back. 

As soon as the truck started the front door to the house came flying open and a bunch of cussing ran out over the farm. Henry hit the gas as the sounds of gunshots rang out through the farm. Peppering the side of the truck and almost hitting the girls in the back.

“You girls alright?” Henry asked as they hit a dirt road and blasted through the fence at the front of the farm. 

“Yeah, are you guys?” Erika said through the small window.

Henry nodded and then looked down at his gas gauge, “we’re not going to get too far, but we will get far enough away from those freaks.”

“Have you girls heard of a place called Alexandria?” Debbie asked as she turned to talk to them through the window.

Victoria shook her head, “I can't say that I have.”

Debbie smiled as she handed a map through the window, “It’s said to be a safe zone, like a settlement. Some guy named Rick Grimes runs the place. That’s where we have been trying to get to.”

Taking the map she placed it in her pocket, “is it really a safe zone?”

“That’s what we’ve heard and that’s good enough for me to want to check out.” Henry said as he turned down another road. 

“Alexandria…” Erika said almost dreamily. “The place sounds pretty.”

“It can sound pretty all it wants, but that doesn’t mean it’s real.” Victoria settled back in the truck bed and closed her eyes. 

“Well we can always hope.” Erika curled up with her sister.

A few hours later the truck sputtered and died. Rolling to a stop as the sun was coming up. The sudden jerk of the gas running out of the truck woke Victoria up from her sleep. Reaching over she gently woke her sister.

“Ride’s over girls. Trucks made her last hooray.” Henry said as they got out of the truck. “Time to take a walk.” 

Victoria leaned down and picked up a machete from the truck bed and fastened it to her belt as she jumped down to the ground. Erika followed, grabbing a pipe that was in the back of the truck. 

“Are you sure this is the right road towards the train cars?” Debbie asked as she held Emery’s hand. 

“Positive.” Henry smiled as he looked down to the map he was carrying. “It’s a couple days' walk, but this is the right way.”

Erika looked over to Victoria with a smile, “hey, maybe things will look up when we get to this place.”

“Let’s hope.” She said as she fell into step with the family.

As they walked they heard the sounds of the walkers, moaning, wheezing and shuffling around. It was horrifying, but it was their life now. They made their way down the path and kept their eyes peeled for danger. Soon they realized that there were more and more walkers in the area, which made Victoria concerned.

Victoria pulled her sister close as they walked due to the moaning and wheezing getting louder. “Erika, I think we are about to be in some major trouble. Stay near me.” 

Erika nodded as she noticed some walkers making their way from the treeline towards them. She grabbed her sister's hand as they made their way closer.

“Shit guys.” Henry said as he pulled his gun from his belt. Firing off a shot at one of the walkers that got close to them. 

“Don’t! Noise attracts them!” Victoria quietly exclaimed as more came out of the treeline. Her eyes went wide as they came clambering out of the trees towards them. There were too many to successfully fend off. 

“We’re gonna have to make a run for it.” Debbie said as she grabbed her son’s hand.

Victoria nodded as she swung her machete at another walker that got dangerously close. After bringing it down, the women took off running with Emery.

Another gunshot echoed as Henry grunted. Debbie turned to look and saw that a walker had bit into her husband and she let out a painful sob. “Don’t look, Emry! Don’t look baby.”

Victoria felt a fear creep into her chest as another set of walkers came out of the trees in front of them. Biting her lip she swung on the walker, missing and striking it in the side of the legs. She thought she had incapacitated it when it wiggled around and grabbed her leg.

Emery broke free of his mother’s hands and ran to Victoria’s defense. Grabbing the walker’s good leg and pulling backwards on it to free Victoria. As she got free Emery stumbled back right into the awaiting arms of another walker.

“NO!” Debbie screamed as she ran for her son, the walker on the ground grabbing her and bringing her down. It’s horrid jaw ripping a piece of her leg out as she struggled to get to her son.

Victoria felt a cold anger shoot through her as she brought her heel down into the walker’s head that was on the ground. Moving she brought her machete around and hit the one holding Emery.

It was too late; they were both bitten. 

“Go on without us.” Debbie drug herself towards her son’s body on the ground. “You need to go.” She pointed. “Alexandria will keep you two safe. It’s too late for us.” tears came down her face as she held her son. “Thank you for your kindness at the farm. You deserve to be safe, girls.”

Victoria nodded to Debbie as she took Erika’s hand, running down the path as fast as they could, until their legs could no longer run. Breathing heavily, Victoria pulled out the map that Debbie had given her. Looking down at it, then bringing her eyes up with a smile. She couldn’t believe it, the tracks that were on the map were right there in front of them. They were almost to Alexandria.

~*~

The end... no it's just the beginning. Will Victoria ever see Negan again? If she does will he remember her? Make sure you continue the journey of Victoria and Erika Hawkins in the next fanfiction titled "Against the Wind."

~*~

Thank you all for taking this journey with me and riding this fanfiction out to the semi end. You're love and support has meant a lot to me with this work of love. I hope that you all have enjoyed reading it as much as I have with writing it! Much love to you all!

[chickensoup-4-mysoul]

herculean(drrr x f! reader)

chapter 6/7 - Her Savior / Concert Bootlegs and Domestic Arguments

synopsis: you stumble across a mysterious chatroom and password-protected website / you spend a day with an unexpected person!

word count: 4,975 words

a/n: an amalgamate chapter for you! 

warnings: N/A

"after all the things were said the mystery has gone from my head i thought that i had worked it out now i know what love is about,,

mysterious vibes - blackbyrds

....lia......

...m....ly........

..n..c..a.......

.......(Y/N)!

"(Y/N)!"

Your vision returns in waves, spotting in and out like a photo being set aflame. The first sensation to reach your consciousness is the thin layer of paper covering your body. It does little to soothe the shivers racking your body, yet you still felt so so  hot . A face begins to form in front of you. It's so blurry, but you begin to make out the sharp frames of glasses. Sickly pale, almost translucent skin. Thin, shoulder-length hair with scruffy facial hair to match. This was the face of.... the face of...

"I'm so glad you're alright, honey."

Honey...? Who was honey? Was that you? Your name...?

You pull yourself up into a sitting position, taking in how your bones seemed to creak with each movement. A pulse swells in your temple at the sudden exposure to a bright light and you hiss. "Where am I? W-who are you?"

Vision still blurry, the person beside you isn't completely clear. A look of surprise melts into an affectionate smile. You feel a hand caress your the side of your damp forehead, fingers dry and cracked and calloused. "It's me, sweetheart. It's your father, you're at home. Darling, you were hurt very badly."

"It's odd...out of everything that I could have remembered, I do remember getting hit by that car," you reflect, now lost in the memory, "Anyway, Father took extra special care to restore me as much as he could. I met with all sorts of special teachers over video call and he made sure that I read tons of books and watch a lot of TV. I was so busy all of the time that I never really had time to go out and interact with other teenagers. It doesn't completely fill the gap, but eventually it started to feel like I had never lost my memory in the first place!"

You couldn't even imagine the pain that your father was going through. It must have been hard enough as it is as a single father, raising an adopted daughter. With you suffering from amnesia on top of that, he must have garnered so much judgement from onlookers. But he persevered, and raised you back to health in the most intelligent way possible. He gave you a second--no, third chance at life and you owed him the entire world for that.

"I'm really sorry that you had to go through that." Anri's voice pulls you from a trance you hadn't realized you were in.

"Oh, don't worry about me. I'm doing great now. And hey, the best thing to come out of all of this? All of those magazines that Father had me read are how I got into fashion! Well, apparently I always loved fashion--but they helped me get my skills back!" You hadn't meant to drown the girl's spirits in your tragic backstory. It had felt good to get off of your chest and it seemed that it didn't change her opinion of you. "So, Erika and I may be some of your first friends, Anri, but technically, you two are some of mine! Instead of worrying about the past, let's make as many memories as we can right now. Deal?"

Anri stares at the hand you offer her, stunned by your spontaneous life lesson. Shaking it off with a smile, she accepts the handshake, smiling with the most determination you had ever seen her muster. "Deal."

...

As the two of you left Erika's apartment, you can't help be feel like you're both taking a walk of shame, donning the same clothes you wore when you had arrived last night. Anri's home actually turns out to be on the way to yours, so you drop her off before heading home. The first order of business was a shower, a cozier set of PJs, and perhaps a couple more hours of sleep. Erika's air mattress was alright, but you would die if you didn't get some time wrapped up in your own sheets as well.

You're proud to say that you only slept an additional 2 hours, and you still had 8 hours until sundown. Maybe you had a bit of a sleep cycle issue. You grab your phone from the night stand, ready for your routine morning-scroll. However, you notice that you have a notification. Opening the bubble, you realize that it was three messages from the same number.

It hadn't been saved yet, you noticed, and there was no history of previous calls or messages. Your skepticism rised at the sight of three internet links. What if it was some sort of virus? You opened up a search engine and looked up the title of the first link: SubaGen. The top result was for an app, one that you could download onto your phone or laptop.

Instant text translator; Type your messages in your language and watch as everyone instantly understands you!

Wow, this seems really useful! You wish you had found something like this sooner. Even with your education, your typing speed during text conversations with your friends still needed quite a bit of work. It seemed that this app would help you type must faster! After confirming that the app itself was not, in fact, a virus, you downloaded it onto your phone and made a mental note to download it onto your laptop as well.

You were now a bit more trusting of the unknown number now, wondering if they were some sort of advertisement robot that had randomly typed your number. The second link has no obvious title amongst the stream of numbers and letters. However, it still had the format of a typical url, and clicking on it opened up your phone's internet browser.

It took you to a page with a simple black background. There's no title anywhere on the screen, just a white typing bar labeled "Screen Name", and a scrolling option menu full of different colored squares and fun-shaped avatars. Was this some type of forum? You randomly pick a purple square and one of the avatars with a cute pair of angel wings on it. After typing in a screen name, you hit the "Enter" button and watch as you're taken to another black screen. At the very bottom reads a simple white text.

Sora has entered the chat.

The screen is not empty for long, however, as an orange icon and speech bubble pop up, followed by blue, followed by black.

Kanra:  Hey, hey, HEY!! Who is this!? Taro Tanaka: Sora...? Setton:  It's been a while since we've had someone new.

The text is in english, you notice, and you wonder if these people are speaking it, or if that app you had downloaded was working its magic. No new messages appear for a moment and you realize that they're waiting for you to say something.

Sora: Hello! Sora: I'm not intruding, am I? Setton: Don't worry about it. You had the link, so I guess you were meant to be here Kanra: Yeah, who did send him the link!? ΣΣ(ﾟДﾟ;)

'Him'? That's funny, they seemed to think that you were a boy. You decide to go along with it, thinking that maintaining a persona would be fun.

Taro Tanaka: So Sora, the three of us happen to be in Ikebukuro. Any chance you'd be around that area? Sora: Yes, I am! What an odd agreement! Sora: Coincidence, I mean. Setton: Looks like you got the writing mixed up, haha. Happens to me sometimes too. Kanra: Still, seems like a rookie mistake that a foreigner would make! Kanra: You wouldn't happen to be a foreigner, would you? (ʘᗩʘ’)

Well, shoot, so much for the persona. This darn app had gone a blown your cover for you! Guess it wasn't always 100% accurate. A small window pops up on your screen, drawing your attention. The black speech bubble alerts you that it's Setton.

Setton: Kanra's always like this. Hope she doesn't scare you off. Not that I'm assuming that you are, but I'm actually a foreigner myself, so no judgement here. :) Sora: That actually means a lot, thanks!

Sora: Nope, just a typo. Just woke up from a nap. Kanra: A nap, huh? Must be in a reaaal peaceful part of Ikebukuro, then! Kanra: Speaking of peaceful, have you all heard? Kanra: There was a gang war today! Taro Tanaka: What!? Setton: Really!? Kanra: Yup, at least, that depends... Kanra: On whether or not Shizuo Heiwajima is really in the Dollars.

There goes his name again. You would have been surprised by the revelation, but it's not hard to believe that Shizuo had gotten into another battle of some sorts. However, the idea that the man was in a gang?? That was ridiculous! Kanra explained how members of the "Yellow Scarves" (Another gang? That name was kinda cheesy) had picked a fight with Shizuo, believing that taking him down would give them some sort of leverage against the Dollars. Shaking your head, you interrupt Kanra's spiel.

Sora: No way Shizuo would be part of something as petty as a color gang. Kanra: Hmm??? Defending his honor are we?? (・о・) Taro Tanaka: Sora, do you know Shizuo??

YOU WERE SO BAD AT THIS. God, now you know that if given the chance, fleeing the country and changing your identity was not a good option.

Sora: Of course not! I just don't see why someone so strong would need the protection of a gang! Kanra: Maybe with a normal scrappy color gang, but with the dollars it'd be different. Setton: What do you mean, Kanra? Kanra: I mean, the Dollars aren't all about showing off muscle and starting fights. They've been linked to a lot of acts of heroism around Ikebukuro! Sure, there are probably a few strays, but it's clear what the Dollars are really about! Taro Tanaka: You really think that, Kanra? Kanra: But even then, they must have done something to really piss off the Yellow Scarves to make them try and target Shizuo Heiwajima!

The way that she said his name irked you, as if he was some sort of urban legend and not a real life person. You avoided jumping to his defense again in fear of blowing your cover.

You spent hours chatting with your new friends. Kanra was a bit of a big mouth and a gossip, but you felt as though you were learning more from her now than you had since you first got to Ikebukuro. Sure, the van gang hinted you about the gang wars and slashings, but Kanra explained them in great detail. How color gangs were making a resurgence about the city. How there was an urban legend about a headless rider that many were recently starting to claim were true. When she described the rider, you couldn't help but picture the mysterious woman you had recently met.

Setton and Taro, probably having heard all of this many times before, made their leave, kindly giving their goodbyes and nice to meet you's before leaving the chat.

Kanra: Honestly, Sora, it's hard to believe that you didn't know about all of this! Sora: I don't get out much. Can I ask you one more thing? Kanra: ఠ_ఠ Sora: Can you tell me about Izaya Orihara??

You were a curious sort...almost nosy, you admit it. Even after Erika's plain explanation, the man's name still lingered on your mind. He was a jerk, right. He had dirt on everyone, true. Nobody liked him, okay. Still, you couldn't shake the feeling that there was something about him. An itching to learn everything that you possibly could. It was all of those detective shows you were watching.

Kanra: Hmmm, not really! Maybe you should just meet him yourself!

Kanra has left the chat.

Well, goodbye, you guess. You sigh, letting your phone drop onto the bed and rubbing your now bleary eyes. That much screen time was most definitely not good for you. With how late it's gotten, you treat yourself to another good ole in. After ordering some delivery, you extract yourself from your bed and migrate to the couch in the entertainment space.  As you're scrolling through different movie options, you suddenly remember the third message that the unknown number had sent you.

It seemed that the source was trustworthy. Afterall, it had led you to a really useful app, as well as a way to communicate with new people that were also in the area. Maybe the third link would yield equally pleasant results. As you scroll back to the message, you notice that right under the link is the word "baccano". Maybe another weirdly specific app?

The link took you to yet another black page. However, what was most striking was the white symbol that overtook most of the screen. A large circle with the word DOLLARS on it, written in small multicolored dots. The name instantly stood out to you, identical to that of the gang that Kanra had been talking about. You stare at the page, battling the inner conflict rising within you. You would admit; the app was useful and the chatroom was fun, but what could you possibly want to do with a gang? Granted, it wasn't any old sort of gang if what Kanra said was true. It was a "good" gang.

Besides, the website seemed to be password protected! No way you could have anything to do with it, how could you ever get the password...?? ...

You relent, typing in the one word that might work.

baccano

The bar disappears, replaced by a spinning, dotted circle. Then...

W e l c o m e .

Looks like you're doing this.

...

"but when she made me laugh doom doom right to my tomb i love that it's not hard to be in a place where laughing's easy,,

goodie bag - still woozy

Over the past couple of weeks, you had gotten pretty close to the van gang. While it seemed like Kyohei was the only one with his head screwed on properly, they were all surprisingly wise in their own special ways. You're sure that without them by your side, you would not have adjusted to new life in Ikebukuro nearly as easily. That being said, you had to admit that you may have gotten closer to some than others. Erika, as one of your few female friends, was easiest to get close to. Kyohei was open to you from the moment that the two of you met, and was kind enough to engage in conversation with you whenever Walker and Erika were off on another one of their tirades. Even Walker, who often sat next to you when you were stuffed into the back of the van together, had familiarized himself with you.

Not nearly as much could be said for the driver of said van. Saburo was talkative enough during your group hangouts, sure, but you hadn't gotten any one on one time with him at all. This was all that you could think of as you occupied Kyohei's usual position, sitting at Saburo's left side as he silently drove his beloved van. You had asked the gang about going on one of your usual hangouts, but for what felt like the first time (at least since you had met them), everyone had work. They all had such niche professions, Kyohei as a carpenter, Erika as a jewelry maker, and Walker as an ice sculptor, but they were still oddly fitting. You didn't say this because it was so obviously offensive, but you couldn't help but find it just as fitting that Saburo was...er....unemployed.

When Saburo was the only one that didn't claim to have plans, you didn't see any reason not to just hang out with him. He seemed nice enough, you were sure you guys would get along fine in no time. However, the moment you opened the van door to meet his sharp silent gaze and he greeted you with a simple nod, you worried that there were going to be problems. As you enjoyed(?) the painfully silent ride, you realized that the two of you hadn't even made a decision as to what it was you were going to do. For now, you settled for not so subtly sneaking glances at him. His features were distinct from the other males in his social circle, you noticed. Unlike Kyohei's rugged, masculine features and Walker's boyish, youthful face, Saburo's face was sharp and almost feminine?? but really nice. Framed by the long locks of his hair, you'd call it pretty if he wouldn't be super weirded out by that.

You're foolish to think that just because his eyes are on the road, he wouldn't notice you deconstructing his entire facial structure. His pupils flick over to your direction for a second and of course, you don't look away fast enough for him not to catch you. You force a laugh before he can say anything. "Do you like music? I could really go for some music right now! What kind of music do you like???" He shrugs, tilting his head toward the compartment right in front of you.

"The guys are always talkin', so I don't really have music on that often. Might be a CD in there somewhere."

Taking that as permission, you hesitantly open the glove compartment. It's surprisingly empty, save for a small black book, a thick packet, and a sleeve of CDs. You pick up the sleeve and randomly pull one out, finding the CD slot and pushing it in. It wasn't labeled, but whatever it was, it didn't matter to you, as long as you could listen to something. However, whatever you were preparing yourself to hear, it certainly wasn't this.

The light, melodic jingle of a girl's voice. It was oddly... poppy??? For anything that Saburo would have. "Uh, does Erika keep her stuff in here sometimes?" Saburo quirks an eyebrow in your direction. "No, everything in here is mine." You mutter a quiet 'oh', deciding not to question further. This is the music he liked, huh...? Now that you thought about it, you did remember Walker and Erika teasing him about his apparent obsession with some singer girl. Just how obsessed with her was he?

"It's catchy! I don't think I've heard music like this before," you admit.

"You think so!?" He's the loudest you've heard him since he started cursing out that guy who almost hit him on the road, with a look in his eyes you've only ever seen on Walker and Erika. You deeply concerned by the fact that his focus is very much not on the road, but you relish in the feeling of seeing him so excited. "You're absolutely right! Nobody makes music like Ruri!"

That's it, Ruri was her name! Ruri Hijiribe, you think. You smile, definitely seeing how starstruck he was. You may have just found a way in. "Yeah, she has a beautiful voice. Any idea where I could listen to more of her music?"

The van skids to a stop. You're barely able to keep yourself from flying into the dashboard, yelping in surprise as you lurch forward. Peeking at one of the sideview mirrors, you notice that he's stopped on the side of the road. When you look back at Saburo you squeal. He's leaning over the middle console, not necessarily invading your personal space, but certainly a lot closer than you'd ever expect him to be.

"Do you mean that?" You have no idea why he sounds so serious, or why he's whispering, for that matter. You do, however, notice for the first time how intense his gaze is, the sharpness of his eyes eliciting feelings from you that you would rather not be feeling right now.

"Um, y-yeah!" your voice cracks and you hate yourself. "I'm always down for some new music."

Maybe it was because of the unfamiliarity, or the plain fact that he was a man, but you never really expected to visit Saburo's apartment, let alone have it be the first home of a man's you'd ever visited. It was small and...neater than you expected (you needed to be more forgiving in your standards for this guy). However, you had very little time to properly inspect it as Saburo practically dragged you to the couch (no you were not flustered by his grasp on your wrist) and slammed a CD player down on the coffee table in front of you. From one of the drawers on the TV stand, he pulled out another sleeve of CDs.

You were in for a very long night. It wasn't unenjoyable, you admit. Saburo talked you through hours of Ruri Hijiribe's discography. It was astounding to you that a single artist could produce so much music. When you say this to him, he's very obviously pleased. After CD's, you move on to music videos, and from those, you move on to recordings of her live performance. This segment, now with something for you to look at, was much more tolerable. You even began to join Saburo in his wonder, openly commenting on the designs of Ruri Hijiribe's costumes. He seemed to like whenever you had something nice to say, so you didn't bother holding back your comments.

"I just adore that body piece! It's very girly, but the exposed back and navel adds just the right amount of edginess to it. It's very unique for a pop idol."

This interest of Saburo's was very unexpected, but you came to appreciate that about him. You were just happy to have broken away from that awkward silence. Besides, it was pleasant to watch him express such enthusiasm for something as unconventional as pop music.

"(Y/N)?"

"Hmmm?"

"She's wearing a different costume now, what do you think of this one?" His entire upper body is leaned towards you. His once sharp stare is now owlish and almost childlike, waiting eagerly for your response. It was cute. Very cute.

"Um, I like this one even more than the last one! It definitely suits her hairbow better, and that appears to be her trademark in all of her outfits." The light of the TV screen shines bright onto his face, and the glossiness of his eyes makes it look like he's about to cry.

Oh. Oh he was crying. You panic, awkwardly patting the guy's shaking shoulders. Did he like the other one more!?  Upon closer inspection, you realize that he's still smiling. You don't interrupt him, allowing him to shed as many tears as he liked as you reached the end of your Ruri Hijiribe binge watch. The screen goes black on her shimmering face, drawing attention to how much darker the room had gotten. Saburo silently rises from the couch, leaving the room. You snicker at the sound of running water and someone blowing their nose.

"I'm sorry you had to see that, " he says coolly as he returns. You shake your head, smiling and assuring him that it was fine. "I enjoyed myself. You seem to know your stuff about this girl."

"Of course I do. As one of the vice presidents of Ruri Hijiribe fan club, it'd be shameful if I didn't know what I was talking about." You want to laugh so bad. God, you shouldn't--it would hurt his feelings so much--but it's so tempting.

"Wow! She sure is lucky to have gained such a dutiful following." After the binge of all of her music, performances, and videos, you feel like you were technically now a part of said following. You notice how his chest puffs out, obviously bolstered by the validation.

Without the pop idol to focus on, the two of you were forced to come up with more points of conversation. However, there is significantly less tension (you did just watch him cry his eyes out) with only the occasional awkward break. Because of all of your group hangouts, a lot had already been revealed about you, so you tried to focus on learning more about him. You ask how life was growing up, how he met the van gang, how he had gotten into Ruri Hijiribe's music. Thankfully, he didn't seem put off by the focus on himself.

He was... the scrappy sort. The first encounter he had with Kyohei was when he challenged him in a fight (apparently Kyohei had been quite the delinquent himself--you snicker at the thought). However, after Kyohei actually saved him after he was attacked by a color gang. Later down the road, Walker and Erika joined the fray, and they've been together ever since. They even joined a gang called the Blue Squares together, but they're not in it anymore. You stare at him, wide-eyed with wonder.

"Erm, (Y/N)? You good? Sorry, guess it is kinda boring."

"No, you're so cool, Saburo!" His past was so... badass! It was like straight out of those action movies you always watched. You could practically see it, a wounded, bleeding Saburo back to back with a bruised but steady Kyohei, fending off an evil group of delinquents. They're briefly overwhelmed, but just at the last moment, they snatch victories from the jaws of defeat--kicking the delinquents to the curb and walking away with just a few scratches and a beautiful friendship.

"Geez, you sound like Erika with your weird fantasies." Oh wow, you were thinking out loud. A chime rings from Saburo's cellphone. Just as he checks to see what it was, there's a knock at the door.

"Hey, Togusachiiii! We saw your van outside, we know that you're home!" You'd recognize the voice of Erika anywhere. You chuckle at the girl's exuberance and smile at your friend.

"Looks like they got out early!"

...

"Saburo told me you were quite the ruffian back in the day."

Kyohei huffed from beside you, shaking his head in amusement. The guy was kind enough to walk you home after the five of you enjoyed a lovely takeout dinner at Saburo's apartment. After noticing the stack of Ruri Hijiribe memorabilia on his coffee table, Kyohei shot you an apologetic glance. You shake it off with a smile, however, assuring him that you've enjoyed the past couple hours with the superfan.

"You could say something like that. I don't want you to think that I was some sort of bully or anything, but trouble always seemed to follow me, even when I didn't want it to." That made sense. The idea of Kyohei in a school uniform, donning a pompadour and swinging a bat at anyone who dared to look at him the wrong way was hard to believe (Wow, Erika and Walker had showed you too much manga). "That's right! You went to the same school as Shizuo and Izaya, didn't you?" you ask. His brow furrows, most likely at the taxing memory. "Yeah. You'd think that with those guys causing all kinds of trouble there wouldn't be any room for anything else. Fights kept happening, gangs kept rising."

"Gangs sure are a big thing here! The whole color coding thing is so odd...Yellow Scarves, Purple Gambles, Blue Squares. For people so rebellious, they sure do fall in line."

"Yeah, I guess. But those guys are all about showing off, and having a color makes it easy to show that."

"That's true. That's what makes the Dollars so different, huh?"

You're a couple more steps ahead before you realize that Kyohei's not walking with you anymore. He's not necessarily glaring at you, but there's a fire in his eyes that pins you to the floor. "Something wrong?" you gulped. Was it in poor taste, what you said? Perhaps it was a sore subject to him. He seems to snap out of whatever state that he's in, shaking his head with vigor. "No, sorry. Just...didn't expect you to be that interested in all this stuff," he admits. However, he doesn't keep walking, just stands in place, gaze flitting to the side. "W-Well, it is happening all around us, isn't it? I can't help but notice the tensions that have been rising...between--."

"Does it matter to you all that much? I mean, this situation is sort of beneath you, dontcha think?"

There's no hostility in his voice. It's quite the opposite; delicate and advisory. It was almost patronizing, to be honest, and it irked you. It's as if you weren't a young woman, how naiive did he think you were? You sigh through your nose, hands parking themselves on your hips. "Beneath me? You might be saying that to be nice, but I'm certainly not too good for anything. Y'know, I could be a lot more involved in all of this than you'd think."

Despite your increasingly bratty tone, he's still patient and calm (and you hate yourself for admiring that about him). "So could I; and I'll be the first to tell you, it's not all its made out to be. It's dangerous. It's unfair. You don't deserve to get caught up in that." His serenity is working on your nerves. It's annoying, how he was so obviously underestimating you, but something else was distracting you; something that was keeping you from getting too angry. "You care about me," you realize. Even from under the shadow of his beanie, you notice how his eyes widen. His flustered silence is so endearing that you can't help but grin.

"You do!! You're trying to protect me," you laugh, before composing yourself for his sake,"I understand what you're saying, Kyohei, and I know. I'm not made of glass, and I'm definitely not a fool. You can trust me, kay?" He's having an internal battle right now, you can tell. One side seems to give way and he continues to stroll, returning to your side.

"Well, I can't tell you what to do."

You happily continue your walk home, glad that you had won the little debate.

"Guess it's just another way you'll be joining the rest of us."

Wait, what?

[lgbtqmanga]

New Releases Feb. 14, 2023

Candy Color Paradox vol. 6 by Isaku Natsume

Ready to take their relationship to a whole new level, Kaburagi and Onoe make the next big leap on their path to love - finding an apartment together. But end-of-the-year holiday cheer turns into holiday dread, with endless work keeping the two from having time to see each other!

Onoe starts worrying that Kaburagi is overworking himself, but his concern comes off as criticism, sparking the couple’s first big argument and driving Onoe to say that maybe they shouldn’t live together after all. And even after they make up, Kaburagi starts getting cold feet about the big move...

Confessions of a Shy Baker vol. 1 by Masaomi Ito 

Toshimitsu Yamamura owns a real estate company and loves baking delicious, healthy snacks in his spare time. When his coworker comes to him one day with the idea of advertising their real estate agency as LGBT-friendly, Toshi realizes this little change could really help people who often face discrimination in his industry. He's terrified, though, because he worries this move will out him as gay. Joined by his boyfriend Gonta who inspired him to bake in the first place, Toshi navigates a changing world that's slowly becoming more accepting, faces his fears and discomfort, and bakes some incredibly lovely treats along the way.

The Girl That Can’t Get a Girlfriend by Mieri Hiranishi

Mieri is an awkward, nerdy college student with no dating experience, and her previous crushes on fellow butch women have all ended in disaster. That all changes when she meets Ash and has her feelings returned for the first time. But when first love turns to first heartbreak, Mieri will do everything possible to win Ash back. Based on true events, this is a hilarious and heart-wrenching story about love, loneliness, and the true meaning of finding one’s own happy ending.

Just Friends by Ana Oncina 

During one summer in her teens, Erika’s mother pressured her into going to a local overnight camp. Despite her reservations, Erika ended up meeting a girl named Emi... and Emi didn't let Erika’s anti-social front prevent them from forming a special bond. Now in their 30s, Erika and Emi reminisce about that fateful summer and consider what could have been.

Megumi & Tsugumi vol. 1 by Mitsuru Si

A tough-guy omega who believes he can control his heats through sheer willpower meets his match when he faces off with an alpha unlike any he’s ever encountered before!

Tsugumi is a delinquent who hates all alphas for how they treat omegas like him, so when some alphas from an elite school attack another omega, Tsugumi beats ’em to a pulp! Megumi, the son of the elite school’s chairman, takes it upon himself to avenge his pummeled friends, but when the time comes, all he finds is a fired-up Tsugumi reeking of pheromones and insisting he can control his heat through sheer willpower!

Faced with a different kind of battle, Megumi goes from attacker to savior, whisking Tsugumi to safety and leaving the cranky omega reconsidering everything he’s ever thought about alphas.

Monologue Woven For You vol. 3 by Syu Yasaka

Nao and Haruka spend happy days together with their shared dream. Yet all it takes is one small event to trigger others much larger. Haruka collapses at work and Nao rushes to her side, abandoning her plan to finally tell Haruka of their shared past on the stage. When secrets break free and histories are remembered, both Nao and Haruka must face the consequences of the revelation.

Sailor Moon vol. 1 + Exclusive Q Posket Petit Figure (Naoko Takeuchi Collection)

This strictly-limited edition includes an EXCLUSIVE "Classic Sailor Moon" Q Posket Petit figure straight from Japan, plus the first volume of the manga in a special box suitable for gifting. In the name of the Moon, don't miss your chance to get one of these before they're gone forever!

Inside the box:

A limited-edition, exclusive, 70-millimeter figure from Banpresto's collectible Q Posket Petit line, depicting Sailor Moon as she appeared in the original manga from 1991.

Vol. 1 of the manga, from the new Naoko Takeuchi Collection edition, featuring an updated translation and high page count.

[okapirose]

Wrong Turn (2021)

Hikers get lost in the woods.

Bad shit happens.

The Ritual is far better for this horror trope. And there’s a cool monster. Humans are the only monsters in this one.

I don’t know if this was meant to be a re-imagining of the one with Erika Dushku but while I haven’t seen that one it doesn’t sound like this is a remake.

Spoilers ahead...also mentions of SA (however its not shown), abelism, and other awful shit.

The TLDR; The gays are buried, cult takes the survivors, hot poker’s out the eyes of those of no use as punishment and throws them into a dark cave, and the final girl escapes pregnant with her rapist’s baby.

The very long of it all...couple things might be out of order as I watched this awhile ago but never got around to this, but I don’t think its too important.

Bunch of college/post college level peeps go hiking on the Appalachian Trail. They’re all decently educated or working for their degrees and the local townsfolk are kinda assholes to them thinking they’re just “woke millennials”, though partially for good reason as they know hikers go missing regularly so they’re trying to scare them off. But also they’re leaning heavily conservative rednecks who don’t look too fondly at the gay couple, among other things.

Hikers go out, everything goes well until one of them wants to go find some local ruins, which is of course off the trail that they were warned very much by everyone not to do as per usual horror trope. They get lost, camp out, freak out when one of their number goes missing in the morning but turns out she just had to pee and they left her behind.

As they try to find the path, a log suddenly comes rolling down the hill and hits gay #1. Its pretty gory too, guy’s face is crushed, his partner sees it and we are granted multiple shots of it. Female lead/final girl, Jennifer, spots someone up the hill where the log came from but of course when everyone else looks, the person is gone and her friends tell her she’s seeing things. They continue on, blaming the hiker who wanted to go off the trail for gay #1′s death.

They encounter more traps including a chain that snags and drags one of them toward a trap and out of sight, and another being sharpened stick pit. One of the cultists mercifully kills the hiker who gets caught in the pit though we don’t see what happens to her body. Chain trap guy is found by two of the cultists (they’re dressed in ghillie suits and animal skull masks) and they string him up like Han Solo in Return of the Jedi, they don’t speak English, they refuse to remove their masks, and they are armed, so everyone is panicking, and then the guy who was tied up beats the shit out of one cultist with a log. Later its revealed they were supposedly taking him back to civilization. 

Eventually the cultists have enough and round up the remaining 4. The cult is called The Foundation as it was founded centuries ago around the same time as the founding of the country to avoid the wars/disease/live a simple remote life/etc. They have their own language, dress and live primitively, all under the guise of trying to live sustainably off the land. But its of course very much a cult. On the surface its not the white supremacist sort as there are plenty of people of color, but there’s no ingenious people that I can see despite when and where it was founded, so its probably got roots in white supremacy as a lot of cults do.

Add to that, you have to be healthy and in decent physical shape and have to contribute in some way to the village if they allow you to join. Abelist, and cruel, their intentions with people who hike the mountain are purely either to kill them, mutilate them in the name of justice, or to bring them into the fold.

The hikers are brought before the elders and leader in a “trial” , the crime being that one of the Foundation’s people was murdered in cold blood by one of the hikers, and its garbagio. The hikers were being watched while in town, goaded by the cult members stalking their car. Stalking about the tent at night. And while Jennifer saw someone at the top of the hill where the log dropped on them, that was definitely purposeful but for whatever reason she doesn’t bring it up when they’re on trial.

Also all the so called hunting traps are way over the top or not practical for actual hunting, unless you’re actively trying to kill humans who wander off the trail. If they were actually peaceful or trying to keep people out, then they’d have markers that point back to the trail instead of murdering them for veering off, which is a regular enough occurrence that the townspeople just accept it.

The hiker who bashed the brains of the guy “helping“ him is likewise given the same treatment, gay #2 has his eyes hot-pokered out and thrown into a dark cave, with the main leads on their way to join him until Jennifer speaks up, vouching for her boyfriend that he’s strong, a hard worker, etc, and his goals in life were toward charities and helping communities. They accept him. To save herself, she offers herself to whomever in the village needs a wife. Of course its the leader.

All the while there’s a flash-forward occasionally of Jennifer’s father-Matthew Modine-who’s looking for her as she’s been missing for almost two months. Town tries to intimidate and throw him off until someone finally helps. He’s taken into the woods by a guy and his son who want to get back at the Foundation for killing his other son, unfortunately this other one is not experienced, falls into a trap, and the father tries to get him out but he dies in another. Again, these traps are murdering people. But yea, sure, the Foundation is peaceful...

Modine is left alone but eventually manages to find his way thru the woods. Jennifer seems to have been converted by the cult, finds him and takes him back to the village. Its a ruse however and she works to escape with Modine, her boyfriend stays, believing that he’s found is his calling, but he doesn’t rat her out as she and Modine escape.

To get out, they go through the dark cave where dozens of people who had their eyes removed wander around, eating scraps of bread that we can only assume the cult feeds them, but they’re animalistic for as soon as the doors are found to be open, they attack and feed on a guard. During their trek thru, they come across gay #2 and Jennifer shoots him I guess in her eyes to put him out of his misery, but its not like he’s not capable of thought or consent, he’s just blinded, so while, yea, bringing him along might have slowed them, her decision to kill him is abelist.

She and her father escape, the rednecks having come to help with their cars and automatic weapons. The cult leader dramatically calling for Jennifer across  a ravine, but she leaves with Modine.

Some weeks later and she’s kept her rapists’ baby and wouldn’t you know who shows up. The leader is dressed “normal“ and after Jennifer gets her mother and siblings out of the room, she agrees to return with him on the condition he not harm them as she has some premonition that if she tried to stab the guy while they were in the room he’d kill them before she could get to him. He’s satisfied, and they leave. Credits begin to roll over the RV driving away but it suddenly swerves, hits a tree, and the cult leader crawls out. Jennifer stabs him until he’s dead before walking back down the road toward home. The end.

Its like a train wreck, you can’t stop watching and hoping the hikers get the fuck off the mountain alive. And there are a handful of good scary moments like the night in the tent. Waking up in the middle of the night and hearing someone walking around outside when everyone you know is in the tent with you? Horrifying, no thank you lol

I will also say the acting is pretty decent too.

Matthew Modine as a “Papa” you actually want is great, man looking for his daughter and it ain’t Eleven lol

I don’t know Bill Sage in anything but damn that man was equal parts unsettling as fuck as the cult leader, and also very fine lmao Great acting on his part and hope to see him in something with a better plot.

Overall, its rough to say the least, not really anything original in terms of horror but if you’re looking for a film with your brain off for awhile, or a drinking game (don’t do horror tropes, you’ll die of alcohol poisoning before they even get lost lol), probably up your alley.

[runemyth0]

Fire Red Z, Part 6: Marsh

Tragedy strikes on Fire Red Z! I’m starting to think the universe straight up doesn’t want me to have any psychic types on my team. How else do you explain this string of tragedies?

Let me back up and fill you in on what happened...

So, after cleaning Erika’s clock at the Celadon Gym, I decided to spend some time getting to know the city. Namely, I received Yarrow the Eevee as a gift (let’s be honest, p sure I stole him). We also stopped in at the Game Corner and scrounged up some coins to buy rescue Pine the Abra.

Naturally, getting two new pokemon means that it’s time to train! Pine evolved into Kadabra and I thought he was ready for the big leagues. So I decided to let Pine take on a Route 8 biker’s Grimer that was a couple levels above him.

He was one shot by its Sludge.

After depositing Pine in the dead box, we headed back to the game corner to investigate what the Rockets were up to. We barged into their secret base, took them all down, and faced off against their boss, Giovanni. Fun stuff.

Yarrow learned Bite and evolved into Jolteon! Now, Pokemon Tower would be a breeze. And it was, as Yarrow nipped all the ghosts we came across. Except Olive the Gastly, of course. We kicked out the Rockets, saved the old man, and helped a angry ghost rest.

So now it was time to get Olive up to par with the rest of the team by helping the ghost pokemon of the Tower to their eternal rest. Thanks to her high Sp. Atk, I decided to give my Psychic TM to Olive, which was used to great effect. Olive evolved into Haunter, then it was time to go use the POWER OF TECHNOLOGY!

With the POWER OF TECHNOLOGY! we transported Ginger and Olive across time and space to a place of leafs and greenery, then back. Along the way, they evolved into Golem and Gengar, respectively.

Before we headed back to Saffron City (our precious jewel! the goal of our journey so far!), I decided to let Olive and the rest of the team bulk up a bit more. So after catching Redwood the Snorlax on Route 16, we repeatedly challenged the bikers on the other side of the gate to battles.

With the team ready, we just had a couple more stops before the gym. First, the fighting dojo. We defeated them all, got Cashew the Hitmonlee, then headed off to Silph Co, which had been taken over by Team Rocket.

We battled up and down every floor, kicking Rocket butt all the way back to the floor and gaining some more levels in the process. We also faced Green, but Yarrow, Willow, Olive, and Ginger took quick care of his team. The Silph Co. employee nearby gave me a Lapras I named Waterlily.

After that, it was a quick fight against Giovanni, again. The hardest member of his team was Kangaskhan, which took two Brick Breaks from Hemlock to deal with (it’s got a surprising amount of Def).

And with all that handled, it was time to go take care of why we came to Saffron City in the first place: the gym. Yarrow and Olive tore through the gym trainers as we made out way through the gym towards Sabrina. And then we stood before her, with Olive in the lead position at level 42.

In hindsight, I should have gone and ground some more...

Kadabra and Mr. Mime were quick and easy, going down in just one Shadow Punch. Alakazam, though... Shadow Punch took it down to just a sliver of red left. It responded with Psychic.

It was a critical hit.

Olive went from full to zero in one hit.

Yarrow cleaned it up with his Bite, but that hurt a lot. I raised that girl, I gave her buffs and made sure she received the best training. But I should have done more. One more grinding trip, maybe? Well, it’s not like I can take it back now.

Anyways, Ginger finished off Venomoth and Sabrina was defeated. Marsh Badge acquired.

But it rings hollow, especially when I think about how I’m going to face Koga and his poison types in Fuschia City. Ginger will be able to handle the Arboks and Muks, but the Koffing/Weezing... I’ve already had one close call with a Self Destructing Koffing, I really don’t want to put my team at risk.

Oh well, it doesn’t really matter. After all, ships in port are safe, but that’s not what ships are for. Part of being a trainer is taking risks. When this is all over, I’ll go back to Pokemon Tower and pay my respects again. I hope Olive is keeping the others safe from the Gastlys and Haunters.

Now we’re off to Route 16 and the cycling road, on our way down to Fuschia City, the Safari Zone, and my next gym badge! Next time, on Fire Red Z!

[joe9cool]

Collide-Justin Herbert- 27

A/N: The usual disclaimers. I do not know anyone or any drama. Its fanfiction purposes. 

It was a few days since the loss and Sara hadn't heard anything. Well that wasn't entirely true, after a few hours he responded to her message.

Thanks

At least she got some response. She gave him leeway with this one. It stung, she was still not over the loss in some way, and she wasn't on the field.

She knew Justin like she knew the back of her hand, he was beating himself up over the passes and all the chances. Bosa was pissed about the call on him. Sara messaged him and got no response. However AnnSophie said he was talking to her so at least he had someone.

As far as the set went no one suspected that something was up with Sara, even Erika stayed out of her way, which was good. She was getting on her last nerve and her plane back to Los Angeles couldn't come soon enough.

She got through her scenes, the director and set crew blown away by her performance of an emotional character. This is what she loved about acting, if the scene called for anger or heartbreak she could do it. Sara could pour all of that into a character. She wasn't an Oscar nominated actress for nothing. They finished their scenes and she was able to go back to the hotel. As she checked her phone she was still discouraged that there was nothing from Justin. Her mom called to tell her all about her girls cruise and Sara was able to fake enough excitement for her. Cathy asked her all about AbuDhabi and brought up setting her up again with one of her girlfriends sons. "Mom please stop, I'm fine."

Once she hung up she didn't realize Erika was in the room. "Jeez you scared me!" Erika laughed as she was packing for her flight. "You know you could just get your mom off your back if you told her you were seeing someone." Sara rolled her eyes. "Yeah and then have it been told to the entire Pittsburgh stock district?"

"True, but you always complain about not being invited to these couples' things and being left out. How long do you expect to date him and not tell anyone?"

"We are going to discuss more details about that side once I'm back home and I don't have work commitments. Right now he's getting over the playoffs and I'm here." She sighed. "I can't wait til the 27th. I can at least comfort him and just be there."

Erika nodded. "Yeah, there's an Athletic article talking about how upset he is."

"I'm avoiding social media. My poor baby. I made the mistake of going on twitter yesterday and it was everywhere.  Emmanuel Acho was going off and I couldn't." Sara shook her head.  "I just want to kiss and cuddle him, and make him dinner." And Sara smiled and Erika knew she was going to say something out of pocket. "And suck him off," her friend laughed and threw her head back. "EWW SARA CHRISTINE!" The girls began laughing. "I don't doubt you take care of him. You forget I heard you guys before we left." Sara went red. "Oh god" Erika laughed. "So how does this work? He's so tall!" Sara swatted at her friend. "I'm not telling you that!"

"Oh come on you probably told Bella!" It was true, Sara had no issue spilling to Bella the dirty details about their sex life. Maybe in some way Sara and Erika were drifting apart. They were now more colleagues than best friends. Sara needed to work on that once they came back. "I've made some comments, but I haven't said anything too crazy." Sara lied. Before Erika could say anything, there was a knock at the door. Timothee poked his head in. "Hey we are going to dinner Austin and I, Zendaya as well. She just got in yesterday."

Sara's jaw dropped. "Z is here? How did I miss that?" He laughed "She surprised us, but you were in your trailer watching your man's game"

"Well we will be there." Sara jumped up and got ready while Erika said she just wanted to pack since her flight was tomorrow. Sara decided on makeup and a nice presentable outfit within the ten minutes she had to get ready. Her hair was destroyed from all the products and she didn't have time to wash it so it was a slick back ponytail. Once she was satisfied with her look she took a mirror selfie and joined the group in the car, she said goodbye to Erika and they departed. Zendaya was already there and she hugged her, missing one of her good friends.

They headed out to Nusr-Et Steakhouse which was famous and with good reviews. The group was in a private room, but not before cameras from the other diners began to come out to record them walking. Their security guards made sure no one approached them before standing by the door of the private room they reserved.

Sara had to admit she did miss getting together with her famous friends. Many people assumed that people she associated with was snobby and uppity, but it was quite the opposite, they were all just kids in their twenties trying to navigate this crazy life. Z updated them about living with Tom and renovating the house they bought. Timothee updated them on an audition, and Sara said she had someone knew in her life and told them all about her family drama. She also spilled about Erika,

"Can I be honest?" Z took a bite on the appetizer. "I don't trust Erika." Sara frowned after taking a sip of her drink. "Why?"

Her friend continued. "Well look, Erika has been your close friend, and your employee for a while, she shouldn't be making these confidentially mistakes. Maybe you should look into her signing an NDA. I mean, I know she's your friend, but she's not new to this. She understands that you value your privacy." Sara nodded. "I just hate asking her to do that. I mean we've been friends since we were kids."

Timothee shrugged. "Things changed, there's nothing wrong with that. She should understand your business and privacy."

"True." She looked around. "Where's Austin?"  Timothee laughed. "Kaia called him, so he's been on the phone since the car." As on cue, Austin came in, and the group teased him about his relationship. Sara couldn't help but check her phone to see if there was anything from Justin. Then again, it was early morning so he was probably still sleeping.

—---------------------------------------------------------- Justin couldn't sleep.

It was awful, he kept replaying the mistakes in his head over and over. How could they have just given up like this? How did it go from being comfortable to just falling apart? He always prided himself on not listening to the noise outside, but he was sure there was alot a noise. There was no way there wasn't. He also knew Joey was getting a lot of shit. His breakdown on the sidelines and locker room was going to be news for a few days.

He hadn't responded to anyone and if he did it was one word. As much as he wanted to respond to Sara he just couldn't. He wanted to wallow in self pity for a few days.

Nova sensed that her owner was in a bad mood, so she stayed close and allowed him to cuddle her. And well in the past it would be enough, he missed a warm body to hold close and to take out his frustrations with. He wanted Sara. He got up and went to call her but then he got a notification that she posted on Instagram. He looked and saw it was a photo collage of her with Timothee Chalamet, Austin Butler, and Zendaya. He decided not to bother her. Let her have fun, and not bother her with his burden right now.

Eventually he fell asleep holding Nova close.

He found himself waking up early in the morning. As his usual routine he got up and got ready to go to the facilities. They were still going to the practice for meetings and lifting before they cleaned out lookers and were excused for the summer. Many guys would go home right away. Some would stick around with their families. Justin didn't know what to do, he honestly thought they'd be preparing for next week. As he drove to the facility he saw some fans hanging out. He waved to them.

He heard the chants to Fire Staley, Lombardi, have the Spanos sell the team. All of that. Justin's head was swimming with all of these thoughts. As he walked towards his locker he saw a couple of guys, including Bosa hanging around. "You wanna workout?" Joey's voice was defeated and Justin nodded. They both needed to workout the stress. Though it would need more than just a one hour workout.

They did their usual routines, acting like it was a normal lifting day. They didn't say a word, the understanding with all the guys it would be the usual no talking.

It did feel good, to let out all of that anger and frustration of the game out into the weights. Joey remarked that a punching bag needed to be installed. Justin agreed.

Staley and Lombardi were in meetings. None of them dared to show their faces, until it was time for the meetings. It was the usual crap, and Justin found himself tuning out. Joey was expecting to get a league fine as well as one from TIAA, apparently he destroyed a piece of the locker while he was in his rage after the game.

They didn't stay as late as they usually would. Justin went back to his locker to see a bunch of roses. Confused, he went over and saw the card.

If you need to talk I'm here. I'm still a friend no matter what - TB

He shook his head. It was a nice gesture, and he didn't want to be rude. He typed out the message.

Thanks for the roses.

It's np! I still consider you a good friend and I apologize for how I acted.

I'll see you next season Taylor.

He left it at that. He didn't want to get into all of that. Taylor was in the past.

He saw nothing from Sara, he knew that she wanted him to contact him on his terms. He looked at the time, it would be early in the morning and maybe she was up.

He dialed her number. She picked up on the first ring. "Hello?" It was comfortable to hear her beautiful voice. "Hey baby," He sighed "I'm sorry I haven't contacted you. I know you said you didn't like that."

"I can make an exception for this one." She laughed. "How are you?"

"As good as I can be, it still stings though." "I know honey, I know."

Justin rested his head against his locker. "I miss you so much." He breathed.

"Ten more days baby, ten more days. I'm coming straight to you. I'm going to give you the best head. You won't be able to walk once I'm done with you."

He smiled and lowered his voice so no one else heard. "Dirty girl" He laughed. "I'm going to do so much to you. You're not leaving my bed." She giggled. "Well, once I do the fashion show I'm gonna bring home all of the lingerie I can keep."

He smiled. "Can you make your turtle cookies?" She laughed. "Yes! And I'll make your favorite dinner, and we'll fuck each other brains out in the hot tub." He smiled. "I want to go to the fashion show. I think I can make it"

Sara's breath was held. "Oh Justin, I would love it if you came! Don't worry, I'll make sure no one suspects anything!" He smiled. "Thanks baby." They spoke for about a few more minutes and Justin kept asking about the set. He wanted to make sure she felt her career was as important as his. He felt like he wasn't being the best partner with supporting her career. Their conversation was about returning to Oregon again before she was interrupted by being called to set. They said their 'I Love yous' before they promised to speak again later.

He felt better after speaking to her. It was just what he needed, and her voice was so comforting to him. He looked at the calendar on his phone and smiled, counting down the days. Justin began to plan for her arrival, he wanted to do something special for her.

—-----------------------------------------------------------

Saturday January 21st

6 days left.

Jack's phone rang, he picked up, irritated that someone would be calling so late

"Hello?"

"Look, you want details? Fine you got them. Sara and Justin had been seeing each other since Joe Grant's wedding in July. That's where they met, they had a secret get togethers at a pub where Sara frequents. He was at Bella's birthday party. He hates the spotlight, so they haven't revealed anything. However, they have been to Justin's hometown in Oregon meeting his family."

Jack was just giving up hope on his source but the Lord decided to bless him. He was taking notes while giggling with glee. "I knew you would come through, you always do. Any other details?"

"Oh baby I have plenty. You think you can have this article out as soon as possible?" Jack smiled. It will be the first thing people wake up to on Monday morning. —---------------------------------------------------------------

Sunday January 22nd

EXCLUSIVE: SARA WOZNIAK IS IN SERIOUS RELATIONSHIP WITH QUARTERBACK JUSTIN HERBERT.

Sara has a new love on the horizon. In the form of a bolt. Sources tell OK magazine exclusively that [television show] actress Sara Wozniak, 26 is in a serious relationship with Los Angeles Chargers Quarterback Justin Herbert,24 since the end of July. The couple who met at Joe Grant's wedding, have been Bouncing between Herbert's humble abode in Irvine and Sara’s multi million dollar Hollywood Hills mansion. "It's very serious," the source tells OK. "Sara has met his brothers and parents and everyone gets along." Fans have been speculating Sara had someone in her life since she has been appearing much happier since her split with Pop Star Harry Styles in 2021. Their reps have not responded to our calls.

Jack ran it by his boss, along with the pictures the source provided. It couldn't be denied, the two young lovers were caught in a passionate embrace. The other photos showed them mid lip lock and at an event.

His boss was thrilled. "Jack, you've done many amazing things in your career, but this tops it! No one has discovered this! Who is the source to provide these photos?"

Jack smiled. "Sorry, but I promised full anonymity. They have been helpful in the past." His boss shook his head. "Do you know how hard it is to get an exclusive on Sara? She may be a sex pot but she isn't a dummy. Too bad there is no nudes leak, many people would kill for that!" Jack cringed. His boss was a pig, but he needed that pig. "I was thinking we should publish this on a Monday." His boss nodded. "Good idea. Did you actually go to the reps though?" He shook his head. "No I didn't, I figured let the other sources do it. If this Herbert guy is as private as they make it seem we won't get shit from them anyway."

"Okay first thing Monday morning people will be waking up to this news." —------------------------------------------------------------

Sunday night January 22nd.

Justin had just got off the phone with Sara, she was exhausted from a long day, apparently a night scene needed to be filmed and it required a fourteen hour work day. So she hadn't had any sleep. "What time is it out there?" Justin asked. Sara yawned before answering. "8 am Monday morning." Justin hummed. "I think the first thing you need to do when you get back is sleep. Nothing like adjusting to a big timezone difference." She nodded. "I need your bed, and Nova to cuddle up with." He snorted. "Gee thanks. I knew you were using me for my cat."

"I can't help it. She's too cute!" He laughed. "Can we get her a cat?" He laughed even louder. "You mean get my cat a cat?" It sounded ridiculous. But Sara laughed and persisted. "Come on! Like a playmate or a sibling!"

"I don't even know if she would be good with cats."  "Well I mean she's good with dogs. She was good with Dylan." He laughed "Dylan isn't a cat though, and he is a gentle giant, he knows she runs the house. "She's a Queen." Sara smiled.

Speaking of, Nova came and jumped up next to him and he smiled and scratched her backside which made her purr. The two spoke for a while before Justin made her hang up to get some sleep. "Babe you're exhausted."

"I wanna keep talking to you." He laughed. "We can talk when you get up." I mean it wasn't like he wasn't doing anything nowadays.

After some more back and forth they hung up. As much as Sara was exhausted she couldn't shake this feeling that something was wrong……

Really wrong

—-----------------------------------------------------------------

Justin woke up to the sound of ringing and the notifications going crazy. He looked over to see it was 8am. He had to be at the facilities at ten to go over some stuff with the coaches. He jumped up and checked his phone.

INSTAGRAM: JUSTIN YOU GAINED OVER A 500 THOUSANDS FOLLOWERS IN TWO HOURS

YOU HAVE 2,000 MESSAGES.

10 MISSED CALLS FROM ASHLEY

'JUSTIN CALL ME!' 'JUSTIN THIS IS IMPORTANT!'

FROM MOM:

JUSTIN THERE'S PEOPLE OUTSIDE OUR HOUSE ASKING ABOUT SARA.

FROM MIKE

BRO THERES PEOPLE OUTSIDE THE FACILITIES ASKING FOR YOU AND THEY GOT CAMERAS.

Justin felt like he was in a bad movie. "What the fuck?"

He got up and quickly got in the shower. He went as fast as possible, the sound of his phone going off.

He sent a text to Ashley. 'I'll call you in the car'

As he got everything together and opened the garage door nothing could prepare him for this.

There were three camera guys outside his house who were shouting at him on the sidewalk and videoing him. Quickly, he put his workout bag in front of his face.

"Justin! Is Sara with you?"

"Justin congratulations on dating Sara Wozniak"

"Are you planning to propose soon?"

He got in his car and drove off. The camera guys jumping in a van behind him to follow him. He looked in his rearview mirror "what the fuck" he whispered to himself. Then he thought about what the camera guy said.

Quickly, he dialed Ashley's number in which she picked up on the first ring. "Justin, we have a problem."

"No Shit! Camera guys are outside my house and are now following. Mike's texting me that people are outside the place! My mom said there's people outside her house." He was exasperated and in a panic."

"There's an article in OK! Magazine about you in a relationship with Sara Wozniak? It goes into detail about how you took her to Oregon! You guys are the front cover of This week's US Magazine!"

Justin was shaking. This couldn't be happening. They weren't supposed to say anything! His voice cracked as he gripped onto the steering wheel. "What else does it say?"

Ashley paused. "It says her rep confirmed the relationship." 

He saw red. He was so pissed. "Justin I'm guessing it's true." Justin shook his head. "Yeah. Everything is true."

"You're trending on twitter, and now you have two million followers on instagram." She paused again. "Emmaunel Acho is going off about his social media quarterback and other things. It's very foul, he is  tweeting at her as well."

He was at a red light, and hit his head against the steering wheel. "Ashley I feel like there's something else."

"I think you shouldn't be operating a vehicle when I tell you this one. Right now the Chargers security is telling the paps to back off and they are not allowed. They are fighting back though. Saying it's public property."

He shook his head. "Listen, I'll call you back when I get there." Ending the call he switched over to his mom. "Justin, there's strangers outside our house asking where's Sara? And Patrick is being followed on campus when he went to work out."

Fuck. Fuck. They were going after his family. Damn it Sara. "Listen, I'm going to have Ashley and the others take care of this. But don't go out and don't say anything." He hung up as he pulled into the parking lot, on the other side of the fence he saw the guys and the other van pull up. There was a total of twenty people videoing him, waiting for him to jump out of his car. Taking a deep breath, he put on his baseball cap and hopped out.

He tuned out the yelling, but he could make out his name, and Sara’s. He could have sworn he heard Taylor as well. He ran into the facility and straight to the locker room where everyone, including coaches and gm where. "Justin, we need to talk."

He already knew what they were going to say. "I know, my manager filled me in." The media director spoke. "Justin, we support you and your relationship. I already told reporters no questions about personal relationships. We tried to get the cameraman to back off but they can be there legally. After speaking a little bit more Justin turned towards the guys. "I'm sorry you have to be involved with this." The team informed that obsessed fans were messaging players and their wives which wasn't okay.

Austin shook his head. "Don't worry about us. Your privacy has been violated with the photos." Justin's face paled. "Photos?"

The guys all looked at each other. "Have you seen the actual article?" Joey asked. It was a stupid question, since they knew their quarterback didn't read anything about himself. "There's photos of you and Sara with her friends, one at a friend's house, and new years at my house. You guys were kissing. It was a selfie she took."

Justin was mad. Seething mad. "Fucking Sara." He reached for his phone. Austin stopped him. "Now Herb, don't do anything stupid. Let Sara explain herself. I don't think she's the type putting all of her personal business out there.

But Justin was pissed and determined. And there was no stopping him when he was fired up.

To Sara

We need to fucking talk.

—----------------------‐—----------------------------------

As soon as Sara woke up she realized she was late as Alex rushed in and told her to be on set in ten. She jumped up and barely ate before she was in the car on the way. Sara wished she had Erika to keep her up to speed. She realized her phone was on its charger in the hotel room. Well fuck it would be at least a few hours before she got it.

When she was in hair and makeup her manager took a call that seemed urgent from the hushed whispers. Austin came over while they were finishing up. "Well I don't know a lot about football,but I'm sorry to hear about your boyfriend's team. Is that why you were so upset last week?"

Sara was confused. How the fuck did he know? She was going to kill Timothee. "Timothee told you? I told him not to tell anyone!" Her voice got angry, and Austin held his hands up. "Woah! I found out through the news today. It's everywhere girl. I can't even go on social media without it trending! You guys look really cute together."

Her heart stopped, it was like time slowed down. "What?" She croaked after a few minutes. As on cue, Alex came rushing over. "Sara, we have a problem."

She jumped out of the chair, the makeup artist giving a huff that her job was being interrupted. "You're damn right we do!"

"Heidi said the article was just sent to her 5 minutes after it was released, including the pictures. She said that it claimed she confirmed the relationship. Even though she had no idea it was a thing." Alex lowered her voice. "Is it true? About you guys visiting Oregon and meeting his parents? And you guys are practically living together at his Irvine home?"

She was going to be sick. This article was so revealing and she hadn't even seen it. Then she thought about something else. "Wait photos?"

Alex nodded. "Heidi said they are too incriminating. You can't deny it." She ran her hands through her freshly styled hair and the hairdresser ran over to fix it.

"Alright guys, five minutes til scene!" "Shit. Shit. Shit." She was panicking. She needed to call Justin. "Alex, please get my phone."

"You won't be able to look at it for a few ho-" "Alex get me my fucking phone now!" Her manager saw it was a dire situation and ran back to the hotel. It would be a minute since they were in the middle of nowhere.

"Alright we need Sara on the set right now." The producer called.

Sara took a deep breath. Everything is going to be alright. It has to be

Right?

A/N: Don’t hate me, but we all know Justin doesn’t like fame or attention.....

[eristic-kaleidoscope]

A Sight For Sore Eyes - Endgame 1/5

You took off your helmets, looking about yourselves. The last thirteen hours had been an exercise in mental fortitude, but it was done, and the facility was no longer at imminent risk of blowing up. There was a brief moment to rest, just to catch your breath, but only barely that before things began once more.

AION stood already in the second VR room’s doorway, giving a quick bow as they finished and wasting no time in addressing the group once they could be heard.

``Thank you for your help within the VR system. Additionally, it would seem that your associates and other forces have only just arrived outside, which is to say, there should be help entering momentarily.``

The blonde thespian nodded, retrieving his partner’s coat from where it had been draped over AION. “About as good a time as any to finally show up. Could you get the others to come over?”

The robot sped off, and soon enough, the first group was made aware of this new development as well. You took off and put on what clothing you thought necessary, before all eight of you converged in the corridor of Floor D, right outside the door leading to the promised outside. 

Illuminated against the darkness of the night sky above, you saw two large helicopters unloading security personnel on the roof of the facility. Several of them started making their way to the door with breaching equipment, led by a woman with bubblegum-pink hair, wielding a laptop computer. Her expression immediately brightened up when she spotted you all on the other side.

With the door thankfully already unlocked, the woman strided forward past the others to punch Akito in the gut. "Scheisse, Mikage, is this how you treat a girl? By ghosting her for six verdammt weeks?!" She scolded before headbutting him. (This of course should be translated for those listening.) “I thought I’d never see you alive again, you ass!”

“Reports of my death were greatly exaggerated.” He remarked dryly, even as they both hugged it out. “But it is good to be alive to see you, Noelle. I take it the others couldn’t make it?”

“Someone had to keep Dezzie busy.” She pulled away, before finally acknowledging the rest of you with a playful salute. “Noelle Pfeiffer, Yuletide, whatevs, of the Anti-Erika Global Intelligence Sect, along with agents from the FBI and the SAS. Kinda was expecting more resistance from the get-go, but this makes our lives significantly easier, so who’s complaining?”

She lowered her hand. “Me, actually, I was ready to blast Mambo No. 5 all over their little network and now I feel cheated out of the opportunity.”

“Let’s not do that. Long story short, the hosts have agreed to cease hostilities and negotiate terms, but there’s still a lot to do,” Akito glanced over Noelle - which was very easy to do as she was only five feet tall - and at the rest of his gathered personnel. “Kindly keep your firearms holstered and don’t engage. The floor they’re in has many fragile objects, including several glass jars with brains, and we’re trying to avoid any casualties. Stay vigilant, let us approach, and we’ll handle the talking.”

Intimidating as the group that had arrived having  to be told that was (and as an audible snort sounded from Erik A at all of this), your short AION companion piped up once more afterwards, nodding towards the elevator dorm to the dorms. 

``The main elevator’s operation has been re-engaged, and will be able to descend to the fourth floor, which should hold the three who have surrendered as well as the two who had been held in stasis previously.`` They turn to you all for a moment, aware of some of your mental states at present, and gave a small nod of assurance. ``All of you are not required to follow, though you can if you like. Do not worry however, as your chips have had their punishment features disabled, and this unit will assist in assuring that no harm will come to you regardless of location.``

Thus, when all was ironed out, you headed back through the lift door into the dorm area, and the floor started descending to meet the three sisters on Floor 4, as you were accompanied.

[crucifixes-and-chrysanthemums]

Wowza. No, wowzers. I just made a DO IT FOR HER thing for Sixto to motivate him to get better at running with Kate Marsh, so Life is Strange is on the brain. Hence, wowzers, its been a hot minute since I last journaled. 4/4/22 is my last, and today is 12/10/22. Its been a good year, I suppose. James got a DUI a few weeks ago and is going to be quitting his job at the OPWDD since his license is getting suspended pending the court hearing for some reason. Total bullshit, but whatever. Maybe I can get him into 7-Eleven. He asked if we’re taking applications. It could be nice. Anyway.

A couple weeks ago my sister went on a week long drug binge, came home, had a major bipolar episode, and got 51-50′d. That was right around the 20th of November. Whatever the previous Friday was, I think. Maybe. Anyhoo, she was there for three days. The last few weeks, she’s been at home smoking pot, going wherever she wants with dad, and smoking pot with dad. It’s fucking stupid, but what am I gonna do about it? Could be worse. As if the gulf between dad and I needed to be any wider, of course. Eh, its always sorta been me and Mom, then Tessa and dad. Stressful, but I guess it could be worse. I’m slowly beginning to hope that we’re on the mend. 

Summer was Owen’s wedding. Truth be told, I love the guy, but he’s going down the wrong path. He’s got a nice apartment in Grand Rapids, him and Stephanie, but he’s going down the grifter route and I think that's a bad idea, psychically speaking. Bad karma, or whatever. I had a great time, though, generally. I did all the driving. Got stopped for speeding once on the way there and once on the way back, and only got one ticket. I made burgers stuffed with feta and mozzarella, with a topping of chives, dijon mustard, and sour cream. Corn on the cob on the side. Simple, but neither Alex, James, nor I spoke when we ate. Just mouths opening and closing. Damn, that’s a good burger. Drank three vodka crans in an hour and a half at the reception. Prayed with Owen. Flirted a little with some girl. Danced. Gay ol’ time. James and I never got any fishing done, but such is life. 

My prayer life, as of lately, is sorta in the shits if I’m honest. Its just... Hard, man. Rosaries have never appealed to me. At the same time, I don’t feel like God has abandoned me, you know? I’m trying to make everything I do a prayer. Well, alright, I’m trying to make some of the things I do a prayer. I did just finish a book called Eternity, My Beloved by Jean Sulivan and absolutely adored it. Its about a priest in France named Jerome Strozzi (called Tonzi) who essentially becomes a caretaker to down-and-outs. He hangs around with prostitutes, never evangelizing or moralizing to them. Just telling them he loves them, and that they have dignity. That’s when he speaks, which is rarely. They reform. It made so much sense to me. The best way to evangelize, to speak Christ into others lives, is to not do so at all. Just make your faith known, and then be quiet and listen. Treat others well. Thursday, when I’d finished talking to Mike about it, I got a text from an old friend from college, Erika. She asked me if I’d gone through RCIA, because she’s considering it. I passed along Mike and Leslie’s emails. God is good, even if He and I don’t always see eye to eye.

So, speaking of that. I’ve been working on a little bit of a project as of the last while. A group for young adult Catholics in the parish and the surrounding parishes. Mike used the term “faith support group” at some point, and I like that. I picture it as a sort of “ready-made friend group”? Man, my notes are all over the place on it, honestly. I’ve got two thirds written down, on paper, another half in my phone, and a bit more in my head. Gotta get this together. Anyway, the idea in short is a group of young adults, between 18 and say 35, that meet once a week or twice a month. Spend 15 minutes or so talking about the prior week’s readings - anything speak to you? Father say anything that really struck you? Hear something you wanted? Something you didn’t? After that, just open discussion. Maybe one time someone has a topic they wanna talk about - a sin they’re struggling with, or just something they know a lot about that they want to share with the group. The idea is to address loneliness. Why do we, as young adults, feel so fuckin’ lonely? We can access the width and breadth of the human experience with our fingertips but still, lonely lonely lonely. Ready-made friend group. There’s food, of course - a whole ass meal, ideally. Pizza the first couple nights, maybe. But also homemade stuff. Don’t lead, can’t. I can, but don’t want to. Its not about any of us, its just about us. Someone being an obvious leader is a bad idea. Mike said to take pointers from how AA works, actually. Gotta find someone to talk to about that. Mutual aid, mutual aid, mutual aid. We’ve gotta organize ourselves, because nobody is gonna do it for us. And if they did, we wouldn’t want it. They’d be fakers and grifters and ideologues. Kill your leaders, I guess.

I’m actually excited for this. I think its something we really need as a church, as young people, and as young churchgoers. Plan is to start it in the bulletin Jan 1, then have the first meeting end of January or beginning of February. Hopefully it goes somewhere. Lord willing and the creek don’t rise. That seems to be my prayer pretty often - “Good Lord willin’ and the crick don’t rise.” Just because I ain’t the best at praying and He and I aren’t always the best of friends (of course, by this I mean I’m not always a good friend to Him - its all on me, man, I know that) don’t mean I don’t know how, that I don’t, or that I don’t mean it.

DnD is going good with the OperatorChan guys. It’s me, Remo, Anubis, Garde, Senseless, and HingedKilljoy, a friend of Todd’s. Todd’s DMing. We’re playing tomorrow, last session before a long holiday break. Fun fun fun. 

Oh, I’ve got a few job things coming up. Civil Service Exam for Corrections Officer later this month - that one’s online - and another for Water/Wastewater Treatment Plant Operator also this month, the 23rd. Then another for Custodian in February. They all pay more than I make now, and none are far away. Here’s to a better job - not gonna stay at Seven-Eleven forever.

Anyway, I guess that’s about it. Still single, but content with it. When I find someone, I find someone. God provides what I need.

12/10/2022

[theheadlessgroom]

At this lament, Randall couldn’t help but smile at her, both sympathetically and understandingly, as he asked her gently, “May I tell you a story?

See now, not too long after your mother and I came here, I found myself in a...similar situation: I’d seen how Dori was overworking himself, putting together the ball, so I said to him, Why don’t I do it? I’ll handle it, Dori; you take a break, I can do this. I’d never organized a ball before, but I thought to myself, How hard could it be?

Well,” he laughed to himself, as he rubbed the back of neck, admitting, “Pretty hard, as it turns out-seemed like everything that could go wrong did, and I felt like I was in over my head. But, in true Pace fashion...I was stubborn, and refused to pass it on to be someone else’s headache, least of all Dorian’s. It meant the world for us to see each other again, and since it was our first winter together, living under the Mansion’s roof, I wanted to make it special-especially as a thank you for letting your Ma and I move in.”

He chuckled again, thinking back fondly on those chaotic days for a moment, before saying, “But y’know what? Dorian wasn’t upset with me when he saw me running around like a chicken with its head cut off-he laughed a little, sure, but he wasn’t upset; far from it. Instead, we agreed to put our heads together, and work on it together. Your mother joined in, as did Elizabeth, and so, all four of us were able to get everything done and in order.

So,” he smiled to Erika, suggesting, “Why don’t I give you a hand, my girl? Let’s tackle this together-what do you need done?”

“I am convinced that every thing is going wrong.”

"Such as?" Randall asked worriedly, brows knitting together as he took a seat beside his daughter.