#gotta post it while it's relivant

[wanderingspacepirate]

that scene in Elementary S3E12, “The One That Got Away,” about 11 minutes in where Sherlock is making scrambled eggs and Kitty enters the kitchen? He says, “these are for you,” Kitty responds, “i’m not that hungry,” and he repeats, “these are for you,” in a particular tone—

i just!!! i cried! this man cares SO MUCH and yeah, he’s an asshole, and yeah he ignores boundaries but oh my god!! my god, man, he CARES!

[inkdrippeddreams]

In Your Corner Part 1

Part 2 , Part 3

Pairing: Adonis Creed x Black Journalist OC!

Warnings: none right now. Past mentions of trauma, nothing tew crazy.

Summary: Athena, a guarded and sharp-tongued journalist, is reluctantly assigned to interview Adonis Creed, a boxer whose painful past mirrors her own. What starts as a tense professional encounter soon shifts into something unexpectedly personal, as Creed’s vulnerability disarms Athena and a flirtatious challenge turns into undeniable chemistry. With unresolved family trauma, journalistic pressure, and a spark neither saw coming, both realize this interview might change far more than a headline.

Notes: takes place after the 2nd Drago fight, Bianca doesn’t exist in this AU 😭Guys, I wrote this in one day, it's not proofread and probably poorly written, forgive me for my mistakes, college courses just ended, and I'm like exhausted, but I've been inspired to write, lmk if you want to be tagged in pt 2! Also, I really need to learn how to work Tumblr, y'alls posts are super cute and I don't know how to add any colors or different fonts, someone TEACH ME I beg

******************************************************

“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.” 

Athena watched as her boss, Christian, walked angrily to her office holding a stack of papers, her latest article, actually, that she had placed neatly on his desk this morning before he came in. His assistant, poor Sherri, who happened to be her only friend since moving to LA, was following behind him closely, subtly warning Athena as she tripped over her heels to follow the man’s long strides. Athena braced herself in her office chair before releasing the tension in her shoulders and placing a cool smile on her face just as he made it to the door. \

“Athena, what the hell is this?” Christian wheezed angrily, trying to gather his breath as he threw the papers back on her desk.

“An article, just how you wanted, sir,” Athena tried to sound at ease, but the way her tone trailed off at the end, she knew she was cracking slowly. Sherri gave her a nervous smile before sitting in one of the office chairs.

“Athena, I don’t pay you to write bullshit about people, you’re one of the best senior writers I have, and when I ask you to write about the most popular boxer in the United States right now, you resort to using Google. For what? Because you’re too scared to interview him?”

Her demeanor fell, Athena refused to look at him; in all honesty, her eyes darted everywhere besides his face. Adonis Creed was one of her toughest stories yet, not only because she hates writing about boxing, the violence wasn't her thing, but because she related to him in more ways than one. The abandonment, the single parent, the humble upbringing—she feared that by learning about his trauma, she’d have to relive her own, which wasn’t a step she was ready to take just yet, even after all the years of therapy. She looked at Sherri, who was smiling sadly at her. She knew of Athena’s trauma and knew why she didn’t want the story in the first place, but she would refuse to go against the likes of Christian while he was in this state.

“Honestly, Christian, while I am extremely lucky to be working at this company, and even happier to be given this story, I find it disrespectful to make this man relive his childhood trauma right after he just fought the son of the man who killed his father in the ring. I know he won and he’s still the “Heavyweight Champion,” but this was a rematch after he, too, was almost killed by a Drago. I just don’t really think it’s a great idea and might come across as distasteful, especially with the way we’ve been trying to make the company come across as more serious,” Athena leaned forward onto her desk, folding her arms over the other as her cardigan stretched in the sleeves as she spoke. Christian sighed and sat on the cushioned chair next to Sherri, rubbing his forehead before clapping his hands. 

“Athena,” he spoke lowly, elbows on his knees, Athena watching as the fabric stretches around his forearms, “You do this interview that I set up, or I’ll give it to a Junior writer and see if they deserve this office more than you do.” Christian stands, as Athena whispers a small “yes, sir,” beckoning Sherri to follow him. Sherri stands, nodding at Athena, mouthing a quick “we’ll talk after work,” before quickly following her boss out of the office. 

Leaning back in her Athena let out a deep breath before groaning. This is going to be the longest week of her life.

******************************************************************************

“The interview is scheduled for tomorrow at 2 PM, at the Delphi Gym. Questions have already been screened by his team. Make sure you’re there 15 minutes before to get a look at the gym. 

Athena, don’t make me regret giving you this promotion.

Christian.

Athena stared at the screen as if it had bitten her. Sitting on her couch in her favorite cotton shorts and big t-shirt combo, she was exhausted. This actually couldn’t be real, she was doomed. She stood, closing her computer, and walked towards the kitchen of her high-rise apartment located in Downtown LA, one that she wouldn’t have been able to afford had she still been in Atlanta. Athena would have to admit, the job at LimeLight Wire paid handsomely. Enough for rent in a two-bedroom sky-rise with the perfect view of the Hollywood sign, floor-to-ceiling windows, and 24-hour security in her apartment building. Her apartment was decorated with plants and earthy decor, reminding her so much of her home in Georgia. Los Angeles was fun, but there was nothing like the Georgia air and southern charm.

Once in her kitchen, she grabbed herself a wine glass from her top cabinet before opening her fridge, grabbing her favorite bottle of cheap wine, it was cheap, but the buzz got the job done, and she didn’t care enough to spend so much on a bottle, especially when she didn’t feel like it was worth it. After pouring herself a glass, she walked back to her couch, plopping down with a huff and sipping her drink, she stared into space for a moment. She didn’t like this. She adored the job as a journalist, but not when she felt like she was being forced to do something. Google had enough about Creed for her to write a full article about him, but that wasn’t good enough for Christian.  She had heard all about Adonis Creed, how his first fights went, how much trouble he had as a child, always knowing who his father was but never knowing him, even him almost dying in his first fight with Drago. Before she could get lost in her thoughts, her phone rang. She slid it off the glass center table she had, glancing at the screen, Dad. 

She answered, slipping back into her facade, “Hi, Daddy!”

“Baby, how are you?” his southern accent glided through the phone, “you know your granny miss you.”

“I know, Daddy,” Athena sighed, “I’ll be back to visit sometime this Fall, I’ll even try to make it for Thanksgiving.”

 “Baby, that’s over 6 months from now. Now I know Georgia ain’t got much to offer you, but you have a family, as small as it may be,” her dad spoke softly. She would never tell her dad, but there was a reason she avoided home, and he would never tell her, but he knew what the reason was.

“I know, Daddy, work been busy and I’ve just been trying to keep up with the quota, I’ve got a big interview coming up, actually, you’ll be excited to know who it is.” Athena tried her best to gently redirect the conversation.

“Wesley Snipes? Boy, you know I loved him  in Blade!”

“No, daddy,” Athena laughs, “It’s with the Creed guy, the boxer.” Her Dad paused before laughing.

“I know him! Watched him fight that big Drago boy. I don’t know how that boy won that fight, looked like he was going through pure-dee-hell tryna take that big ass boy down,” He laughed, “But congratulations baby girl! We so proud of you!”

“Thank you, Daddy,” she smiles over the phone, “please tell Granny that I love her and will be home soon as I can, matter of fact, I’ll just call her tomorrow.” Athena took a sip of her wine, grabbed her computer, and walked to her bedroom, deciding to just call it a night.

“Yeah, baby, you should call her, and I know you guys don’t talk, but you should check in on your brother, you know, he proposed to Olivia,” he drawls, his voice now more serious.

“Daddy, that’s good for them. I’ll send flowers, I promise,” she shot back, almost immediately, not really wanting to have that conversation at the moment, “I love you, I gotta go.” 

She sighed, hanging up her phone and climbing into bed.

“Fuckkkkkk.” 

****************************************************************************

“Just go inside, be nice, smile, from what I’ve heard, he’s a nice guy, just don’t worry about it, Thena,” Sherri said over the phone. Athena sat in her car right outside the Delphi gym. She had opted to dress casually so as not to make herself seem too formal. She went for a brown bottom-up tucked into boot cut jeans and black boots. Her hair was pulled back into a slick puff with tiny gold earrings lighting up her look. 

“I’m not worried about whether he’s nice, Sherri, I just don’t want to seem disrespectful,” Athena replied, turning off the car and opening her door. She looked down at her gold watch, 1:38 PM. “Let me call you when I’m done, I’m gonna head in.” On the other end, Sherri mumbles a response and hangs up. Athena grabbed her purse and got out of the car. Looking up at the glass windows with the Apollo Creed mural on the front, she closed her door.

Walking into the gym was truly something. She looked around at the gym equipment everywhere, the walls covered in gray paint. Grunting catches her attention, and she turns, beginning to watch the men in the ring sparring intently, something about the way they moved so calculatedly entranced her.

“Hey, you must be Athena,” a voice says behind her, startling her. She turned, staring at the dark skin man behind her.

“That’s me,” she gulps, clutching her purse closer to her shoulder.

“ Nice to meet you,” she smiles at him before nodding, “The name's Duke, I took over the gym after my Pops, he trained Apollo, now I train Donnie. But you’re not here to interview me. Donnie’s upstairs getting ready, I’ll give you a tour of the gym while we wait for the okay.” 

Duke leads around the gym, showing Athena each piece of equipment and how you’re supposed to be trained on them. By the time he’s finished, Athena has laughed enough times to give herself the hiccups, she’s also sure that she could take an exam on boxing and pass with flying colors. Duke had also tried to convince her to come back sometime to take some boxing classes, to which she refused, as tickled as she was by the offer.

“Duke! He's ready!” A female-voiced call from upstairs.

“We coming,” Duke yells back, beckoning Athena to follow him up the stairs. Once inside the office upstairs, Athena immediately sees him, tall, muscular, brown skin warm and glowing under the gym lights, and looking like a walking Nike ad in a white sleeveless tee and basketball shorts. Moisturized to the gods, she notes—that man clearly owns lotion. Her eyes trail to the gauze around his knuckles, the bandage on his eyebrow, the angry swell still hugging his left eye. He looked like he lost the fight, but carried himself like he won.

She grits her teeth. This interview was not a good idea at all.

Before she could spin on her heel and bolt to her car, he speaks.

“I’m Adonis, but you can call me Donnie if you want. You’re very pretty, by the way. I like the fit.”

His voice is low and playful, but she hears the smile behind it.

Athena blushes. “I know.”

His eyebrows raise, clearly thrown. She scrambles.

“Well, obviously I don’t know that you think I’m pretty or that you like the fit, but I do know your name is Adonis because I’m here to interview you, and it’d be really stupid if I didn’t, so that’s not what I meant—I’m rambling. Let me start over.”

She drops her purse onto the chair with an uneasy laugh, slyly wiping her face, then gives him a nervous smile.

“I’m Athena. Senior journalist with LimeLight Wire. Just here to interview you.”

Adonis leans back with a full grin, flashing perfect teeth. “You sure? ’Cause right now it feels like you’re here to make me blush.”

That makes her laugh—an unexpected, genuine sound—and Adonis eats it up like a post-fight meal.

“Nice to meet you, Athena,” he says, holding his side as he lowers into the chair across from her, smile still wide. “Have a seat and we’ll start. Duke, y’all can go ahead, we’ll be fine.”

Duke and the brown-skinned woman Athena had seen downstairs exit the room with smiles that feel a little too knowing.

“We’ll just be out watching them spar, Donnie. Call if you need anything,” the woman says with a wink. Athena clocks her as probably his agent or PR specialist.

“Thank you, Janine,” Adonis says.

Athena sits down, pulling her laptop from her purse and opening the interview notes. She taps record on her voice memos.

“So, Donnie, before we get started, I know you’ve seen the questions, but just know if anything makes you uncomfortable, you’re welcome to say so. I’ll immediately redirect or come up with a different question.”

“Not a problem. Let’s go ahead and get started.”

He folds his arms, muscles flexing just enough to make her feel ridiculous for noticing, and leans back casually.

“Okay, first question,” she laughs lightly. “How does it feel to move from training with Rocky full-time to now being a part of the Delphi Gym, knowing the legacy?”

“I miss Rock most days, but we still call. He got family in Canada that he wanted to see. It’s been an adjustment, but I like it here. Closer to my moms, and I feel like I’m getting to know my pops even more… even though he ain’t here, he’s here though, every bag, the walls, and even the ring.”

Athena types out his answer quickly, tongue caught at the corner of her mouth in concentration. Adonis watches her over the rim of his water bottle as he takes a sip, amused. She’s so different from every reporter he’s had, no fake professionalism, no cold detachment. Real. Sharp. Gorgeous, and God, those curves in those Jeans.

And that smile she gives after his answer? Deadly.

“Question 2,” she announces, acrylic nail tapping her keyboard.  “You haven’t talked much about the fight with Drago since the rematch, in fact, you declined to interview afterwards, is there a reason for this?”

“Yes, actually, the win wasn’t about me, it was about avenging my Father, proving that a Creed could beat a Drago, specifically me. It wasn’t my best fight, but I had something to prove, to everyone in that moment. But Drago and I, we’re cool, we’re more than who our Dads are, and it’s what we’re both trying to prove.”

Athena smiles, “Well said,” before she begins clicking on her keyboard again. Something about her smile was infectious, and Adonis knew she was reeling him in already; he didn’t mind it, though.

“A year ago, you were in a public fight after a man called you 'baby Creed.' You’ve also been publicly upset about the notion of being called ‘baby Creed' and fighting under the name of Creed. Why is this?”

“When I started boxing, I didn’t even use the Creed name, I didn’t want to. I always knew that was my Dad, but I decided to use my biological mom's maiden name. I wanted to start my legacy and build from there, shit, I don’t know if I would be fighting under the Creed name now if it wasn’t for them leaking my identity. It wasn’t me wanting to be bigger than Apollo, it was about me wanting to be different, something on my own. I’m not Apollo Creed’s son, I’m Adonis Creed, period.” Questions went along like that for the next several minutes, Athena asking questions and Adonis answering them with a smile on his face. It wasn’t until Athena got to the last question. Athena looks up at Adonis nervously as she reads the next question on her computer, “you don’t have to answer this one if it’s too uncomfortable.” Adonis nods, giving her a reassuring smile.

“You’ve said that so many times already, and I’m yet to be uncomfortable. Ask away.”

Athena clears her throat, “We all know that you are Apollo’s illegitimate son, and he had a separate family during that time. You have siblings, but we never see them with you. Do you all speak?” Adonis sits up, gripping his side as he adjusts.

“Nah, we don’t,” he strains, much to Athena’s dismay, “They never really cared for me when my Mama got me; refused to see me as family. I don’t blame them, though; I wouldn’t be okay with it either if it were me. But I got love for them, they’re my siblings either way. I don’t think they hate me, they just keep their distance. Didn’t really have much family growing up anyway, but I was okay with that.”

Athena, ever the attentive one, noticed his body tensing as he winced at the story.

“Hey,” she spoke softly, “we can stop for now, pick up at a later date if it’ll help.”

“Nah, I’m good, ribs just still hurting from the fight, and I don’t usually talk about home life, I can answer another one, only on one condition though,” Adonis speaks with a smile. Athena immediately begins to nod.

“Whatever you need, as long as you’re comfortable.”

“You go out to dinner with me.”

Athena blushes with surprise, with her brown skin, there’s only a tinge of pink, Adonis notices though. She laughs, closing her laptop. She only stops when she sees that Adonis is being completely serious and was not laughing with her at all.

“Wait for real?” Adonis laughs, nodding his head.

“Yeah, and you gotta let me ask my own questions to you.” 

“Like a professional dinner, though, right?” Athena breathes, closing her computer.

“Only if you want it to be.”

@jazziejax (idk if you wanted to be tagged queen, I did just in case)

[mona-risms]

How about something more angsty in the KDH Universe?

Basically it's after the movie and Rumi has a girlfriend who supports her dearly and just doesn't know about the whole situation that happened at the show revealing her girlfriend (Fem!Reader). Or at least she doesn't know how Mira and Zoey pointed their weapons at her.

Anyways Huntrix are doing concerts again till at one of the shows the light turns into this dark red and makes Mira and Zoey look like the demons who pulled her jacket off, she then gets scared and runs to her girlfriend who comforts her and maybe even helps the Huntrix to come together again?

◆ MAIN COURSE: Rumi x fem!Reader

◆ TYPE: SFW, romantic

◆ ALLERGEN WARNINGS: N/A

◆ NOTES: I got mad confused at the ask a bit gang 😭 my bad if it's not what you wanted exactly, I took a few creative liberties 😭

I did have a think about this at some point. I THINK I might've said this before, though I'm not sure, but like realistically there's no way you can easily slide past a) seeing your two closest friends essentially expose and shame her in front of millions of people (even if they were demons in disguise) and b) having said friends point weapons at you while actually Scared of you (even if they didn't even know what was going on). That shit has GOT to be traumatising

I'd like to establish things before we get going. Okay so by the point you and Rumi have met and are happily tgt (met during their hiatus :3), the trio have talked about Rumi's half-demon thing and Celine and literally EVERYTHING that needs addressing and Takedown has officially been. Well. Taken down for Rumi's sake, most likely after a run-through of it had her spiralling a bit and Mira and Zoey actually see what happened via a recorded fancam. I say that you meet later bc idt Rumi would really keep the whole thing a secret (no more hiding, especially not from someone she cares about)

Post-movie Rumi would be much more free in terms of showing herself. No more hiding her patterns, no more secrets about who she is—that's all coming out slowly with Mira and Zoey, the fans, and especially you. Ever since the two of you have started dating, she takes EVERY possible moment to tell you what's going on with her and literally just everything. It gets to the point sometimes where you just gotta ask like it's really sweet but she doesn't need to tell you of every single thing that happens in her life!! She immediately always counters it with how she wants you to know all of her, inside AND out 🤷‍♀️ what a green flag :3c

There ARE times when she clams up on instinct, either due to pure instinct drilled into her by Celine or bc something is WAY too painful to relive through 😞. When this is the case, it's usually Extremely Bad. Exhibit A? When they go through a new song of theirs on stage and the light goes red

You will never forget the sight you saw today.

Not when you saw Rumi's face on the jumbotron the moment the stage lights bathed Mira and Zoey in crimson. Not when you heard the whimpering crack in Rumi's voice, completely uncharacteristic of her perfect vocals, when the duo turned to approach her as part of the choreography. Not when she dropped the number altogether by hugging herself and backing away from two of the people she trusted the most before running out of the stage and to you before you helped her back home.

"..Rumi?"

You see her flinch in the ball she shrunk herself into once you finally reached her room, and instead of turning around immediately like she usually did, she just curled up further into herself. You notice her hands—or rather claws now, changed unintentionally in the midst of you escorting her out—digging into her biceps, the patterns that usually emitted a soft iridescent glow now dimmed into a weakly shimmering pink-purple.

You never expected Rumi to be constantly 'on', but with this sight and the sniffles coming from her...

She looked less like a leader and more of a frightened child.

..Yet she was also still the woman you love.

"Rumi," you called out again as you slowly approached her figure, "can I sit next to you?"

Her claws add more pressure on her biceps for a brief moment, but it relents a slight bit when she nods her head tucked in her arms.

You sat down on the bed beside her and despite her current position, she still leaned into your side without fail. You take that as a cue to wrap your arm around her shoulders, letting your fingers soothe her claws by running your thumb over the knuckles.

As much as you want to know what exactly happened, you wanted this woman to go at her own pace when it comes to stuff like this—from what she's told you and from what Mira and Zoey had supplied, her upbringing wasn't particularly.. healthy for her mental state and her self-worth.

So instead, you go for a simple question: "Do you wanna talk about it?"

The two of you simply sit there, and you gaze at the city lights in the same moment she eventually lifts her head slightly, enough for her eyes to peek out, to watch the new shimmering Honmoon that you aren't able to see.

And eventually she does speak, her voice quiet yet shaky, "Maybe. It's.. ugh, I shouldn't even be freaking out like this."

"Why not?"

"Because they're sealed off. I'm freaking out about something that happened ages ago, and now I've ruined an entire concert by running out in the middle of it." Rumi groaned and buried her face back into her arms, "All thanks to some lightshow. ..Sorry, you probably think I'm being way too extra about this."

You let go of her hand to squeeze her shoulder instead, "I think you're a lot of things, and 'extra' is definitely one of them—"

She elbowed you on the side before quickly reverting back to her original position, "You ass—"

"—but right now?" You continued with a wince, though you didn't let go of her, "There's nothing extra about what's happening right now. Seeing how you mention them, I'm guessing this is from before the 'Honmoon' thing or whatever it is?"

A nod.

"Then I don't think you're being extra, I think you need someone to listen. If not me, then maybe the other girls."

"But.. they already know; it's why we scrapped the entirety of Takedown."

"Wouldn't hurt to reconvene. And I think they're equally worried about you," and you move your other hand to lower her arm slightly to look at Rumi's eyes, "if not more."

Her eyes shift, first away from you and then back to you. But eventually she starts to uncurl from her position until she's just sitting and leaning further into your body, which you instinctually wrap your arms around her more as an automatic response.

"..Could we just stay like this for now?" Her claws—now shrunk back into her normal hands—cling onto your clothes as she asked, "Just for now."

You hold her tighter and press a kiss on the crown of her head, "Yeah. For as long as you need."

When you give her enough time, she tells you EVERYTHING that happened back then, detailing exactly how she got foribly revealed in the first place—how Jinu sicced demons disguised as Mira and Zoey to tear her jacket off and reveal her number one shame, how Mira and Zoey made Rumi's number one fear come true by raising their weapons against her, even if it was just as a form of hesitant defence. Even if they've talked about it already, it doesn't necessarily erase the view, especially not under THAT light

You get her calm enough that she ends up sleeping through the emotional exhaustion a bit before you can hear Mira and Zoey coming back from the venue. These poor girls most definitely realised exactly why Rumi tweaked out but they want to make sure via asking you, but any attempt in trying to get out of Rumi's hold just has her clinging even more. And with her natural AND demon strength there is literally no hope for you in getting out. So you'll have to dismiss them until the morning, and Mira would most likely call up Bobby rq just to cancel anything they have tomorrow. Too last minute, yeah, and Bobby will definitely freak out but at the same time he understands and his girls are top priority!!

When you and Rumi wake up, her head cushioned on top of your chest where your heart beats, you find that no words were really needed.

Not when the two of you spend nearly an hour kissing and cuddling amidst the gentle morning haze, your limbs entangled together as if neither of you were meant to be separated. Or when you hold Rumi's hand as you walked out of the room.

Not when Rumi freezes at seeing Mira and Zoey for the first time after last night's incident, at the phantom feeling of her body being shed of fabric she long since no longer wore for personal protection. Or when the two girls had gasped quietly, like they hadn't expected to see their leader this morning even when they saw her last night.

Not when Zoey starts to tear up, her eyes quickly growing glassy as her body shook. Not when Mira was quick to follow as her hand slowly moved to reach out in offer. Not when Rumi's hand slipped from yours as she stumbled into their direction.

And especially not when the three of them had started to sob together once Rumi allowed herself to stumble into their arms, their hands clinging onto each other like the others'll disappear if they let go of each other even the slightest bit.

You know that later, there'll be a lot of words exchanged between the three of them. You know that later, Rumi will want her girlfriend to stay beside her as support as she spoke.

But right now, no words were needed at all.

Safe to say that red stage lights were banned from all of HUNTR/X's performances after that. And maybe someone's getting fired, depends on how extreme you wanna take it

[lambmotifz]

hey! been following for a while, and I gotta say I love your takes and how vocal you are about, like, canon wincest, and reading the early seasons, and the gothic horror of it all. It might not be a popular stance to the wider fandom, but it's /correct/ and I love it. never change. that said, can you think of any fanfic recs that lean into that [canon] characterization, rather than the more widely accepted fanon? - <3

hey, i’m very happy to hear that you enjoy my posts ♡

i’ve recced these fics several times before but i come back to them monthly because they’re absolutely gorgeous and are closest to canon (and honestly it’s not like there’s much to rec anyway because most wincest fics are based purely on fanon)

feel about the same most every day [orphaned] (sam doesn’t know that dean wants to touch him…)

memory restricted to child’s play by @winpocalypse (dean would rather have sam broken, alive and alone than to be alone himself.)

loving lie by CleverUsernameHere (before dean’s time is up, sam gives him what he always wanted. it’s not what sam wants, but dean doesn’t have to know that.)

three days on the rack by keerawa, reena_jenkins (it’s been months, but sam finally found a crossroads demon willing to deal to get dean’s soul out of hell. the deal sounded too good to be true. sam took it anyway.)

i feel it way down (way down) by formalizing (dean eventually gets out of hell, but angels have nothing to do with it. sam is willing to make a lot of exceptions to his morals and principles in order to have his brother back.)

bleed my own by valleyofmidnight (blessed are those whose physical being matches their internal rot, for they will be made sacrifice. they will be lifted to the heavens, their blood kerosene for living fire. you believe it. or, you enjoy the thought of being lifted, of being burned.)

the consequence at hand by tradwifesam (nothing was ever supposed to get at her blood, nothing was ever meant to come between them that way. or, dean visits sam during detox.)

a stain that never comes off series by @winpocalypse (dean fucked him like he wanted to fill him up so much the trash inside just leaked through his pores. like he was righting all the wrongs. the thing is, sam is wrong to his very foundation. far deep in his cells, molecules, down to his atoms. he cannot be fixed. what he can do is look for redemption)

consequentialism and deontology series by Dyed_Red (sam has demons in his blood, angels in his bones, his all too human brother in his guts. how many pieces of him are there left to claim?)

to hell and back by unhappy_ghost (the mark is changing dean. it’s turning him into something he’s not. that’s what sam tells himself.)

we got that fire, fire, fire (and we gonna let it burn) by Trojie (hell marked them both, and now they mark each other. dean winchester is well-schooled enough in sick irony to know that it’s almost funny, that to help sam get over his tour in hell, dean has to relive his own.)

[daily-memory-of-touch]

Sorry i never played this game and don't intend on to but. Could you explain what's the meaning of this scene in fortnite terms (no more seriously actually wondering about the context or whatever. If you don't mind spoiling this random anon. Ty)

Okay so leading up to this scene is Siffrin (hat + cloak fella, uses he/they) reliving the same Fortnite game over and over because he's in a time loop. He and his squad mates (Mirabelle, she/her; Isabeau, he/him; Odile, she/her; Bonnie, they/them) are the last ones alive aside from a few other players. There's a griefer on the server named the King (he/him) that they gotta defeat and the party has rallied the entire server against him. Not everyone has the best gear for the job so that's why it's up to the party to defeat him. The King is making the storm disconnect you from the server if you in it for too long

So Siffrin has been in this loop of playing Fortnite for a while now. The King has placed himself in a big structure and set up traps to try and catch the party off-guard, and every time the party (or just Siffrin) dies and can't be revived time loops back. With the help of Loop (they/them), a knowledgeable gamer who's aware of the loops, the two of them have been in a separate VC figuring out how to handle all of this (Loop gives advice and Siffrin does their best)

At this point Siffrin is pretty sick of the time loop. They actually have beaten the King a few times, but even if the party gets their 1# Victory Royale time still loops back. Every morning the party actually meets in-person to grab lunch before heading back to game. Siffrin and Isabeau have been pining over each other for a while now and the time loop makes Siffrin's yearning worse and worse, especially since Isabeau (and the rest of the party as well) think that Siffrin is touch-adverse when in reality he just gets surprised by sudden touch and is just touch-starved

So before everyone else gets to the shop they all eat together at it's just Isabeau and Siffrin. The two of them are having a convo they have every loop, which in the middle of it includes Isabeau going to put a hand on Siffrin's shoulder but then pulling back when he remembers that he should respect their space. This has been bothering Siffrin the entire time loop, and on this loop he has certified had it and doesn't want to feel stuck anymore. So, without wanting he grabs Isabeau by the collar and kisses him. Isabeau immediately pushes Siffrin away, but his actual reaction is unclear because Siffrin then loops back to right before he made that impulsive choice and the convo goes on like normal. It's unknown if Isabeau reacted like that out of surprise or disgust or any other emotion. Siffrin and Loop later talk about this during this loop and Loop isn't happy with them

Not relevant to the rest of the post but Siffrin and Loop tend to meet up for breakfast separately from the rest of the party, but if they don't meet up Siffrin just makes something at home to eat. Sometimes they'll grab a quick coffee together if they talk mid-day before the Fortnite gaming session. It's not important but the detail matters to me as to how those two have irl talks

[coolshadowtwins]

SVSSS System Reveal Fic round up!

If you know one that hasn’t been recc’ed, then please put it in the comments/tags! I’ll add it to the post!

A Transmigrator and a Time Traveler Walk into the Bamboo House by VeryCharismaticDragon

Over a year after Shen Qingqiu's death, Luo Binghe consults his servant's servant, concurrently his disgraced martial uncle, for a way to bring the love of his life back. Shang Qinghua sends him in the direction of a certain time-traveling artifact, which supposedly brings one to the day they first met their soulmate.

Odd, though, that the artifact ends up missing the destination by just a few years…

A story in which post-Abyss Luo Binghe relives his disciple days, while juggling his secrets, traumas, and some unexpected revelations about the man he loves on top of that.

What is Seen by CaveteDracones

…is not [always] the real truth.

Truth-compelling artifacts in the hands of an enemy to one side, SYSTEM-mandated silence on the other, and Shen Qingqiu caught between the two. Is it too late to go back to the Water Prison? (NOTE: This one was recommended three times, and I have personally reread it multiple times. It’s one of my favorites and I really do want to read more fics in a similar vein lol)

open my lungs to let you in by ghostybreads

Shen Qingqiu had a secret. So, naturally, it was only a matter of time before he was hit by a truth serum wife plot.

//

“How are you?”

“Horny. Kind of want Binghe to rail me, I guess. But it’s manageable.”

Liu Qingge’s hand on his forehead froze, and he was close enough that Shen Qingqiu could hear his breathing stop. He stared back expressionlessly, the mortification distantly crawling up the back of his neck. Honest One-Horned–

The frustrated scream that he usually vented in his head, came out straight from mouth.

“aaAAAAAHHHH GODDAMNIT AIRPLANE–”

Futility in Practice by TGP

When Luo Binghe is fourteen years old, his shizun suffers a terrible qi deviation and fever that completely changes who he is.

and judgment is just like a cup that we share by Kieron_ODuibhir

The blob finished rotating into place in a way that wasn’t quite compatible with geometry as Shen Qingqiu understood it, and cleared a throat it didn’t seem to have.

“Greetings,” it said, somehow clearly addressing him in particular more than the room as a whole despite its total lack of features other than blueness and translucency. “I’m here on behalf of the Hyper-Celestial Peace and Order Enforcement Bureau. Crime scene secure, proceeding to interviews. Beginning with Subject One: You are Shen Qingqiu, formerly Shen Yuan, also known as Peerless Cucumber?”

First, do no harm by Terias

Shen Qingqiu has been acting especially erratic since awakening from his three day coma after a severe qi deviation.

Mu Qingfang investigates and discovers a great many things about his new shixiong. (NOTE: This one has Shen Yuan and Shen Jiu as the same soul, technically, but it still works I think!)

Show The Screenshots by A_Non_ymousWriter

When a rogue foreign System sends out a subtle virus, some outsiders are shown chat messages between a certain two transmigrators and their Systems.

AirplaneBro: nah dude shen jiu would never lay a hand on his female disciples like that, hes gay

Liu Qingge tripped on thin air while Mu Qingfang choked on his tea as Shang Qinghua (their god? creator??) casually shattered their view of their original Shen Qingiu. The fake Shen Qingqiu at least, was sharing their shock.

CucumberBro: EXCUSE ME WHAT??

CucumberBro: The fuck he is?!?! He literally GOES TO BROTHELS! LIU QINGGE FOUND HIM IN BED WITH A WOMAN THAT ONE TIME?

AirplaneBro: aight bro buckle the fuck up cuz imma take u on a joyride all about shen jiu >:)

—————-

Binghes#1Fan: I don't want to send Binghe into the Abyss...

System 2: User must comply, if User cannot do the task User will be punished and the account will be terminated.

Mobeis #1Fan: sorry bro unless ur okay w being ded af u gotta push binghe into the abyss

Ning Yingying's fists clenched. Okay, so trying to get Yuan-ge and A-Luo together would be harder than she thought.

[daisyssousa]

I just want to make this post because I’ve seen it a few different times lately, and I love my boy so I gotta say it:

Sousa was not brought on just to be Daisy’s love interest.

1) Dousy happening was not a foregone conclusion. JedMo said they hoped they had chemistry, and didn’t know if they were going to do it for sure, but then they thought Chloe and Enver had great chemistry so they went forward with it:

Source: https://comicbook.com/tv-shows/news/agents-of-shield-series-finale-interview-chloe-bennet-showrunners-talk-daisy-sousa-romance/

2) JedMo wanted Enver to come on prior to this

“You know, we’d always toyed with the idea of having him in flashbacks and stuff like that. We’re a big fan of Enver’s.”

Aka they didn’t pick a random guy to be a love interest, they wanted him around for stuff previously. JedMo and Enver are also friends circa 2009 because of the show Dollhouse. (And with Dichen! :D)

Source: https://youtu.be/ERUvCXVuCs4?si=s2O6DfMd9uzXQe5B

3) There had also been talk of bringing back Enver as his Avengers cop character (aka they again realllllyyyy wanted Enver back for things other than Daisy’s love interest)

Source: https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/ustv/a32888319/agents-of-shield-enver-gjokaj-avengers/

4) JedMo wanted to have a connection to Agent Carter in season 7 because they were exploring SHIELD history (and I’m sure they would’ve had Hayley, James, Dominic, and Chad too if they could’ve)

“But you know, when you’re talking about reliving SHIELD history, it was a natural thought to revisit Agent Carter.”

Source: https://youtu.be/ERUvCXVuCs4?si=s2O6DfMd9uzXQe5B

(Extra thought: They could’ve also put her with Robbie or Deke or not kill off Lincoln, it’s not like Sousa was the only option ever)

Thank you for coming to my TED talk <3

[mqrrstarr]

Modern AU Caracalla and Geta!

Brother Shenanigans! Part One

(Barnes and Noble, Target, Olive Garden)

Warnings: not edited properly uhh idk I don’t have siblings so idk if this is accurate 😞🙏

A/N: officially a tumblr writer I suppose, and it’ll just keep being gladiator for a while. anyways, I saw a post of a photo of Caracalla in a restaurant and I forgot what it said but it sparked an idea in me. (btw, go join the roman history/gladiator community!!) anyways this will be a series, and comment stores/locations you’d want me to write about!!

Summary: Caracalla and Geta go shopping together and stuff happens.

｡ﾟ•┈꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱┈• ｡ﾟ｡ﾟ•┈꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱┈• ｡ﾟ

Caracalla always drags Geta out of the house, wanting to take his brother on random and spontaneous shopping trips.

Caracalla adores going to Barnes and Noble, spending time in both the history and fiction area. He’d spend time looking for interesting titles and skimming through pages of books, easily spending three hours on one. (Also occasionally going to the kids area, reliving his favorite childhood tales and keeping up with new children’s literature.)

Caracalla would also spend time in the cookbook area, as he yearns to learn how to cook. (Geta does all the cooking, and Caracalla can only make things like toast and simple breakfast. For the sake of Dondas of course.)

Geta in this situation would spend time at the Starbucks in B&N and would probably have a magazine. (Assuming they’re emperors/royalty, most likely a magazine of himself.) He’d get his usual drink, some sort of caffeine filled delicacy to keep his nerves alert.

Caracalla would get ready to leave and checkout and find Geta still drinking his fifth drink and tenth brownie. He’d get up and see Caracalla smiling and be content his brother was happy.

Soon after, in the car (chariot) Caracalla would read his books and Geta would drive to the next location. (they have money so they’re target people lmao)

Pulling up to the Target, I feel like Geta would be the one most interested here. He’d walk around with a cart, acting like he owns the place but truly just looking for clothes and home decor. He loves vases for flowers and for a historical vibe.

(Gotta keep the “palace” nice.)

Caracalla wouldn’t be far behind his brother though, and he’d be complaining to Geta saying something like;

“Getaaaa. Enough with the sweaters, you have enough at home. I’m boredddd. Ughhhhh. I forgot to feed Dondas I think. Anyways, Geta keep moving or I’m going to steal your video games.”

This motivates Geta (he’s a gamer most likely bc of Caracalla) and he keeps going. A long time later, they stop to eat dinner at Olive Garden.

(Italy reference help I’m so sorry if you’re Italian and this is offensive I love you all)

The brothers sit down to eat and take time to order food. When they receive their drinks, Geta with a soda and Caracalla with a semi alcoholic drink (erasing the pain) they order.

Geta gets pasta with shrimps with a Cesar salad on the side.

Caracalla orders some chicken parmesan, some spaghetti, a chili soup, with a tiramisu as desert.

They eat and go home to their lovely mansion, decorated with a pool in the back. Dondas runs to Caracalla and his books. While they hug, Geta brings in the sweater he bought and the five different vases he got too. They watch a movie on Netflix, one titled Pompeii.

(Actually a movie btw it’s okay)

The day’s action has exhausted Caracalla, and he falls asleep a few minutes in. Geta simply smiles and continues his work from the morning. This routine keeps them happy, and keeps them bonded. He’s happy to have someone to trust. He’s grateful he has a brother.

the end <33

[ooftale]

This game, god I love this game

ok so Im copying and pasting the rant for the game from my Insta under the cut + the alt vers, PLEASE Im just expressing my love for the game in it but it's too late for me to rewrite the whole thing

I wish Tumblr would let me post with music like Insta,,, this is a zillion times better with the "Niko and the World Machine" song gah

God this game is a masterpiece though, OK if u wanna read more do it under here:

OKAY here's the rant!!

oh my god i fucking LOVE THIS GAME SO MUCH. I SWEAR. I CANNOT FUCKING EXPRESS. MY LOVE. FOR THIS GAME. Almost a year has passed since my first One Shot Post (doesn't apply to Tumblr, last One Shot post here is more recent) and almost a year has passed since my first playthrough

It wasn't really a blind playthrough, iirc i already knew lots of stuff about the story, ending and even the solstice run itself, too, it was already part of my interests to an extent, but I didn't know or remembered the details, and experiencing it myself still felt like a fully blind Playthrough (gotta again thank my shitty memory too), and was it freaking beautiful,,, plus, i finished it around xmas time, which is like my fave period of the year, so!! I still remember i got a photo of the TV while I was playing, there were gorgeous purple lights, both from LEDs and both from the game, since it was becoming dark outside, with little xmas lights around,, gah this game holds such a special place in my heart, I don't think any other game captured my love as much as this one, SURE, Im a big lover of many MANY games, and this one isn't even the first indie rpg i ever got into (hello Undertale and deltarune), and while those are very special to me as they're some of my first interests, OneShot is just a whole another type of special, a special special if you will

And recently I've seen my friend play it blind for the first time, and as I was (Awesomely) backseating, I got to basically relive it, in a way, and I always get a little phase for it after reseeing content of it, so here I am, drawing one of my personal favorite portions of the game! Sorry for the unusual type of rant I did this time, but I just. Argh. This game, dammit

Also fun fact, so many things about this game, from the 2014 version, to songs, to imagery, to scenes, freak me so much out or make me feel so weird I feel like I need to puke

Gotta love it

[mychoombatheroomba]

An Eye for An Eye

Between the Bones (Leon x GN! Reader) - Chapter 55

Leon and the squad grapple with the weight of their loss while you learn what you mysterious ally has given you.

(Cross-posted from Ao3)

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Chapter Index

“You look like shit.”

Valeria had never been one to mince words. Whatever else had changed in the last week, that had remained the same. At least something had. 

Leon wasn’t sure he wanted the company. He had gone outside to escape the droning fluorescent lights and ever-present eyes inside the CIA facility. He’d gone out to be where his thoughts could have a quiet place to wage their war. His friends should have brought him comfort. 

He hated that they didn’t. 

“Don’t worry, I feel worse.” His response was dry as his friend leaned against the wall beside him, sliding down to sit at his level. She hummed what might have been a laugh, once. Now, the sound was muted. A gray tone where once there had been vibrant color. 

Leon could sympathize. 

“Good to know we’re all in the same boat.” Dina lowered herself onto the ground at Valeria’s side, the three of them looking out towards the dimming sky. 

The shorter of the two women scoffed, shaking her head. “Can’t fucking sleep. Every time I close my eyes, it’s just . . .” 

She didn’t need to say it. Leon knew. Maybe that was why they’d sought him out. Maybe they hoped he’d have some advice. Some secret to help them through it all. As if he hadn’t been cursed with this for months now. Just when he’d thought he might finally be free of it-

“You guys hear the official story?” 

Leon turned his head towards Dina, who looked up at the sky like she had a bone to pick with whoever was up there. He knew what she was talking about without having to ask. The base. How the Army would spin so many lives lost all at once. 

“They, uh . . . they’re saying it was a fire that got out of control. Someone smoking without authorization. Summer heat, dry brush . . . fwoosh .” She motioned with her hands, then let out an empty laugh. “Probably easier that way. Don’t have to send home any bodies if they’re all ash.”

A fire. The same excuse used for Dorne base. More lies. More deaths kept hidden. 

It was a bad joke.  

“You know, they put all this money into this,” Dina droned, shaking her head, “training us to fight monsters, teaching us to spy and shoot and whatever else. And then none of it fuckin’ matters.” 

“It’ll matter,” Leon shook his head, surprising himself. He sounded like you. Like you used to, before everything had crashed down around you all. He just wished he believed the words more. “It’s gotta mean something.” His life hadn’t been torn open and rearranged for no reason. You hadn’t been made to relive the worst night of your life for nothing. He had to believe that. 

“I don’t think any of this means anything,” Williams shook her head, digging her heels into the dirt and pushing her legs out in front of her. “I don’t think watching your friends kill each other has some greater purpose behind it.” 

“Dina,” Valeria spoke, her voice softer than Leon had ever heard it, “he wanted to go out on his own terms.” 

It didn’t matter how right she was, though. The words, the memory of you lowering that gun, of that look of nothingness in your eyes, and a pool of crimson framing Logan’s head . . .

“Shouldn’t have had to, though,” Dina shook her head. “He should be right here, telling us some stupid shit about tanks, or singing fuckin’ Journey.” 

The world blurred a bit, as tears stung at Leon’s eyes. He clenched his jaw tight. He couldn’t do that. He couldn’t let it out, or he’d crumble. These last few days, he’d learned very quickly in the solitude of his room that once he started down that path, there wasn’t much that could stop it. 

None of this should have happened. Leon almost spoke it aloud with a bitter laugh, feeling his heart beating at a faster pace. His mind running in desperate circles, trying to escape the thoughts that nipped at its heels. None of this should be like this. 

All the wishing in the world wouldn’t change it, though. 

“But he isn’t.” That was all Leon could manage to say. 

Dina shook her head, her mouth pressed in a thin line. “But he isn’t.” 

Silence blanketed them for a few long seconds, before the covers were torn off again. 

“Sarge said anything about it?” 

The question was meant for Leon. Who else? He was the one you spoke to most, before. If you would have said anything, it would have been to him. Should have been to him. As it was . . .

“No.” He couldn’t decide if he wished you had or not. 

Dina didn’t look like she could decide, either. She bit at the inside of her mouth, shaking her head. “I know why it had to happen . . .” she said, nodding like she was trying to convince herself of it even now; that you putting a bullet in her friend’s head was the right thing to do. That it was mercy. “I just . . .” she just couldn’t fathom it. 

Leon nodded in turn. “Yeah. I know.” 

There was only so much rationalizing one could do. Only so many times a person could tell themselves that it had to be done. Leon knew he would either be broken by that fact or become numb to it. He wasn’t sure which one he dreaded more. 

Nor was he able to dwell on it for long, before a figure approached, winding around the edge of the building. Leon and his companions looked up just in time to see a guard there, his face pulled into a tight expression. Leon didn’t even get to ask what brought him there before the guard spoke, gesturing for them all to stand. 

“Everyone needs to come with me. Now.” 

He didn’t hide it very well - the worry in his voice. The urgency. 

“What happened?” Valeria asked, her eyes suddenly sharpening as she picked up on the new energy brought to the moment. 

There was no real answer given, only a sense of looming dread as they were ushered back to their rooms. A sense of dread that was becoming all too familiar to Leon. 

⧫⧫⧫

Fate hadn’t given you many of the things that you’d hoped for. 

In fact, lately, it felt like life had been gorging itself on you, rather than practicing charity. What it had given, you found, had only led to hurt. Or it surely would. This would be no different. The gift you’d just been given would bring pain, but it was the kind you would gladly endure. You wouldn’t refuse something you craved with all your being - that you had paid for in blood and bruises and a breaking spirit. You gave in to a dark faith that now, finally, fate had thrown you a goddamn bone. 

Not all those around you shared that sentiment.

Including you, there were five in the room - a room that was completely sealed off from the rest of the world. Simmons watched the room from the edges of it, twisting the gold ring on his thumb while he focused. Hellman and Benford were more focused on the computer screen in front of them. As for the fifth . . . you could never remember feeling so much weight behind Major Krauser’s gaze. He’d done a poor job of hiding his concern when you and Hellman explained what had happened. That concern had so quickly turned to rage, and you had wished you could return to being blind to the cause of it all. Things had been less complicated, then. 

You wished a lot of things could go back to the way they had been. 

But with no way to go but forward, you set your focus to the information in front of you. A hound being given a scent. 

“I don’t like this.” Benford shook his head, the computer screen in front of him reflected in his glasses.  

The images on it, the text . . . 

Coordinates. Overhead images of an island - Kolguyev, it read. A sizable but mostly unoccupied piece of land in the Barents Sea. Russia. The island itself had a small town on one side, and on the other, a fenced perimeter. Four buildings were tucked in, surrounded by more open expanses of land. Ranges, you realized. You could see vehicles, even what looked like a tank, and well-carved pathways for them to use. It was a familiar layout even if you’d never seen the island before - you’d spent the last several months in places just like this, after all.

“It’s a training facility,” you breathed, your voice raspy. Crushed down to size by the man’s hand around your throat. A man who, it seemed, had given you a target. 

It was all but confirmed when Benford scrolled down, and names and faces you didn’t recognize passed the screen. Service records, you realized, though not for any one country’s military. No, they were unified under a different banner. 

𝚄𝚖𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚊 𝚂𝚎𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚂𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚒𝚌𝚎

𝙰𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚗𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝: 𝚁𝚊𝚌𝚌𝚘𝚘𝚗 𝙲𝚒𝚝𝚢

That was not surprising. Instead, what caught your eye was not who they served, but where they’d come from. 

𝙱𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚌 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐: 𝙺𝚘𝚕𝚐𝚞𝚢𝚎𝚟 𝙵𝚊𝚌𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚢

Benford leaned back in his chair, his mouth set in a thin line. 

His silence only served to fuel your anger. You weren’t alone in that. 

“You said Reed was heading to Russia?” Krauser sounded just as viciously pleased as you were. It only made the senior agent at the computer more uncomfortable. 

Benford nodded. Once. Reluctantly. “But there are Umbrella facilities all over the world. We don’t know-”

“We don’t have to know.” You straightened up, feeling something rise in you. Potential energy, the need to do something. And now, you’d been given a heading. “If this is a training facility, then we can start to level the playing field.” You could take from them what they’d taken from you: their future. And if Reed was there, then you could kill him. You could show him the failure of his cause as he died and-

“The risk is too high,” Benford shook his head. “Not when we have so little concrete information.”

“But you can get more information.” Krauser sounded almost as certain as you were, tearing open holes in Benford’s argument. 

He’d taught you to press the offensive, so you did. “You wanted to fight Umbrella. You trained us to do that, and now what? You’re too scared to use the weapons you built?” You met Benford’s eyes, and felt some little satisfaction when you saw him waver under your stare.  

His response was measured, even so. “It’s not that simple, Sergeant. It’s how we were given this information that concerns me.” 

“You mean the man who broke your perimeter like it was made of tissue paper?” Krauser’s words bit hard into their target, as they so often did. 

Benford just turned the attack into more ammunition. “Exactly. This man broke into our facility without issue. He overpowered you and Hellman both, and left just as easily. This kind of intel isn’t just given without motive.” 

“Umbrella has enemies besides us,” Simmons pointed out, finally entering the conversation with a cool voice. “Their facility on Rockfort Island was destroyed by a paramilitary organization a few months ago, was it not?” 

So Krauser hadn’t been given all the reports after all, because that name didn’t sound familiar to you. By his reaction now, it wasn’t because the Major had omitted any information when it came to you.

“It was,” Benford confirmed, “but I would argue that makes this more suspicious. Not less.” 

It was Hellman who spoke next, incredulous. “If Umbrella has an enemy in that man, why is he not the one storming Kolguyev?” There was something to that, you supposed. He’d crushed a knife blade in his hand. Lifted you off the ground like you were nothing, and moved with a speed you couldn’t hope to match. Even so, even with all that power, he was handing this off to the likes of you. “He wouldn’t let us take him in for a reason. He’s setting us up to be pawns.” 

“Does it matter?” you found yourself asking, the words not your own. Did it matter whose pawn you were, so long as Umbrella was dealt a blow? 

Benford turned to you, already-present frown lines deepening. “There’s a good chance that this is a trap. If this is a training outpost, there will be soldiers there-”

Fire rushed through you, your gaze turned to a branding iron. “I’m counting on it.” 

A laugh followed your declaration, and Simmons pushed off the wall. Satisfaction curled his lips into a smile. “ That right there. We need more soldiers like that if we’re to stand a chance against this corporation. Sometimes risks must be taken in a fight such as this one, and we need those who will do what it takes.” 

“So glad you approve,” Krauser snarled under his breath, but the conversation went on as if he’d said nothing.

Benford snapped his attention to his fellow agent, then. “Derek, we don’t have many people who know about this conflict left. If this operation goes wrong, we could lose all of them.” 

It was true. You knew it. This was enemy territory. No reinforcements, no solid intel, nothing to go on but what you held now. And it was worth it, for the exact reasons that Simmons spoke now. “And if this really is a training facility, if more records like these are available there and we got ahold of them,” he pointed his chin towards the screen, “then we could root out Umbrella’s personnel.” 

People like Reed. People like the man who’d driven a knife into your gut, and the team that had been with him. If there was a chance you could find them - track them down . . . 

“So send me.” The room turned towards Krauser, the Major pulling attention with his declaration. One forged in iron. One that embedded itself in your gut.

“By yourself, Major?” Simmons asked. The bastard had a talent for sounding patronizing, one that Krauser didn’t appreciate, if his biting tone was any indication. 

“Benford’s right. You’re down too many men to send them. I’m the most experienced soldier you have who knows about all of this. One man has a better chance of not being spotted than a team.” 

No. You felt a surge of something rise in you at the suggestion, because you knew how that would end. Whatever was happening with Krauser, whatever his feelings for you and however you felt in return, you knew that if he went out there alone, he would likely die. 

That was unacceptable. 

Even so, you stopped yourself from voicing that thought. You stopped yourself because all of the people in this room seemed to think that there was something between you and the Major. Something you couldn’t give credence to. You had to act as though you didn’t care, as though the man who’d saved your life, who’d given you so much, meant nothing to you. 

So, just like with Alenko, you dug deeper into the hollow of yourself. 

“So,” the Major went on, blue eyes boring into Benford’s own, “send me.” 

The most horrifying part was that the men around you considered it. You could see them making the mental calculations. Better to lose one man than an entire squad, that was the brutal calculus of it. One that you couldn’t exactly argue.

“No.” Your focus snapped elsewhere, and you never, ever thought you would be grateful to Hellman of all people. Still, the agent, wielding the guilt you’d buried in his gut, went on. “You’re a good soldier, no one can deny that, but this is about infiltration. Information retrieval. That’s what I’ve been trained for.” 

Krauser scoffed, somehow making a laugh sound dangerous. “You couldn’t even tell that your friend was an Umbrella plant.”

“Neither could you, Major,” Hellman reminded him. “Not until it was too late.”

“You watch your mouth-”

Hellman went on, undeterred. “I’m in the best position to make it right. I can scope things out and see what’s there.” It was an idea that sat with you no better than Krauser going alone. Not because you cared about Hellman’s safety, but because he didn’t deserve this vengeance, as far as you were concerned. 

“Noble of you,” Simmons nodded, still twisting the gold band on his thumb, “but that doesn’t solve the problem of one man not being enough to take down an entire base. A small team could assess the facility covertly and then infiltrate it if need be,” he went on, eyes sharp as he planned. 

“The Umbrella facilities we’re aware of thus far have always been more than they appear on the surface,” Benford pointed out. “There could be more than what’s depicted here. They would be on enemy territory, going in blind, fighting a force they’ve never faced before.” 

“How fortunate then,” Simmons just went on, his fingers twisting his ring while his lips were twisted into a smile to match, “that we have individuals with experience in such matters. Individuals who understand the value of knowing one’s enemy, and will stop at nothing to take the fight to them.” He looked at you, then, with the expression of a man who gambled and won more often than not. A man who didn't mind betting, especially when he wasn't the one who stood to lose. 

You didn’t mind that he was gambling with your life, though. Not so long as you got what you wanted. 

The only trouble was that Simmons wasn’t the only player in this game. 

“I don’t like the idea of sending just the two of them,” Benford said, another opinion added to the mix. One borne of mistrust - that much you could see plainly. You and Hellman were untrustworthy in his eyes, even now. You couldn’t blame him, you supposed; this mysterious man with too much information on Umbrella appeared out of nowhere and gifted you exactly what you needed. Anyone with a brain would find it suspicious. 

You understood that, you truly did. The only trouble was, what you knew was coming next. What you felt in your bones. 

“Kennedy has been inside Umbrella facilities before,” Benford went on, and it was clear to you then that fate had not, in fact, thought you’d paid the price for this gift. No, it demanded ever more. “And they worked well with Soto and Williams. That would keep the team small enough to avoid attention.” 

Your jaw tightened as he spoke their names, eyes going wide, showing off the red that had crept in when your air was cut off. 

But before you even had the chance to speak, Krauser huffed, incredulous. “Then I should go with them.” 

“I would be inclined to agree,” Simmons took a moment to formulate his counter, “but you and Hellman here are the only two instructors we have left with knowledge of bioweapons.”

“You can just tell someone else. They just destroyed an entire base, it’s not like it’s going to be a secret forever.” 

“The President has made it clear,” Benford said this time, “the fewer people know about all this, the better.” 

It was a losing argument. A fight not worth spilling blood over. That didn’t stop Krauser, though. “You’ve got to be joking,” the Major shook his head, looking between you and Simmons. “You wanna send a bunch of shell-shocked rookies out there? You’ll get them killed.” 

Simmons tilted his head to the side. “Many of these ‘rookies’ have service records before STRATCOM, Major. With the exception of Kennedy, I suppose. Though I would imagine his experience in Raccoon City makes up for that fact.” 

“They’re not ready-”

“Are you implying that your training of them was insufficient?” 

“Damn it, you’ve seen them!” He was talking about the entirety of your squad, but he looked at you. And in that moment, you had a realization: this wasn’t the Major you were used to seeing. In the last few months, he’d been a steadying force for you. A leader you could look to for guidance. Now, in this moment, all you saw was a scared man, clinging to whatever control he had left. Control that he’d given up the moment he gave you those reports. The second he admitted his guilt in doing so. “They’re afraid, and angry, and if you send people like that out there, they’re going to slip up. They’re going to get themselves killed.” 

He’d told you so many times to never show weakness. To never bear your scars and wounds. Now, here he was, doing it without meaning. 

A blunted blade would do them no good. Whether that was Krauser or Leon or you. 

So, no matter how much you wanted to insist that Leon be left behind, that he wasn’t suited to this mission, you knew how that would look. You knew that, to Simmons, that would be blood in the water for him to scent and salivate on. 

Not that it mattered what you or Krauser wanted, anyway. The decision was already being made, you could see it in Simmons’ eyes. 

Leon’s fate and yours, your friends . . . you were all tied together. At least you could spare one person you cared about. He’d saved your life once, after all. You hadn’t expected to return the favor this way. 

You hadn’t expected so many things. 

“You’re angry, sir,” you said, finding your voice again, however hollow it may be. You’d seen many expressions on Krauser’s face that you’d never thought to see, lately. The surprise you were greeted with now, almost like betrayal, was one of them. He wasn’t the only one that had a claim to that betrayal. Still, you carried on, reminding him of a fact he should have known well. “Your judgment would be just as compromised.” 

You’d never been on the receiving end of Major Krauser’s anger, really. Some part of you had hoped to never experience it. When faced with it now, though? You were surprised by how little it affected you. He’d taught you to face down worse though, hadn’t he? 

“My judgment?” He asked, stepping closer. “You want to talk about emotion clouding judgment? All you’ve ever done is let what you’re feeling control you. The only reason you’re here is revenge. That’s it. You want to kill the people who took your Captain. Your friends-” 

“Umbrella didn’t kill them,” you said, your expression blank as you stated the truth that had eaten away at you. The truth that had carved a well in you and taken up residence there. Because as much as Umbrella had turned your friends into monsters, as much as Reed and the man who’d driven a knife into you had done, they hadn’t pulled the trigger on Rain. 

Or Reynolds. 

Or Alenko. 

“I did.” 

Krauser, for once, looked disarmed. He stared at you - him and the other men in the room. Men who had either helped shape you into the dagger you were, or would wield you. 

“I did what I had to do. And I will keep doing that, until Umbrella is buried.” That had been your vow, all those months ago. As you lay in a hospital bed, clutching a dog tag that would be all that remained of the man you considered a father. You’d lost sight of that goal, and the world had reminded you of it now. So, you looked at the computer screen in front of you, at the image of the base there. Your chance, not to make it right, but to strike a blow. “That’s all that matters.” 

And to these men who would be your commanders, who would now dispatch you across the globe, hunting your targets, that was enough. 

⧫⧫⧫

Hours passed, and still there were no answers. No justifications for why everyone had been taken back to their rooms, but it was all too clear to Leon that something had happened. The guards - rigid even on a good day - had been tight-jawed and tense as they’d guided Leon and the others towards their rooms. Something was wrong, because it seemed like something was always wrong, now. 

The only question was: what?

That night, he was allowed to imagine just how wrong things were. By the time their cell doors were opened again, the worst possible scenarios had flooded his mind, memories amplified by a sudden and gruesome abundance of imagination. It didn’t amount to the horrors he feared. There was no attack. No undead. 

All Leon was greeted with was a pair of eyes framed by glasses, set in the aging face of the man who’d ruined his life. “Agent Kennedy, if you’ll come with me, please.” 

Agent Kennedy.

He was an agent now, wasn’t he? He’d passed his final test. He was theirs to send wherever they pleased. 

Him and you, it seemed, because you stood just behind the agent, and you weren’t alone. Hellman, Dina and Valeria were there too, each of them looking like the hangman had called their names. Not you, though. You were stone, as you so often were.

Even with a handprint bruised onto your throat. 

Leon felt sick to his stomach as he saw the mark, the skin on your throat turned a dark purple from the pressure of someone's grasp. He’d worn a bruise to match after Raccoon City, courtesy of the silent monster that had stalked him that night. That had come too close to killing him too many times. 

That handprint had been larger than a human’s hand, though. The one on your throat could have belonged to anyone. Who then? Who had hurt you? Who had done this to you? 

There were no answers to be found from Benford, who simply gestured for Leon to follow, before pausing a moment. “And if you may . . .” he held up his other hand, one that had been clenched at his side. One that, as his fingers uncurled, Leon realized held little plaques. Three sets of two, linked by chains, numbers and letters stamped into the metal. Three sets of two, and one chain that linked three plaques, the name REYNOLDS clear to Leon’s eye, just as your name was. 

Their dog tags. 

Benford was collecting them. 

For a moment, Leon felt fear surge through him. With the group gathered before him, he worried that the feelings present among the group had finally been laid bare. He worried that, at last, their luck had run out and their places in STRATCOM had been taken as punishment. 

As he hesitated, Benford spoke a clarification. One he sounded solemn about. “You’ll get them back when you return.” 

“Return from where?” Leon felt numb even asking the question. 

Benford didn’t look any more pleased as he took a breath in, but Leon saw your expression shift. You didn’t look up from the empty space you stared off into, but your eyes darkened all the same as the agent answered. “I’ll explain elsewhere, but . . . you have a target.”

A target. 

A mission. 

His first. 

And wherever you were all going, your identities couldn’t follow. 

He had little choice, so did as he was told and reached up to his neck. A moment later, his name was pressed down beside yours and those of his friends, hidden from view as Benford closed his fist around them. 

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Chapter Index

Tag List: @greywardensaywhat @torchbearerkyle

[mochi-kitty]

Alright now that I’ve finished Yj 98.. and what an abrupt ending it was… (another post for another time) I gotta admit a hot take here.

I did not like how the girls were handled in #38 with robin and barts departure.

I understand they were upset and dealing with what happened on apokolips in their own way but arguably I’m peeved at their shitty attitudes. No one trusted robins judgement, fought him every step of the way even though he’s team leader until it actually became a physical fight, leading to their split, which led to their capture. Imo he had every right to leave. What’s the point in being team leader if this is how they treat him in a disaster? And even if he hadn’t up and quit, if he stayed team leader or even let someone else take the role earlier than canon… how could he stay on this team knowing they wouldn’t listen to him no matter his position? Or stay knowing that this same fight will absolutely start again if he rolled over and they didn’t talk about it? Then there was the “guilt by his association to Batman..” Was it shitty to break his promise to Greta? Yeah sure, but her bringing up her one sided delusional cat fight with spoiler like some jealous ex even though robin had no idea how she really felt? Shitty. As if spoiler had anything to do with this AT ALL. And don’t get me started on Cassie’s “apology.” That was downright disrespectful. Downplaying the situation and his feelings about it just so she can get him to stay for their own gain… Shitty.

Then there’s Bart. Fresh off losing Carol and his mom again, watches AND feels his scout get obliterated, falls into shock and then is immediately captured and put in a VR nightmare illusion by granny where he relives the same moment of death over and over on a loop. When they break him out he’s still in shock and goes comatose for an entire week and even with his speed healing, “takes a few weeks to get back on his feet.” After that he can’t even get himself to put on his costume, much less run even casually with Max. So he quits and the girls reactions are pretty much: “you’re being a coward after 1 bad event and we won’t have it.” Like??? Cissie quit when she nearly killed a man and yeah they fought that decision too but they didn’t question her judgement or god forbid make her feel bad for it and let her go while still keeping in the loop with her. HELL BY THIS POINT SHE’S STILL RETIRED!? But no it’s “you’re leaving because you’re a coward. We’re not afraid of dying so you quitting because you ACTUALLY saw and felt yourself die, a trauma explained by max to be more than the word could be defined, is unsupported.” AND THEN LITTLE LOBO, WHO CAN’T ACTUALLY QUIT THIS TEAM BECAUSE HE’D HAVE NOWHERE TO GO BEING THE WEAK END OF THE GENE POOL,,, HIS OUTBURST AND WANTING TO BE LEFT ALONE IS SUPPORTED BY ANITA EVEN THOUGH ITS FOR LITERALLY THE SAME REASON AS BART?? They both want to be left alone because they both died and now are scared of their own mortality but only 1 is supported because….why?? Is it Anita’s crush on lil lobo or what? Bart “can’t quit” because being impulse is “who he is,” COMPLETELY contradicting the years (by this point) of lessons Max has been trying to teach Bart about enjoying some normality outside of his hero life. I am 100% sure that when he said “I’m trying out a new lifestyle” he was thinking of Max. Implying that he can’t be ANYTHING other than Impulse, erasing Bart and his feelings as a whole person, is so shitty.

Idk I usually love the girls but this issue man. They had me wanting to jump the screen.

[2tyongs]

[3:45 AM] stars . . .

bf!doyoung x gn!reader

genre: fluff, established relationship,

warnings: none other than it's not really proofread!

a.n. first post oh em gee kinda nervousss! i don't see a lot of 127 fluff on here anymore so i guess i gotta do it myself 😒/hj. requests are open and feedback is always appreciated! i hope you enjoy <3 happy halloween btw 🙏🏾

doyoung never knew what love was supposed to feel like until he met you.

you were like a breath of fresh air in his life. taking his normal, mundane tasks like going grocery shopping and transforming them into something more thrilling, or making him experience new things that he would never do on his own. you had made his daily routine into something new, something beautiful.

he will always love learning more about you no matter how long you have been together; your hobbies, your favorite places, and what your favorite shows are. everything about you intrigues him and compels him to familiarize himself more and more with everything you consider to be part of yourself — past and present.

he will always listen to what you have to say, holding onto every word. even the little things that you thought never mattered or were worth remembering yourself, he remembers. he remembers the names that you had wanted to name your pet years ago, the way you don't care for certain holidays like valentine's day (he will always still make the effort to show that he loves you on these days anyway; bringing you flowers and cooking your favorite dishes so you have something to look forward to, even on the days you typically hadn't expected to before.), and the books you said you wanted to read but never got the chance to purchase. he notices when your gaze lingers on an item for too long when you're out shopping together, making a note to himself to come back and buy it for you for a special occasion coming up.

one night while the two of you were lying on the couch, you mentioned that you had always loved going stargazing when you were younger after seeing the two main characters of the movie you're watching sitting under the stars, sharing their dreams.

doyoung had made a mental note of this former interest of yours, which led the two of you to where you are right now: sitting on a soft blanket and staring at the warm night sky. you were seated in front of him, resting your back on his chest with your head on his shoulder, enthusiastically guiding his vision to all of the constellations and stars you could remember as you pointed them out the best you could.

“...that's the big dipper, but if you look closer you'll see that it's part of a constellation called the great bear," you point to the left, tracing out the pattern with your finger. "not many people know that the big dipper isn't considered a constellation." you explain softly, never taking your eyes off of the view.

doyoung doesn't mean to get distracted from your explanation, but he can't help it when you look so excited. reliving your childhood with the stars above brings you so much joy that a smile makes its way onto your face as you share your knowledge with him. he admires your beauty as you talk about the things you're passionate about, trying to etch the sight of you into his memory forever. looking at you is something that he will never get tired of. the soft curve of your lips, the way your lashes cast shadows onto your face, the beauty marks that adorn your complexion.

you start to talk again until you feel his eyes gazing at you instead of the stars above. you turn to him, momentarily dazed by the amount of fondness that you can see in his eyes as he looks down at you. you smile softly, “what? why are you looking at me like that?”

doyoung smiles back, “no reason. i'm just happy.” he can tell you're not exactly pleased with his answer if the way that you raise your eyebrow at him is anything to go by.

"'just happy?' i need you to elaborate a little more, doyoung." you tease, nudging him, and glance back up at the sky.

he rolls his eyes with a smile still gracing his features, holding you closer, "i just really love being with you, hearing you talk about the things that you love, that's all." you turn to him again. you can hear the sincerity in his voice and see it in his eyes and it makes your heart melt. you're too flustered by the love you can almost see and feel exuding from him to say anything back, so you decide to continue looking at the view ahead of you instead, tracing patterns on the back of his hand.

there's a short silence until you finally break it, staring up at the sky, "i love you." you tell him, leaning your head onto his shoulder once again.

he knows that you love him. you show it every single day in the way that you make time for him and the way that you've let him become a part of your life in a way that no one else has, letting him see parts of yourself that no one else could.

"i love you too. so much." he replies, kissing the crown of your head and rubbing your waist with his thumbs.

he always thinks to himself that even if he were dealt a different set of cards in his life, the stars would always align to give him the grace of being here with you. and he's more than certain that no matter what those cards looked like, there's no way he could love you any more than he does now.

doyoung knows that no amount of words or physical affection could ever be enough to express the love he feels for you. but for now, you just being there with him, letting him hold you, this will suffice just fine.

[mediocreanomaly]

Heya! Same patchwork anon here >:]

Im so glad you like the idea! And id definitely see Vash being so protective of it, but sir we need to clean that omg 😩

But i did wanna shoot another reply cause i had another thought (Its 3am, so its the perfect time for thoughts) but imagine instead of white solid thread for Nai's janky ass milk puzzle blanket, its instead stitched with colored thread to at least give it some more life :0

I do like the idea that Nai just keeps it hidden, but imagine Nai's mate finding it and wanting to improve on it more, so little by little theyve been hand-embroiddering stuff on each patch to give it more life, and Nai doesnt notice cause he doesnt really lay it out often, and one day he just has this urge to look at it again, maybe give it a chance and add it to the nest, afterall its the thought that counts right? but then he spreads it out and sees the different embroiderry, like hearts or flowers that Nai's mate saw in books~ Theres even an ongoing embroiderry that makes it clear that his mate has been stitching this behind his back lol

(okay thats all sorry for the ramble im just so weak for them huhu)

Authors Note: Oh my gosh??? I'm so sorry for being away everyone work is busy busy busy rn, gotta serve up some of my drafts fr...anyways! Patchwork anon strikes again! You know nesting hc's are my weakness I had to indulge, R.I.P. Knives milk puzzle.

In reference to both of these post: Nesting Hc's, Patchwork Anon

A Blanket of Many Colors, Knives x Reader

You run your fingers over the blanket you had gifted Nai, the patchwork of white making the blanket look more like a haphazard ghost costume rather than a gift you'd painstakingly sown together. You sigh, you didn't really blame Nai for hiding it away in fact you'd been a be relived when you found out your mate kept the scraggly piece of fabric at all. While the vision had been there the end result had ended up lack luster at best.

You groan, about to tuck it back away in its hiding spot for good when you pause over one of the squares. Although by itself it wasn't much...it'd be the perfect base for something else. You think of what you could fill the tiles with, you had more than enough colored thread to add a bit of life to it, you mull over a couple options before remembering the book of flowers Nai had shown you once, his expression had soften as he explained the differences between each species. Inspired, you quickly grab the blanket and march over to the large bookcase in the corner of Nai's room, running your fingers over the spines of the books trying to find the correct one.

"c'mon...it's gotta be here somewh- ah!" you say triumphantly, pulling out the book containing pictures hundreds of different flowers. You'd been amazed when Nai first showed you, plants like this didn't bloom on Gunsmoke, so the idea of their soft petals were all you had to go off of. You quickly flip through the book picking out one of the flowers and grab some red thread and a needle, ready to go to work.

Some where along the way this little practice had become routine for you. Every time Nai was away or you were bored you'd sneak over to the cabinet your mate had stored the blanket and add a small embroidery. Adding a different flower every time until the blanket was becoming a colorful tapestry of your own making. You weren't sure if Nai even knew what you were doing, if he did he didn't say anything about it. So you continued the harmless pass time figuring he had just forgotten about the gift to collect dust.

He hadn't. Nai was, admittedly, particular when it came to his nest and he knew it. He'd mull over the sheets over and over making sure they were the same shade of white and that they were both soft and large enough. When you had presented him with the hand made blanket...it wasn't that he didn't apricate a gift from his beloved mate, it's just that he cringed internally anytime he thought about it in his nest. He couldn't bring himself to throw away something made by your hands though, so he had stored it away for safe keeping, not wanting anyone else to get their filthy hands on something made specifically for him.

It wasn't until a couple months and one tedious day later that he found himself marching towards his quarters. His instincts where screaming to wind down and drag you into the nest with him but you were out in Ja'Lai, escorted by Legato. He huffs, thinking of grabbing some of your clothes to add to the nest for your scent but then grimaces at the idea of all that disorganized fabric against the white sheets and pillows. He pauses looking at the cabinet that contained the gift you had made all that time ago. Although he still bristles slightly at the idea of it sprawled out in his nest...maybe it's the thought that counts? No. Absolutely not. But he could at least drag it out for a little while, maybe it wasn't as bad as he remembered.

Nai opens the cabinet and reaches in for the blanket but when he pulls it out...his eyes go wide. He holds it up so that he had a better view of what he's seeing, flowers he had only seen as a child blossom against the white fabric painting a scene of an intricate garden that only his memories and dreams could recreate. Had his mate been doing this the whole time? He tilts his head and gently traces the patters of the petals and whining stems that adorns the blanket now, then...he glances up towards his nest.

"Nai? You you here?" you call walking towards your shared room. The others had informed you of your mates arrival while you were out in town and you were eager to welcome him with open arms. You pad in, cold floor beneath you feet. He must be curled up in the nest it's where he liked to recharge after being gone. You walk towards the bed where you know a heap of white blankets and pillows is waiting as you quietly peek in the room. Your mate is in the nest alright, but...instead of the usual stark white, a myriad of color litters the top. Your blanket, you realize, is now the main center piece of the nest, curled securely around your sleeping mate as he purrs in his sleep, plant marking glowing softly. It seems...he liked the gift after all.

[chaseprice]

hi!! hope i’m not a bother. i just came across u and i wanted to ask something,,,

basically, i joined the life is strange fandom in 2018 so i never got to experience the pre-bts era, meaning i didn’t get to experience what rachel was like to the fandom back then or see the different interpretations of her.

i did some digging and i found some fan content of her from 2015-2016 & i’m absolutely infatuated with all aspects of the fanon version of her, especially her personality & how she looked. i totally wanna embody her. also the love is strange vn was so interesting to play, i love how she was written. i’d love to know more!

i stumbled across ur blog while i was doing my digging and i saw an old long post of urs saying how bts didn’t live up to the fandoms expectations, as almost everyone perceived her differently.

sorry for all the yapping LOL but what i basically wanna ask is,,, how *exactly* did the fandom perceive rachel back then (2015-2016). what were some popular headcanons for her? things you guys even considered to be canon? what were some of your own *personal* headcanons? (can be silly, realistic,,, just anything you thought resonated with her)

do you have any favorite arts from that time period that you thought really captured her? what were your hopes for the prequel/rachels character before it was released? what did you want to see in terms of story? was rachel’s style, appearance, & personality extremely different than what you expected? what did you expect?

i assume that rachels treatment in the fandom was different then than what it is now. whether it’s better or worse, i’m not sure. i was hoping u could answer that too😞. recently i’ve just been seeing constant hatred or lack of care for her character so i’m starting to think that if bts was written differently and based on the fandom’s interpretations instead, the hate now wouldn’t be this bad.

from my digging it seems like you guys had alot of fun sculpting rachel’s character on your own, and the interpretations were probably more realistic than what decknine put together.

anyway i’m sorry for the yapping essay on this random saturday, most old lis accounts are dead & i didn’t know who else to ask☹️. just trying to relive what you guys experienced the best i can. hope i’m not bombarding you with this. thank you so much if u respond !!

hiii u def did not bother me, i am not in a position to answer all of these questions, but although it makes me feel ancient, it's cute to see so much passion for rachel and pre-BTS fandom opinion, so i'll try answer some and for the rest (art, hcs, etc.) im just gonna have to direct you to my archive* (will continue under the readmore)

*(tumblr archive is so broken on mobile so you gotta go on pc for this, but also there's so many gifs from that time so it will Definitely slow down your browser). i was insane and 17 years old so like, just excuse all of the cringe content i guess. you can click tag and filter it by either #lis #rachel amber #amberprice or whatever to try and find stuff like art. and i got into lis sept 2015 so that's like, as far back as it will go, but i was fully lisbrained from 2016 through 2018)

to be honest, in alignment with pre-bts thought lmao, rachel is whoever you want her to be. there was less of 'this is a correct objective fact about her personality/history' and more 'yeah, this is an idea the fandom really likes and has become fanon, most likely because it is a nuanced and entertaining and realistic interpretation of what we have seen of her character in lis1' which means people whose opinions conflicted with that might've be contested/laughed at/unpopular, but they weren't wrong per se. there were plenty of people i'd criticise (and ridicule) back then for implying that this teenage girl was evil, and being a teenager myself back then, i'd call them morally reprehensible and cancellable and whatever, but tbh, as an adult now, i can just see that it was simply a boring interpretation of her character informed by misogyny

i'd disagree with the notion that fandom treatment of rachel's character was better before bts, back then there were plenty of people seemingly excited to characterise her as emotionally manipulative, a cheater, deserved what she got, etc. as well, bc tbh, the story did leave room for that interpretation, but it left room for so much more as well. i feel like bts just really locked in on a certain story they wanted to tell plot-wise, and didn't choose to explore a lot of the questions fans had about rachel as a person. it's hard to turn the ambiguity of a friendship turned situationship over a period of 4 years into a playable experience for an audience - so they didn't. regardless, it got people thinking about rachel more, putting a spotlight on her, hence increased attention both positive and negative. i feel like there's just a fundamental difference between what lis1 fans enjoyed about the potential for her character and how she related with chloe and the world around her, and what deck9 wanted to portray in bts (yes they hit the astrological headcanons, the charmingness, her rebellion, the emotional conflicts... but it personally felt hollow, contrived sometimes, i suppose). but there were a lot of people who loved bts (i enjoyed a lot of parts of it!). just, in my opinion, some of those were quite different people from who loved lis1, and with that wave it brought a lot of emotional immaturity to the fandom (like... ship wars, really? that was an insane change to fandom dynamics for me lmao, but maybe i was just spoiled by surrounding myself with people whose takes i respected)

anyway i highly recommend also that if you're hungry for that kind of content, read fanfiction on AO3 by the old fans - by Mogatrat (TON of rachel centric ones there), explosionshark and tippytypewriter, chicknparm (though Cusp is written post-bts, it's informed by pre-bts characterisations), vicepoint (me hehe), def many more good ones out there those r jus my friends so they come to mind first, e.g. i liked homecoming by kriegersan back in the day, but you could def find some more by sorting the lis ao3 page by kudos and reading the older ones that are highly rated featuring rachel. and lastly, my gf wrote a beautifully worded blog post called "The Assassination of Rachel Amber by the Cowards Dontnod and Deck Nine" which gets into some of this from a media crit perspective (not about fandom) in a very eloquent way thru comparison w twin peaks and i highly recommend that

rachel hcs that def started way before bts: skater rachel, stoner rachel, punk music listener rachel (but also like, fleetwood mac cranberries cocteau twins grungy hippy stuff rachel too), rachel's parents being distant and still living in california, curvy thick rachel, things that i've accepted as canon but were def created by diff people: bri explosionshark hc'd that rachel paid for chloe's sleeve, mogatrat (i think) hc'd that rachel initially went to get her nips pierced with chloe (that's a longtime fan hc now idk who started that one) but chickened out at the last minute, i think she also hc'd that chloe made the earring for rachel which is cute too

[lulu2992]

Deleted dialog from Far Cry 3’s main story

In this series of posts, I’m sharing all the unreleased content (minus a few duplicates) I found in the oasisstrings text file, even when it wasn’t very interesting, so we have a comprehensive list of the lines that were cut in each Far Cry 3 story mission.

On a side note, the document never says which character is speaking, so every time you see names, it’s either because the corresponding audio files were available and I know who the speaker is, or because the context made it easy to guess their identity.

Part 2: The Social Club

In oasisstrings, this mission is the second one. Maybe it’s a coincidence, or maybe Jason was going to relive this moment after losing consciousness and before waking up in Amanaki.

The beginning of the mission is identical to what we see in the game, but there used to be a few more lines here and there. For example, here’s a longer version of the moment Jason is at the bar to get drinks. The deleted lines are bolded:

Fuck beer. What's the drink here in Bangkok?

The Mai Tai!

Forget it. Let's do sambuca shots!

[mumbled]…five, six… seven!

Girlfriend troubles?

She told you?

You know, Jason, Liza is a keeper.

I have shots!

Now that, right there, is what I'm talking about!

Let's have those shots. Hey baby.

Hang on, hang on. Hang… on.

Here we go! Lady!

Watch it, watch it, watch it, don't spill it, don't spill it!

That's my girl, Liza!

Take it, take it.

To what? To what? To what?

Uh, to my brother Riley for getting his pilot's license! Where the hell is that motherfucker?

Where the hell is that motherfucker?

To my father's black card and my black card. Whoooo!

That's what I'm talking about!

[laughing] Yeah!

God, I haven't done sambuca since I was twenty years old!

I'll get them.

While looking for Riley, it seems Jason was going to overhear this interaction:

Hi baby.

Hey. What you got for me?

Sit down.

Niiiice.

Wanna continue?

I wish. But not tonight.

See you again soon.

He would also make this comment about his girlfriend...

Man, I hope Liza gets here soon. She's always working.

...as well as come across an inaccessible area of the club, I assume:

Private section.

Go away.

You can't go in.

Turn around. Members only.

After speaking with Doug and finally finding Riley (and Keith), the friends go dancing, but a fight breaks out and they run to the elevator. This scene used to be longer too, and all the unreleased lines are bolded below:

[cheering on the DJ] Woo, woo, woo, DJ, c'mon!

Whoa, look at the lights!

Hot music, huh babe.

Did you see that?!

[PAIN]What the fuck?

Jason! No! Let me go, let me go!

Hey, hey, hey!

No, Riley!

Fine, fine, it's fine!

You like that? This is my kinda club! Hahaha!

Come on, let's go!

Everybody's gotta go. I called the cops.

Jason, back door!

Eat that!

Guys, we gotta bail!

We gotta bail!

This way! Let's go!

The cops are coming. We better get out of here!

Come on Jason!

Open up!

We'll get you!

These guys won't give up!

Yeah!

Room service!

Dead hooker in room 11.

Call it, call it, call it!

Come on!

Come on, come on, come on, hold the door!

Yo Jason, get in, get in!

Riley, stay close!

Watch out, Riley!

Yes, I know, I know!

Close! Close! Close!

The conversation between Doug and the friends in the elevator is identical to the in-game version. However, probably after this, there were a few lines from Liza:

Jason, let's go!

We're going to get arrested!

We've got to get out of here!

What're you doing? Come on!

You can listen to them here.

Then, we have what looks like the group’s arrival on the Rook Islands. We see glimpses of this in the introduction and the video in Hoyt’s compound (mission “All In”), but it appears it could have been a cutscene:

I'm king of the world.

Oh please, pfff.

Hmm, no reception here.

Uh yeah, cause we're in the middle of the ocean.

Hey Liza, get me one with pepperoni!

Hey, check this out! Looks like somebody's house!

They don't care about keeping shit clean around here. Before he died, he probably prayed for a satellite dish.

Let's check it out.

Let's go!

Hey! Check this out! Watch this.

Yeah, he's not coming to my pilot ceremony next month. Shocker, right?

Dude, you know your brother's always doing his own shit, right? Don't worry about it.

Ahahaha, yeah!

Nice!

Yeah baby!

No coconut for you.

Noo. No coconut for you!

Hey, hey I thought Doug said there weren't people on the island. Guys.

There they are, get them!

Everybody run!

Help!

Let go of me!

Get them in the truck!

Fuck you!

Then, in the document, there are the lines from the in-game video, but since each line in oasisstrings is linked to a sound file, it means all the dialog listed above is indeed from a different and longer version of the scene, which was cut.

[bratshaws]

through the hourglass 330. brb x oc

a/n: THIS BETTER POST OR I SWEAR TO GOD(comments and reblogs are super welcome and encouraged!)

pairing: plus size!oc x rooster

warnings: OH BOY ROOSTER IS HIS OWN WARNING

goodness gracious (pls read this one to know more what this fic is about!!)

chapter

1/

/316/317/318/319/320/321/322/323/324/325/326/327/328/329

(pls let me know if you want to be added to the taglist! )

taglist: @mirandastuckinthe80s @roosterschanelslut @wiipes @lcahwriter @novastories @gretagerwigsmuse @frenchtoastix @lizzie-rdj @fanboyluvr @atarmychick007 @comebacktoearthpls

@peachiicherries @mak-32 @lizziespidiepridie @roosterswifey @ollyoxenfrees @piceous21 @sqrlgrl22 @hofficoffi @lexhalstead3 @lorilane33 @legendarydreamersharkparty @luckyladycreator2

@emilybradshaw @louisahale @leobabbyyy @booklover2sblog @winter-run @ktjmac @graciereads @bigpoppajes @taytaylala12

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-

He licks his fingers clean of syrup with his eyes on her, and she has to bite the inside of her cheek as she helps Nikki cut her waffle. She felt her cheeks warm up as her husband just keeps his gaze on her, “Brad.” she tries to snap him out of it, “You are staring.”

“Mhm,” he pops a finger out, “Sure am.”

And she huffs, clearing her throat as she gives Nikki a small piece, the one year old was famished ever since she discovered waffles. “Anyway,”she continues,wiping the crumbs that stuck to Nikki’s face, “You going to meet Pete today?” he hums, propping his head up with a hand as he follows the curves on her body appreciatively.

“Hmmmm,maybe.” he is still reliving his welcome gift as he sees the very faint panty line under her shorts, was it the red one? He meets her eyes and Beatrice is even redder when he sees her face, “I mean, I’d like to see him…maybe I’ll take the kids with me.”

“Well,” and she automatically tugs her shorts a bit, “He hasn’t seen the twins in a while, or Nikki for that matter. I think he’ll like the visit.” and his eyes remained, hungrily traveling from her face to hips, while chewing his breakfast slowly.

“I like those shorts.”

She blinks,incredulously,at him, ‘Brad.”

He points at the white details on the legs with his fork, “Love how it goes,” and he moves the fork in a curve, clearly representing the curve of her ass, “Its nice.”

Rooster's gaze remained fixated on Beatrice, a playful smirk playing on his lips as he continued to appreciate the subtle details of her whole self. Beatrice, feeling the heat rise to her cheeks, cleared her throat and shifted her attention to Nikki, who was thoroughly enjoying her waffle.

"Thanks for the fashion commentary, Roos. I'll be sure to take it into account for my next wardrobe choice," Beatrice teased albeit her cheeks remained red.

Rooster chuckled, reaching for his coffee. "Just stating the facts, Bea. Gotta appreciate the finer things in life."

More sputtering so he decided to finally reply as normal as he could, “Yeah, I think he has…a lot of questions because of the whole shitbag that happened.” he sips his coffee. “A whole bag of ass, really.”

Nicole went ‘aaa’ while moving forward in hopes to get the silicone spoon as her mother brought it closer, clamping her mouth around it and chewing her breakfast with a little grin, “I mean,” Beatrice begins, not taking her eyes off of Nikki, wiping her face again, “It was very messy Roos. Mark and….well…why did he do that anyway? Jealousy?”

Rooster leaned back in his chair, his expression growing serious as he considered Beatrice's question. "Jealousy, ego, a twisted sense of entitlement—I think it was a mix of all that. “

“But…he was really focused on you Roos. Just like Miranda was to me.”

"Yeah, it was like he couldn't stand the idea of me, I don’t know, not needing Pete’s influence to go up in my career?I mean,the jealousy consumed him, and he thought he could control everything and everyone around him."

Beatrice nodded solemnly, her focus shifting between Nikki and Rooster. "It's scary how people can get so fixated, obsessive? But you handled it well, Roos. And you are safe."

He offered a small smile, his eyes softening. "Course I am,gorgeous.”

A comfortable silence settled between them, the weight of the recent challenges mingling with the warmth of their shared understanding. Nikki, seemingly oblivious to the gravity of the conversation, continued to enjoy her waffle, occasionally babbling.

Beatrice, breaking the silence, asked, "Do you think Pete will have a hard time understanding the situation?"

Rooster contemplated for a moment before responding, "He might. But Pete is Pete, he just wants to make sure we are okay.” he rubs the pad of his thumb on the mug’s lip, “He wasn’t notified of anything when I was deployed, Cyclone wanted it within the group and to some higher ups.”

She nodded in understanding, her fingers gently tapping against the edge of the table. "That makes sense. Considering Mark’s aunt is one of them…is she an admiral?”

Rooster nodded, confirming her question. "Yeah, she's an admiral. It complicated things, a lot.”

“Is she going to be kicked out?”

Oh,how he loved when Bea asked things like this, the little hesitation in her tone because, while she is married to him - a Navy pilot- and has friends in the Navy AND works at a predominantly Navy bar…she still has her questions. “...I’m going to go over there and kiss you.”

“Huh?”

“You are to fuckin’ precious and I love you so much.” he smirks, sipping his coffee as she gives him a look, a confused one. “You look surprised because I said that.”

“I’m not complaining,honey,” oh, the endearing names, fuck she was the death of him through and through, “You are just getting distracted a lot.” but that little smile showed that she clearly didn’t mind.

Nicole however, did care.

She looked between her parents, Rooster to Bea then Bea to Rooster, then tapped Beatice’s wrist, “Mama.” she coos, trying to tug the hand holding the spoon towards her, a piece of waffle still sticking to it.

“Oh,oh I’m sorry honey,mama got…” they met eyes, “Distracted.” 

Rooster smirks, ring and pinky finger curled against his jaw, thumb helping it up while his index and middle finger were on his cheekbone and temple, head tilted just a bit. She mouths ‘stop it’ and he replies ‘make me.’ with his eyes dropping down her body again.

“Aaa! Woffe!” and if Nikki was an emoji she’d be the personification of ‘>:(‘ because the spoon was inches away from her face and her little light brows scrunched as she tried to take a bite.

“Sorry sweetie, oh,” finally,the waffle was eaten and Bea gave him a look, pointing her finger at him, “You are so terrible.”

“Mmmmmhm.” he smiles, elongating his words as if he was oh so very pleased by that statement, squinting his eyes a bit, “I am. You know I am.” he does,however, sip the final drops of his coffee and stands up, walking over the sink, “But I’ll leave the two of you alone and check on the twins and talk to Mav.”

He stands behind her chair and kisses the top of her head, inhaling the lavender in her hair, “I love you.”

She slowly looked up at him, and smiled back, “I love you too.” he leans down to peck her lips twice, tasting the cherry lip gloss and then kissing Nicole’s head before he walks away.

Rooster's departure left a lingering warmth in the room, it was like he was the fireplace warming up the entire room. "Mama," Nikki babbled, her tiny fingers reaching for the remaining pieces of waffle on the plate. Beatrice chuckled, realizing that she might have to employ some strategic maneuvers to prevent another distraction.

"Mama's here, sweetheart," Beatrice reassured, gently wiping Nikki's face with a napkin. "Let's get you cleaned up so you can enjoy the rest of your breakfast."

-

Rooster drove the three kids to Mav’s place, Nicole was older, so she knew the route already - she was one year old but still - and the twins were busy looking around. He also took notice of how different the three babies were.

Nicole was talkative and she was very smart. She liked looking around and liked to touch people’s hands if she knows them…she also couldn’t hide her stank face, if she disliked you,she’d show.

While the twins were just a few months old, it was easy to see how different they were: Gavin was quiet, he liked snuggling up to his parents’ necks, he also liked to play with Beatrice’s hair and Rooster’s mustache, never tugging, just gently grabbing the pieces of hair.

Aurora, on the other hand, was very active. She liked to look around and move her neck and while neither her or Gavin could crawl yet, she sure would like to. Aurora also was louder than her sibling, she babbled a lot more and she had these moments where she’d just want to grab any piece of clothing of jewelry you had close by.

Rooster navigated the familiar streets, each turn bringing them closer to Mav's place. Nicole, ever the precocious one, sat in the back seat, enthusiastically pointing out landmarks she recognized,”Gampa Mav!”

“That’s right honey, we are going to see Mav.” he smiles as he turns the Bronco as soon as he sees Maverick waiting for them by the sidewalk.

Rooster parked the Bronco, and before he could even unbuckle his seatbelt, Nicole had already noticed him, her excitement palpable. "Gampa Mav!" she exclaimed, trying to get rid of the booster seat to see him better.

“Hey kiddo,woah!” he smiles down at Gavin, who was closest to the door he just opened, “Look at those two! Hey little guy!

The baby, with wide curious eyes, blinked up at him as if assessing this man yet again. Maverick gently tickled Gavin's tiny fingers, eliciting a soft coo from the infant.

"Hey there, little buddy. Did you bring the chaos with you?" Mav teased, glancing over at Rooster, who was in the process of helping Aurora out of her car seat.

Rooster chuckled, "You bet, Mav. The whole Bradshaw Circus is in town today."

As Rooster carefully lifted Aurora from the car seat, she greeted Mav with a gleeful babble, tiny hands reaching out toward him. Mav shifted his attention, expertly juggling between the little ones vying for his attention.

Nicole, having successfully freed herself from the booster seat -which was NOT helped by Rooster at all -, practically leaped out of the car. "Gampa Mav!" she declared,then poked her tongue out and stood there.She was clearly showing him this amazing thing she could do.

Mav stood up, arching his brow "Well, look at that! You're getting so big, Nikki. Soon you'll be teaching me the tricks."

She giggled, thoroughly pleased with the compliment. Rooster, now holding both Aurora and Gavin so Mav could pick Nicole up,smiled. "You ready for this, Mav? They've got energy to spare today."

Mav ruffled Nicole's hair, exchanging a glance with Rooster. "Always ready for the circus, Brad. Let the games begin. Come on in."

They made their way into Mav's house, laughter and tiny footsteps echoing through the air and Nikki quickly sat on the couch. "Sit wherever you like, folks. Make yourselves at home," Mav announced, “Nikki got the couch.”

Rooster settled Aurora and Gavin in a playpen Mav had set up in the living room. The twins, wide-eyed and curious, took in their surroundings with infant wonder.

Maverick looked back at Rooster, “Want a drink? Nothing heavy of course.”

Rooster nodded appreciatively, "Sure, Mav,no beer though.”

Maverick headed towards the kitchen, leaving Rooster to keep an eye on the twins. Nicole, still perched proudly on the couch, gestured for Rooster to join her. "Dada, sit!"

Rooster chuckled, walking over to the couch and sitting beside Nicole. "I’m here birdie,’ her tiny,minuscule hand on his and tapped his palm repeatedly, “You happy seeing grandpa Mav?”

“Yeeeaaa!!”

Maverick returned with a tray bearing a jug of iced tea and a few glasses. He placed it on the coffee table, glancing at the twins who were now engrossed in the colorful toys scattered across the playpen.

"Here we go," Mav announced, pouring iced tea into the glasses. "Nothing heavy, just some good old sweet tea. Help yourselves."

“I didn’t know you knew how to make sweet tea?”

“It’s not that hard,Rooster.”

Rooster chuckled, accepting the glass from Mav. "Well, I'm just used to seeing you with a beer in hand. Sweet tea is a pleasant change."

Mav took a sip of his own drink, settling into a chair across from Rooster and Nicole. The room was filled with the light-hearted chatter of the kids, the tinkling laughter of Nicole being the most prominent.

As they enjoyed their drinks, Mav glanced over at the twins. "They're growing fast, aren't they?"

Rooster nodded, a hint of pride in his eyes. "Yeah, faster than I thought possible. Feels like just yesterday we found out Bea was pregnant.”

Maverick's gaze softened. "Time flies. Before you know it, they'll be running around causing mischief like Nikki here."

Nicole, overhearing her name, giggled…mischievously. "Mischief!"

Rooster ruffled her hair, a fond smile on his face. "That's right, birdie. You're the queen of mischief."

Mav joined in the laughter, raising his glass in a mock toast. "To mischief and mayhem, the Bradshaw way." he waits until Rooster drinks, “...how are you?”

Rooster leaned back on the couch, savoring the sweet tea, and studied Mav for a moment. The question hung in the air, pregnant with unspoken understanding. After a thoughtful sip, Rooster exhaled, a mixture of fatigue and relief evident in his expression.

"I’m better, Mav," he admitted, his gaze drifting to the playpen where Aurora and Gavin were discovering the joys of colorful blocks. "It's been a tough stretch out there. But being back home, it's like a breath of fresh air."

Mav nodded, chewing the inside of his cheek. "I heard about the investigation. About Mark.”

Rooster's gaze flickered  and he took another sip of the sweet tea, the cool liquid offering a brief respite from the weight of recent memories. "Yeah, Mark's been a piece of work. Complicated situation, you know?"

"You don't have to talk about it if you're not ready, Rooster. But if you need an ear, I'm here."

The gratitude in Rooster's eyes was palpable. "I appreciate that, Mav. It's just... It's been a lot to process. Everything with the investigation, the uncertainty. It took a toll."

Mav placed a supportive hand on Rooster's shoulder. "You've been through the wringer, kid. I can only imagine. But you made it back.”

“What did you hear though? I thought Cyclone kept most under wraps.”

Maverick sipped his tea, then pursed his lips, “You think I wouldn’t know?” Maverick leaned back in his chair, rubbing his chin. "Cyclone did keep things under wraps, but you know how these things go. Whispers find their way, especially in a close-knit community like ours. People talk, and it's hard to keep the lid on everything."

"I get it. So, what did you hear?"

Mav sighed, choosing his words carefully. "Internal Affairs, and the FBI sniffing around. It's a mess, Rooster. And I heard they've got some evidence that ties him to some pretty ugly stuff."

Rooster's jaw tightened, the reality of the situation settling heavily on his shoulders. "Figures. Fuck-" he peeks at Nikki who was busy running her finger on the patterns of Mav’s vouch “--flipping wild.”

“And of course, his aunt is involved too,so,”Mav shrugs, “It’ll be flipping wild for a while.”

“...you know what.”

“What?”

Rooster huffs through his nose, “Wanna drink later at home? I feel like I need it, really.” he frowns, “Really,really.”