#guest appearance for plot reasons lol

[ghostwise]

there’s a flame that burns out at sea

✨ Marinadonna Bertolini (2/2) ✨

words: 2k summary: A chance encounter on the Dareia gives Mar a chance to test herself against the sea once more.

It hurts, sometimes.

In the cold, or when she pushes herself too hard while training, her knee reminds her of rocks sharp as teeth, riptide currents, and the deep taste of ocean water; brine and blood both swirling within her, tempering some internal fire that sputters and burns at her core, refusing to be put out.

It happens. She's accustomed to it.

Discreet as ever, Mar shifts her weight from one leg to another, easing up on the painful knee.

Discreet as ever, Aeran offers a brief touch to her shoulder, and raises a brow.

All good?

The salty air lifts a strand of hair off her face. Marinadonna nods.

.

Being aboard the Dareia feels familiar and unfamiliar at once. Mar is comfortable aboard, given her seafaring childhood, certainly; but the ship is a wonder unlike anything she’s ever seen. It has a character and a personality that demand respect. Dareia gives an impression like a stately old woman, a matriarch not to be underestimated. In that sense, Mar likes her a lot. Silly to anthropomorphize a ship, but she does.

Mar thinks of this idly as she stands at the bow of the ship, eyes fixed on the unmarred blue sea. Then she spots something.

A fraction of a second passes before realization sinks in. Mar focuses, her black eyes widening, her figure jolting forward to grip the handrails. She stares, brows furrowed. There, near the horizon. No mistaking it.

“Aeran!” she calls, and turns away with a purpose.

Striding toward midship, she finds him on the deck, along with Nova and Marsala.

“We are being approached by a hostile vessel,” Mar says matter of factly, before turning to Marsala and Nova. “They must have an accomplished illusionist aboard, seeing as I am the one alerting you of this, rather than anyone on your crew.”

Her tone is calm, but holds just enough tension to impress the fact that this is an emergency. Aeran, who knows her better than anyone, picks up on this right away; he sets his mouth and Mar glimpses the part of him that sparks under pressure.

“Where?” he asks simply.

“Off starboard,” she says, utterly thankful for him. And with that, they’re off.

Aeran springs into action, alerting the captain who sounds an alarm throughout the ship. Xanael’s voice fills the air, magically dispersed throughout all decks as Malsara quickly sets off to Zenaida’s side. It is something of a relief, not being challenged or ignored; Mar feels anticipation rising within her, but also a sense of satisfaction at being taken seriously, without anyone questioning her judgment. Only she and Aeran could have seen this threat coming, and only she could have assessed it so quickly.

Nova lingers beside her, eyes searching her for a moment.

“Did you recognize the ship?” she asks.

Mar looks at her, unblinking. She nods. “Faran pirates.”

A low sound escapes Nova. “And thanks to you we won’t be caught off guard by them. I dare say we owe you a debt of gratitude.”

“We can talk about debts,” Mar says grimly, “after we’ve dealt with this.”

Dareia is fast and her crew is seasoned; Mar watches as sails are tacked throughout the vessel to make use of the wind and magic of those aboard, channeling haste into every bit of wood, every bulkhead, as the ship cuts across the water. It’s a valiant effort, but she tugs her goggles on and restlessly grips Longclaw at her side.

Aeran returns soon after. Together, they watch as the Faran pirate ship gains on them. It is still far enough away that the whole thing feels like a drama played out in slow motion.

“They know, don’t they?” Aeran says after a moment, dusky blue eyes fixed on the approaching vessel. “They’ve realized we’re trying to outpace them.”

“It won’t work,” Mar remarks. She taps her boot against his calf, half-playful in the face of what’s coming. “Ready for this, Ranran? It’s not unheard of for pirates to make use of illusion magic. There are plenty of tales about enemies that ambush ships out at sea, and then vanish without a trace, leaving empty vessels behind.”

“Like ghost ships?” Aeran smiles, unfazed. “We’ll watch each other’s backs, yeah?”

Mar secures her pigtails and steels her heart as the ship draws nearer. “Always.”

 .

It's a laborious game of cat and mouse, but sure enough, the distance between the two vessels decreases. As dusk falls, the enemy ship is near enough for Mar to clearly see the name on the hull. BITTER ENDS it reads, and Mar guides Captain Xanael, who cannot make an assessment of the situation without her feedback.

“Moving up quick on us,” Mar says. “Ship is alee and readying harpoons. We have a few minutes at most before they strike.”

“We’ve got defenses, but without a clear look at them we’re just blindly lashing out,” Xanael says. “Until we can actually see our blasted enemy... Wayfarer Bertolini, can you get over there?” he asks suddenly. “Find that illusionist and incapacitate them?”

Mar’s heart quickens. She looks at Xanael, then at Aeran, who scowls at the suggestion.

“I can do it,” she says. “But I’ll have to go alone. Strike hard and fast so as to have the element of surprise. If I am doing this, I have to do it now.”

“I’ll cover you,” Aeran says. “But gods... just be careful, Mar.”

Mar holds back a frown. That hesitation—that fear in his voice—it’ll seep into her if she lets it. She’s too close to him, and what she needs now is for him to recklessly believe in her invulnerability.

“When am I not?” she asks, trying to maintain levity.

Catching her meaning, Aeran forces a grin and clasps her shoulder.

They make a striking pair together; dressed all in black, with the new armor Zenaida has bequeathed them. Mar thinks with some irony that it is fitting that it should be put to the test so soon.

She readies her grappling hook and waits for the ship to come near enough. It is far away, but she is confident in her throw. She pitches it in a smooth motion—it flies overhead, and she can see shock dawning on the faces of the nearest pirates, so she takes off running before they can react.

Things happen quickly.

Aeran shoots two arrows into the fray, knocking back the first enemies to rush at her, giving her ample chance to get herself over. For a moment she is airborne, swinging aboard from the Dareia onto Bitter Ends, where Aeran has shot down another enemy in her wake.

Now her fight or flight response drives her forward. She’s awash with adrenaline; she draws her sword and stomps through the deck, looking for the mage behind the ship-wide illusion. It must look curious to the onlookers; as if she is standing on thin air, high above the choppy waves. Meanwhile Aeran follows along from the Dareia, never losing sight of her.

“Drop the ruse!”

Mar hears a voice call out over the waves, a sharp and keen growl, and she senses a nearly imperceptible shift in the air as the magic ceases. She knows from a raucous call from the ship over that this is now a fair fight. The Dareia’s crew can see their assailants before they’ve made a first strike.

In a way, it’s a relief. She no longer has to hunt for the illusionist, whose identity remains a mystery—but now she’s on an enemy ship, surrounded. One problem at a time, she thinks.

“We have a guest.”

That voice comes again, loud without being forceful, projected with ease and confidence, as the speaker comes into view from the mast above her.

She is half-melusine, like her, with a shock of white hair and blue-grey skin. Curious skull-like markings overlap both her eyes, standing out eerily against her complexion, which is almost metallic. Her frame is strikingly tall and looming, her smile sharp-toothed, and an ouroboros tattoo snakes around her neck.

“Clever little fighter,” she says. “How did you see us coming? Spotted the wake behind our ship, did you? Not many could.”

“Were you the one casting the illusion?” Mar asks.

The woman grins. “What do you think?”

“Mar!”

Aeran’s voice sounds from a distance. The woman does not react, simply deflecting an expertly shot arrow with a swipe of her sword.

Mar does not answer. She can sense a fight when it’s coming, so she is not surprised when the woman drops from her perch and starts towards her.

 .

Xanael shouts commands as warriors from Zenaida’s crew come aboard, clambering over on boat hooks and ropes, and there are fights and skirmishes happening throughout the deck.

Mar recalls years of training at the Spire, and wields Longclaw like an extension of herself. But her foe is surprisingly adept. With a broadsword of her own, she parries and counters her at every step, pushing her back against the railing.

Mar braces herself against the wooden frame. She feints, then pushes off and manages to land a heavy kick against her chest.

“Oh, stronger than you look, are you?” Slightly breathless, the woman chuckles and sweeps her hair back. She gives her sword a little flourish before diving in again. “You’re quite troublesome, you know? I ought to chop your little pigtails off.”

“If you are trying to get a rise out of me, it won’t work,” Mar says. “But since you asked: Yes, I am stronger than I look.”

Spotting her chance, Mar drives the hilt of Longclaw forward, making use of its sharpened edge. Pinning the enemy’s sword in place she makes to disarm her—the broadsword clatters onto the wooden deck—but Mar is surprised when the woman recklessly flings herself forward and grips her by her dominant arm.

Mar freezes. She can see the reason behind the tactic now: most people would falter at the sensation of their magic being dampened. But for her, it just feels familiar. She sees the same recognition in the woman’s face, which goes still for a moment, a curious look in her eyes.

“You...” she breathes, and then lets out a laugh. “You, too. No wonder.”

“PITERAQ! We’re being swamped!”

A crewmate’s call draws her attention away, distracting her for a moment. It’s all the time Aeran needs; in an instant he’s landed an arrow, sharp and true, right in Piteraq’s chest. Mar can hear it strike through layers of armor: not enough to kill, but enough to wound, and Piteraq releases her with a strangled cry of pain.

“You’re magianis,” Mar says, shocked. A half-melusine magianis like herself—she’s never met another.

“Just one of my many charming qualities,” Piteraq says sardonically, blood seeping through her leather waistcoat. “Good match, little fighter. But we know how to pick our battles, don’t we?” She takes a breath and addresses the others. “FALL BACK!” she shouts. “They have Wayfarers aboard! Not worth the headache!”

And without further ado, she lifts Mar as easily as if she were a ragdoll.

That’s cheating, Mar thinks indignantly, before she is tossed overboard.

 .

Mar is again met by the deep taste of ocean water. Brine and blood still swirl around her—but this time it isn’t her blood, it is the privateer captain’s. This time she feels herself being tossed in the ship’s wake for only a moment, before coming to her senses and fighting the powerful currents. She kicks hard, and swims up towards the surface, towards the diminishing sunlight above.

The sky is beginning to twinkle with stars. The fight ended before it truly began. As the Dareia regroups, Bitter Ends shrouds herself in illusion once more, and speeds off into the sunset.

Captain Xanael directs his crew to check for injuries, assess potential damage, and, using magic, they calm the waters surrounding the ship while Mar and a few others make their way onboard.

Aeran is there waiting. Pulling her up, he draws her into a tight embrace.

“Are you hurt?” he asks.

“I’m fine,” Mar replies with a chuckle. “Like I said. I’m always careful.”

An argument starts up in the background, as Zenaida insists to Xanael that they do not have the time nor the resources to pursue the enemy ship. They must not be distracted from their ongoing mission or the journey to Velantis. Their voices fade away, though, as Aeran gives her an inscrutable look, nods, and steps back after a long moment.

The facts are this: injuries were minimal and fatalities none. Thanks to Mar.

 .

Mar considers this encounter for days, thinking about the crew of Bitter Ends and their magianis captain. Stronger than you look, she’d said. Mar smiles.

With weeks of sailing ahead of them yet, the crew falls back into routine, but with newfound respect for the Wayfarers aboard. Meanwhile that fire inside Mar burns and grows, brighter than ever. Refusing to be put out.

[therainscene]

Stranger Things 4 is themed around A Nightmare on Elm Street -- Vecna is a child-killer-turned-demon who murders teenagers from within their own minds; his heavily scarred skin and clawed hand resemble that of Freddy Krueger; and the actor who played Freddy himself plays his father.

I think Stranger Things 5 is gearing up to do something similar with The Terminator. Linda Hamilton (Sarah Connor) is the upcoming guest star this season; Vecna's exposed skull and vine-covered neck resembles the T-800--

--and Will's speech at the end of S4 bears striking similarities to Kyle Reece's famous "it can't be reasoned with" speech.

If Vecna is the T-800... then the Mind Flayer is the perfect candidate for Skynet.

[And Hawkins National Laboratory is Cyberdyne Systems -- a military-funded lab that meddled with phenomena beyond its ability to control and paved the way for a sinister hive mind to enter the world.]

I'm pretty sure that the Mind Flayer lies at the heart of whatever timey-wimey stuff is going on. It's suspiciously linked to timeline inconsistencies -- Will is already able to sense it in his neck before his possession in S2, and young Henry in TFS is haunted by the spider monster he wasn't supposed to create for another 20 years.

I've already written a theory on how a causal loop could tie Will and Henry to the Mind Flayer -- whatever's going on is probably more complicated than this, since my theory doesn't explain why the Upside Down is frozen -- but it's worth a read, I think, as it's the same type of time paradox as the one in Terminator and could easily be at the core of ST's time shenanigans.

Will is Kyle Reece or Sarah Connor -- so does that mean he's going to be a gun-toting badass?

No.

This scene is Will coming full circle from that moment in the shed at the start of S1: backed into a corner and forced to resort to violence because he sees no other way out. He doesn't want to kill the monster; he has to.

But the difference is that he's not cornered anymore.

This time around, Will knows his enemy, and he has supportive friends and family at his side. He's just so beaten down -- by Vecna, by Hawkins, by perceived rejections from Mike -- that he's lost all confidence in his ability to stand up for himself on his own terms.

I know it seems at first glance that Will advocates the use of violence in desperate times, but consider the context of the episode in which the above scene appears:

Joyce is reminiscing about her missing son while dealing with Lonnie telling her what to do and feel about it. Shortly after, she realizes how manipulative he's being and permanently kicks him out of her life (and the show lol) -- no violence necessary.

Will's advice hadn't been about the value of violence, but about the value of refusing to play by abusers' rules -- a key lesson in Stranger Things, as we've been watching El learn it the hard way over the course of four seasons.

Will cannot self-actualize by "finally" pulling the trigger on an approach that symbolizes his homophobic father's macho expectations. S5 is going to be about him regaining his self-confidence and allowing his authentic, gentle nature to guide him to the real solution.

So, to return to the "he's not gonna stop" speech: the theme at play here is inevitability, and it's one of the central themes of The Terminator -- not simply because the titular assassin is unstoppable, but because of the love story that drives the plot:

If Skynet hadn't sent the T-800 back in time to kill Sarah Connor before she could give birth to the leader of the human resistance, then Kyle would have had no reason to go back in time and end up unknowingly fathering John. No matter how hard Skynet tried to snuff John Connor out of existence, the rebellious love that created him was just as inevitable as the T-800.

This, I think, is the message at the heart of both Terminator and Stranger Things, and is the reason why The Terminator would be the perfect choice for S5's theme movie:

Sometimes the horrors wrought by humanity are inescapable...

...but so too is the hopeful human drive to love each other and overcome them.

Read Brenner's role in creating Vecna as a metaphor for homophobic Reagan-era fear-mongering and it all clicks into place, I think.

[blackreaderfics]

Checking In | Dick Grayson x Black!BatsisReader

↳ Pairing : Dick Grayson x Black!AFAB!BatsisReader

↳ Rating :  E (18+ minors dni‼️)

↳ Summary : After your brother Jason’s death, Dick Grayson keeps “checking in” on you. But as far as you’re concerned, he no longer has any right to be a part your life.

↳ W.C : ~5.2k

↳ Tags+Warnings : faux incest - step siblings (direct mentions), mild angst, hate(?)to love, sexual tension, not Titans DC!verse I just like the actor lol, canon divergence: set after Jason Todd’s death and before Red Hood, reader is a model (body type unspecified), referenced stalking, oral (f receiving), P in V sex, degradation (slut, whore), implied daddy kink, porn with plot!, special guest appearance by Booster Gold

“Hot date tonight?” 

You felt your eyes roll back into your head at the sound of the male voice that trilled like a mosquito in your ear. Fucking hell, you muttered a curse under your breath. After your shift of late-night vigilante duties, you always seemed to forget to take out your in-ear receiver. 

What was that thing Alfred always told you about breathing exercises? You took a deep breath, allowing yourself to quell your irritation.  In. 1. 2. 3. Out. 1. 2. 3. 

“No action tonight, dick?” You rebutted. 

“I can hear when it’s a lowercase ‘D’, Y/N. ” Unlike yours, his voice betrayed no hostility, rather, he sounded quite amused.

You and Dick Grayson had never been close. In fact, you thought of him as more a stranger than a stepbrother. Bruce Wayne had adopted you into the family after Dick had already packed his bags and moved out of the manor to Blüdhaven. The only times you saw Dick was when somebody died and you had to attend the funeral. 

You didn’t grow up with him like you had Jason. And now that Jason was gone, it was suddenly like the golden “boy wonder” had been trying to squeeze himself into your life to make up for it. Ever since the detective had arrived in Gotham last week on “private business”— whatever, you didn’t want or care to know—he’d been “checking in” on you a bit too often.

“Are you making small talk ‘cuz you’re bored or are you just being annoying?”

“I’m in the middle of something actually.”

You stilled to listen closely, and now that he mentioned it, it did sound like he was in the middle of a fight. 

“Well, I would offer to help you but— ”you paused, wincing at what sounded like a man being punched in the gut. “—seems like you got it covered.”

“More than covered, sweetheart. Unlike what you’re wearing.” He made it sound like he was joking; though, the remark itself had bite.

“What?” What the fuck was that supposed to mean?

“That dress. Seems a little much for a first date don’t you think?”

You heard a yelp of pain in the background. Dick probably had some guy’s arm twisted around. 

“How the fuck would you know what I’m wearing? Or that I’m going on a date?”

You eyed the room while putting on the other half of your earrings. The idea of privacy wasn’t exactly a thing at Wayne Manor. That was the whole reason you moved out and into your penthouse apartment in the city. 

If for some reason he had seen you, he would’ve seen your figure in a slinky black mini-dress. A tasteful, but still unapologetic show of legs, cocoa skin, and cleavage all in one. 

“That guy plastered you on a billboard in the middle of Gotham. So, y’know, doesn’t take a genius to figure it out. And relax, your comms was on. You ever notice that you talk to yourself? Like a lot.”

He was about to be talking to himself if he didn’t shut the fuck up soon.

Ok, breathe. In. 1. 2. 3. Out. 1. 2. 3.

You were violently broken out of your breathing exercise when a screaming welp and cracking of bones sounded through the earpiece. 

Dick spoke again, slightly winded. “Bruce say you could wear that?”

“Yes, Dick. Actually, he’s the one that bought it for me,” You deadpanned, voice dripping with sarcasm. Besides the fact that the old man would not give a flying fuck about your wardrobe, you were way too old to be slutshamed or worse, babysat.

“Now I know you’re fucking with me. He has way better taste than that.” You could hear the mirth in his voice; he was clearly just trying to banter with you.

“Oh like you would know anything about taste, Discowing.”

“…”

You got him there.

“Just make sure—”

“Good night, Richard.” You closed the line before he could give you another lecture and pocketed the listening device into your purse. 

You regarded yourself in the mirror one last time. It was a certified banger of an outfit, went quadruple platinum in all the clubs in Gotham’s nightlife scene. But that’s not where you were going tonight.

Feeling a little paranoid, you quickly scanned your apartment for any sign that you’d been bugged. Finding nothing, you shut the lights and locked the door behind you. Tonight you did have a date, with one of Gotham’s most eligible bachelors at that. So you were going to look hot and that annoying buzzing in your ear was just going to have to deal with it.

A sleek Tesla was waiting for you at the curb in front of your apartment building. You gave a small wave to a handsome blonde-haired man leaning against the sports car.

Your date was Michael Carter, some hotshot tech CEO you’d never heard of before until his company, Goldstar Inc. blew up out of nowhere. From what you knew of him he wasn’t as famous or rich as your billionaire adoptive father, but what he lacked in influence, he made up for in boundless persistence.

For the past month and a half, he’d been courting you with bouquets of roses, designer shoes and handbags, and more recently a billboard of you in the middle of Times Square asking you out. The billboard was what made you finally go out with him, not particularly because you liked grandiose gestures from douchebags, but mostly so he could leave you alone.

When you approached Michael he let out an appreciative whistle, and you let him wrap his arms around you in greeting. He looked down at you, appraising you and probably getting an eyeful of your tits at the same time.

“You are an absolute knockout. Who’s the lucky guy?” He quipped, eliciting an eye roll from you. 

Yes, he was also very corny but you decided you liked that about him. You’d dated too many men before that reminded you of the men in your family, and this Michael character was a blonde spark of life, a welcomed change from all the brooding and the fucking bats.

“Hope I didn’t make you wait too long.”

“Oh, I don’t mind waiting. Got a lot of time on my hands.”

You smiled up at him, steadying yourself on his arms and feeling the muscle underneath your fingertips. You had to admit, even though he was corny he was complete eye candy. Built like a football player, dimples, pretty face…Yep, you were definitely going to fuck him tonight.

Your eye caught sight of something from over Michael’s shoulder. You shuddered; not because of the temperature—It was a warm enough summer night— but because you could feel that you were being watched. There was… a shadow… lurking on a nearby building.

Michael followed your line of sight to peer over at the dark, confused at where you were staring. 

“Something the matter, princess? You cold?” He rubbed some heat into the goosebumps pebbling your arm.

“N-no. It’s nothing. Sorry,” You shook your head, breaking away from him to climb into the passenger seat, swiftly shutting your door before he could offer to close it for you. He scrambled back to the driver’s seat, clearly caught off guard from your sudden change in demeanor.

“How about we—” Michael turned toward you, mouth open in mid-sentence.

“Drive.” You cut him off.

“Excuse me, what?” He blinked in confusion. 

“Now.” 

“A-alright.” He paused, perplexed, then quietly obeyed, gripping the steering wheel as he pulled away from the curb. 

You fished into your purse, opening your messaging app to type out DON’T FOLLOW before hitting send. You didn’t need to see the reply to confirm your suspicions you were being stalked, and you knew Dick Grayson well enough to know he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t. 

You frowned at the empty seat in front of you. You had already arrived at the restaurant and taken your orders, but your date had been taking a “business call” in the bathroom for over 20 minutes now. You were starting to think you had been ditched.

“This seat taken?” 

You looked up but instead of your date you were greeted by the sight of Dick Grayson in a crisp navy button-down rolled up at the sleeves. He looked like he could be a CEO in his own right, like the kind of CEOs people read in romance novels.

His forearms looked extremely capable, courtesy of his rigorous training; Broad shoulders and dense muscle made his shirt fit slightly too small. He cleaned up nice, a bit too nice since other women kept sneaking glances at your table. 

Dick was an undeniably handsome man, but you would never admit that to him. Instead you gave him a withering glare.

“I don’t know what you think you’re doing but whatever it is, I didn’t ask.”

“So a guy can’t catch up with family after work now?” He sat down in front of you with a look feigning offense until it melted into a playful grin. He looked a bit too smug taking the spot of where your date would’ve been.

“You’re really shameless y’know that? You showing up and expecting me to just welcome you with open arms does not make you family.” You leaned back and crossed your arms. “What the hell did you do with Michael, Dick?”

“What did I do? What, you think I killed him? Like on some mobster Falcone shit?” 

“No, like on some Bruce Wayne shit. Real chip off the old block.” You scoffed. “I know you paid him off. It’s the same story with every other guy I’ve dated.”

He was silent as if mulling over whether or not to own up to the accusation.“I gave them an option and they took it,” he said simply as if there wasn't anything wrong with what he just confessed.

“And here I thought I was the problem.”

“Might be. If you keep choosing guys that’ll walk out on you at the whiff of a few bucks.”

“Fuck you, Dick.” You shot him two middle fingers and gathered your things to go. You weren’t gonna stay and hear this shit.

“They were all full of shit and you know it.”

“D-did anyone order the steak?” 

Dick broke his serious gaze from you and flashed a dimpled smile to ease the nervous waiter.

“We’ll take it to-go, thanks.”

You watched your 5th Uber request get denied and sighed. You really didn’t want to have to resort to getting the Wayne driver, but these were incredibly desperate times. Maybe if you faked being in danger, they could get to you fast enough to escape from Dick.

You were in the middle of dialing the number up when you felt something heavy across your back; The smell of leather, wood, and spice interrupted your thoughts. You didn’t refuse the warmth; it was welcome. Somehow it had gotten colder than you had originally accounted for.

“Really good thing I was here. Looks like someone needs a ride,” you felt Dick whisper into your ear. He gave your shoulders a playful squeeze and walked ahead of you to his car. You looked up just in time to see him, head turned and smirking back at you.

“Shut. Up. Just take me home,” You gritted out.

“Your chariot awaits.” He tipped an invisible top hat your direction, bowing theatrically as he opened the passenger door to his car. God he was annoying. You slipped past him, and kicked off your heels as soon as you hit the plush leather seat.

The drive back to your apartment was quiet. You weren’t surprised that he seemed to know exactly where you lived. Which, due to the nature of your job was to be expected. Bruce probably had you all chipped anyway, but you appreciated the illusion of privacy at the very least.

You turned your head to stare thoughtfully at his side profile as he drove, one hand on the steering wheel, the other arm resting on the shift. It was oddly intimate to watch him from this perspective. Gotham City’s lights waxed and waned across his face as you passed through the night streets.

“What?” He seemed uncharacteristically conscious under your gaze. 

“So…you’re saying I need to date some sort of incorruptible and righteous superhero. That would be good enough for you, right? Someone that can’t be bought or bribed?”

He glanced at you brow furrowed before returning his attention to the road. “Wasn't saying that.”

“Now that I’m thinking about it Hal Jordan’s kinda cute.”

“Real classy, Y/N,” He said, visibly irritated now.

“What? What’s wrong with Hal?” You pressed, knowing you’d struck a nerve. Dick was terribly predictable and fun to annoy when he wasn’t busy annoying you.

“Uh I don’t know, maybe the fact that he’s Bruce’s friend?”

“Please, they’re barely friends. Coworkers at best.”  Since when was that an issue for the dude who hooked up with the commissioner’s daughter anyway? The hypocrisy was truly baffling.

“No.”

“Fine,” You pouted at him. “Everyone cares about money, Dick. It’s Gotham. And you don’t even live here anymore, so who else does that leave that money won’t sway? Alfred?”

He gave you a pointed silence, not in any more mood for the topic of conversation. “We’re here.”

You blinked, surprised. Sure enough, you were in the familiar surroundings of your parking garage. Maybe you’d been too busy staring at the cut of the older man’s jaw to notice you were already home.

“You’re not gonna walk me up? ‘Cuz If I didn’t know any better, I’d have thought you were my personal bodyguard.”

“Goodnight, Y/N.” 

“Cockblocker.” You muttered under your breath as you scuffed your heels back on. You shrugged out of his jacket and exited the car.

“Hey, wait! Keep the jacket on, it’s cold,” He called after you, but you only waved him off dismissively. You heard his car door slam shut and in a few strides, he was next to you again, draping the jacket over your shoulders.

He wordlessly joined you in the elevator, pushing the button to your floor like he'd been there before. At the door of your apartment, he passed along the plastic bag filled with restaurant takeout.

You briefly considered the raven haired man and then the takeout bag in your hand. “I’m probably gonna regret this, but…you hungry?”

“I could eat,” Dick shrugged, following after you into your apartment. 

You kicked off your heels and made a beeline to the kitchen. “Bathroom’s on the right. Just make yourself at home. I would give you a tour but, you probably already know your way around.”

“Thanks, but it’s the first time I’ve been in here, Y/N.” He replied drily, hands stuffed in his pockets. “Look, I know you don’t trust me, but I wouldn’t do that, ok?”

You only hummed, not really believing him. Dick Grayson wasn’t the type to lie, he was the type to withhold. 

You set down your bag on the kitchen table, reaching into the cupboard. “Wine?”

He jingled his car keys as an answer. 

“Ah. Right. ‘Protect and serve’ not ‘drink and drive’, got it.”

Dick seemed to be paying a lot of attention to the knickknacks on your shelf. You watched him pick up a few photo frames, inspect them closely for a bit and then carefully set them back In their places.

“You’re making my living room look like a crime scene, officer.” You chided strolling in closer. “What, are you gonna need a baggie for that evidence too?”

He rolled his eyes and shook his head, humored. “I didn’t know you liked photography is all.”

“Yea well, there’s a lot of things you don’t know about me.”

“I know enough.”

“Like what?”

He looked around the room and then settled on the books and magazines stacked on your coffee table. “You’re into fashion.”

“Well yea, I’m a model, Dick. Not exactly breaking news,” You scoffed. “You sure you’re a detective?”

He broke into a grin, the kind of grin that made the dimples in his cheeks deepen. It was like he genuinely liked when you made fun of him. “Well, I also know you also have terrible taste in men so…”

“Have you considered that maybe I just wanted to get laid?”

“No, and I hope that never crosses my mind." He made a face like the very thought disturbed him. "Besides, you don’t want that.”

You chose to ignore the blatant patronizing. “Not a want; It’s a need. A biological one. Girls have those too y’know.”

“Ugh alright, can we change the subject now, please?” He wrinkled his nose, cheeks faintly flushed. It would’ve been so easy to tease him about how cute he looked blushing.

“You’re the one that brought it up.”

“I did not bring that up. I’m…just saying that I know you’re not that type of girl.”

“Not that type of—And what would that be?” You narrowed your eyes at him.

“The one-night stand type. That’s not you.”

“How would you know what I am and what I’m not?” You retorted, agitation building. Getting date-ditched was one thing but getting mansplained to about your sex life was just the cherry on top of a shitty Saturday night.

“I know you,” He spoke slowly with an edge that confirmed your suspicions; The tone in his voice was backed by knowledge of your history—who you were before Bruce rescued you out of that hell and scrubbed your background clean.

“More like you’ve been stalking me. That’s not fair, Dick. You can look up all the data you want on me on that supercomputer but you don’t get to know me. It’s—it’s too late for that.”

You thought about Jason and how he was ripped away from you too soon. Tears fell faster than you could stop them. One second you were ok and the next, Dick had crossed the room to bring you into his arms. You fisted his shirt as you cried into his shoulder.

“You weren’t here. You left. You left us.”

“I know. I’m sorry.” He comforted softly, tightening his arms around you.

“That’s not fair, Dick. It’s not fair.” You can’t remember the last time you cried this pathetically. He was rocking you gently now, whispering apologies in your ear.

“I know. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry Y/N. I’m gonna make it right.” 

He gazed at you now, a sadness in his eyes. You wondered what exactly he meant by that. The only way to make it right was to bring Jason back. 

He gently held your face in his hands, thumbs swiping away stray tears. Years of training had calloused his fingers and you could feel them now against your cheeks.

“Let me make it up to you. I promise I’ll make it up to you.”

His soothing voice released flutters in your stomach—a bubbling concoction of fear, anticipation, and…something more. 

Inhale. 1. 2. 3.

Your breathing became shallow as he brought his head down, lips hesitant before yours. When you didn’t move away he brushed against you, softly first, waiting for permission until your eyes fluttered closed and you finally let him in.

Your cheeks burned. Something about kissing him made you embarrassed or maybe you were ashamed, like you knew you were doing something you shouldn’t.

You fumbled out of his jacket, now too hot, and pawed frantically at the buttons on his shirt. He kissed you with more passion, swallowing your moans as his hands shamelessly roamed your body, groping and grabbing handfuls of your ass. 

“Bedroom. My bedroom.” You said quickly between fraught kisses. If you hadn’t, he would’ve probably taken you right there on the sofa.

He nodded in agreement, picking you up with ease and swiftly treading to your room with you in tow. He set you on the bed and resumed where he left off until you were lying under him. That’s when you could feel him, all of him, pressing against you. 

“‘m gonna make you feel good.” 

Ripples of abs and lean muscle ground against you as he kissed down your neck. You gasped softly when his hand moved to rub you over the cloth of your panties.

“Wanna see you. Please, let me see you.”

He tugged the top of your dress down, undoing the clasp of your bra and revealing to him the peaks of your tawny nipples. You inhaled sharply, watching him take your breast into his mouth, eyes on you, as he licked and sucked.

You writhed under him, already overwhelmed by everything he was doing to you. He snaked his hand back into the front of your now-soaked panties, rubbing at first and then inserting a finger, then two until you were stretching around him.

“So wet for me, my pretty girl. Look at you milking my fingers in this slutty little dress. You were gonna let him do this to you, right? You were gonna let him finger your pussy too huh, baby?”

You whimpered his name, eyes wide as he continued to speak with his fingers squelching in and out of you. Normal, everyday Dick Grayson had the image of being a “nice guy”. He was probably that neighbor you’d ask to borrow sugar from; You would never expect to hear such dirty words coming from his mouth.

He hiked up the skirt of your dress some more and brought your hips to his face.

“Let me take care of you, huh? Let me take care of this pretty little cunt.”

You cursed softly, as he began to kiss and suck around your clit as he fingered you.

“Fuck,” He groaned, “You taste so good, baby.”

He lapped at your cunt, making lewd slurps and noises. When he removed his fingers, he replaced them with his tongue and the sensation made you squirm.

“Quit moving so much. Didn’t you say you wanted to get laid? Don’t you want me to eat you out?”

“Y-yes. I want—Mmhfuck.” You nodded, finally finding some semblance of language. The way he spoke down to you was so agonizingly frustrating. It reminded you how patronizing he'd been earlier that night, telling you to cover up and dictating your life for you.

“You haven’t been fucked in a while, huh?” He mocked. “That’s why you were gonna let some guy you met today fuck you—Such a fucking slut that’s why you wore that, right?”

You whined at his words, bucking to earn some more friction from him.

“Holy shit, you like that? You like when I call you a slut.” His smile grew as if he just made a huge discovery. “Yea, ‘course you like it. Should’ve spread your legs on that billboard that guy bought. Let Gotham see how much of a fucking whore you are.”

Your cheeks warmed in embarrassment. You felt betrayed by the physical reaction you gave with how crudely he was speaking. He'd figured you out; You liked being treated like a cockdumb slut.

He planted a few more kisses on your thigh, unbuckling his pants with a free hand.

“Wait for me, babe. Touch yourself and wait for me like a good girl.”

You obeyed, rubbing at your throbbing mound to no avail. Your fingers didn’t feel as good as his did. 

He freed his cock from his underwear and you could see it now, leaking beads of precum from the tip, swollen and bobbing up against his well-defined stomach. Your mouth watered, you wanted to feel all of him on your tongue. But when you reached for him, he brought your fingers up to his mouth instead, sucking the pussy juices off your fingertips. He kissed your knuckles and returned your hand to you.

“Keep those pretty fingers busy, sweetheart.”

He stroked slowly, watching you tentatively squeeze one of your breasts, your other hand rubbing and dipping between your folds. 

“Fuck you’re so fucking beautiful.” He groaned before he kneeled to position himself between your legs, aligning himself at your entrance.

“You just need a cock to fill you up, doesn’t matter which one, huh? That’s what you wanted, right?”

He rubbed himself against you, tip occasionally catching on a soft divot, but not fully being inserted inside.

“You’d even let your stepbrother fuck you, huh? That’s how much of a dirty little slut you are.”

You felt tears prick at the corners of your eyes, a mixture of humiliation, frustration, and desire. How could your body like it so much when he was being so vulgar, so mean?

“Please, I need—“ You panted, trying to push yourself onto his cock for release.

“Mmh? Speak up, princess. What do you need?” 

“F-fill me up. I need you to fill me up.” 

“Only good girls get filled up Y/N. But you’ve been talking back to me all day like a fucking brat. You gonna be a good girl for me, baby?

You nodded dumbly in agreement. He pushed inside you a little deeper, only to take it out again.

“P—lease, I’ll be good. Just—need you inside.”

If only the patients at Arkham Asylum could see you now. They’d probably grab front-row seats to see you pathetically begging for some cock. 

“You could barely take my fingers, princess. You sure it’ll fit?”

He was right. It was a tighter fit than you anticipated, but you could feel him now hot and pulsating as he stretched you out.

“You’re doing so well for me, baby. C’mon you can take it.” He cooed, muttering curses to himself until he finally bottomed out, fully seated inside you.

You moaned, holding onto his forearms as he rutted in and out of you. You could see his length disappear and reappear with every thrust, gathering a ring of your cream around his base.

“How do you feel princess?” He grunted out, pace quickening. “How does it feel to have me balls deep inside that tight little cunt?”

“It. Feels. So. Goo—Ahmmhfuck.” You clenched around him, voice vibrating with every thrust.

“Fuck, you’re milking me, sweetheart.” He laughed, voice smug. “You’ve thought about this before, haven’t you. Fuck, you’re so fucking dirty. You been thinking about my cock filling you up huh? Being my personal fleshlight? It’s everything you ever dreamed of right?” 

You could tell he was enjoying this, enjoying degrading you as you laid helpless underneath him, your release depending entirely on him. It was infuriating that he had this much power over you, but the amount of pleasure he was currently giving you superseded your pride.

He pushed your thighs back as he went deeper into an unforgiving mating press, knees by your ears, not caring that you weren’t as flexible as he was. 

“Such a good girl taking my cock so well. Wanted this for so long. You’re so pretty. You’re so fucking pretty. You feel so good; so good for me.”

He moaned into your ear, placing sloppy kisses at your mouth and jaw.

“This pussy’s made for me. You’re made for me. I’m the only one who can make you feel this good.”

You felt his balls smack heavily against your ass as he continued to pound his fat cock into your sensitive cunt, reaching your G-spot.

“Whose is it, baby? Whose pussy is it? Please, baby. Say it’s mine. Just for me.”

“I-it’s yours. O-only. Yours.”  You gasped out, feeling a warmth blooming at the apex of your thighs as you came unraveled underneath him.

His length twitched as he unloaded thick ropes of cum inside you, some of it leaking out and down your ass as he thrusted deeper.

"That's right, take my cum. Take it, it's yours. It's all yours."

He continued to fuck his cum into you until your walls squeezed around him, coaxing out every last drop.

It was morning now and sunlight peeked out from between the gaps in your curtains. You grounded yourself back into your senses. Your satin pillowcase cooled your cheek, but there was an unfamiliar warmth pinning you down—an arm wrapped around your waist.

He was half-hard now, erection resting lightly against the plump of your ass. You could feel his chest rising and falling, warm against your back as he slept. Deep breaths in. 1. 2. 3. Out. 1. 2. 3.

You liked the way you fit together, your soft curves snug against his hardened body.

You turned a little to try and meet his eyes but your stirring only prompted soft kisses at your shoulder, and a strong arm pulling you ever closer, willing you not to leave the bed.

“Good morning.” He said between nips and kisses, intertwining fingers in yours. “What do you want for breakfast, beautiful?”

“Hmm? You’re still here.” It was more of a statement than a question.

“‘m still here.” He mumbled against your neck. His morning voice became noticeably deeper when sleep still clung to it. 

“Not a one night stand type of guy?”

He chuckled softly, the contented sound losing itself in the groove of your shoulder. 

“Nope. More like one night and one morning stand.”

You smiled at the terrible joke but willed it away quickly before he could see it. 

“I saw that smile,” He accused.

“No, you didn’t.” You tried to smother the corners of your mouth downward again. “You know for someone so smart you say a lot of stupid shit.”

“Aww, you think I’m smart, babe?” You didn’t have to look at him to know he probably had the dumbest smile plastered on his face. 

You rolled your eyes. “You also realize you talk way too much right?”

“You weren’t saying that last night.” He palmed your breast, kneading it softly. “Got so turned on you were literally begging me to fuck you. You were all like ‘Please daddy, please fuck me.’”

“I did not say that shit, weirdo.”

“It was implied.” He simpered.

You couldn’t help it; you were giggling now too. “You are such a dumbass.”

“First I’m smart, now I’m a dumbass. Which one is it, hm?” 

“Hmm, let me see…Which one is the quiet one, again?”

“You wouldn’t like it if I was quiet, though.” His voice had a hint of challenge in it.

You pursed your lips. He wasn’t entirely wrong.

“See? I know that filthy shit gets you going. Wanna test that theory, baby?” He murmured, kissing the shell of your ear. “See if you’ll call me daddy?"

Evidently he wasn’t the only one who got off to dirty talk. His cock was now fully hard and pressing against your ass.

He rolled on his stomach, pulling you closer to him by the thighs. Your eyes fluttered closed as he nuzzled into your sex, laving and sucking, deep blue eyes locked on you. His lips curled into a smile against you when you moaned and sighed with pleasure.

Dick pulled up briefly, pussy drunk, wearing his spit and your essence on his face like a badge of honor. He peppered a languid trail of drowsy kisses from your mouth and up your jaw as you spoke.

“Wha-what happened to breakfast?” Your question spilled out breathlessly from the way his mouth worked, a futile attempt at remaining coherent. Losing face now meant inflating his ego, especially if you proved his little “theory” a bit too quickly. 

“How about I eat you out first, then you let me fuck my cum down your throat later, yea?” 

His suggestive whisper sent a heavy wave of arousal straight to your heat. 

Fuck. 

Your bodies became a desperate tangle of limbs; your legs wrapped around his hips as you bucked up to grind against him, wanting—no, needing— him back inside you. Breakfast was definitely going to have to wait.

©️ blackreaderfics // credit to cafekitsune for the dividers

[silverskye13]

I am turning EB around in my head like a microwave and I have a couple questions:

What is EB and EX's relationship like? I know they view each other as family and EX gets EB's booth, but will we see how they interact more?

Did anyone wind up telling EB that hels!zedaph is dead? If not, does he have suspicions that he is?

and a more general Hels question (that is totally not related no siree) - what is the upkeep for the remembrance walls like?

EB and EX are on friendly terms! They previously saw each other,,, not as rivals in the traditional sense. They didn't openly attack or oppose each other. But EB viewed EX as a challenge: How do I stay distinct from my brother's shadow? Anyone looking for it would find it obvious. EB got Bigger and Louder whenever EX was around, and he used to be much bigger and much louder than he currently is. It's less that he was mean, and more that he was prideful. Becoming friends with Helsknight changed him for the better in that regard. Since he's mellowed out, he and his brother have become closer. They enjoy visiting with each other during Colosseum matches [EB will often stand with EX in the box and talk both before the events, and during intermission] and EX invites EB to a lot of parties, where they shit talk the guests together. We'll see them together once during RnS, but EB is a secondary character, and outside of the one appearance, I don't intend to have EX very involved in the story. He's kind of the unspoken god of the world: he gets a lot of mentions because he's very important to hels, but he's not very important to the plot lol.

Someone did wind up telling EB about hels!zedaph, though yes, he did suspect before he was told. EB hadn't gone looking for HZ for a reason. He didn't want to be the one to find out he was gone. If I can't see it, maybe its not really there.

And the Remembrance Wall Ramble got long so its under the cut!

[Hello future me cutting in here because I just realized you were probably talking about what individuals like EB would do to upkeep a name of a loved one. Mostly it involves regular visits. Keeping the stone clean, replacing it if it gets cracked, making sure it doesn't wear down. Nether bricks to me are a bit brittle, and the ones on the bottoms of the walls will crumble and break down over time. Most of the time, the Order of Remembrance is pretty good at getting them replaced, though they encourage individuals to do it themselves, to decorate the stones, paint or carve them, and overall keep the care personal. People will also sometimes leave gifts of food, flowers, and favored items at walls where loved ones names are kept. Walls are very colorful spots in hels, full of a lot of care.]

The Remembrance walls are, basically, graveyards. Alongside friends and family, who will make sure loved ones names are put down and remembered, the Order of Remembrance manages all Remembrance Walls in the city. We'll get into it a little in the upcoming chapters, but the Order of Remembrance church, and its knights, have a very active presence in hels. They are the cloaks seen most often roaming the streets, in twos and threes. They have regular routes they walk, with walls they are assigned to tend. They make sure the stones are stacked straight and don't fall, replace broken ones, and help people carve names. Many knights have prayer chants where they intentionally try to memorize every name on the wall. Their focus is on the idea that no helsmet is truly gone as long as some memory remains of them. They welcome helsmets approaching them with fond memories of loved ones, and will take testimony from people who know their time is coming. Their church is a glorified library and house of memorization. Part of their worship in remembrance of people is also in the remembrance of history, and they have at least one copy of every book, memoir, and journal in hels they can get their hands on. They have one private collection in the church, and one public library in hels, which they regularly update with copies of originals from the church library.

The only place outside the Order of Remembrance's domain is the shady side of town where Cleo's gangs keep the peace. For control reasons, Cleo doesn't like any opposing force on her claimed land, which includes Order of Remembrance knights. She does still have Remembrance Walls on her side of town, but they are up-kept by the people that live there as a community project. People get together once every few weeks, make food, talk about those that are gone, and make sure none of the stones are broken or stolen.

Erasing memory is a big taboo in hels, understandably. The universe is already cruel enough in taking people, and people, once taken, are woefully easy to forget [they were never meant to exist in the first place, after all]. On the sides of town where the Order of Remembrance upkeeps the walls, anyone caught stealing or destroying stones is tracked down by their paladins, and subjected to community service under close supervision. They're often roughed up in the process, but the paladins won't kill you for breaking a stone. Depending on whose stone you break, and how angry hels is that day, the same can't be said for anyone else who catches you. Repeat offenders, or people who destroy many stones at once with the express intent of erasing memory, are branded by the Order with a mark somewhere visible, normally on the hands. Anyone with that unlucky brand will see increased hostility from their peers, ostricization, lost of livelihood and home -- it's a great way to make everyone in hels hate you. Anyone on Cleo's side of town caught destroying a stone is hunted actively in the streets, and leaving her side of town will not save them. She offers high bounties for that kind of thing.

[daddy-dins-girl]

First Date: Frankie Morales

HAPPY FRANKIE FRIDAY Y'ALL!

Masterlist

AO3 link

Frankie Morales x f!Reader

Summary: Based on this tumblr Ask. A full one-shot based on a quick little headcanon drabble I wrote about what a first date with Frankie Morales might look like. There's a little of backstory for Reader because it's me and you know I just can't help myself.

Word Count: 5.2k

Warnings: 18+ MDNI. Fluff and smut (because we like to strike a delicate balance here). Porn with a sprinkle of plot (again, delicate balance). Cuteness overload during your date with Frankie (sign me up for this date please). Heavy makeout session. Mutual masturbation. Fooling around in the back of Frankie's truck because of uh... reasons. Read to find out! I think that's it for warnings. As far as my stuff goes I'd say this is pretty tame? lol. But if I missed anything lmk!

Notes: I hope there aren't any glaring mistakes here. If I find any I'll come back and edit. Tbh I wrote 99% of it on my phone because our wifi was down for THREE DAYS here (RIP me!). It finally came back this morning just in time for me to post this for Frankie Friday ❤️

You tap your phone’s screen to illuminate it and check the time for probably the fifteenth time in as many minutes to make sure you’re not running late yet as you stand over the bathroom counter putting the final touches on your appearance, wanting to look perfect for tonight. Nerves flutter in your tummy like butterflies and you have to constantly remind yourself to calm down, take it easy.

“It’s just Fish, nothing to get yourself all worked up about” Benny had offered earlier, unhelpfully.

Sure, to your cousins Benny and Will it was just their longtime friend and military buddy, but to you it was the very cute, though very shy, sweet guy that you had met for the first time only recently since you came to “temporarily” crash at your cousins place.

Temporarily had turned into three months far faster than you anticipated. You needed a fresh start, to get out of a not great situation and it was actually your Aunt who had suggested the move to you during your phone call to her on her birthday. Your mother had already been filling her ear with your personal drama it seemed and though she didn’t want to pry, she did want to help and she suggested getting away for even a couple of weeks, that her sons had lots of room at their place and would be happy to have you for a while. After a few phone calls with both Will and Benny they had settled any doubts you might’ve had and welcomed you with open arms when you showed up at their doorstep with little more than a single roller suitcase and a small potted plant under your arm. It was about all the possessions you had left after the less than amicable split with your ex that left you couch surfing at your friends for months before the transition to Will and Benny’s.

So now here you stand, in the bathroom of the guest bedroom you have been calling your own for three months, getting ready for a date with the painstakingly handsome pilot himself, Frankie ‘Catfish’ Morales.

You know how badly your cousins have been teasing you about the date, you can’t even begin to imagine the ribbing Frankie must have been taking from them since he’d asked you out last Sunday at a barbecue Will and Benny had been hosting and they’d somehow gotten wind of it. You’re surprised Frankie even kept the date, to be honest. Your cousins, you love them with all your heart, but they can be… a lot. You’re very glad Frankie didn’t back down to the pressure though. You’d seen him a fair bit in your few months here and have been dying for him to finally ask you out. You’d flirted enough and though he’d been quiet and shy in the beginning, the more you got to know each other, the more he seemed to come out of his shell around you.

So now here you were, moments before Frankie was due to show up at your door and you silently cursed yourself for not being as ready as you should be. You wanted to be ready and standing outside by now so that Will and Benny couldn’t get any more jabs in to poor sweet Frankie if he had to stand at the door waiting for you, but as you pull on the short, light denim jacket over your sundress you hear a bark of laughter from Benny and already you know you’re too late.

You quickly press some lip gloss on, run your hands through your hair to make sure it’s falling exactly how you want it to and then take a deep breath in the mirror and quickly scurry out of the bedroom to hopefully save the man that is standing outside on the porch.

“No keeping her out past curfew, no drinkin’ and drivin’, no crazy parties or gettin’ too handsy on the first date”

Benny is listing things off on his fingers to poor Frankie like he’s your father scalding your prom date and you can’t help but roll your eyes.

“Will, you said you’d both be nice” you complain out loud to the older of the two brothers. Will wasn’t much better, but sometimes talking to Benny was like talking to a toddler amped up on a pack of Skittles, there was no getting through when he got over excited about something.

The most ridiculous part about it was that you and Benny were about the same age so it was a little comical, though sweet in his own way, how he tried to ‘big brother’ you.

“Ah c’mon Ace, we were just joshin’ him a bit” Will replies, bright white smile gleaming at you with a hint of mischief dancing in his eyes.

Ace of course being the nickname they had stuck you with since you were old enough to remember. Any family event you’d ever attended whenever there was any sort of game or sport going on the two boys always ensured you were on their team, likely because you were the only one close in age to them but you liked to tell yourself that it was also because the three of you always had fun together. They have always been so competitive and any time they won (largely due to their own efforts) they were sure to tell everyone that it was all because of you, that you were ‘the ace up their sleeve’ even when you barely did anything. Hell most softball games you preferred to sit in the grass picking flowers while they ran circles around you like pro athletes, but it was sweet how they always made sure to include you and make you feel good about yourself.

“Well we agreed you two goons wouldn’t scare him away” you remind them with a playful roll of your eyes and a swat to Benny’s shoulder when you finally reach the doorway.

You can see Frankie’s appreciative gaze roam over you from head to toe and as he pulls his bottom lip between his teeth and nervously adjusts his ball cap you know he’s itching to say something to you but probably weighing the pros and cons in his head about the two extra sets of ears hearing what’s meant only for you and so you decide for him. You shove past your two cousins, quickly tell them you love them and not to wait up and push them far enough back in the house so you can slam the door shut, finally leaving you on the porch with just Frankie.

“Hi” you breathe out, a smile spreading across your lips. He looks casual but deliciously handsome in a pair of dark tan khaki pants and an untucked light blue button down with the sleeves rolled up, putting his tanned and muscular forearms on display. He still has his infamous Standard Oil hat on, hints of chocolate brown curls peeking out from underneath it. You don’t think you’ve actually ever seen him without it, come to think of it. You try to picture him without it and an image just doesn’t come.

“You look beautiful” he tells you, a hint of shyness in his tone and a blush rises in your cheeks that didn’t come from a makeup stick.

“Thank you. I’m sorry about tweedle-dee and tweedle-A-D-D in there” you joke, gesturing a thumb over your shoulder at your two cousins who are currently fighting each other over who gets to look through the small pane of glass next to the door to watch your interactions with Frankie on the front step.

“Unfortunately I’m very used to it” he quips, giving you a warm smile. “Shall we?” He asks, sweeping an arm out towards his truck idling at the curb and you nod your head and lead the way.

Before you reach the truck however Frankie jogs up behind you to brush past and ensures he reaches the passenger door handle before you do and opens it wide, offering you a hand to help you up and inside. You both decide to ignore the whooping yells and hands slamming on the glass next to the door at the top of the walkway behind you.

“Let’s get the hell out of here, shall we?” You offer once Frankie’s climbed into the driver's seat next to you and he chuckles but nods his head.

“With pleasure” he agrees and pulls the truck away from the curb.

You’re driving for nearly an hour. Frankie had apologized already on several occasions, admonishing himself for not preparing you beforehand to make sure you wouldn’t be too hungry when he picked you up. You tell him it's fine countless times but he still admits he should’ve discussed his plan with you ahead of time.

“Hey, if what you say is true and these really are the best tacos I’ve ever had, you’ll not only be forgiven but I’ll be glad I was ravenous by the time we get there” you tell him and finally he seems to accept it and offers you a small smile, hand going to the dial on the radio to turn the classic rock tunes up just a little bit for the last few minutes of your drive.

The drive is nice. The ocean follows along in your journey when you look out your window and the way the sun sits in the sky you know it’ll be threatening to set not long after you arrive at your destination. Truth be told you were a little nervous when you first started driving and Frankie mentioned how long the trip would be. You worried that you wouldn’t have much to chat about or that it might get awkward but it had been anything but. Besides Frankie’s little bouts of anxiety about whether or not he should’ve mentioned to you what time you’d actually be eating, everything was going better than you had expected. The conversation seemed to flow easily between the two of you. You had enough jumping off points, with both of you having more than your fair share of stories or anecdotes about Will and Benny. You shared stories of your youths while Frankie caught you up on some of the more recent goings-on with them that you hadn’t been privy to since, before recently, you obviously spent a lot less time with them in your adult years versus the childhood ones. Before long the conversations shifted more to yourselves and your own personal lives and before you knew it Frankie was pulling the truck into a crowded parking lot in front of the beach.

You make your way through the throngs of people on the boardwalk, Frankie’s warm hand on your lower back a steadying presence as he guides you through the crowds towards the brightly painted green and yellow food truck off in the not-too-far distance. Your mouth is watering already and you’re not sure whether it’s for the tacos or the man on your left with the broad shoulders and thick arms but a gentle, calming touch.

If you had to venture a guess, it would be for the latter.

Frankie, to his credit, was absolutely right about the tacos. You’re halfway through your third one when you finally tap out and call it quits, unable to possibly stomach another bite - despite how delicious they are.

“I can’t. I want to, but I can’t” you admit defeat to what’s left of your dinner, tossing your napkin on top of your paper plate and holding your hands up in surrender and the corner of Frankie’s mouth curls up into a smirk.

“They’re good right?” He grins at you from across the picnic table while he stuffs the last bite of his own into his mouth and you roll your eyes dramatically at how good in fact they were.

“They were amazing, seriously. Well worth the drive and the wait” you tell him sincerely and then before you can talk yourself out of it you reach across the table to place your hand on top of his and give a little squeeze with your fingers.

“Thank you for dinner. I’m um… really glad you asked me out tonight”

That confession earns you an ear to ear grin from Frankie who swallows down the last bit of his dinner and then turns his hand palm-up so he can hold your fingers in his grasp.

“Me too. But, the night’s not over” he offers with a playful quirk of his eyebrow.

“There’s more?” Your brow line lifts to your forehead. “I’m going to need a few minutes to digest first” you laugh, placing a hand over your stomach and Frankie chuckles but nods his head in agreement.

“Take all the time you need,” he tells you.

The sun is beginning its descent from the sky as you sit at the table a while longer, happily chatting about everything and nothing. You ask Frankie more about his young daughter and can’t help the smile that tugs at your lips the way his face lights up when he speaks about her or shows you his favourite pictures or videos of her on his phone.

With your food finally settled you’re back to wandering the boardwalk again with Frankie leading the way. He stops you at an ice cream truck and you groan at the idea of having to shove more food into your stomach but the childish grin and teasing nudge to your side with his elbow convinces you to take him up on his offer anyway and you ask for small scoop of the bright orange Tiger Stripe flavour in a dish while Frankie opts for a waffle cone of classic Mint Chocolate Chip.

With no small effort you manage to finish the sweet dessert and toss your garbage into a nearby receptacle and Frankie nudges your shoulder with his and gestures with an outstretched arm towards the beach.

“Wanna go walk it off?” He suggests and you give him an easy smile, more than excited about taking a romantic walk down the beach at sunset with him.

The warm sand squishes between your toes as you walk the length of the beach. Frankie had insisted on carrying your shoes for you when you opted to take them off; the strappy sandals hanging from the fingertips of his right hand while his left brushes experimentally against the back of your right and you turn your palm towards him and he wastes no time taking hold, your fingers interlacing. You smile and press a little closer into his shoulder.

“This is perfect” you sigh as soft waves lap at your feet and the sun bids it’s final adieu for the evening, disappearing just past the horizon on the other side of the ocean.

“So I did good?” Frankie smirks at you and you let out a little laugh, nodding your head.

“Ten out of ten would recommend” you answer without hesitation.

“Recommend to who? If you think I’m taking Benny on a date next you’re poorly mistaken” he jokes and it earns an outburst of laughter from you as you grab onto his forearm with your free hand and lean further in still.

“You guys could make a pretty cute couple” you tease and he rolls his eyes, shaking his head in laughter.

“Already got the prettiest Miller on my arm, thank you very much” he affirms and your giggles die down as the blush re-emerges and you turn your gaze down to the sand at your feet and squeeze his arm just a little tighter as a thank you to his easy compliment.

You walk a little while longer, your fingers still entwined and your free hand wrapped around his arm that’s holding your hand, snuggling as close as possible while you continue to chat and joke and tease each other.

Being with Frankie seems so easy. Normally you were so nervous during first dates and it’s been so long since you’ve actually been on one you could barely remember what it normally feels like but you’re certain it’s never felt like this. You felt comfortable. And maybe a lot of that had to do with the fact that you’ve already met with and hung out with him on numerous occasions now there was less to be nervous about. But you think it’s mostly him. He’s so easy going and calm to be around; he just puts you at ease with one upward curve of his lips or the way his soft brown gaze seemingly bores into your very soul with a single look.

Besides that, you knew he must be a pretty decent guy or Will and Benny would’ve had something (aside from friendly teasing) to say about it. They were the big brothers you never had growing up, always looking out for you until your lives took you all down very separate paths and if they trusted Frankie with you, you knew you were in good hands.

Hands that were currently, mind you, smoothing up and down your sides as Frankie pressed you into the passenger door of his pickup as you stood on the street outside your temporary home saying your goodnights.

“Kiss me” you breathe into the limited space between your two bodies that are thrumming with unspent energy.

Not bothering with a verbal response, Frankie closes the distance between you, his lips capturing yours finally for that first kiss you’ve been craving since he picked you up hours ago. He tastes like mint and chocolate, and although normally it would be one of the last options you go for at the ice cream shop, the way it tastes on Frankie’s tongue instantly makes it your new favourite.

The energy in the cab of his truck the whole ride back had been tangible, his right hand on your thigh, yours trying not to dig into the plush material of the seats as you tried to focus your mind on anything other than ordering him to pull the truck into park so you could crawl into his lap and thank him properly, the way you wanted to so badly.

“Hermosa,” Frankie groans, his mouth trailing now from your lips down your jaw and to the side of your throat as his hands grip your hips. The scruff of his beard brushes the delicate skin of your neck when he nuzzles further into you and heat instantly pools in the lower part of your belly, causing a little moan to slip out. You feel your breath quicken, heart rate speeding up to keep pace with Frankie’s that you can feel through your clothes with how closely he’s pressed against you. Your arms raise to wrap around his neck, hands playing with the soft curls at the back of his head, running your fingers through them (something you’d been dying to do since the first time you met him, if you’re being honest with yourself).

“Should’ve taken me back to yours” you whisper against his ear as he continues to nip, lick and kiss at your throat.

“Santi’s on my goddamn couch” he groans, annoyed.

You remembered, now that he’s said it. Santiago, another military buddy of your cousins that you’d met a few times and one of Frankie’s best friends, had been having problems with his girlfriend and a week ago she had actually kicked him out of their shared apartment and with you taking up residence in Will and Benny’s guest room, that left Frankie’s couch.

“Shit” you mutter. You don’t dare take him inside to your room. Though the house looks dark and the boys are probably asleep, that’s not something you’re going to chance. At least not on a first date. You don’t need their judgment, nor do you need Frankie holding anything back from you due to the unfortunate circumstances.

His mouth is back on yours, unable to stay away from it for long it seems. His tongue pushes inside and strokes alongside yours, causing a little shiver to run down your spine. He licks into your mouth, exploring every cavern and swallowing all your little whimpers and whines. Frankie was an amazing kisser. You can’t help but wonder how talented his tongue may be elsewhere; the thought alone sending a fresh wave of arousal through you and causing another moan to slip out which Frankie responds to with one of his own. His right hand leaves your hip and goes to your thigh next, gently raising your leg off the ground to wrap around him and a gasp escapes you when his hand slips under the hem of your dress and trails upwards towards your hip.

“Fuck, Frankie” you breathe, pulling back just enough so you can start peppering kisses to his strong jawline.

“Tell me to stop, fuck, you need to tell me stop” Frankie pleads. You can feel his obvious desire for you pressed into your stomach as his left hand moves down to grope your ass and pull you even closer against him.

“Mmm, don’t want to” you hum into his throat and he groans in desperation, rocking his hips into you and causing a delicious bit of friction where you need it most. Your whole body is tingling, feeling like you could combust at any moment. Your muscles are tense, hands fighting for purchase on any part of him they can grab onto, eager to keep him from convincing himself to pull away from you.

Just when you feel him begin to pull back you do the only thing that comes to mind and turn in his grasp and reach for the back passenger door of the crew cab, swinging it open and pulling him back towards you by the collar of his shirt.

“Fuck, Sweetheart” he stops dead in his tracks, feet outside on the ground still while your ass hits the back seat so you’re seated sideways on the seat, facing him.

“Look, I might not be up for Gentleman of the Year Award or anything, but I’m not… I can’t have our first time be in the back of my truck. You deserve so much better than that”

Your brain doesn’t miss how he says ‘first time’ like it implies that there will be more times, and god you hope there is. And while you don’t disagree with him that fucking in his car like teenagers isn’t maybe the most romantic way to do this, you still need something and you don’t want this night to be over yet.

“Just… come fool around with me a little bit” you shrug, coy little grin tugging at the corners of your lips and you see on his adorable face the moment his resolve crumbles. He’s hopping up into the truck in a flash, slamming the door shut behind him. He pushes you back onto the bench seat so you’re flat on your back and finally rips his hat off his head and tosses it carelessly somewhere to the floor and you’re in a fit of giggles at the playfulness of it all. The laughter dies on your lips however when he’s kneeled before your spread legs and drags your knees up to his hips and presses himself down on top of you, capturing your mouth in a heated kiss while his lower half grinds into yours.

“Is this OK?” He murmurs into the side of your face as his kisses trail towards your throat.

“Mmm hmm” you nod frantically. “More than OK” you promise.

He hums into your throat and brings his right hand to your breast, his large hand covering the mound and gently massaging the soft flesh, kneading and squeezing just right as your little moans and the way your back arches to push your chest further into his touch encourages him.

“Fuck,” he growls before shoving the front of your dress and cups of your bra down so he can get his mouth on bare skin.

He pulls away from your throat and shuffles down slightly, leaning down to swirl the tip of his tongue around the pert bud and then gently pull it into his mouth. He alternates between sucking it into his mouth and teasing with quick flicks of his tongue while nimble fingers pay the other equal attention and you writhe underneath him, grinding into his leg, desperate for any friction you can create.

“Perfect tits” he mumbles into your skin before his mouth switches sides. Your hands are in his hair, gently tugging and scratching over his scalp and the way he occasionally groans and grunts at your actions you know he likes it. You wish you weren’t shoved inside the back of his pickup right now. Oh the things you would let his mouth do to you if you weren’t…

After long minutes of attention spent on your breasts his mouth is finally back on yours. He moans into you when his tongue wraps around yours again and you decide to play a little dirty yourself and wrap your lips around his tongue and suck it into your mouth, just for a moment and then you release. You feel his hardened cock twitch against your hip when he grinds it into you.

“Tell me what you want, Baby” he asks between ragged breaths as his lips create a hot trail of open mouthed kisses down to your collarbone.

You decide to show him, rather than tell him, and reach for his right hand and bring it underneath your dress to the aching need between your thighs and he practically growls into your throat when he feels the damp spot that’s already formed on your panties.

“Oh my god” he groans, taking his first two fingers and rubbing your lower lips over the soft, soaked lace.

“Oh fuck, Frankie, you feel so good” you whine, not caring how wrecked you sound already.

His mouth covers yours again, his kiss hungry and needy as his fingers bravely dip under the waistline of your panties to finally touch your naked sex and push through the warm slick folds.

“Oh my god, make me come baby, please. Fuck.” You beg, your hands wrapping around his neck again and grabbing on for dear life. It’s been far too long and Frankie is quickly unraveling you into a mewling desperate mess.

“I’ve got you, Hermosa” Frankie promises, his breath hot against your ear now and you don’t doubt that he does. His skilled digits are already driving you crazy and he’s barely begun. Maybe it’s because it’s been a while, or maybe Frankie just really knows his way around a pussy.

He plunges two fingers inside of you and you cry out at the welcomed intrusion, whimpering into his shoulder at how he’s nearly got you undone already.

“God you feel fucking amazing” he groans into your heated flesh.

“Fuck Frankie, don’t stop, please” you whimper.

He doesn’t. His fingers continue their torturous assault, pumping in and out of you and occasionally coming out to rub tight little circles around your small bundle of nerves that causes your arm to shoot up in the air, palm of your hand pushing hard against the ceiling of the truck cab as your impending orgasm lingers threateningly.

“Let me touch you, please” you beg and Frankie growls in response before his free hand goes to his pants and nearly rips them open so he can push them down to his thighs and your hand immediately wraps around his throbbing length.

“Holy shit” you breathe. Your fingers failing to quite reach all the way around his impressive girth. He’s warm and heavy in your hand, precum steadily leaking from the head that you gather in your hand to use to coat down the rest of his length.

“Christ” Frankie grunts, unable to stop himself from thrusting his hips once to fuck into your hand. “Shit I’m sorry it’s um, been a while” he confesses shyly and you press a kiss to the corner of his mouth.

“For me too” you tell him, easing his nerves. “God Frankie, I’m so close”

With that he pulls his hand away from you for only a moment, bringing it to his mouth to wet his fingers with his tongue and then they’re back on your clit, experimenting between rubbing and circling and pressing and even lightly pinching until he finds out exactly what makes you squirm under him and he doubles his efforts, working you faster and faster with the pads of his fingertips until you’re coming hard and fast with his name on your lips as you rock into his hand to chase the pressure of his touch.

“Oh fuck, that’s it” Frankie groans into the hollow of your throat, his fingers sticky and slick with your release. “God you’re so beautiful” he praises, pressing kisses to every inch of flesh he can reach.

His fingers continue to languidly stroke through your folds, easing you down from your high while his own breathing picks up at your continued actions below; practiced strokes of your hand wrapped around him while your thumb occasionally ghosts over his slit, gathering the evidence of his arousal and smearing it all over the thick and sensitive head.

“Fuck, I’m close” he warns, eyes screwed shut in concentration, his forehead now resting against yours. “Fuck!” He curses again and then quickly sits up on his knees, causing your hand to fall away from him and he takes himself in hand to finish himself off, not wanting to make a mess all over you or your pretty dress. Not having much option he yanks his shirt up instead and coats his own stomach with white hot ropes of his release until he’s left heaving and panting on his knees before you, free hand clutched tight on your knee beside him, fingers digging in deep enough you think they’ll leave bruises.

You’ll wear them like a badge of honor.

“Shit,” he breathes and then huffs out a little laugh. His eyes dart around for a moment and then he reaches into the little pocket on the back of the front passengers seat and pulls out a somewhat squished little pack of wet wipes (one of the conveniences of having a small child you presume, always lots of supplies around that adults might not otherwise think of keeping handy) and grabs a couple sheets and wipes up the mess he made of himself before shoving the wipes back into the pocket. You’re staring up at him, tip of your pointer finger between your teeth and a coy grin playing on your lips.

That was by far the absolute hottest make out session you’d ever had. Where has Frankie Morales been all your life, and what had you done to deserve him now?

“Are you still OK? That was… OK?” He asks and it’s sweet how he doesn’t even know how badly he just rocked your whole world.

“Ten out of ten would recommend” you retort teasingly, lifting your foot to push gently at his hip and he rolls his eyes playfully and lands a little swat to your thigh.

“Smartass. Maybe I oughta trade you in for Benny after all” he quips. “Get a lot less lip I bet”

“Hmm, but probably a lot less tongue too” you tease right back and he groans as you yank him down on top of you by his collar once more.

You’re not quite finished with Frankie Morales just yet.

Taglist: @yorksgirl @chronically-ghosted @rav3n-pascal22 @suzdin @boliv-jenta @senaar-ika @nerdieforpedro @theywhowriteandknowthings @within-the-depths @axshadows @iamasaddie @macabremads @prolix-yuy @vickywallace @survivingandenduring

If you'd like to be added, lmk!

[tianasficrecs168]

Random Naruto fics

I've given up sorting through and grouping things together. It is what it is. Which is a bunch of random ships and fics in a mixer.

Anyway, here it is:

A black dot • means it’s a one-shot

Brackets (…) means it's still being updated/not done/WIP – and I'm paying close attention to it

(000) -> disappeared off the internet (don't worry I have a copy shh)

(Pairing/Pairing+) -> Time travel or dimension hopping – something along those lines

A heart ♡ means it's focused on Sexy times (it's pure filth PWP, or like, a plot focused on getting to the porn part lol)

xwannaflyx: “Saving the World (but Mostly Yourself)” (Gai/Kakashi+) part of a series, one of three Kakashi's plan to save the world is something vaguely involving exposing Danzo's involvement in everything and stalking Orochimaru to make sure he can keep an eye on any potentially apocalyptic projects. His plan did NOT involve becoming the student of Orochimaru. (Also his plan kinda sucks and Sasuke may have had a point when he said he didn't have a plan.) (Realistically he didn't have much of a plan and thank god for Tsunade because both Kakashi and Orochimaru are a hot mess)

TJ_Dragonblade: - “Delayed (or, Why Kakashi Is Never On Time)” (Gai/Kakashi) ♡  • The real reason Kakashi's always showing up late.

Thehoundisdead: “I Was Born to Press My Head Between Your Shoulder Blades” (Gai/Kakashi) • “Ugh,” Kakashi sighs loud before turning quick and sharp in Guy’s grasp so they face each other, only to absolutely slam his face against Guy’s chest. If Guy were a lesser man it might hurt, but as is, he just laughs at his Rival’s antics, even as said rival curls his fist tight on Guy’s bare waist, “I’m trying to sleep, be quiet.” “But Kakashi,” Guy actually whispers this time, jaw moving against the top of Kakashi’s head, “You are in my bed.” Or, 5 times Kakashi fell asleep on Guy and one time Guy understood.

Forgetme: “Phoenix” (Gai/Kakashi) • Kakashi comes back to life. It takes a while. (takes place after chapter 450)

Aventria, iluxia: - “Hiding in the Leaves” (...) (general) last update: 2023 In another life, Orochimaru never leaves Konoha, opting to remain within the village that equally reveres and reviles him. Fighting a bitter battle against forces within the village that are more influential and well-positioned, he finds himself gifted with one last shining opportunity: three children, a team of genin, handed to him because Konoha has no better choice. Orochimaru agrees to become a jounin-sensei for the first and the last time, taking on the next generation's Team Seven: Uchiha Sasuke, Nara Shikamaru, and Uzumaki Naruto.

Chrononautical: - “An Unexpected Homecoming” (Kakashi/Minato+) The Reaper dies and those who were sealed alive are released.

Tozette: “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” (Sasuke/Sakura) • Sasuke is actually eighteen the first time he looks at Sakura and realizes abruptly that he wants her.

Sunshine_sparrow: - “With Nothing On My Tongue” (...) (Kakashi/Naruto) last update: 2023 Naruto realizes the ability of the Kage Bunshin the night after being attacked by Mizuki. At first he just wants to use them to help him train; then the true usefulness of the jutsu begins to reveal itself. Featuring baby badasses, Tank Team Seven, snarky dogs, a special guest appearance by Kakashi's Guilt Complex, and many, many fix-it cliches.

Grilled Cheesby: - “The Jikan Phenomenon” (...) (Sasuke/Kakashi+)         last update: 2020 The Jikan Phenomenon is something that the Uchiha rarely talk about. The sharingan and it's capabilities when it comes to space and time are largely unexplored. The sharingan has many techniques that, with enough training, the wielder can control. The Jikan Phenomenon is not one of them. 

Chespin: - “The Cessation of Panic“ (Sakura/Sasuke) • "There's a thing called a hospital," she starts. "I recognize that Orochimaru was mean to you and probably never took you to one, but they're wonderful things. You should go there. Now." Or: Five times Sasuke shows up injured on Sakura's doorstep.

CherFleur: “Tsundoku” (...) (Kakashi/OC) *discontinued, rewrite in progress, also has some unconnected fics within the same fic universe Hatake Kakashi had a problem. Some would argue that he has many problems but while they may be right, he's perfectly content ignoring them. And denial. He's very good at denial. Well, this time, technically he had three genin-shaped problems, but right now his most troublesome - ah, he can practically feel the Nara cringing - problem is a student so covered in scented lotion, shampoo, and soap that she could qualify as an implement of torture. This needed a kunoichi's touch. Preferably one without a team of her own, definitely not someone who would traumatize them even more... Ah ha. He's a genius. Yes, Nagisa Asuka will be perfect. Hopefully, she won't stab him when he asks. People often try to stab him. He wonders why.

Araceil: "Accidental Providence" (...) (Naruto/Neji) (000) deleted fic, but I still have the google doc saved An AU where Naruto graduated the first time he was at the academy and ends up on Gai's team with TenTen and Neji (in cannon he failed to graduate 3 times I think, and then after that the Mizuki thing happened) *obviously since the fic was deleted, I don't have the official summary, so my own will have to do

Wolfy Tales: - “I Found You Missing” (Kakashi/Sakura) •  'They're asking us because these soldiers have absolutely no one left to write home to' Sakura thought with a frown. So she signs up for the Shinobi Letter Exchange, not realizing how large the consequences would be.

Mx. Irony: - “Curiosity and the Copycat” (...) (Kakashi/OC)  last update: 2020 Hatake Kakashi had a routine of sorts: train, complete missions, visit the Memorial, and read Icha Icha Paradise. Then that routine was interrupted by a nosy, overly friendly civilian. 

Applecrumbledore: “Awful Wonderful” (Gai/Kakashi) •  Gai spoke at the reception that followed Kakashi's inauguration. “My eternal rival—it has been one of the premiere joys of my life to watch you transform from the curious, brooding youth whom I admired into the intelligent, powerful and truly kind man who sits before me today, whom I am proud to respect and adore.” He raised his sake cup and it looked comically small in his big hands. “To our Rokudaime.” Adore. Kakashi turned the word over and over again in his head and tried to remember if Gai had said it before in all his flowery language about friendship. He couldn't.

Blackkat: - “Backslide” (Naruto/Kakashi+)  Naruto’s friends are gone, his lover is dying, Konoha is destroyed, and Madara’s second return has pushed the entire world to the brink. Hunted and harried, Naruto is sent back in time to upend Madara’s plan before it even starts, and sets about changing everything. Butterfly effect nothing: the world is at stake, and Naruto is hardly about to let it fall to ruin once more. Not while he’s still breathing.

Ideaoforder: - “Roots and Wings” (Kakashi/Iruka)  When Naruto is kidnapped from his orphanage at age three, Kakashi is so done with this shit. He gets Naruto back, tells the Hokage where to go (politely, because he isn't suicidal), and raises the boy himself. Or, you know, tries and is proud when there aren't too many explosions. Then everybody starts to copy him and it's a whole thing.

Flialinginlove: - “The Bingo Book” (Kakashi/Iruka)  Kakashi avoided relationships. He didn't want to put others in danger. So he couldn't understand why there was a face staring back at him, as a sub-entry to his own, in this Bingo Book. Umino Iruka (lover) the caption read. It didn't matter that it wasn't true. The Book was fact, and to Kakashi's enemies, Iruka had just become a weakness they could exploit.

Flialinginlove: “Interested” (Kakashi/Iruka) •  Iruka sees Kakashi without his mask and suddenly seems a lot more interested in him than he's ever been before.

Flialinginlove: “Catching Lightning in a Bottle” (Kakashi/Iruka)♡  Iruka gets a little more than he bargained for when he summons his first demon.

Flialinginlove: “Scent and Sensibility” (Kakashi/Iruka)  In a world where most people identify their mates by scent the first time they meet, Kakashi and Iruka take a more scenic route. Or, the one where Iruka does an excellent job of hiding the fact that he is an omega, right up until he gets stuck in a cave with Kakashi. (A/B/O dynamics but without mpreg, dub-con, and rivers of gushing fluids, also trying to avoid overly stereotyped gender roles.)

Flialinginlove: Maldoror_gw: - “Spring Fever” (Kakashi/Iruka) •  *this one doesn't have a summary. which irritates me. and I can't be bothered writing one for it, that's just insulting. read it if u want, I remember liking it

 

Flialinginlove: “The Perfect Trap” (Kakashi/Iruka) •  *this one doesn't have a summary either. why.

[glowyjellyfish]

I’m slowly inching my way forward in Rebirth, and I have to say I am actually really delighted with Cait Sith so far. It’s not like I know yet how he works in this canon, but still… lol I see you Reeve. “It feels good to do good”? Hanging his head in shame at the sight of the Avalanche wanted poster? Giving an impromptu lecture on the history of Corel Prison and lamenting that it’s not living up to its potential? I see you Reeve.

Also, Cait Sith is friggin adorable, singing a meow song to guests with his little Scottish voice and having to jump to reach elevator buttons.

Progressed a little further and OMG they showed us Reeve doing his thing. He appears to indeed be doing both genuinely joining Avalanche and spying for Shinra at the same time, if enjoying himself too much and showing too much of himself is anything to go by. Plus, Tseng is clearly aware of what he’s doing and went from him to Rufus to report on Aerith’s position… although it’s not clear yet whether anybody but Tseng knows this, and we DO know the Turks have some mixed feelings about lots of things, so it’ll be interesting to see where this goes. I’m pleased they managed to keep “Cait Sith invites himself to join the party” while also making it more plausible, ie he joined up by being aggressively helpful.

Also, everybody knows that Cait Sith is being controlled by somebody and is something resembling a robot, like without even questioning it. L O L. Of course, they lightly questioned him and he immediately jumped to I AM NOBODY IMPORTANT JUST A LOW LEVEL SHINRA EMPLOYEE WORKING A JOB DON’T WORRY ABOUT IT, so maybe they assumed he was an autonomous robot not unlike Chadley until that moment, who knows. The excess of magic and whimsy in Rebirth has made me realize that these people do indeed live in a world of magic that is sometimes very silly, they’re not gonna question the existence of a sentient magic cat robot person, it’ll only be a shock when they realize one of the Shinra directors was expressing himself by helping them and singing a silly meow song. And also reporting on their movement to Tseng, because if he doesn’t prove his loyalty to Rufus his job could be in danger. So what if he helps them a little too enthusiastically and has an absolute blast doing it?

(Hahahaaaaa my fanfic Reeve is much better at and more concerned with hiding this than canon Reeve, I can’t even tell if he’s actually hiding it from people who aren’t Tseng or not. He’s at least hiding it from his assistant, probably. Oh dear I knew I should have finished my fanfics before Rebirth, even though they aren’t supposed to be fully based on the remake trilogy I am definitely gonna feel obliged to do some rewrites.)

(It does please me to note that there is so far zero reason to see Cait Sith as a separate person from Reeve, very clearly he just basically is Reeve, and we were also shown that he was using his computer to photoshop the wanted posters at a time he also should be actively controlling Cait Sith. Yayyyyy headcanon accurate so far!)

It really does delight me that Reeve is having way too much fun doing this. Of course he is, the man’s horribly repressed.

And Cait Sith is indeed fun to play!

Look, there has been so much else incredibly good and fun and interesting about Rebirth, but Reeve is, still, my favorite, and he’s undoubtedly not as common to talk about as, say, Zack, so I am just gonna commit to being a person who just rambles about Reeve on tumblr periodically because I love him.

I’m just at the desert sidequests section after completing all the Good Saucer/Corel Prison plot—fantastic job with Barret’s character development, by the way—and I am so psyched for the 1000% more Reeve content this game is bestowing upon me. I’m just gonna state for the record real quick that as of right now, I think:

-he controls Cait Sith with his mind, with a magic ability, and Cait Sith is also largely a robot

-he is playing both sides, attempting to mitigate his guilt and the evil things Shinra does by helping Avalanche, while also passing information on them to Tseng (who passes it on to Rufus) probably to prove his loyalty and keep his position

-I haven’t totally decided whether this was all his own idea or if somebody told him to go spy on them, but he is clearly way too into the Join Avalanche part of the plan and is going above and beyond on his own initiative

-because we were directly shown Tseng’s involvement, if the Marlene kidnapping happens, I think it will 100% be something Tseng sets up as insurance. It wouldn’t be Reeve’s idea, not with how sympathetic he is towards Avalanche, and Tseng has some history there and knows where Marlene is and how much she means to them.

Okay, I suspect I started repeating myself at a few points in there so I’m gonna stop. Prepare yourselves for me to just lose my mind and ramble every time Cait Sith and/or Reeve do anything remotely important.

[eleni-cherie]

a thief's end ✨ || bts • myg - chapter 1.5

"so eager to be in a headlock again?"

"only if it's by you."

he thought he was done with the criminal life and ready for some peace and quiet. but his plans collapsed in the form of a strange girl who was in trouble. © 2023 | eleni_cherie

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masterlist: here

— genre: thief au, gangster comedy, adventure, romcom, humour, angst, fluff, sexual tensiON, slowburn, mutual pining, strangers to lovers s2l

ALTERNATIVE UNIVERSE. CHARACTERS NOT NECESSARILY LIKE THE REAL PERSONS. ALSO VERY UNREALISTIC PLOT LOL - JUST PRETEND READING A MANGA/COMIC OR WATCHING A FILM, REALLY.

SUGGESTIVE THEMES. MENTIONS OF VIOLENCE & BLOOD (BUT NOTHING TOO GRAPHIC, IT'S STILL A COMEDY!)

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Even if there hadn't been any surprise encounters again, Soyeon never allowed herselt to let her guard down and remained cautious ever since. Not wanting to walk into any anew unwelcome guests.

Fiddling for her keys in her pockets, she paused when seeing a particular key among them. Remembering how she'd found that golden key in a frame behind an old photo of her grandfather when visiting her grandmother a few days ago. Asking her for any stories or incidents about her late husband. A desperate attempt of Soyeon to gather any kind of clue or information about the man she thought she'd known only to turn out to be a mystery.

However, much to her dismay her initial assumption turned out correct. Her grandmother seemed to be completely clueless about her husband's secret life, just like the rest of the family. That or she was an excellent actress behind that friendly appearance.

Either way, Soyeon knew as much as she had before after the visit. Only that now she was in the possession of a golden key she didn't know what it unlocked or where its lock even was.

Shaking her head, she got rid of those thoughts when her phone began ringing, distracting her. However, she declined without looking who it was and unlocked the door to her apartment building. She'd check later for the caller because right now the only thing she wanted was to lay on her couch, watch shows and eat snacks on that friday evening. So when she heard the notification sound, her first reaction was annoyance followed by a sudden fear of something bad having happened.

After pressing the elevator button, she couldn't keep her curiosity at bay anymore and eventually took the device out. Indeed, two messages appearing on the phone screen. And all air got knocked off her lungs when seeing from who they were.

getaway driver (7:12pm): hope you're alright

getaway driver (7:12pm): please call me when you can

She had almost forgotten having saved him under that nickname, never bothering to change it. It was her little inside joke, only her knowing who that number belonged to. Her initial fear now being replaced by unexpected excitement.

She instantly dialed the number back. Pressing it against her ear with an irrationally fast beating heart until the dial tone was replaced with a familiar tender voice. A voice she hadn't expected to ever hear again.

"Hey, angel."

She swallowed. She had missed this sound, although it had only been two weeks.

"Yoongi," she breathed while entering the elevator. A smile automatically tugging on the corner of her lips when saying his name out loud. She was so overwhelmed that she almost didn't pay attention to the way he'd called her. And the memory of the first time he had done so still lingering in her mind. The night they had bid farewell to each other not having been to long ago and yet feeling like it.

However, she tried to act casual and not show how much it affected her. Wanting to ask him about the letter instead as she assumed that was the reason he'd called, when he spoke up instead.

"Are you on your way home?"

"Mhm, almost there."

"Alright, I'll be waiting then."

Soyeon blinked, confused. About to ask why he'd wait for her to arrive home, when the elevator doors opened at her floor. And the phone almost slipped from her hand.

There he was. 

Standing at her door, lowering his phone when spotting her. Ending the call and sliding it into his pocket while grinning in that adorable way

Her lips parted. Her mind had gone from excited screaming to complete silence by now. Unsure if her mind played tricks on her or it was indeed him in a loose fitted shirt with long dark waves framing his soft features. Just like she remembered him and yet so different. 

Soyeon began walking towards him with slow then faster becoming steps until eventually reaching him. It took everything she had not to throw her arms around him, so instead she quietly stared at him while unlocking her apartment door. And Yoongi held her steady gaze. His almond eyes smiling down at her.

She knew that if he had wanted to, he could've easily picked the lock and opened the door himself. But he didn't. Instead he'd given her the opportunity to decide whether she wanted to let him in or not.

"Nice bangs."

"Wanted to cover the scar."

He nodded, jaw clenching when remembering the cut on her forehead from weeks ago. He sighed then, looking away. "Soyeon, look I'm sorry fo-"

However, his words were cut short by her abrubt embrace. Pressing herself onto his chest, not having been able to contain herself after all.

He smelled just like she remembered. Of musky jasmin and fresh clothes. She had missed it. And she had missed the warmth of his body.

The man froze by the gesture, having expected yells, complains, anything but her fond hug. His tense muscles relaxing as he allowed himself to give into it. His own arms wandering up then and enguling her tightly. Having missed the way her smaller frame fit so perfectly in them.

"Sorry for randomly showing up like that," he whispered, finishing his apology after all. Voice muffled against her hair as he cradled her more. Feeling her head shaking in protest against his shoulder.

Soyeon took a step back then. Worried eyes looking up at him. She grabbed his wrist then, tugging him inside before closing the door behind her.

"W-what are you doing here? Are you an idiot?"

He couldn't help but chuckle at that, tucking a streak of hair behind her ear. His affectionate expression contrasting her concerned one.

"What if anyone sees you or-"

He grabbed her hand, gently dragging her further inside the apartment to the direction of where he assumed was the living room. Leading both of them to sit on the couch.

His eyes briefly wandered around the place. Immediately spotting the polaroid photo she'd taken of him back then in Taiwan on a pinboard among other photos. Sentimentness taking over him when reminiscing that moment. And the fact she'd kept it.

"Don't worry," he said then in an ensuring tone, glancing down at their intertwined hands. It was ridiculous how much he had missed holding her somehow always cold hands in his. "I don't think anyone saw me around town. I was disguised."

"Why did you leave Taiwan though? Interpol's after you, the italians are after you, these other guys are after you, everyone is after you.." The hint of a pout on her lips, which he found adorable.

"There's no reason for the italians and their friends to be after me right now. The invitation is for next friday. We still got a week."

She perked up at this, her breath hitching. "Wait, you mean you're accepting it? You're going?"

Yoongi took a deep breath, glancing at her briefly before nodding. "We are."

"W-what did it say? I.. I was too scared to open it." She swallowed, looking at him with inquiring eyes.

He knew he couldn't tell her, it'd only worry her more and she already felt enough guilt over everything else. He didn't want to worsen it.

"You know, the typical invitation stuff," he shrugged simply, keeping it vague, "We plan to settle things once and for all then and that's it."

"That's not fair," she countered with audible displease as she sensed him not being fully honest with her. "I should know what I got you into, shouldn't I?"

His grip around her hands tightened, making her look up at him.

"This has nothing to do with you, though. It was us who blew up the party and set interpol on them."

"But only because you helped me!" she choked out, adverting her gaze from him in anger.

"Soyeon, please, don't do this to yourself," Yoongi quietly said, "It was our decision. Remember we've been doing this kind of actions for a decade now. So stop beating yourself up."

She huffed a breath, nodding eventually. Not because her conscience agreed all of a sudden, but rather because they had spent enough time arguing about who was to blame.

"I'm just glad they weren't after you this time," he admitted quietly then, peeking at her, "They.. they didn't try anything on you, did they?"

His concern made her forget about her upsetness, a smile shaping on her lips. She shook her head 'no' then. "So is this why you came back to Seoul? To follow the invitation?"

"No, heading for it to Japan on monday, meeting Tae and Jimin there."

"Oh, then why did you -?"

"There was some other reasons."

Her eyes beamed with small hope that she tried downplaying. "Oh, is that so?"

"Yeah, got to settle a different matter.." he mumbled, his words followed by a sigh, "I need to pay my hometown a visit."

"Oh." Her gaze fell disappointedly to the ground. Of course, she should've known it wasn't for her. How silly. "Then why.. why are you wasting time here?"

He frowned. "I'm not wasting time. I wanted to make sure you're doing well before going."

Her eyes rested on their intertwined hands, her heart heavy when realisation hit her once again. Yeah, it made sense. Everything made sense. And yet, it hurt.

"You could've also just sent a letter or called me. It'd have been less risky for you than showing up here."

She was right, Yoongi knew that and yet he'd chosen this option. Because selfishly enough, he also wanted to see her again. Even if it was for one last time. Disconnecting himself for a week to meditate hadn't done anything, it'd only made it worse so perhaps this would finally help him to draw a line under his lingering feelings for her.

Although he wanted to tell her and under normal circumstances, he would have. He would've laid all his concerns, wishes and feelings out there as most of them involved her anyways. However, those weren't normal circumstances and if he said what he intended to say, he knew it'd affect them both even more. So instead, he pressed his lips together. Unable to utter a word although instead.

Seeing he wasn't able to respond, Soyeon huffed a sigh.

"You really meant it back then, huh." Her voice cracked at the end, a bitter smile on her lips when she pulled her hands away from him. Feeling embarrassed of her naive self getting ahead of herself. Believing he had returned for her, to tell her it had been a mistake cutting ties with her, that it was a mistake pushing her away, that perhaps they could try after all. How foolish of me, she thought and was about to stay up when his hand wrapped around her wrist and urged her to stay.

"I did, but you know exactly why. It's not 'cause I don't want to see you again, but -"

"But because you thought it'd be saver for me to continue my life as nothing's ever happened," she quietly finished for him to which he silently nodded.

Soyeon wasn't naive, she understood Yoongi's reasons, she truly did. And yet, she still refused to agree.

How was she supposed to just return to her life and pretend all this had never happened? How was she supposed to pretend that he had never happened?

She had tried, she had truly tried to get over it, to get over him, those past two weeks, but she'd failed. And perhaps no amount of time would ever be enough to succeed.

"Considering I thought I'd never see you again, I should thank you for stopping by," she said then with a rueful smile, glancing at him, "So thanks for letting me see you for one last time." This time he let her stay up. And Yoongi got the cue. Understanding it was time for him to leave.

He could tell how much she struggled to keep a straight face and act unaffected and he respected that. Pretending he wouldn't notice the storm in her dark eyes. So instead he swallowed the lump in his throat and placed one last kiss on her forehead.

"Goodbye, Soyeon."

"Goodbye, Yoongi."

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It was saturday and Soyeon hadn't planned to wake up early, hence why she didn't expect someone ringing at her door at eight in the morning. Weekends were strictly for sleeping to her. And she especially hadn't expected the guy who'd broken her heart just twelve hours ago to be the one standing on the other side of the door out of all people.

Rubbing her burning eyes, she had to blink twice to realise she wasn't hallucinating.

"Why are you waking me up so early?"

He unintentionally pouted at her whining. Enjoying seeing her grumpy morning self again, still remembering it with the tousled hair and a long baggy t-shirt she apparently always used as a night-shirt and not only when it was his.

"I'm here to apologise for yesterday, I.. I wasn't completely honest with you," Yoongi began cautiously, waiting for her reaction while nervously running his fingers through his hair. Watching her simply arching brow, indicating him she was all ears for whatever he was about to say, so he continued. "Obviously I didn't only come to check on you.. I also came 'cause I wanted to see you again. I missed you."

A dry laugh left her lips. Tiredness still clouding her mind due to not sleeping too well the previous night because of the man in front of her. So she'd lie if saying she didn't enjoy hearing this from him now. "I appreciate that," she nodded then with a lazy giggle, surpressing a yawn. "But couldn't you apologise at noon? It's so early, it's like midnight right now."

He smiled amused. "I didn't forget you aren't a morning person. But there's a reason."

"Which is?"

"I know I hurt you, though it never was my intention," he began then with furrowed brows, "So I thought of making it up to you by taking you on that trip to my hometown with me. If you want to, of course."

Her eyes widened, any trace of sleep having left her body by now. She had hoped for some kind of sign that her feelings were reciprocated. That they hadn't been naive and delusion after all. She certainly hadn't expected this though.

"You sure?" she smirked then, folding her arms as she straightened herself, "Aren't you afraid it might get too dangerous for me?"

He snorted, getting the hint laying in her sarcasm. "Don't make me second-guess it and change my mind," he countered, "It's only for a day, we'll be back in the evening so you should be fine."

She hummed, not able to contain another yawn. Covering her mouth with the back of her hand as she walked back inside. Waving for him to follow.

Perhaps it was due to being sleep-deprived, but she didn't see any reason not to accompany him. Spending a whole day with him after what felt like an eternity ago, sounded exciting. And seeing his hometown might give her the opportunity to get solve the mystery behind one of the men in her life at least.

"I need my coffee first though."

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Soyeon was standing in front of the black motorcircle with curious but also frantic eyes. Finally understanding why Yoongi had wanted her to wear her windbreaker jacket.

Her hand stretched to touch its shiny surface, only to quickly retreat again. Chewing on the inside of her cheek, she nervously looked over shoulder. Seeing him returning from inside the rental place with two helmets in his arm. Tossing one to her which she surprisingly managed catching in time.

He motioned with his chin to the bike then. "Hop on."

Her eyes widened in panic, facing at the vehicle again. "Y-you sure we can't just take the train or something?"

He frowned while pulling the helmet over his head. "Don't tell me you're scared." The amusement in his voice evident despite him stifling his laugh. Swinging his leg over the motorbike then, he took a seat and started the engine to let it warm up. 

"Scared? Me? No," she quickly answered. Too quickly. "I just didn't know you can also ride a bike."

He shrugged nonchalantly, watching her putting her own helmet on.. "I'm not doing it often, but it's the most practical right now."

"'Not often', great," she muttered and hesitatedly sat behind him. Afraid of doing something wrong. Her eyes glancing up at the cloudy sky. "What if it rains though?"

He laughed under his breath, kicking up the kickstand with his foot. "We won't melt.." His hands reached behind him then, searching for her wrists and placing her arms around his waist. "You need to hold on tight, got it?"

Her fingers clutched onto his biker jacket and he felt his heart melt at how frightened she was. Sensing her trembling touch when she pressed against his back, worried of falling out of her seat when he'd drive off.

"Ready?" he smiled and squeezed the clutch lever all the way to the grip. Hearing her hum behind him, only to immediately tense up as soon as he drove off. Arms tightening around his torso while the motorbike rushed down the streets towards the highway.

They left the busy city behind and headed south-east. Passing by forests and villages in the distance. Feeling the warm breeze brushing by as the green of the trees melted with the grey sky, passing by in a blur. She could get used to being so close to him. Letting him take her wherever he wanted to. Although her premonition turned correct after awhile of being on the road. Drops of rain beginning pouring from the sky at last. And yet, she didn't mind anymore. Her initial worries having been long forgotten at this point.

"Are you alright, angel?" he shouted over the motorcircle's roaring engine, passing by another vehicle. Soyeon nodded with a smile, when a sudden burst of confidence made one of her hands slowly let go of his jacket. Spreading her arm just for a moment before going back to holding onto him tightly.

He laughed. His chest vibrating above her grip. "Can you feel it?"

And it was her turn to laugh now.

She could feel it, indeed. All of it.

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next chapter: 1.6 here

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[beheworthy]

You know, I'm always in hater mode, so I thought I'd share something sweet about watching Thor movies in the theatre - I quite literally manifested my bestie watching Thor4 with me in the theatre when she lived 3000 KM away.

I've been watching first day first show of the movies Thor appears in since Avengers2 (2015). For Thor3 (2017) - my dad had been away on transfer for 3 years and I told him I want to watch it with him. The original plan was that he'd take off from work and get here but as it happened, he got transferred back here in July and we could easily watch it in November when it released. I believe I manifested him back to us.

He doesn't speak much English but he was explaining the plot to me mid-movie. And before he only knew Leo DiCaprio and Johnny Depp as Hollywood, now he also knows Hammer Guy.

Funnily enough, our showing got canceled for unexpected technical reasons - something that has never happened before or since. I think that was the universe trying to protect me like 'babygirl you are about to be handed your supervillain origin story' lol.

When Thor4 was announced in 2019, after screaming and crying and throwing up, I immediately texted my bestie who moved 3000 KM away from me that we watching this in the theatre. I don't care if she comes here or if I have to go there. For some reason, I kept thinking she would manifest here just like Dad did, even though there seemed to be no way for it. When the release date was postponed, I told her I didn't care how much it was delayed or postponed, she needs to be here. And she kept saying 'yeah sure' even though there was no way.

But, miraculously, she came to her friend's wedding here in February 2022. From there, she went to live with her relatives in the city. And then she shifted to a PG (paying guest) close by before finally coming to her own home in the city to oversee its renovation. It was not decided how long she'd stay. But it became clear she'd at least stay till the movie's release in July.

And so we watched it together. Just as I'd told her we would back in 2019 when the film was announced. Even that day, the tap of her mid-renovation bathroom broke, spilling water all over her. She had to fix it temporarily and get changed to reach the theatre. We barely made it,  the second the movie started.

After the movie, we went back to her home where poor she was doing regular chores while I was chewing her ear ranting.

My bestie's floormate in the PG she stayed in briefly was such a huge Chris fan she had his posters on the wall (when I say Indians love him). She was obviously planning to watch this movie with her girlfriends and asked my bestie to join. Bestie said, "It was decided that I'd watch it first day first show the day this movie was announced." And she goes, "I had no idea you were such a big fan of him as well!". Bestie was like, "You wouldn't believe!"

And then she went back 3000 KM away in late August. She literally was here for a few months to watch the movie with me!

So yeah, I've always manifested people back with Thor films and it's such a special experience outside of turning me into a supervillain. I know who I'm gonna watch Thor5 with as well.

[riddle-me-ri]

Please I need more Secret six Hatter smut please!! Like...what the reader takes his hat during their fun time. Placing it on their head as they praise him more.... Listen he's so small and cute i need more lol!

A/N: asdfggh more s6 hatter? Hatter?? Of course I'm absolutely delighted to oblige. I sorta changed the prompt a wee bit so that it'd be more in character and sorta drive a plot I had mulling in my head, so I hope you don't mind but Reader does get his hat in the end I promise lol also…I literally re-wrote this story like…three times and it still feels kinda meh to me, BUT I wanted to get it finished cause I was super excited for the prompt, so I hope you guys enjoy it!

Trigger Warning: explicit sexual content (gn intercourse), clothes kink? Jervis is turned on by you wearing his hat..so yes? , heavy touching, and making out.

Word Count: 2.7 k (...sorry)

Secret Six Mad Hatter x Reader - If The Hat Fits

The Six had an off day, sort of. A recon mission went south and now the team has to lay low for awhile at the hideout. 

Originally, the idea would make you cringe about staying weeks with this selfish, and reckless crowd…

Until you felt a hand pat your lower back. A familiar warm gloved hand. 

You looked down to see none other than Jervis carefully holding a teacup full of tea on its designated saucer. A wide cheeky grin worn proudly on his face.

"It appears we will be staying in for a bit." He smiled as you graciously took the cup like you always did. "However, I won't mind if it means being with you, I'll admit." 

You smiled back sweetly after you took a sip. It was just the way you liked it. As always. 

"I couldn't agree more, your company will definitely make it easier." 

Jervis rocked on his heels excitedly, giddy like a schoolboy. You wondered if he ever felt this excited during his actual schoolboy days. Judging by what you know, it was unlikely. 

"Oohh, my dear, I would be most gratuitous if you could visit my room! I must show you my new hats you see! But only you and me, just the two of us!" 

Of course, you couldn't say no…

~

You have managed slowly but surely to find yourself a welcomed guest to Jervis' never ending tea parties. There was always a seat for you and a fresh warm cup of team waiting for you. You engaged with him willingly, and with enthusiasm, unlike the others that just dealt with him out of necessity.

As you sat on the edge of Jervis' rickety twin mattress, you had another cup of tea, but this time accompanied by a small pastry. Again your favorite. Cheesy as it was, the fact he remembered such things made your heart flutter. 

Your smile widened and brightened with every new little piece of headgear he unveiled. Every now and then, he prompted you to try it on. His eyes seemed to twinkle and his smile turned into a giddy grin whenever you wore one of his hats. 

However, there was one piece that you were particularly interested in and it's the one he always wore. You always heard mutterings from him about how precious his hat was, how it was his true friend, his only friend.

Never in your life did you think you'd be envious of an accessory but here you are. It made sense, you knew the cause. All the more reason to tread lightly if you ever wish to bring it up.

"Thank you so much for inviting me, Jervis. I'm always excited to know what you're up to." You leaned in and gave him a small peck on his cheek. 

Small kisses were all you two have exchanged at this point. He'd sometimes kiss the back of your hand and as a sign of gratitude you'd kiss his cheek for something. The way his cheeks dusted pink and his Cheshire cat-like grin stretches from ear to ear, you've never seen a more adorable face.

Much like the one he has now as he chuckles softly. He takes a seat beside you and sips comfortably on his own tea as you two enjoy the comfortable silence.

Until a thought comes into your mind as you stole glances at his signature top hat.

"Hey, Jervis…may I ask you something? I've been kind of curious about it for a while…" 

"Hmm?" Immediately he perked up his head and his bright eyes twinkled as he listened earnestly. 

"Umm, you would…consider us friends right?" 

Jervis titled his head a little. "Why…yes…that would appear to be the case, yes." He nodded as he became satisfied with his own answer. 

You nodded, at least that was confirmed. "And what does…umm..what does your hat think? I know how much it means to you.."

Jervis' eyes widened, blinking, speechless. 

No one ever asked him about his hat, his friend, unless it's to explain why it's his friend. But to actually inquire how it feels? To, to recognize its importance to him?

Oh, but it's so fitting, he expects no less from you. You always understood. So kind, grateful, and charming in your special way. Of course you would be the first to ask, you were the first to actually treat him as more than just a teammate you had to learn to share a space with. 

"I-I'm sorry…I, maybe I shouldn't have asked."

Jervis was so lost in his thoughts he completely forgot your question at hand. He's quick to shake his head, set down his cup and rest his hands above yours on your lap. 

"Oh, no, no, not at all, at all. I was just…no one has ever asked that…let alone think to ask it! Oh, but you did! You did!" 

His hands squeezed yours in excitement. "As for your inquiry…" Jervis reached up and pinched the folded sides of his hat, almost as if to wake it up to give him a response. You barely noticed his rather large buck teeth slightly pinching in his lower lip. 

Jervis chortled slightly to himself before looking back up at you. “It-It…likes you,” he chuckled inwardly some more. “Yes, almost adoringly so, but that’s to be expected you know. You’ve always been so kind to me.” 

You don’t want to admit the weight that immediately lifted from your mind and chest. You were glad the ha-his friend recognized you and your efforts to getting closer to the team’s secret weapon wasn’t in vain.

You smiled gleeful at him. “I’m glad to hear that, relieved even…I’ll always be kind to you, Jervis.” 

Jervis gasped softly, he already knew this to be true, your actions spoke loudly and fondly in his memories. 

You were ecstatic with how things were going. Riding the wave of progress and positive confirmations, you decided to try your luck at your next thought. 

“Could, I perhaps, if…you and your hat are comfortable with it, of course. Umm, could I touch it…and try it on? I’ve always wondered…” 

Jervis grinned, kicking his feet that dangled off the bedside. “Curiouser and curiouser, you are, I see.” 

He reached up once more to touch his top hat. He rubbed the tip of his fingers along the edges of it, tapped along the tall sides. Once again, asking, coaxing it to make sure it was comfortable. Jervis gave you a smile as he promptly plucked the hat off his head and handed it to you gently, like an antique teapot. 

You were honestly shocked. 

Just as carefully as he handed it to you, you let it lay on the palm of your hands. No surprise that it smelled like Jervis, teabags and lingering flavored smoke of some kind. It was heavier than you thought, but perhaps it had to be sturdy from Jervis’ every day use. 

You gently caressed the sides with your fingers, enjoying this privilege you weren’t sure you were ever going to get. 

Finally, the moment of truth. You lifted up the headwear and placed it promptly on your head. Your scalp was instantly warm and you felt a little taller even while sitting. 

You supposed this must be what it’s like when partners wear each others clothes, it’s like a new level of intimacy and trust with that special someone. Your heart swelled that you were able to get this far with Jervis. 

“Well,” you chuckled. “How do I look?” You turned to face him. “Jervis?”

The man was absolutely speechless. His eyes were widened like saucers, he was breathing heavier than before, with his lower jaw hung open. Like he’d seen an apparition or some ethereal being. 

“Jervis?” You snapped your fingers. Motionless. 

He was looking at you, scarcely blinking, only when it was necessary. 

“Jervis? A-Are you okay?” You placed your hands on his shoulders and gave him a soft shake. 

The motion seemed to rattle his brain back to life, as he shook his head and finally gulped some air. He instantly grabbed your hands from off his shoulders and held them to his heart. You could practically feel it about to beat through his suit. 

“Oh, oh my, oh my, oh dear, oh dear…oh my dear, you-you look radiant! Marvelous! Stunning, even!” 

You could no longer tell if his heart was beating faster or if it was just him vibrating from every part of his body. He was practically enthralled with you, he began scooting closer to your side. Your face flushed as you two were arm to arm and your faces were centimeters apart. 

Well, everything else has been going way better than planned. 

You managed to free your hands from his clasp and framed his face. Jervis seemed to catch on because before you knew it your lips met his chapped ones. The kiss was only broken due to Jervis’ delightful chuckles causing your lips to tickle and for you to giggle. 

As you caught your breath, you thanked him for the opportunity and was about to return the hat to him, but he stopped you. 

“Will you, won’t you, will you, won’t you…kiss me once more?" 

Of course, you couldn't say no.

You passionately kissed him once more, determined to not get the excited giggles again. After a few minutes, you were able to gently slide your tongue into his mouth. You experimentally dragged your tongue along the bottom of his buck teeth, before diving in further to meet his own tongue. 

What was once a fit of the giggles were now stifled whimpers. Which shouldn’t have excited you as much as they did. You brought your hands down from his face and to his chest, you methodically began playing with the buttons on his green dress shirt. 

You pulled away slowly, you asked Jervis in a whisper, “is this all right, Jervis?”

Jervis nodded, enthusiastically. “Yes, yes, my dear! Please…please don’t stop…”

You wouldn’t dream of doing that. 

You got the rest of his buttons unbuttoned and almost instinctively Jervis shucked off his shirt and bowtie and quickly made work of his pants. You often admired how comfortable he was in his own skin to just bare it all without a second thought. 

As you began removing your clothes, there was a weight shift on your head. During the passionate moment you've almost completely forgotten his hat. 

You set it down on the bed gently so you can quickly discard your own clothes. When you look over your shoulder, you already see Jervis lying on the bed, with his head nestled in a pillow, waiting expectantly for you to join him. 

You pick up the hat that’s by your side, unsure what Jervis would want you to do with it. You decided to promptly put it back on, comfortably, like after just this past few minutes it’s a part of you like it’s a part of Jervis. 

As you slowly, seducingly crawled on top of Jervis, careful to keep the hat steady on your scalp. You noticed that familiar twinkle in his eyes, but it was brighter and bigger than usual. His smile was so wide it took up half of his face. His adorably scrunkly face that you loved. 

You snuggled your body closer to his, making yourself comfortable on top of his smaller physique without resting your whole weight. You leaned your lips into his and he returned the kiss fullheartedly. You also began lovingly caressing any and all skin on his body. Delicately, waking up gooseflesh all along his body. 

It didn’t take long for you to feel something pressed up hard against your groin. Jervis moaned instantly into your lips as you begin slowly pumping his cock. 

“P-P-Please…d-don’t tease me…I need you, please..” 

Of course, you couldn’t say no. 

After giving him a sweet confirmation kiss, you leaned over to the dresser that had some drawers open and some broken off it’s track. You took the chance on the high probablity that he had lube, which he had sure enough. 

You lifted off of him and rest your weight on your shins. You applied some to your fingers and lubricated your entrance and generously coated Jervis’ member. 

You balanced yourself just above his cock, your hand holding it making sure it makes it’s way into you. Slowly, you lowered yourself onto him. The intrusion was tight but you steadily got him all the way in. 

All the while ensuring the hat doesn’t fall off your head. You kept a hand on the hat, holding it steady as you let yourselves adjust to the new position. 

You let your hands rest of Jervis’ chest as you began lifting yourself off of him, leaving the head inside of you, before slowly falling back down onto him. As you fastened the pace, you tried to not think of how ridiculous you probably look with one hand on Jervis’ chest and another grasping the brim of his hat to keep it on. I guess that’s where the position got its name from. 

The growing delicious friction and the downright feral noises Jervis was producing had you panting and moaning his name. You gasped whenever he humped deeper into you every time you pushed yourself back down on him.

Your legs started tingling from the strain and growing tension of your nerves as your climax was growing closer and closer. Your entrance practically choked Jervis’ cock, causing him to toss his head back and his eyes to roll back. 

You leaned back while you continued to pump faster than before on top of him. You were panting, racing to to that point of ecstasy. You could Jervis was close as well. His cock twitched inside you and his groans turned into almost growls. 

Between your sweet gestures from earlier, topped off with you wearing his most precious possession and friend…it made sense that Jervis reached his peak first. The pressure of him cumming inside of you along with a final strong twitch, you were quick to ride the waves of your own climax. 

You body shuddered, limbs shaking with pleasing electricity as your nerves finally became unbound. Reluctantly, you propped yourself off of Jervis which caused you both to gasp from the loss connection. 

Before you rolled over to the opposite side of the bed that Jervis didn’t occupy, you gently placed his hat down on the nightstand beside him. 

You plopped down, breathing deeply, doing what you can to catch your breath and let your brain catch up to what just happened. 

Meanwhile, Jervis was in absolute bliss.

For the first time, he can say that not only did he enjoy the rush of the high but also equally appreciate the sweet serenity of the afterglow. 

From the amount of genuine affection you showed him with your kisses, words, and touches…All the while looking absolutely divine with his hat. Not once did he have to hypnotize you or anything, you meant every word and action…

You were like unlike any drug he’s ever had and more exciting than any high he’s even ridden. And he knows cause he has tried most of them. 

It makes Jervis chuckle to think about, but he has no doubt you’ve somehow hypnotized him. You have him wrapped around your finger. For the first time in his life, he didn’t just find a friend, but he found a romantic partner, something he doubted he’d truly find moreso than a friend. 

“My, my how the time has flown by,” Jervis sighed as he looked outside the window. Indeed it had already grown dark and the waxing moon was covered by some stray clouds. 

You giggled, before leaning the side of your face against his. “Time always flies when I’m with you, Jervis.” You kissed his red face that was slowly returning to it’s original color. 

Jervis chuckled gleefully. He truly thinks in that moment he could become addicted to your kisses if he wasn’t already. 

He looks into your eyes, his eyelids heavy as he started getting sleepy. “W-Will you…won’t you…” he yawned and you had to suppress a snicker. “Please…stay the night?”

Of course, you couldn’t say no.

[chayscribbles]

chayscribbles’ monthly writing update ☆ february 2024

yes, i know, february has an extra day this year, but i'm posting this today bc i won't have time tomorrow lol

☆ STATISTICS.

projects worked on: The Gemini Heist

proudest accomplishment: i... wrote?... i guess??? *can't remember a single thing i did this month for some reason*

books read: Witch King by Martha Wells. i'm ngl, i was lost like 80% of the time, but that might just be a skill issue on my part (it's the kind of book that throws you into the thick of it without holding your hand and listening to the audiobook with the attention span that i have was... probably not the wisest idea lol)

(alhough funnily enough, it's while having this audiobook on in the background that i came up with a lot of my plot thoughts for gemini heist LMAO. either that or while playing zelda.)

☆ GENERAL COMMENTS.

although i did get writing done this month, this update's gonna be short. i don't really have much to say lol

more specific wip-related comments + featured excerpt below.

☆ COMMENTS: THE GEMINI HEIST (draft 0.5)

it's very weird to not be using word count to track my progress anymore. freeing, but weird. i have no concept of how much i've actually done for this wip this month.

i do know i've figured out a bit more stuff about the heist and the lore. i had a big plot brainstorming session and untangled a few scenes. while i know what direction i want the story to head, i still don't know how any of this gets resolved, tho.

and i wrote out a few important scenes. that's progress, right?

☆ FEATURED EXCERPT.

i've been writing so chaotically out of order based on whatever scene i feel most inspired for in the moment that i,,, honestly can't remember what i've written this month vs what i had already written before 🥲 here's a scene that i THINK i wrote in february. Leo and Illiana might be my new favourite dynamic. (for context, Illiana is posing as her identical twin at a party, and Leo is posing as a guest. they came in separately.)

With the bodyguards tailing her the entire way, Illiana slowly made her way towards [Leo]. She tolerated a few brief exchanges with other guests she crossed paths with to appear natural, then, once she was close enough, she slipped the extra comm out of the pocket concealed in her skirt. She made a show of bending down to pick up something, then strode towards Leo. “Excuse me,” she said as she approached. “I believe you dropped your earring.” Leo turned to her, smile strained underneath her veil. “Oh, thank you,” she said, holding out her hand. Illiana placed the comm into her palm, taking care to hide it from the guards. As Leo angled her head away to slip it into her ear, she added, “I must say, your Holiness, this is quite a lovely party.” “Why, thank you, Miss…” She faltered, realizing she didn’t know Leo’s alias. “I’m sorry, I don’t believe I’m familiar with you.” “I’m a business leader from Tharekkan,” Leo said, pressing her palms together and giving Illiana a slight bow with her head. “It’s an honour to be here.” Illiana was surprised that Leo, with all her meticulous planning, didn’t have a fake name ready, and now she was curious. “How may I address you?” Leo’s already tense smile tightened even more. “‘Miss’ is fine,” she replied, practically through clenched teeth.  “No, I meant, your na—” “I’ve been told much about how lovely Fiolsby is, right before the winter,” Leo cut off, an unnatural segue back to the script they had practiced. “But I haven’t had the time to properly see the city.” Now Illiana just had to pry Leo's fake name out of her. “Really? That’s a shame. You know, the gardens offer a wonderful view of the city. Would you like to see, Miss…?” She let her sentence trail off, watching Leo expectantly. “If it’s not too much trouble, I would love that,” Leo replied, to Illiana’s annoyance.

☆ TAGLISTS. let me know if you want to be added/removed to any of them.

general taglist:

@dgwriteblr @the-orangeauthor @onomatopiya @quilloftheclouds @ashen-crest @writeblrfantasy @celestepens @stardustspiral @pepperdee @extra-magichours @avi-why @lefttigerobservation @chazzawrites @bardolatrycore @innocentlymacabre @subtlefires

gemini heist taglist:

@florraisons @akindofmagictoo @cream-and-tea @memento-morri-writes @antique-symbolism @rose-bookblood @afoolandathief @pepperdee @avi-why @zonnemaagd @chazzawrites @analogued @enchanted-lightning-aes @innocentlymacabre @kahvilahuhut @celestepens @cilly-the-writer @extra-magichours @onomatopiya @outpost51 @planets-and-prose

[tvuniverse]

Listen i just want to preface this by saying I don't even personally hate Tommy, but that's not really the point i want to make so here goes nothing.

The way a lot of people act as if it's impossible to dislike him because the characters have moved on so so should we, right? and that's the thing right here, as poc we're always being told to move on. We can't express our feelings, we can't hold grudges, we can't complain about issues without making it something more than it is, we always have to just... move on.

I know people are going to say it's just a show, it's not that serious, but the issues it touches on and the way fandom speaks on those issues are.

I've seen a lot of comparisons between Tommy and other mains, how each of them are flawed and have screwed up one way or another, and you're right, but it's still unfair to compare him to them. We've seen each of the main characters experience guilt, or be ashamed of their action, we've seen them apologise, put in the work to actually grow, and they have. There's not enough time in an episode for us to see that for side characters. In this case, Tommy didn't do any of the above and that's normal, he was a plot device to show some very real societal issues, and especially what people of colour/women might go through in the workplace, and once he served his purpose he didn't get much more beyond a few scenes where it seemed like everything was fine between him and chim/hen. It would be more appropriate to compare him to the buckley parents, (who appeared in more or less the same amount of episodes) like if people suddendly started saying no one is allowed to hate them because they got their redemption, their kids more or less forgave them, they more or less tried to be better parents. And yet it's still not enough for a lot of people, because how they treated their children, the shit they've said to them, hits a little too close to home for a lot of people and so no matter what the show says or does, they'll still be mostly hated by the audience, and that's more than okay. But if margaret buckley is your favourite character than by all means be my guest. And listen, i love this show, it's all about hope, and it means everyone gets a redemption arc, as short as it is (sometimes even just a sentence lol), but we won't always be satisfied with these arcs, especially if they don't feel proportional to the hurt the characters may have caused to our mains, so we'll all have different reactions to them.

I swear liking a morally ambiguous/grey character says absolutely nothing about you, but making excuses for them, antagonising people who might dislike them (for good reasons) or acting like suddenly triggers don't exist for people, does say something about you. One of my favourite characters is literally the worst person ever, an actual bigot, but i won't ever write essays about why people are not allowed to dislike him actually because he's my babygirl.. i very much understand why people would.

All of this to say, everyone will have different opinions about Tommy. Some might love him, some will be completely neutral or at worst slightly uncomfortable/bothered by him, and some will straight up hate him, and all of these are fine. Live and let live, love whoever you want to love, and hate whoever you want to hate, but please stop trying to dictate how others should feel, i'm begging. And this really does go both ways.

[mermaidsirennikita]

Recently read the wallflower series because I remembered you raving about it and I l loved it! Maybe not so much daisy but it wasn’t that bad. I somehow skipped over Annabelle’s book so I still have that but so far I think I liked the Again the Magic and It Happened One Autumn the best. wanted to know if you have any recs that matched the vibes of Aline and McKenna or Lillian and Westcliff

I'm glad you loved it! Minus Daisy lol. Honestly, I feel like a lot of people are a bit mid on her book. Me included. It's perfectly nice, but that's kind of just it... I wouldn't call the first three books in the series (four if you count Again the Magic) or the relationships perfectly nice.

Definitely reads Secrets of a Summer Night! It was honestly WAY better than I remembered when I revisited it recently. Simon's more on the McKenna side of Kleypas than the Matthew Swift side, if you catch my drift lol. And Annabelle is delightfully snobby.

So, I would definitely recommend checking out, as far as KLEYPAS books go:

Seduce Me at Sunrise. This is the second Hathaways book (and has guest appearances from Annabelle and Simon... the hero and heroine Do Things at their party... right in front of their damn salad...) and while the hero isn't an Industrialist Type, he is lower class than the heroine and they've known each other since childhood and been in love since they were teenagers, like Aline and McKenna.

Married by Morning. This is the fourth (?) Hathaways book, which I recommend on the Lillian/Westcliff side because Leo and Cat just go for each other's throats lol. You can even see it in Seduce a bit. He's not at all like Westcliff (if anything, he's more like Gideon) but the banter and heated sexual tension is right on the money.

Then Came You. This is older, and I call it "proto-Westcliff/Lillian" for a reason. Alex is a stiff, proper, and judgmental. Lily is wild, rebellious, and scandalous. They hate each other. In this case, he's also courting her sister and Lily is determined to make sure he doesn't marry her. So there's that!

And non-Lisa:

A Rogue by Any Other Name by Sarah MacLean is a good one for Again the Magic vibes. The hero and heroine were childhood friends, separated, and though it wasn't her fault, she's a key part of his revenge plot when he returns and so he forces her to marry him and kinda royally fucks up... which leads to a grovel, of course!

A Scoundrel of Her Own by Stacy Reid is another Again the Magic vibe. They knew each other as kids, she was rich and he was poor, they broke apart... Now, years later, her family is down on their luck and she's literally singing for their supper, and he's this wealthy success who sort of swoops in for partial revenge reasons.

The Duke Gets Even by Joanna Shupe for Westcliff and Lillian on steroids lol. One of my favorites of all time, the Duke of Lockwood is very proper in the streets and a freak in the sheets (for real) whereas Nellie is rebellious American new money and they try to one-up each other for like a year before finally hitting the mattress. Hard.

The Duke Gets Desperate by Diana Quincy. Another "uptight earl meets American woman who isn't impressed and they hate each other" book! In this case, the heroine also wants to monetize his ancient family home in order to offset the costs, lol. And he's HORRIFIED. It's so GAUCHE.

Wicked in His Arms by Stacy Reid. The one where he hates everything about her because she's flirty and a little unconventional! And he's stuffy and conventional! And so he has sex with her! Oops arrange the marriage!

[nientedal]

📓 !

📓 for explain the plot of a fanfiction that you haven't written but daydream about

Let's seeeee, I've done TBI Roxanne and musician Megamind...

How about one of the "Megamind's metabolism hates him" variants? I have at least 3 of these, but the other two are in various stages of being written.

The best-developed of the ones I haven't started writing is the one in which Roxanne comes back to visit after moving away because (1) she has been having incredibly bad dreams increasingly frequently and (2) brainbots??? keep showing up??? at her house??? despite her living on the west coast somewhere now.

Thing was, she got an offer for basically a dream job and had to pack up and BOUNCE and she didn't really have time to say goodbyes. Or-- okay, she DID, but she convinced herself not to, because the only way to do it would be to have Metro Man get her in contact with Megamind & Minion, and that felt...wildly presumptuous? Like, why would she think they would even care??? So she left a note taped to her balcony glass with her contact information, explaining things and saying hey, give me a call, here's how to reach me if you want to.

They never called. So, okay, ball was in their court and they didn't want to contact her. Fine.

Except then the dreams start, and they start getting more and more frequent-- Megamind is hurt or dying, or Minion is, or one of them is stuck somewhere and can't get out, or Roxanne is looking for them and can't find them, or or or or or. And THEN she starts getting brainbots on her doorstep??? And she has to figure out charging stations for them, which takes a minute and some help but she figures it out.

But they keep coming, and the dreams get worse, and so finally Roxanne is like, fuck it. Fine. They don't wanna hear from me but they're gonna, because I cannot fucking stand this.

So she goes back to Metro. Rents a car and drives back across the country with like nine brainbots who guide her all the way to Evil Lair...where she finds Minion. Or, Minion finds her standing outside the car trying to decide to do next. And that is where Roxanne finds out that they did not get her note at all, for some unknown reason, and they have been under the impression that she just up and left without even attempting to say goodbye. Minion has been trying to convince Megamind she did not do this specifically to get away from the two of them, but Megamind has not been convinced.

Which! Sucks! And Roxanne is horrified and feels awful, because she COULD have made time, she wanted to make time, she should have listened to her gut and just gotten in touch with them before she left. And hey what the fuck actually, what happened to the note?? I don't know if they ever do find out.

(There is an older version of this daydream in which Minion calls her, because the new resident of her place replaced the refrigerator and found the note under the old one, and was like "uhhhhhh" and had Metro Man pass it along. But this new way is ouchier, lol.)

Anyway. Minion does some quick thinking and is like Hey So Where Are You Staying? Just Kidding, It's Obviously Here With Us In Evil Lair, and he has the brainbots start putting together a guest room and bathroom on the north side of the lair facing the water. They work pretty quickly, he says, it'll be done by sunset. Come on to the kitchen and I'll start putting together lunch, we need to talk.

(They are talking and then Megamind buzzes Minion's communicator like "minion. why are the brainbots building what appear to be guest quarters. what is happening. what have you done." And Minion is like "We have a guest! Come to lunch, don't wear spikes." And Roxanne basically yanks Megamind into a hug, which he returns really really hard once he realizes what's happening, which is surprising to Roxanne but nobody else lmao.)

So this is a story in which Roxanne ends up spending a couple of weeks in Evil Lair, hanging out. She finds out Megamind has also been having similar symptoms to hers, but moreso, or at least they WERE moreso until he sort of cobbled together a treatment for what was happening-- which is that his metabolism sort of accidentally bonded itself to Roxanne. Whoops. And when she left, his systems crashed HARD. what throws him for a loop is that Roxanne really should not have been feeling any of the same way. So they get some medical whatnots and feelings happening there.

And this is me, so OF COURSE I am going to find a way to get them to sleep in the same bed. Roxanne wakes up a few nights into her stay and she's hungry, so she's like "I bet I can find my way to the kitchen from here," opens her door, and promptly trips over Megamind. Who was sleeping on the floor out there. Because anxiety is obnoxious and seldom rational, and Roxanne disappeared overnight once before, and...it's just...easier. To fall asleep. Outside her door, where he knows she is and won't vanish again.

Roxanne is like, yeah, that makes sense ("It DOESN'T" megamind grouses "it's VERY ANNOYING"), losing me basically triggered a medical emergency last time and it actually is totally reasonable that you'd be freaking out about that again. But the bed your bots brought me is a fucking king-sized expanse of mattress and blanket, so just...come sleep with me instead of lying on the fucking floor?? Hello???

Aaaaand there's a lot more that can happen in the time she spends there, swimming and new makeup looks and learning about the bots and how Evil Lair was constructed, blah blah, but in the end I think they agree to try dating long-distance? Megamind has the ability to build something that flies very quickly; he and sometimes Minion could easily spend the weekends with Roxanne and the weeks in Metro, or some similar arrangement. And so that is I think where that story wraps up :D

[systemic-dreams]

Karlach has a happy ending. Going to find a fix for her engine with her best friend(s)/potential lover? Fun. The epilogue party even mentions that they have a lead on a fix if she goes with Wyll. Just because it's not explicitly shown on screen in a 2 minute long cutscene doesn't mean she doesn't get to be happy.

lol, you went on anon to give me this milquetoast take?

I don't even know what you're responding to.

Maybe you should get together with some friends and play Dungeons and Dragons?

I recommend Descent into Avernus which is the campaign that canonically takes place before and leads into the events of Baldur's Gate 3. It features our favourite damsel in distress and Wizard of the Coast's favourite punching bag - Grand Duke Ulder Ravengard, aka Wyll's dad. With a guest appearance by the Archdevil Zariel, whose Evil Minion you can become. Get experience first hand of how not fun Hell can be for people like Karlach by enlisting in Zariel's army today! Well, not today, because the first leg of the campaign will take a few sessions.

Without getting into spoilers, I can tell you that some very interesting stuff happens in the lead up to bg3. None of it really makes me believe that Karlach is going to have 'fun' or 'be happy' during her time in Hell. But it will probably make for a good novel. Hopefully they don't kill her off.

Oh, and this ending you're talking about was only made available after Patch #5 (Nov 30th 2023). It was explicitly released in response to fandom complaints that there was no happy ending for Karlach so... I guess it worked? If randos are coming out of the woodwork to tell me she gets a happy ending. Though, I question the choice to send her back into Hell when you had the Gondians and the Ironhands who could make City Watch robots and blackpowder bombs. Could they not fix her engine maybe? With one of their engines. That seems like a plot hole.

If that's not an option, what about asking for Divine Intervention from one of the party's many Gods? Or, you could do Resurrection when Karlach does die since you get that spooky Thay Grimoire and unlock its secrets in Sorcerous Sundries. Or maybe you could do Reincarnation since we have twO druids in the party for some reason.

Polymorph? High level polymorph anyone?

You could go to Waterdeep and talk to the Wizards? Elminster could get off his lazy cheese-loving ass and do something? Like cast a Wish spell? How about an item that casts a Wish spell? You could go on a quest for that. Or, what if, get this, you could bargain with Raphael, for Karlach's freedom? 🙃I think I would actually give him the tadpole for that one.

Anyway, I still think there's no true happy ending yet but maybe they'll patch that in too. Act 3 needed a lot more polish imo. And I don't think anyone should be turned into a squid if they don't want to be.

[miss-bluerose]

TDI23 Season 2 ep 7 and 8 thoughts and theories. Spoilers ahead.

Ep 7: Put in teams by Chris, gather ingredients from a barge floating on the lake, choose a remote that could help you and/or hinder your opponents and bake a cake for the judges that looks like Chris. Fun episode and I enjoyed most of the references to movies and TV shows throughout the episode. Owen as the guest judge was great. That chicken cracking its eyes was hilarious.

- Cornucopia Bloodbath from The Hunger Games

- This is Sparta! from 300

- That escalated quickly from Anchorman

- Paint me like one of your French girls from Titanic

- Seductively shaping clay from Ghost

Ep 8: Carry a giant coin up a mountain, put it in a slot, enter the play area and gather the most points to win. The fish delivery lady was funny. This ep had its issues but I liked most of the references.

- Immitating the twins from The Shining

- Courtney

- Duncan

- Scary Girl and her jackhammer

- The Canadian Goose from last season

- Izzy

Owen:

He looks the exact same and thought that Cake Chef was the real Chef and had died 😂. Still goofy, friendly and obsessed with food but even he thought MK's cake tasted bad. I laughed when he ran away with Cake Chef.

Chris:

Sounds like he's still mad at MK about the hairdryer when he called her team greasy lol. I laughed at him talking about physical money as if it's extremely old, like prehistoric times old. I want to know which secret he stopped Zee from saying. Him pelting Priya with marshmallows was mean.

Chef:

It's sad that no one in universe thinks he can cook after all these years. Got calf implants for some reason and it looks kinda gross tbh.

Eliminated contestants:

16th: Lauren/Scary Girl - she's "shown up" in ep 4 and ep 8 so my theory that she's going to appear in ep 12 (fear challenge) is looking extremely likely at the moment.

15th: Chase

14th: Millie

13th: Emma

12th: Nichelle

11th: Bowie

10th/9th: Axel/Ripper - Both of their development came to a halt after they got together and it was annoying to watch them constantly make out so I'm not really sad to see them go. I did feel bad for him being upset about her leaving but I didn't expect him to just grab onto her like that. And Chris just decided to count it as a double elimination, wtf?

8th: Zee - Didn't do much in ep 7 tbh. I didn't enjoy watching him put his shorts in his mouth/being in his underwear for most of ep 8 but the squirrel was funny. He should have told Priya the truth when she talked to him before the challenge, that would have been the perfect opportunity. Spilled the beans about Caleb after he kissed Priya which was bad enough but then he kept talking and exposed a few secrets about the others. There is no way he should have been voted off over Caleb who is clearly the bigger threat in every way but because he still has a plot to be resolved he gets to stay. One of the most forced eliminations in the history of the entire show I swear to god. It should have been a tie in which Caleb would probably still win but at least he would have had to fight to stay in the game instead of just getting lucky with the voting. At the very least I hope the friendship between Zee and Priya isn't ruined for good, I liked seeing them talk to each other and stuff.

Merge

Priya:

She shouldn't have tried to use natural yeast, just let the cakes be flat. I'm not ok with 99% of PDA so I didn't enjoy watching her and Caleb try to kiss while people were around. They finally kiss and then she runs off crying after hearing what Zee said and doesn't talk for the rest of the episode. I don't want her to get back with Caleb even after the misunderstanding gets cleared up but I don't think that'll happen.

Caleb:

I don't like him and he should have been voted off instead of Zee no question about it. It's going to be annoying to watch him stick around.

Damien:

It's awesome to see that his confidence has grown and that he has found his footing in the game. The squirrel doing the finger guns back at him was cute. I can't believe he found the immunity idol by accident while the others were actually looking for it and he did the Family Guy knee gag 🤣. I hope it doesn't get stolen from him. It looks like he's still terrified of Scary Girl. Change your undies my guy. He'll probably comfort Priya in the next episode.

Raj:

It's lame that he and Wayne decided to work with Julia in the cooking challenge instead of against her. Hopefully that changes soon. Also seems to have lost some IQ points but not as bad as Wayne I think. I don't even want to bring up his secret 😨.

Wayne:

He seems to have gotten dumber at some point? It took forever for him to get to the pinball challenge and then he was knocked out of it right away. I don't know what to think of him.

Julia:

I laughed at her getting chest bumped by the hockey bros and the two of them slowing her down unintentionally. Of course she knows how to bake and mill raw ingredients, why am I not surprised? 🙄 She sicked Owen on MK and sounded upset about it enough that she's avoiding her at the start of the next ep. I didn't like her trying to pry the secret out of Zee. I'm not surprised that she stole from her own grandma. Her plot armor is ridiculous jfc.

MK:

I enjoyed her suffering in the cake challenge. I'm disappointed that her monstrous cake didn't come to life, could've been a funny reference to some SNL sketches. Isn't mad that Julia betrayed her in the cooking challenge apparently. Struggled to carry her coin up the mountain and then got crushed by it lol. She's a gamer and was able to figure out how to get more points quicker than the others. Bit Caleb's leg which was funny to me. Sleeps with a stuffed unicorn, awwww.

Five episodes left and I really hope Julia doesn't win. I procrastinated typing this because of the holidays and Zee's totally BS elimination but still got it done before 2024, woohoo!