#he may not have been leading her on but was sending strong mixed signals

[tangerinelabyrinth]

"The Doctor didn't treat Martha badly at all."

Right, What's all this then.

After kissing her (Which meant nothing) shows up to where she is and asks her if she wants to take a trip in the Tardis only to yell at her that's she's not replacing Rose shortly after she agrees.

Dismissive about her concerns about her race and traveling to the past.

Weirdly casual about sharing a bed then talks about Rose and how she would know what to say to him and do in this situation.

Takes her to the same places he took Rose. (This one's complicated too me but it obviously hurt her feelings, so we are putting it in here)

 When Martha was just happy to see him because they had been separated and he was like, "You can kiss me later" or something along those lines. (But absolutely zero mixed signals there.)

Says he is going to leave and comes back and let's not mention Picks up her underwear in her apartment (like why)

TAKES HER BACK TO 1913 AND HAS HER TAKE CARE OF HIM WHILE HES HUMAN AND FALLS IN LOVE WITH A WOMAN WHO IS RACIST TO HER!!! THEN INVITES THE SAME WOMAN TO TRAVEL WITH THEM!!!! And all she gets is a thanks.

Gets them stuck in 1969 and has her work in a shop to support him.

Finished explaining the perception filter and then ran back to add "It's like when you fancy someone, and they don't even know you exist."

Hinted at that he gets her the job at UNIT only to be upset when she works at UNIT. (This reasonably could be because she ended up more like a solider than he wanted but still)

It goes without saying that while all of this is happening, Martha continues to hustle through every episode she is in and saves not only The Doctor but the entire world! The Doctor is 100 percent fine with not reciprocating her feelings and is perfectly fine to still not be over Rose. That isn't the issue here; the problem is that he just treats Martha like she's nothing and it's a burden to travel with her (even though he asked her to travel with him and had multiple opportunities to leave if he wanted) after she constantly proves herself and saves him multiple times. Its infuriating to me and it makes me more upset when people don’t see how much differently she is treated than Rose and Donna and paint Martha as this aggressor who also plays a role and is responsible for how he treated her when that's not the case at all. I understand that a large part of Martha's story was that The Doctor didn't see her but why? And why is this used almost as an excuse for his behavior? 

I could more in depth, but I don't think I have the right words to properly articulate and describe all my feelings, but this is what I got.

[waitimcomingtoo]

Peter Parker Masterlist Continued

Into the Multiverse….

part two

You accidentally get sent to another dimension and need the help of a Peter variant

Pants on Fire

You bump into a Peter during a class field trip after Flash tells the class Peter is lying about your relationship

Toothpaste

Peter tries to get you to stop avoiding him after he overhears you telling Morgan that you like him

Just You and Me

Peter stays with you after you get hurt during a fight with the Green Goblin

Honey

Peter tells you about the memory spell and then finds you after it’s cast

Rogers: The Musical

Things get awkward when Rogers The Musical takes some creative liberties

Dos Oruguitas

Peter becomes a regular at your coffee shop and convinces himself you’re starting to remember him

No Other Shade Of Blue But You

Three years after the events of NWH, Peter moves in as your roommate with benefits. You’re ready for a relationship but he’s still traumatized

Colors

Part two

Deaf!peter Parker x popular reader

Sweet Escape

After being rescued from the red room, you try to adjust to a normal life as an ex-widow

Look After You

After Peter snaps at you, you feel like you can’t call him for help

Always Have and Never Hold

Black cat!reader

You forget Peter after the spell, but you don’t forget Spiderman

Tongue Tied - Series

a cover up lie leads the team to believe you and Peter are sleeping together

And I Would’ve Gotten Away With It Too

May always catches you and Peter in the act but you lie your way out of it. Or so you think

Malevolent As I’ve Ever Been

Venom!reader in scenes from no way home

Baby, Baby, Baby

Strong feelings come up when you and Peter get paired together to look after a robotic baby for your Sex Ed class

You Wear Those Shoes and I Will Wear That Dress

Peter accidentally kisses you goodbye and gets embarrassed

Daddy

Peter Parker x Hotchner!reader

Your dad, Aaron Hotchner, wants to meet your boyfriend Peter

Mommy?

Peter realizes he has a bit of a mommy kink

Without Love

Deaf!Peter Parker x reader

You contract hanahaki disease and have to stay away from Peter but you can’t tell him why

Stolen Moments

you reveal your secret relationship when Peter returns from a mission bruised and bloody

And Everything Just Stops

you go to Peters apartment for comfort after getting stood up on a date and more than one secret gets revealed

Come And Rest Your Bones With Me

Maximoff!Reader

Wanda and Tony play matchmaker for you and Peter

Her Perfumes Holding Me Ransom

You get a new perfume that makes Peter extra clingy

Beneath the Surface

During a pool party with the team, your bathing suit makes it hard for Peter to focus

Bleeding Love

You always patch Peter up despite your fear of blood

Hot In Here

You are Peter are on opposing sides at the battle at the airport

Haunted

You move into a new apartment and meet a strange new boy

You Belong With Me

Peter is used to you getting out at work so when a girl asks him out, he plays it up to make you jealous

I’ll See You When I Fall Asleep

When you get kidnapped on a mission, Peter is the only one who believes you’re in danger

Some Light Voyeurism

You’re mean and Peter likes that, so he stalks you while you’re on a date

A Sweet Boy Like Me

Peter accidentally gets hit with a truth serum on a mission and tells you more then he means to

Bitten

Vampire!peter Parker

You spend an evening with a vampire

Once More To See You

You search the multiverse in vain for Peter

Joke Me Something Awful Just Like Kisses On the Necks of Best Friends

Peter deals with the aftermath of kissing his best friend

The Great War

Peters double life causes serious strain on your relationship

Burnt Face and Second Base

Peter can’t stop hurting his crush

Question…?

Peter accidentally sends you mixed signals when he kisses you and then doesn’t show up for your date

This Ain’t a Scene, it’s a God Damn Arms Race

Peter picks up on the fact that you have a thing for his arms and uses it to his advantage

Kept Me Like A Secret When I Kept You Like An Oath

Peter Parker x stark!reader

Tony find out you and Peter have been dating behind his back and comes up with a lie to keep you apart

Your Pain Fits In the Palm of My Freezing Hand

When Peter learns you have healing powers, he starts faking injuries to come see you until he gets seriously injured

Daughters Will Love Like You Do

Peter Parker x stark!reader

Take A Hint

No matter how many times Peter tries to ask you out, you never take the hint

Bringing Sexy Back

Peter tries and fails to seduce you

Player

Peter comforts you after you get played

Interception

Peter worries you’ll kiss someone else at a kissing party

You Never Called It What It Was

You and Peter are friends with benefits who won’t admit you want more until Peter gets hurts on a mission

Dick’s

The only good part of your job at Dick’s sporting goods is how often Peter comes in to buy repairs for his suit

I Can See You

Happy Hogans daughter x reader

Happy forbids Peter from dating you, only making him want to do it

Rumor Has It

Peter heard a rumor that you’re pregnant

Wasn’t Me

Stark!reader

Vision catches you and Peter and you try to keep him from telling everyone that you’re dating

Two Normal Arms

When Peter breaks his arm and realizes you’re paying more attention to him, he drags it out

A Film By Peter Parker

Peter starts making videos again when you guys start hanging out

Wouldn’t It Be Nice

You think you’re pregnant and tell Peter

And I’ve Been Meaning To Tell You

You overhear Peter saying he doesn’t like you back so you go out with another guy, only to have him crash the date

How do I get you alone?

Part two

Stark!reader

You and Peter kiss during an earthquake

Just To Learn That You Never Cared

People think you and Peter are dating since you’re always sneaking off to do superhero stuff and you let them believe it

Smell Ya Later

You get a new body cream that attracts spiders, and someone else

The Script

You break up once you find out Peters secret and he tries to get you back

Meet Me Behind the Mall

You spend the day with peter after your friends ditch you

This Means War

Peter and his crush on you are threatened when your childhood friend Harley Keener comes to visit and clearly has feelings for you

The Way That You Were

Frat!Peter Parker

I’ll Cry If I Want To

Enemies to lovers

Peter attempts to cheer you up after your friends ditch you on your birthday

Uranus

You stay up to fix Peter’s science project while he’s on a date with another girl

Never Been Kissed - Series

Bad Romance - Series

Part Of Your World -series

hoax ~ series

[sugarcubetikki]

The Scarf - Mr. Pigeon 72 Endcard

@8unnix2​ pointed out the huge presence of the scarf in the endcard.

It's funny how they particularly featured Adrien wearing that scarf in most of the posters out of all the gazillion pictures they could have used. They pretty much threw it right in our faces. Foreshadowing? Symbolism?

I have an own idea of my own. It may be a bit of a stretch.

Umbrella Scene 2 created a turning point in terms of Marinette expressing herself.

It reflected her growing and becoming more direct with her feelings.

A big obstacle in previous episodes was her inability to express her feelings, she'd never be able to express her feelings clearly. She kept sending Adrien mixed messages throughout the seasons.

However, this scene presents her taking a step forward, and clearly expressing what she wants. Instead of creating a complicated scheme or doing something stupid like saying the opposite of what she actually wants like she would've done previously.

No complications. No schemes. She straight-up asks him whether he wants to walk home with her. And that's what drives their interaction in the scene.

That conveys a shift in status quo. It reflects her learning to express her feelings clearly.

Despite her still struggling, despite her stammering, she's taken a step forward to clearly express her feelings.

And that's important to note.

I want to go back to an essential scene in the NY special.

The one where Nino and Alya discuss why Adrien and Marinette can never get closer.

Nino: Yup. I love Adrien, but he's like a baby chick that's just started cracking out of his egg. He has a hard time understanding the signals people send him.

Alya: What signals? Marinette isn't exactly sending them clearly. I mean, look! What is she doing with her arms? Telling him what to do in case of an emergency landing or something?

Nino: If only this trip could help Adrien finally come out of his shell.

Alya: And if only it could help Marinette be more honest with herself and clearer about her feelings!

The two problems that Alya and Nino highlight here are:

Marinette being unclear about her feelings.

Adrien's difficulty in "cracking out of his shell".

These are the reasons every time why Marinette and Adrien can never seem to get closer.

Marinette keeps sending Adrien mixed signals and this poor oblivious boy who's been confined to his home his entire life faces difficulty in understanding her, he's not very good with social cues in the first place, she confuses him even more. That's what contributed to miscommunication/lack of communication between them.

NY didn't really resolve this problems. It's intention was never to resolve. It's intention was to address them and build on them but never to completely resolve them. As these issues have existed for a really long time, and it takes a lot more than one special to solve them. It's part of their character arcs.

However, for Obstacle Number 1, Mr. Pigeon 72 was the turning point. Umbrella Scene 2 depicted Marinette being able to clearly express herself and carry a conversation with Adrien. It reflected that Marinette's is the closest to overcome that obstacle than ever! Which is really really good.

What about Obstacle Number 2...

Adrien's difficulty in "cracking out of his shell".

The way I interpret this phrase is that Adrien really needs to open up to his surroundings more. He's been in his little reserved shell for too long, and therefore faces difficulty in opening up to who he really is.

This was even addressed in Lies. Adrien's many masks to conceal his "real self".

His model mask and his Chat Noir self.

These are all sides to Chat.

His model image is who is father wants him to be.

Him as Chat is who he wants to be.

But is it who he really is?

His model image is to be an image of perfection.

Him as Chat is meant to be his cheerful side.

But they conceal his insecurities, his awkwardness, his deeper feelings in most cases.

They conceal his trauma.

They conceal his desires.

They conceal how scared he actually is.

He maintains these images to everyone. He doesn't want to open up to who he really is. He doesn't want to show anyone that shy, awkward, broken boy. And that is reasonable. Because that's not something you want everyone to see. But Adrien masks himself to people who want to help him. He masks it completely. It's really important that Nino mentions him cracking out of his shell.

Because Nino is the first person who saw that awkward boy on their very first day.

He saw how bad he felt with the whole incident. He saw how bad he wanted to fix things with Marinette. He saw how much it hurt for him that he felt like he messed up on his first ever day of school, and how he was clueless with what to do, with how socially incapable he is.

Adrien doesn't how to present himself. He can't open up to his surroundings. He's wears too many masks because that's what he's used to, that's what he's comfortable with. He hasn't interacted with people enough to know that it's okay to open up and express some sides to yourself that you'd think people wouldn't like (screw Gabriel for raising him to be a perfect child).

Obstacle Number 2 hasn't had its turning point yet. It still exists. The reason why it's important that Adrien opens himself up more in terms of Adrienette development is to prevent miscommunication and misunderstandings between them. Things that have been happening for the past few seasons. They need to be able to interact and understand each other better.

Coming back to the actual reason I made this post: the scarf.

The reason why the scarf is such a strong symbol to the audience is because Adrien is oblivious that Marinette is the one who made the scarf.

His under the illusion that the scarf is from his father, not Marinette.

The scarf represents his obliviousness.

Firstly, that connects with him being unaware of Marinette's feelings, which is mainly reliant on her unclear form of expressing herself, but it also shows that they're more obstacles between them than what's in their control.

Secondly, the illusion that it's from his father does build on how eager Adrien is for his father's affection, and how much he wants to believe it. But he's oblivious to his father's true intentions with this mindset, he's chasing after something that's bound to break.

Thirdly, being under his father's arm, conveys him being in his shell. He has to live up to a perfect image. Restrict himself from the world. All whilst blindly believing in his father despite his intentions. It shows that Adrien can't carry on like this. He needs to break out of this shell. He can't be perfect anymore. He shouldn't restrict himself. And he shouldn't blindly believe someone who's doing something horrible.

The massive presence of the scarf in the endcard could foreshadow a similar/sibling scene to Umbrella Scene 2.

The scarf reveal.

It's really important as this happens because it destroys everything that prevented Adrien from opening up.

He's made aware of Marinette's intentions. Causing him to see her in a much brighter light. A different life. And he's drawn to open up with her even more. It pulls them closer. She did this to make him happy. And that'll strike a chord within him that'll make him want to open up with her.

But it'll also hurt Adrien. That illusion is broken. That illusion where he thought his father actually did something affectionate and nice for him once. He's been believing and treasuring that illusion since the very beginning. He can't trust it anymore. Hope for his father, the prime reason for him being in his shell, is going to crack a little, and so is his shell, and it'll make him want to strive out of it more.

If Umbrella Scene 2 fixed Obstacle Number 1 with a turning point of Marinette striving to clearly express herself, let loose and dance in the rain for Adrienette development and Marinette development.

A Scarf Reveal will fix Obstacle Number 2 leading to Adrien to open himself up more (especially with Marinette), try to become more aware of his surroundings instead of being trapped under illusions of oblivion. Paving way for another turning point in  the Adrienette dynamic and contributing to Adrien's character development.

It's a lovely win-win situation.

[moonflower-31]

I Won’t Forget You - Spencer Reid x Reader

Masterlist 

Part 4  

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Reader 

Warnings: Gun violence, child death, suicide, suffocation, cliffhanger

Tags: @dra-reid, @eevee0722, @ceeellewrites, @anotherr-fine-mess 

~~~~~~~~~ 

"Are you sure about this, (L/N)?" 

"Positive. It's all in the details. We needed to narrow down the suspects, and considering how this woman didn't just shoot these men, and the drugs aren't cheap, I had to make the connection." You insist, placing the map in front of Hotch and putting a finger on the highlighted neighborhood. Garcia had printed it out for you quickly so you could show Hotch and hopefully catch this bitch. 

"It matches the profile in that our unsub is still a medical worker, just in a place where schooling isn't required. Such as a long-term care facility or an urgent care." Spencer cut in, backing up your statement. 

Hotch sighed and looked from you to Spencer. "Alright, have Garcia run the profile by the urgent care near the neighborhood. See if it matches any of their employees. If we get any matches, we'll send out a few people to scout her house." He says, turning around and leaving the room as soon as he had walked in. 

Pretty soon afterwards, you were alone with Spencer again. Not that you didn't  to be.  

"That was good work." He spoke up, gathering the map and papers up from the table. "You wanna call Garcia or should I?" He adds after a moment. 

You keep your head down, afraid that if you look him in the eye he'd be able to see all of the covert thoughts you had about him. Even through the seriousness of this case, your mind wandered back to what had occured just days before. You were still unsure as to what he had meant by any of it. No matter how hard you tried to play it off as just an accidental touch, your heart wouldn't let you. 

You nervously pull a strand of loose hair behind your ear and chuckle to distract Spencer from your lack of looking him in the eye. "I-I can do it. Thanks for the coffee, by the way."

You might've been looking down, but you still caught the wide smile that Spencer flashed towards you. "Of course. You'll sleep when we get home though." He insists, playfully pointing at you. 

"I dunno, I might just live off coffee like my favorite Doctor." You tease, picking up your now cold coffee cup and taking a sip. 

You heard a few footsteps, but no reply. Which confused you. Until you turned your head and finally met Spencer’s eyes that stared intently into yours. 

"Oh, so I'm your favorite now? If I'm your favorite, you should listen to me." He says softly, standing so closely to you and giving you the most intense look with his brown, hazel eyes. You couldn't look into them, no matter how much you wanted to. 

It took you longer than expected to finally respond, but when you did you felt like a flopping fish out of water. "B-but w-what if I don't want to? What if… I prefer coffee to sleep?" He had you in his hands almost like putty. And you knew he could mold you any way he wanted. You just hoped he didn't know that. 

"You sure about that? Did you know that if a strong enough emotion is felt, your voice betrays you if you try to deny it?" You can feel your inner resolve crumbling. And he wasn't even doing anything! He was probably just trying to get you to take care of yourself. Which you should. But you just had to be a brat about it. "It's actually really interesting, we usually go for the facial expression one gives off, but most people can learn to fake an emotion through their face. But the voice…"

You can feel your heart pounding in your chest by now. You could feel his breathing against your neck. He was so damn close! And you had nowhere to run because of his damn legs. He'd catch you in an instant. You gulped and looked him back in the eyes. What were you doing? 

"The voice can't really be trained to not give away how a person feels. Especially when it's strong enough. Now tell me, when did you get the confidence in the last three minutes and 43 seconds to look me in the eye again?" He finally backed away, raising an eyebrow at you as you finally straightened your posture and tried to compose yourself. 

You stayed quiet however, unsure of whatever could be appropriate to respond with to that tone of voice. What was he doing? You wanted so bad to lean forward, take his soft, thick lips in yours and push him against the stale countertops inside the police station. 

"I-I… I gotta c-call Garcia. I'll let you know if we get any matches." You almost feel like kicking yourself as you back away from him and practically flee the room. This was getting to be too much. Were you reading too much into your and his interactions? Or was this really something that he wanted to try? 

You couldn't trust your own feelings anymore. So you did the next best thing: you called Garcia. You hoped that maybe you could chat a little more after you gave Garcia the addresses and the urgent care to go through. You had to talk to somebody and she was the only person that you had gotten the feeling that she wouldn't tease you for how you felt. 

"Hello my lovely! Decided to call me finally? What can I do for you my fine furry friend?" Garcia asks cheerfully. You couldn't help but smile at how happily she greeted you. And she had only just met you. 

"Yeah, sorry Penelope

Everyone else has been calling you for me. So now it's my turn." You tease. "Anyway, I thought maybe we were looking at the income of our unsub the wrong way." 

"Ooh, thinking outside the box, I likey. Whatcha got, Darling?" 

"The neighborhood I had you highlight, I want you to cross reference the residents with the people who work at the urgent care nearby. If any fit, run the profile by their employer. I think we may be able to catch this woman after all." 

"Oh I love the way you think. I'll get on that at godspeed my queen. Garcia out-" 

"Wait-!" You interject, sighing gently. 

"Oh? Can I help you with something else, your gorgeous highness?" Garcia asked, and you could hear the eyebrow wiggle. Guess that's what you got from hanging out with Gabriel too much. 

"Okay, uh, I gotta tell somebody about this before my mouth explodes all my secrets. You think you can keep it?" You ask nervously. You wanted to trust this woman so badly. You needed a girlfriend who didn't put you down for dating any guys. Or liking any for that matter, like Iris.

"Oh, some gossip! I will keep my lips sealed with superglue my lovely! Now tell me all the juicy details!" 

You giggle and look around, being sure no one but Garcia could hear you. "Okay… I don't know what the hell is going on with Reid but… I kinda like him. He's cute, I'll admit it. I used to do some hacking and I found pictures of him. He was my celebrity crush. But make it FBI." You ranted. "And now I'm getting mixed signals from him. Like just a couple days ago, his hand like--brushed against my hip as I went to try and help him with the geographical profile, and he was so damn close!" You hiss into the phone. "A-and today? He got super close again. And he practically had me trapped. But other than that, I don't get any other signs that maybe he might like me. Even if he's just attracted to me. So you can understand my dilemma." You sigh, leaning against the wall. 

Garcia was quiet for a few moments, making you worried that she was going to judge you or put you down for being so stupid. Then you had to pull the phone away from your ear for a few seconds as Garcia squealed. 

"Oh my god I knew it! You two totally hit it off when you came in here for your first day!  I knew there was something there! It's totally okay to feel like that. I don't know what you see in that boy, but go after him like the queen you are." She insists. 

"Heh, I dunno if I'll do anything yet. I want to see if things go anywhere first. Even if he just wants to be friends. I just want to be sure I'm not adding another embarrassing memory that I will never forget. But thanks Garcia."

"Of course my sweetness. That's what I'm here for. Other than being the techie for the FBI." She says sweetly. 

"I gotta go, let me know if there are any matches." You finally lead off. 

"Of course! Wait, hold on," 

"What is it?" 

"You'd think the search would massively decrease the amount of suspects, right? Well all of the suspect-women in this neighborhood, are working at this urgent care. It's like single mom central." Garcia answered, typing away on her computer. 

"That's alright, thanks Garcia. Run that by the employer with the new list of names anyway, see if he'll give any of them up." You say. 

"Will do. Talk soon!" 

You can't help but smile to yourself as she hangs up. She really was untameable. Not that you would want to. 

You turn your head and begin to head down the station hallway as you see Reid race out of the room with the evidence. 

"He-hey! What's going on?" You ask in a mild panic. 

"We have a witness, the unsub tried to kill again." 

○●♡●○

"Any information at all would help, Mr.Greeley." You assure, sitting in front of the man in the chair with his head laid against the table. 

"I want my wife. I want my son." He says in a hiccuped tone. 

"I know, sir. But if you can give us any distinguishing features it can help us narrow down our suspects to find her." You assure again, laying a gentle hand on his. 

"Are they on their way?" He asks, looking at you with sore, red eyes. 

"Yes sir. We've called some of the nearby officers to come bring them. Alright?"

The door to the room opens and you both look up, seeing Prentiss join the two of you. "Everything okay?" She asks. 

"Yeah, he's just shaken up. Who wouldn't be?" You say, sighing. "Darren, would you be up to having a sketch artist come in here? If you don't feel up to sharing what she looked like that's fine." You turn and ask the newest almost-victim. 

"No it… I can give you a few things. She… she had dirty blond hair. It was… messy. Her skin was pale, her fingers were calloused. A-and… her eyes were brown. Oh god her eyes…" he whispered, running a hand through his hair. 

"I'm deeply sorry this happened to you. This information will greatly help the investigation. We will find this woman. Do you still feel okay with the sketch artist coming in?" Emily asked, gesturing towards the door. Silently, the man nodded. You stood up and nodded to Emily, leaving the room to bring the news to everyone else. 

"Did he see her?" Morgan asks, walking up to you from the semi-circle the team had formed near the room you had been talking with the victim. 

"Yeah. Got a good look at her too. Apparently she missed his blood entirely and poured the drugs onto her shirt instead of injecting him with it. So when she pushed him to the ground he got to see her eyes. Garcia's working on faxing us the photos now, see if the sketch will match anything." You nod to him, noticing the fax machine beginning to run. 

Once the photos were faxed, you carried them over to the desk Reid was currently leaning against. You dropped them onto the surface and sighed. "About 23 women, and one description that is super common. How fast do you think we'll get stuck?" You ask him, giving Spencer a teasing look. 

"I doubt we will. Once we narrow these women down to what he saw, we can show them in a line-up fashion. See which one sparks a memory." Reid assures, looking down at the photos and closing the file in his hands. 

"I cannot imagine being this woman and thinking that I should kill these men because they just became fathers. I mean, I can understand her not wanting other women to have to deal with becoming single mothers because their partners decide to skedaddle. But still, give him a chance first." You rant, beginning to sort through the photos by whether or not the suspects fit the description. 

"True. However in her state of mind she probably views all men the same. That they'll all eventually leave her. Maybe her father left too." Spencer suggests, taking a few photos and sorting them with you once he noticed the pattern. 

"That could be true. But I guess we won't know until we get a match-" you sigh. 

Emily hurried out of the interview room and carried a sketch pad with her. "Here," she says, placing the drawing paper in front of you. "Do any of the suspects look like her?" 

You push the unlikely suspects pile of photos away, about to find Emily her answer, when Spencer spoke up for you. 

"Yes, she was one of the first women you sorted." He says, flipping through the pile faster than you ever could and pulling out a photo. "Here, this is her." He says. 

"Let's get this photo back to Garcia, see if she can get us a name." You cut in, standing up and picking up the forgotten pictures. Emily nods to you and heads off to fax the photo back to Garcia. 

○●♡●○

"What do you got, baby girl?" 

"We got a name, Kathy Burgess. She's a single mother, recently gave birth to her son Jason about 7 months ago and--oh my god…" Garcia trails. 

"What is it Garcia?" You ask, hurrying your feet towards the SUV's. She hadn't given you all an address yet, but it wasn't too late not to get ready to head out. 

"Her husband was killed in Afghanistan 3 months ago after being deployed the week before her son was born. He had left them for another woman, who ended up getting pregnant." Garcia answered. 

"Do you have an address Garcia?" Hotch asked. 

"Y-yes, 176 Washington Blvd." 

"Let's go." Hotch announces, pulling out his radio and letting the rest of the team and police know. 

○●♡●○ 

You pulled into the road followed by a SWAT van, unknowing what was going to meet you behind this woman's door. You all piled out of the SUV's and headed towards the building. 

"Is she here? Do we know for sure?" You ask, unholstering your gun and making sure it was loaded. 

"She has to be. She has nowhere else to hide. Neighbors reported her coming home about 30 minutes ago." Hotch answered, beginning to fasten on his bullet proof vest. "I need Morgan and Reid to head in first, try and see if you can get the child out first." 

"Wait, Hotch," you begin. 

"What is it?" 

"Kathy has been killing men because she doesn't trust them. So I don't think she's going to listen to Morgan or Reid. Why don't I go in? Try to negotiate with her. It'll get us more time to find a clear shot of her if she decides to retaliate." You reason. 

"I don't know (L/N). You haven't gotten much experience with negotiating yet." 

"Which is why I should start now. I… I may not know what it's like to have a child and then have the father walk away on me, but I know what it's like to feel abandoned and unwanted." You plead. Reid looks at Hotch hesitantly, turning his attention to you after a moment. 

"She is right, Hotch. She's not gonna get any experience unless we let her." Morgan encourages. 

"Alright. Keep her occupied. Try to negotiate with her. After five minutes, we'll head in after you." 

You nod to Hotch and immediately grab a bullet proof vest, fastening it around your button down shirt you had packed and worn today. It was getting later and later, the sun was about a half hour from setting. You didn't have much time to get her out of there before light was a problem. 

You then headed into the building, easing the burgundy wooden door open as you stalked inside. You aimed your pistol in each direction you looked. This building was a two story. You didn't know the layout, so you had to make it up as you went. 

Once the lower level was cleared, you headed up the stairs, pushing open the door to the master bedroom and the bathroom before you found yourself in front of the only other room upstairs. You sighed and eased the door open. 

Immediately Kathy turned around, clutching a bundle of blankets to her chest while clutching a gun in her other hand. "Don't get any fucking closer! I-i'll shoot him!" She threatened, aiming her gun at the small child in her hands. 

"Ma'am, put the gun down, I just want to talk." You say, holding your hands up. "I'm just going to put my gun away, alright?" You cautiously alert her, putting the gun into your holster again. Pretty soon the gun in Kathy's hand gets trained on you. 

"Leave us alone-I just wanted to save other women from this fate-!" Kathy says shakily, the gun in her hand wavering it's aim. 

"I know, Kathy. What your husband did to you was unfair. But what you did to those women and their husbands is worse. Those men didn't want to leave their children." 

"They would've! All men do it! Harris did! My father! My brother! Every man I've ever known has walked out on me! How would I have known that they wouldn't walk out on them too?!" Kathy screeches, tears building up in her eyes. 

"Kathy, there are plenty of men in the world who would never walk out on a partner or their baby. You can't stereotype them all to be the same. Put the gun down, and I'll get you and your son some help." You assure, taking a step forward. You heard the stairs creaking behind you. You were too late. 

"Who is that?!" Kathy asks, waving the gun towards you more threateningly. 

"Don't worry about them, just focus on me." 

"No! They're all men! All men lie! All men leave! My son's left me too!" She wailed, clutching at the baby in her arms. 

You widen your eyes at her confession, becoming too stunned to listen for Hotch. "Kathy… what did you do?" You ask.

"Kathy Burgess, put the gun down and come with us quietly. We don't want any harm." Hotch called to her. You widen your eyes farther. You had her so close why did they have to come in now- 

"No! All you men do is lie! Lie lie lie!" Kathy ranted, hitting the barrel of the gun against her head. "But I won't let you win again." She says darkly. You begin to jump into action, but it was too late. 

As soon as you took another step, Kathy trained the gun onto herself and shot through her chin, splattering blood against the wall. You race over and catch her falling child before it can hit the ground, slamming your own chest in the process. 

You stand up, holding the child, but feel an absence of warmth. You furrow your brow, a pit of worry in your chest beginning to grow heavier as each of the signs come together. 

You feel a crack form in your heart as you clutch the tiny, blue-faced child in your arms. Tears form in the corners of your eyes. If only you had gotten here sooner. The body was still a bit warm. Meaning she had suffocated him recently. If only you had reached her and convinced her to put him down. 

"(L/N), (L/N) is something wrong with-" you hear Reid begin, causing the hurt in your chest to magnify. You feel your lip tremble as you push past the genius and carry the child down the stairs, never letting go of his tiny body. 

Reid must've taken the hint, as you heard him tell Hotch as you took the stairs to the bottom floor. You had seen your brother in this child. His little curly tuff of hair was something you had only seen in your younger brother. This was too personal. It was like holding a dead version of him in your arms. 

You carried the child out of the house, closing your eyes tightly as the paramedics, who had been called, tried to approach you and take the child. 

"Ma'am, ma'am we have to take him-" the paramedic began to explain, depleting the amount of control you cared to have over your response in an instant. 

"There's no point, she suffocated him at least 5 minutes before I got to her." You answered, snapping just a tad. 

The woman in front of you sighed, directing the rest of her team to head inside. "Ma'am, I'll take it from here." She says, gesturing for you to give her the child. If you were in your normal state of mind, you'd do it no questions asked. But this was different. You held the body even closer to your chest, trying not to cry in front of this woman. 

"(L/N)..." it was Reid. How the hell was he upstairs and then back down to deal with your bullshit? The person you expected to come check on you had been Prentiss. Or JJ of all people. At the sound of Reid's voice, your resolve completely crumbled, and you handed the child to the paramedic. 

"Based on the warmth of the skin and the blueness of the face, he died at least ten minutes before we got here." Spencer started, looking at the back of your head. It was the only way he knew to comfort you in the moment: statistics. 

But that didn't matter to you. 

Spencer sighed, looking at you with sympathy in his eyes. "You… you can cry you know. No one is going to judge you for it." 

That's what broke the dam. You sniffled and turned your body towards his, hugging him tightly almost immediately. You could feel his body stiffen for a moment, almost making you pull back. But then he eased up and laid a hand on your back and one on your head, hoping to comfort you by holding you. He had read that was supposed to be helpful. 

You couldn't help but cry, holding onto him like this. How could your first case go so badly?

○●♡●○ 

By the time you all had arrived home, you were drained of almost everything. You all piled into the bullpen, the eyes of everyone in the room turning to you as they noticed the tired eyes with the darker bags that you wore. 

You sighed and took off your holster, storing it in one of the open drawers of your given desk. You run a tired hand through your hair, looking up at the rest of the team who were equally as tired and bummed out as you were. It was 8 in the morning after all. There had been a delay in getting in the air that had lasted a few hours, making you all late. 

"(L/N), my office, please." Hotch called as soon as everyone was all through and settled into their desks. You exhale tiredly and place your bag down on the desk chair before heading towards Hotch's office.  

You stepped in and closed the glass door behind you. You stood in front of Hotch's desk, nodding to him. "You… wanted to see me sir?" You asked. 

"Yes, (Y/N). Yesterday, you did well on your negotiation. After some reevaluation of the situation I believe you could have gotten Kathy out on your own." Hotch informed, going over the papers. It felt weird for someone to call you by your first name after everyone on the team had been calling you by your last name for the entire case. 

"Thank you, sir." You reply. 

"However, I think the last part of the case got a little too personal for you. I have not looked in your file, but I assume this has something to do with something in that file."

"Actually… Hotch…" you sigh. "I… I saw my brother in that baby. I raised my brother for most of my childhood. And for me to have not reached him in time…" you take a deep breath, avoiding the increasingly obvious sob that wanted to escape your throat. "It was just sensitive for me, sir. I promise, it won't happen again." 

"Since this is your first case, I'll give you a pass. But try to stay focused on the case and not on family matters. Understood?" Hotch clarifies, looking you in the eyes. You can see he's only saying this because he has to. He's flashing you a look of empathy, one you'd been given plenty of times, but never by a man in his authority. 

"Y-yes sir." You reply, the tremor in your voice barely noticeable. 

"Good. Now I expect to see you tomorrow. Go home and try to catch up on some sleep." He dismisses. You nod to him, and shortly thereafter leave his office. 

"Hey." 

You turn your head, brown eyes meeting yours. "Huh? Oh… hey." You reply back, swallowing a sigh as you turn to talk to the genius. 

"Is… uh… is everything alright with Hotch?" He asked. 

"Yeah, he just wanted to let me know how I did and what I could improve on. Nothing much." You reply, forcing your face to stiffen and wipe away the beginnings of tears. But then you remembered what Spencer had said about the voice often betraying the user when the emotion that is felt is strong enough. 

"...Are you alright?" 

You wanted to curse out your own heart for beginning to flutter. Now was not the time to be falling in love with the sexy doctor next to you. 

"I… I think i'll be okay." You say semi-honestly, squeezing your eyes tight. 

"Did you know that it's been proven that talking about one's problems can lead to catharsis, which is a feeling of calmness and relief. Of course… The pain is still there.  But afterwards we have less built up feelings and the hurt hurts just a little less." He informed, putting one hand in his pocket and one on his messenger bag strap. You feel the beginnings of a smile form on your lips, making a small bit of the heaviness in your chest ease up. 

"Is this your formal way of asking me for that coffee?" You tease gently. Spencer chuckled. 

"Maybe…" 

"Consider it a date then." You tease again, a small smile staying on your face. You look up at Spencer, not finding any indication that the idea of it being a date turned him off from the idea. "You wanna get out of here?" 

"Sure. My car or yours?" He asks. 

"Why not walk? Less pollution, and we can talk on the way." You insist. 

"Considering the environment before our own needs. I didn't think that many people were like that anymore." He says, walking with you towards the elevator. 

You giggle softly and press the down arrow. "Guess I'm not like most people." And you could almost swear you heard him reply with a soft 'No you're not.' 

You both step into the elevator once the doors open, letting the doors close after you. Sure, you had left your bag inside, but you wouldn't need it till tomorrow. You had a date with your bed after you hung out with Spencer.  

You both walked towards the exit once the elevator doors opened again, revealing to you the main lobby. 

"So when are you going to reveal to me your favorite coffee order? Or are you going to keep that a secret too?" Spencer teased, walking beside you. 

"Oh come on. I told you all I'd tell you my name soon. I just want to make sure this is where I wanna stay, that's all-" you begin, rolling your eyes with a growing smile on your face that soon plummeted when you saw who was in front of you.  

"(Y/N) (M/N) Grant!" 

Both you and Spencer jumped at the sudden sound, and you turned your head at the sound of your full name. You feel fear invade your heart as you recognize the woman who stood in front of you with shoulder pads and make-up that screamed 'I will squash you like a bug'

"Mother?"

[tarithenurse]

Stolen - 21

Pairing: Loki Laufeyson &/x fem!gifted!reader Content: “Getting the most of it”, jealousy. Oh...and smidgen of smuttiness. A/N: After 2 night shifts from hell I finally got time to write a bit again. Ask or reblog for tag ;)

21. A Place in the Dirt

...  Reader   ...

If you had had any hope of getting off the hook lightly on your first day in Asgard...well, those hopes have been crushed, ground into dust, mixed with oil and pigment, and painted onto the wall to spell out the words ‘HA HA’.

Loki had given you all of half an hour to chill and explore the room – surprisingly granting you ownership of the gorgeous suite and the fairy tale-esque bed – however his return had brought a storm of preparations. Maids and tailors (he called them seamstresses) had flocked around you, insisting to prepare a bath for you (as if you weren’t capable of that yourself) after having taken your measurements and tested a gazillion different fabrics while you stood like a mannequin until your body hurt. Admittedly, the bath had been worth it, but you weren’t gonna tell the schemer that when you’d appeared from the bathroom in a cloud of steam.

Allowing a maid to usher you behind a screen, Loki had busied himself with a servant – a good thing too as you were afraid getting physically near him would ruin you and the cleanliness. Still, you were happy for the help as the clothes presented to you were new, styled to match what you had seen the Asgardian noblewomen wearing earlier. Several layers of gossamer-thin silk in greens and sandy colours were almost magically draped across your shoulders, tugged and crossed into a smooth, shimmering haze before the piece-de-resistance was applied: it looked like a bodice of metal scales, the coppery kites woven together unseen without desisting the subtlety of any other thick fabric.

“Lady [Y/N], it is hard to believe you are not Asgardian,” a blond man greets you, breaking the dreamlike (or nightmarish) state you’re in.

Smiling politely, you recall he has been hanging out with a small group during the beginning of the feast. With a woman on each arm, the Asgardian has been drinking and laughing with a bear of a guy with red hair and a beard befitting a Tolkien dwarf (he even has roughly the same shape and table manners as one); at least the second friend – although short of words – knows how to behave himself in court if Loki's directions are to be believed: his face is happy and eyes sharp, never stopping the careful watch of everyone in the room. You don't mind when he looks your way because he will move the gaze to the next person soon enough. The woman, however...brilliant eyes have taken in your every twitch even after Frigga officially welcomed you, explaining to the court how the plan was for you to be tutored by the queen herself. Sif. Apparently, she's quite a warrior and still, she isn't coming to save you now.

"Thank you."

Rather than leaving you alone again the blond sits down, grabbing a glass of golden liquid from a tray of a passing servant and taking a sip. Eyes the colour of forget-me-nots twinkle over the brim.

"Please indulge my curiosity, fair lady." With that melodious voice you might forgive him everything. "How come you travel alone? Save for a single servant..."

You know the answer because it's been drilled in it by Loki: “Travelling without an agenda set in stone, it would be presumptuous and unkind to any host if I arrived with the customary retinue. My servant, as you call him, may not attend precisely the same tasks as a maid...but his allegiance is unwavering. I trust him with my life.”

Brows half cocked, the man next to you drains the glass lazily only to signal for more. The tip of his tongue wipes the last drop of his lips, eye contact unbroken. A shiver runs down your spine and you’re not entire sure it’s the good kind even if there’s an inkling of admiration for his confidence. Player.

“If ever you find yourself in need of...other company,” the man leers, “you can always come to me.” Two full glasses are set between the two of you and he immediately scoots one towards you. “I am Fandral, of the Warriors Three. At your service, m’lady.”

Simply raising your glass in return, you decide life will be a lot nicer with some friends around especially with Loki’s recent teasing. And either way, what harm can a polite gesture do?

...

Someone stop the floor. Your entire world seems to tilt and spin as you walk down the grand hallways – not uncomfortably so, just enough that keeping on a straight path requires more concentration than you’re willing to spend at the moment when you’d much rather enjoy the warm buzz in your body.

“The floor’s steady, silly pet,” a cool voice admonishes beside you, “I told you not to drink the mead.”

Turning to face Loki, his face bobs in and out of focus until something cool readjusts it’s grasp on you. Some sort of answer is brewing in your brain, but it’s not quite ready yet, it seems, and so you let him lead you the rest of the way to your room.

Aha! “Buttit tastsss good! And Fandang...Fanran...Fannnn-”

“Fandral.” With a sigh, Loki plops you onto the huge bed.

“Tha’s’e’one!”

For a moment the trail of thought escapes you while you wiggle around the soft, bouncy surface in an attempt to figure out the method to get out of the bodice. When your companion swats away your hands, you hum with delight at the delicate touch freeing you. Yay! Cool down.

As the feast had progressed and your new, blond friend had coaxed the glass of mead into you (an easy feat considering the deliciousness) your body had begun to heat up, making you miss Loki’s soothing temperatures.

Shrugging off the layers draped over your body, the air is like a balm. “Orh, that’s be’er.”

...  Loki   ...

Nothing but a delicate shift shields [Y/N]’s curves, the silk still unable to hide the darker nipples puckering as she throws herself back into the pillows with a delighted groan. If only...Loki’s imagination grants him flashes of scenes where each sound falling from the woman’s lips are a testimony to the bliss granted by him. Shifting to ease the discomfort brought on by too confining trousers, the Jotun allows his hands to move slowly as they pull the covers over the Midgardian’s body.

“Sleep now, I’ll open the balcony door to let the cool air in.”

It’s a simple order and [Y/N]’s eyes are already closing, still she manages to capture one of his hands and lead it to her forehead. “This works too.”

He can’t pull back, only stare and try to breathe evenly as the woman guides his hand as though it’s a cool cloth. Along the jaw, down the throat to send shivers racing towards the hairline at the neck. Knuckles brush delicately back and forth over the clavicles before she allows his palm to flatten over the upper sternum – the heartbeat beneath strong and rapid – only to drag further until nestled between her breasts while the silk is pulled taught by his wrist.

I...not like this. Snagging the hand back, Loki ignores the whimpers and turns away to discreetly readjust the painful tightness of leather again.

...

Lying in the darkness of the servant’s room, he can still smell the dampness of [Y/N]’s skin on his hand and the memory of soft heat guides that very same hand’s strokes upwards, twists, and down again in the hopes of relieving some of the tension and frustration that have build up within.

A flicker of magic, and a rendering of her face glows dimly, smiling softly at Loki as he ups the tempo. Though the heat is lacking, at least he can mimic the tight hold she would have on him as he thrusts into the fist repeatedly. Although wavering, more of her body appears, completing the recollection of the sight of [Y/N] splayed on the fourposter. The god’s breath hitch and his hips stutter, but the euphoria only lasts mere seconds before the unquenchable need returns. Sweet doom. There is a way to sate the hunger, but it has to be done right or not at all.

[cerezsis]

The Missing Link

Chapter Two: Akina

Summary: While overwhelmed by all the attention at Tarrlok’s gala, Korra is relieved to see a familiar face.

--

           The jovial music filled most of the gala’s attendees with great liveliness and jubilance. Everyone, except the guest of honor. Korra hadn’t even been there fifteen minutes when she saw Mako with a beautiful girl draped around his arm, and Chief Beifong very bluntly told her she’d done nothing to deserve this admiration. The worst part was that she couldn’t help but think maybe she was right…

           Tarrlok seemed oblivious to Korra’s discomfort, still parading her around to the city’s socialites. The more people she met, the more she felt out of place. Not only were the mannerisms of all these people classes above what she was used to, but the fashion in Republic City was so different from that of the Southern Water Tribe. Though fashion was something Korra never really paid much mind to, being surrounded by all the modern formalwear was making her self-conscious about the more traditional dress she chose. Especially considering she could still see that elegantly dressed Sato girl out of the corner of her eye…

           “Korra!” a woman’s voice called out.

           The young Avatar turned her head. Approaching her was a fifty-something woman, wearing a light blue dress with gold trim. Her auburn hair was wrapped behind her head, with gold tassels hanging from the sides. Her bright blue eyes alluded to a Water Tribe heritage, though her hair color indicated she was also of Earth Kingdom decent – the mixing of these two nations resulting in her having a pale brown complexion. A small but prominent scar was present on her chin, and she wore a smile that reminded Korra of her mother – something that gave her great comfort in this moment.

           The woman stopped once she reached Korra.

           “I don’t suppose you remember me?” she grinned.

           Korra smiled back. “Yes. Akina, Chief Sokka’s daughter.”

           Akina’s smile grew. Hearing the chatter, Tarrlok finally turned around, putting on his most charming smile.

           “Ah yes, Akina! One of the finest lawyers in Republic City.” He spared a quick glance behind her. “Where’s the rest of your family?”

           “Unfortunately, my husband and I are the only ones in attendance tonight. Not everyone can attend a gala at the drop of a hat.” She turned back to Korra. “Gosh, you’ve grown. How old were you the last time I saw you?”

           “I was twelve.”

           “Ah, yes! It’s such a shame my boys couldn’t be here. I’m sure they would’ve loved to see you again.”

           Before Korra could reply, Tarrlok took hold of her shoulder.

           “Well, it was nice seeing you, Akina,” already trying to walk away with Korra, “Have a lovely–”

           Before he could take another step, Akina blocked his path, raising a hand to silence him.

           “Excuse me councilman, but Korra and I were speaking,” she said in a tone much like one would use to scold an interrupting child.

           Tarrlok frowned, but begrudgingly let go of Korra. Akina allowed her glare to linger on him for a moment, before lowering her hand and turning back to Korra.

           “So, how are you liking the city so far?” Akina asked, her soft smile and gentle tone returning.

           “It’s… nice,” Korra said, meekly, “I haven’t had a chance to see a lot of it yet. I’ve been busy with pro-bending and airbending training.”

           “Ah, yes, I heard you’re playing for the fire ferrets. I’ll try to catch one of your games before the season’s over. If I can’t be there in person, I definitely be listening on the radio.”

           She glanced up at Tarrlok, who was desperately trying to hide his annoyance. Much like her cousin, Akina never liked the Northern representative, but there was something particularly troubling about him tonight. She especially didn’t like the way he was hovering around Korra.

           She lowered her gaze, once again meeting the Avatar’s. “And your airbending training. Is that going well?”

           Korra’s face fell, and she looked to the ground. Akina got the message, smiling in sympathy and putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.

           “You’ll get there,” she assured her, “You’re certainly not the first Avatar to struggle with an element.” She removed her hand from Korra’s shoulder. “Once your schedule calms down, I’d love to have you over for dinner. We’d all love to have you. Just say the date, and we’ll make it happen.”

           Korra mustered a half-smile. “Thanks, Akina.”

           His patience waning, Tarrlok once again grabbed Korra’s arm.

           “Well, we still have many people to greet,” he said, quickly and with forced politeness, “Enjoy your night, Akina.”

           Before anyone could intervene, he managed to whisk the Avatar away. Akina stood there for a while, eyeing the two of them as Tarrlok tried to make them disappear into the crowd. She couldn’t stop thinking about the way he grabbed her, like she was a prize he had no intention of letting anyone else win.

           Trying her best to not lose sight of them, Akina returned to where she left her husband. He was still there, chatting with some people they knew. She stood next to him, touching the arm of his red suit.

           “Sorry to interrupt, but I need to borrow you for a moment,” she said, her voice nonchalant, but her eyes signaling concern. Seeing this, her husband excused himself and followed her as she led them a short distance away.

           “I need to find Tenzin,” she whispered, “Keep an eye on Korra and Tarrlok.” She gestured her head towards where they were standing. “Don’t let them out of your sight.”

           The top-knot clad man blinked in brief confusion but nodded in agreement. The look of growing concern in her eyes was all the information he needed.

           Akina gave him a quick peck on the cheek before walking off, scanning the crowd for her younger cousin. Luckily, the bald, tattooed man was easy to spot. Just having found him was enough to ease the tension building in her chest.

           “Hey, stranger,” she warmly greeted.

           Tenzin looked up, grinning as he saw her.

           “Akina,” he greeted, politely, in return.

The two of them shared a brief hug. “For only living a ferry ride away, we certainly don’t see each other enough,” Akina lamented.

           Tenzin nodded in agreement. “Pema and the children are around here somewhere. Korra’s here too.”

           “Yes, I was just talking to her. Tarrlok’s parading her around.”

           Tenzin’s expression dropped, clearly annoyed at this. “Yes, he’s been doing quite a bit to get her attention lately.”

           Akina’s stomach dropped. “Oh? Like what?”

           “He’s been sending her increasingly extravagant gifts – gift baskets, fancy dresses, and even a brand-new car. Now he’s gone and thrown this gala, supposedly for her.”

           Akina stopped listening at that point. Every red flag that had popped up in her head suddenly transformed into blaring alarm bells. Her face quickly changed from mild concern to pure horror.

           “Listen to me, do not let him in your home again. Do not let him be alone with her,” she said in a low, serious whisper, “This is not normal behavior. A man his age should not be this obsessed with an underaged girl.”

           Tenzin’s eyes widened and his face turned red. He stammered out his next words.

           “It’s not… I don’t believe…” He cleared his throat, trying to center himself. “You’ve misunderstood, Akina. Tarrlok’s trying to get her to join his task force, not… anything else.”

           Akina eyed him, unconvinced. “As a woman and a legal professional, I can tell you with certainty that Tarrlok’s behavior is incredibly alarming. Whatever his motives may be, they’re far from innocent. I don’t trust the man.”

           Tenzin stroked his beard. “Well, I agree with you on that part.” He paused for a moment. “I’ll remind you that there’s a reason I tried to convince you to petition for his council seat when it was available.”

           Akina glared at him. “Not the time, Tenzin.” She looked around, seeing Tarrlok lead Korra into another crowded ballroom, and her husband trying to look inconspicuous as he followed them.

           Taking a quiet breath, Akina turned back to the Air Nomad, her expression softening. “Korra’s a strong and powerful young woman. I trust that she can take care of herself, but I’d prefer to avoid putting her in any situation with him, if we can help it.”

           “Oh believe me, I agree,” he nodded, “I’ll do my best to keep him away from her, but Korra can be… infuriatingly stubborn. She had no interest in joining his task force the last we spoke of it, but if she changes her mind…”

           Akina sighed and looked to the side. “Teenagers…” she thought out loud, her mind turning to her two sons, as well as flashes of her own youth.

           Her eyes looked back towards Tenzin. His words about Korra’s stubbornness weren’t exactly what she was hoping to hear, but she trusted her cousin. She knew he cared about Korra, much the same as he cared about his own children.

           “Thank you, Tenzin.”

[currentfandomkick]

Bio! Dad Strange part 4

Shorter but a paris update for her life and a little on gotham with Jason as Robin while Tim is a hero Stalker.

Marinette is 7 when she changes schools, ordered into the Dupont school chain by her teachers since she was getting ‘difficult’ and contradicting their ciriculum. When they challeneged her on this, she went to the school board with Rolland beside her of all people.

The board agreed on one thing, Marinette’s contradictions were not only factually correct, but were done to prevent the outdated ciriculum from hurting her classmates. Instead of punishing her, she got to skip a gade and was given to Dupont as a ‘highly reccomended gifted student’.

Her first day she met Max, who also skipped a grade. The pair bond in five seconds over a new programming focused on learning emotional intelligence. Uncle Riddler was showing her it, and Max got his hands on a various ai bases. This led to then teaming up and designing the one and only Markov together, if only in schematics.

A week in and the two notice that some kids are being followed around by a guy with a bat. They report it. Again and again, but no one can find him.

One day he catches the pair on their way to Max’s—they wanted to work on their ai together, ok? The guy tries to hit Max, saying something about them being lucky metas that needed to suffer.

Marinette’s gotham training kicked in. She caught the bat, ripped it away from him and hit him in the chest with it, while yelling at max to run.

At the end of the incident, videotaped by a bystander, the Dupont Stalker was arrested.

Marinette was given another name by the police, ‘fille de batte’ or bat girl. Her having family in gotham only made the nickname more popular.

This put her on Kim and Alix’s radar. Kim wanted a challenge for fighting and competitions, and this tiny kid did that—to an adult! New friend and rival!

Alix was went from shock to joy as Marientte does art. She does art. Art friend to rant to found!

Nino ran into Marinette not long after Kim and Alix attached themselves to her and Max. Nino became their judge for Kim challenges. Including Mari pinning Kim to the mat, or deciding who did a circus move better (Mari won acrobatics).

Chloe doesnt go to dupont until next year, and sabrina is in another class, mildly concerned for Marinette.

In this au, again, Dupont is considered a ‘i would not be shocked if there were metas there’ school for gifted kids in any way.

Marinette is sent there for her insane science obsession at the time, but is also put in their arts program with Alix to develop as an artist with her medium, fabrics and fashion.

And if marinette redesigns hero outfits as “monsiuer ross, scribbles have more style, let alone fashion sense” alot, well. Kids get obsessed a lot and the Justice League is a common one, as are known villians. Her everyday outfits having different hero schemes—oddly enough some forensic scientist she’s obsessed with from some american city ended up in her mix—well. She’s a kid and showing signs a few types of anxiety.

Possible social and OCD and a developing case of perfectionism common to the arts program. The school has her see a therapist and know she isnt telling them everything beyong mild concern for her gotham family, and confusion over people just ‘not getting things’ as she is terribly smart and good at finding patterns and how do people not see it?

By the end of the year Marinette is in a strong friend group who’s parents and hers have decided to have joint custody during the school year.

She was now (forced) to learn vietnamese from Kim’s Grandparents, italian from Rolland (her nonno that has a Thing for tradition and somehow married Gina and raised Tom mostly on his own while running the bakery to boot), english from Father/Strange, Mandarin from her Maman and she started Arabic to talk with Nino’s aunt who kept saying marinette was her future in-law and point out that nino and her are friends, not dating ma’am.

However, Nino endured most of this with her-not the italian or Mandarin, but the others. Kim couldnt get Arabic but mandarin was a breeze for him. Alix cannot get vietnamese or arabic but Mandarin is her jam after french. Max just speaks french and english, he understands the others he just cant get the sounds right, ok?

When Marinette goes back to Gotham that summer, she ends up dealing with Hero Stalker Tim (jason is robin now) while looking for Red Hoodie who No oNE is telling her what happened and she’s worried, ok?

Tim feeds her obbsession with fixing problems. He sometimes sends her building layouts of places Catwoman stole from. And then the jewlry reappears thanks to a nervous Marinette coached by Rose and Ghoul while Frost handles her post-fix it freak out. Tim also may or may not get helped by her alot during Batman Stalking Time as she teaches his butt how to sneak and complains he’s worse than penguin.

Tim hates that, works on it, and still has nonidea who she is. He does admit to figuring out who batman may be, but needs more evidence so...

Marinette hits him becuase “thats dangerous!” And tries to lecture him in identites.

Batman’s radiowave was used for said lecture.

“And it puts their families in danger you, uh, hero stalker! And stuff so no more identity investigations!”

“They have the same builds, and did signsture moves from—“ the signal cutout.

He and Jason are more careful... ish. They change channels and monitor the old one.

Sometimes Batman catches Marinette and Tim talking about coldcases and she has asked three times if he heard anything about Jason’s street kid identity. Jason is feeling guilty about this as she’s his Pixie Pop. This lets Bruce know that the probably-clark’s-kid would keep Jason away from GCPD and CPS.

When a convo leads to Batman finding out Tim and Marinette have considered asking the police for help with a case of medicine that needed to be recalled as it was beign used to mule drugs contaminated the batches and hurt patients, but turned it down after she saw some taking bribes from Fish, Batman lets Gordon know and an investigation is launched.

While Bats is away, Jason visits marinette as Robin and tries to get her to bats for more information and a lecture on heroing without adult supervision. Maybe.

Only she’s currently stealing from a sleeping selina at another HQ. A Selina who has stopped trying to stop marinette and let riddler turn her house into one of his ‘traps’ to stop Marinette’s ‘return theiving’.

Jason gets stuck in a trap. Marinette is gone by then, scared Robin will tell Superman about her and he’ll hurt her family or something.

Catwoman is annoyed at Marinette’s sucess. She goes to stop the girl after leaving him tied up for Batman with a message: leave her new kitten-to-be alone.

Follow up talk post-Caught Marinette reverse theiving.

“Blame the Council’s decrees. She’s their little princess, and my new neice,” Catwoman watched Batman carefully.

Confused Batman in interrogator mode. “You mean the Court of Owls, arent they disbanded?”

“Bats, the council is gotham’s underground. Apparently Two-Face made the contracts as penance for scaring the Princess during a breakout. Unless you want an organized attack by the council, steer clear of her.”

Batman conencts the dots and curses himself. The girl he was looking for last summer is the Princess of Gotham’s underground. It will be hell finding her. And Superman/Clark will lose it when he’s told.

He lets the JL know about it, saying ‘possibly kyptonian clone, female child. Gotham’s underground is calling her their Princess. Connor and Kidflash tailed her last summer during the arkham breakout while Robin was with the Titans. Be alert for a small asian girl.’

That was how Marinette ended up on the JL watch list and how Superman had another existential crisis.

Dick freaks out with the Titans over this. Becuase kyltonian raised by villians is terrifying. Jason forwarded the message and adds on “she’s a good kid and wants to help. Somehow keeps zsasz and joker from killing people, so its not good to take her away or issolate her from the villians if you find her. From what i remember, she is terrified of her family beign put in danger. The others wont listen to me. If you can, pass this along to the other sidekicks and your allies—none of them trust me enough to listen. I cant talk to her as a civilian like i used to either for obvious reasons. And she’s terrified of me-Robin. Maybe you can get through to her, or someone else can. Just talk to her first, she’s more reasonsble than she looks”

Dick doesnt read the add on until much later and regrets it.

He met marinette once. She was a very excited kid babbling about aerodynamics in acrobatics and asking about that. Not hero things, not power things, or justice league but That.

He tried to be nice but he was having a horrible mission, saw the girl floating as she rambled and tried to grab her.

She freaked out and bolted, sort of. He got slammed into a building, or would have had she not caught him, rambled in french while trying to apologize (he was a but stunned from the throw, and rebooting as villian-kyptonian was... nice?) and put him on the roof, hit his communicator and said one thing.

“I think i broke your robin? All are robins like bird bones or something?”

He regained a functioning brain as that. That was something he could respond to.

“I am human thank you!”

That seemed to be enough for her as he moved to get up. She waved bye and bolted, something about Rose being mad at her for being late...

“Titans. I think we might have been wrong about the kid...”

Later with Young Justice the info was passed on.

Jason asked if anyone read his attachment and was met with silence. He groaned and told them “so another team she’s going to avoid... great.”

Marinette added the titans to her list of ‘people to aviod—tetch and Jerimah were the worst. Luthor and Cadmus were under them. Then the entire Justice League (they would tell batman or superman. Snitches.), followed by GCPD, CPS, the Bat Family and now Titans. She wonders if she needs to add anyone else, and hates that she cant talk to heroes. They could help with controlling her powers instead of suppressing them but she cant trust them not to give her to superman like batman did with Rose to Poison Ivy and she’s pretty sure Superboy too.

Next time, times marinette accidently put together identities and curses Hero Stalker Tim for her now knowing.

[mollyellee]

beneficial {seblaine week sneak peek}

Hi everyone!  I can’t WAIT for Seblaine Week this year. I’ve actually been working on my longest fic yet, and it’s going to fulfill both the College and the Friends With Benefits prompts (and probably Free Day, tbh).  It’s ~27,000 words and basically done except for final edits, and I’m too anxious to wait any longer to share, so I figured I would post a little sneak peek to get everyone excited!

More details to come when the full fic is posted, but it’s a NYADA AU where most of our McKinley friends are in attendance and living in the same apartment building. Blaine was never a Warbler, he attended all 4 years of high school at McKinley and dated Kurt the whole time, but they broke up Senior Year.  He and Sebastian are friends, but very casually.  Blaine and Santana live together and get along famously (I have a thing for this friendship apparently). And The Nest is the Warblers’ apartment, where Nick, Jeff and Sebastian live; the rest you’ll just have to wait to find out!  See you on July 12! 

When Saturday night comes around, everyone starts pouring into The Nest: Rachel and Kurt are begging Nick, the de facto DJ, to play at least one show tune (he refuses), Mercedes is belting out a song on the cheap karaoke machine and Sam and Blaine are playing beer pong.

Well, Sam is playing; Blaine is getting his ass kicked.

He’s downing what feels like his thousandth beer of the night when he feels someone give him a small hip bump. He shows Sam the empty cup and looks up to see Sebastian standing at his side.

“Not to insult you, but you know you absolutely suck at this, right?”

Blaine laughs a little too loudly, “I’m sorry, but which part of that wasn’t supposed to be insulting?”

Sebastian always has a quick response. “That you’re smart enough to know it. Plus, if memory serves, you weren’t always this bad.”

A memory flashes through Blaine’s mind, one he had almost forgotten.

This isn’t something he and Kurt would ever normally do, but he and Kurt aren’t exactly normal these days. Santana had come into Glee Club earlier in the week, saying that the Warblers were throwing a party at one of their member’s houses this weekend and they should all go in the spirit of healthy competition.

And if she could get drunk and make out with one of the girls from the other schools, so she wouldn’t have to have that awkward “what are we” conversation the next day, well, that was a pretty nice bonus too.

“This will be fun, right?” Kurt is speaking just to interrupt the silence as Blaine drives, and Blaine smiles politely.

“Yeah, it’ll be good to get to know some of the Warblers a little better.”

“Well, you’re already friends with a couple of them, aren’t you?” The question isn’t meant to sound accusatory, but Blaine can’t help but wonder if Kurt is trying to figure out if something is going on behind his back.

It’s not. Blaine is too heartbroken about what’s happened with his first love to even think about being with anyone else.

“Not really,” Blaine says quietly, and that effectively ends the conversation. They’ve been fighting a lot lately, and neither of them want to say anything that will push the other too far. When they arrive at Nick’s house, the party is already in full swing and Blaine hears Rachel shout “Kurt!” almost as soon as they walk in the door. Kurt gives him a half smile and goes to join her and Mercedes. Blaine hates that his boyfriend leaving his side relieves some of the tension, but it does, and he instantly spots Sam over by the kitchen counter, mixing drinks and laughing with some of the Warblers.

“Hey, what’s up bro? Want a drink?”

“Please!” Blaine knows Kurt hates it when he drinks too much, but Kurt is already out of sight and he needs something to calm him down. Sam pours him a fruity concoction that barely tastes like alcohol and has the capacity to be very dangerous. He takes a sip and gives Sam a thumbs up signaling his approval when a figure jogs up beside him.

“All right listen up, I’m putting together a team to destroy Trent and Jeff, who’s in?”

Blaine turns to his left and there is Sebastian Smythe, another Warbler he has met in person only briefly, but they did exchange numbers at that meeting. So, if they’ve texted a little since then, it’s harmless, right? He’s felt lonely lately, he’s just looking for a friend.

It’s just a coincidence that Sebastian also happens to be incredibly good looking.

“Anderson, looks like you’ve got a fresh drink. Care to join me?”

“What am I agreeing to?”

“Smart question to ask,” Nick says with a laugh and Sebastian gives him the finger before explaining, “Beer pong. But we play with water, so you can bring your shockingly red drink too.”

“It’s party punch!” Sam yells as Sebastian leads Blaine away from the kitchen island to a table set up outside in the backyard. He doesn’t notice Sebastian’s hand on his lower back until it’s gone, but when it’s no longer there, the feeling lingers.

Sebastian reaches for his drink on the table and Blaine notices the cups have already been arranged. He’s seen enough movies, he knows what beer pong looks like, but he’s never actually played. Hell, he’s never really even been to a party except that one night at Rachel’s, but they don’t talk about that.

“Okay, you’re gonna think I’m totally lame, but I have absolutely no clue how to play,” Blaine admits, but Sebastian just smiles, and god, this punch must be strong because his stomach is doing somersaults.

“It’s okay, Trent knows how to play and he sucks ass at it, so you’ll be fine.”

Trent scoffs from the other side of the table and Blaine laughs, relieved, as Sebastian explains the rules to him.

And then the game begins, and he is shockingly good. Almost every ball he throws goes in and Sebastian cheers every time he makes a shot, which feels warm in his chest for some inexplicable reason. And then he realizes, he’s happy to be appreciated.

“You undersold yourself, Anderson. Sure you’re not hustling us?”

“Well, it would be pretty pointless to hustle my own teammate, wouldn’t it?” Blaine takes the last sip of his drink, batting his eyelashes just a little, and is he...flirting?

Sadly, (or thankfully?), he doesn’t get to find out the answer as he’s brought out of his trance by someone shouting “Blaine!” He turns his head and there is Kurt, walking toward him, clearly irritated. Fuck, had he seen him flirting with Sebastian?

He starts, “Kurt, it was nothing, we were just…” but Kurt is already on his own train of thought.

“Can we go? Rachel has had way too much of whatever that party punch is, and she’s making a big scene with Santana, and I’m just over it.”

“I…” He looks back to Sebastian who is standing at the table with his hands up in a “don’t get me involved” gesture and sighs, turning back to his boyfriend.

Guess the clock has struck midnight.

“Okay, sure.” Kurt looks relieved and is already heading for the door. Blaine smiles politely, “It was a pleasure being your partner, Sebastian.”

“Hey, maybe we can do it again sometime,” the Warbler says with a smirk, and all Blaine wants to do is stay.

But all he can do right now is go.

“So then I guess I should be smart enough to ask you to be my partner...again?” Blaine smiles and throws the ball back.

And for what feels like the first time all night, it goes in.

“Definitely,” Sebastian grins, “Evans! Grab a partner, Anderson’s called in the cavalry.”

“Brittany!” Sam calls and the girl peeks her head out from the kitchen where she and Santana have been adding more vodka to the jungle juice. He motions her over and she nods, rushing over, drink in hand. She points across the table, “Wait, is this our competition?”

Blaine feigns like he’s just been shot in the chest, and Sebastian stands up straighter, motioning between himself and Blaine. “Listen, this team may have been lacking in talent before, but I’m on board now. Let’s rack 'em up.”

“You can’t talk this way about your own teammate!” Blaine playfully slaps Sebastian on the arm and Sebastian leans over to murmur conspiratorially, “All part of the strategy” and his breath feels warm in their close proximity. Blaine thinks he’s clearly had too much to drink, but hey, he only lives down the hall.

Sam and Sebastian set up the cups, and the game begins. Sebastian must be a good luck charm because every ball Blaine sends flying is managing to hit its intended target.  At one point, they’re doing so well that Blaine whispers something in Sebastian’s ear which causes both Brittany and Sam to quirk an eyebrow. The next time Blaine makes a shot, he and Sebastian perform an elaborate handshake and Sam’s mouth falls open in shock. He certainly did not expect his and Blaine’s secret handshake from when they ran for Student Council to be used against him.

“Dude, not cool!”

“All part of the strategy,” Blaine says with a shrug and a smirk, and Sam turns to Brittany and says, “Okay, handshake meeting after this game.”

They all laugh and finish the game, which Blaine and Sebastian win easily, and that’s when Blaine realizes that most everybody has already taken off. Nick and Jeff are on the couch playing video games and Santana is sitting on a barstool next to their game, chatting with Brittany, but everyone else seems to have left while they were wrapped up in their tournament. Even Sam looks around and finds himself dateless.

“Damn, lost the game and lost my girl too,” he says with (mostly) fake resignation and Blaine laughs from the other side of the table. Santana hums and clarifies, “Nah, she just said she’d rather go to sleep than continue to watch you get humiliated.”

“See, aren’t you glad you don’t have someone to talk about you like that?” Sebastian murmurs low to Blaine, but clearly not low enough as he’s soon on the receiving end of a glare from Sam. Sebastian shrugs unapologetically in response.

Santana hops off her stool and holds out her hand to Blaine, “Come on, Anderson, I need my beauty rest.”

“Psst lies,” he responds dramatically, and they both giggle, and okay, he’s definitely had too many. He turns back to Sebastian and smiles, “Thanks for being a great partner.”

Sebastian smirks back and Blaine definitely doesn’t feel his insides melting at his response. “Maybe we can do it again sometime.”

He and Santana leave and walk the short distance to their apartment, arms around each other’s waists. She reaches over and boops his nose. “Well, you are very good at that game, aren’t you?”

“Shut up, you’re drunk,” he responds, but can’t manage to wipe the smile off of his face.

[nightowlgunner]

Her

It was like June 2020 when I started playing with Kristine. That was also the time na she got laid off so we got the chance na magkalaro sa game full time. It was also the time na, I slowly opened up to her. Because I have strong walls eh, I do not let people come in my life easily. Since Kristine looks sincere and a listener to me, I gave her the way to get in. I talk about my rants about how my day goes and my relationship status with Joan. There is something about her that makes me want to know her more. There are many things na napagkakasunduan namin that leads to laughing and feeling na magaan lang kausap. I also liked that she is interested in the Game that I am playing, We shared things from the moment she started playing pc games back then, her ex gf's, her dramas in life, her fam, her girlfriend but not too much of it. She shares her problem too, the same goes with me.

Back then, I got curious about Kristine because of the stories that I have heard from Joan about her and her ex-gf and the toxicity of her relationship with Rose.

I admit she got my sympathy. Reminded me of my past relationship and how she handled it. Later on, whenever Kristine goes back here in Manila for a vacation, she always invites us. So I have no choice but to go with Joan though I am way too shy na makihalubilo sa mga tao.

By the first time that I met Kristine she was with her ex-gf Siena. There was nothing special or any thing that I felt. I was just nervous meeting her. Idk. Because I feel like she is intimidating. It was just a stage of knowing her, but she was nice naman. That time I remember Joan blocked her on my fb friend's list because of some reasons that i am not sure of, like Jealousy. Joan is always jealous which make me feel like hindi ako katiwa tiwalang tao. Lol. Grabe lang. And since then, Kristine unblocked me.

Way back 2018, I casually message her, like saying Hi, Hello, a little update of my day, and a little sharing of how me and Joan is doing.

I remember that it was also the time that she is trying to open up about her problems with Siena and so i made a GC where me, Joan and tine are messaging so she will not think too much back in Dubai.

I think she was on the verge of breaking up with Siena?

I have work back then so our exchange of messages was not that constant.

Joan used to rant at Kristine about me and how our life have been, which I do not like. Kasi nahihiya ako na kailangan pa ilabas ang mga bagay bagay na hindi naman dapat. There are times I feel uncomfortable kapag sinasabihan din ako ni Tine about our probs. But i just shrugged it off na lang.

It was also the time that I am focus to Joan too.

'Til Pandemic came. I am so happy may kalaro na ako sa game and that is her. Most of the time we play during afternoons, we also got the chance to try voice call each other on Messenger.

Then there goes the story, we talk a lot, shared a lot and our game time is way fun because she is a good team mate.

She was a good listener. And she understands me. Not all the time she is in favor of me, there are times she helps me understand things.

But most of the time, She makes me feel valid.

August came and Joan celebrated her birthday.

September and I celebrated mine, and I received a gift from her, it was a cake. She told me in Whatsapp that it was for me only. She just made it look like it was also for Joan since she never gave her any present last month.

October came, and I decided to make a surprise for her birthday, I'm talking about Kristine here. And so I did. We call her through VC in Messenger and I greeted her in my Facebook Gaming page, and made an appreciation post for her in my IG, which she really liked.

November came and I broke my thoughts to her. It was my nephew's birthday, Ethan.

I told her through Whatsapp that I liked her. That I liked her back then because of some reasons like, She went through hell in her relationships yet she stood up, etc. and my curiosity ate me.

I told her I might not feel uncomfortable talking to her because she already knew my secret that I like her. Then Kristine said, Bakit naman?

I asked her am I not likeable? She answered me, it's not that I am not likeable, she also said that she knew that I am a good person, and she reminded me that it was wrong. I told her I have no intentions of ruining her and Kamille. I just wanted her to know that I liked her, period.

Then we played a game, shared some secrets and stuff, because I started to trust her na.

Then as days goes by, we play constant and we talk mostly.

She even shared to me the time she went to sleep over with workmates because Kamille and her had an argument. We had our first Video Call in Messenger the next day before she go to work. Send me photos that I asked her too cause I am not seeing her lately.

We still talk even at her work hours, I listen to her work rants and stuff.

Then came an issue of this gaming headset that she wants to give me without malice as claimed by Kristine. Joan did not like the gesture. So, we talked secretly and talk about it. We agreed not to pursue the headset anymore.

December came and yah, we still play. I found out she resigned at her work.

I had an issue with a basher of my page, so I have to deactivate my gaming page and make an investigation who the hell is she.

So my attention draws closer to the game itself and also Kristine. and stop streaming for a while, She decided to install the Global server instead of using Garena for months because she is running out of VPN's to use for free anymore.

I felt like we have this kind of understanding where she gets me. And she agreed. But sometimes she sends me mixed signals.

I came to a point where I became confused.

I felt the need to share this because I am having these "time bomb" like feelings that if I cannot find a way to consult it to other person i am gonna explode and became clingy at her.

So I brought my classmate back in High School named Annarie, who prefers to call herself Pacsy. We play in Garena sometimes and we chat in Messenger too. I shared her my thoughts about Kristine. And I decide to her to be like the observant of the girl I liked if she feels the same way to me.

There are times that I felt jealous whenever there is a guy flirting with her on the game and sometimes she makes me feel that she is jealous too when I do the same.

And then came February, we had an argument.

My thoughts went confused, concern at Pacsy, and at the same time jealous.

Felt bad because we made a promise to each other to be open and not keep secrets. But things fail.

I broke down and cried.

Then came Joan who confronted Kristine, and Pacsy without me knowing it because I was asleep when Joan hacked my phone. I lost all of my phone datas and apps.

And I did not like it. Joan should have talked the proper way but instead choose to hysterical all the time.

She discovered that, there is something between me and Kristine based on our exchange of chats in Messenger.

Since I'm woman enough to admit my fault, I did.

I admit that I fell to Kristine.

Joan blocked her in my Messenger first.

And next is IG.

CODM became an exception.

It was a week of pain and confusion and discoveries.

I have discovered that She admits that she felt the same way for me.

That she doesn't want to lose me too.

That I am important to her, that she thinks of me by the time we lost our communication for like a week and more.

She was the one who initiated a contact.

I knew in my heart she wants it.

Let me just have a detailed flashback:

FEB 17: That night, we played, me, Pacsy and her. Dhanush invited me. I said sorry to them. And Kristine drop this line that it will be the last time she will talk to US. So I distant myself.

FEB 18: It was like 5pm, I called Pacs and I apologized to her of what happened and I cried because of what I feel in my situation. I told her, it was so hard to tell Joan that I fell in-love with her friend.

I asked Pacs not to update Kristine about me anymore because I wanna distant too.

FEB 18: 10:30 PM Pacsy texted me that Ktine asked her a favor to tell me that Joan is attacking her on messenger. I just said, it was noted.

FEB 19: Vertigo attacked me.

FEB 26: I received an XP rewards from Kristine. Just to be clear, giving away XP rewards is customized, you are the one who will choose who to give it to. And with that gesture, I knew in my heart she wants to talk and play with me. The past days Dhanush has been chatting me whenever he is playing with her. I told Dhanush I cant because she does not want to talk to me anymore and I wanna keep my distance too.

FEB 27-28

I played in CODM that night and I message her in the app, and invited her to play. Just a duo. At first she said, "Hi joan." then I told her, "Hindi nuh, hahaha." Then we play both off mic. And I notice she is messaging me while playing and says she misses me. "imy" I asked her "Kumusta" etc. At first I did not want to answer back I miss her too, because I am doubtful that it might be Kamille who's playing, but again, I knew it was her. So I told her, I miss this duo. Then she replied ":(".

Its like we had 2 games only, I said goodbye yet she tried to invite me again for another round for a squad with Dhanush but I have to leave the app and so I did.

FEB 29

We talked in CODM Global server app. We did not play instead we just talked. She told me she created an account in deviantart.com which is a website for artists, I actually have account there for art purposes. However she cant find my account there so I suggest how about Twitter. She opened up to me that day, as I remember, she apologized to me of the things she have done like how she cracked my secret to Joan etc. She said she does not normally say sorry to anyone yet she is doing it for me that day. I asked her if, "hindi ba kapani paniwala kapag ako ang nagsabi na mahal kita?"

She answered, she feels things the same way. She understands that my IG stories was for her mostly, and I claimed it. She told me she was scared to lose communication with me, that sometimes she feels like she's using another person just to get connected at me. And I get what she is saying. She said that she felt something for me.

I am sorry but the words we shared felt like... there is something.

Days have gone by, We played again. However I am hiding it.

I made a letter for her by using a website app. I told her everything there.

We also both made a Twitter account. Obviously, we missed each other.

[pastelgrungewrecker]

Lucille Fur, Culture Icon || Shattered Glass

[A paid Commission gifted to @lesbian-brainstorm]

And once the water starts to rise And Heaven's out of sight She'll want the Devil on her team...

Perceptor laughed gently, crystal glass in her hand held by the tips of too-long golden nails like gilded razors as Brainstorm rolled her eyes and nudged the fellow madame scientist.

“You’re being watched, dear.”

Perceptor glanced over her bare shoulder to see a shock of red over unhidden dark circles and too bright blue eyes.

A smile.

“Let them watch. I always love a good chase.”

The whispers started slowly, and then all once- the grandiose figure of the Mad Mod Medic herself, the Autobot CMO Extraordinaire, the first surgeon in their medical history to have a 700% fatality rate during a field training exercise, the Personal Doctor of mighty Optimus Prime and the Grandest of Betrayers as she stole away on this ship with the rest of them.

[“My retirement.”, she’d called it in a smooth honeywhiskey purr, sipping a neat bourbon with hands worn by ages of scrubbing away blood and gore, “A little... Vacation. Stir the old synapses, kickstart the nerves and all that.”]

Perceptor sipped something just strong enough to relax her, noting the flickering flakes of gold hovering within it before the smell of cigarsmoke and sanitizer hovered almost too close.

“Fancy seeing a pretty little thing like you here.”, purred the CMO’s husky voice gently in Perceptor’s ear as Brainstorm threw her hands up dramatically before ghosting away from them, “Have you decided to become a pretty little butterfly for my collection?”

“Come now, Ratchet-”, cooed Perceptor with a coy giggle, “Half the fun is the rush to catch me and you know it.”

“Can’t blame me for trying- you look delightful when you’re spread out for me-”

A giggle interrupts the medic, and a peculiar flash of something in Perceptor’s eye makes goosebumps rise under Ratchet’s silken sleeves.

“Interesting- Drift said much the same...”

Shoulders shaking with titillating little giggle and Perceptor sashayed away, to the darker areas of this obnoxious “post-war peace talk” they had become embroiled in. Ratchet’s eyebrows tilted down, immediately enraged at the idea of her preferred ‘darling’ being in someone else’s arms- before she paused, and smiled almost sharkishly.

“I see.”

The pair of them lived for the chase after all. Sly glances at each other with just this side of too much distance to keep watch on the way they orbited each other- Ratchet acquiesced, she had been too.... Forward, to be sure; why, what is the fun, making such things known so soon in the night?

The circles they both ran in would cross paths, it was only a matter of time after all- Xaaron, in his self-absorbed foolishness and a hand hovering over Perceptor’s lower back as he sneered the introductions, as is customary.

Xaaron, scoffing in shock and distaste as he was brushed aside by the CMO only to watch Ratchet catch Perceptor’s ring-decorated hand in her own and bring the knuckles to chapped lips laced in bourbon and silvergilded words.

“Charmed to meet you again, Madame Macabre.”

“Likewise, Medical Officer Ratchet, sir.”

“How obscene.”, hissed Xaaron, crossing his arms but quailing under the frigid glare he received from Ratchet.

“Be quiet, desk jockey, or I’ll be taking those vocal cords and stashing them in a jam jar.”, was the flat threat, delivered in a fully audible tone and sending ripples of snickering out like the waves made by a pebble dropped in a pond.

Ratchet returned her gaze to Perceptor, gently pulling at the hand in her grip, “Now, dearest deathdealer- why not forgo the stuffy lawthumper and come along with me? Surely I can be... more interesting company.”

Perceptor’s cheeks brightened, even under her scarring, and she coyly turned away from the medic’s wicked and thin-lipped smile as a thick lock of hellfire red slid free of the doctor’s impeccably kept style to hang over one blue eye.

“I daresay I’ll take you up on the offer, Doctor.”, cooed the scientist turned sniper turned back again, “Medics always have the most trustworthy reccomendations, after all.”

Ratchet couldn’t help the bark of laughter that escaped her, an arm sliding around Perceptor’s waist in an act of gently lewd gallantry as the medical officer led the scientist away- the sound of a too-pristine doctor’s coat mixing with the quiet hiss of silk over scarred skin in a barely audible symphony.

And along they went; slinking through the crowd and talking low between themselves as Ratchet’s hand went from Perceptor’s waist to the swell of a hip with a teasing squeeze of the firm figure to make the sniper chuckle from the ticklish sensation- and Perceptor moved closer and hooked a finger in Ratchet’s coat pocket before whispering, “Lead the way, love.”

Ratchet’s hab hadn’t changed much except location- still dressed in the low colors and tones of their old quarters from days gone by and ages long forgotten; a few art pieces hung on the walls, furniture draped in satin or leather and the lights frosted and kept low and dim enough to worry a lesser mortal.

Perceptor strode in, all black and violet silk and low slung seams and once more glanced over a bare shoulder; feeling the way Ratchet’s eyes traced over the line of the sniper’s spine.

“And may I ask why you’re standing on parade, darling?”, said Perceptor, sly and coy and temptation at its finest, “Now that you’ve lured the damselfly into the web, act fast- we only ever last the day~”

“Oho, I quite vividly remember you lasting far beyond a single day, sugar.”, laughed Ratchet as the door chimed a note to signal it locking from the inside. Perceptor shivered as she heard the sound of a doctor’s coat being tossed aside, the hiss of a silk tie being untied. 

And then Ratchet’s voice was at Perceptor’s ear again.

“Comparing me to Drift, really. How could you, sweetheart- my poor ol’ pride...”

“I can hear the Vaporex in your voice.”

“Mm, you always did like it when I dropped those med school pretenses, as you called them.”

Perceptor leaned back, feeling Ratchet’s unbuttoned shirt folded closed against her own back and huffed- she wanted skin on skin, already tired of being teased and then something slipped around her wrists.

Perceptor cursed softly, having forgotten the slyness of her partner in their games of cat-and-mouse and looking down to see a dark silk tie looped around wrists.

Ratchet chuckled low, dark and dangerous and hungry, “Someone got a little sure of herself.

“I suppose I’m out of practice with you, Ratchet.”, said Perceptor easily, shifting her shoulders so that the contact between their bodies helped the silk dress she wore slide free and fall to catch at bent elbows. Ratchet hissed a breath, and Perceptor smiled.

“Come now love- you know open back gowns look terrible when I wear something under them.”, said Perceptor airily as Ratchet’s rough lips pressed against a bare but scarred shoulder, “And I know you don’t have the patience to unwrap me tonight.”

“...You make a lovely point. But oh, such an attitude you’ve gotten on you! I’ve half a mind to take you over my knee~”

“Oh, don’t threaten me with a good time, now.”

Perceptor yelped softly as she was turned and nudged back to drop in a heap of silk and shown skin onto a couch that no doubt cost more than some of her modifications. Ratchet laughed, a wicked and hungry sound and Perceptor’s face flushed even as she grinned with eye alight.

Her hands moved to drape back over the edge of the back of the couch, tie dangling from where it secured her wrists with a slipknot- and her heeled shoes clicked softly as her legs opened to welcome Ratchet to stand between them.

“How lewd, Ratchet-”, murmured Perceptor, her skin already feeling too warm as the CMO knelt down, “Tossing me upon the couch with intent to flip back my skirts? Goodness gracious, whatever will the rest of them think?”

“Worried over your honor, dear?”, teased Ratchet as she indeed pushed Perceptor’s gown skirt up over smooth legs before humming in appreciation, “Apparently not, if this lace-and-lovely is the norm for you.”

Perceptor wriggled with a mischievous grin as Ratchet’s work-roughened hands worked over soft skin, “Oh, no- that was just a special treat for you.”

“I love how your mind works, Percy.”

The sound of silk being torn, and Perceptor yelping “RATCHET!”

The medic rolled her too-blue eyes as the torn gown fell open, sliced through with a scalpel the woman had pulled from who knew where but set up a side table, “You look better in gold and red anyway, love- You know I’ll find you something nicer to replace it with.”

A huff, “Sometimes I do wonder if you just want me wearing ‘your’ colors, Doctor.”

“You caught me.”

Perceptor opened her mouth to make a witty retort but Ratchet was pressing warm kisses to a scar dotted stomach and already the sniper was rocking her hips in a demand for heavier petting. She felt a brief touch of teeth and then the lace she wore over hips was caught and being pulled away while Ratchet’s hands were still digging knowing fingertips into muscles made tense from walking in too-high heels.

Ratchet’s lips once again went back to leaving behind bruising kisses like old rose petals over Perceptor’s thighs as a hand left the sniper’s soft figure; hooking a finger in the lingerie eased away by teeth to tug it further down.

A wriggle and a squirm and Perceptor laughed as it was swiftly removed from around ankles still trapped in the straps of heeled shoes and tossed aside to be forgotten.

“Going to have me kick off my shoes and prepare for a party?”, sassed Perceptor, hoping her voice didn’t come off as too breathless to save the charm of her witty remark.

“Mm... I much rather the idea of you bare aside from those cheeky heels of yours...”, purred Ratchet, moving to grip Perceptor’s hips and tug her closer- glancing from side to side as the snipers heeled shoes moved to rest against the medic’s back.

“Oh, you ARE feeling naughty tonight, aren’t you.”, cooed Perceptor, “I like it.”

“I know.”

Perceptor wanted to comment on the smug tone of those two words but Ratchet had other ideas- ideas that involved nipping gently at dark kissmarks and trailing the contact lower and lower as Perceptor pulled at the trailing end of the tie cinching her wrists together.

“O-oh m-MY!”

Ratchet grunted quietly, feeling the heels dig into her back through the too-well-kept shirt she wore before a quick movement of her shoulders let it begin to slide from her frame; her hands left Perceptor for only a moment to pull it away and let it fall in a puddle of high-end fabric and shiny buttons on the floor before her tongue flicked out over a swollen clit and made Perceptor shriek at the Devil’s pitch as her back arched.

“So sensitive....”, purred Ratchet, nuzzling into Perceptor’s thigh as the sniper panted already, “Someone’s pet mercenary must not be able to last long enough.”

“Hmph!”

“I’ll take that as a yes. Lucky for you, sweetheart, the Doctor’s in.”

A giggle through the blush, “Oh, you are AWFU-u-ngh!!!”

One of Ratchet’s hands slid away from Perceptor’s to-perfect hips to slide one finger slowly, carefully, between slick lips as the sniper groaned weakly; her body clenching down on the digit only for her to shudder as Ratchet curled the finger with a smile.

“We’ll take it slow, just for fun.”

“Y-You TEASE!”

“You know it.”, murmured Ratchet against Perceptor’s thigh before one finger became two, before a silver tongue came once more into play and the CMO played her partner’s synapses like an orchestral piano- every touch and tease pulling forth clarion sharps and fulls as Perceptor writhed and arched and drummed her heels against Ratchet’s now mostly bare back.

Ratchet gave a dirty hum of enjoyment, pausing in her ministrations only to lick her bitten lips clean before setting back to it with a gusto- an amused noise escaping her when Perceptor’s thighs suddenly snapped shut around her head and made her vision swim a little from the force.

The sniper’s hips rocked out of time and tempo as she whimpered and wailed Ratchet’s name, pleading for her not to stop, to never stop untilt he sniper’s legs shook and dropped open again, slipping from Ratchet’s shoulders as the heeled shoes tilted and turned from the Perceptor’s toes trying to curl while encased in patent leather.

Ratchet’s hand was sticky and saturated to the wrist, and she hadn’t bothered to count the times Perceptor’s shrieking had peaked and broken in succession but hearing the rapid two-time tattoo of the sniper whispering “Please!” in delicious desperation made the CMO’s eyes darken as she smiled from where she knelt.

She withdrew her hand, giving a gentle kiss to Perceptor’s stomach even as the sniper howled in angry desire before Ratchet loomed over her, grinning her manic grin and her blue eyes alight like glaciers over the moonrise.

“So much for only a day, darling?”, she cooed, leaning down enough for Perceptor’s still bound wrists to hook around her neck. She laughed, easily working her hands under Perceptor’s slim frame and hoisting her up into a bridal carry.

A hungry kiss between the pair of them as they retreated from the front room to the berthroom- leaving behind a hapahazardly piled dress shirt and a bit of barely there lace.

Before the berthroom door fully closed, a torn silk gown was tossed through the door way to flutter down tot he floor; followed by the door clicking shut and Perceptor’s high and wavering voice sounding out once again as Ratchet easily kept her on a knifeblade edge.

[hazelandglasz]

"I meet and fall in love with you in every lifetime at the same age but your age is always different so it never works out and for the first time I’m meeting you when we’re the same age and I’m horrified that I might fuck this up." Sterek with Derek as the one who's always the same age *w*

On AO3

Derek is 20 when he meets Stiles for the first time.

Derek is always 20 whenever he meets Stiles after that moment, until now.

But let’s catch them at the start, shall we?

Earth 745, Year 1650

Derek rides into the forest, his battle wolf happily howling at being allowed to run so freely.

“Steady, steady.”

The forest is always Derek’s favorite place to run and hunt. The spirits welcome him as one of their own and light up his way, but other creatures are not as welcoming.

If Derek came today, it’s because his Queen heard about a rumor.

A worrying one.

That Sparks have settled on the edge of their forest, using the spirits and the kingdom’s resources.

Triskel comes to an halt, muzzle raised in the air to sniff it.

“Aroo?”

Derek pats her neck to calm her, closing his eyes to visualize what she sensed.

Sparks are definitely moving around this area.

No aggression in their feelings.

Just … settlement.

There is a particularly strong Spark that seems to lead them.

There!

Derek opens his eyes, glowing just as red as Triskel’s, and they both turn them toward the entrance of the meadow.

Where a Spark stands, arms crossed over his chest.

In Wolf years, he looks to be just a bit younger than Derek, but Derek has been raised, taught, better than that.

Sparks may be a unique brand of Spirits, but they still belong in their family of beings.

A Wolf lifetime barely counts as a Revolution for a Spark. 

This one may look young, but his age must already be in the three numbers range.

The power exuding from his fingertips is proof enough.

“You’re on private property,” Derek calls, keeping his hands on Triskel’s neck.

The Spark sends a half-crooked smile his way. “This land was Spark land long before you lot bonded with the first pup.”

Triskel hums under Derek’s touch, leaning her massive head toward the spark.

“But I’m not here to escalate an argument with you, your highness,” the Spark says more gently and more seriously. 

“Why are you here, then?”

“To offer an alliance between our packs.”

Derek blinks at the offer. Legends about Sparks do not depict them as a fraternizing lot, even less helpful than Foxes and Hunters. “An alliance?”

“Quid pro Quo, my prince,” the Spark says, stepping closer. The grass curbs in front of his naked feet, and though there is no wind, his brown hair moves gently in an invisible breeze. “You let us stay where we settled, we protect the Eastern border of the Kingdom, everybody wins.”

“How do we know you won’t betray us at the first chance?”

“Please,” the Spark says, blowing air at Derek. “We may be powerful, but you Wolves have the strength to disseminate us. I quite like living, thank you very much, especially with all my limbs still attached to my body.”

Derek unconsciously drags his eyes down the Spark’s slender frame and can’t help but nod.

It would be a shame to hurt this particular body.

“I’m but the prince,” he finally answers, refusing to acknowledge either the heat he can feel on his cheeks or the smirk on the Spark’s face. “I cannot sign a treaty of this magnitude.”

“And I am not my pack’s leader,” the Spark replies. “Let’s consider each other as intermediaries for our people.”

“I will still need some proof of your trustworthiness.”

“How about a blood pact?”

“That would work.”

“Here,” the Spark says, bringing his wrist to his lips and biting, tearing the glowing skin and letting a droplet of bluish blood run down his forearm. Derek dismounts from Triskel, mirroring the Spark’s gesture, before bringing his wrist to the Spark’s.

Their bloods mix, and for a second, their attached wrists glow golden.

Triskel whines, breaking the enchantment that took over Derek for a moment.

“Bonded,” the Spark says with a beaming smile. “I can’t hurt you and you can’t hurt me.”

“I suppose I could give you my name now.”

“That’s called manners, your highness.”

“Call me Derek.”

“Call me--” the Spark starts, but the sound that follows does not belong in a Wolf’s throat.

Derek’s confusion must be obvious, as the Spark lets out a burst of laughter.

“Call me Stiles, then.”

“What’s a Stiles?”

“A me,” Stiles replies, licking his wrist clean. “Only one of me.”

Somehow, Derek does not doubt him for a second.

--

When Death comes for Derek, once his hair and beard have turned white, once his face is covered in more lines than a tree, when his eyes close on a smile, Stiles is still by his side, leaning forward to whisper in his ear.

“See you in the next life, big guy.”

xxxxxx

Earth 504, Year 52

Somehow, when Derek turns three, he knows.

He knows that he was a prince, he knows that he’s on a new cycle, and he knows …

He knows that he has to find Stiles for this life to be worth living.

That is a pretty hard concept to formally have in a three-year-old mind, but the idea is there to stay.

Though what Stiles will look like and how they will meet is a mystery.

When Derek turns twenty, he meets Stiles.

More precisely, he meets flight instructor Stilinski.

Though Stiles is a dragon rider in this life, wrinkles around his eyes and mouth signaling his propensity to smile and laugh, Derek has no doubt that this Stiles is his Stiles.

“The young Alpha worships you, Stiles,” he overhears a conversation between Stiles and Master Martin.

Stiles laughs. “He’s a good kid. Will be one hell of a rider some day.”

“I think he has a crush on you.”

“Can you blame him?” Stiles gestures at himself and through his embarrassment, Derek feels a surge of fondness for Stiles, from their past camaraderie.

“I’m serious, Stiles.” Master Martin swats at Stiles’ shoulder. “You need to be careful with him. Don’t go and break his heart.”

Stiles opens his mouth, eyes glaring in offense before he lets it all out in a sigh. “All I want is for Derek to be happy.”

“I know that. Be his tutor, be his friend.”

“I will.”

--

When Spark falls under a vicious attack, his rider as good as dead on his back, Derek can only let Triskel follow them into the Darkness.

“See you in the next life, Stiles.”

xxxxxx

Life after life after life, Derek gets reunited with Stiles.

Whenever they meet, their bond is reignited and they remain by each other’s side until one of them moves onto the next life.

Life after life, Derek remembers all of their common pasts, too.

And as much as Stiles can be annoying, frustrating, too bright for his own good, Derek finds himself drawn to him, life after life after life.

In this life, though, Derek has almost met Stiles when he was just a bit younger.

In this life, he’s fifteen when he feels Stiles in his proximity, but at the time, his family just got decimated and he can’t find it in his heart to make the move toward that connection.

But the presence he feels is young, just a bit younger than him but not by a wide margin.

For the first time ever, it’s even a relatively small gap that separates them, age-wise.

Not that he dwells on it at the time, consumed by grief, rage and shame as he is.

But they do meet when Derek is twenty.

“You’re on private property.”

He may be scowling, but in his mind, Derek allows himself to be sentimental.

Maybe it is Fate that brought us together, making him repeat his words from their first encounter on the life where they have a real chance of bringing this relationship to another level.

A thought which is immediately followed by, “I’m going to fuck this up”.

---

The pull toward Stiles is just as irresistible as it always is, but Derek resists.

He knows he will, can, fuck this up, damage Stiles and perhaps break the bonds that has lasted through centuries.

With the many life of retrospects he has on their lives together, Derek is convinced that the first Stiles, the Spark, the magical being, created that bond to make sure they would meet again.

To get a chance to be together, as lovers.

But if there is one thing this life has taught Derek, it’s his propensity to fuck things up beyond repair.

Especially relationships.

Especially the people he loves.

The last thing he wants is to hurt Stiles.

The next to last thing he wants is to lose Stiles.

His life is a fucking conundrum and he hates it.

---

And then, Stiles saves his life.

Derek has to admit, he didn’t see it coming.

As they manage to stay afloat in the pool while the kanima prowls its edges, Derek allows himself a moment to consider that really, this is a repetition of their first shared lifetime.

After all, despite his frail appearance, Stiles the Spark did save Derek the Wolf prince many, many times.

This time around, Stiles’ fragility is a calculated ploy to deceit people into underestimating him.

Derek admires this wit more than he would like to admit.

Falling in love with Stiles is just as easy as breathing, but Derek remains terrified.

Not of hurting Stiles, because fight after fight, Stiles proves how strong and resilient he really is, but of, again, fucking everything up.

---

Until the Berserkers.

Until his full shift.

Because managing to push his shift to this extreme, reconnecting with his mom, with his powers, with himself, brings Derek to one conclusion.

He may have found his balance, but in order to be complete, he needs Stiles by his side.

In a more permanent way than simply being “here”.

Once the decision has settled in his mind, there is no more room in Derek for fear, uncertainty and doubt.

Only focus on making it become a reality.

Because now, Derek knows how to avoid a fuck-up.

AKA, How to Woo a Stiles 101.

Going all out and romantic would just freak him out, that much Derek is sure of, no matter how much Stiles may be, is, attracted to him.

But by going in small, subtle touches--getting the pizza he likes, wear comfortable and unthreatening (yet flattering) cloth, creating a safe environment--Derek slowly manages to get closer to Stiles.

Even that would be enough, if he’s honest to himself: having Stiles close, close enough to touch, to smell, to protect.

That’s where he is in his thoughts one evening, when Stiles is the only one left in the Pack’s loft, the pizza has been reduced to its crust and neither one of them knows what is playing on the TV anymore.

Stiles laughs at something silly Derek just said, and with a contented sigh, drops his head to Derek’s shoulder.

And Derek freezes.

And Stiles looks up, long eyelashes slowly revealing his beautiful brown eyes..

Derek stays still.

And Stiles considers him, a wall wrinkle apparating between his eyebrows before it clears out.

Derek stays still, still.

Stiles slowly leans upward, his breath tickling Derek’s neck until his lips meet Derek’s cheek.

It all happens in slow motion, and Derek stays still.

Stiles straightens up, still focused on Derek, before cupping Derek’s face in his hands.

A golden light appears in his eyes, taking over the ring surrounding his pupils. 

Derek gasps, just as Stiles leans forward.

Their lips could be touching, barely kept apart, as Stiles smiles.

“Hello again, big guy.”

Before pulling Derek in for a long, long-awaited kiss.

------

Same Earth, same year, some months later

“You knew?”

“I don’t know. Not knew, knew.”

“Nyunyu?”

Stiles rubs his nose against Derek’s stomach before blowing a raspberry there. “All those lives, I never knew for sure. I had a, a …”

“A feeling?”

“An instinct, yeah.”

Derek sighs, his fingers tangled in Stiles’ hair. “I’m glad we found each other in this life.”

“I hope we’ll find each other in the next.”

“Me too.”

“Though the later the better.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

[outranks]

let's take a chance on happiness

somewhat belated birthday bash fic for @deputy-dianablack!! I had a lot of fun writing with your Deputy!! I hope you enjoy this ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ 

(and thank you so much to @edensgay for organizing everything!!)

pairing: OC Deputy Diana Black & Faith Seed

Lately Diana has been having problems with flowers, and for the first time since she arrived in Hope County it’s not the Bliss. Every time she’s in or around the Henbane she finds flowers where there should be no flowers. A gardenia in her car when she went to meet her friends at the 8-bit, daisies left scattered around the house she’d decided to crash in for the night, and now dandelions braided into Boomer’s collar. It’s not harmful, exactly, it’s just confusing and Diana isn’t sure what to make of it. If it only happened once or twice she could pass it off as a coincidence, but she’s pretty sure that someone wants her attention.

She’s just not sure who.

“Hey boy,” she says, crouching down to check Boomer for any clues that may have been left behind. “Who gave you these flower, huh? Can you lead me to them?”

Boomer barks and wags his tail happily, but doesn’t solve the mystery of the flowers.

Diana scritches at his ears anyway. “Aww, you’re a good boy, aren’t you? Yes you are! And you’re going to help me figure this out, right? Right! You are!”

“Are you—” someone clears their throat behind her. “Are you talking to the dog?”

Diana startles and loses her balance, toppling backward onto the ground with a yelp. “Faith?” It definitely looks like Faith, though Diana doesn’t trust anything in the Henbane to be what it appears.

“Have you thought more on walking the path?” Faith asks, stepping forward to help Diana get back on her feet. She’s solid, for once, and her skin is warm to the touch. She’s real. “There is a place for you here in the Project.”

“Right.” Diana brushes the dirt from her clothes, more than a little confused. On the one hand, Faith is much less unnerving than her brothers, but on the other hand she’s been having a very weird few days and now Faith is visiting her in person. “Um, no thank you,” she says. She’d prefer not to kill anyone, all things considered. At least not on the orders of Joseph Seed. She’s only met the man once at the church and it definitely wasn’t a great first meeting.

Faith hums, rocking back on her heels. “You would be welcome here.”

“Sure, yeah,” Diana shrugs, swaying to the side when Boomer bumps her legs as he runs circles around her and Faith.

“Your dog has dandelions in its collar.”

“Yeah,” Diana says, “weird, right?”

Faith frowns. “You think so?”

“Yes?” Diana shrugs again, feeling a little awkward standing out in the open, having a conversation with Faith who she is only mostly sure isn’t a hallucination. “It’s sweet, I think, but I don’t know how they got there.”

Faith rolls her shoulder back, meeting her eyes. “Maybe it means something.”

“Like a threat?”

“No,” Faith sighs, “something else.”

“Oh.” Diana looks from Boomer’s collar, then to Faith, and back to the dandelions starting to come loose from the braid. “Maybe they just thought Boomer would look pretty.”

“Maybe,” Faith says, looking off to the side where a group of Resistance fighters are walking on the road, getting closer and closer to seeing them. “You will see, soon enough.” She steps back, disappearing into a cloud of Bliss, leaving Diana and Boomer staring at the empty spot where Faith used to be.

“Was that a threat?” Diana is now much less sure that she hasn’t been hallucinating the entire time.

*

After that she starts finding red rose petals around places of interest for her, specifically. They’re scattered at shrines, on walkways leading to outposts she’s yet to take, and on one memorable occasion they were filling a boat she sank accidentally. It’s possible that it’s meaningless or meant for some other purpose, but it all feels very pointed. Like someone is leaving behind rose petals just for her.

And it is a little romantic, even if she still doesn’t understand it.

“Have you noticed there are a lot of rose petals around lately?” Sharky asks, kicking a few up into the air. “That’s weird, right? I’m not just imagining things and there have been rose petals her the whole time that I just haven’t noticed?”

Diana plucks one off the ground and examines it. “No, they’re definitely new.”

“You think Faith is changing from Bliss to roses?”

Which is a fair question, given the excess of roses they’re currently wading through, but there are still Bliss fields as far as the eye can see. “Maybe they’re mutant roses,” she says, because that’s always a possibility that should be considered in the Henbane. “Some kind of hybrid flower.”

Sharky groans, stepping away from the trail of petals. “God I hope you’re wrong, I’ve had enough of drugged flowers to last me the rest of my natural life.”

“Yeah.” Diana tosses the petal into the air and watches as it flutters back to the ground.

“The roses have not been modified,” Faith says. “The Bliss is more than we need already.”

“Oh God,” Sharky says, jumping and clutching at his heart. “These hallucinations get more real every time.”

Diana frowns and narrows her eyes. “I don’t think she’s a hallucination.”

Faith smiles pleasantly, and picks up a few rose petals of her own.

Sharky takes a step back, gesturing with his thumb over his shoulder. “Then I’ll uh— I’ll be over there,” he says. “Shout if you need me or an assload of fire.”

“Got it,” Diana says, waving him off before she gives her full attention to Faith. “Are you—” following me, she thinks to ask and then reconsiders when she remembers that of course the Seeds are all keeping tabs on her. “Do you want something?” And will Diana be able to avoid jumping off the damn statue again, because that was enough of heart stopping adventure the first time.

“You’ve noticed the roses?”

Diana nods. They’re everywhere how could she miss them? “Are they a problem?” If they are, will she be expected to solve it? Last she checked, she still worked for the Resistance.

Faith sighs deeply. “The petals mean something.”

“Oh.” Diana can’t even begin to guess at what kind of message someone is trying to send by leaving them all over the Henbane. She had thought it was directed at her, but now she’s starting to wonder if it’s not some message to Faith regarding her Bliss plants. “That’s… bad?” She’s just guessing here and she doesn’t have a lot to work with.

“You think it’s bad?”

“Is it good?”

“They’re red rose petals.”

Diana is more confused than she was before, but now she thinks she’s also arguing with Faith which is both amusing and deeply concerning. There are definitely rules about having casual conversations with the enemy. “Do red rose petals mean something important?”

Faith sighs again and drops the petals she’s holding. “Yes,” she says, “it means subtlety isn’t working.”

“What does…” Diana asks herself because Faith has disappeared again, leaving her alone with a cloud of Bliss and Sharky singing to himself off in the distance.

*

The next time Diana finds flowers where no flowers should be is when she’s alone in the Henbane and a rabbit runs across her path. Except the rabbit has antlers and a string of flowers woven through them. At least, she thinks that’s what she’s seeing, but she’s been spending a lot of time around the Bliss lately and there’s always the possibility that it’s all going to her head. Still, she decides to follow the strange rabbit, just in case.

“Do you know what white violets mean?” Faith asks, perched on an abandoned ATV hidden in the woods.

The rabbit stops at her feet, seemingly unafraid of this one particular human, before it hops away into the tall grass.

Diana stops walking, frowning at the spot where the rabbit hopped out of view. “That did have antlers right?”

Faith shrugs and climbs off of the ATV, walking closer to Diana. “The violets mean take a chance,” she says. “Be happy.”

“Oh.” Diana isn’t sure how to respond to that, but it occurs to her, for the first time, that Faith might be the one sending the flowers. To her. Which would explain a lot and it’s a little embarrassing that she somehow hadn’t noticed until a rabbit with antlers was brought into the mix. Who else could orchestrate that besides Faith? “Are you giving me flowers?”

“Yes,” Faith says.

“Why?”

Faith looks off to the side for a moment, like she’s considering what she wants to say, before she takes a slow, deep breath. “If I had told you that I was interested in you, how would you have reacted?”

“I don’t know,” Diana says. She still doesn’t know how to react to any of this. Sure, the flowers are nice, but they seem unnecessarily complicated. Which is pretty standard for the Seeds, actually. They are the most dramatic family in the county. “Positively?”

“I wanted you to understand that my intentions were pure.”

Diana still doesn’t know what any of the other flowers mean, and pure intentions definitely weren’t the signal she was picking up, but it is the most effort anyone has ever gone to for her attention. It’s kind of nice. “Oh, okay, well—”

“I don’t expect anything from you in return,” Faith says, stepping closer again.

“That’s— that’s good, I don’t really have anything for you.” Though Diana pats at her pockets to check, just in case.

“Your attention,” Faith says, “your friendship?”

There’s a strong possibility that Faith means something more than friendship, but Diana is exactly opposed to the idea. She doesn’t want to fight for Joseph Seed, however she does want to know what Faith has in mind. She wants to know what their future will be if she agrees. “Yes,” she says. “Okay.”

“Will you come with me?” Faith holds out her hand. “I want to show you what we can have, together.”

Diana hesitates for just a moment. There are a lot of reasons to be wary of the Seeds and a lot of reasons to back out now while she still can. There are also a handful of reasons and ton of flowers, given to her by Faith, that say should should keep going and see where this path will lead her.

She takes Faith’s hand in her own. “Let’s go.”

[thestreamofconsciousness777]

A strong angel lifted up a stone like a great millstone and hurled it into the sea, saying: “Thus with a swift pitch will Babylon the great city be hurled down, and she will never be found again...  

“The word that Jehovah spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chal·de’ans, by means of Jeremiah the prophet: “Tell [it] among the nations and publish [it]. And lift up a signal; publish [it]. Hide nothing, O men. Say, ‘Babylon has been captured. Bel has been put to shame. Mer’o·dach has become terrified. Her images have been put to shame. Her dungy idols have become terrified.’ For against her a nation has come up from the north. It is the one that makes her land an object of astonishment, so that there proves to be no one dwelling in her. Both man and domestic animal have taken flight. They have gone away.”

“In those days and at that time,” is the utterance of Jehovah, “the sons of Israel, they and the sons of Judah together, will come. They will walk, weeping as they walk, and for Jehovah their God they will seek. To Zion they will keep asking the way, with their faces in that direction, [saying,] ‘Come and let us join ourselves to Jehovah in an indefinitely lasting covenant that will not be forgotten.’ A flock of perishing creatures my people has become. Their own shepherds have caused them to wander about. On the mountains they have led them away. From mountain to hill they have gone. They have forgotten their resting-place. All those finding them have eaten them up, and their own adversaries have said, ‘We shall not become guilty, due to the fact that they have sinned against Jehovah the abiding place of righteousness and the hope of their forefathers, Jehovah.’”

“Take YOUR flight out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth even out of the land of the Chal·de’ans, and become like the leading animals before the flock. For here I am arousing and bringing up against Babylon a congregation of great nations from the land of the north, and they will certainly array themselves against her. From there she will be captured. One’s arrows are like those of a mighty man causing bereavement of children, who does not come back without results. And Chal·de’a must become a spoil. All those making spoil of her will satisfy themselves,” is the utterance of Jehovah.

“For YOU men kept rejoicing, for YOU men kept exulting when pillaging my own inheritance. For YOU kept pawing like a heifer in the tender grass, and YOU kept neighing like stallions. The mother of YOU men has become very much ashamed. She that gave YOU birth has been disappointed. Look! She is the least important of the nations, a waterless wilderness and a desert plain. Because of the indignation of Jehovah she will not be inhabited, and she must become a desolate waste in her entirety. As for anyone passing along by Babylon, he will stare in astonishment and whistle on account of all her plagues.

“Array yourselves against Babylon on every side, all YOU who are treading the bow. Shoot at her. Spare no arrow, for it is against Jehovah that she has sinned. Shout a war cry against her on every side. She has given her hand. Her pillars have fallen. Her walls have been torn down. For it is the vengeance of Jehovah. Take YOUR vengeance on her. Just as she has done, do to her. Cut off the sower from Babylon, and the one handling the sickle in the time of harvest. Because of the maltreating sword they will turn each one to his own people, and they will flee each one to his own land.

“Israel is a scattered sheep. Lions themselves have done the dispersing. In the first instance the king of As·syr’i·a has devoured him, and in this latter instance Neb·u·chad·rez’zar the king of Babylon has gnawed on his bones. Therefore this is what Jehovah of armies, the God of Israel, has said, ‘Here I am turning my attention upon the king of Babylon and upon his land in the same way that I turned my attention upon the king of As·syr’i·a. And I will bring Israel back to his pasture ground, and he will certainly graze on Car’mel and on Ba’shan; and in the mountainous region of E’phra·im and of Gil’e·ad his soul will be satisfied.’”

“And in those days and at that time,” is the utterance of Jehovah, “the error of Israel will be searched for, but it will not be; and the sins of Judah, and they will not be found, for I shall forgive those whom I let remain.”

“Against the land of Mer·a·tha’im—come up against her and against the inhabitants of Pe’kod. Let there be a massacre and a devoting to destruction close upon them,” is the utterance of Jehovah, “and do according to all that I have commanded you. There is the sound of war in the land, and a great breakdown. O how the forge hammer of all the earth has been cut down and gets broken! O how Babylon has become a mere object of astonishment among the nations! I have laid a snare for you and you have also been caught, O Babylon, and you yourself did not know [it]. You were found and also taken hold of, for it was against Jehovah that you excited yourself.

“Jehovah has opened his storehouse, and he brings forth the weapons of his denunciation. For there is a work that the Sovereign Lord, Jehovah of armies, has in the land of the Chal·de’ans. Come in to her from the farthest part. Open up her granaries. Bank her up, just like those making heaps, and devote her to destruction. May she not come to have any remaining ones. Massacre all her young bulls. May they go down to the slaughter. Woe to them, for their day has come, the time for their being given attention!

“There is the sound of those fleeing and those escaping from the land of Babylon to tell out in Zion the vengeance of Jehovah our God, the vengeance for his temple.

“SUMMON against Babylon archers, all who are treading the bow. Encamp against her all around. May there prove to be no escapees. Pay back to her according to her activity. According to all that she has done, do to her. For it is against Jehovah that she has acted presumptuously, against the Holy One of Israel. Therefore her young men will fall in her public squares, and even all her men of war will be brought to silence in that day,” is the utterance of Jehovah.

“Look! I am against you, O Presumptuousness,” is the utterance of the Sovereign Lord, Jehovah of armies, “for your day must come, the time that I must give you attention. And Presumptuousness will certainly stumble and fall, and it will have no one to cause it to rise up. And I will set a fire ablaze in its cities, and it must devour all its surroundings.”

This is what Jehovah of armies has said: “The sons of Israel and the sons of Judah are being oppressed together, and all those taking them captive have laid hold on them. They have refused to let them go. Their Repurchaser is strong, Jehovah of armies being his name. Without fail he will conduct their legal case, in order that he may actually give repose to the land and cause agitation to the inhabitants of Babylon.”

“There is a sword against the Chal·de’ans,” is the utterance of Jehovah, “and against the inhabitants of Babylon and against her princes and against her wise ones. There is a sword against the empty talkers, and they will certainly act foolishly. There is a sword against her mighty men, and they will actually become terrified. There is a sword against their horses and against their war chariots and against all the mixed company that are in the midst of her, and they will certainly become women. There is a sword against her treasures, and they will actually be plundered. There is a devastation upon her waters, and they must be dried up. For it is a land of graven images, and because of [their] frightful visions they keep acting crazy. Therefore the haunters of waterless regions will dwell with the howling animals, and in her the ostriches must dwell; and she will nevermore be dwelt in, nor will she reside for generation after generation.”

“Just as with God’s overthrow of Sod’om and of Go·mor’rah and of her neighbor [towns],” is the utterance of Jehovah, “no man will dwell there, nor will the son of mankind reside in her as an alien.

“Look! A people is coming in from the north; and a great nation and grand kings themselves will be roused up from the remotest parts of the earth. Bow and javelin they handle. They are cruel and will show no mercy. The sound of them is like the sea that is boisterous, and upon horses they will ride; set in array as one man for war against you, O daughter of Babylon.

“The king of Babylon has heard the report about them, and his hands have dropped down. There is distress! Severe pains have seized hold of him, just like a woman giving birth.

“Look! Someone will come up just like a lion from the proud [thickets] along the Jordan to the durable abiding place, but in a moment I shall make them run away from her. And the one who is chosen I shall appoint over her. For who is like me, and who will challenge me, and who, now, is the shepherd that can stand before me? Therefore hear, O men, the counsel of Jehovah that he has formulated against Babylon and his thoughts that he has thought out against the land of the Chal·de’ans. Surely the little ones of the flock will be dragged about. Surely on account of them he will cause their abiding place to be desolated. At the sound [when] Babylon has been seized, the earth will certainly be set rocking, and among the nations an outcry itself be heard.”

This is what Jehovah has said: “Here I am rousing up against Babylon and against the inhabitants of Leb-ka’mai a ruinous wind; and I will send to Babylon winnowers who will certainly winnow her and who will make her land empty; for they will actually prove to be against her on all sides in the day of calamity.

“Let the one treading his bow do no treading. And let no one raise himself up in his coat of mail.“ And do not YOU men show any compassion for her young men. Devote to destruction all her army. And they must fall slain in the land of the Chal·de’ans and pierced through in her streets.

“For Israel and Judah are not widowed from their God, from Jehovah of armies. For the land of those has been full of guilt from the standpoint of the Holy One of Israel.

“FLEE out of the midst of Babylon, and provide escape each one for his own soul. Do not be rendered inanimate through her error. For it is the time of vengeance belonging to Jehovah. There is treatment that he is paying back to her. Babylon has been a golden cup in the hand of Jehovah, she making all the earth drunk. From her wine the nations have drunk. That is why the nations keep acting crazed. Suddenly Babylon has fallen, so that she is broken. Howl over her, YOU people. Take balsam for her pain. Perhaps she may be healed.”

“We would have healed Babylon, but she has not been healed. Leave her, YOU people, and let us go each one to his own land. For clear to the heavens her judgment has reached, and it has been lifted up to the cloudy skies. Jehovah has brought forth deeds of righteousness for us. Come and do let us recount in Zion the work of Jehovah our God.”

“Polish the arrows. Fill the circular shields, O men. Jehovah has aroused the spirit of the kings of the Medes, because it is against Babylon that his idea is, in order to bring her to ruin. For it is the vengeance of Jehovah, the vengeance for his temple. Against the walls of Babylon lift up a signal. Make strong the watch. Post the watchmen. Make ready those lying in ambush. For Jehovah both has formed the idea and will certainly do what he has spoken against the inhabitants of Babylon.”

“O woman residing on abounding waters, abundant in treasures, your end has come, the measure of your profit making. Jehovah of armies has sworn by his own soul, ‘I will fill you with men, like the locusts, and they will certainly sing forth over you a shout.’ He is the Maker of the earth by his power, the One firmly establishing the productive land by his wisdom, and the One who by his understanding stretched out the heavens. At [his] voice there is a giving by him of a turmoil of waters in the heavens, and he causes vapors to ascend from the extremity of the earth. He has made even sluices for the rain, and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses. Every man has behaved so unreasoningly as not to know. Every metalworker will feel ashamed because of the carved image; for his molten image is a falsehood, and there is no spirit in them. They are vanity, a work of mockery. In the time of their being given attention they will perish.

“The Share of Jacob is not like these things, for he is the Former of everything, even the staff of his inheritance. Jehovah of armies is his name.

“You are a club for me, as weapons of war, and by you I shall certainly dash nations to pieces, and by you I will bring kingdoms to ruin. And by you I will dash the horse and his rider to pieces, and by you I will dash the war chariot and its rider to pieces. And by you I will dash man and woman to pieces, and by you I will dash old man and boy to pieces, and by you I will dash young man and virgin to pieces. And by you I will dash shepherd and his drove to pieces, and by you I will dash farmer and his span [of animals] to pieces, and by you I will dash governors and deputy rulers to pieces. And I will pay back to Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chal·de’a all their badness that they have committed in Zion before the eyes of YOU people,” is the utterance of Jehovah.

“Here I am against you, O ruinous mountain,” is the utterance of Jehovah, “you ruiner of the whole earth; and I will stretch out my hand against you and roll you away from the crags and make you a burnt-out mountain.”

“And people will not take from you a stone for a corner or a stone for foundations, because desolate wastes to time indefinite are what you will become,” is the utterance of Jehovah.

“Lift up a signal in the land, O men. Blow a horn among the nations. Sanctify against her the nations. Summon against her the kingdoms of Ar’a·rat, Min’ni and Ash’ke·naz. Commission against her a recruiting officer. Make the horses come up like bristly locusts. Sanctify against her the nations, the kings of Me’di·a, its governors and all its deputy rulers and all the land of each one’s dominion. And let the earth rock and be in severe pain, for against Babylon the thoughts of Jehovah have risen up to make the land of Babylon an object of astonishment, without an inhabitant.

“The mighty men of Babylon have ceased to fight. They have kept sitting in the strong places. Their mightiness has run dry. They have become women. Her residences have been set on fire. Her bars have been broken.

“One runner runs to meet another runner, and one reporter to meet another reporter, to report to the king of Babylon that his city has been captured at every end, and that the fords themselves have been seized, and the papyrus boats they have burned with fire, and the men of war themselves have become disturbed.”

For this is what Jehovah of armies, the God of Israel, has said: “The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor. It is the time to tread her down solid. Yet a little while and the time of the harvest must come for her.”

“Neb·u·chad·rez’zar the king of Babylon has eaten me up; he has thrown me into confusion. He has set me as an empty vessel. He has swallowed me down like a big snake; he has filled his abdomen with my pleasant things. He has rinsed me away. ‘The violence done to me and [to] my organism be upon Babylon!’ the inhabitress of Zion will say. ‘And my blood be upon the inhabitants of Chal·de’a!’ Jerusalem will say.”

Therefore this is what Jehovah has said: “Here I am conducting your legal case, and I shall certainly execute vengeance for you. And I will dry up her sea, and I will make her wells dry. And Babylon must become piles of stones, the lair of jackals, an object of astonishment and something to whistle at, without an inhabitant. All together they will roar just like maned young lions. They will certainly growl like the whelps of lions.”

“When they are heated I shall set their banquets and I will make them drunk, in order that they may exult; and they must sleep an indefinitely lasting sleep, from which they will not wake up,” is the utterance of Jehovah. “I shall bring them down like male sheep to the slaughtering, like rams along with the he-goats.”

“O how She’shach has been captured, and how the Praise of the whole earth gets to be seized! How Babylon has become a mere object of astonishment among the nations! The sea has come up even over Babylon. By the multitude of its waves she has been covered. Her cities have become an object of astonishment, a waterless land and a desert plain. As a land, in them no man will dwell, and through them no son of mankind will pass. And I will turn my attention upon Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth what he has swallowed. And to him nations will stream no more. Also, the wall itself of Babylon must fall.

“Get out of the midst of her, O my people, and provide each one his soul with escape from the burning anger of Jehovah. Or otherwise YOUR heart will be timid, and YOU will become afraid because of the report that is to be heard in the land. And in one year the report will actually come, and after it in another year there will be the report and violence in the earth and ruler against ruler. Therefore, look! there are days coming, and I will turn my attention upon the graven images of Babylon; and all her own land will become ashamed, and all her own slain ones will fall in the midst of her.

“And over Babylon the heavens and the earth and all that is in them will certainly cry out joyfully, for out of the north there will come to her the despoilers,” is the utterance of Jehovah. “Not only was Babylon the cause for the slain ones of Israel to fall but also at Babylon the slain ones of all the earth have fallen.

“YOU escapees from the sword, keep going. Do not stand still. From far away remember Jehovah, and may Jerusalem herself come up into YOUR heart.”

“We have been put to shame, for we have heard reproach. Humiliation has covered our faces, for strangers have come against the holy places of the house of Jehovah.”

“Therefore, look! there are days coming,” is the utterance of Jehovah, “and I will turn my attention upon her graven images, and throughout all her land the pierced one will groan.”

“Even if Babylon should ascend to the heavens and even if she should make the height of her strength unapproachable, from me the despoilers will come to her,” is the utterance of Jehovah.

“Listen! There is an outcry from Babylon, and a great crash from the land of the Chal·de’ans, for Jehovah is despoiling Babylon, and he will certainly destroy out of her the great voice, and their waves will actually be boisterous like many waters. The noise of their voice will certainly be given out.  For there must come upon her, upon Babylon, the despoiler, and her mighty men will certainly be captured. Their bows must be shattered, for Jehovah is a God of recompenses. Without fail he will repay. And I will make her princes and her wise ones, her governors and her deputy rulers and her mighty men drunk, and they must sleep an indefinitely lasting sleep, from which they will not wake up,” is the utterance of the King, whose name is Jehovah of armies.

This is what Jehovah of armies has said: “The wall of Babylon, although broad, will without fail be demolished; and her gates, although high, will be set aflame with fire. And the peoples will have to toil for simply nothing, and national groups simply for the fire; and they will just tire themselves out.”

The word that Jeremiah the prophet commanded Se·rai’ah the son of Ne·ri’ah the son of Mah·sei’ah when he went with Zed·e·ki’ah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his being king; and Se·rai’ah was the quartermaster. And Jeremiah proceeded to write in one book all the calamity that would come upon Babylon, even all these words written against Babylon. Furthermore, Jeremiah said to Se·rai’ah: “As soon as you come to Babylon and actually see [her], you must also read aloud all these words. And you must say, ‘O Jehovah, you yourself have spoken against this place, in order to cut it off so that there may come to be in it no inhabitant, either man or even domestic animal, but that she may become mere desolate wastes to time indefinite.’ And it must occur that when you will have completed reading this book, you will tie to it a stone, and you must pitch it into the midst of the Eu·phra’tes. And you must say, ‘This is how Babylon will sink down and never rise up because of the calamity that I am bringing in upon her; and they will certainly tire themselves out.’” Down to this point are the words of Jeremiah.

-Jeremiah 50 & 51, NWT

The Two Babylons or The Papal Worship Proved to be The Worship of Nimrod And His Wife

[bisexualryder]

How well does Olivia get along with her advisors and companions? Dorian and Solas not so much apparently, but how about the others?

That’s definitely a loaded, mixed-bag question! And I’m grateful you asked ❤️ Playing again with her has made me realize, and remember, things aren’t wholly what I thought they might be when I was planning her out.

Also… uhhh, putting a cut halfway thru cause this got long.

Case and point on that is Sera. They have this playful relationship that’s friendly and flirty, but also gets quite strained at times. Olivia’s faith and her strong belief in the templars is a huge problem with Sera. The strain gets a bit much for Olivia and she begins to distance herself to cut out the complication.

Cole is another interesting one. Olivia is so very torn about Cole. In her heart she knows he wants to help, that he is helping and did help her with Envy. But everything she’s learned in her life as a templar has taught her to fear what he is, to cast away (if not kill) what the Chantry has told her is a demon. It’s her compassionate side that allows Cole to stay, but the wary templar in her keeps him at a distance.

Cullen she knew before the Inquisition. He was her superior in Kirkwall and while they didn’t know each other well, they ended up bonding in Haven about shared experiences there and talking about what brought them to the templars, etc. By the time she becomes Inquisitor, their friendship has grown into “bff” territory. They argue like siblings, on occasion, not always seeing eye to eye, but they’re always supportive of each other.

With Leliana it’s friendly professional? Olivia would like to know her and be closer, but after she catches Leliana in her moment of weakness in Haven it quickly becomes an uphill battle. She also manages, though not entirely intentionally, to send off mixed signals? Like, her attitude toward a lot of things, and how she views the world and what they’re doing ends up translating to Leliana closing herself off more and going colder. Leliana’s want/need to be more effective for what the Inquisitor ultimately requires of her closing off that door Olivia hoped to pass through some day.

On the flip side, we have Josephine, who Olivia admires. While unsure of someone so adept at the Game and keen on politics at first, Olivia doesn’t take too long to warm up to Josie. She also develops quite the crush on her, but oh Maker is Olivia bad at flirting. And we all know Josie isn’t the best at picking up on those flirty signals to begin with. As much as Olivia wishes it, that avenue ends up going nowhere, but they do become pretty good friends.

Other than Cullen, probably one of her closest friends is Vivienne. Having only experienced life as a templar in Kirkwall, Olivia’s keen to learn everything she can about Vivienne’s experience. That curiosity leads to many evening discussions between them about how both the Circle and the Order should be and how that change could be implemented. Vivienne is also the one, along with Josie, that helps keep Olivia… presentable to the masses. The outfit she wears in her downtime was a gift from Vivienne, and she even has special armor commissioned just for Olivia once she becomes Inquisitor.

And we, of course, know that Solas and Dorian definitely dislike Olivia - and she them. After a bit of time passes, she and Dorian come to tolerate each other. But it never passes more the chilly professionalism stage between them. He’s there to help and she appreciates that, for the sake of saving the world, but also struggles to look past both the man of Tevinter and the mage. With Solas they just disagree on every fundamental level. She also despises his holier-than-thou arrogance (as she sees it) and takes every opportunity to make sarcastic jabs at him and, whenever possible, prove him wrong.

With Bull, Olivia is wary. They’re generally friendly, but she tries to keep her distance from him. The idea that he’s a spy, even that he willingly shared this information, puts her ill at ease. After the issues with the qunari in Kirkwall, she’s more than a little gun shy, as it were, when it comes to dealing with the Qun. She’s friendly with Krem as well, and has no issues with the Chargers on a whole, just doesn’t spend much time around them. And Krem is usually around when she’s interacting with Bull, acting as a bit of a buffer sometimes to ensure things stay friendly.

At first, Blackwall cannot stand Olivia. He thinks she’s arrogant, can’t see past her own faith, and is too stubborn to accept dissent from others when they disagree with her on whether it was truly divine intervention that saved her at the Conclave. She proves him wrong, however. Helping everyone she can in the Hinterlands, he realizes that she’s not just focused on closing the Breach by “whatever means”. Also when he watches her interact with non-rebel mages (aka those that don’t attack them on site), he realizes she’s not just another templar. And also maybe most importantly she expresses an interest in learning about him, beyond just being a warden, and he realizes she sees him as a man and not a tool. I’ll have to revisit how things go after the… reveal. Not sure I can judge right off hand how that’ll go tbh. She’s been growing more as I’ve been playing her beyond how I planned her out.

Uhh, let’s see, I think that leaves Cassandra and Varric. They’re… interesting ones. Cassandra she mostly gets along with, but sometimes they’re so much alike that Olivia gets… hm, not bored but… I can’t put my finger on the word I want. At any rate, for as much as they can be alike, they also disagree. Or well, mostly when it comes to the purpose of the Inquisition and what can be done with it. Olivia feels Cass looks too much to the past, and even hates when Cass goes off about being among the “few women that have shaped the world”. Olivia wants to be her own person, but also realizes that Cass isn’t really wrong about that and that bothers her. Also Cass totally gets Olivia reading Varric’s books and it’s dreadful for poor Varric.

And speaking of, Olivia and Varric have a tense relationship. He’s much in the same boat as Blackwall was at the start, but doesn’t offer Olivia as much opportunity to… “right” that viewpoint. Not that she particularly tries with him. Like many others, she appreciates that he’s there to help, but they simply disagree about how to go about things and how she wound up where she is. He also may or may not hold past prejudices for her being not simply a templar, but one of Meredith’s. He sees her and fears the chance that red lyrium could somehow wrap itself around her, to steal away their once chance at saving the world.

Bonus round!

I need to think it out a bit more, but Olivia has a good chance of romancing Dagna :3 And along that line, she actually gets along quite well with Harritt and enjoys learning about crafting arms and armour from him.

She also befriends Adan and always goes to him when she needs to resupply on her personal lyrium stores. She usually hangs around for a bit, lending a friendly ear for him to bounce ideas for new recipes off of. He knows she’s bored to death by it, but the fact that she even tries warms his heart. But hell if he’ll ever tell her that. 

And lastly Ashley Hawke. They are a bit unsure of each other at first. Ashley thinks Olivia looks vaguely familiar and the fact of the matter is they probably ran into each other once or twice in Kirkwall, but never much interacted. They end up getting along decently enough - friendly, for sure. More than Varric expected, if one were to ask him about it. They end up enjoying laughs about stories from Kirkwall and Ash enjoys telling stories of growing up in Ferelden. Annnd they do also 100% bang once before going to Crestwood. No strings attached and while Olivia can’t help but feel that extra flutter in her chest later on when talking to Ash or hearing about her, nothing ever happens beyond that. They remain friendly for as long as Ash hangs around to aide the Inquisition.

SO THERE YA GO. I’m sure at some point some of this may all change, lmao, she’s ever shifting but this was fun to answer! And I apologize it took me so long, I was noodling through it while at work (and also just didn’t get a chance to sit and work on it till well after getting home). And also that it’s so damn long lmao.

[khalilhumam]

The Biden presidency and a new direction in education policy

New Post has been published on http://khalilhumam.com/the-biden-presidency-and-a-new-direction-in-education-policy/

The Biden presidency and a new direction in education policy

By Kenneth K. Wong Within the first moments of his speech acknowledging the news that he won the presidential election, Joe Biden heralded a good day for educators. He took the opportunity to acknowledge the educational contribution of Dr. Jill Biden, community college professor and soon-to-be first lady. Biden’s commitment to education is visibly displayed in many of the 49 action plans posted on his website. But the incoming Biden-Harris administration faces major policy and political challenges in the education realm, many of which stem from President Trump’s unilateral action to reduce federal involvement in education. The Trump team primarily pursued a strategy of rolling back initiatives launched by the Obama administration that promoted systemic racial equality, protected student rights, and strengthened state and district capacity. President Trump’s disengagement has created broader policy challenges for the Biden administration as well. The nation’s schools are stretched beyond their capacity to deliver remote instruction and ensure student safety during the pandemic. State budgetary shortfalls will need timely federal assistance. Across thousands of local communities, the Black Lives Matter movement has inspired a racial justice agenda, with clear ripple effects on public schools. Political support for the Biden agenda seems unpredictable as the public sends mixed signals on divided governance. Taking into account candidate Biden’s policy platform, the current policy challenges, and the governing landscape in 2021, I see the Biden-Harris administration likely to focus on several priority areas related to American schooling.

Tame the pandemic and invest in innovation

Confronting the pandemic is Biden’s primary education issue beginning on Jan. 20, 2021. Biden has repeatedly announced that he wants to shut down the virus so he can safely reopen schools and the economy. The Biden administration has relied on the nation’s top health experts to develop effective anti-pandemic strategies and establish national guidelines to restore the nation’s economic and social life. The new administration will need to strengthen its partnership with states and districts to ensure school safety and to implement strategies that narrow the widening learning gap associated with the pandemic—especially in racially or economically marginalized communities. Recent research found a significant gap in mathematics arising during the pandemic. Clearly, the Biden administration will need to act swiftly to work with states and districts to start addressing the gap in teaching, connectivity, resources, social-emotional well-being, and student engagement. In the absence of federal support, the achievement gap and children’s nonacademic needs are likely to grow. Drawing on lessons from the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund of the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the Biden administration may launch an education-focused package to ensure school safety, stabilize teacher employment, strengthen bandwidth for remote and hybrid learning, and prioritize educators to receive vaccines. The Biden team is well positioned to simultaneously manage the next few months of the pandemic and the next generation of learning systems through investments in governmental capacity. The Biden administration may incentivize health and education agencies to share data, coordinate resource allocation, streamline communications, engage parents and communities, and deploy rapid response teams to combat hot spots. Equally important, Biden is well positioned to make significant investment in remote and hybrid learning, pilot new schooling models with flexible schedule and spatial design, and, at the secondary and postsecondary levels, promote cross-institutional collaboration to meet the educational challenge of the global system in the 21st century. These investments may potentially transform teaching and learning by lessening the constraints bounded by place and time. The post-pandemic period may usher a new system of schooling delivery to address inequality of access by zip code and income and racial segregation.

Fight systemic racism

The Biden presidential campaign is closely connected to the hopes and strength of the Black community as articulated in the overwhelming Black support that Biden received throughout the presidential race. The Biden presidency is likely to use executive and administrative tools to reverse the erosion of systemic oversight in civil rights and diversity issues. During the Trump years, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has reduced its reporting requirements and its enforcement activities. It withdrew Obama-era guidelines designed to reduce racial and other discrimination in the implementation of school disciplinary actions. The Trump administration sought to restrict the ability of student borrowers to sue loan-service contractors under state law, and it rescinded Obama-promulgated regulations to penalize for-profit vocational schools that had failed to attain employment targets for their graduates. The Biden presidency has the opportunity to collaborate with historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs), and tribal colleges to address systemic inequality. In this regard, Trump’s effort was piecemeal. With support from Congress, the Trump administration wrote off loans incurred by several HBCUs to repair damages caused by Hurricane Katrina and made federal STEM funding in HBCUs permanent. The Biden administration is likely to adopt a more comprehensive approach that links K-12 and postsecondary opportunities for the Black community. As a graduate of Howard University, Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris is uniquely positioned to shape federal investment in Black-focused initiatives, including medical education and research, legal training, workforce development, and business and social work.

Human capital investment strategies

Biden’s agenda calls for new strategies in human capital investment. First, the federal government can scale education initiatives that are embraced by a number of states and districts. For example, several governors and mayors implement pre-K programs; strengthen the quality and the range of skills-based programs in community colleges; invest in STEM education; and partner with higher ed institutions to ensure teacher education programs adopt high-quality standards that are meeting the needs of a growingly diverse population. Second, the federal government can lead and incentivize innovative practices. In this regard, a critical area that matters in the long run is evidence-based research, which has historically received modest federal support. However, well-executed research has contributed to high-impact strategies and practices in teacher quality, student applications for college financial aid, special education, early childhood education, and charter schools, among other areas. Consistent with multilateralism, the Biden team can take a leading role in international benchmarking. The Biden presidency has an opportunity to narrow the research-practice gap by investing in the R&D functions of the Department of Education.

Deliver new legislation in higher education

Trump’s general lack of interest in higher education has further delayed the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, which has been due since 2014. To be sure, building a legislative coalition is complicated by limited federal authority and strong nonpublic partners in higher education. Reauthorization efforts were stalled even when the Senate HELP Committee’s chair, Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), and its ranking member, Patty Murray (D-Wash.), demonstrated bipartisan cooperation. Clearly, presidential leadership is needed. Biden seems ready to apply his legislative skills and coalition-building experience to craft a bipartisan, omnibus bill. The Biden administration is likely to propose an omnibus higher education bill that improves access, affordability, inclusion, and accountability. Access and affordability would require an expansion of Pell Grants, which currently are set at $6,345—not nearly enough to cover the average cost for tuition and fees at a public institution. These policy aims will call for federal loan forgiveness based on income eligibility, veterans’ support, teacher education enhancement, and investment in HBCUs, HSIs, and tribal colleges. New guardrails will be needed to ensure student borrowers’ rights—including about 350,000 borrowers with disabilities—civil rights, gender equity, and victims’ rights for those who have endured sexual harassment or assault on school campuses. Potentially new federal funding will focus on diversity and STEM, while FAFSA application and verification will be more customer friendly. Biden’s proposal on student loan forgiveness is likely to be favorably received by the higher educator sector, as many colleges and universities have already put in place loan-free programs based on income eligibility. The Biden administration is likely to form multilateral partnerships to promote freely accessible two-year colleges, scaling similar programs that are implemented in Rhode Island and several states. Community colleges, as critical pathways toward economic mobility, will receive particular attention given Dr. Jill Biden’s decades of experience in this area.

Return to responsible governance

The Trump presidency had an adversarial and chaotic relationship with the education community. For example, Secretary Betsy DeVos or her Department of Education have been sued in 455 lawsuits—the most ever in the history of the department, according to an analysis by The 74. This includes eight multistate suits. Most of the complaints focused on student borrowers’ rights, gainful employment, and civil rights. As a comparison, there were 356 cases brought against the Education Department or the secretary of education during Obama’s two terms combined, including zero multistate lawsuits. Recognizing an urgency to restore responsible governance to address multiple crises, the incoming Biden presidency signals a strong commitment to engage diverse stakeholders and subject-matter experts. Biden’s education agenda will need a broad coalition beyond the Beltway that includes civil rights leaders, governors, mayors, teachers’ unions, state legislative leaders, innovative practitioners, higher education leaders, and civic and business stakeholders. Guided by a clear moral compass to serve all students and their families, president-elect Biden will be able to steer the nation toward educational progress.