#hot take but Isolated is extremely mid
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mortifying-macaroni · 5 months ago
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𝔙𝔞𝔪𝔭𝔦𝔯𝔢: 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔐𝔞𝔰𝔮𝔲𝔢𝔯𝔞𝔡𝔢 – 𝔅𝔩𝔬𝔬𝔡𝔩𝔦𝔫𝔢𝔰 (𝔖𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔡𝔱𝔯𝔞𝔠𝔨)
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comicaurora · 2 years ago
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Hey! So I have a trope question
Something I’ve noticed since I was little is a that a lot of media with a trio had the same make up of two boys and one girl, is this a trope or just some weird thing that just happens by random odds?
I think it's a little bit more broad and nebulous than a trope, although it does have a TVTropes page. It's not random odds, it's storytelling trends.
For a number of reasons, the majority of protagonist POV characters are guys. Starting from this premise, if you want to make sure your protagonist always has somebody to play off of so they aren't engaging with the story in complete isolation, you give them at least one character to hang out with. This minimum one character can have all kinds of traits (mentor, scoundrel, battle butler), but if you as a writer are taking the easy, normal approach, you will give this protagonist a friendly buddy/rival to team up and squabble with (and this buddy will also be a guy, because again, this theoretical writer is taking the easy approach to character dynamics), and as a second thought you will probably give our hero a theoretical love interest girl for him to pine after so you can (a) write/draw a Hot Lady as much as you want and (b) get Hero Boy to cover a broader range of emotional situations within the comfort of his friend group. Thus you have rederived the trope of Two Guys And A Girl, congratulations on your moderately successful mid-2000s gaming webcomic.
As the story continues you might realize Girl Who Exists So Protagonist Can Remember Girls Exist is not actually an appealing love interest for him, so you'll probably pair off Girl with Second Guy and leave Hero Boy to pursue other romantic avenues. Second Guy is liable to be rather more interesting anyway, since he's going to be a Lancer to the hero's Leader-ness and serve as his primary foil, meaning he has a little more personality and frankly a lot more romantic tension with the lead. In fact, if you want to be really lazy about it, you can take these three characters and snap them into a love triangle with absolutely no extra work on your part, and that's an infinite drama generator at no cost to you.
You might take a slightly different approach if you, the writer, are a lady writing a lady-centric romantic story, in which case Girl is liable to be the POV character while her buds Hero Boy and Rival Boy take turns having romantic subplot adventures with her. In these narrative structures you don't want to add another girl to the inner circle, because the presence of a Romantic Rival (which seems to be the only purpose Other Girls serve in these stories) would spoil the center-of-the-universe romantic fantasy, so your hands are tied and we're back to Two-Guys-And-A-Girl again. You might add a supportive girl best friend when it gets adapted for netflix though - she can pair off with whichever boy loses at no additional cost.
What we're seeing here is Easy Mode Storytelling. This is what happens when a writer takes the extremely well-traveled road and lets their wheels slide into the well-worn tracks and follow where they may. It's not good or bad, it's just easy. It's a story we can recite in our sleep. This particular character arrangement occurs with unusual frequency because there are a number of factors that make it easy, and when you take a broad approach, the easy approach will be statistically favored.
This triple arrangement can obviously be genderflipped - Hero Girl with her friends Rival Girl and Love Interest Boy - but this is less common just by the numbers, because in the space of fiction there are more Hero Boys than Hero Girls. All-boy and all-girl trios also happen, but because most people are straight, most writers will see this as depriving themselves of all the exciting romantic tension they could get from having One Token Character to be romantically viewed and pursued. Additional characters can be added to the group, leading to Four-Temperament Ensembles and Five-Man Bands, but broadly this three-person arrangement is the smallest possible Ensemble Cast unit a writer can easily construct.
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deanwithscissors · 2 years ago
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Love In An Elevator - Part 1
Title: Home Sweet Home Timestamp
Pairing: Jensen X Reader
Word Count: 870
Warnings: Swearing, teasing, dirty talk, fingering, semi-public indecency
Summary: Jensen's due on stage in twenty minutes, the fans are waiting, but [Y/N]'s been riled up all morning and she's not going to wait a second longer to get what she wants. The fans will have to wait
A/N: i was honry af last night, idk why, but this came from it. there's gonna be a second part, but i just wanted to share this :) also i haven't written in months so be kind
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The ravenous fire bubbling inside her chest was insufferable, climbing her veins and rattling her bones with each thud of her foot to the floor. She tried to compose herself, using the bright blue lines on the carpet as a guide, like a plane coming in to land.
The devil swarmed her brain, overpowering her mind and corrupting her thoughts as hellfire gushed between her legs, triggering heart palpitations and sharp gasps for air to fill her struggling lungs as she willed herself to remain standing.
With taught shoulders and a puffed out chest [Y/N] shouted down the runway, her voice strained and tone urgent as she glared at the love of her life fifty feet ahead.
Even from this distance his broad rounded shoulders contrasted so delightfully against his narrow waist and tiny toosh. The crisp white shirt barely keeping his biceps in check and jeans unable to disguise his bowed legs which only excited her more.
Jensen twirled on his heels at the sound of her call, t-shirt hugging his toned stomach as he stood like a toddler with curved legs and twisted feet.
���What?”
“C’mere, quickly,” she said, ushering him with a flick of her wrist.
Heat prickled her skin, sizzled her insides and forced her to bite her bottom lip as his hips swayed and long legs strode towards her. His enchanting beauty and flowing movement created a hectic whirlwind in the hallway and deep in her heart, not to mention the storm that was raging in her pants.
“Are you okay?”
“Come with me.” Her hand clasped his as she escorted them down the isolated hotel lobby, the final location and their heavenly destination vivid in her mind.
“[Y/N] I’ve not got time, I’ve gotta go,” he insisted. “What’s wrong?”
Halting mid step, her long hair whipped through the air as she faced him. The manicured finger prodding his chest advised him to back up.
Stumbling backwards into a cramped little elevator, mirror lining one wall, the remaining ones cold sheets of metal, his blazing green eyes were stuck on her.
“What’s wrong?” Stifling a sigh, [Y/N] aggressively forced his hand under her skirt and between her thighs, manipulating her thong to the side, she manoeuvred his fingers across her soaking slit.
Jensen’s legs buckled as he reached out to the wall for support, the cool shiny metal helping to contain his fever. A pathetic whine slipped between his lips as temptation entrapped his soul in a cage of pure exhilarating lust and his fingers drowned in her arousal.
“That’s what’s wrong Jensen. I’ve been like this all morning, waitin’ and waitin’, I can’t fuckin’ take it any longer. I need you. Right now.”
“Here?” His voice hit a few octaves higher than usual, his right brow reaching for the ceiling as he eyeballed the compact space.
“You’d love that huh? Fuckin’ me somewhere public, someone catchin’ us mid act. You get off on just the thought dont'cha?”
His fingers rolled over her aching folds as if exploring the deep blue sea blindfolded, this time a synchronised moan fell from both of them.
“I’ve not got time to be teased,” Jensen said fiercely. “I can’t go on stage hard.”
“Why? Not like you haven’t been before. Quite a few times if I remember correctly,” her voice was low and breathy, full of unfiltered need and want.
Despite being extremely aroused, a twinge of irritation flashed across his face, “That’s not funny.”
“It is to me. Hot too.”
“Look, I promise, as soon as I’m finished I’ll come straight up to the room okay? I’ll do anythin’ you want.”
“I want you now. I want your fingers deep inside me, hittin’ that beautiful sweet spot, your body crushin’ me against the wall, my dainty hand chokin’ your dick while you attack my tit with your mouth. I want you to make me moan, scream and beg, loud enough that someone hears and then they hide, spyin’ on us, watchin’ and gettin’ turned on as you make me cum on your fingers.”
His thoughts were stolen as intense arousal demanded all blood relocate to his crotch. He was rock solid and pulsing in his jeans, his bulge almost breaking the seams, his thick shaft and seeping head begging to escape and get wet, all while his restricted lungs pressed against the walls of his rib cage desperate for air.
“He’d cum in his pants if he seen you finish,” he scoffed with utter pride as he looked down at his petite girlfriend with fire in her eyes.
The tight white t-shirt she wore clung to her body, revealing the curves and bounce of her small breasts, her nipples like granite and breaking the smoothness of the material, taunting him to play and indulge in the pleasure she was offering.
“Want me to make you cum in yours?” she said, her hand covering his twitching dick like a blanket.
Jensen’s hips flinched as a small hiss squeezed between clenched teeth.
He couldn’t contain another slithery hiss when his well used and calloused hand engulfed her left breast entirely and kneaded her flesh with a hearty grip.
“No,” he growled, “I’m cumin’ inside you.”
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sleidog · 4 months ago
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a fun little collection of Runa lore from RP/general thoughts:
Runa's ability to have multiple tendrils/limbs when they're damaged beyond repair and easier to just. remove. has had the number cap removed, from doubling, to 'whatever looks cool :)' i feel like this is most important for the back tendrils, where his arm is probably going to have a soft limit around 4 Runa's additional eyes are sense organs for sure, but they don't actually -see- like a normal eye, despite the visual function of them and their ability to emote, matching his own expressions the extra eyes sense heat/movement, and the sensation of them locking in on something is relayed to Runa to judge for himself if that thing he 'saw' move is worth investigating Runa's particularly strong senses are based around movement, heat and magic. he's great at pinpointing a magically inclined target, finding a magically charged object, etc or spotting a hot target through dense foliage, especially if it moves suddenly! his eyesight is actually pretty average, and his taste and smell are incredibly dull [unless what he can smell/taste is augmented by some kind of magic] if you were to peel back runa's charcoal-y armour, you'd find the remnants of his actual arm still under it, but there isn't an awful lot of it left [it's gone from just before the elbow down] as such, he has very little sensation in his left arm! from the elbow down in particular, he cannot feel if something is touching/pushing on his arm, it also means it's of no consequence to do his hyrda nonsense with breaking his arm off manually at the elbow joint and growing more limbs [while he can break it off higher up, this isn't advised, the higher he goes, the more sensation he loses. do not ask him to hold things in his right hand, he will drop or crush it, because he can't control how hard he's gripping something his hair leaves were longer when he was a sapling and his skin resembled more of the aspen tree he's based on, greyish with black eye-like markings, over time with the burning and loss of his limb, his body has been stained by the charcoal that flakes off of him [in theory, if you were to give him a very thorough scrubbing, you could get him back to a more mid/pale grey shade, but it's not worth the effort the armour has the texture of charcoal, flaky and brittle but quite dense, under extreme stress, the armour splits and vents out black smoke from little crackly embers that run through the middle of his arm, the smoke is extremely toxic/hallucinogenic and should not be inhaled [he can vent it at will as well, but this is a rarity and happens from his shoulder spikes; the smoke when done at will takes a yellowish hue, and he's basically isolating and superheating his own blood into a fine vapour and expelling it, it's corrosive if you're caught in the moment it's released and almost sulphuric in scent getting onto that 'superheating' aspect; runa's pretty adverse to fire, understandably after he almost lost his life to it; however in his current state, he's quite resiliant to fire, in fact, his charcoal arm is fully resistant to fire, it simply does nothing to him at all [however the visual can make him panic and recoil] Runa's body runs quite hot, around 53C at his core! he's a walking radiator, but the heat is less intense if touching his skin/extremities, still hotter than an average person to a noticable degree his body glow is normal on the right side of his body, but his left side resembles crackly embers across freshly burnt wood if he DOES burn out his armour too much, it takes a greyish/white tint, and he'll flake away at it like a person would do with a sunburn, it's gives him a sensation similar to a phantom itch, he shouldn't be able to feel it but he can see it flaking so it makes him feel itchy
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sylwanin-was-right · 2 years ago
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Quaritch's Redemption Arc Ideas
Tw: s**cide
Super hot take I think the only redemption arc that would be suitable for Quaritch is if he either serves as an anti-villain in a rougue position, or takes his own life. And I think his su*cide in particlar would punctuate the end of his role as an antagonist while hitting much commentary and criticism about the MID, war, trauma, racial supremacy, identity, imperialism, capitaosm, and settler colonialism, while being an appropriate end for an irredeemable villain.
I personally dont think it would be appropriate or make any sense for Quaritich to make a 180 in his personality and view the Na'vi as equals just because of his RECOM form. He treats his Na'vi form as an upgrade and recognizes that hes no longer truly himself as he's restarting from a certan point in his memories (he crushes his human skull and abandons his old body and speaks about his old self to Spider in 3rd person). But he ultimately see's other Na'vi as beneath him; his full allegience is with the RDA military, and in his last video log before transfer, he makes his RECOM body seem more akin to a vehicle than a new self, implying theres possibly multiple options for rebounds. In many ways, Quaritch has an arrogance and voracity that almost comes off as if he sees himself as invincible or immortal ("regroup in hell"), and his loyalty to the military seems impermeable as he will commit to the mission wholly and personally against the enemy.
Despite his allegiences and personality, I still think character can still be used to explore anti-military, anti-war, anti-colonial themes by making him anti-villain against the RDA in ways that retain his character's deeply supremacist, military loyal attitudes while also eroding his allegience to all of those things. I think this could best be represented by exploring how the capital driven transhumanist tech us used in the Avatar Program that makes him and his loyalty feel disposable and dishonored, and how experiments against humans make the supremacist attitudes against the Na'vi seem hypocritical to him in a way thats unjustified against humans.
Id want his identity crisis in his Na'vi body to be secondary to his challenged allegience to the RDA because while it would serve as a neat parallel to Spider's identity crisis, I think their isolation as Others among their seperate positions (Quaritch in the RDA, Soider among Jake and Neytiri's family) would be more interesting; Quartich's isolation as a rogue stuck in an alien body on an alien planet, or becoming an emotional mess among the RDA, whom he felt betrayed by, would serve to represent the greater message against the RDA and capitalism/colonialism as a whole.
Some ideas that would erode Quaritch's allegience to the RDA:
RDA manipulation of saved and uploaded human memories and consciousness - perhaps Quartich discovers or is involved in a classified operation about an experiment involving the manipulation and disection of people's memories for intel and archiving. Quaritch, having an identity crisis as a Na'vi-hating man in a Avatar body, finds this repulsive since he feels that experimenting is not only unsustainable (memories and consciousness erode with each copy), but unethical as it violates people's autonomy and puts soldiers in the same degrading "driver" position as vacant avatars. He questions whether or not his loss of memories was from manipulation and archiving, and quickly tries to be a whistleblower about the operation among the military (oerhaos during another mission or while he is discharged). But this is considered espionage by the RDA and he is targeted as a traitor. Quartich runs away rouge into Pandoran wilderness either alone or with a small team of defectors. This would explore anti-covert operations of the [U$] gov, anti-racism, and anti colonial themes through his character.
Discharge - Quartich gets discharged because of his failures amounted to extreme casulties, damage, and profit losses. He is met with many instances of speciesism/racism among the RDA in an experimental and underfunded veterans assistance program on Pandora that makes him feel neglected and disposable, despite his loyalty and instrumental role to the RDA. He feels he and the surviving RECOM and human soldiers from the ship battle are dishonored and recieve poor treatment despite their service. Quaritch advocates for the rights of RDA vets but is neglected as if an NPC because the RDA's vet program for RECOMs wasnt very developed, and the dead or wounded RECOMS werent considered to have the same protections as human vets. Quaritch either becomes an anti-villain rallying up defectors against the RDA to form their own faction against the mistreatment and eventually the RDA itself for the irrevocable damage done to them by the Avatar program or he commits su*cide due his identity crisis as a failed, disposable officier "cursed" in the body and failed treament of the RDA VA program. This explores themes of racism, anti-MID, anti-war, veterans mistreatment/trauma, veteran su*cide, etc
Revival - Quaritch is revived again in a new RECOM avatar, but is less himself than before and has severe PTSD. He thinks it unethical and unsustainable to constantly be copied into new bodies as his integrity is eroded away and the traumatic affects of war an consciousness and memory transfer are ignored. He is suggested by the RDA to either not worry about the effects of his PTSD and continue the copying to complete his mission (still being seen as valuable since he got to Jake; hes just hard to kill lol), be duscharged as an active duty officer and work a different rank (to train new commanders, etc), or take a MAiD style "euthanasia" where his consciousness is uploaded and archived artifically so he can be literally and figuratively immortalized for his service. He considers all options but finds out the RECOM program is an extension of the experimental horrors of the U$ MID, ehich he is familiar with because he's a former marine; the Avatar program is highly experimental with lifespan stability and health conditions of the RECOMs going unreported turn the personalities of soldiers as disposable tools. Quaritch lies and accepts remaining active duty and revived again if he dies to spy on officials for intel about the RECOM program. He discovers many disheartening things firsthand and intends to warn other soldiers but is caught eventually and targeted for espionage. He flees alone or with defectors, and they spend the time escaping the RDA while trying to rally the humans against these operations. Themes of racism, anti-MID, anti-war, veterans mistreatment/trauma, assisited s**cide/euthanasia, etc
Perhaps while Quartich is rouge because of his defecting, he becomes so isolated out in Pandora that he succumbs to disease, or animal attack. He is found by Jake, in a state too weak to fight, but he talks to him as his last words and reveals his supremacy, his spiraling, his and the RDA's betrayal to humans. His last words could be something about how he admired Jake's willingness to stand up against the RDA's when they made pawns out of people, and how he has nothing left even if he wanted to change. Quaritch either takes it all out on himself or dies after that in fromt of Jake (from exhaustion, etc). Explores themes of indvidualism vs. collectivism, identity crisis, s**cide, etc
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trashmenofmarvel · 4 years ago
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Branded - Chapter 49
Pairing: Demon!Bucky Barnes x Reader
Summary: You begin your new normal, and come up with a new plan. Bucky likes it decidedly less than the last one.
(This is a fan AU of Falling’s Just Another Way to Fly by araniaart​ . Please check out this incredible series for all of your demon Bucky needs.)
Chapter Warnings: Mild explicit content, sexual tension, angst, Bucky being Bucky
AO3
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Knowing that Bucky was fine with your extreme changes was comforting, but you weren’t willing to live with it. Not until you tried everything you could. After all, there was your mother to think about, and you weren’t sure she could survive the shock of finding out her daughter was a wizard/pseudo-demon.
After you asked Bucky to contact Strange, you both arrived via portal and went into his office. Before Bucky could get a word in edgewise, you shoved your notepad against Strange’s chest, glaring at him until he read everything you’d written down.
Strange pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.
“First off,” he muttered, “there’s no need to threaten to tear me limb from limb if I put Sergeant Barnes back into the cryo-chamber. The chamber is beyond repair, and there is no more use for it, anyway. And while I appreciate your honesty in regards to… this latest feeding… as long as you’re not in an enslaved bond, I’m willing to change the terms of the Ancient One’s agreement. So, moving forward, please do not inform me of what the two of you do in privacy.”
Bucky choked from somewhere behind you; in hindsight, you probably should have warned him what you were going to tell Strange.
“And secondly, I will continue your education myself. If,” Strange added with a raised finger, “you agree to remain in the Sanctum for the time being. You are going to be exposing yourself to magical energies, and I want to view the effects they have on your current state firsthand. I will not bend on this point.”
Your tail lashed like a whip, and you were very tempted to reach back and grab it. Now you understood how Bucky must feel when his tail misbehaved.
You also resisted the urge to look back at Bucky with big puppy-eyes in hopes he would convince Strange to let him stay as well. But you didn’t. You needed to prove that you could do this without having your hand held. What happened to you in the demon realm was traumatic, you wouldn’t deny that, but you couldn’t let Bucky coddle you forever, either.
You gave a firm nod while looking Strange in the eye. There was another reason you wanted to be taught to harness whatever was inside you. A reason Strange didn’t need to know. A reason that had everything to do with Helmut Zemo.
The next month you spent in near isolation, only seeing Strange for lessons and glimpsing other sorcerers when you went to the library. When you weren’t in your lessons, that’s where you spent most of your time. Suffice it to say, you’d been fired after not calling in for a full week (you couldn’t really explain that you’d been kidnapped to Siberia), but that worked fine for you. The Sanctum and lessons were quickly becoming your life, and even Bucky didn’t see you as often as he probably liked.
You certainly missed him. Missed his scent and his touch and even just his comforting presence. But you couldn’t let yourself be distracted, not for a single night and not even for Bucky. You were doing this for him and for you.
Unlike before, when you couldn’t even create a spark, under Strange’s guidance you could now create ropes of fire and bursts of light from your hands. You couldn’t create a portal, not since the disastrous moment you accidentally sliced a demon in half, but Strange only patted you on the shoulder and said, “Perhaps it best we leave portals for the more advanced lessons.”
But one area you were excelling at was sensing and harnessing energies. Every night before bed, you turned that focus inward, imagining the demonic energy inside you being expelled back to the realm it came from. According to the laws of magical equilibrium, the alien energy would want to return to its natural state, which apparently was a sort of UV ray that came from the sun of that realm.
You didn’t really understand it when Strange explained it to you—hell, you didn’t have a grasp of most things he said—but you could get the gist of it. And lucky for you, you seemed to have a natural talent for magic now that you were “unblocked,” as he called it.
So when you woke up one morning and most of your demonic features had vanished, you were pleased but not too surprised. You’d thrown yourself into magical studies more than you’d done even in college, and it was showing. If only your mom could see you now.
Or… perhaps not. There were some parts of you that hadn’t changed, and you glared at your horns and tail with a frown. You’d have to start cutting holes in your pants from now on, not to mention learn how to guise yourself in public. A small price to pay for being able to speak again. Demonic Cats: The Musical had taken a curtain call.
Still, you didn’t complain, but nor did you lighten up on your studies. You were searching for something very, very specific in those dusty shelves of the archives, and when you couldn’t find it, you knew only one place to seek your answers.
When it was mid-March and the show outside had melted, most of the sorcerers were either on the rooftop or away from the Sanctum. It was the only chance you’d get, and now that you had a feel for sensing magic, you were confident you could find the vault a second time.
Without a hobgoblin to guide your way, it took you much longer to find the familiar stone staircase spiraling into the depths of the earth. You followed it with more confidence and less fear than the first time even as your heart thudded in your chest. Strange hadn’t told you not to come down here, and technically you were part of the Mystic Arts, so you had every right to explore your new home.
At least, that’s what you told yourself, standing in front of the massive door that guarded the vault. And to your eternal surprise, when you wrapped your hands around the handle and pulled, it opened with a loud groan.
Exhaling, you squeezed through the opening and came to an abrupt stop on the other side, forgetting to take a breath as you stared with wide eyes.
The room was empty.
All of it, gone. The creepy statues and mounted heads. The cabinets full of demonic body parts. You stepped into the middle of the room to confirm what your eyes were telling you. Only the lectern remained, empty and dusty as if the book that used your blood for ink had never been there.
Bracing your hands on your hips, you swore under your breath. Now how the hell were you supposed to—
“I told Strange what you found the last time you were down here.”
You whirled around, your tail sticking straight out and fluffing up to twice its normal thickness.
Bucky stared at you, his tone just as devoid of humor as his sharp eyes.
“So, he had everything moved just in case you went looking for it again.” He strode forward, his boots tapping softly on the stone floor, his guise retained as it usually was when he visited the Sanctum.
The slow, predatory walk had you soon backed away. You weren’t afraid, you were just… slightly intimidated.
“Why are you down here?” Bucky continued to walk toward you.
“I—“ Your voice cracked, something it still did after so long of disuse. “I was… doing research.”
“Yeah?” His voice was flat. “What could you possibly need to know that would require the Book of the Dead?”
Your back hit the edge of the lectern and your stomach fluttered when he didn’t stop in his approach.
“You seem to be doing just fine with Strange’s lessons,” Bucky said, eyes roving over your body, leaving both heat and a chill in its wake. “You managed to change back.”
“Mostly.” You cleared your throat so you wouldn’t sound like a frightened mouse. “Bucky, I… I was going to tell you. I’ve just, been busy.”
“Busy, huh?”
He stepped closer, only a few feet away when he tilted his head.
“If Strange is being so thorough with his lessons, then why hasn’t he taught you how to sense when something is following you?”
With Bucky’s last few steps, his guise melted away, wings half-flaring over his back as his eyes darkened. He loomed over you, bending down to growl in your ear.
“The next demon stalking you might not be so friendly.”
You closed your eyes, fighting yourself, but your shallow breathing and the goosebumps along your skin gave you away. There was definitely something wrong with you. Normal people did not get so hot and bothered from the idea of being hunted down by a demon, even if said demon was your kind-of-boyfriend.
“I assure you, I can take care of myself just fine.” You almost said it without a hitch in your breath, too.
Bucky pulled back, brows raised.
“Want me to show you?” you pressed.
He studied your face for a moment, and then gave a shrug and said, “Sure.”
Your lips twitching was all the warning he got before there was a conjured, fiery rope in your hand, whipping him across the chest and throwing him back several feet. Only his flaring wings kept him upright as he skidded across the floor.
There was a flash of approval, and oh God, excitement in his eyes as he licked his lips. You didn’t know if he was trying to distract you, or if he genuinely wanted to sink his teeth into you.
You wanted to find the answer and see how far you could push him. It was about time you put your skills to use on a real demon, anyway.
When his wings flared and his tail danced in delight behind him, you prepared yourself for Bucky’s attack—and it was good that you did. He crossed the distance between you in a blur, and you barely had time to move your hand in a circle in front of your chest.
An orange, concentric circle formed out of thin air, and it vibrated when Bucky’s human fist collided with it. He was still holding back, but that hit would have probably knocked you out cold.
Okay, you thought, watching him with a tilt of your head. You think you can pull your punches with me?
You shoved your palm against the makeshift shield, and the lines unfolded and wrapped around Bucky’s legs and chest, pulling his limbs together in a series of fiery ropes, and he shouted in surprise as he tumbled to the ground. His wings were useless, caught in the same trap against his back, and you stood over him in triumph.
“Neat little trick you’ve got there,” Bucky commented casually as he tried to wriggle out of his bindings. “Won’t hold me forever.”
“I know.” You smiled, and Bucky gave you his strongest side-eye. Your shit-eating grin only increased in size. “Don’t need it to hold you forever.”
You stood over him, a foot to either side, and you sat on his stomach, straddling him and probably looking like the cat that ate the canary. The tail flickering behind you didn’t help.
Bucky predictably went still, a mixture of interest and exasperation on his face.
“What are you doing?”
“Nothing.” You leaned down and half-laid on top of him, tucking your head into his shoulder. “Just enjoying this strapping young demon I’ve captured.”
“Young?”
“…strapping, then.”
Bucky snorted, and you dug your face deeper into his neck, reveling in his rich, calming smell. You licked him, teasing at first, but then with genuine interest.
“You gonna, uh… let me up?” He shifted under you, which was exactly the wrong thing to do, because now the growing bulge in his jeans was pressed right between your legs.
“Mmmm-no. You said you can get loose, I want to see it.”
But it wasn’t the ropes you were paying attention to when you sucked on his neck. Bucky groaned low in his throat. Both of you had forgotten about the ropes, and Bucky seemed oddly comfortable with them.
An option you might have to explore another time.
“You really want to test these bindings out, huh?” he growled, flexing his muscles as he suddenly strained against them. You nearly purred, appreciating the view of his armored bicep.
“Well, I gotta have something to show for all this training.” You went quiet, then, resting your cheek against his shoulder. “I miss you. I’m sorry I’ve been so distracted.”
“And I miss you, but I’m not going to give you a hard time for this. Not after what you’ve been through.” He turned his head just enough to press his lips to your temple. “Monster misses you too, you know.”
You lifted up, getting a good look at him.
“What? He… he came back?”
“He did. Hours after you moved back into the Sanctum.”
You didn’t know what to say. Monster had been missing ever since you… ever since Zemo shot you. Apparently, he’d been at the Sanctum when you went missing and had been an absolute nightmare to the sorcerers.
And then when the rescue mission failed to bring you back…
“How…” You swallowed. “How is he?”
To your surprise, Bucky rolled his eyes.
“A pain in my ass. He thinks he’s a lapdog. Every time I sit down, he jumps on me, kneading me with his claws like I’m mama cat.”
“Sounds like I’m being replaced,” you said, smiling as you leaned your head on his shoulder again.
“Nah. More like he thinks sucking up to me is gonna get you back sooner. Which… I’m all for that.” He brushed his lips against your hair, but your smile faded at his next words. “You will be coming home eventually… right? Because that place, my place, it’s yours too.”
You sat up again, avoiding his eye. As much as you wanted to take him up on that offer, and you did, so badly…
“Sweetheart?”
“I can’t. Not yet.”
Bucky’s voice was so soft it hurt when he said, “Can I ask why?”
Releasing a breath and closing your eyes, you knew you had to tell him. Otherwise he would just blame himself, and Bucky’s next question confirmed it.
“Is it because of… of Zemo?” He said the name like it was vile poison in his mouth.
“Yes. But not in the way you think,” you added when he blinked up at you in surprise. “It’s not me I’m worried about, Bucky.”
His eyes narrowed, scanning your face once before he looked around the room, as if just remembering where you were.
“Why did you come down here?”
You worried your lip, and Bucky watched the movement with growing suspicious. You didn’t want to tell him, not because you enjoyed keeping secrets—in fact, you had been enjoying the healthy communication between you lately—but Bucky really, really wasn’t going to like it.
“I came down here because I need to answer a question. A question that Zemo himself shed some light on.”
You focused on Bucky’s jacket zipper, fidgeting with it rather than meeting his eye.
“And… what question would that be?”
You took a deep breath. Fuck, here it goes.
“How do you prevent a free demon from being enslaved again?”
Bucky’s brows dipped.
“Okay,” he said slowly. “So you… what, wanted to be trained in magic so you could protect me? That’s… I wouldn’t ask you to do that, but I appreciate the thought. Still not sure why that involves the Necronomicon.”
“There’s more,” you said with a wince at Bucky’s scowl. “It’s not just that, though getting better at magic is part of it.”
“I’m not going to like this, am I?”
“Probably not. No.”
Bucky shifted under you like he was getting more comfortable, but his tone was extremely put-out.
“Let’s hear it, then. How do you prevent a freed demon from being enslaved again?”
“Well, you see…” You fidgeted again. Bucky may have been the one still tied in fire ropes, but you got the sense you were the one being dangled over a pit. “I already know the answer. I’m not sure how to… execute it.”
Bucky frowned.
“Execute what? Sweetheart, you’re starting to talk like a sorcerer, and you know how much I love that.”
You smiled a little, but it quickly faded again.
“All right. I’ll tell you my plan, but please, leave your questions to the end,” you said, trying to keep it lighthearted, but the gears in Bucky’s head were turning at the words my plan. You cleared your throat and continued.
“Now, the thing about free demons is you can’t protect them from being enslaved. Only demons bonded to a master are protected. Zemo said it himself; in fact, it was one of his selling points.”
Bucky scowled but didn’t interrupt you.
“He said if you were bonded to him, he could protect you from any HYDRA shitbags still hanging around. And… unfortunately, he had a point. It’s only a matter of time until someone else stumbles upon an old lab or a journal or whatever, and then they’ll be coming after you. Everyone knows about the Winter Soldier. Even if the world still believes he’s dead, that didn’t stop Zemo.”
Bucky’s scowl had vanished, his expression unreadable as he listened.
“So…” you continued, trying not to sweat. “If you were bonded to someone you trusted, someone who could protect you, that could be one way of doing it—“
“That’s why you’re training so hard?” he asked softly. “You would be willing to put a huge target on your back like that? Having me bonded to you?”
“Well,” you spluttered, face heating. So much for reprimanding Bucky for not keeping his questions until the end. “I wanted to be in the running, at least. I’m not exactly a threat compared to others you could choose from.”
“You mean Steve. I… actually talked to him about it already.” Now it was his turn to look away. “He said he’d be willing to if it’s what I wanted. It’s not what I want, but I still have to consider it.”
Bucky finally looked at you when you neglected to speak, and he rushed to say, “It’s different with a human master, it wouldn’t be like our pact at all. I don’t have to feed on him. It’s more fulfilling if I do feed on my master, but by no means is it necessary. I wouldn’t—I wouldn’t leave you to be with Steve, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
It was exactly what you were thinking, and you were so thrown off course that you floundered. Of course, you’d considered that Steve would be a good candidate, but you hadn’t realized Bucky had already had a discussion.
“Are you considering it?” The sudden lump in your throat made it difficult to speak. “Being bonded to him?”
He gave a soft smile, the kind that always held a bit of sadness.
“I was going to talk to you first, ask you for your input before I decided. Just didn’t get a chance until now. I hope you know I wouldn’t make a decision like that without you. Especially considering what happened last time I kept you in the dark.”
Whatever insecurities and jealousy lingered in your heart evaporated, and you put a hand on his chest, wishing you could express exactly how you felt. How much you loved him and didn’t blame him for any of what happened.
But like so many moments, you found words weren’t enough, and you just had to hope your actions communicated what you felt.
“Whatever you want to do, Bucky, I’ll support you.” You squinted at him and tapped him on the chest. “And what happened to me is not your fault. Zemo was watching us for a long time, and he would have found a way to use me against you eventually. I’m just grateful it turned out the way it did. Could have been a lot worse.”
“A lot worse than you dying and going to the demon realm?”
You folded your hands over your chest.
“I could have died and stayed dead.”
Bucky opened his mouth, hung there for a moment, and then closed it again. You waited for him to continue arguing, and instead, he changed the damn subject.
“You said that could be one way of doing it. There’s other ways?”
Hell, and what a subject change, too. For a moment, you really did consider lying, or at least telling him the other option was off the table if Steve was a choice. He was a safer option—that was without a doubt.
But you couldn’t lie to Bucky, or hold back. Not after everything. So you took a deep breath and pushed on.
“While I came up with that answer, I wasn’t satisfied with you being enslaved again, even if it was to me or Steve. So I tried to search for other solutions. In the archives, on the wizard internet, even Wong’s private stash of books.”
“There’s a wizard internet?”
“Bucky, please.”
“Sorry,” he said, not at all sorry. “Keep going.”
“I wanted to find a way for you to be as free as possible, without the danger of enslavement, and then… I had a thought.” You took a deep breath. “I thought… what if there’s a way to make the human-demon relationship equal?”
“…Come again?”
“The demon-human bond is always a power imbalance, right?” you said, excitement rushing your words. “Either the human enslaves the demon, or the demon owns the human. There’s no partnership. No equal exchange. No symbiosis.”
“Symbiosis.”
“It’s a term in biology.”
“Yes, sweetheart, I know what it means. I don’t think biology is going to help us here.”
“No, you’re right,” you muttered. “Which is why I needed a magical solution in order to create a soul-bound that’s equal from both sides.”
The truth finally hit home. Bucky’s eyes widened.
“No.”
“Bucky—“
“Absolutely fucking not.”
“I haven’t even told you the plan yet!”
“Does it involve you being bonded to me?”
You took a second too long to answer.
“Thought so,” he growled. “No fucking way am I ever doing that to you again.”
“You wouldn’t be! I told you, it would be an equal partnership, not—“
You yelped as the bindings shattered and Bucky rose at the same moment. You would have fallen flat on your ass if he hadn’t grabbed you by the arms and pulled you to your feet.
“Listen to me,” he said, face inches away. “You drop this line of thinking right now. You will not go looking into binding magic, and you will stay far away from anything demonic. Do you hear me? Tell me you understand and you won’t keep looking!”
You glared up at him. The full weight of his anger glared back, his wings rustling as his tail lashed back and forth.
“No.”
He bared his teeth at your refusal, a growl escaping from his throat. You didn’t flinch, though your tail betrayed you as the fur puffed out like a startled cat.
“Snarl all you want, it won’t change my mind.”
“You’re talking about experimental magic.” His gaze grew harder as his claws tightened around your arms. “Magic that Strange himself wouldn’t attempt. What makes you think you could survive, let alone succeed?”
Now it was your turn to bare your teeth, though they were blunted and human again. You almost missed the sharp canines.
“I summoned a portal to the demon realm when I was ten years old. I adapted to that same place, became more demon than human just to survive. I died and came back to life because of demonic magic.”
You met his eye, unblinkingly.
“Who else could do this but me?”
Bucky said nothing, his expression unreadable. You released a breath and let your voice soften.
“The Ancient One was adamant on three things. She wanted me to train with the leader of her order. She said you and I were very important to each other. And she told me that I would have to make a choice. A choice that would affect the both of us.”
You turned your hands so they were placed against his forearms. Bucky still hadn’t moved, but there was something like growing horror in his eyes.
“I know this is what she meant. This feels right. Like I’ve finally found my purpose. This is what I’m meant to do.”
“And what is that?” he asked, slowly, as if waiting for the other shoe to drop. And there was another shoe. A big shoe. A shoe he was going to hate, but you wouldn’t hide it from him. It was only a matter of time before he found out, anyway.
“Everyone in the Order has their strengths,” you said. “Wong is the archivist and keeper of knowledge. Strange has an innate understanding of time and prophecy. The Ancient One, according to Strange, had a deep connection to the Dark Dimension.”
“And you?”
You swallowed dryly.
“I have… a strong affinity for magic that comes from the demon realm.”
He jerked away, as if contact with your skin burned him. Before you could stop him, Bucky turned and practically fled from the vault, disappearing out the massive door without looking back.
You released a breath as your tail sank to rest on the dusty floor. The words of the Ancient One rang in your ears, and you wished she hadn’t been right. If Bucky had been on your side, you wouldn’t have cared who else disagreed. But maybe that was the point.
It wasn’t supposed to be easy. No test ever was. You just didn’t appreciate that you still had to prove yourself after all this.
Hadn’t dying and going to Hell been enough?
Your heart as heavy as the stones at your feet, you left the empty vault.
Next Chapter
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serena-inverse · 3 years ago
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A bit more explanation on how my Monkie Kid OC’s portal abilities work. I really wanted to iron out the limits of her portals and what she can/can’t do with them!
I’ve transcribed all of the writing on the picture below the cut! (I’ve also added in a few additional facts I couldn’t fit on the original picture!)
Who is Dragonfly? See her profile here
Click here for a Masterlist of all the comics/art in this series
Dragonfly’s Personal Mystic Weapon: The Portal Chakram (not it’s real name).
(Note: Dragonfly is unable to create portals herself- it is the Chakram that grants her the ability to open portals).
How Does the Portal Chakram Work?
The Chakram can split into up to six (6) copies of itself (meaning up to six portals can be opened at any one time).
The Chakram can shrink or grow in size, which allows the creation of various sized portals. There is however a limit on how big/small it can get.
The Chakram can float/fly in the air as it’s user wills.
The Chakram can only create portals to locations it’s user has previously visited or has a clear visualization of. As such, Dragonfly needs a distinctive photo and/or map in order to open a portal to an area she doesn’t know (or doesn’t have a direct line of sight to).
An open portal can be tilted, but it cannot be moved from the location it was opened.
Velocity is preserved when moving between portals.
The Chakram cannot open a portal to an area that has been mystically warded or protected.
The Chakram can open a portal to a specific individual if it’s user can lock onto their unique ‘life energy’ signature. Dragonfly is unable to sense life energy, so she cannot use this ability.
The Chakram can also be used AS a Chakram (aka a projectile weapon). The edge of the weapon will sharpen or dull as it’s user wishes.
How Does Dragonfly use the Chakram?
Short answer: Very Creatively
Long answer: She has learned how to be extremely versatile with her portals. Some examples of what she can do...
Use portals to move an enemy far away or escape herself.
Re-Direct an attack, weapon, or other debris back at an opponent.
Use portals to drop something heavy (e.g. a car) to attack an opponent or block their path.
Make portals that connect to a solid floor, giving her a stable area she can stand on, even in mid-air. (She can create a ‘portal staircase’ this way).
And in extreme situations...
Open a portal to the bottom of the ocean. The extreme pressure at that depth creates a super water jet cutter she can use to attack.
Open a portal into an active volcano to either drop an opponent inside, or shoot hot lava.
Use her phone to check the weather, then open a portal into the middle of a storm front, unleashing torrential wind and lightning.
Random Trivia
Dragonfly shrinks and wears the Chakram on her body as either ring/s or bracelet/s at all times when not actively using it. She will never willingly remove it.
As a ‘mere mortal’ who regularly interacts with demons and other supernatural entities, Dragonfly is very dependent on the Chakram (and her wits) to keep herself alive and ‘level the playing field’.
A lot of Dragonfly’s confidence rests on her proficiency with the Chakram. Loosing it would be severe mental blow for the normally vivacious woman.
Additional Trivia I couldn’t fit on the Image!
The Portal Chakram is Dragonfly’s biggest strength, but her reliance on it is also her biggest weakness.
(Remember that Dragonfly herself has no special/mystic abilities, or combat/martial arts training.)
There are multiple parties who want to steal the Portal Chakram from Dragonfly, but so far she has successfully evaded all their attempts to take it from her.
When short on cash, Dragonfly will agree to transport people/items using her portals for a price. (This is how she meets Macaque!)
Dragonfly often plays visual memorization games on her phone - it is important for her to be able to quickly and accurately recall locations in order to open portals, so she practices to keep her memory sharp.
Dragonfly has several locations she’s scouted out in advance for use in fighting/running away. For example:
An abandoned junkyard where she can easily grab dilapidated vehicles/heavy items to drop on people.
An isolated, uninhabited island she can safely dump dangerous items on.
Her own backyard- where she’s set up a massive net/cushion to catch herself if she falls from a great height and needs somewhere she can safely land/break her fall.
(Other Comments from around the Picture)
Having been in possession of the Chakram for many years, Dragonfly is an expert in using it. (A Self-Proclaimed ‘Portal Master’).
Dragonfly doesn’t hesitate to use the Chakram to help her with daily tasks or other trivial things.
Portals appear as golden energy inside the rings when activated. (The colour of the portal changes depending on the user- e.g. if Macaque used the Chakram his portals would be made of shadowy purple energy).
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forestwater87 · 4 years ago
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How did you become a university Librarian? Did you do an English degree? Sorry if this is a weird question it just really interests me as I’m not sure what to do when I’m older
Eeee I got really excited about this question! 
Okay, the fun thing about librarianship is that all roads can lead to it: as long as you get an ALA-approved (assuming you’re American; if you aren’t I cannot help you) graduate degree you can do just about anything for undergrad. English majors are extremely common, just by the nature of who’s into the job, but literally it doesn’t matter; in fact, weirder and more specialized degrees can actually help in certain jobs, because they give you a ton of background info and qualifications than most of your contemporaries have.
I fell into it because I worked at a library in high school and fell in love with the environment, and when I realized I’d rather die than work in publishing (my previous life’s goal) I gravitated toward library school. I knew from the beginning that I’d need a Master’s -- and a very specific one at that -- so mostly my undergrad was just “grab a foundational degree and have fun with it.” That was really freeing, honestly. I had a ton of fun in undergrad.
Now, if you, Anon, were interested in getting into librarianship I’d have a handful of recommendations. These are all based on my very American experience, and there are probably smarter people than me with better advice but I’m the only one on this blog so heeeeerrreeeee we goooooooooo!
Undergrad
You need a 4-year degree. Full-stop. It doesn’t matter what kind, but you gotta have one to get into grad school.
Like I said, you can do just about anything for an undergraduate degree. Most of the time English is the BA of choice, because librarians love them some books, but some far less common ones that I think would be hugely helpful to a hopeful librarian would be:
Computer Science: Oh my god you need at least a baseline competency in computers/technology please you don’t have to code but you need to be able to turn a computer on and navigate just about any website/office application on just about any device at the very least you need to know how to Google
Business/Marketing: Particularly if you want to work in public libraries, where a bunch of your funding comes from begging politicians and convincing taxpayers to donate/vote to give you money
Law: If you want to be a law librarian
Medical . . . whatever, I don’t know what fields of medicine there are: If you want to work in a hospital or other medical library
History or Art History: If you’re interested in archives or museum librarianship
Education: School librarians in my state require you to be a certified teacher, and no matter what kind of library you end up in, you’ll end up teaching someone something a decent amount of the time
Communications: You’ll be doing a lot of it. Public speaking, too
Spanish/ASL/any not-the-common language: Hey, you never know what your patrons speak
Literally fucking anything I promise it doesn’t matter what you major in you will use it in a library at some point
Just be aware that you will need more than an undergrad degree. You’ll need probably 2 years of postsecondary schooling (more for certain types of librarianship), so get yourself comfortable with the idea of college.
If you’re like me (please don’t be like me), you might toy with the idea of getting a minor or two/double majoring to round out your skill set. Honestly I’d encourage it if you’re comfortable with the workload and have the time or money; like I said, there are no skills or educational background that won’t come in handy at some point. I promise. We see it all.
Along those lines, a wide expanse of hobbies can be hugely helpful too! You never know when your encyclopedic knowledge of Minecraft will be useful to a patron, but it absolutely will be.
Graduate School
All right, you’ve got your lovely little Bachelor’s Degree, maybe in something weird and esoteric for the fun of it . . . now you’re off to do more school!
It’s a bit complicated, because there are a handful of different titles an appropriate degree could have; my school called it “a Master of Science in Information Science” (MSIS), but other schools might just go with “Master’s of Information Science” (MIS), “Master’s of Library Science” (MLS), “Master’s of Library and Information Science” (MLIS) . . . it’s a mess. 
What you need to do is make sure the degree is approved by the American Library Association, who decides if a program is good enough to make you a librarian in the States. (Again, if you’re not American, good luck.)
Here’s a list of ALA-accredited programs and the schools that offer them.
The nice thing is accreditation has to be renewed at least every few years, so that means your program is always updated to make sure it’s in line with national standards. I’m not promising you’ll learn everything you need to be a librarian in grad school (oh my god you so won’t not even close hahahaha), but at least in theory you’ll be learning the most up-to-date information and methods.
(I’m curious to see how things have changed; when I was in school from 2015-17, the hot topics in library science were makerspaces (especially 3D printing), turning the library into the community’s “third space,” and learning how to incorporate video games into library cataloging and programming. No idea if those are still the main hot-button issues or if we’ve moved on to something else; I imagine information literacy and fake news are a pretty big one for current library students.)
Anyway! You pick a school, you might have to take a test or two to get in -- I had to take the GRE, which is like the SATs but longer -- almost certainly have to do all that annoying stuff like references and cover letters and all that, but assuming you’re in: now what?
There are a couple options depending on the school and the program, but I’m going to base my discussion around the way my school organized their program at the time, because that’s what I know dammit and I will share my outdated information because I want to.
My school broke the degree down into 5 specializations, which you chose upon application to the program:
Archives & Records Administration: For working in archives! I took some classes here when I was flirting with the idea, and it’s a lot of book preservation, organizing and caring for old documents and non-book media, and digitization. Dovetails nicely into museum work. It’s a very specific skillset, which means there will be jobs that absolutely need what you specifically can do but also means there aren’t as many of them. It makes you whatever the opposite of a “jack of all trades” is. You’re likely to be pretty isolated, so if you want to spend all your time with books this might be a good call; it’s actually one of the few library-related options that doesn’t require a significant amount of public-facing work. 
Library & Information Services: For preparation to work in public or academic (college) libraries. Lots of focus on reference services, some cataloging, and general interacting-with-the-public. You have to like people to go into library services in general, heads up.
Information Management & Technology: Essentially meaningless, but you could in theory work as like a business consultant or otherwise do information-related things with corporations or other organizations.
Information Storage & Retrieval: Data analytics, database . . . stuff. I don’t really know. Computers or something. Numbers 3 and 4 really have nothing to do with libraries, but our school was attempting to branch out into more tech-friendly directions. That being said, both this and #3 could definitely be useful in a library! Libraries have a lot of tech, and in some ways business acumen could be helpful. All roads lead to libraries; remember that.
Library & Information Services / School Library Media Specialist: This was the big kahuna. To be a school librarian -- at least in my state -- you need to be both a certified librarian and a certified teacher, which means Master’s degrees in both fields. What our school did was basically smushed them together into a combined degree; you took a slightly expanded, insanely rigorous 2-2.5 years (instead of the traditional 1.5-2) and you came out of it with two degrees and two certifications, ready to throw your butt into an elementary, middle/junior high, or high school library. Lots of focus on education. I started here before realizing I don’t like kids at all, then panicked and left. Back in 2017 this was the best one for job security, because our state had just passed a law requiring all school librarians to be certified with a MSIS/MLS/whatever degree. So lots of people already in school libraries were desperately flinging themselves at this program, and every school was looking for someone that was qualified. No idea if that’s changed in time.
No matter what concentration you went in with, you automatically graduated with a state certification to be a librarian, which was neat. You didn’t automatically get civil service status, though; for some public libraries you need to be put on a civil service list, which means . . . something, I’m not entirely sure. It involves taking exams that are only available at certain times of the year and I gave up on it because it looked hard. 
No one did more than 1 concentration, which is dumb because I wanted to do them all, but it takes a lot of time and money to take all the classes associated with all of them so I personally did #2, which was on the upper end of mid-tier popularity. School library and database services were far and away the most popular, and literally no one did the business one because it was basically useless, so library and archives were the middle children of which the library one was prettier.
THAT BEING SAID! Some forms of librarianship require a lot more education. A few of those are:
Law librarians: At least in my state, you gotta be a certified librarian and have a J.D. This is where the “big bucks” are -- though let’s be real, if you want to be a librarian you have zero interest in big bucks; reconcile yourself to being solidly middle-class and living paycheck-to-paycheck for the rest of your life or marrying rich -- which I guess is why it requires the most work.
School librarians: Like I mentioned, depending on the state you might need two degrees, and not all schools smush them into one. You might need to get a separate Master’s in education.
College librarians: Now, this depends on the college and the job; some colleges just need an all-access librarian, like mine. I didn’t need to specialize in anything, I just showed up with my degree and they took me. (Note: these sorts of entry-level positions tend to pay piss. Like, even more piss than most library gigs. Just a heads-up.) However, if you’re looking to get into a library of a higher-end university, you might be asked to have a second Master’s-level or higher degree just to prove you’re academic enough to party at their school. (Let’s be real, Harvard is almost certainly gonna want someone with a Ph.D. at the very least. That’s just how they roll.) Alternatively, the position might be for a specialty librarian, someone in charge of a field-specific library or field-specific reference services; if you’re being asked to head up the Science & Engineering Library at Masshole University, it’s reasonable to expect that you’ll be bringing a degree in engineering or some sort of science to the table. Colleges have so many different needs that predicting what kind of experience/education you should get is a bit of a challenge. Good luck. Some schools will help you out a bit with this; my grad school had dual degree programs where you could share credits between the MSIS and either an English or History Master’s so you could graduate with both in less time. I . . . started this, and then panicked at the thought of more school/writing a thesis and bailed, but it’s great if you’re into that idea!
What’s the point of the Information/Library Science degree?
You have to have the degree. If you don’t have the degree, you don’t get the job and you don’t make-a the money. Resign yourself to getting a Master’s degree or you’re gonna be bummed out and unemployed.
In terms of what you learn? Well, obviously it depends on the program, but I found that a lot of what I learned was only theoretically related to what I do on a daily basis. My instructors were lovely (well, the adjuncts anyway; the full-timers really didn’t want to be there and wanted to be off doing research and shit), but every library is so idiosyncratic and there’s such a massive umbrella of jobs you could get in one -- god, I didn’t even get into things like metadata services, which I learned basically nothing about in grad school but are super important to some positions -- that it’s hard to learn anything practical in a classroom.
However, besides the piece of paper that lets you make-a the money, there are two important things you should get from your grad school education:
Research skills: My god, you’re going to be doing so much research. If you’re a public librarian, you need to know how to Google just about anything. And if you’re a college librarian, being able to navigate a library database and find, evaluate, and cite sources . . . I mean, you’re going to be doing so much of that, showing students how to do that. Like a ridiculous amount of my day is showing students how to find articles in the virtual library. Get good at finding things, because much like Hufflepuffs, librarians need to be great finders.
Internship(s): Just about every library program will require an internship -- usually but not always in replacement of a thesis -- and if the one you’re looking at doesn’t, dump it like James Marsden in a romantic comedy. Internships are hugely important not only because they look good on a resume and give you some of those delicious, delicious references, but they are a snapshot of what your job is going to look like on a day-in, day-out basis; if nothing else, you’ll learn really fast what does and doesn’t appeal to you. As I mentioned, I wanted to be a school librarian for about half a semester. You know what changed my mind? My class required like 40 hours of interning at schools of each level. Being plopped into that environment like a play you’re suddenly acting in? Super helpful in determining whether or not this shit is for you.
What else should I learn, then?
Besides how to research basically anything? Here are some useful skills in just about any library:
Copyright law. Holy shit, do yourself a favor and learn about publishing/distribution laws in your state. Do you wanna show a movie as a fun program? You need to buy a license and follow super specific rules or it’s illegal! Does an instructor want to make copies of their textbook to give to the students? Make sure you know how much they can copy before it’s no longer fair use! Everything in my life would be easier if I’d taken the time to learn anything about copyright. I did not, and now I’m sad. (I lost out on a job opportunity because they wanted the librarian to be particularly knowledgeable in that kinda thing, and I was very not.)
Metadata and cataloging. In theory, you should learn this in grad school, but I was only given the bare basics and it wasn’t enough. Dublin Core, MARC-21, RDF -- there are so many different kinds of metadata schema, and I took a 6-week class in this and still don’t understand any of the words I just used in this sentence. But basically, to add items to a library catalog you often need to know how to input them into your library’s system; to an extent that’ll be idiosyncratic to your library’s software, but some of it will be based on a larger cataloging framework, so familiarity with those is very useful.
Public speaking and education. You’re gonna do a lot of it. Learn how to deal.
General tech savviness. Again, we’re not talking about coding but if you can navigate a WordPress website? If you know how to troubleshoot just about any issue with Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, etc.? If you can unjam printers and install software and use social media you’re going to be a much happier person. At the very least, know how to google tutorials and fake your way through; your IT person can only do so much, and a lot of it is probably going to fall on you.
Social work, diplomacy, general human relations kinda stuff. You’re going to be dealing with all sorts of people from all sorts of backgrounds, with every political view, personal problem, and life experience under the sun. You need to get very good at being respectful of diversity -- even diversity you don’t like* -- and besides separating your own personal views and biases from your work, you’ll be much better equipped to roll with the punches if you have, for example, conflict resolution training. Shit’s gonna get weird sometimes, I promise. (Once a student came in swinging around butterfly knives and making ninja noises. You know who knew how to deal with that? Not me!)
Standard English writing and mechanics. It’s not fair, but in general librarians are expected to have a competent grasp on the Standard English dialect, and others are less likely to be appreciated by the general populace. Obviously this differs based on your community and environment, and colloquialisms are sometimes useful or even necessary, but as a rule of thumb it’s a good call to be able to write “properly,” even if that concept is imperialist bullshit.
*I don’t mean Nazis. Obviously I don’t mean Nazis. Though there is a robust debate in the library community about whether Nazis or TERFs or whatever should be allowed to like, use library facilities for their own group meetings or whatever. I tend to fall on the “I don’t think so” side of the conversation, but there’s a valid argument to be made about not impeding people��s access to information -- even wrong or harmful information. 
Any other advice?
Of course! I love to talk. Let’s see . . .
Get really passionate about freedom of information and access: A library’s main reason for existing is to help people get ahold of information (including fiction) that they couldn’t otherwise access. If you’re a public librarian, you have to care a lot about making sure people can access information you probably hate. (If you’re an academic librarian it’s a little more tricky, because the resources should meet a certain scholarly threshold, and if you’re a school librarian there are issues of appropriateness to deal with, but in general more info to more people is always the direction to push.) Get ready to defend your library purchases to angry patrons or even coworkers; get ready to defend your refusal to purchase something, if that’s necessary. Get ready to hold your nose and cringe while you add American Sniper to your library collection, because damn it, your patrons deserve access to the damn stupid book. Get really excited about finding new perspectives and minority representation, because that’s also something your patrons deserve access to. Get really excited about how technology can make access easier for certain patrons, and figure out how to make it happen in your library. Care about this; it’s essential that you’re passionate about information -- helping your patrons find it, making sure they can access it, evaluating it, citing it . . . all of it. Get ranty about it. Just do it.
Be prepared to move if necessary: One of my professors told us that there was one thing that would always guarantee you a job that paid well -- this was in 2016 but still -- that as long as you had it you could do whatever you wanted. And that was a suitcase. Maybe where you live is an oversaturated market (thanks for having 6 library schools in a 4-hour radius, my state). Maybe something something economic factors I don’t really understand; the point is that going into this field, you should probably make peace with the idea that you’ll probably either end up taking a job that doesn’t make enough money or struggle a lot to even find one . . . or you’re going to have to go where the jobs are. It’s a small field. Just know that might be a compromise you have to make, unless you can get a strictly remote job.
Read: This sounds stupidly obvious but it’s true! Read things that aren’t your genre, aren’t your age range; patrons are going to ask you for reading advice all the goddamn time, especially if you’re a public librarian, so the more you can be knowledgeable about whatever your patrons might ask you about, the easier your life will be. If you’re considering librarianship you probably love to read anyway, so just ride that pony as hard as you possibly can.
Learn to be okay with weeding -- even things you don’t think deserve it: You are going to have to recycle books. You’re going to have to throw away books. You’re going to have to take books out of the collection and make them disappear in some fashion or another. There are a lot of reasons -- damage and lack of readership are big ones -- and there’s no bigger red flag to a librarian than someone saying “I could never destroy a book.” That kind of nonsense is said by people who’ve never had to fit 500 books onto a shelf built for 450. Archivists are different, of course, as are historians, and everyone should have a healthy respect for books both as physical objects and as sources of information, but you’re going to have to get rid of them sometimes, and you’re just going to have to learn how to do that dispassionately.
Have fun! No one gets into this because they want money; if you want to be a librarian, or work in any library-adjacent field, it’s because you really care about the values of librarianship, or the people in your community, or preserving and sharing as great a wealth of information as possible. Your job will often be thankless and it’ll sometimes be exhausting. There will be times where it’s actually scary. And unless you’re rich as balls, it will make you stare at your student loans and sigh with despair. (You may be living in your parents’ basement while you sigh at your loans because you can’t afford to live on your own, for an example that has zero relevance to any authors of this blog, living or dead.)  I can’t tell you if it’s worth it -- though you’ll probably find out pretty quickly during your internship, because that’s what internships are for. All I can say is that I love it, and I can’t imagine doing anything else.
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ruewrites · 4 years ago
Note
Asmo likes the use of the pact right? So far I’ve never seen solomon use it besides the time he summoned him once. I was thinking maybe you had enough ideas to write something about it 👀 maybe a 5+1 things (like “times Solomon used his pact with asmo”) or something if you’re up for it? I love your writing by the way I can’t wiat for chp 9!
5 Times Solomon Used His Pact With Asmo
AO3
Ship: Solomon/Asmo
Word Count: 2663
Warnings: None
A/N: Hi Anon! I hope you like this! I’m sorry it took me so long (this is also my first time doing a 5+1 fic), I wanted to getting it out sooner. I hope you liked WBT! Thank you so much for your request!
1
Asmo had always enjoyed the feeling that coursed through him due to their pact. Solomon’s magic sent a tingling sensation up his spine and a warmth all throughout his body, and Solomon’s power.  Well… His power was more than addictive. His Solomon was one of the most, if not the most, powerful sorcerers humanity had ever seen. He wasn’t called the wise one for nothing, and knowing how revered Solomon was caused pride to swell within Asmo’s chest.  Now every now and again they’d use their pact for less professional situations, but regardless Asmo loved it.
However, sometimes Asmo was a bit surprised when Solomon put their pact to work.
“Solomooon.”
Solomon’s head perked at the sound of Asmo’s whines. He couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face as his boyfriend’s disgruntled form trudged through the underbrush. A few tiny scratches bloomed on his porcelain skin, his hair was messed up, and twigs and mud clung to his clothing.  Ah, perhaps he should have warned him, but Solomon’s excitement had gotten the better of him. 
“This is awful. There’s so many bugs! Why couldn’t that little plant you need be in a garden? Or maybe a nice little field of flowers?” he huffed, “Why does it have to be here in this revolting mess?”
A chuckle escaped Solomon as he went over to help Asmo maneuver through the unkempt path. Well, it wasn’t much of a path really, more like underbrush that had been crushed by something else before them. Asmo still didn’t seem too happy, but at least he was wearing closed toed shoes. Powerful demon or not, Solomon didn’t want Asmo hurting himself.
“I think it’s rather enchanting,” Solomon said, looking around them, “It’s untouched and full of secrets just waiting to be unlocked, as well as the herb I’m looking for.”
“Well, you should replant it back home. Where it’s easier to get to when you find it!” Asmo let out a screech as he slipped down into a puddle of mud below him. He blinked a few times and looked down at himself. Then his surprise started to morph. A screech echoed through the forest, scaring a few birds from their perches. “I’m covered in mud. This is disgusting! Solomon why do you even need this stupid herb? I wanna go home!” 
Something clicked in the deep recesses of Asmo’s mind snapping his head towards Solomon mid rant, and a shudder ran through his spine. Oh the tiny little tugs from their pact always felt nice, especially when he could feel Solomon’s power coursing through his veins.
Solomon was eye level with him now, “As soon as we find what I’m looking for, I promise you can have the nicest, warmest bath and soak for as long as you’d like.”
Asmo hesitated for a moment, “And bubbles?”
“All the bubbles your little heart could desire.”
“The nice kind.”
“If that’s what you’d like.”
“And hot tea from that cafe I like.”
Solomon nodded.
Finally, after a moment of thinking it over, Asmo smiled  and stood up. “Alright then! Let’s go find that little plant! And when we do, you’d better take some home to pot.”
**********
2
“Solomon how do you live like this?” Asmo huffed, putting yet another book in a pile, “Everything is so disorganized!” Mountains of different books and scrolls surrounded them.They’d barely made a dent in their work and Asmo was trying his best to stay on task. Well, at least things looked better than when Solomon had initially summoned him, but even that wasn’t saying much.
“Well it was organized,” Solomon started, “Then I needed to do my research and look for specific information and well-”  He gestured to the room around them. He hadn’t meant for everything to get this scattered, but he’d also needed multiple books open at once. Sure he could have just marked the pages he wanted and used one or two books at a time, but how productive was that. Plus it was a notification from Asmo on his DDD saying he wanted to do something that caused him to lose focus in the first place.  So why not use their pact to ‘hang out’ a little? He’d indulge Asmo after they finished, but for now they had a task to finish. 
He heard Asmo flop over with a soft thud, a groan leaving his lips. “Solomon this is going to take forever! Why do you have to have so many books? Where do you even manage to fit them all?”
“Sometimes the pursuit of knowledge requires sacrifice Asmo, and sometimes that sacrifice is space.” Solomon lifted his head to peer at Asmo behind the stack of books. He was lying on his back, book over his face, and silent. 
Slowly, and being careful to maneuver around the stacks of books, Solomon made his way over to Asmo and sat down with him, picking up the book on his face. Asmo made eye contact with him and crossed his arms. Solomon smiled and looked at the spine before placing it in the correct pile. “You know, it’s going to be harder to organize when your face is buried in a book.”
“And you know there are better ways of using our pact.”
“Oh? So you would have helped me out of the goodness of your heart then?”
Asmo let out a huff before sitting back up and grabbing another book, grumbling something quietly under his breath. “I thought we’d go clubbing or something, not organizing books,” he frowned, looking rather unamused. 
A low hum left Solomon as he nodded, eyes slowly drifting over towards his bookshelf. With a snap of his fingers, one of the piles flew into neat organized rows on the shelf.  Organizing the books still required him  to know which books were where, but he could put them on the shelves once they were already organized into nice neat piles. Without another word, he then plucked Asmo’s DDD from the floor much to the demon’s protest.
“Hey!” 
“Shhh.”
 Solomon tapped on the device for a few minutes before snapping a picture. “See? Look how wonderful you look with this backdrop,” he said, bending over to show Asmo, “So, even if you don’t think of this as fun, as least you still look lovely right?” 
Asmo took his DDD and tilted his head from side to side. He furrowed his brow and bit his lip, “Well, I do look good. Can you take more?”
“Of course! When do I ever forget to reward you for a job well done?”
**********
3
Asmo looked nice. Incredibly nice. He was practically glowing in the dim lights of the club. But right now, Solomon needed complete focus. Well, maybe he didn’t, but he wanted to make sure he looked professional. They were sitting in a dingy, little, isolated corner. Asmo’s eyes kept slinking over to the bar, and tiny shudders would overtake him every now and again as Solomon’s power ran through him. It was so hard to behave in this atmosphere, the only thing keeping him in place was the pact. But Solomon would make it worth it, he always made it worth it. 
“They’re here,” Solomon said under his breath, eyes shifting towards the doorway where two figured stepped through the doorway and looked in thor direction. He glanced back towards Asmo and nodded, “You know what to do.”
“Well! Looks like ya brought a pretty little companion with ya,” the first man chuckled, nodding towards Asmo. Asmo leaned forward on the table and batted his lashes slowly up at their guests.  
“I promised we’d go out,” Solomon smiled, “Since I was coming here anyways, I figured I could kill two birds with one stone. Now. Do you have what I came here for?”
The first nodded to his partner with a smirk. Carefully, the other reached into his pocket and put a small box on the table. With nimble fingers, Solomon slowly opened the box. A soft blue light gently coated a small piece of their corner. The little stone inside was exactly what Solomon needed, it would make his latest spell extremely successful. 
“Now, our money-”
“Oh Solomon!” Asmo squealed, cutting off the man on the other side of the table, “You didn’t tell me it would be so pretty! It’s gorgeous!” His head turned to the two men on the other side of the table. Everything was in motion now, and Solomon had to stop himself from smiling. Oh it was such a wonderful thing that not everyone in the human realm knew of Asmodeus, especially those who didn’t deal in magic.
Asmo’s eyes were sparkling as he leaned over the table. “Why don’t you just give it to us? I know it’ll be safe in my Solomon’s hands. I promise!”
The man let out a guffaw and shook his head. “Ah, now that’s cute. Listen, I don’t know why you guys want this weird ass rock, but I ain’t about to give away something this nice for-”
Solomon couldn’t help but smile as he watched the man’s eyes meet with Asmo’s. That was when he knew this was a done deal. As Asmo worked his silver tongue, Solomon slipped the gemstone into his pocket. One thing was for sure, Solomon wasn’t going to have to pay the full price for their little exchange.
**********
4
Asmo was radiating with power. Solomon swore he could see his eyes glowing. Not to mention Asmo seemed to really be getting a high off of Solomon’s power. Sure Solomon noticed the little shudder that ran through him or the occasional flutter of his wings whenever he used their pact,  but this amount seemed to consume all of him. His hips swayed in a rather cocky manner as he circled the aggressor, wings flared, and sharp teeth glinting. Solomon swore that he and Asmo were in unison with each other, their breathing and heartbeats synced up.
Hands on his hips, Asmo turned his head to the side ever so slightly and cocked an eyebrow at Solomon. He was asking for permission. Not that he needed it, Asmo could very well start whenever he wanted. But this was a game. They were playing with the giant beasty in front of them, it’s claws bared and teeth gleaming. It’s fur was raised and bristled, eyes alive with bloodlust. Oh it was exciting.
Solomon lifted his hand ever so slightly, and Asmo moved. The beast tried to swat at the demon who quickly jumped out of the way. 
When he landed he turned back to look at Solomon. “Oh darling, stop teasing,” he purred, “Let me have it.”
“Oh? You say I’m teasing?” Solomon chuckled, nearly avoiding the beast’s thrashing tail.
“You always tease me. You’re so mean to me you know-”
“Do I now? Well, perhaps if you ask me nicely-”
“Please Solomon?”
They locked eyes once more and Solomon saw a shudder of anticipation wrack Asmo’s body. Slowly, he brought his fingers together and snapped. Asmo’s wings immediately flared out, his aura completely took over the space they were in. Solomon found himself completely in awe of Asmo as he turned back towards the beast and leapt into combat. 
As Solomon watched as Asmo slashed and thrashed, cutting and tearing his way through their opponent, he couldn’t help but look forward to the aftermath. When Asmo came down from the high, when his eyes were soft and completely blissed out and he wanted nothing more than to lay in the crop of Solomon’s arm with the laziest smile on his face. In the meantime, he would wait in the shadow just in case Asmo needed him. He doubted it, but he stayed all the same.
**********.
5
Solomon’s arms tightened around Asmo as soon as he felt him move. He knew it was morning. He could picture the bright sunlight seeping in through his window without opening his eyes. His face became buried in Asmo’s back as his demon whined and tried to squirm out of his arms.
“Solomon,” he yawned, “I have to get ready.”
Solomon’s silver hair tickled the back of Asmo’s neck as he shook his head. Cold fingers slipped beneath Asmo’s shirt where warm skin awaited him. He heard Asmo let out a tiny yelp at the contact as he tried to squirm out of his arms. Asmo kept him warm at night and was a rather nice initiative when it came to getting away from his research and slipping into bed at night. He didn’t want to let him go, he wanted to keep him in bed for another hour or two. He wanted to keep Asmo in his arms until the need for his morning caffeine fix inevitably called to him. 
He’d never been a morning person and never understood how Asmo could get up so early.
“Solomon,” Asmo tried to sit up, only to be dragged back down to bed. A sigh escaped him and he struggled to prop himself up on his elbow and craned his neck to look at Solomon, “Darling, I’ve already stayed ten minuted past my alarm.”
“You’re not going anywhere today,” Solomon yawned, his voice barely audible due to his mumbling.
“Dear-”
“Stay.”
Asmo gasped as the familiar tingle of Solomon’s magic trickled through him. It was weaker than normal. Instead of the strong sensation that usually coursed through him, this one felt more like a whisper or a gentle caress. However, it was not any less addictive. 
Slowly, he relaxed back down where slow kisses awaited him. As Solomon’s arms tightened around him, Asmo closed his eyes once more. “You owe me,” he murmured, although he wasn’t entirely sure he would hold Solomon to that. His human seemed so content, Asmo couldn’t help but wonder if he entirely meant to use their pact.
**********
+1
It was a quiet day. Birds chirped outside, leaves shuddered in the wind, and the sun bathed the world in her soft glow. The smell of coffee bathed the living room as it drifted from the kitchen. Solomon sat himself next to Asmo, mug in hand. Then his eyes started to wonder. It was hard not to admire Asmo. He was wonderful, more than wonderful. Slowly, Solomon became lost in the silence, in the beauty of the moment. Of course Asmo looked stunning bathed in the soft glow of the Devildom’s moon, but there was a different type of beauty when it came to the earth’s sunlight. 
Asmo shuddered and looked towards Solomon. A lazy smile stretched across his face. It was a wonderful feeling, Solomon’s magic. 
“Yes?” 
Solomon blinked, finally seeming to come out of his daze. “What?” he asked, his mind not fully caught up with him yet. 
Asmo laughed. It was light and lilting and a wonderful thing to hear ringing throughout the house. “I can feel you dear. If you’re going to use our pact, I would appreciate you giving me the order instead of teetering on the edge,” he said. He winked at Solomon before going to get another cup of coffee. 
Blushing ever so slightly, Solomon quickly got up to follow after him. Asmo was smirking by the time Solomon turned him around. He was pushed up against the counter ever so slightly, faces inches apart, the tug of Solomon’s magic becoming undeniable. 
This was a request, one which Asmo was more than happy to oblige once their lips connected. “You can just kiss me you know instead of just standing there,” he chuckled once they parted, “I can feel your longing you know.”
“What can I say? It’s so easy to get lost in you,” Solomon murmured, leaning forward once more. When they connected, Solomon’s magic prickled across Asmo’s skin. Asmo ‘s hands tightened around Solomon’s neck, and he wasn’t entirely sure if he was getting drunk off of his magic or his lips. But in the end, it didn’t really matter which it was.
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fablesrose · 4 years ago
Text
Tell Me a Story 3
Summary: It’s go time
Word count: 2,188
Pairing: cop?!Dean x mafia!reader
Square filled: Crack
Warnings: shooting
Masterlist ~ Bingo Masterlist
A/n: For @girl-next-door-writes​ make me feel bingo. This only has a little bit of crack, but it was sure fun to write! One more part after this!
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“Hey Angel.”
“Hey Hot Shot,” I smiled as I held my phone to my ear, the nicknames had settled in for us over the past couple of weeks, and I couldn’t deny that I liked using them. “The next monthly meeting is tonight, you ready to put on a show?”
He laughed, “Like it’s ever an act with you sweetheart.”
I snorted, “Yeah, sure.” I sighed, “Alright, for real though, be a loving boyfriend, but don’t be stupid.”
“Roger roger.”
“I guess I’ll meet you there.”
“Yup.” He hung up the phone promptly, leaving me in silence.
I rubbed my hands all over my face, “He’s a professional who’s only acting this way to make it natural and so he can get some sort of promotion. Don’t look too far into it. You’re probably going to go to prison anyway once this is all over with.” Despite telling myself this over and over, it really didn’t make a difference. I groaned and tried to force my face to relax from the smile I was wearing.
I banged my head once against a nearby wall, “Okay, time to get ready to get this over with.”
Before I knew it I was watching Dean pull up and park near my apartment as I walked to the meeting building.
“Have I ever told you how much I love your car?”
“Only every time you see her,” Dean fell into stride beside me.
“I thought we were gonna meet there.”
Dean grabbed my hand, “And how would that look, the boyfriend not escorting his very important girlfriend into an extremely dangerous crowd?”
“Fair point,” I squeezed his hand, smiling softly to myself.
The door squeaked as we opened it, giggling at nothing.
“Glad you love birds could join us.” Chuck sat at the front of the room, looking rather impatient.
I took my place, Dean beside me, and nodded soberly.
“Let’s begin.”
Naomi stepped forward, “Of course, sir. I have some things that need to be looked-”
“I don’t care about that,” Chuck waved his hand as he cut her off.
It took everything in me not to laugh.
“Some of my… sources, have told me that Doctor Hess wants to make a deal with me.”
There was a couple beats of silence before Meg got brave, “Uh, and who is that?”
“The leader of the Lettermen, obviously.”
The room erupted in laughter.
“Letterboys? Really?”
“Yes,” Chuck snapped at us, trying to shut us up, “and Y/n is going to set it all up.”
That sobered me up quickly, “Pardon?”
“You are going to set up the deal. You’re gonna be our middle man.”
I felt my insides shrivel. What he means is that I’ll be the scapegoat.
“Sir, I’d like to accompany her on this assignment if you don’t mind,” Dean said as he took a half step forward.
“I do mind. Starling will be working this alone, directly with me.”
“But sir-”
I placed a hand on his arm, “Dean.” I shook my head, telling him it wasn’t worth it.
He set his jaw and didn’t press any further.
“So, It’s settled then,” Chuck clapped his hands together once, “that’ll be all, you’re dismissed.”
I glanced at Naomi who looked annoyed at not getting her business done, but she wasn’t brave enough to get snapped at again.
It wasn’t much time later when me and Dean were walking back, alone again.
“Why did you do that?”
“Dean-”
“Why did you stop me from pairing up with you?”
“Because, you were doing a great job at being a loving boyfriend, but I also told you not to be stupid. What you were about to do was incredibly stupid.”
“So you’re gonna do it alone?!” Dean sounded angry, I wasn’t exactly sure why.
I turned to face him, “Yeah, I am! I’ve done stuff like this before, and I’ll have to do it again! But do you understand what this means for us??”
“No, I don’t.”
I grabbed him by the shoulders, “We can do something with this… Maybe I can…”
“We can do some sort of sting operation,” Dean quieted down like he was understanding.
“Exactly! I’ll set something up, I’ll feed you all the information...” I nodded my head, “we can do this.”
“Fine,” he turned and started walking again, “you’re still going to be doing most of this alone though.”
“Don’t worry Dean, I won’t mess it up.”
I thought I heard Dean mumble something, but I didn’t ask what it was. The rest of the walk was quiet until we reached where his car was parked.
I ran my hand along her, looking for scratches that didn’t exist.
“Stay safe, alright? I can’t be losing you now, Angel.”
“I will, don’t you worry Hot Shot.” I smiled at waved as he started her up and drove away.
Let’s cut to me probably doing something stupid, but it is the fastest way to get stuff done in these situations.
“I think you’re on the wrong side of town, ma’am.” A group of boys approached me as I walked a quiet street, deep in Lettermen territory.
I sighed, “You’re probably right, but I also heard through the grapevine that a Doctor Hess wants to make a deal. That ring any bells?”
They all glanced at each other before one addressed me, “Stay here.”
I leaned against a nearby building, choosing not to answer him vocally.
After a while, a man closer to my own age approached me.
“Doctor Hess?”
He laughed, “No, my name is Mick Davies. I’m more of a spokesperson. And I’m assuming you’re not Chuck.”
I smiled back at him, both of us keeping our distance, “Yeah, you wish. It’s Y/n.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“Likewise.”
His smile dropped into a more serious expression, “You are correct when you mentioned a deal. Details are still in need of some finalizing, of course, but the basics are, if you share with us some of your… resources that we hear you have, helping us get on our feet, we’ll give you a part of the profits and keep our boys on our side of the line.”
“Intriguing...” This could be big. If I played my cards right, I could maybe bring down the mobs on both sides of the city. Now to play some cards… “If we come to an agreement of terms, Chuck wants a face to face settlement to seal the deal.”
“I don’t think that will be a problem.” He pulled out a card from his pocket, “My contact information, so we can work out the details before the deal.”
I stepped forward and took it, “Well, it’s been a pleasure, hope I see the least amount possible.”
“Likewise.”
And like that we both turned and went out opposite directions.
That wasn’t as bad as I thought it was. Maybe this will be easy.
But now to convince Chuck.
“They want the sealing of the deal face to face or it won’t happen.”
“Yeah, that’s fine.”
That wasn’t as bad as I thought it was. Maybe this will be easy.
Now to tell Dean the good news!
“Dean, call me back.”
“Dean, I’ve got something to tell you.”
“Hot Shot, if you don’t answer this damn phone I swear I’m not going put this meeting up.”
Why was this not easy.
The meeting was set. It was to happen in an isolated location just outside of town, two weeks away. Chuck was going to bring the goods, loads of weapons and drugs. I had to be there to back Chuck up, as I’m sure Mick would be there to do the same for this Doctor Hess.
“Dean, I sent the information to your phone, please be there with as many men as possible. From your old job, just to be safe.”
I wanted to actually talk to him. I shouldn’t want that. I’ve gotten too close. It doesn’t matter anymore though. He’s stopped talking to me mid job. The worst case scenario is that I somehow get found out and killed. The absolute best case scenario is that everyone goes to jail except me. The one I was fearing most though was the one where I never see Dean again. Unfortunately there were a bunch of options where that happens.
I kept telling myself that it was just a job to him. That this would benefit him. That he would never want to associate with someone from the mafia in normal circumstances.
Maybe going to jail would be good for me.
My phone rang with an unknown number popping up on the screen.
“Hello?”
“Hey Angel, sorry, I broke my phone.”
“God dammit!” All that worrying for nothing. All the stress that he was somehow dead or leaving me to deal with Chuck by myself. Wasted.
“What?”
“I have been trying to reach you all day. I got the meeting set up, its in two weeks. I’ll send you the place. Both Chuck and Doctor Hess are going to be there with a metric ton of damning evidence in the form of illegal weapons and drugs.”
“That… is awesome!”
“I know right?? I’m gonna need you to bring in all your people.” I soaked it in for a couple of breathes, “I can’t wait to see the look on his face when he’s arrested.”
“You’re not going to be there.” His voice was firm, it was commanding like there was no room for argument.
“Dean...” I spoke regretfully, oh how I wish I could listen to him, “if I’m not there, this all falls apart. This isn’t a personal choice, I have to be there.”
“You could get hurt.”
“Same with every day of my life.”
He sighed, “Fine, but you’re gonna wear a wire so we can communicate.”
“Dean, Chuck may be stupid enough to let you in as a cop, and he may be stupid enough to do this meeting face to face, but he’s not stupid enough-” I paused, “I take that back, he may be that stupid.”
“So it’s settled, you’re going to wear a wire, and I’m gonna bring in all the law enforcement fire power you could ever dream of.”
I laughed, “Deal.”
The meeting came all too quickly. I was wearing a wire, like Dean asked me, but I did not enjoy it, it seemed to be all that was on my mind. Everyone arrived separately. It was decided that I would arrive first and scout out the area, kicking out any lurkers. Then Mick was to show, then the bosses.
Dean was talking in my ear, telling me that they were ready, that anytime now Chuck and Doctor Hess was going to be arrested.
“The profits of the supplies will be split 70/30 right?” Chuck was chatting with Doctor Hess, me and Mick farther out.
Hess huffed, “That’s hardly enough to cover our other expenses, 50/50 split.”
“Come on Doc, there has to be something in it for me, 60/40.”
Her stare was withering, but Chuck was always an idiot, “Fine.”
They shook on it and Chuck directed her to the product a little ways away.
“Chopper is coming in to get eyes, then we’ll fall in,” Dean said.
I hummed discretely to tell him I heard and started to glance around the dark sky, supposedly looking for stars.
Eventually the helicopter flew in with a spotlight shining down on us.
“Finally,” I spoke out loud, glad this was going to be over.
But I might have spoken a bit too loudly since Chuck pulled out a gun, “You bitch!”
I faced him, my arms crossed against my chest, “Been called a lot worse you motherfucker.”
“FBI! Drop the weapon!” Dean was at the front of the group in an FBI vest, aiming his gun at Chuck. The rest of the agents surrounded the area and quickly started arresting Hess and Mick.
Chuck hesitated, but in the end he shot at me. I tried to move quickly but he still grazed my shoulder. Chuck looked like he wanted to shoot me again, but Dean took two shots before he could, one to the hand holding the gun and another to his leg, effectively making him drop the gun and fall to the ground. Dean directed a couple of agents to Chuck while he ran over to me.
“Man, you really are a hot shot Hot Shot.” I laughed as I pressed a hand against my shoulder.
“I can’t believe you just stood there as Chuck aimed a gun at you. That is so dangerous,” he made sure I was comfortable before he called for a medic.
“Chuck isn’t that great with precision weapons, look, he just grazed me!” I laid my clean hand on his arm, “Thank you. This means so much to me, I don’t know how I could ever repay you.”
The medics came and started to push Dean back so she could get to me.
“You helped get Sam out, how ‘bout we stay in touch and we’ll call it even?”
I nodded, “You got it Hot Shot.”
“They’ll take good care of you, Angel.”
Best Buds: @kitkatd7​ @snarky--starky​ @confetti-its-an-imagine-blog ​ @kaogasm​
Dean: @akshi8278​ @msmarvelouswinchester
TMAS: @flamencodiva
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darlingpetao3 · 5 years ago
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Give Into the Symptoms (EoWells x Reader)
Rating: M (Smut)
Summary: When an unknown substance is accidentally released into the medbay, you find yourself isolated along with Doctor Wells, and both of you start to develop some very interesting symptoms...
A/N: Happy Friday! Here’s some super hot smut to spice up your day! Word count - 3,223
Tag List: @blogforhoes​
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Team Flash likes to joke that being accident-prone is your superpower. Little did they know, one accident in particular would catapult you into a world of suspicion and realization…
It’s one of those days - a day in between just having caught the latest meta terrorizing the city and having another one pop up. You have forgotten your travel mug, and are searching the Labs for it. Oh, right!
You remember setting it down while visiting Caitlin in the medbay, then got distracted. There it is. You jog into the room, but remember that’s probably not a good idea. What if you trip on absolutely nothing and fall flat on your face? Not if you can help it.
But that doesn’t seem to help you.
When you reach for your mug on the desk, it’s like everything happens in slow motion (later, you find yourself wondering if this is how it feels for Barry) - your arm knocks over a series of test tubes holding different coloured liquids. Some of the substance splashes onto your skin, whereas the rest of the matter falls to the ground. It gives off a pungent aroma. You can practically see the fumes rising from the desk and the floor up into the air. In the shock of the accident, you let out a yell, and find that whatever the hell chemicals just touched your skin feels like it’s burning.
“Miss (Y/L/N)!” comes the familiar voice of your superior (and friend? You’re fairly certain you’re friends… You hope you’re friends...) Doctor Harrison Wells. The scientist zooms in on his motorized chair at the fastest speed it will carry him. “What’s happened?”
His voice is a mixture of surprise, concern and impending protocol.
“Ow, ow, I knocked over chemicals on the desk, ah!” you try to explain while shaking your affected limb. “Some on my arm.”
You shout in wild staccatos while Doctor Wells helps usher you to the emergency wash station to ease the moderately uncomfortable sensation. Even after the cold water sprays on your skin, it’s Harrison’s next few words that shock you even more than the water temperature or the burn.
“You need to remove your shirt. Quickly.”
“I- what?”
Doctor Wells wheels over to one of the cabinets in the room and plucks one of the many overly stocked S.T.A.R. Labs sweaters to toss it at you.
“There will still be remnants of the concoction on your shirt. It will continue to soak through the fabric and reach the rest of your body. It cannot be touching you. Hurry. Unless you want to try to bathe in that sink.”
You have your shirt off faster than you could say “the Flash.”
You remove your shirt so fast, in fact, that Doctor Wells hasn’t even had time yet to turn away or avert his eyes. Instead, he witnesses the entire thing.
“Oh, well…” he utters, possibly embarrassed, turning around too late. His eyes one hundred percent saw you in your bra. And now you will let that tiny factoid harass you for the rest of your life. You shrug on the classic navy sweater with the organization’s logo stretched across your chest. It is not your size, but it will have to do.
“Alright, I’m decent,” you say to the back of his dark-haired head. He makes a small noise in the back of his throat after he faces you again, but you can’t decipher its meaning. But that is the case with many things when it comes to this man.
“We have to self-isolate ourselves.” Harrison’s voice is calm but firmly urgent. “We’ve both been in contact with each other and the substance. Quick, initiate lockdown.” You know just what to do and sprint to the door to the room. You smash the emergency glass and press the Big Red Button. Instantly, metal barriers drop down to seal the doors and windows, locking you in with the secret object of your affections and an unknown substance.
Only time will tell what will happen to the two of you next.
***
Nothing.
Nothing has happened! God, you are so bored.
“How long are we supposed to be stuck in here?” you ask.
“So far, it’s uncertain. This is an unknown substance. But we must stay isolated so as not to pass along the contagion. We both came in contact with the substance particles, so we may eventually show symptoms.” Harrison hums.
“What?” you ask.
“This unforeseen circumstance may be worth taking notes. For posterity. Do you have a pen?”
Naturally, Harrison would find a way to take this unfortunate situation and turn it into a learning experience.
Always a scientist.
Maybe that’s why you admire him so much. Well, more than just admire…
At first, time passes incredibly slowly. You don’t know what to say in the awkward silence between you and Doctor Wells, so you try to keep yourself busy. This proves extremely difficult, however. All there is in this room are Caitlin’s medical journals, test tubes and various other tools, and a medical bed. Yes, there is a computer, but it was set up solely for data entry. No internet. Not even so much as Solitaire!
And the metal barriers seem to have blocked out all signals to your phone.
Even Doctor Wells’ chess set was out in the other room!
This is hopeless.
You hop up on the medical bed and recline a bit. You’re starting to feel a little strange, but you can’t figure out what exactly is wrong with you. Is this one of the symptoms, or have you finally gone mad from being cooped up? You start to mentally examine yourself.
Your skin tingles, but in a good way - not like how it burned earlier. Your entire body feels comfortably warm, and you find that when your eyes fall on Doctor Wells, that’s when you start to feel hotter.
The man sits in the corner of the room, studying one of the journals. Every so often, he’ll lick his finger and turn the page...
You swallow hard, now wholly distracted by his lips. They’re so pink it should be a crime. But the real outrage is the curves of his arms. At first, you were going to ask whether he wears such muscle-defining sweaters like this all the time, but really you know the answer to that is yes. Your eyes take you on a vicious cycle of drinking him in, admiring every piece of perfection that is Harrison Wells.
“Miss (Y/L/N)? Are you feeling alright?” he shakes you from your ogling.
“Huh, what? I think so…”
“Are you developing any symptoms?”
Is horniness one of them?
“I’m not sure.”
“Write down what you’re feeling, anyway,” he suggests. “It could be helpful.”
You do so, taking the pen and paper you’d found earlier and jot down what you’d been feeling. You’re noticing a bit of lightheadedness too, so you add that to the list. But you hear something mid-scrawl.
“Did you know that you’re the sexiest woman I’ve ever laid eyes on?”’
You lift your head. Did he just…?
“I’m sorry, w-what?” you stutter. Doctor Wells removes his glasses in one motion, letting one of its arms touch his lips, which bend up into a smirk. He wheels over to you in the bed, the closer he gets, the hotter and unsteadier you become. Your vision seems altered - rosier than usual.
“I believe you heard me correctly,” he answers, “and I mean it. You make me want to…”
“Want to what?” If you don’t settle yourself down now, you’re going to jump the man.
“It isn’t proper what I want to say.”
Oh, now he’s holding back?
Fuck it. You need to know. You slide your legs off the bed and, without much further thought, kneel between his widespread legs on his chair. Your hands gripping the armrests instead of literally anywhere on the man himself like you would prefer. Leaning in close, so much so that you share the same dangerous breath.
“I need you to tell me,” you beg.
Doctor Wells just blinks at you, then frowns.
Wait. Something’s not right here.
You pull back and examine the situation, and then the scariest words come from his mouth:
“Miss (Y/L/N)? What are you doing?”
You try your damndest not to scream. Did you just hallucinate all that? Oh God, I imagined him coming on to me, didn’t I??
Jumping back far away from him, you turn around to hold your head in your hands. Is this all one big fever dream? Is this a symptom? What’s real? What’s not? You sure as hell don’t know anymore. All you do know is that you’re hot and bothered and almost mauled your boss because of it.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me,” you say. “I’m just…” You’re completely frazzled. “I’m just going to write it down.”
New symptom: horny hallucinations
You try to let the next half an hour pass without feeling this strange woozy sensation. In doing so, you close your eyes and concentrate on your breathing while lying down. But it’s still too hot. You’re still too hot. You remove the sweater, entirely forgetting that you aren’t alone in this room. Doctor Wells has been quiet for far too long. And it would appear he’s been watching you. His elbow rests on his chair, hand covering his mouth as his eyes rake over your body. You look down to his lap, an accident.
Good Lord, he’s got…
The curve of him is all too apparent in his pants. The way he’s sitting only draws attention to it. It’s like you have instantaneous tunnel vision. His growing self is all you see and all you care about. You go to him, no longer wondering or caring if this is all an illusion, it’s not even a thought in your brain. All that remains is this unrestrainable animal lust for his body. Consequences be damned. You kneel in front of him.
“(Y/N)...” he exhales. He doesn’t sound stunned or taken aback by your extreme forwardness. Instead, it sounds like a warning.
“Suddenly not so formal, hm?” you say. “Good, because we’re about to get better acquainted anyway, Harrison.” Doctor Wells doesn’t make any motion for you to stop your advancements, just stares lustful daggers at you while you practically claw at the man’s buckle and zipper. You reach into his pants to wrap your hand around the single thing in this room that you believe can heal you. His sheer hardness is unveiled and in your firm grasp. Doctor Wells’ groan shifts into a growl. Well, hello. His brow furrows but in the sexiest goddamn way.
Heavens above, you’re desperate to taste this man, eat him, swallow him, consume him.
New symptom: salivation
Your tongue darts out for a slow lick. But the slowness doesn’t last because the need is greater than anything you’ve felt. Soon, you surround your lips around his cock and take him further in your mouth. Further, letting the underside of him brush against your flattened tongue. On your way back down, you swirl around him, which makes your colleague, your employer reach a hand into your hair. He grips a handful at the base of your head. Harder. Pull it harder.
Doctor Wells does just that, and perhaps you did say out loud that after all? You aren’t sure of anything anymore other than you feel on fire, and you need more. Your blood hurtles through your veins. A ceaseless throb makes itself known between your legs. More so than before, that is.
Going in for the kill, you return your mouth to him, meanwhile reaching your own hand past the waistband of your jeans to touch yourself. You need to get off just as much as you want him to. You feel like you’ll keel over if you don’t deal with yourself too.
Harrison’s bobbing head stops to stare down at you.
“Are you-? Fuck, (Y/N), are you-?”
You hum around him in affirmation, and just after you do, the scientist pushes you off of him. In any other situation, you might be mortified that a man told you to stop blowing him, but this is no ordinary situation. Your vision blurs for a second in a surge of lust. You’re like an animal that’s just been denied their meal. There’s so much more to eat.
You stand up, chest heaving, and positively do not believe what you witness next.
Doctor Wells’ hands clutch the chair’s armrests again, but then you watch as he moves his foot. He takes a step onto the floor, then stands to a full six feet. It’s a fucking miracle- no. It truly is a hallucination. A dream. It’s a fantasy.
There’s a flash of danger in his eyes, while yours widen, big and round as his prey. The tables have turned. He’s stalking you, walking you back until you hit the metal barrier where the door once was. Captured.
This hallucination is fucking wild and I am here for it.
Might as well give in to the symptoms, right?
Harrison leans down by your ear and inhales your scent. Sweat, desire, desperation.
“I can’t resist you,” he says as if it’s difficult to even speak through the palpable sexual tension.
“I’d always imagined you saying that,” you confess, because why not? This isn’t real anyway. “I can’t resist you either.”
“I’m aware,” he chuckles into your neck, where his mouth quickly attaches. You swallow twice. “You seemed rather hungry back there.” Your pulse is starting to skyrocket again.
“Still am.” Your fingers find the hem of his soft black sweater and begin to lift it up over him. Might as well indulge in this glorious sex dream. Harrison helps you of course. He seems to want this as much as you. You’re both a series of grabbing hands, flexing muscles, and greedy touches as each and every article of clothing finds its rightful place on the floor.
Fucking hell, sex-fantasy Doctor Wells looks like an actual god. Part of your brain wonders how much of his usually-covered appearance is accurate. The rest of your brain (and another part in particular) thinks, Get in me.
The look on his face says it all. He’s going to ravage you.
Harrison, faster than you could ever imagine, spins you so that your exposed breasts press against the metal barrier. Your palms rest flat against the cool metal as well, bracing yourself for whatever the man has planned. Whatever it is, you want it. Now.
His hands run down your arms, leaving goosebumps in their wake despite your entire body feeling hot as all hell. He steps closer, so close that his whole body presses against the back of yours. His still hard cock digs into you from behind. You reach around and take hold of it and start to pump. The scientist rumbles into your neck, where he licks and nips and sucks and fuck- bites. You squeal. By the way his body twitches, you think he rather enjoyed hearing you like that.
If you weren’t already a mess, Harrison’s fingers take over the job you tried to accomplish on yourself earlier. His fingers are greeted by your already sopping desire.
“You really were serious, weren’t you?” he says at the slippery feel of you. “Do I always arouse you like this?”
“God, you don’t even know.” It comes out a bit strangled. “All the time.”
“Are you ready for me?”
“Do you seriously need to ask?”
He doesn’t answer you, but instead takes his length to press it against you from behind. Finallyfinallyfinally. A little more. Just a bit more. More. Further in. With each inch, you whine for all of him. Doctor Wells growls into your shoulder once he’s reached as far as he’s able to sheath himself inside you.
It’s only when he starts a steady pace of thrusts that you almost believe this is all real. The feeling in your gut tells you it’s real, but the rest of you insists it’s a very very heated symptom. His mouth is still attacking your neck, any bit of skin he can get to. The current mark he’s leaving is starting to hurt but in the best way.
“Fuck,” you swear, knowing your climax is just on the horizon. You’re nearly there. “Faster. Faster,” you ask of him with what little ability you have to form words. Doctor Wells chuckles, almost evilly, into your ear.
“That I can do,” he replies. His hips snap repeatedly, a deliciously rapid speed. Skin against skin slaps to quick beat. His fingers circle at the same pace. And with a surprise, sharp smack to your ass, this wicked combination is your undoing.
You come apart like a crumbling mess, crying out as you do as the man repeatedly slams into you, now seemingly for his own gain. It’s like nothing you’ve ever felt before, an orgasm this powerful, is it even possible to have one this...
***
You blink your eyes open.
You’re still in the medbay, but the barriers on the door and windows have been lifted. And you’re definitely still clothed in your S.T.A.R. Labs sweater and jeans. So it was all a crazy dream?
Regardless, you’re never going to be able to look Doctor Wells in the eye ever again.
Speaking of the man…
He rolls in on his chair with a pleasant and calm smile.
“Feeling alright, Miss (Y/L/N)?” he asks, concerned. “You took quite a spill earlier.”
“I did?”
“Yes.”
You don’t remember falling. You remember a whole lot of an X-rated fantasy, though.
“I didn’t, um…” you aren’t sure how to phrase this. “I didn’t do anything embarrassing or potentially fireable, did I?”
Doctor Wells raises an eyebrow in one of his classic moves. “I don’t believe so. Other than the falling, of course. But you needn’t feel embarrassed about that. It could have happened to anyone.”
You nod slowly, relieved that you didn’t blow your boss under the influence and proceed to fuck against a wall. Although… no. No. You are relieved. Yes.
“I see the barriers are up,” you note. “I take it that isolation is no longer required?”
“You would be correct,” Harrison confirms. “Doctor Snow rushed in, with the appropriate hazmat gear and did some tests. You were out long enough for the results to come back. We’re in the clear.”
“Well, that’s good news.”
“Quite.” Harrison smiles at you, but there’s something different this time than previously. You aren’t sure what it is. “I will leave you now. Feel free to take a few days off. I know that was probably a lot to take in.”
“Right. Yes, right, thank you, I will.”
“Take care, (Y/N).” Harrison wheels away out of the room and out to the corridor. You take a breath and step out of the bed, feeling a bit uncomfortable as you walk. And then, in the reflection of one of the mirrors on Caitlin's work desk, you see it.
A deep-purple mark on your neck.
When you press your fingers to it, it hurts a bit. It’s fresh. But how can that be…?
Can that-?
Did he really-?
But then that means…
Oh shit.
~
Anonymous Request: Hey dear🤗 I want to request a EoWells story. Reader gets exposed to a VERY powerful aphrodisiac at star labs and the reader asks harrison to help her😏. And he gets exposed to it too. And both go totally crazy and do shameless dirty stuff to each other and together (maybe they always had feelings for each other). And Harrison reveals his secret( that's he's not paralyzed) to get more and more from her. Lots of smut!🙈 Plus add whatever you like. can you plz?🙏🏻
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evilbeanghost · 4 years ago
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Snapetober 
Here is my participation #4: Day 8 Secret Injury.
You can also find it on AO3.
So, this is a little interlude in the universe of my current WIP "That Awful Snape Boy" (you can of course find it on AO3 too). I'm not sure it actually fits anywhere in the timeline of the main fic but it's like a mini-AU in the same world. 
For those who are not reading it: basically, McGonagall ends up adopting Severus at the beginning of his 3rd years at Hogwarts. It's a long road for them, a difficult one but also full of love and care. This little moment would fit during their first summer holiday together.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Severus was trying to keep up with his guardian, fighting against the heavy limp he was now sporting. Damn leg! Minerva was pretty far away, zigzagging between the shop's aisles at what seemed to Severus like lightening speed. How could this woman move that fast?
She had taken him on an impromptu outing that morning, seemingly out of nowhere. While he admitted now that he enjoyed spending time with Minerva, he had been in pain all night, and anyway: shopping was definitely taking it a little too far… He had tried to stay at the cottage, but she was adamant that she wouldn't leave him alone for a whole day like that. Severus had replied that he was left alone at his parent's for days on end since he was three: it didn't seem to placate her… the suggestion only putting that little spark of anger in her eyes, as it often was the case when his biological parents were discussed. 
Apparently, even fourteen years old were not to be left alone for that long? Severus thought she was being a little extreme with this: Lily and Petunia sometimes spent the whole day alone in the summer when both their parents had to work! 
He tried not to look too much into his feeling that this was linked to the little sad moods he had been experiencing lately. She was worried about him and he felt like trash because of it. Why couldn't he just be happy? What more did he need seriously? He was a pathetic, ungrateful piece of garbage. A useless worm.
The pain flared up suddenly and, giving up, he stopped behind a jackets' display to let his leg rest a little. This was going to be a long day…
He only had himself to blame for this one, as usual. The day before, he had been running on the Scottish beach near the cottage – just enjoying the fresh hair, the calming music of the sea and the freedom of it all – when he had stepped on a treacherous rolling stone and twisted his knee quite badly. It had hurt like Hell at the time. Severus remembered having literally seen a white flashing light for a moment at the intensity of the pain. However, after having taken some tentative steps in the sand, it was still hurting of course but not as much and not to the point where he could not walk at all (he admitted now that it had been quite worse after having rested his knee all night unfortunately).
He had felt really bad about it, somewhat guilty too. It was like the universe was trying to remind him than freaks like him didn't deserve the mindless fun of a run on a beautiful, deserted, white-sanded Scottish beach. Those things weren't for disgusting kids like him, what had he been thinking?
To be honest, it was only mid-July and this first summer holiday with Minerva was already surreal. He had a room here too, to his stupefaction since he wasn't aware at all that she had made any preparation before they came together to spend the summer here, and hot chocolate was offered even more frequently than during the school year. 
Severus, however, felt somewhat unsettled by it all. Everything was… weird? He didn't feel like he should have those things, like Minerva's kindness was deserved on his part. He also had moments when he just felt… empty? Sad? Like nothing really mattered and everything was just grey and not worth it. It was scary and it had been sapping his energy in waves since the start of the holidays. Without school to distract him from it, it was suddenly worse than it had been all year.
All of that made it even more critical that he didn't end up bothering Minerva with again another thing that would add to her already worried state. He just felt like she would be so much better without the like of him really… He was the worse thing that had ever happened to her.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
The boy had been quiet all day, moody even. Minerva had tried to ask him what shop he had wanted to do next – it was after all his first outing in an all-wizards town in the Outer Hebrides – but she didn't seem to be able to have him engaged with their little trip. 
It was a shame since it had been an excuse for just that in the first place. She was so worried about him… He had been moody, withdrawn and quite frankly sad since the beginning of the holidays and even his obvious joy at discovering the cottage and the magnificent scenery of her Harris' cottage didn't last very long. 
Minerva sighed. The day had been a failure in the end…  they were making their way back to the isolated little cottage, walking in the fine sand on the beach, with a magnificent sunset in the background; and yet their hearts were as heavy as the silence between them. 
She turned her head to make sure Severus was still following her – he had been lagging behind all day – when she suddenly caught him grimacing in pain, his left leg giving way beneath him before he caught himself and tried to speed up with a set expression on his little face. 
"Severus Snape, you stop where you are young man!", she said to him at once, alarmed.
Startled, Severus stopped in his tracks and looked at her with that worried expression of his, making her heart hurt for him once again. She felt like her anger at his parents was never going to fade away. Her anger at herself too, for not having seen, for not having stopped this three years before, when she first saw the scrawny first year entering the Great Hall for the first time. Too small, too thin, too intense and crafty for a child his age. How could they have missed it? That question was never going to stop haunting her.
The boy was looking at her, directly into her eyes with that defiant expression that used to infuriate her but that she knew now was just his way of being scared, and said nothing, waiting for whatever was going to fall on his head this time – there always was way too much resignation in his expression.
"Is your leg hurting, Severus?", she asked softly, using her newfound "motherly voice" in an attempt to reassure him that he wasn't in trouble at all. This script between them was certainly getting old.
"It's nothing, I can deal with it."
"It doesn't seem like it's nothing when it's making you limp and stumble like that. It looks painful too. What did you do?", Minerva asked, worried.
"It's nothing, really… just… I twisted my knee a little yesterday, I won't do it again I promise, please, don't be mad at me?"
"Oh, Severus. How many times do I have to tell you that I won't be mad at you for things that are outside of your power. Come here child, let me see."
She wanted to hug him tight, that smart, broken child; but she knew that he still wasn't always comfortable with physical manifestations of affection so she refrained herself. 
Looking sheepish, he limped towards her, looking at his feet, like a criminal having been caught red-handed.
"Sit on the sand Severus, and pull your trouser leg above your knee please, I want to see what we're dealing with here."
And as often, he did just that. Minerva was still quite taken by surprise by this… and they all thought that he was a model of insolence just a year ago… The child was in reality quite mild on a teenager's antics scale. Or maybe she knew how to handle him now?
She crouched before him, her back protesting at once, and looked at his injury closely. His poor knee was blue and swollen, very painful looking. How on earth had he been able to walk on that all day was beyond her.
"Severus, child, why didn't you tell me? This is a pretty bad sprain I think… I won't be able to treat it right away… but really, you're not walking another foot on this, that's for sure."
"But…"
"No buts. I will cast a feather-light charm on you and carry you to the cottage. I should have some Every-Day-Destrainer-Cream there. Would that be alright?"
"Yes… but you don't have to, I can walk, we're nearly there anyway."
"This isn't a negotiation! What's the first rule for living with me, Severus?"
He looked suddenly annoyed, making her smile fondly, that for once so common manifestation of teenage rebellion at the prospect of any discussion about house rules was comforting. Her whole guardian experience was so backwards… Worried when her child was quiet, happy when he was being a reluctant teenager.
"I'm not allowed to do anything dangerous or that can hurt me in any way."
"Exactly! Now, don't move", Minerva did the wand gesture, casting the spell non-verbally on her young charge, "and it's done!"
They looked a little silly, the middle-aged witch carrying the gangly adolescent on her back towards their little cottage. Minerva certainly didn't mind. 
That silly, moody child was not going to be in pain anymore, she sweared it. She was going to heal him, and not just the knee, damn it.
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sailorsilverladybug · 4 years ago
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Now that it's all over, I wanted to let you in on the past couple of weeks of my life. It's been rather stressful and hectic, and some of it rather frightening, so please bear with me. I doubt this is a surprise to any of you, but we are living in the middle of a pandemic.
Unfortunately, it is not under control. Not even close. And while I won't go into politics in this venue, I will say that I am both angry with how this has been handled in my country, and afraid of what the future will bring.
So, here goes. Last week my sister-in-law convinced me to go with her into one of the nearby cities to shop and go to a local casino (which practices social distancing and refuses entry to anyone not wearing a mask). We had been out before, and I needed things for the house, so I went. And I had a blast. We had a lot of fun and just got to hang out and spend time doing girl things.
But this past Friday, the 14th, around mid-morning, I started feeling ill. I had a headache that was nothing like my migraines or a stress headache. It centered just behind my eyes. I started to have a runny nose and felt strangely out of touch with my surroundings. Worse, I started having trouble breathing. I told my husband, who called his work and warned them he might be infected. Then we started calling the local hospital to find out about testing.
We registered to get tested. The woman who registered us said there would be a sign on the side of the primary care physician's office that we should call when we got there Monday. Because we live in a tiny rural town, the hospital only does testing between 9:00 and 12:30, Monday through Friday.
We had to wait until Monday to get tested. An entire weekend, wondering if I was going to get sicker and sicker. With my pre-existing conditions I was sure if I had Covid-19, it would be a death sentence.
Added on top of that, my husband totally lost it when I tried to talk to him about my wishes if something happened to me. He absolutely refused to listen and for a moment I thought he was going to throw himself on the ground and throw a real fit like our son did once when he was small. So, I started putting everything in order, just in case. I spent most of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday putting together my own memorial service, just in case. I made written notes to doctors and made sure our life insurance was all set.
All of this took an even bigger toll on me than the continued headache and the congestion. Then, probably because of stress, I started feeling sick to my stomach. It wasn't pleasant. The stress got so overwhelming, and nothing wanted to go right, and I was just ready to tear my hair out and run down the street screaming. That would have been a rather embarrassing arrest, so I'm glad I had some self-control.
While we were waiting for the testing to start, I worked for several hours to put together a back-tracing list that had everywhere I had been for the last three weeks, where my husband had been, and even the places I knew my sister-in-law had gone. Then, on Monday morning, at just before eight, Steve and I left to go and get tested. Since we were afraid of exposing anyone else, we walked (and I walked up a very big hill almost completely without help!)
By this point, I firmly believed I didn't have Covid-19, but I wasn't about to take chances with anyone else's health and safety. So we got to the hospital, saw the sign on the side of the primary care physician's building, and made the call that we were there... except, we hadn't found the right sign. The one we were reading was the one ON the side of the building. Not AT the side of the building. So, after my husband discovered our mistake (forty minutes on hold later), we called the second number and waited for a response.
Now, I'll be honest here... by this time, I was hot, tired, afraid, and just plain mad. I held it together, but I'm pretty sure my diatribe on anyone refusing to wear masks was heard ten miles away. By the end of my rant, both the others waiting in their cars to be tested had rolled up their windows (it went on for a REALLY long time).
Then a nice gentleman came out. I turned to my husband in a panic and made him promise he wouldn't let me bite the poor guy (which is a tendency I have when I am in extreme pain and a doctor gets too close). He walked us through what would happen and I asked if he would let my husband hold my head, partly to avoid biting him, and partly because Steve just makes me feel better. The man agreed, Steve leaned my head against his chest, and I sat on my walker and waited with my eyes closed for the torture to begin.
I'll be honest, while it totally sucked, it wasn't quite as bad as I had made it in my head. It felt like he was trying to tickle my brain, and I think I begged him to stop and said "oh S***" A LOT, but in spite of the discomfort, I survived it. Watching Steve go through it a minute later was almost worse, because I knew how much it sucked. He had his hands fisted and was shaking the whole time. He was stoic about it, but afterwards, when I made the quip about tickling the brain, he said "more like drilling," and just shook his head.
The gentleman we had been speaking to (I call him a gentleman because he was incredibly kind and gentle) said we might have our results as early as today, which was both a surprise and a blessing, because without Steve going back to work, we weren't sure how we would even manage to get food next week, let alone pay our rent, electric, and other bills, or set money aside for winter heating.
We were on our way back when my sister-in-law (Steve's brother's wife) drove past. She yelled at us to stay where we were, and we did, because we were friggin' exhausted by this point. She picked us up and drove us home after taking her own test about ten minutes later.
So, we waited. Now, I'll be honest. By this point I was about 98% sure that none of us had Covid-19, but we didn't take chances. Steve works in a grocery store. Sometimes he is stocking shelves, sometimes running a register, and sometimes he is out at the fuel island (the store gas station) pumping gas for people, and taking their money. So we knew if he went to work he could expose a LOT of people. We were very careful.
At 9:00 on the dot this morning I received the phone call telling me that I was Covid-19 negative! I bounced in my seat through the whole call. She didn't have Steve's results yet, so we waited. Around eleven, my sister in-law got her results. And then around one Steve got his. None of us are infected, thankfully. Steve called his work and let them know he is free to return (not a moment too soon) and will be going back tomorrow.
In the meantime, all the things we couldn't do because we had to self-isolate need to be taken care of, including several errands like getting dog food. So he has been rushing around getting things done all afternoon. Then I sat down and started writing, because that is just how I process things. I put on some music and just let my fingers fly over the keyboard.
My week sort of sucked, but the bright side is, I don't have Covid-19. Now that you know that, it's time I got into a subject that has really been bothering me. If you don't want to read further, you don't have to, but I really wish you would, and that you would spread the message along.
Every single person who chooses to wear a mask in spite of the annoyance it causes, is a hero to me. Every one of you who has gone without going to the club, who hasn't been going to church, who hasn't done any of the other things that happen in big groups. All of you who have been frustrated, but who know that your actions can either protect or harm other people... You are all heroes. You make a difference. Just as much as necessary workers. Just as much as doctors and nurses. You are heroes.
For those of you who don't wear masks, social distance, or use proper protection procedures, I am begging you, don't let this disease take away what you hold dear. Be safe, be smart. Listen to the doctors and nurses. Listen to the people begging you to wear a mask. Don't put yourself (or your loved ones) through what I just experienced.
Each time you get out of your car to go in a store, put a fresh mask on. Each time you touch something that has been touched by other people, use hand sanitizer. Stay at LEAST six feet apart. Wash your hands constantly, and thoroughly, for at least 20 seconds. Avoid touching your face (or the outside of your used masks!) and be very careful.
You don't want to go through the worry and the fear that you might have been exposed. But more than that, you don't want to be worried that you gave Covid-19 to someone you love. Please, be careful, be kind, and be safe. I don't want to lose you from this world. Every single one of us is special and has a purpose. Don't let your light go out. Take care of yourselves, and the rest of us.
Now, I'm going to climb off my soap-box and go do something completely unrelated to death and dying for a few hours. I might play a video game, or write a funny story. I might blast some music and sing off-key (loudly). Who knows. All I know is, I've had enough of fear and death to last a lifetime.
I wish you all well. God bless you.
Tori
Sailor Silver Ladybug
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elegant-etienne · 4 years ago
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👙 What is your take on sexy characters? (sidenote - the emoji choice for this one is making me snort)
Hot Takes OOC!
Thank you for the ask, @ren-roelanberry!
My super tepid take is I literally don’t care what others do. Honestly, I don’t. A lot of the things some people find sexy are things I find boring or get tired of quickly, so I’d say a lot of sexy characters are not for me. But other people’s characters’ are not in existence to please me, and if other people are having fun, I wish them the best. I do have some concern about certain tropes I see people leaning on, but I don’t know every person behind every character or their intents. I would have to say in general it’s none of my business because I don’t really cross paths with it that much.
Behind the cut, I’m going to talk about some potentially triggering subjects, including a situation of a harassing/abusive RPer who targeted trans players.
I think there is a really genuine issue of boundaries within spaces like these, where LGBTQIA+, less-vanilla sexual interests, and inexperience/social awkwardness all intersect. In sharing sexual ideas, fantasies, etc., it’s very easy to become vulnerable, and others can push forward into that vulnerable space without assurance it’s a safe or comfortable environment - or worse. For instance, in the case of someone I ran afoul of several years ago, they connected to other trans RPers who were interested in their characters’ sexuality, pushed for unconsenting sexual scenarios (I had an extremely unpleasant experience with this), and even privately blackmailed several trans RPers into putting up with their BS/staying in a ship with them on the threat of outing them.* I experienced several of these behaviors. And yes, to some extent, we can all log off and walk away, and we should be better about setting boundaries and checking in with ourselves. However, I think that argument only goes so far. Most people aren’t in the habit of totally cutting someone off mid-interaction when that person has “otherwise been nice.” This is the case IRL as well. I feel like the excuse of “it’s just the internet” only goes so far. Especially when the kinds of abuses, harassment, and suspect behavior I see are the same ones that go on in similar communities IRL. Okay, so, log off and deal with the real world, where I’m also going to have to deal with similar things? Poor behavior is poor even online. If you claim to believe in #MeToo and the like, it seems weird how often people write off these issues when they exist online. Predatory is still predatory. Boundary-pushing and manipulation are still those things even online. I feel as though a lot of people make excuses for it, and operate within the ambiguity of the space, and the fact the people around them might not attribute as much meaning to it because of it being online. It might be “easier” for people to be creeps online where they don’t really have to deal with the consequences, but that doesn’t make them not creeps. It also doesn’t mean that maybe secretly they’re great people IRL who just have a bad habit online. And just because maybe the people who suffered that harassment dared to have sexuality or desire for understanding that was manipulated doesn’t mean they’re not a victim of someone who took advantage of their feelings.
But I digress. Most of the truly awful things I’ve seen were not from specifically “sexy” characters, in fact the opposite is true in many cases. That alone is not the red flag to me, and in fact I can appreciate the boldness in characters who are straightforward about what they want and who they are (even if it’s not for me). They’re people who quietly groomed others, pulled them into private interactions and isolated them from others. They might even vocally seem supportive and kind... So long as you always walk in pace with them and never away from them. They also tend to have a group of friends willing to cover for them and support them. So, y’know, not so unlike the other abusive behavior that’s come to light over the years.
Be aware that this exists in the community in addition to the horrid “random” sexual harassment of people sending weird /tells or oversharing their kinks in public.
*I can privately provide this person’s name if anyone wants, but it’s not my intent to make a callout - and this person is no longer on Crystal and has, at least on the screenname I know them for, not been active since early Stormblood
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an-ambivalent · 5 years ago
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What would Keith be like as a yandere? I feel like he would be extremely obsessive and possessive, even going as far as saying things he doesn't mean in a burst of anger. --🥑
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Keith has the potential to be designated into so many yandere types if not all so possibilities of scenarios with him are immense, and so is the way he would react. At this point, the focus will be on him being an obsessive & possessive yandere.
Yandere
~Once Keith sets his mind on something, he is extremely dedicated. This was obvious in the way when he was the only one who kept himself disciplined  when him and the other paladins were lost in that one part of the universe and needed to return to save it. This mindset of extreme dedication would influence his feelings for you – that is after his influx of feelings for you, he would pursue you relentlessly, dedicatedly, and obsessively. He will not stop until you are his.
~He has a slight inferiority complex, and due to the insecurities that stem from it, he has many fears. When he became the leader of Voltron, Keith always doubted himself, and thought he would not be able to live up to Shiro’s legacy, or be a good leader. Similarly, he would tend to compare himself to the other people in your life and compare his value and worth with theirs. Many times, he would feel as if someone else was always doing something more for you than he was, or that they would be better suited for you for certain qualities that he lacked. At some point, these insecurities would suffocate him and once it does, he would lash out on you. He would make you feel as if it was your fault he did not feel like he was enough, and force you to try and “make it up to [him]” for everything he does. Additionally, this fear and insecurity of not being enough, would cause him to isolate you from everything so that in the end, he was the only one adding value to your life and being worthy. This also bleeds into his possessive traits, and contributed to how possessive he can become of you.
~As avocado anon mentioned, he would definitely be the type of person who would lash out in anger and not mean it. Keith has always had a difficult time in dealing with his emotions. Certainly, this issue would present itself in his relationship with you. You were the one person he loved the most out of everything, so matters that involved you, also involved very strong emotions from Keith. He is a ticking time bomb; so if anyone tried to take your attention away from him, he would hurt them instantly. In instance you ever attempted to defy him, he would lose his patience with you quite quickly and usher out a punishment.
~While he would try and be more patient with you, and try not to become angry at you right away and yell at you, he would still be quite quick to anger. When it came to you, Keith was definitely hot-headed. For that reason, he would be one of those yandere you would not want to act out against after he warns you.
Infatuation
~Keith would start to develop an interest in someone who was kind and a giver. The sort of person who gave themselves up, went beyond their way for other’s well-being and tried to make them happy. After all, Keith was a reserved person himself, and with how he usually seemed broody in his sad thoughts, it was no wonder he would attract a “giver” described person.
~At first, Keith would be put-off by your concern. He would find it suspicious and weird that you, who barely knew him, were always so concerned about his well-being. He would believe you to have ulterior motives and attempt to have you leave him alone by being cold to you. He would give you the cold shoulder and be rude to you until you left him alone.
~Once you did begin to feel like you were doing more harm than good and left Keith alone, that was when it would finally click for him. Suddenly, your lack of warmth by his side was more agonizing than your presence. The absence of your voice, and your nosy questions that you asked only because you cared about him, made his chest feel heavy in pain.
It was everything, and then, nothing.
You stopped talking to him, and although it was his fault, the abrupt cease of your brightness darkened his gloomy days in the way he did not even know possible.
Keith NEEDED you by his side once again.
Once In His Grasp
~Keith would be the definition of clingy. He would want you to be as close to him as possible all of the time. He relished in sharing physical contact with you; Keith would be touching in some way all the time. For example, holding your hand, settling his hand on your mid back, and more.
~He would not only spend all of his free time with you, but also make it an obligation for you to be by his side at other times. That is he expects you to sit idly and watch him during his training sessions and not spend time with anyone else. He would even go as far to have you travel with him in the Black Lion whenever he needed to run some errands by himself, or go somewhere.
~While Keith does like being sexual with you, he prefers to spend his time with you doing things that are still intimate but not sexual. For example, he loves laying down his head in your lap, and you give him a head massage especially after exhausting fights. Or having a bubble bath and  both of you can relax together during it, and he can just sit back and admire your beauty for what it is.
~Lastly, Keith has this thing where he likes to run his Marmorite blade along your skin. Whether that’s because he does that in a way to warn you and let you know what would happen if you rejected his love, or because a sadistic part of him enjoys the fear in your eyes while he does this – you did not know.
feel free to share your own thoughts :3
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hocevi2512-blog · 4 years ago
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How to Grill Hamburgers on a Gas Grill
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There isn’t anything very like the delight and fervor of flame broiling cheeseburgers throughout the mid year season. Tragically, in spite of their earnest attempts, tenderfoots frequently end up with dull, dry and tasteless burgers. A couple of star tips can assist you with maintaining a strategic distance from regular errors submitted by beginners.Weber 61015001 Genesis II E-315 3-Burner Liquid Propane Grill, Black
Figure out How to Grill Hamburgers on a Gas Grill
In this straightforward guide, we disclose how to flame broil burgers on a gas barbecue. You would now be able to cook delectable and delicious burgers from the solace of your own home.
Utilize the Best Ground Beef
Utilizing the correct fixings is vital for extraordinary cooking. Ground throw is the most appropriate meat decision for cheeseburgers. Its mellow fat substance grants rich flavor to burgers and keeps them sodden. Alongside that, ground hurl is reasonable also.
For entirely delicious, delicate and delicious burgers, you should focus on 20% fat substance. You can even blend ground hamburger with various kinds of meat to create a remarkable flavor. For a mouth-watering new flavor, blend ground sheep with your ordinary ground toss. You can likewise get brave and evaluate various sorts of ground meat, for example, buffalo. Simply make sure to save the fat at 20% for best outcomes.
What to Add to Ensure Burgers Stay Intact During Grilling
The short answer is that you don’t have to add anything to your burgers. Because of the genuinely high-fat substance of ground throw, it will keep the burgers together. Then again, different kinds of meat like meatball or meatloaf need bread scraps to hold their shape.
Instructions to Grill Hamburgers on a Gas Grill
You might be amazed to know certain tips that seem in opposition to regular practice. For example, squeezing the burger down is definitely not a brilliant barbecuing method since it won’t give you the ideal burger that you need.
All together flame broil burgers like an expert, perused on to isolate realities from fantasies and comprehend basic mix-ups that individuals frequently make when making cheeseburgers on a gas barbecue:
1. Cut the Excess
With regards to the ideal fat level, individuals may have a changing and clashing sentiment on it. Yet, one thing is for sure: low fat methods fundamentally decreased flavor and deliciousness of a burger. Notwithstanding having a dull flavor, you likewise end up with extreme and dry meat. It is ideal to keep up fat at 20%.
This is maybe the greatest mix-up made by individuals, particularly wellbeing cognizant tenderfoots.
2. Chilling Burger Patties
It is ideal to get ready burger patties a couple of days prior to cooking. Whenever you’re finished with the prep, you may chill them. They will stay flawless during barbecuing on the off chance that they are chilled.
Burgers may lose their shape with exorbitant taking care of during barbecuing. Extraordinary pressure may make the juices and fat break out. Thusly, your burgers will lose their normal flavor.
A few people think it is ideal to make new burger patties only preceding cooking. Actually setting them up in advance and refrigerating them considers simpler and smoother taking care of.
3. Indent the Middle of the Burger with Your Thumb
Indent burger patties in the center to forestall protruding during barbecuing. Your burgers will stay level and all around shaped. Indenting is important to keep the center part from puffing up. Else, it is more earnestly to arrive at the right inward temperature. At the point when the burger’s center part hits the necessary temperature, the outside gets worn out and dried.
Keep your patties ¾ inch thick. Indent a 1-inch breadth region in the center with your thumb. Push down it ¼ inch down. This will give the best outcomes.
4. Olive Oil
Brush the burger patties with olive oil before you begin flame broiling them. This will keep them from adhering to the flame broil, which can be incredibly irritating. The oil layer fills another significant need. During barbecuing, it helps structure a burned layer and keeps the delightful juices from spilling out.
5. Squeezing Burger Patties
Numerous individuals have a propensity for pushing down burgers during flame broiling. This fills no valuable need. All things being equal, it can demolish their taste. Packing burger patties causes the spillage of juices and flavor, making them bland and dry. Try not to squeeze burgers consistently while barbecuing.
6. Turn Only Once
Try not to turn your burger patties to an extreme. It is ideal to turn them only a single time. Flame broiling specialists propose warming the barbecue before cooking. At the point when the barbecue is sufficiently hot, you can warm the burger patties on one side for 2 to 3 minutes. Flip them over once to keep them flawless. Turning them over more than once is an exercise in futility and exertion. It can even ruin the state of the patties.
7. Screen the Internal Temperature
You can follow a couple of unpleasant rules to follow the meat’s inner temperature. The most secure strategy for tenderfoots is to utilize a meat thermometer. It should peruse a temperature of 160 degrees. This will guarantee very much done patties. Likewise, remember that the meat will keep on cooking for some time whenever it is taken out from heat.
Burgers ought to be cooked on gas flame broils at high temperature (400 degrees) or medium-high temperature (375 degrees). Gas barbecues typically have inherent thermometers for observing temperature.
8. Let the Patties Rest prior to Serving Them
After the cheeseburgers are eliminated from the barbecue, let them sit for 5 minutes prior to serving them. This time span permits the flavor to grow completely. Additionally, the burgers will be exceptionally hot when they are taken out. Give them some an ideal opportunity to chill off with the goal that they are alright for eating.
Would it be advisable for you to Grill Burgers with the Lid Down or Not?
Fledglings will think that its simpler to cook with open flame broils. Holding the cover down forestalls flare-ups and helps cook food quicker.
In the event that you keep the cover open, you should be cautious about flare-ups. Utilize the flame broil’s inherent thermometer to follow temperature. Something else, holding the cover down or up is an individual decision.
What Should Be the Ideal Temperature for Different Burgers?
The Instant Read thermometer will let you know whether the burger is prepared or not. For ground meat, the USDA proposal is a 160-degree inside temperature.
For ground turkey burgers, the inward temperature should be 165 degrees. Inner temperature for flame broiled salmon should be 145 degrees.
How all around done a burger is relies upon the all out cooking time.
Uncommon: 4 to 5 minutes
Medium-uncommon: 6 to 7 minutes
Medium:8 to 9 minutes
Recall these are simply unpleasant rules. Results can shift with various flame broil models. The best activity is to utilize a meat thermometer.
Cooking Instructions
Stage 1: Begin with a pound of ground toss. Separation it into 3 balls gauging 1/3 pound each. Each ball ought to be about the size of a tennis ball.
Shape them delicately into ¾ thick patties. Sprinkle them with salt and pepper just as some granular garlic.
Chill the patties for as long as 6 hours. On the off chance that you are lacking as expected, attempt to chill them for at any rate 60 minutes.
Continuously guarantee that you wash your hands altogether prior to taking care of food.
Stage 2: Clean and oil your flame broil and preheat it.
Stage 3: Make spaces with your thumb, as illustrated previously. There ought to be ¼ inch despondencies about an inch wide in the center of the patties.
Stage 4: Lightly brush the patties with olive oil.
Stage 5: Cook the patties on the gas barbecue. As clarified, flame broil one side for 2 to 3 minutes and afterward flip over to cook the opposite side.
The temperature should arrive at 160 degrees for ground hurl patties. Add cheddar cuts to the patties for the last 30 to 60 seconds of flame broiling.
Stage 6: Heat buns on the flame broil until they turn light earthy colored inside. Add burger patties to the bun and incorporate lettuce, tomato, onion or whatever else that you like.
With this formula, you can without much of a stretch make 3 patties with one pound of ground throw. For additional patties, incorporate ground toss as needs be. Every patty gauges 1/3 pound.
Tip: Place the lettuce on the base bun. At that point keep the patty on the lower bun. Juices from the burger won’t soak the lower bun with this game plan. This is superior to keeping lettuce on the highest point of the patty.
Professional Tip: Infusing smoke flavor is simpler than you might suspect. It should even be possible with a gas flame broil. A few people are under the feeling that you need charcoal flame broil or other particular barbecue for saturating your grill with powerful smoke flavor. That is false.
All you require to is place wood contributes a weighty foil on the flame broil. The wood chips will begin seething with warm and bestow a heavenly smoke flavor to the burgers.
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