#i got debts to pay :D

[clarixeon]

⭐ YCH Bean C0mmission OPEN ⭐

💌 To order a bean c0mm, head over to my ko-fi and place a request. You can send me references via DM on ko-fi too!

expressions can be changed

complex designs will be simplified

no revisions after sketch approval

final beans will have transparent bg

1~2 days to deliver

⭐ Please note that if the base isn't applicable to the character (i.e. it would take me major alterations to the base), the comm is a no-go

✅ You may only use the beans for personal/non-profit purposes only

⭐ You can send me an ask or DM me for questions :D

⭐ Here are some of the beans I got requested:

They work as discord emotes too!

[stellardeer]

i have to come to terms with the fact that I am actually well off for someone in this country now, like.. idk it's weird

i'm still living the exact same lifestyle that i was before, so for the most part it feels almost like nothing has changed, like maybe im spending a little bit more money on food and buying the "good" toilet paper, but all that does is allow me to actually have savings in my bank account

i still stand with the working class and impoverished people of this country, and I am very much still in the boat of "one [very] bad day from homelessness" so i am not taking this for granted whatsoever

i've just been watching some of those youtube channels where they interview random people all over the country and just like.. kinda show what their life is like and it's definitely putting mine in perspective

very very grateful for the opportunities i have had and very proud of myself for forcing myself to stay in college (even tho it took almost 10 years to finish and left me with a mountain of debt) and just like.. idk, i feel like i could be doing more to help people out, i can't wait til im out of debt ;o;

[bunnygirl678]

Got a huge compliment at work so that’s pretty great

Other than that I am feeling the effects of the increased workload… although might be more related to the lack of sleep this week and the first few days where my kid was here and not at camp idk lol

Can’t wait till my new salary kicks in next month!

[ohnoitstbskyen]

So, considering what's going on with Riot right now, do you think Arcane Season 2 got caught up in all of this restructuring?

Yes and no. Arcane season 2 is part of the reason for the restructuring.

As I understand it, internally at Riot, after Arcane was a huge (and more importantly: prestigious!) success, the decision was made to basically hand the entirety of the game's lore and story over to the Entertainment division within Riot. These are the people in large part responsible for projects like Arcane, K/DA, Heartsteel, that animated series China got, all that sort of thing.

The writers at Riot were basically told to flat out stop producing new content and lore for the game - that's why there's BEEN no new story content for League for over a year - because everything was going to be consolidated under the Entertainment division from now on. This is why Riot started talking about "One Runeterra" and "Arcane is going to be canon" and so on.

The success of Arcane convinced executives that what League of Legends needs is a singular cohesive brand with its most successful public property leading the charge, Arcane is going to be the gateway drug, the hook on the end of the line that brings new players and new paying customers into the exciting world of the League of Legends multimedia IP universe!

Nevermind that Arcane's story and worldbuilding is fundamentally incompatible with >checks notes< the overwhelming majority of Runeterra as it exists and enormous compromises would have to be made to either the world of Runeterra or Arcane itself to make it work. Arcane is the big shiny prestigious mainstream Emmy-award winning project that every executive wants to put their name next to, and like companies Pivoting To Video in 2015 because Facebook showed them inflated viewership stats, Riot Games is Pivoting To Arcane. It's better than them pivoting to crypto and NFTs, at least, although I know for a fact that high ranking people at Riot tried to make that happen too.

Now, the primary cause for all of these games industry layoffs is that interest rates aren't zero anymore. Borrowing money isn't free, the curve of constant growth has ever so slightly slowed, taking on debt is becoming a little tiny bit more risky than it was previously, and corporations are responding to this with massive rounds of layoffs and constriction to show "financial responsibility" and prove to shareholders that they are prioritizing core growth strategies and blah blah blah etc. They're also trying to kneecap the growing labor movement in the games industry and exert downwards pressure on wages, but the interest rates seem to have been the main thing.

In Riot's particular case, a secondary reason is they want to pivot the focus of the company to support their One Runeterra pipe dream, so a lot of the people who got fired at Riot are writers, artists, creative leads and sometimes extremely senior and successful staff who are now surplus to requirements. This is also why Riot shut down Riot Forge in the same round of layoffs - can't have a bunch of talented indie devs going off making video games that don't adhere to the new One Runeterra policy. What if someone played Mageseeker and got confused how there can be mages all over Demacia but somehow there are no mages in Arcane's Piltover and Zaun. That's a plot hole! People write snarky articles about that sort of thing. It turns off new consumers! What if Cinema Sins makes a video making fun of it?!?

So yeah. A bunch of cocaine-addled fame hungry executive vultures at Riot are absolutely gagging on their own d*cks to put their name next to Arcane related projects, and since they were going to be screwing hundreds of people out of their careers, healthcare, and in some cases their fucking visa status anyway, it seems to have presented a nice opportunity to clear the board for their latest Visionary Scheme for the company IP.

That is as I understand the situation, anyway. I'm a bitter old man and most of what I hear is second hand and anonymous gossip through my social networks, take what I say with a grain of salt, but I've followed this company for (oh god) twelve years now and I have developed a tragically keen understanding of how its executive class operates.

[snghnlvr]

delicate | nishimura riki

౨ৎ ## love so delicate like yours, synopsis: you've realized how far you've gotten with your boyfriend now that both of you are adults.

includes: 1.9k words | soft fluff | yn is anxious asf but riki comforts them | we love reassurance | movie notebook reference 😎 | yn got a tattoo and it makes riki fall in love with them more 🙆‍♀️🙆‍♀️ | coming of age¿?

extra: at this point, all of the members are taylor swift coded | soft love is the best love | yn is me because im also 18 and i dont wanna pay taxes D:

likes, reblogs, and comments are appreciated! <3

[below the cut]

you sighed as you laid yourself flat against the blankets. you smiled in delight as if your troubles and worries left you. 

“school’s over.” you said, feeling your chest heavy. you recalled the school memories that you’ve experienced; both happy and sad, now that you’re taking the next chapter of your life; college. 

it’s leaving a bittersweet feeling on your whole body. 

“it is.” you looked over your shoulder, to see your boyfriend, riki fiddling with his yearbook. his fingers spotted towards the back of the book, heartfelt messages and inspiring words that his friends wrote for him. 

you’re in riki’s backyard, inside of a treehouse both of you built since children with the help of your parents. you’re so lucky your dad is a constructor. 

riki is sitting, one leg sticking out and one knee bent as he leans into the wooden walls. this position allows you to admire him from below as the sunlight flashes on his beautiful features. 

he’s reading every single message with sincerity and care, from his senior friends that he will probably never see again and his younger juniors that he can’t annoy anymore as he pleases. despite hating waking up early every morning and him dealing with tiring lectures, he has to admit he made memories and friends that’s worth a life time.

��i can’t believe we’re gonna be college students now. where we have to pay off debts, start our career paths, those people who are gonna be closer to 20 than 16 - it’s just,” you took in a breath. “surreal. surreal that we are growing up.”

you had always had a fear of growing up. not wanting to achieve the things and goals you’ve planned on time. you felt like you’re rushing to do everything at once before it becomes too late. you always wanna stay 16 forever; forever naive to understand the real world. how you’re closest friends will separate from you. how everything you’re experiencing right now will be just a memory. 

riki glanced down on you where you’re staring off of space. he can sense the anxiety in your tone. 

he closes the book after he was staring at a picture. a picture titled, “best couple” and it’s a picture of the both of you standing next to each other, smiling widely. he smiled at how adorable you looked next to him.

he scooted closer to you, making himself comfortable once he lays down next to you. his back lays flat, mimicking your position. 

“are you scared?” riki likes to question the obvious, but it helps you reflect on your feelings; how fear is just a feeling and to understand your emotions a bit better.

“just a little anxious just all,” you confessed, looking at riki whose eyes never left yours. “i’m sure it will disappear soon. i mean, everyone experiences this.” you reassure yourself and riki sense it, enjoying your honesty.

“mhm,” riki mumbles. “it’s okay to feel anxious, the future is scary.” he looks down. “it’s only a matter of time how you’re gonna handle it. you create your own future.” 

his words ring in your head. he’s right.

riki took your silence as a way that you agree with him. 

he then glanced down towards your arm, a black-inked drawing that attracted him. riki scooted closer, his body turned to yours. he propped himself up with his elbow.

no matter how close the proximity is between the both of you, it still makes you nervous til this day. especially with how much older and mature-looking your boyfriend of 6 years is. 

“your parents aren’t mad about this?” riki gently poked on your arm, eyes analyzing the art in your arm. it’s only been a week since you decided to get your first tattoo.

it’s beautiful, he thinks. 

“not anymore, i’m 18 now.” you huffed out. you remembered the horror on your parents’ faces but a sigh of defeat when they realized you’re now responsible of yourself. it makes you chuckle about their panicked expressions, slowly making themselves aware that you’re not gonna be their little 4 year old reckless daughter anymore. 

“i can imagine your mom shrieking.” riki giggled which made you scoffed because he wasn’t wrong. 

“your birth flower?” riki asked, his fingertips gently tracing the traces of your birth flower. 

your eyes widened a bit at his sudden touch then you looked down at how focused riki was. his eyes were staring at it as if your tattoo was a museum. 

your heart beat quickened at the sight. 

“the flower that i drew for you in your math notebook in 6th grade.” riki smiled, realizing how much time flies since you guys called it official since middle school. you’ve remembered the nervousness riki’s hands were, fiddling the bouquet of origami flowers. flowers he made for each that day that he fell in love with you. you thought it was silly. riki has always been caring and kind to you so it was natural for you to reprociate the feelings back. and so, without any pressure or doubts, you guys called it official.

“i thought you threw your old notebooks away..” his voice still remains soft and delicate, still smiling at your tattoo. he started to reminisce the times he would doodle on your notebook without you noticing. like a surprise.

“i ripped the page and kept it since.” when you were going into your freshman self, you looked back into the notebooks to reminsince your middle school memories. you’ve came across a drawing — no other than riki’s in one of your notebooks. you ripped it out and hid it in a safe spot until you get a tattoo of it ever since.  

some people thought you guys weren’t gonna make it past middle school — even you too, but since both of you got in the same highschool, it remained strong. a strong string holding your relationship tight.

yes, with hormones acting up and puberty getting in the way, there were times where you guys had fought and argued together to the point it was nearing breaking apart but both of you shouldn’t let it slide. not when it has reached this far. and how much you love each other.

although your boyfriend has grown up, there are occasionally times where he teases you and becomes childish around you, it makes you soft-hearted at how he still has a soul of his 12-year old self. especially moments where he look similar to a duck, which made you think about how much duck plushies you have on your bed because it reminds you of riki. 

you’re happy that you’re growing up with him.

“what are you thinking about pretty girl?” 

you gasped lightly, realizing that you’re spacing out. you looked at him and you see a small smirk implemented on his face, curious of what your pretty head is thinking about.

your face relaxes, trying to calm yourself. you’re nervous over nothing.

you looked down at your hands, then glance at riki’s hand comfortably resting, then back to your hands. your fingers slowly creep upon riki’s fingers, slowly rubbing them with yours. you smiled at the sight.

“it’s insane to think about how much we’ve grown.” you paused. “together.”

riki’s eyes looked at the sight, his heart beat echoing and growing louder. no matter what you do, you always make him think irrational. he then glances at you smiling when you’re playing with his fingers. “not many people believed in us lasting this long, not even me. i was worried if one of us lost feelings, found someone else better, or get something in our way, but im glad that we didn’t give up.” you looked at riki where his attention was diverted to you. he raised an eyebrow to indicate that he was listening.

“i’m happy that i’m dating you, i can’t express how much i adore you, how much you mean to me, i’ve never felt love this strong before — you’re just everything to me. i can’t imagine laughing harder than with anyone else, smile so much with anyone else. with you, it’s different. thank you for loving me.” 

you’re cringing on the inside at how much you confessed in such a short amount of time. you’re met with silence from your boyfriend who seem atonished from your words. you’re embarrassed, pulling back your fingers to cover your blushing cheeks in front of your boyfriend.

riki’s lips twitched, happy for you to express your feelings more comfortably now compared to the past situations. (one of the reasons that you’ve guys argued before) his chest felt light, his grin becoming bigger when you’re hiding from him.

you hear the blankets rustling, you felt riki’s arm slowly snake around your wrist to lightly remove your hand from your face. you removed your embarrassed hands and your eyes followed his hand clasping onto yours. the sight of his veiny hands makes you silent.

you admire the two of you holding hands. your stomach was feeling butterflies just as it was the first time riki confessed his feelings to you. riki twists your wrist, allowing you to see the sight from all angles. it looks so perfect. your hand perfectly structured to hold his. 

“you’re just as perfect as to what i am seeing right now.” riki spoke with a soft tone, chuckling when he kept twisting and turning your wrist. “you have a place in my heart no one else could ever have. my heart is so full of you i can hardly call it my own. i choose you. and i’ll choose you over and over. without a pause, without a doubt, in a heartbeat, i’ll keep choosing you. as long as i’m alive, you will always be loved.”

you’re speechless at your boyfriend’s words to the point you feel like crying. riki still kept smiling at you, giggling. you saw the crescents formed in his eyes whenever he smiled at you and it never fails to make yourself love him more.

riki took this opportunity to lift himself up, hovering above you. he pecked your forehead. you felt his warm lips touching your skin and the goosebumps always forms whenever he makes you flustered.

you looked up at him, surprised. he looked down at you with his head tilted and a scrunched nose like a puppy, as if he was proud to do that.

nothing but an exchange of loud heart beats matching with one another and genuine giggles back and forth. 

riki then leaned in towards you. you closed your eyes at the expected action. his lips touching with yours. electricity flows when he rubs his fingers on your hands. it always make you feel all tingly on the inside. 

riki then pulls back, “cute.” he teases you, making your cheeks grow hotter. “shut up.” you rolled eyes, earning a little laugh from him.

riki still doesn’t let go of your intertwined hands as he returns to his original position where you’re laying flat on the ground, shoulder to shoulder. 

“so your summer plans?” riki asked casually. he lifted his head as his arm was under his head to act as support.

you then touched your bangs, realizing that you still have that caramel-like highlights since march. you were starting to get bored of it.

you pursed your lips. “maybe dye my hair next week back to black.” 

riki’s eyes shined. “match with me.” he spoke without thinking. you turned your head to him, realizing that his hair is black now. 

your boyfriend likes it alot when both of you match. 

“if you bleach it next month to some color then what?” you pointed out because sometimes your boyfriend makes impulsive decisions on his hair whenever he sees a cool hairstyles. you’re not angry whenever he does this because he’s good looking with whatever hair color he has.

“i won’t bleach it, i promise. i’ll follow you.” riki spoke and it makes you chuckle that he probably doesn’t realize the importance of his words. “red? blue? silver, i’ll do it for you.” you froze at his sudden deep voice erupting from him. your heart beat also freezes when his lips touches the location of your tattoo. you looked down and see his lips pushed forward. your heart flutters once again.

“you’re dumb.” you spoke, eyes softening at what you were hearing. 

gosh, you really love this man.

riki smiles against your skin, looking up and your heart twists at an umfamiliar sight. “i can be that.” he whispers like it was a promise.

[psychhound]

hey yall!!! new bundle :D

this is my 14 for 14 ttrpg bundle to pay off some of the debt from my top surgery!! you get 14 games and homebrew for 14 bucks, which is gonna run until june 14th (my birthday!!)

my top surgery was absolutely life changing and has made me so much more comfortable, confident, and happy. i dont regret it in the least. i also got hit with some surprise bills afterward that have me pretty heftily in debt because of it

some very kind souls have donated their games to help me pay some of this off, which was just so incredibly generous. which means its not just my games in here!! lots and lots of cool stuff, please check it out!!

in the bundle:

ttrpgs:

[BXLLET> : a game about systems of violence and power in the weird west apocalypse

disparateum: a dream-like reality-bending game where you hop worlds and tell strange stories

little celestial fieldwork guide: a city exploration photography game where you divine hidden spirits and take photos of them

beach day!: a system agnostic party bonding minigame where characters swap gifts and secrets

what they once feared: a solo journaling game where you play a folkloric monster forced to choose your path

the narrator paradox: a one page solo game where you play a storybook narrator whos protagonist has gained agency and is trying to change the story

the fool who got married (extended): a duet epistolary game of female hardship and connection in 1848

explorers of the forever city: a rules-light, fantasy role-playing game about ordinary people making extraordinary discoveries

homebrew:

riders: a pact for moth-light by justin ford, a fitd game. tame, bond with, and ride the terrifying predator moths

witch: a class for d&d 5e. be a con-based half-caster with curses, familiars, and a whole new way of doing spell slots

harmony with the wind: a ghibli-inspired d&d 5e pack with 5 feats, 4 backgrounds, 4 races, 6 monsters, and 3 subclasses

fairytale/feywild: a pack for d&d 5e with 1 background, 2 races, 1 subclass, and unique timekeeping mechanics for the feywild

burger wizard: a d&d 5e compatible narrative rpg about working as magical kitchen staff in a fantasy restaurant

argyth's arcane companion: 4 wizard subclasses, 3 feats, and 17 new spells for d&d 5e

you can get all of this for 14 bucks until june 14th!! it would really mean a lot to me for yall to check it out and also spread the word :D

check it out on itch!!

[sleepyc63]

artificer, collie, and para :D

story + content warnings under cut (please read them her story gets a little graphic)

CW: ‼️ abusive family, depression, disownment, alcohol, teen pregnancy, violence, gang violence ‼️

Artificer is biologically Unparalleled Innocence's daughter, but UI gave her up for adoption, and they never met. Artificer doesn't know who her biological mother is, and has no interest in meeting her.

She was adopted by King, the leader of the biggest scavenger gang in the area. She has two older adoptive siblings, Mantis and Juniper (June). King wasn't a good father by any means, often leaving Mantis to look after Arti and June while he was 'working'. Mantis and Arti never got along, and butted heads constantly, even getting physical in fights (resulting in some lasting scars). She was close with June, though she still wished she could leave her toxic household.

In her early teens, she started going out with Spearmaster. She found their company to be therapeutic in a way, feeling better about herself for a little while. That is until her father started roping her into his gang, making her do violent things to innocent creatures, and her mental health declined quickly. She started drinking to cope. Spears tried their best to care for her in her time of need, but Artificer didn't recover easily this time. One time, while she was drunk, she made the horrible mistake of cheating on Spears with a slugcat named Nomad, and had their pups soon after. Spears cut contact with Arti after this.

Her father didn't approve of her having pups so young, and especially not with Nomad (who came from a family that was very anti-scav gang). They got into a massive fight, which turned physical. In the end, Artificer's face was burnt badly, and King lost one of his antlers.

Artificer was kicked out of the house and disowned by her family. Alone, expecting pups, and half blinded, Artificer spent a long time in the hospital. She now works three jobs to pay off her debt and provide for her pups, Collector and Parasite.

She's debated giving up her pups, as it's hard to give them a good life in her state. But, she loves them too much, and the pups would be devastated to lose her.

After being fired from her retail job for theft, she found an ad for a newly opened bakery in town. She decided to give it a shot, and was hired at Gourmand's bakery. She's made good friends out of her co-workers, Hunter and Gourmand especially. She knew Hunter when she was younger, as Hunter was her old friend Watcher's younger sister. The two got along well, being in very similar situations.

Gourmand, she had known from high school, as they were in the same grade. They had never spoken to one another back then, despite the two hitting it off instantly when they met. Gourmand loved pups, and happily babysits whenever Artificer needs to work a long shift -- and the pups don't mind at all! They've nicknamed her 'Mama Gourm' after all the time they spend with her.

Artificer finds it hard to ignore Gourmand's obvious feelings for her, and even if she reciprocates, she doesn't have time for a relationship. She isn't even sure if she deserves one after the harm she caused to Spears and Nomad.

No matter what happens, she always has her pups, and her only goal is to give them a happy childhood. No matter what.

---

I did not mean to make this so long. Oops

@churrorat-art

[bevy-obeyme]

may u do how the om brothers would act with a himbo mc who's like ..... scarily dumb 💀 like think Karen Smith x10 ( sorry for any English mistakes i might have made !! english isnt my first language so i might have made some mistakes😅)

Of course you can!! I’m so so sorry for attending to this request late - had some issues in real life but I’m back :D

Brothers with a himbo MC

Lucifer

- Now, at first when Mammon warned him that you were stupid, he thought that was exaggeration.

- However, he was quickly silenced when you went over 20,000 Grimm in debt. Why? Because you didn’t understand the value of money. And you had horribly miscalculated.

- Lucifer gets, no doubt, very frustrated with your incompetence. Hell, you might as well start competing with Mammon for ‘’House Idiot’’.

-Nevertheless, he found your himbo nature endearing at times. A bit naive and ditzy never hurt anyone.

- And you were incredibly attractive. More than the average man. Especially with that physique.

Mammon

- Someone stupider than him? Hah. Impossible.

- It wasn’t actually. Somehow, your dumbness exceeded his. And it got him feeling.. quite smug actually.

- Of course, he’d make the occasional remark on how humans would of course be stupider than the Great Mammon but he didn’t truly mean any malice.

- Nonetheless, he also felt quite happy at times - he could find solace in both of you not being the most academically gifted.

- But, you were incredibly handsome. That did make up for it. Sometimes, he’d even invite you to his modelling gigs. You never disagreed somehow.

- If he was feeling particularly mischievous, he’d even gamble with you to win some extra cash.

Leviathan

- This man would constantly mock you - call you Mammon 2.0 or stupid normie.

- But deep down, he was jealous. Insecure even. How were you so liked? So charming? So handsome but so utterly dumb?

- He could never hope to have your confidence. How you managed to yell out foolish things all the time without a care about looking idiotic.

- That’s to say, he didn’t hate you. And sometimes, it felt good just talking to you. Even if you never truly understood his game rambles, at least you were there. And that was all that mattered.

Satan

- The blond avatar did not know how to feel about you actually. At first, he held a deep disdain towards you, thinking that you were one of those idiotic people who never matured and had everything handed to them without working.

- But no. You were just genuinely clueless.

- At times, it was irritating having to constantly explain a concept to you, but he had to remind himself that you were in fact trying your best.

- Other times, it was hilarious seeing how easily you riled Lucifer up due to your uncontrolled money spending habits.

- He would not deny the fact you were an extremely charming man however. He had to pay attention to not let himself be too entranced at times.

Asmodeus

- Upon first sight, Asmodeus definitely did try to charm you. You were a handsome little human, how could he resist?

- However, your stupidness did leave him dumbfounded (and reminded him a lot of Mammon) but he was the one who came up with the idea of calling you a himbo lovingly all the time.

- Although, your cluelessness in.. more intimate topics did leave him a bit irritated when he had to explain in multiple ways.

- Nonetheless, you never protested against him painting your nails or doing skincare with him, so you were definitely someone to like in his books.

Beelzebub

- To be fair, Beelzebub did not hold anything against your intelligence. He could understand actually, most of the time, his thoughts were on food.

- But deep down, he knew you were a good, kind man who was just a lot too naive and clueless for the Devildom, so he definitely felt a bit protective to keep you like that.

- He exchanged many tips with you in relation to working out. You had quite a physique and Beel had always been into fitness, so most of your conversations included health and work out regimes.

- Sometimes, he’d message you for a morning run or to come with him after school to the gym.

Belphegor

- Now, he definitely held against you for your naivety. Foolish humans - like always.

- However, he could see how easily you got along with Beelzebub and how much his twin trusted you. So, he lessened his snide remarks towards you over time.

- Belphie became a fan of your strength over time. Whenever he fell asleep, he could always count on you as a rest or for you to carry him back much to his pleasure.

- Besides.. your human ways of being clueless were quite adorable - sometimes.

[jeonghansbunny]

An Unrefusable Offer | Scoups

Rating: 18+ | Read at your own discretion

Content warnings: dom/sub, manhandling, crying, unprotected sex, creampie. Please keep in mind that I wrote this with the idea that everything is consensual!

Scoups 

Who is the leader of a mafia gang

And has multiple establishments to carry out his dirty work

His favorite one was a stripper club

Because it didn't take long before his clients would let loose and relax

Before signing inhumane contracts

Which of course are beneficial for his gang and its future

Tonight was no exception

In a private room which was filled with the smell of cigars and booze 

He tried to get a big client to sign a contract

By having strippers dance on him and getting him drunk

Usually Scoups doesn't do businesses directly 

He lets his underlings do it

But tonight was an exception since the client was the leader of a rival gang

And if he managed to trick him into signing a contract 

He could shut their businesses down 

But his client was quite the troublesome one

Refusing to sign the contract until he has had his fun

Irritated at the clients’ behavior 

He ordered more booze and cigars

In hopes his client would sign the contract faster if he got more drunk

Frustrated he leaned back and started smoking a cigar

He finally managed to gather his thoughts together

Until you came in to bring the beverages he had ordered

He was never one to show any interest in the strippers or the club itself 

He only cared about the deals and how the business was doing

But when you walked in he suddenly couldn't think clearly anymore

You looked so innocent in the white lingerie set you were wearing

Almost as if you didn't belong there

Through the white smoke of the cigars you looked like an angel who had mistakenly entered Satan's realm

And he wasn't wrong

He didn't know that today had been your first day on the job

Forced to work in a strip club in order to pay back your fathers debt

Fortunately for you, you only had to cater and help with the cleaning 

You put the beverages on the table and placed the empty bottles on your tray to take with you when you leave the room

Your hands were shaking slightly 

Nervous at the fact that you had to cater to the mafia boss himself

You were warned before entering to always follow his orders and never refuse

Usually they wouldn't send a newbie to the boss’s room but tonight they were understaffed 

The client must've seen the way Scoups eyes followed your every move

And insisted he shouldn't be the only one enjoying himself and that Scoups should get a lap dance too

This brought Scoups back from his trance

Now fully annoyed with his client for his foolish demeanor, he tried to refuse 

But before he could, his client continued to say that he would sign the contract if his wish was granted

He ran a hand through his hair

Frustrated at his idiotic and endless requests

But if it meant he could get this deal over with and leave then so be it

He looked over at you and told you to come closer

You wanted to say something but got disapproving glances from the other strippers’

So you stayed quiet 

Hesitantly you put the tray down

And started walking towards him

Not fully knowing what you're supposed to do

Scoups looked at you 

And noticed that you had probably never done this before

He let out a sight

And reached his hand out for you to take

He then guided you on his lap with your back facing him

His breath on your neck made you shiver and suddenly your heart started beating loudly

In a whisper he told you to grind on him like the other strippers 

You dismissed it though, whose heart wouldn't beat in such a difficult situation? 

Despite it all you slowly and clumsily started to grind on him

Trying to match your movements to the beat of the song

And trying to copy what the other strippers were doing 

Scoups hands grabbed onto your hips tightly 

Guiding you properly on his lap

You could feel his bulge beneath you

And his breath on your back

Seeing Scoups so flustered the client decided to take it a step further and asked if they should switch

"she seems quite inexperienced maybe I should give it a go" he said with a disgusting smile on his face

With a confident smirk Scoups told him that he didn't want to switch and that he would enjoy you all to himself 

Satisfied the client let out a loud laugh

Entertained with the situation he decided to sign the contract with the condition to be left alone with the strippers who were serving him

It was that kind of a strip club after all

The deal was finally done 

Relieved he grabbed your hand

And guided you out of the room

He turned to you and looked you up and down

"why are you working here" he asked

You told him about your father's debt

"how much" he asked, you noticed he's very direct and tried to spare as much words as he could

After telling the amount Scoups realized that due to the small amount you probably only had to cater and didn't have to do "that" kind of job

His night couldn't get worse

First his annoying client who wouldn't sign the deal

Now he's left all horny because of an innocent waitress 

He took you by the hand and guided you to another empty room

He sat down and lit up another cigar 

"I have a deal for you" he said in between inhaling his cigar and letting out the smoke

"I'll take care of your debt if you help me with this instead" he pointed to his boner and took another drag

Flustered you looked away

For him it might've been a small amount of debt

But to you it meant that you didn't have to work at the strip club anymore 

Seeing your hesitation, he urged you to answer quickly 

He's a busy man and doesn't have all night 

So you accept

He tells you to come closer and to do what you did before 

Slowly you start to grind on him

With your back turned to him

His free hand gripped your waist and give it a squeeze

Moving his hand down further to your thighs

And stroking them up and down

Soon his hand rested between your thighs

Playing with your clit

Your head thrown back

Now fully leaning into his chest 

Breathing heavily at the sensation of his thick fingers 

"turn around" he commands 

And you oblige

You turn so that now you're face to face with him

His doe eyes looking up at you

As you start to grind on his bulge

He sees your expression change 

And become flustered

Shy at his staring

You hide your face on his neck

He takes another drag from his cigar and puts it out

He then takes you by the hips and lifts you up

Unbuckling his pants

He takes out his cock

And tells you to grind on it

Hesitantly without saying a word you follow his order 

And start to grind on his bare cock

The friction starts to drive you insane

And before you know it 

You're unwillingly letting out soft whimpers

Which turns him on even more

Seeing you hold onto his neck for support

He's not able to endure it anymore

He moves your underwear to the side

And starts to slowly push his cock inside of you

Your grip around him tightens

And his arms go around your waist 

Capturing you in a hug

He starts to slowly thrust his hips up 

Until he's deep inside of you

Then increasing his speed more and more

Until you start moaning out loud 

Not being able to hold back your voice anymore 

He brutally pounds into you

Which has you screaming in pleasure

And tightening around him

Until you're cumming all over his cock

With a few hard thrusts

He shoots his load inside of you

Breathing heavily

He tells you, you did a good job

Exhausted, you ask him if now you're free to go and that you don't have to work here anymore

Not wanting to let you go

He gives you a devilish grin

And tells you, you should've gotten that in writing before agreeing

You stare at him in shock

Realizing he's not about to let you off the hook so easily

Your eyes start to well up and you start crying

You could feel his cock twitch inside of you

He wipes away your tears, trying to comfort you

In a pout he tells you that you don't have to work at the strip club anymore 

But that he wasn't nearly ready to let you go

And that he will pay your debt if he could continue to do this to you

Your mind was in a haze

All you could think of was your colleagues warning you to never refuse his words

Not knowing what to do you give him a slight nod

With that his cock has now fully become erect again

And he starts to fuck you for the rest of the night

Satisfied with tricking an innocent person into a contract she can't get out of <3

[izartn]

A peak example of KnH using the messiness of the power diferencial for its plot and chara development are the eps 12-13. Anime-only here!

In order:

- Jinshi discovers there are 80 kidnapped girls like Maomao working in the rear palace; he could just sweep it all to retain Maomao and nobody could/would say anything. Who cares about servant girls?

- He decides to bring it to light and fire off the kidnapees (doesn't realize they're now without jobs and on the wind) and ask Maomao what she prefers, to stay or leave.

-Doesn't seem to realise he has such power over her her only answer will be, "whatever you want" (but I want to stay!) in loud subtext. Or rather he realises it, and thinks she would prefer to be free and go home, instead of like. Trying to ask via proxy one of the other serving girls or something. Then again I think he realised if he implied he wants her to stay she would, regardless of her wants soo. Even if she wants to stay int his case, he takes the safe route and lets her go home.

(aww he doesn't want her against her will!! low bar but like. he started off blazenly trying to seduce her so he could use her more efficiently so.)

-Maomao, unable to let herself voice her wants bc of her low class awareness, finds herself outside the palace, and a job she liked, with a debt to pay and a father that doesn't know?care? to manage money and so becomes a serving girl at the brothel. She doesn't have to sell her body, but yeah.

-Gaoshun is exasperated at Jinshi downmood, who's missing Maomao sincerity and presence (and who is if not already in love with her, pretty infatuated at this point) so he orchestrates Jinshi attendance to the private ball at which Maomao attends as hostess. All of this basically manipulating Jinshi for his own good lol.

-When Maomao and Jinshi find each other there, and they come clear (Maomao about her liking her job at the rear palace, Jinshi about wanting her there in his vicinity) now temporarily free of the direct servant-master link even if their social position is still wildly unequal; Jinshi directly voices he could buy her contract and Maomao thinks that's a wonderful way of getting what she wants: her debt erased, a job at the palace doing what she wants again.

Okay here comes the funny part. We all now that by this point Jinshi does want her full attention romantically (and sexually) even if he's never direct about it or even fully seems to realise it himself. He's concious enough of his position and likes her enough he doenst want to force himself upon her. And this deal would get him ownership over Maomao, which means he'd get her near him, and it'd be with her consent even!

(I think this is when I got it. He's so so lonely. Like. He's infatuated but he also wants someone he can trust and a friend, only Maomao is so below him socially it's all a minefield. If he buys her contract she'll be under his protection!)

And Maomao likes the idea because Maomao knows enough about him at this point she seems to trust Jinshi to behave as long as she also knows her place as apothecary and maid (lol Maomao you have more freedom than that and I think you subconsciously know it which is why you're considering at all going with him), and this is the best offer she can see for her near future. She gets to have the protection of a powerful patron and also get some freedom to experiment with her herbs and poisons.

-Her sisters at the brothel know enough to divine this guy likes her, so even if Maomao is like. "No he's buying my contract so I'll work on the rear palace again!" (which lol poor Maomao, and even only that would be favoritism) They doll her out as if she were a courtesan whose contract was bought by her lover.

-I cannot be more serious, that scene where he goes get her and they get on the carriage and everybody is "oh! lucky guy where was hidden that beauty" is super wedding themed. Jinshi who isn't above pettiness and using his power for some things, just straight up orders her to keep doing her fake freckles so people won't stare.

This is one of those things Maomao was already doing and doesn't seem to be trying to stop doing? So she's just like. OK weirdo. But it's also a clear show of power; he can make her change the way she does her face. It's just that in this case, as with the buying of the contract, she's on board so the order is funny instead of creepy. Jinshi also knows she prefers the freckles so this is a case of him noticing other people noticing Maomao is pretty and being silly.

-Surprise Maomao you won't be working at the rear palace! Look this is Jinshi blatantly using his power to keep her close. You can't tell me he couldn't have used his influence to get her there again, even "only" as an assistant apothecary and not a maid of honor, but Jinshi has her contract and he has plans. Not nefarious ones! But making her study for court lady so she can be his sort of secretary?

He trusts her intelligence and character, knows they've worked well on the various issues of past episodes, likes her, probably wants her to know more about court in general so she can defend herself when she comes to the limelight via their association, has probably nebulous plans of marriage, etc. So he's not passing this opportunity.

-Maomao wasn't expecting this and doesn't take very seriously the exam bc she doesn't have any interest on that. She's here to live comfy and have some freedom to explore her medicine and intellectually engage her mind with the misteries that Jinshi brings to her. Court lady? Any further implications of what that could mean for her future flee her mind, although I find interesting that in ep 19 there's a part where she goes: mmm, if I had studied harder I would already know this ministery function (could investigate the misteries better).

-Jinshi is kinda exasperated but doesn't punish her for her failure at the exam. He recognizes Maomao interest in medicine is her driving force so he doesn't take it against her, although he wants her to be his assistant in truth very much.

All of this together is a very interesting picture of their push and pull dynamic, and the until now kinda unequal romantic interest. Jinshi uses his status to get some advantages and get Maomao with him, but doesn't push further. Maomao uses Jinshi to get a work she likes where she can exercise her knowledge, and even when he surprises her with the court lady exam she only goes "oh well, I'll try" even if half heartedly. They both know Jinshi has the upper hand socially, and he does kinda trick her to get her as a personal servant (repit with me: everybody else is now thinking she's his lover from the brothel) but Maomao is also getting things she wants and he wants her to pursue her interests (except when it involves choking on poison or venom lol) so they're both pretty content in that ambiguous limbo.

Basically: they realistically set up Jinshi as a well intentioned, but high handed and a bit ignorant, powerful guy who does want to be with and near Maomao, for personal and also practical reasons (Maomao is very useful for uncovering plots within the palace!) this low class girl. Maomao has her own agency and decides that actually, what Jinshi is offering is a step up from what awaits her, and although conflicted about the similarities she perceives between the brothel and the women on the palace, working for him offers her opportunities she wouldn't be able to access on her own. It's risky as hell for her, but life as a low class woman (even as educated as Maomao) is pretty risky anyways so may as well go fr what she wants.

Pretty realist! I love that whatever Maomao feels for Jinshi, (and I'd argue she feels some kinda way about him even if she doesn't want to think about that) there's always this barrier on her mind about their status, so she's very cautious. (until she forgets herself on her love for medicine hehe)

Now. That's a momentary status quo that's totally gonna change, with the revelations of Maomao parentage and her saving Jinshi's life in the middle of a ritual where he was acting as the imperial brother publicly. But that's not what this post was about. This post was about showing an example of the power dynamics in KnH and why I love them on my romance.

Just in two episodes you have all that byplay! Like. Crazy. Super interesting. Arguably not very romantic, but that cautious balancing of each other and their situationship is what shows me the future romance has legs sooo.

[clarixeon]

⭐ YCH Bean C0mmission OPEN (10 slots) ⭐

💌 To order a bean c0mm, head over to my ko-fi and place a request. You can send me references via DM on ko-fi too!

expressions can be changed

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no revisions after sketch approval

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⭐ Please note that if the base isn't applicable to the character (i.e. it would take me major alterations to the base), the comm is a no-go

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⭐ Here are some of the beans I got requested:

They work as discord emotes too!

[ultimateyapper]

anyway, here's wonderwall. | chapter one

[ chapter 2 ]

were you truly mentally prepared for what would unfold in hotarubi? it couldn't be any worse than having a gun to your head right? despite the late hour, it's nearly impossible to get what taiga said out of your mind.

there's a mole.

but why would there be a mole at darkwick? who would it be? someone you know? a friend? how does taiga even know this?

there's officially too much on your mind to get any sleep.

yawning, you turn over to pull your phone off the charger. it was cute with an adapter shaped like a cat paw. the smile kaito wore as he handed it to you was full of pride. he said he got it "just because". it was clearly a lie after luca suggested it was consolation for skipping out on training but it's funny remembering how red he got afterwards. it was a sweet gesture but how does he expect to pay off his debt if he keeps buying things "just because".

the screen lights up and after blinking away tears from the initial brightness you read the time. ten minutes after midnight. maybe there's something interesting on wickchat? there wasn't a lot of time to check during the last mission.

eventually you make it to your messages. only a select few people are active due to the late hour and kaito is one of them. you can see him typing in your group chat. the one he made after the mission in frostheim. you temporarily left the chat while talking with taiga. although, in all honesty, trying not to get killed by taiga would fit better. you had texted him more than 10 minutes before you came to his room. yet still a gun was pointed to your head for the third (maybe fourth, you were losing track) time that week.

with complete and utter seriousness he claimed he "didn't know any honor student".

how many times did he expect you to introduce yourself exactly? you considered being a smartass and just saying a fake name. instead you decided to move, slowly so you didn't set him off, and show the texts.

suddenly the blonde started spamming the group chat in all caps, lighting up your phone with vibration after vibration. something about getting his point across to that dumbass, who you're assuming is probably luca. in hindsight, you could've just turned notifs off but when taiga was clearly starting to get pissed off you went with the quickest option. upsetting the guy with a machine gun for a special artifact isn't exactly at the top of your to-do list.

( #1 peekaboo fan )

im surprised to see luca up this late

the conversation comes to an abrupt halt. three dots circle at the bottom of your screen followed by a cat emote waving hi.

( kaito ✮ )

hiii : D

i added you back earlier btw i dunno why you left but it was probably an accident right??

wait sorry did i wake u up

mb 💔💔

( Lucas Errant )

I suppose it is a bit strange, yes? My conversation with Kaito must have made me lose track of time haha

( #1 peekaboo fan )

yeah you're usually knocked out lol and dw kaito i was already awake : )

( kaito ✮ )

ohh ok lol

i can't sleep either

( Lucas Errant )

You can't? I thought you said you were going to sleep because I was boring you.

( #1 peekaboo fan )

lmao

( kaito ✮ )

bro you were talking about fun facts and shi

ofc i was nodding off

( Lucas Errant )

My apologies. I assumed because of your life at home you'd be interested in it.

( kaito ✮ )

no not really

( #1 peekaboo fan )

wdym?

( kaito ✮ )

he was telling me about farm life as if i didn't get enough of that at home

( #1 peekaboo fan )

wait you grew up on a farm!?

( Lucas Errant )

I'm really interested in the culture. In the U.K I took horseback riding lessons but I've never seen any other farm animals in person.

( #1 peekaboo fan )

ooo that does sound fun

pigs are really cute

( kaito ✮ )

bruh

you would take horseback riding lessons

( #1 peekaboo fan )

you didn't like it there?

( kaito ✮ )

i mean... i liked being able to help my grams.

she's older so she needs that support

but in any other scenario??

nobody is getting that muddy for free

like you won't say that when you have a bull sprinting at you full speed

( #1 peekaboo )

this visual... 💀

( kaito ✮ )

bro 😭

( #1 peekaboo fan )

nah but fr

luca if ur interested you should volunteer at jabberwock

it's not the same but it's close

haru could use the extra help

( Lucas Errant )

Working with anamolous creatures would be an interesting learning experience. I'm not familiar so one day if you're free?

( kaito ✮ )

wait

( #1 peekaboo fan )

YESS

i'll show you everything i know ^_^

( kaito ✮ )

just the two of you?

( Lucas Errant )

I'm glad! I'll be available tomorrow during advisory. We have the same class right?

( #1 peekaboo fan )

yeah I'll meet u and we can go from there!

it's a date :3

( kaito ✮ )

WHAT

( #1 peekaboo fan )

u coming with?

( kaito ✮ )

yeah I'll come

( Lucas Errant )

I do worry if this is suited for you Kaito, but if you feel up to it I won't stop you.

( #1 peekaboo fan )

yea u don't like getting dirty right? you don't have to if you don't wanna

( kaito ✮ )

no it's fine i'll just try not to get anything on my uniform and

...keep an eye on him

( #1 peekaboo fan )

what

( kaito ✮ )

nothing.

( #1 peekaboo fan )

right so

see y'all tomorrow

im gonna go to bed

( Lucas Errant )

Yes, me as well. I wish both of you a good night's rest.

( #1 peekaboo fan )

seriously get sleep kai or im going to get you

( kaito ✮ )

promise? 😳

JK JK

gn

an emote of a cat waving goodbye signifies the end of the conversation. that's that you suppose. haru wouldn't mind right? he did really need the help. he's impressively good at what he does but you can't help but feel that he overexerts himself. maybe before you go you should text him to—

"meoww!!"

you nearly jump out of your skin. below you a soft yet prickly sensation is revealed to be a cat, pawing at your leg. the cute little thing is an orange cat with light spots along it's body and tail. as soon as your attention is fully away from your phone it jumps on your leg making you laugh.

it makes no complaints as you scoop it into your arms and cradle it close. it's a bit surprising to see one of the campus cats being so cuddly. they're friendly but very independent as chancellor cornelius had said. most of them don't linger for long, always busy with something else. this one is is a bit smaller though so maybe it was still new to the school.

the vibrant orange of it's coat of fur is reminiscent of the cat who fixed your window. where did that one go off too?

you finally lay down for the night. the warmth from your new companion lulling you to sleep as he settled on top of your chest.

in the morning you'd call haru to let him know you'd found some extra help.

[kittymama01]

Warden: I lost my family / I lost my position in the Circle / I got the blight / I was a wanted elf / I was framed and sentenced to death in the Deep Roads / I broke Orzammar's rules and was sentenced to death

I had no where else to go but to join the Wardens. I survived Ostagar by chance, thanks to Flemeth. I'm a Grey Warden, it was my job to end the Blight.

Hawke: My family and I ran from the Blight in Ferelden. We were broke and I had to pay off debts for my uncle in Kirkwall, working for smugglers / mercenaries. That's how I got my reputation.

Inquisitor: I went to the conclave to see how the meeting goes. Discovering the Divine was by chance. I never asked for the Mark and never asked if I could save the world. I wasn't ready for any of this.

Rook: I did something selfless in my faction which caught the attention of Varric. I joined because someone has to save the world and it might as well be little old me :D who can do no wrong! :D I'm a good guy! :D I'm a little stinker who makes jokes :D Now, who needs a therapy session!?

[rius-cave]

I know quite a lot about prison life for someone who's never been to jail.

The best way to gain power in prison is, ironically, through making deals (like demons in hell). If you keep your word enough, you become known as someone reliable and trustworthy to those that used to have power outside (like mafia bosses).

So, in prison, the most powerful people are (a) The Store Man, (b) bookies, (c) anyone who has connections to the outside, or (d) scholars.

Luci could rise to power from being a scholar or an outside connection. Like someone who could help you get a lawyer to re-examine your case or help you study your own case (there is a surprising number of self-made lawyers who get their law education in prison).

MOST likely though, Luci could be a Store Man: someone who runs a small store in his cell and makes deals (like: for the price of three Ramen noodles, I could get you a pack of cigarettes, but you'll owe me four Ramen next time due to interest). They may seem harmless at first, but they know everyone's debts and will make the rest of your sentence hell if you don't pay up. Plus, they are untouchable because they've anchored themselves as a pillar of the community. They don't even have to hire bodyguards, because the whole prison knows that if anything happens to the Store Man, the small pleasures of the outside world (like candy or nerdy socks or even drugs) will be gone forever. And the amount of brains, business know-how, and client history they have are irreplaceable. Once you lose a Store Man, he's gone. I think he would be known throughout the prison as the guy that can get you a cool rubber duck. It's a little taste of home that you can't get anywhere else that just brings a little spark of joy in such a hopeless place, and all the inmates are absolutely feral for them.

I like the idea that Luci gains power in prison from just being a nice, helpful guy. (Apparently, nice guys do very, very well in prison, as long as they treat everyone with a certain level of kindness and respect. Kinda like what Charlie is trying to to accomplish with the Hotel.)

Holy shit. You have no idea how awesome this is, actually! I really wish I knew more about prisons now tbh LMAO but this actually helps a lot!

I definitely agree with your idea about this being the way that Lucifer gained power! So I think that, taking this into consideration, I think there's three main things that made people respect him and fear him

1: like you said, he is actually a pretty nice dude, he's kind and even tends to respect the most vulnerable in prison. I'd like to think that it's actually thanks to him that the rate of assaults in that prison are so somewhat low. He brings a certain order to the place, and is also in control of the whole "inside economy" so to speak.

2: He is rich, so he actually DOES have incredible power outside of prison. Charlie is able to visit him a lot because he has great lawyers. I'd imagine he is also able to hook up some people with lawyers and reduce their sentences a little bit.

3: he is actually REALLY strong, and maybe most of the inmates have never witnessed it with their own two eyes, and not a lot of people really know why everyone fears him, but there are rumors going around that Lucifer is there because he killed 10 people on his own, cold-blooded. This is of course, an exaggeration, he only killed 1 person and it was to protect his daughter, but it the rumor got out of his hands and he doesn't care to correct it. It is especially believable because of that one time Lucifer sent an inmate to the hospital for 6 months for having made a... Let's say, poor in taste comment about Charlie. Nobody saw that guy again.

Lastly, that one DEFINITELY sounds like Angel! We know Angel is hyper sexual, but he IS also part of a mafia family (which is why he's in prison) so he'd definitely have those kinds of tricks up his sleeve!

[igotanidea]

Shitstorm: Jason Todd x stripper!reader

Yes I know the picture does not fit here perfectly, go ahead and judge me :D

part 1 : Backyard

***

The pack of cigarettes flew her way in a perfect arc. Y/N was quick enough to catch it and only then took a look around to check whether it was some higher power being generous after a hell of a night. Spoiler alert : it wasn’t.

„Hm. It’s you.” she smirked looking at the familiar black-haired boy standing on the bottom of the stairs to the club.

„I always pay my debts sunshine.” Jason smiled mischievously.

‘Great. That makes us even and we can gladly forget about each other.”

For no particular reason he was making her nervous, be it on purpose or accidentally. And it was weird. All things considered, she was the girl who was undressing for half-drunk, aroused men in a club. Having eyes and interest on her should be nothing special given the specific of her profession, and yet Jason’s attitude was-- different.

As cliche as that sounded.

Just to calm her nerves she reached one cigarette and lighted it up, letting the addiction take control of her thoughts and making them just a bit clearer. It was nice and peaceful and for a moment she forgot about this annoying piece of muscles still standing down there with his hands in pockets.

„What?” she hissed

„Charming as usual.’

‘We only talked once.”

„Twice.”

„This is not talking.”

„Last time I checked exchanging words were count as conversation.”

„Smart ass” she muttered wondering about the best way to walk past him. Currently it was a bit impossible because his tall muscled frame was blocking her only way out.

„Is that all you have to say?”

„Did you lost your brother again, little boy? Maybe I should go check inside for someone interesting.”

„Come on, I can tell you’re eyeing me like I’m your next client. I’m not so little and you know it” he grinned not even bothering to play coy. Completely unlike last time.

„Seen better.” she shrugged not giving him any satisfaction nor boosting his ego.

„You sure? Thought you were a stripper not a hooker?”

‘How do you know nothing changed since last time?”

‘Did it?” this time his tone was a bit more serious as he looked at her. He didn’t want it to be true. As pathetic as it sounded he needed this girl to keep her sharp mind and even sharper tongue. He had some business that needed to be taken care of. Concerning that last villain he’s been chasing. With no success.

But.

Now he might have leverage.

Before she could make a move, as agile as a cat he slid to the top of the stairs, taking a spot next to her leaning on the door. She rolled her eyes trying to shove him away, but it only caused him to laugh.

„Why are you here again?”

„Business.”

„That’s vague.”

„Got your interest though.”

„If you’re looking for some fun and changed so much since the last time you run away from the crowd, may I remind you there are plenty girls inside. I can even recommend one or two who would love to have their hands on you. I have no idea why do you always keep destroying my work breaks.”

„I was hoping that couple from last week would be here.”

„They broke up.” she chuckled

„Oh, really, who would have thought?” Jason chuckled back „they seemed close.”

‘You have no idea.” she instinctively passed him the pack of cigarettes

‘Is that an invitation to further talk?” his eyebrows raised but being a chain smoker he could not refuse

„It’s an invitation to shut your mouth. For a guy, you do talk freaking lot.”

„Told you I got business to discuss.”

„And I told you --”

„I’m serious y/n.” he looked at her with a mix of annoyance, desperation and honesty.

„I’m at work.” she turned her head away from those pretty green eyes.

„Didn’t notice. Besides, you got ten minutes of break left.”

„So now you’re stalking me and know my schedule?”

‘Sure.” Jason shrugged „I also know where you live.”

„Bullshit!” she she blew smoke straight into his face „if you knew you would wait for me there, cutting my any way out. And yet, you’re here. In the dodgy neighbourhood, in a seedy strip club.”

„Aren’t you ever scared your attitude would get you in trouble?”

„You have no idea, pretty boy. Talked my way out of most of them. Got scars to prove it.” she pulled her skimpy top off slightly showing him some scars on the side and belly. „So you better not mess with me.”

If only she knew she has been talking to the Red Hood all this time.

Unless, which was actually very probable, it wouldn’t have any effect on her.

For a moment both of them went quiet. Thinking about the strangeness of the situation they found themselves in. In a different timeline they would never met let alone start becoming... something. What that something was, was still to be defined (or not), but for some indescribable reason that little bantering was becoming quite enjoyable.

Finally as her break was coming to the end she threw the cigarette on the ground extinguishing it with a shoe.

„What’s the business? And if you can’t describe it in three sentences max I swear I’ll stop listening and throw you down the stairs.”

„Deal!” Jason laughed and shook her outstretched hand „I need a pair of sharp eyes, a fast working brain and a cute face to watch someone for me.”

‘Ok. I wear lenses, my brain goes off sometimes making me do reckless things and I my face is far from cute when I get angry. Do I still qualify?” she raised an eyebrow suddenly uncharacteristically animated at the proposition. A magnet for trouble that girl was.

„Trust me sunshine, you’ll the perfect candidate for the position.”

And just like that she became some sort of spy. Or- was about to become, cause her little adventure was only about to start.

Did Jason have regrets and guilts about dragging her into the Red Hood and the Bats’ shit? Yes. Maybe a little. But still, he didn’t know her well enough to get actually worried even if something were to happen to her.

Brutal approach, but absolutely necessary in the line of work. You get some you loose some and the casualties were an integral part of his life.

Do not get attached. EVER.

And she didn’t need to know about his other identity and his whole plan. Just the parts that were important from her point of view. Observing the villain, getting close to him using her professional skills. Be some sort of double agent.

Just work. Nothing more nothing less.

And that little stinging in his chest was only the effect of some earlier shooting that happened this week leaving him slightly injured.

Nothing more.

Definitely no regret from just throwing her into the middle of the shitstorm.

***

Spoiler alert: Y/N was not stupid.

And knew where to dig to find the information needed to the full picture of the situation.

She didn’t do shitstorm.

[foundtherightwords]

As the Sun Will Rise - Chapter 2

Pairing: Grunauer (Overlord) x OFC, Beauty & the Beast retelling

Summary: After losing most of his unit in a disastrous D-Day mission, Derwin Grunauer returns to his hometown near Miami, body riddled with scars and heart heavy with guilt, only to find his neighbors shunning him due to his German name. He retreats into his family mansion and remains there, unwilling to rejoin the living, until the day Alba Reyes turns up at his door with a basket full of warm bread. As the daughter of a Cuban immigrant, Alba knows something of being an outsider, and when she offers to work for Derwin as his housekeeper, it is not only to pay off her father's debt to the Grunauers, but also because she feels some connection to the reclusive young man. When that connection develops into something more, they must overcome both the town's prejudice and their own doubts to find happiness.

Chapter warnings: none

Chapter word count: 4.5k

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

"You went inside?" Beatriz asked as she flipped the sign in the bakery window from OPEN to CLOSED, before continuing sweeping the floor. In the back, Papi and Frank were setting out the dough for the next morning's loaves to rise. Alba surveyed the glass cases, making a mental note of what sold well and what didn't, and put the leftovers aside to be sold at cut rate the next day. Beatriz had been bursting with questions about the Grunauer place, but Alba had had no time to answer them—it was the lunch rush by the time she got back; she hadn't wanted to talk in front of Papi, and the afternoon had been quite busy as well. It was only now, at closing time, that she finally told Beatriz of what—and who—she'd found at the mansion deep in the swamp.

"Of course I went inside," she said. "I couldn't just leave the bread there!"

"Papi and Frank do."

"They have no respect for their own products."

"What's it like?" Beatriz said, eagerly. "Is it scary? Did you see any snakes or gators?"

"No, there's no snakes or gators. Just a big, friendly dog, and lots of empty rooms and a big staircase. I didn't see the second floor though." Alba couldn't find the words to describe to Beatriz how she'd really felt, walking down the corridor of the Grunauer place. The rooms she'd seen were filled with furniture, but they all had an air of disuse and neglect like the outside of the house. It had made her feel incredibly sad. The house was not a queen, as she'd first thought upon seeing it. It was a woman past her prime, alone and forgotten.

When she came into the kitchen, she'd felt even sadder. The stove looked like it never got lit, the pantry was empty, and so was the fridge—it contained only a pot of mustard and, inexplicably, a book.

She wondered how young Mr. Grunauer had managed to feed himself, and whether the bread and pastries they sent were his only sustenance.

"And what about Gruesome Grunauer?" continued Beatriz. "Is he really disfigured as people say?"

"Don't call him that. No, he's not. He does have a scar on his face, but it's not that bad." The moment they came face-to-face, all she could see were those bewilderingly familiar eyes. She had barely paid attention to the scar stretching across his left cheek like a spider web, and if she had, it was only to notice how it contrasted sadly with his boyish face, giving him a tragic look, like a cursed prince in a fairy tale. He had a scraggly beard too, though it was a pitiful attempt to cover up the scar or simply due to the neglect to shave, she didn't know. For some reason, the memory made her feel a little shy, so she didn't mention it to Beatriz.

Later that night, after Beatriz had gone to bed in their tiny bedroom in their tiny apartment above the bakery, Alba found her father sitting in his tattered armchair in the front space that doubled as the living room and dining room, smoking his pipe. She knew sometimes he would remain there all night, never making it to bed, just puffing on his pipe in silence and watching the smoke curl around the photos of her mother and Raf. Then, as the clock chimed four, he would get up with a little groan and go downstairs to start the ovens.

Seeing her linger at the door, he looked up. "Why aren't you in bed?" he asked.

Alba sat down on the armrest. "Papi, how much do we owe the Grunauers?" she asked.

Her father stopped puffing on the pipe. "You don't have to worry about that."

"Yes, I do. I'm twenty-four years old, Papi. I'm not a child anymore."

"I'm taking care of it."

Alba wrapped her arms around him, and put her head on his shoulder, as she'd often done when she was a little girl. "I want to help," she said. "How am I supposed to take over the bakery if you won't let me help?"

Papi sighed. "All right, we owe three thousand, if you must know. I borrowed seven thousand from Dr. Grunauer. Five years to pay it off, no interest. He was very kind for that. It was to buy the land, build the bakery, stock it. When the shop fell through, I only got four thousand back for everything." He ran a hand through his sparse, graying hair. "I was a fool. I should've held on to that land. If I sold it now to one of those returning GIs, we could've easily paid it off. But after Rafael—and your mother—I wasn't thinking straight."

"I know, Papi, I know." Alba pressed her lips to his temple, trying to kiss away the memory of that terrible time. They hadn't even been able to celebrate the end of the war. That had been the cruelest thing. When the whole world had been rejoicing, all they could think about was that the war had taken not only Raf but Ana as well. She'd collapsed upon seeing the two officers in their front room and never regained consciousness after that. She'd died just a week before VE-Day.

Three thousand dollars. The bakery earned about that much in a year, which meant they would have to forgo all expenses and not have any salary for a year, if they were to pay off the debt. Alba didn't mind—she'd never taken any pay for working at the bakery anyway—but it wouldn't be fair to Frank and Beatriz.

"We need a concrete plan to pay it off, Papi," she said. "The bakery can't turn a profit until we do, and we can't keep plying Mr. Grunauer with bread and pastries twice a week and hope the debt will magically go away. How many loaves of bread, how many boxes of pastries and croquettes is it going to take?"

"What do you have in mind?"

"I've been to their house today. It's a big place, and Mr. Grunauer's there all alone. He needs someone to take care of it, a housekeeper." The idea had formed in her mind while she stood looking around that forlorn, empty kitchen, where the only thing that qualified as foodstuff was a bag of dog biscuits. "I think I can—"

Papi sat up straight and took the pipe out of his mouth. "No daughter of mine is going to be a servant," he said sternly.

"I won't be a servant," said Alba. "I'm going to be a housekeeper. It's no different than working in a hotel. He can pay me, or I can just work off the debt."

"But what about the bakery?" Papi asked, as she knew he would. She had an answer ready.

"Frank and Beatriz can do without me," she said. "Really, Papi, Beatriz is much better at it than you give her credit for. The customers are always happier and buy more when she's at the till."

Papi still looked skeptical, but Alba knew she was starting to win him over. "May I have your permission to at least talk to Mr. Grunauer about it?" she asked.

"What if the boy refuses?"

"Then we'll think of something else," she said stoutly.

Papi tapped the pipe into the ashtray, looking thoughtful. Finally, he nodded. "Yes, I suppose you can talk to Dr. Grunauer's son about it. The worst he can do is to turn us down."

Alba jumped up. "Thank you, Papi!"

"But I hate for you to bear this burden alone, daughter."

"It's not a burden, Papi," she said and gave him another kiss on the temple. "This is our bakery. I'm only doing my bit."

"Yes. Now get to bed, we have an early start tomorrow," he said, as if they didn't have an early start every single day, and patted her cheek affectionately.

***

The next morning, Alba got ready before Grant Gastin had a chance to show up. She packed some more pasteles, filled with guava and coconut, two loaves of fresh bread, some sliced ham and cheese, and a jar of pickles. Remembering the empty fridge with its lonely pot of mustard, she went back to the fridge and cut a big pat of butter as well. She was wrapping it in a square of wax paper when Frank came up to her.

"Mr. Reyes asked me to drive you over to the Grunauer place," he said. Despite having known them for seven years and repeated requests from Papi to call him by his first name, Frank still couldn't manage it. They treated him as family though. He'd started working at the bakery at fifteen, trained by Ana herself. He'd enlisted at the same time as Rafael, and they had prayed for his safe return as fervently as they'd prayed for Raf. At least with Frank, their prayer had been heard. After the war, he'd come back to the bakery, for which they were grateful. Being half-Seminole, Frank didn't exactly benefit from the GI Bill.

"Thank you, Frank, but I can manage," Alba said. "Why don't you help Beatriz at the front?"

A flush crept over Frank's open, honest face. Alba knew he'd been carrying a torch for her sister for years now, though Beatriz had never given him much thought. "Are you sure?" he asked.

"Oh, yes. Go on, spend some time with her, or she'll waste it all on the likes of Grant Gastin." She gave him a friendly shove and went around the back for her bike.

The day was warm, and despite the coolness of the swamp, Alba was drenched in sweat and her hair was frizzing like crazy by the time she arrived at the Grunauer place. She knocked on the front door. When there was no answer as usual, she tried the handle. It was locked.

Her heart sank. Could it be that young Mr. Grunauer was annoyed by her last visit and wanted to prevent another? Surely, she hadn't been that pushy, had she? Or—her stomach dropped with a horrible possibility—could something have happened to him? She banged on the door again.  

"Mr. Grunauer? Hello? It's Alba, from the bakery. I brought you some things—hello?"

A dark shape reared up behind the glass, making her jump back in shock. Then she saw that it was the dog, his mouth wide open, tongue lolling in a cheerful smile. "Hola," Alba said, waving at him. "Can you get your master for me? Or can you open the door?"

The dog disappeared from the front door. Pressing her nose against the glass pane, Alba saw that he was pacing into the depths of the house and kept looking back, as if beckoning for her to follow. She picked up the basket and went around the back of the house. The porch here was covered with mosquito netting, forming a sunroom that looked out on an overgrown garden and the dark swamp beyond. A fan hung from the ceiling, its blade rotating lazily in the warm air.

The dog came out from inside the house. He stood on his hind legs and pushed at the latch of the door, lifting it. Alba laughed, delighted at his maneuver. The moment the door was open, the dog bounced through and started licking her hand, his tail rotating in greeting.

"What a clever sausage you are," she said, rubbing his ears while lingering at the door. Wouldn't Mr. Grunauer see this as trespassing?

Seeing her hesitate, the dog tugged at her wrist and pulled her deeper into the house. She hurried after him, barely having time to drop her basket in the kitchen. The dog led her down the corridor, into a library or study of sorts. It was gloomy and cluttered as the rest of the house, but this clutter was the result of living, rather than neglect—books were piled on tables and on the floor alongside dirty dishes, clothes were strewn haphazardly on the backs and arms of chairs, blankets and pillows heaped on the couch. It appeared Mr. Grunauer had been camping in this room and abandoned the rest of the house.

As Alba stepped further into the room, her eyes slowly adjusted to the dimness and landed on a figure lying prone on the rug by the window.

"¡Dios mío!" She rushed over to turn him on his back. "Mr. Grunauer! Are you all right?"

To her surprise, he wriggled out of her grasp and propped himself up on his elbow. "I am, as soon as you stop manhandling me!" he said, blinking up at her with what she was coming to recognize as his default expression—a scowl. "What are you doing here? How did you get in?"

Alba became acutely aware of her sweaty face and disheveled hair. Self-consciously, she yanked her headscarf off and wiped it across her forehead.

"Your dog let me in," she said.

"My dog?" he repeated, incredulous. He glared at the dog, who was looking quite pleased with himself. "Some guard dog you are," he muttered. The dog, either used to his master's dark moods or simply not noticing it, wagged his tail happily and began nosing about the dirty dishes on the floor, searching for crumbs. There was not much there, save for a few remnants of days-old crackers, eggshells, and orange peels. Not an actual meal, just an assortment of food.

"Please don't yell at him," she said, fighting the urge to clean up those plates. "It's my fault, really. I asked him to get the door for me."

Grunauer shook his head, looking amused. "Yell at Otto? I spoke too loudly to him once and he sulked for two days. I don't think you have to worry about me yelling at him, Miss—"

"Reyes. Alba Reyes."

"Ah, yes. From the bakery." So he did remember. He got to his feet, with some difficulty, and vaguely tried to tidy up some papers but quickly put them down again. "What can I do for you?"

"Actually, it's more about what I can do for you, Mr. Grunauer." Alba launched into her prepared speech. "Perhaps you already knew, my father owes your father quite a bit of money. Three thousand dollars, to be exact. He's supposed to pay it off by the end of next year." Grunauer's slight frown suggested that this was news to him, and Alba wondered if she'd made a blunder in mentioning the debt. But he would learn of it sooner or later, and she didn't want to deceive him. "Now, we can't pay it all at once, but perhaps we can work out some sort of payment plan..."

He nodded slowly, still looking a bit confused. Alba plunged on. "This is a big place. You need help. I can come here and work for you as a housekeeper, and, in exchange, you can deduct the payment from my salary."

Understanding dawned on his face, quickly followed by something else—embarrassment? Discomfort? Anger? Perhaps he thought they were trying to scam him.

"You will decide my salary, of course," she said quickly. "Perhaps I can try, for a week or so, and you can figure out how much to pay me? We can have a lawyer draw up a promissory note, everything will be perfectly aboveboard—"

"Miss Reyes," he interrupted. "I don't need help."

She deflated. But a Reyes never gave up that easily, so she put on a display that combined her most competent face with an approximation of Beatriz's charm. "Sure you do," she said, trying to smile. "I can cook, clean, do the shopping for you, take care of Otto..." At the sound of his name, the dog looked up and gave his tail a wag.

Grunauer shook his head, cutting her off. "I can't pay you."

"You don't have to pay me, that's the point," Alba said patiently. "Let's say we agree that my work is worth thirty dollars a week"—big hotels in Miami Beach were paying housekeepers forty and fifty dollars a week, so she figured thirty would be a reasonable start—"so every week, you'll deduct thirty dollars from our debt." At that rate, it would take two years for her to pay off three thousand dollars, but the bakery and its earnings would be safe. And it would make her feel like she was doing something, which Alba vastly preferred to just sitting and waiting for the debt collector to show up.

When Grunauer made no reply, she tried another tactic. "This is a fine house, Mr. Grunauer. Don't you want it cleaned and put to order, so you can use all the rooms instead of holing up in here?"

"I'm perfectly fine as I am, thank you very much," he said stiffly.

Alba let out an exasperated sigh. "Mr. Grunauer, no offense, but I've met you twice, and both times I found you on the floor."

It was the wrong thing to say. Grunauer's face twisted, the gouges of the scar deepening on his cheek. "I'm not a cripple!" he shouted.

"I'm sorry, that's not what I meant—" began Alba, but it was too late. He grabbed her arm, not hard, but not gently either, and hauled her out of the room.

"Thank you for your concern, Miss Reyes, but I cannot afford a housekeeper at the moment," he said.

"But—Mr. Grunauer—" Alba started to protest, without knowing what she was going to say.

Something on her face must have made him take pity on her, for he added, in a softer voice, "As for your debt, I'll see if we can come up with a reasonable payment plan. I'll let you know." He all but shoved her into the corridor and shut the door in her face.

Alba spluttered in frustration. She had no choice but to leave. Coming back through the kitchen, she saw her basket still on the table and heaved a long sigh. Well, she might as well unpack the food. If she left it there, who knew what Grunauer would do? Eat it straight out of the basket, she supposed.

She put the perishables into the fridge. The book was still there, a book of poetry by someone named e.e. cummings—Alba briefly wondered what Mr. Cummings had against capitalization— but the guava pastries were gone. And then, as her eyes landed on the pot of mustard, an idea occurred to her. If she couldn't convince him with words, perhaps there was another way...

She took a loaf of bread out of the box, sliced it, slathered both halves with butter and mustard, and layered it with the ham, cheese, and pickles. There was no sandwich press, but she found a frying pan and a heavy cast-iron pot that would do the trick. The stove looked so rusty that she was afraid it wouldn't turn on at all, but turn on it did, and soon the enticing smells of melted butter and cheese were filling the kitchen. She cut the warm sandwich in half, put it on a plate, and marched down the corridor again.

"What are you still doing here?!" Grunauer snarled as he wrenched open the door in response to her knock. "Leave, or I'll have you arrested for—" He stopped short at the sight of the plate in her hand.

"Tell me, Mr. Grunauer, would you rather be eating something like this or subsist on crackers and day-old coffee? Because this is what you'd get with me, and more. Think about it. You know where to find me. Good day." She shoved the plate into his hand, turned on her heel, and left.

***

Long after Miss Reyes's dark curls had disappeared down the corridor, bobbing indignantly with each of her steps, Derwin still stood where he was, with the plate of sandwich in his hand. He wasn't quite sure what had just transpired. And then, because the smell was so tempting, and because Otto was eyeing the plate rather impatiently, Derwin ate the sandwich. It was very good. She'd toasted it on both sides, turning the bread crisp and melting the cheese. It reminded him of the grilled cheese sandwiches his father used to make when Derwin was little, only better. Poor old Dad. After Mom passed away, Dad had tried his best, but he could never quite manage the stove, and when Derwin was home from boarding school, they'd survived mostly on sandwiches and canned stuff. Grilled cheese and tomato soup was one of Dad's better attempts at cooking.

Once the plate was polished off—Otto got the last bite, of course—Derwin went to the bureau where his father's papers were kept and started digging through the drawers. Soon he found a promissory note for seven thousand dollars, made to a Mr. Mauricio Reyes, on March 1943, with a maturity date of five years and no interest. A very generous loan. But then again, his father had always been generous to a fault. Another note attached to this document stated that a payment of four thousand dollars had been made in November 1945. His father had passed away a month after that, while Derwin himself was still in Bay Pines.

Three thousand dollars. Enough for him to start over somewhere else, away from this place. He could go back to school, finish that degree he'd put on hold when he enlisted, get a job. Actually rejoin the living.

But deep down inside, Derwin knew there was nowhere for him to go. There was no place where he could stop seeing the screaming faces of his fellow soldiers whenever he closed his eyes, stop feeling the heat of that exploding C-47, stop smelling the stench of burning fuel and gunpowder and blood in that French village just off the coast of Normandy. During the day, he could forget those memories by losing himself in books, but at night, they always came back in full force. There was no place where he could escape them. No place where he could escape himself.

At least here, nobody would bother him. Nobody, except for a bewildering, maddening young woman.

So if he insisted on staying here, would it be so bad to have someone come here and take care of the house for him? He had to admit, he'd let things go. His leg didn't allow him to move around much, and after a while, he no longer cared. He'd been going upstairs only to sleep, and after his latest fall the day before, he'd set up camp in the study and decided it was good enough. But now, stung by Miss Reyes's words, Derwin looked around the room and noticed, for the first time, the clutter and squalor of the place. How did he let it come to this? He was sure he could see a cockroach shuffling amongst the plates on the floor.

But the idea of another person in the house, in his space, gave him pause. His parents had been a retiring sort, and when he was a boy, it had been just the three of them. He'd missed that precious solitude when his mother died and his father sent him to boarding school. In the army, and later, in the hospitals, there had always been other people around. He'd only gotten his solitary life back since he came home; he wasn't sure if he was ready to share that with anyone, no matter how good her sandwich was... or how pretty her eyes were.

Perhaps he could deal with the mess himself. He bent down awkwardly on one knee, picked up a few plates, and stacked them together. Then, balancing the stack in one hand and holding his cane in the other, he hobbled into the kitchen.

He almost made it. At the kitchen door, he picked up his cane to push the door open, and the plates slid out of his hand and fell to the floor, shattering into a thousand pieces. Furious, he threw his cane away. It clattered over the shards of broken china. He flung himself down next to it and put his head against the wall in despair. He couldn't even manage to clean up a few plates. Pathetic. Useless.

Otto came over and plopped down by his side. Derwin thought he could see some sympathy in the dog's eyes. "I guess I shouldn't have been so rude to Miss Reyes, right?" he said to the dog.

Otto answered with a soft woof, telling Derwin all he needed to know.

With a sigh, Derwin dragged himself up and went into the kitchen for a broom and dustpan. Miss Reyes had cleaned up—the stove had been scrubbed, and the pot and pan she used to toast the sandwich were drying on the rack. When he opened the fridge, however, he found e.e. cummings' Collected Poems still where he'd left it. Somehow, the sight of that book in the fridge solidified Derwin's decision. Miss Reyes would not upset his life. She would straighten things up wherever necessary and leave the rest untouched, and that was exactly what he needed.

But nobody turned up the next day or the day after that. Derwin thought about calling the bakery, and then he realized he didn't know their phone number. He could call the property manager and find out, but that was one phone call too many for him to handle.

It wasn't until Sunday that Derwin heard a knock on the front door.

"I'm coming!" he called out, limping to the door as fast as his leg and his cane allowed. "Wait!"

He pulled the door open. A young man, perhaps a couple of years younger than Derwin himself, with the deep-set eyes and straight black hair of a Seminole, was dropping a basket of bread onto the swing on the front porch.

"Who are you?" Derwin asked. "Where's Miss Reyes?"

"I'm Frank Howard," said the young man, looking startled. Clearly he hadn't expected anyone to answer the door. "I work at the bakery. Miss Reyes—Alba—asked me to bring you these. They're at church today."

"Oh." Derwin felt a strange sense of disappointment. Next to him, Otto looked crestfallen as well. "In that case, could you please let her know that I accept her offer, and that she can start on Monday?"

Frank looked confused but promised to deliver the message.

As he watched the bakery's truck rumble down the drive, Derwin let out a sigh. He'd been hoping to tell Miss Reyes herself. It was absurd, of course. It made no difference, giving the message to Frank. But that slight disappointment told Derwin that he'd made the right decision in accepting Miss Reyes's proposal. He'd never looked forward to anything as he did to seeing her again. Perhaps he could let her into his life after all.

Chapter 3

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